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who needs the 'recent' hits? by muel · 2004-09-01 21:08 · Score: 2, Funny · on Acclaim Entertainment Files for Bankruptcy

I mean, didn't everyone assume that Acclaim could rest its laurels on its old super-hot franchise?

You know what I'm talkin' 'bout... IGGY'S RECKING BALLS. The one where a bunch of balls, you know, "recked" each other.

Yup. All five of you balls-lovers remember that one, I'm sure.

(let's see how long until someone combines the trucking, olsen and recking game titles......)

Re:Agreed by typobox43 · 2004-08-31 14:22 · Score: 2, Informative · on Nintendo DS To Allow Free VoIP Calls

Voice recognition... like Mario Party 6? Or, a bit farther back, Hey You, Pikachu?

Re:Are you retarded? by jest3r · 2004-08-31 01:04 · Score: 4, Insightful · on Rio Reveals iPod Mini Slayer

If it it plays music and is easy to use (and yes, it can be easy to use without using a clickwheel) it will sell.

The Rio Carbon "iPod Mini Slayer" has been available in black for over a year now; it was actually released months before the iPod mini albiet at 1.5GB.

It was one of the first "mini" players to offer everything the iPod offered and more ... in a small thin case to boot. With no iPod Mini in sight the player actually had no competition. So why didn't it sell?

Marketing. The early adopters had already bought their players so the only market left was the masses. The masses are easily influenced by style. Stylish ads, stylish interface, stylish software, stylish player.

Reviews of the black Rio Nitrus were luke-warm at best. Most people agreed that the player itself was stylish, but the interface was clunky, the software was garbage, and there were no stylish ads to say otherwise.

Lets face it, every player plays MP3 ... The masses don't really care whether or not the player has OGG support or lossless audio support. So when all things are equal the style factor kicks in.

This new Rio Carbon is a true testament to the success of Apples approach to marketing style. They have duplicated it right down to the box.

Unfortunately by doing so there is really no good reason for the masses to jump onboard. When mom or dad is buying an MP3 player for Christmas and they have to choose between the $249 5GB Rio Carbon or the $249 4GB iPod Mini which box do you think they will reach for?

Direct Links to the Videos by a5cii · 2004-08-29 14:01 · Score: 2, Interesting · on The Cliff Show: Epic's CliffyB Interviewed

http://xfersf02.ign.com/%5E1989086416/movies/strea mingmovies.ign.com/docroot/pc/article/542/542143/t hecliffshow_ep1_part2_wmvlow.wmv?position=front

part 1 seems to be unavailable

you might be right... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-27 04:31 · Score: 0 · on Microsoft Portable Media Center Reviewed

I met horace luke a while back, and he had an early protype of a similar device.

Licence to print cash by Snaapy · 2004-08-24 01:06 · Score: 5, Interesting · on Sims 2 Goes Gold

I hope Will Wright gets his royalties. No doubt, The Sims is the best selling game idea ever. HC players might not like The Sims, but it's something large crowds want to play.

The Sims Franchise Celebrates Three Years at the Top (feb. 2003)

The Sims franchise has shipped over 24 million units, including more than eight million units of the core product, The Sims.

Since the launch in 2000, The Sims franchise has spawned five expansion packs and a deluxe, console, and online version. The Sims has been translated into more than 17 languages and is sold worldwide.

According to The NPD Group, The Sims base product was the number one selling PC game in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

The Sims franchise games held five of the top ten spots on the 2002 best-selling PC games in North America chart, released by The NPD Group.

The game's long list of honors has included being selected "Game of the Year" for 2000 by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and by numerous other publications in the United States and abroad. The creator of The Sims, Will Wright, was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in February 2002, joining such industry legends as Sid Meier and Shigeru Miyamoto. Will Wright has also been recognized by ISDA in 2002 for his extraordinary body of work and enduring legacy he has established in the interactive entertainment industry.

Its all about the money.... by Thieron · 2004-08-23 07:57 · Score: 1 · on Lucas to Make Sequels to Star Wars After All?

If he can put out movies like the Prequels and make hundreds of millions why not put out 3 more. I'm sure the writing and directing must be so tiring for him but....

The only hope is that he really does decide that he can't handle the workload of making hundreds of millions on the most basic writing anyone could come up with and have someone else write and direct it.

If you want an idea of what Lucas thinks of the art of filmmaking (and basically what he has managed to build his entire empire, hee hee, off of). Check out this from an interview with Gary Kurtz, a producer on Star Wars and Empire.
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/376/376873p1.htm l

In reference to Lucas' changes in going from Amaerican Graffitti to Empire.

"I think the most unfortunate thing that happened was the fact that Indiana Jones came along, and Raiders of the Lost Ark had come out in between. George and I had many, many discussions about that, but it boiled down to the fact that he became convinced that all the audience was interested in was the roller-coaster ride, and so the story and the script didn't matter anymore."

Bungie, FASA, Rare are safe... by ribond · 2004-08-20 08:59 · Score: 1 · on Microsoft To Close Xbox Sports Game Studio

Bungie is still a separate, distinct studio entity @ ms.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/081/081081p1.html?fromi nt=1/

Ed Fries: This is really a new thing. We're going to try and keep the Bungie guys together, and keep it branded, and really keep it as a studio within my [Microsoft Games] group. It's really more the direction I want to go, with a collection of studios, rather than one big group.

They're safe. The reality here isn't quite as bad as it sounds. Yes, they've tanked the studio but did anyone care about those games? I know I gave away my copy of NFL Fever 200? and never missed it. They really weren't capturing a market -- nobody was waiting with baited breath for the latest Fever release like they do for Madden, EA titles, etc..

I don't think that the FASA guys or RARE (both MS-owned now) are up nights wondering if they might be in the same boat... they know what they bring to the table.

...And the employees aren't getting tossed out the door either -- there are ~30,000 MS employees in the same region (pacific northwest) and these ~200 people can get absorbed by turnover/open positions inside the company.

Re:64DD by stylee · 2004-08-20 04:29 · Score: 1 · on Nintendo Patents Online Console Gaming

I doubt that. I read the articles from Gamespot and IGN. Basically, they said that a nintendo rep confirmed that the patent was for a N64DD add on. But if you read the actual patent it is very broad and specifically states that the N644DD system was an example implementation and the technology could be used on any existing gaming system and doesn't have to be an add on. I think that Nintendo is keeping their cards close to their chest on this. I think that Gamepot and IGN dropped the ball. They should have read the patent closer and asked Nintendo some specifc questions.

N64 DD by CommanderData · 2004-08-20 02:36 · Score: 2, Informative · on Nintendo Patents Online Console Gaming

Technically, Nintendo has done most of this stuff first with it's miserable failure, the N64 64DD accessory which was released in Japan in 1999. It wasn't a hard drive, but it was read/write storage on a spinning disc in 1999. It also included a modem to access an online service (In Japan). Not many were produced or sold. This device gives muscle behind the original 1999 filing, but not the ammendments.

Everything you wanted to know about the 64DD...

Re:And punish legitimate users? by halowolf · 2004-08-19 00:24 · Score: 1 · on Controversial StarForce Copy Protection Creators Quizzed

Its more than me that buys games. Did I say I was the only one? Please don't be so melodramatic. We are talking about game piracy prevention, not terrorism.

Of course games companies have an econimic interest to protect, of course they want to make money, its how games are financed. Publishers too, they have to distribute these things and make a profit. This world that we have created for ourselves requires money. Publisher's should feel threatened, when HL2 launches I'm expecting Steam to show us that game developers like Valve can directly publish their games without the the need of publishers or distributers. In effect they become the publisher and distributors. Of course the finance for game development must come from somewhere and the established developers probably don't have much of a worry when it comes to money, but the smaller developer startups need to get finance from somewhere in such a risky industry.

I personally think that securing software with physical media in the users hand is perfectly ridiculous as a security mechanism. It doesn't work. Securing software where all the keys to its security is in the users hands really, just doesn't work.

Software distribution through the likes of Steam I think would be great. You can get games the moment they are released world wide and you could get rid of the middleman and actually reduce the price of the games as a consequence (though personally I believe they will just rather pad their profits instead).

Many businesses are still stuck in their rut of physical distribution and will need to be dragged into their future kicking and screaming. XBOX live will soon start electronically distributing games. Adminitedly it isn't HL2 but its a start for a BIG name to electronicly distribute. Though Steam was definately there first, and I suppose Valve would be considered BIG too :)

There is nothing I would like more than to start to force publishers to publish in alternative ways rather than the lock-ins they are presently tying us down with (especially in consoles). But just because we wish it to be so and because the internet allows the free distribution of information doesn't mean we automatically inherit a right to have things go our way. As always we must put up a fight to get what we want.

We as consumers have the true power, and if we could get collectivly organised enough to wield that power any company can be brought into line with our expectations (however that is quite a naive view on my part).

Re:Nintendo has award winners... but... by SamNmaX · 2004-08-15 16:01 · Score: 1 · on Wario Ware Grabs Edinburgh Games Festival Award

It may be better to have a great game like Viewtiful Joe available on other consoles, but then what is left to distinguish one console from the others?

I'm not sure if you are suggesting it would be a good thing for the gaming world if a game was on *less* systems, but ignoring that, Viewtiful Joe will be coming out for the PS2.

Re:For me Sega has always been brilliant by Anonymous Coward · 2004-08-14 08:00 · Score: 0 · on A Look Back at Sonic the Hedgehog

try Eternal Arcadia.

For me Sega has always been brilliant by mingrassia · 2004-08-14 05:47 · Score: 5, Informative · on A Look Back at Sonic the Hedgehog

This may be a bit off topic, but here I go ...

Reading articles like this really upset me. Sega is (or was) a brilliant company. For years I was amazed by the risks that Sega would take to release some really brilliant games. While everyone else (i.e. Sony and Nintendo) were releasing the same old first-person shooters and guaranteed sellers, Sega was taking real risks with trying new types of games. Some of my favorite Dreamcast examples are ...

I'm sure there are some I'm forgeting.

The Sega Dreamcast was an absolutely great console. The games for it were bizarre, but brilliant and amazingly fun. Their biggest mistake(s) was not basing it on DVD and of course their partnering with MS. The death of the Dreamcast marked a severe turning point in my thinking. It was when Sega announced the death of the Dreamcast that I truly became a hater of MS and it marked the end of me being an enthusiastic gamer. Forget the XBox and the PS2, when I want to play some fun games I still turn on my Dreamcast

As a side note I would have loved to be in the room during the meeting when the idea for Samba De Amigo was pitched ... "A monkey with maracas and dancing?"