Slashdot Mirror

If you want to claim extensive copyright hurts creativity, you really should be looking at sequalitis.

The two shining film examples would be Sony and Universal.

Sony made more Spiderman movies by rehashing the origin story — seriously, how many times does Uncle Ben have to die? — to prevent the licensing rights from reverting back to Marvel Studios. The new Spiderman movie is the result of a cross licensing deal between Sony and Marvel that will expire in 2019.

Universal got copyrights for their classic monster movies as the monsters were never described in a real great detail in the public domain books, preventing anyone from making a movie that looks identical to the Universal Monsters and forcing them up with different designs (not necessarily a bad thing). They're remaking all their movies to prevent their copyrights from falling into the public domain. Although Tom Cruise may have killed the budding franchise with the newest Mummy movie.

Scorpio software will be hamstrung by mandatory compatibility with Xbox One hardware. http://www.gamespot.com/articl...

Except for VR experiences, the PS4 Pro has the same issue except it's worse because the VR titles have to work on the PS4 as well which is much less powerful. Since the architectures are effectively PC ones writing separate shaders and scaling back polygon counts is not a big deal, it's done in PC gaming to target millions of different configurations, developers can easily handle targeting just 2 configurations.

Scorpio's higher price will slow adoption, developers will still focus on the much larger install base of PS4 and Xbox One onwers, meaning developer resources won't be put into significant enhancements for Scorpio compatible games. http://www.gamespot.com/articl...

The same as the PS4 Pro, except again that VR is exempt so the VR experiences on Scorpio will be far better than PSVR. Of course we have PSVR right now as opposed to XBox not having it at all at the moment so that is advantageous.

Scorpio's hardware will be outclassed 2 years later when the PS5 is released. http://www.gamezone.com/news/a...

Can you give us the specifications of both? No of course you cant so it is exactly as likely that some Scorpio Mk2 will be released at the same time as the PS5 and outclass it, or maybe that wont happen, there is no evidence either way so if you are making any kind of blanket statement like yours then you are an idiot.

It will be an expensive flop, not a good way to start a new generation.

A slashdot prediction of the future success of technology? On that alone I would be betting on Scorpio.

Scorpio software will be hamstrung by mandatory compatibility with Xbox One hardware. http://www.gamespot.com/articl...

Scorpio's higher price will slow adoption, developers will still focus on the much larger install base of PS4 and Xbox One onwers, meaning developer resources won't be put into significant enhancements for Scorpio compatible games. http://www.gamespot.com/articl...

Scorpio's hardware will be outclassed 2 years later when the PS5 is released. http://www.gamezone.com/news/a...

It will be an expensive flop, not a good way to start a new generation.

Scorpio, an upgraded Xbox One, is said to have about 3x the power of the PS4, 1.5x the power of the PS4 Pro. And 5x the power of the Xbox One, which it has to be compatible with. Scorpio software must run adequately on the Xbox One despite the huge power gap.
This is a premium system with a rumored high price tag, launching about 2 years before the expected next generation of consoles debuts.

Having to compete with the installed base of PS4 and Xbox One so late in the game, developer focus is expected to reflect this, leading to only minor updates to games such as higher resolution, framerate, and anti aliasing. Not expected are more complex models, more detailed worlds, significant shader and texture differences, increased complexity in physics models, or AI differences (especially since Scorpio gamers are expected to match with Xbox One gamers online, and the games are supposed to remain basically the same, only superficially different).

Bottom line is they expect knowledgable gamers (casuals won't care about this) to pay a high price for minor cosmetic differences not long before newer powerful machines come out that aren't resterained by compatibility with older less powerful systems. It doesn't seem like this will do much to bolster the Xbox brand, and may even make adopters upset. Probably only Microsoft's own titles will bother to put the resources behind making any significant improvements to games, especially considering how much games already cost, and how much testing will have to be done specifically for a significantly different version, and that's only 2-3 games a year?

It does not seem like Scorpio will help MS....

I'm going to toss something else in here, this is the same organization that now no longer receiving any information from Bethesda or Ubisoft because of their actions. They're no longer invited to any demos, no E3 presentations nothing. They've spent the last 5+ years pissing on both of those companies games, on the developers themselves, and on individual people. All the while launching personal attacks, leaking information and yelling all over the place how "sexist/problematic/racist" xyz game(s) are because of various insane reasons. Other smaller developers have followed those two AAA companies leads, and for good reason. There's a reason why a lot of smaller studios said "good, let's hope polygon is next."

GamerGate is not about harassment or women. Here is a statistical analysis of #GamerGate tweets. Here is a case of GamerGate tracking down a harasser, and Sarkeesian refusing to report him. Here is a timeline of the many grievances #GamerGate supporters have against gaming journalists. Here is the transparent, open place we track our emails to advertisers on corrupt sites. Here is a blog about the corruption. Here is a discussion of one of the scum at Gawker. Here is my earlier Slashdot comment on media bias surrounding GamerGate.

Despite the many, many articles putting the word GamerGate next to the words "misogyny", "wu", harassment" and the like there is no evidence -- No Evidence -- actually associating GamerGate with any of those things, save a very tenuous link related to how the hashtag was coined and some third party trolls who it turns out harass GamerGate supporters more than GamerGate opposers.

I was about to tell you to RTFA but then I realized that the submitter used a really poor article. His bad.

It is reportedly confirmed for Xbox 360, PS3, and "others":
* http://www.gamezone.com/products/destiny/news/bungie-s-destiny-confirmed-for-xbox-360-ps3-and-future-console-platforms

Chicken Shoot for the Wii

Well if this site and this other site are any indication of how good this game is I think hammering nails in your head is a more fun experience. Still to be fair every person has their own idea of what is a fun game and what is not and from my perspective this game reminds me of the old NES game "Duck Hunt" which was IMHO great for about an hour or so before letting it gather dust until the next party, although after a while it gets too embarrassing to bring out :)

...from this entire discussion. Game Developers nurturing online games. Taking Valve Games completely out of this reply. (CS, DoD, etc) Many game companies come out with a great idea but fail to capitalize on a great idea like Valve has done with Counter Strike.

Example.

007 Nightfire by EA for the PC.

http://pc.gamezone.com/gamesell/p20312.htm

Great game that used the Half-Life 1 engine. AWESOME multiplayer. You had your choice of death match and CTF maps to choose from. One of the maps was a killer re-creation of the Fort Knox scene from Goldfinger and you got to play any of the major villians from across the 007/James Bond franchise. This game was generating tons of buzz online and got even more buzz when the game makers said that they were going to release an SDK within weeks of the release of the game.

SDK = More killer maps.

The online community started planning on making maps from every single game starting with Dr. No.

However, weeks became months and months and months. Then all of a sudden they stopped supporting the game online.

I know I'm repeating something everyone already knows about EA but EA doesn't know how to garner interest by keeping their online games that could make them money in the long run. They could have made a boat load of money if they had kept with the franchise. The 007 franchise has the ability to make lots of money with online multiplayer games but no one has stepped up to the plate yet.

This was 2002. Not much has changed since.

If you look at any of the Battlefield PC game boxes there's fine print on it that basically says we reserve the right to pull the multiplayer servers at any time.

Can you imagine if this was as popular as Guitar Hero and Rock Band???

So, well, don't be too quick to dismiss the concept. I'm sure some people will find it hilarious to flip pancakes with the wiimote, and stir in a pot with it.

It's unfortunate we've sidetracked so far off of the original thread. Stay focused so I don't have to keep doing this to you.. :(

Stay at home moms play a whole host of games. Why would you possibly think otherwise? Welcome to 2007, my disillusioned friend. Honestly, teenage to 20 something males playing The Sims? 54+ million of them? Are you serious? A report in 2004 showed 2/3 of MSN's 8.7 million users were women.

My earlier statements come from first hand knowledge. My mom is a grandparent, and my sister is a stay at home mom, and they both play The Sims. They both have a whole host of friends within their same demographic that they talk to online about the game, if not play along with them. Myself, I've played with countless non-teenager or 20 something males in numerous games. (WoW, Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, etc.) Since I know my first hand experiences mean nothing to you, I'll continue on.

I could honestly post hundreds of articles that disprove your unfortunately naive view of gaming, but I'll start with just a few to hopefully make it easier to digest.

Have a look at this article which outlines the fact that women over 18 are 38% of all gamers. I don't know, but that doesn't seem like ..what'd you call it.. "in the noise" to me.

Please keep reading and have a look at another article about women playing WoW, and why they enjoy it as an outlet. The article states there are over 5 million stay at home moms, and you're lead to believe that when the kids are gone to school, all they do is cook and clean?

Don't stop now. Read another piecethat outlines all of the myths that you apparently still believe. How about that less than 30% of gamers are under age 18? How about nearly half (48.6%) of the PC entertainment software purchases in 1998 were women. Oh, and nearly half of the purchases of online games of any genre are women. Most of this data is from a few years ago, and the trends were already starting.

I'd agree, you won't find women playing games like Quake, Counterstrike, or Madden as often as men, but you will find them casually gaming, most likely online, as the social aspect seems to be a key factor in attracting women to games. Many of the games women play may not necessarily have DX prerequisite (web based games), but the gaming demographic is not limited to teenage or 20 something males. Not even close.

Here's the list I was talking about:

http://ps2.gamezone.com/released/released.htm

Looks like the platform is still going strong.

It's not like Kanomi (for example) has an alternative platfrom on which to re-release Contra,

I own this on Xbox Live Arcade currently. Contra is also in a newly released compilation pack on the DS. Then again there is Thier PC compilation. There isn't anything from preventing them from publishing it where / however they want. Actually I wouldn't be surprised to see one of these classic compilations in an arcade at some point.

Actually, That might work better than you think. Typing of the Dead. Took House of the Dead 2, put it on the dreamcast and had you type for your life! Reading of the Dead: and Edutainment game. Edutainment...now there's a real zombie.

http://ps2.gamezone.com/news/02_28_02_07_00PM.htm THQ's RED FACTION TO BE RE-LAUNCHED UNDER PLAYSTATION 2 "GREATEST HITS" COLLECTION Critically Acclaimed Action Game to be Available April 1 for $24.99; Highly Anticipated Sequel Red Faction 2, Scheduled to Ship Winter 2002 CALABASAS HILLS, Calif. - February 28, 2002 - THQ Inc. (NASDAQ NMS: THQI) today announced its critically acclaimed Red Faction(TM) for the PlayStation® 2 computer entertainment system will be re-launched this spring as part of Sony Computer Entertainment America's "Greatest Hits" collection. Beginning April 1, Red Faction will be available for the manufacturers suggested retail price of $24.99 at retail outlets nationwide. Red Faction is one of the first third-party titles to be included in the PlayStation 2 "Greatest Hits" collection. Each game considered for the collection must have been available at retail for more than nine months and boast sales in excess of 400,000 units. Red Faction will also be re-released across Europe as one of only five third-party games in Sony's PS2® 'Platinum' collection.

400,000/9 months = 44,444 games a month. at $50 (new release, pre-GH) it has to make somewhere in the range of $2 million. Or $20 million over 9 months. Go back to the movies list -- for movies $20 million in sales isn't an achievement -- it's a flop. Even Jumanji managed $100 million just at the box office. And movies aren't at the box office for very long -- maybe a month or two.

Now even if the sales of GH games are somewhat hampered by being PS2 exclusive, they are still FAR FAR below even fairly mediocre movies. Not to say that they have no influence at all, just that the reason "mainstream media" doesn't cover games is the same reason it doesn't cover indie films, sci-fi, documentaries or Anime -- they have a small audience. Until there's a large mainstream audience for video games -- until as many people know Amano as know Peter Jackson, or know Katamari from Calamari, I don't expect to read much about games in the press.

Makes you wonder why Nintendo doesn't release one of those "multi games in a controller" with it and some of the other sweet games from the NES days.You know it would sell like hotcakes to all of us that remember the good old days.

"Do you think we'll have to put up with some sort of American Idol game release?"

too late

I've found I have StarForce on my laptop that I only use for work... except:
Two days ago, a friend of mine has recommended the free "TrackMania Nations ESWC" (see http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62 590%255...php?article_id=62590 and http://downloads.gamezone.com/demos/d14755.htm for dlnd) for my kids. I have downloaded it and installed/tested it once, before uninstalling and copying in on a USB key for transfer to the kid's machine.

This is a 2-month old Dell Latitude, and it hasn't ever been in contact with a _commercial_ game before (I guess that installing a free Sudoku generator does apply as a game...). Visual Studio & Office are the only commercial apps installed (next to a buch of free tools: Firefox, Thunderbird, GCC, etc...).

Anyway, it appears to me that the free game "TrackMania Nations ESWC" installs the malware. A quick series of searches through the EULA (I had not read it initially, too small window for viewing, requires copy-pasting elsewhere) did not reveal any info about the installation of StarForce.

"CD copy-protection" for a free game downloadable off the internet?
Can't blame Starforce for how its tech is (mis-)used?
I say this is pure malware in any case.

I always find it amusing when people slam the Gamecube because it's too kiddy. Invariably, people who make this claim don't own the console. Repeat after me: the Gamecube is not kiddy, despite repeated claims to the contrary.

Even if you're not looking at M-rated games, there are several excellent games that are enjoyable for all ages, including F-Zero GX, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime 1 & 2, Pikmin, and Viewtiful Joe. I'd also like to see a kid play Ikaruga for more than five minutes before moving on to something easier. Finally, the PS2 has games like Powerpuff Girls Relish Rampage, Monsters Inc., and Piglet's Little Game, while the XBox has such Triple-A titles as Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure, Tom and Jerry: The War of the Whiskers, and Fairly Odd Parents: Breakin' Da Rules. Does that mean that Microsoft and Sony were "gunning for the kiddie games company role" too? Cutesy graphics does not necessarily equal "kiddie games."

Chronicles of Riddick - Director's Cut

No, it's viral marketing ;p

My book covers 36 good learning principles built into good games like System Shock 2, Rise of Nations, Arcanum, or even Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. But there are many more. Let me just give a few examples. First, humans are terrible at learning when you give them lots and lots of verbal information ahead of time out of any context where it can be applied. Games give verbal information "just in time" when and where it can be used and "on demand" as the player realizes he or she needs it.

The best they will be able to do is just make a mafia game so they could just name it something else and avoide the whole "games based on movies suck" negitive image it will get right from the start.

They did, and they called it Mafia. I have this game, and I think it's EXACTLY what I was looking for. I was always a big fan of GTA:VC due to its Scarface plotline. It was totally based on Scarface, but enough not, that it's totally unique in it's own right, and a lot of fun to play. I always thought while playing VC "They need a MAFIA game like this, like The Godfather!" 'Gangsters' was a total flop IMO, but Mafia, I think, did it right, it's like Goodfellas, based in the times of The Godfather. It's a 1930s gangster game where you play the role of a soldier for the Mafia and work your way through. I was totally impressed with it. It's got a couple rough edges, but they're all forgivable.

"Dexter's Laboratory Game"

Do you mean this game?
Dexter's Lab: Mandark's Lab

..and i would like to add to that Neighbors from Hell (1&2) http://www.gamezone.com/gamesell/p20504.htm .Annoy your neighbor till he gets a heart attack!:) The next funniest game since the monkey series for me!

Bard's Tale is fondly remembered by me. It was, I think, my first RPG I ever played.

It's actually being remade. here's the offical link: http://www.thebardstale.com/

Here's a few reviews:
http://www.gamezone.com/gamesell/p22973.htm
and
http://www.pcgameworld.com/details.php/id/5184/ that one is a link to a mov of the game
here's another:
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/bards-tale/498130p1.html
and here's the last I grabbed for you:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/512/512557p1.html

You should take a look at the GBA versions of Splinter Cell and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.

Think franchise instead of port.

Free Unreal Tournament Mod, it's pretty slick!

link

When I just googled, I saw nothing of the like...

Maybe you need to look harder.

Have you tried Republic?

Well, you could always play Gods and Generals, review here.

However, the good reviews still pour in from GameZone and Ferrago.

I heard about this game about a month ago. Since that time, I can't fathom how much this game has endeared itself to me. As soon as I saw the lack of a good community website, I began to build one with the help of another community member with the same idea. Then I built a non-profit card store to help further the game, using osCommerce, located at scfans.net, though there are other resellers on the books, such as Gameguys and IBK, to be completely fair.

The bottom line is, in terms of pure gameplay fun, excitement, and community involvement (the developer, Paul aka Merakon, is on almost every evening, and his support in getting SCWatch.net up and running has been stellar to say the least.

If you dig a good strategy game, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I would say there is a large portion of sport geeks here in the UK. Although their main focus is Football. Just Look at the sales of a particular computer game Championship Manager here.

Has already happened. A few times, as I recall.

If they keep this up, in a few years time games could well have even overweight couch potatoes running for their lives. :-)

Jouni

Looking at the manufacturers of the games in question -
Dig Dug - Atari/Infogrames
Donkey Kong - Nintendo
Frogger - Konami
Mario - Nintendo
Pac Man - Midway
SWAT - Sega
Tron 2.0 (game)
Okay I think I may understand the Tron 2.0 given that a new PC game is soon to be released. The only other game that is still "current" with successful sequels is Mario. I can understand protecting all rights with those two. Frogger? Every sequel has sucked monkey nuts (Swampy's revenge anyone?). Dig Dug Deeper? The other games have found their way to the Best of Arcade CD's that retail for 9.95 at walmart and they don't even play as well as the cabinets.

In all reality they're going for the arcade game manuals though.. Not even the ROMs, so they're not even allowing the lawful owners of cabinets to get manuals without having to pay $9.95 to buy reproduction for a damn Frogger manual. I don't get it.

Has anyone tried to buy an original manual and then sue the IDSA for the difference between official/out-of-print price and the retail price? I'm tired of the "corp/little people" thing. I'm tired of the corporate squeeze on the most asinine stuff.
-B

Go out and buy yourself a copy of Boulder Dash EX for the GBA. It has the classic C64 game, as well as the updated story quest (complete with unlockables and more!).

Well worth it, and usually bargain priced.

A Fun PS2 game

Here you go.

Very poor taste.

Just not true:

"November marked the seventh consecutive month in which Xbox console sell-through outpaced that of Nintendo GameCube." GameZone.com

This was also confirmed by the author of "Opening the Xbox" Amazon who was interviewed on TechTV not too long ago who stated that total Xbox sales were significantly higher than the GC. BTW, the PS2 had an 18 month lead on Xbox and GC. A huge amount of time to build a game and player base.

Try supporting your "facts" next time.

That's true. They need something a little more honest. Rather than a big flashy abstract you have won, tell them what you're advertising.

For example, if I said by clicking here, you can enter a competition to win a video game (Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin) , you may feel like clicking on it. If you are interested, then the advertising was succesful. It told you about the existence of the game.

That was proably a lot more succesful than the flashy banner ads, less irritating because it doesn't flash, and it was totally honest about the benefits of clicking there. This may encourage people to click on it. It also has the benefit to advertiser that it is targetted at people who want to play video games, and it cannot be blocked by ad blocking software.

Incidentally, that competition was just a Google search for "Win a PC". I have no affiliation with the company.

Dragon's Lair or

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp,

but you do NOT need a DVD remote for the upcoming release of

Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.

Dragon's Lair or

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp,

but you do NOT need a DVD remote for the upcoming release of

Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.

Dragon's Lair or

Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp,

but you do NOT need a DVD remote for the upcoming release of

Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair.

All depends on what suits your fancy.

Reviews
More reviews
Guess what?
What?
Reviews!

All good resources.

As reported on The Register, which was really a repost of an article from Compuwire, AOL has announced that in its next upgrade to their AOL client for Apple's OS X, it will use Netscape by default. (And just for those who want another link, Spider-Man is cool).

Most people (well, me) assume this means that AOL is using the Macintosh crowd as a testing base, then will make the same move on the Windows side of things by changing their PC client's default from IE to Netscape. The move won't really hurt Microsoft - it will still own 80% of the browser market, and since both Netscape and Internet Explorer are free, neither company will start having shifts of money.

But this isn't so much about money, as it is about control. AOL knows that their are two reasons Microsoft pushes Internet Explorer. Control of standards, and control of eyeballs. With every Windows computer that ships, it has Internet Explorer on it. And it's home page is MSN, Microsoft's media system.

Control the Eyeballs!

Netscape, by comparison, points to Netscape.com - which contains the collective linked knowledge to all things AOL/Time Warner. Links to news articles on CNN, Cartoon Network, and all else.

It's about the eyeballs. AOL wants you to see Time/Warner stuff, Microsoft wants those eyeballs to check out MSN. Both companies have a lot to gain by keeping your attention. AOL/Time Warner wants you to know all about their movies (like the upcoming Power Puff Girls movie, or their cable channels, or their electronic entertainment partnerships, or, just as important, keeping you signed up with AOL.

MSN has its wants, with its line of cable shows, plus all of the other Microsoft goodies, like Gamezone, Hotmail, Expedia and other services - which keep you plugged into the Microsoft system, and keeps those dollars coming in.

Control the browser, control the world

Just as important as the eyeballs is the technology that drives what they see. At last year's E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), AOl and Sony demonstrated using AOL on the Playstation 2 system, at the same time that Sony talked about running Linux on the Playstation 2. Now, almost a year later, Sony is getting ready to start shipping their hard drive/Ethernet/modem combo unit for $150. And AOL sees a large market place - one where there are more TV's than computers, and a $200 Playstation 2 in plenty of homes.

Odds are, Microsoft isn't going to make Internet Explorer for the Playstation system (not with their own Xbox on the market) - let alone for Linux. But since AOL has been sponsoring the creation of Mozilla, the Open Source browser Netscape is based on. Mozilla has been ported to nearly every operating system in existence - Linux, Macintosh, Solaris, and, of course, Windows. And across all operating systems, it provides the same look and feel - so now it doesn't matter what operating system you're using to surf the web/check your mail/chat with your friends on - Netscape looks the same. And you can bet it will be easy enough to develop and port to the Playstation 2 as well.

The implications could drive a shift of development. Suppose you're a web developer at this second, and you want to make sure people visiting your web page see all the whiz bang stuff. Right now, you spend most of your time making sure that Internet Explorer sees the page perfectly - then concentrate on the other browsers out there. Microsoft is happy, because to make sure IE looks the best, odds are you'll use Microsoft technology, which means you're spending Microsoft money (note: not Microsoft Money - different thing).

Netscape, being built on Mozilla, is HTML 4.0 standards compliant. That means that anything written for Netscape is certain to work with every other browser out there - including Internet Explorer (as long as Microsoft codes IE to be fully HTML compliant).

So now the web developer, in a post AOL-switching-to-Netscape time, has a new choice. Program your web site for IE, then for all the others - or make your web site HTML 4.0 standards compliant, and know that all browsers will render it correct the first time. There will still be questions about plug-ins (like those who like to use Flash enabled web sites, but by changing that over to Java, which runs on as many operating systems as Mozilla, developers can code around that hurdle. HTML 4.0 standards mean that anyone's tools can be used - Open Source, proprietary, or otherwise. Which means less money to Microsoft, and more power everyone else.

Maybe the move to Netscape won't change the world overnight, or drive subscribers to AOL. But it keeps the competition between the two companies alive.

And for most of us, competition is a good thing.

As always, I'm John "Dark Paladin" Hummel. And that's my opinion.

Quake 4 is also being developed. Here's an old press release

EGM has a story that Doom3 might be released for the XBox first and then later for the PC. MS is also trying to get exclusive Xbox rights for Quake 4.

And now some Q4 screenshots screenshots. Although they may not be the best of quality.

The absolute best part about this is that you can get two Dreamcasts for $100. Anyone who has ever player VOOT for the Dreamcast knows that there's pretty much no console based multiplayer game that has ever gotten within miles of being as good as this game. With game prices falling, now's the chance to put together a head-to-head system that will still be playable and extremely enjoyable 10 years from now when the console is both dead and obsolete.

Don't believe me? The game is THAT good. I still play Lode Runner, and I'll be playing Virtual On ten years from now.