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This problem is very eloquently explained by Penny Arcade here

That was indeed Penny Arcade. Don't recall exactly how it went, but it was something like this;

Kid: I'd like to buy a copy of Quake 3 Arena please. Oh, and a shotgun.
Shop owner: Ooh, no can do on the game kid. Those things are DANGEROUS! Shotgun's no problem though. You huntin' game or people?

Alternatively there's http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-08 -11&res=l

It never fails to amaze me how people are unable to take responsibility for their own actions, instead blaming games, movies, music, . Yeah, sure, little Billy was corrupted by Manhunt...AFTER YOU BLATANTLY IGNORED THE 18 RATING ON THE DAMN THING AND BOUGHT IT FOR HIM ANYWAY WHEN HE WAS SIX YEARS OLD! Sure, I'd rather the 16-year-old on the street had a copy of GTA than an M16...but why let him have either?

World of Warcraft.

Seriously, I'm going to spend about an hour telling a friend how to put his old machine back togethor (simply put in a HD) and I get that much closer to getting my in-game horse.

Penny Arcade's take on the horse situation

Yeah.. Puppy Helmet! Popcorn Eyeglasses! Peanut-Butter Monkey!!

--grendel drago

Micro$oft? Get a life fucker.

Damn my human legs!!

1. It appears to be Natalie Portman Day at Penny Arcade.

2. IBM Would be the monopoly?
3. Apple would be the monopoly?
4. AT&T would be hte monopoly?
5. Due to 4, Linux might not have existed? Perhaps *BSD would have a larger foothold?

Good points all. As to the downward spiral effect, this only applies when the market is saturated with a small number of large companies. Which is why a lot of movies are not all that great these days. People want 'cool' movies, so the big 3 or 4 studios make those, and independent studios must struggle for the leftover market share with what you and I would think of as a superior product.

What you have described has already happened in the game industry though. About when the PS1 was released, many developers started developing more movie tie-ins (how many were there in the late 80s early 90s? Some, but not nearly as many) and making more me-too titles. However, the gaming industry is basically still in it's adolescence, so there is still room for a lot of growth in the middle and at the edges of the market. The PS2 library is a perfect example. I can find 100 titles I would never play, but still easily find 10 or 15 I'm dying to try. So in a nutshell, you're not paranoid, they really are out to get you. :)

Like them or not (I do) Penny Arcade rather succinctly described this phenomenon a while back.

The gaming industry is increasingly motivated by profits for major conglomerates (the EA sports deal comes to mind), not even just little publisher shops anymore. In an environment like that, you have to have companies that are willing to use the profits from a major hit series to fund development on more groundbreaking items. Better yet, support a studio with a history of groundbreaking games (Bungie anyone?) and let them keep doing what they do best. Even then, what the masses want is what's going to fill the shelves in most cases. We're lucky to see any creativity at all sometimes, and creativity in a sequel, well, that's just unheard of in many cases. Scott McCloud wrote about this in the context of comics. Penny Arcade covered some of this in a series a few years ago.

The gaming industry is increasingly motivated by profits for major conglomerates (the EA sports deal comes to mind), not even just little publisher shops anymore. In an environment like that, you have to have companies that are willing to use the profits from a major hit series to fund development on more groundbreaking items. Better yet, support a studio with a history of groundbreaking games (Bungie anyone?) and let them keep doing what they do best. Even then, what the masses want is what's going to fill the shelves in most cases. We're lucky to see any creativity at all sometimes, and creativity in a sequel, well, that's just unheard of in many cases. Scott McCloud wrote about this in the context of comics. Penny Arcade covered some of this in a series a few years ago.

The gaming industry is increasingly motivated by profits for major conglomerates (the EA sports deal comes to mind), not even just little publisher shops anymore. In an environment like that, you have to have companies that are willing to use the profits from a major hit series to fund development on more groundbreaking items. Better yet, support a studio with a history of groundbreaking games (Bungie anyone?) and let them keep doing what they do best. Even then, what the masses want is what's going to fill the shelves in most cases. We're lucky to see any creativity at all sometimes, and creativity in a sequel, well, that's just unheard of in many cases. Scott McCloud wrote about this in the context of comics. Penny Arcade covered some of this in a series a few years ago.

The gaming industry is increasingly motivated by profits for major conglomerates (the EA sports deal comes to mind), not even just little publisher shops anymore. In an environment like that, you have to have companies that are willing to use the profits from a major hit series to fund development on more groundbreaking items. Better yet, support a studio with a history of groundbreaking games (Bungie anyone?) and let them keep doing what they do best. Even then, what the masses want is what's going to fill the shelves in most cases. We're lucky to see any creativity at all sometimes, and creativity in a sequel, well, that's just unheard of in many cases. Scott McCloud wrote about this in the context of comics. Penny Arcade covered some of this in a series a few years ago.

The gaming industry is increasingly motivated by profits for major conglomerates (the EA sports deal comes to mind), not even just little publisher shops anymore. In an environment like that, you have to have companies that are willing to use the profits from a major hit series to fund development on more groundbreaking items. Better yet, support a studio with a history of groundbreaking games (Bungie anyone?) and let them keep doing what they do best. Even then, what the masses want is what's going to fill the shelves in most cases. We're lucky to see any creativity at all sometimes, and creativity in a sequel, well, that's just unheard of in many cases. Scott McCloud wrote about this in the context of comics. Penny Arcade covered some of this in a series a few years ago.

Someone found something of interest that could possibly be linked to the Revolution on the Penny Arcade Forums. It's probably not directly linked, but it may share similar technologies with the upcoming Revolution.

This poor child has to face both stereotypes.

And im not blaming Bu$h, but the coperate infiltrators in the senate.

This seemed appropriate.

• Why can't these people do an awards show instead of Spike TV?
  
• The games are not all based on hype, Katamari Damacy won two awards.
  
• EA's Madden series did not win! Sega won! Be joyful, EA haters.
  

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2005-01 -26

Go here.... http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-11 -03 and take not of the bottom

...someone stupid hurt themselves with their product, because the warning label did not state something that should have been common sense.

Heh, reminds me of a Billy Connolly recording I have, where he expresses his dismay at finding a "do not use in the shower" warning label on a hairdryer in a hotel room. My god, anyone stupid enough to do something like that deserves whatever happens to them!

I'm sorry I was unable to process any useful information your post had because some peculiar spelling distracted me

"M$" hey?

Well...duh...You should KNOW that you cant side with Jesus on anything...he's a sore winner...

Anyway, I'll watch it on video.

And despite what my husband thinks, I don't actually play WoW while cooking.

Heh.

Does he not play, or has he become jealous of you leveling up without him?

nice.

Obligatory links.

nice.

Obligatory links.

Ico was incredible.(played the whole thing in an afternoon-evening cause I couldn't stop) But so was (IMHO) Prince of Persia Sands of Time.

It's fine to say that Metroid , Sunshine, and Zelda were "more of the same humdrum", but I remeber clearly in each case an entire cadre of console fans that were planning on hating all of those games because they deviated so signifigantly from their predecessors.

Sure there were aspects that remained contstant, for instance all Mario games have had gravity. C'mon, there are certain things that will stay consistant. Maybe it's because I just wait for Zelda, Mario and Metroid but I would say that Nintendo's ratio of games to games that were special was really good. Just because it's a sequel doesn't mean it has to be bad.

Let me guess, you thought the original xbox controller was just about the right size?

won't be long before they release a M$ Photoshop (a booty version of M$Paint)

When you're writing these posts, do you ever say aloud, "I stab at thee, Bill Gates"

First, the illusion of anonymity -- an illusion because Internet use can be easily tracked -- leads to disinhibition.

This is known.

That's exactly what FFXI did.

Now, let's see, how popular was that system? Widely criticised by players and reviewers alike. Criticised in this very thread, even. Would I have played WoW nearly as religiously if not for the fact that my friends have been joining the server I am on? No.

I played FFXI. I found it exceedingly drab without my friends. Especially given how ridiculously focused on grouping that game became above level 10-15. I want to group with my friends, not some random group of people which is likely to contain at least one idiot who gets us killed numerous times. Even after I could afford to buy world passes (one is not so expensive. buying 10 starts to hurt pretty quickly) my friends didn't want to leave the characters they had been mucking about on and start again at level 1.

WoW is a breath of fresh air. My friends and I are forming a guild. We group *all the time* even though we don't really need to, we help each other out with quests. It's fantastic. I'll take the lag and moderate downtime gladly as long as they don't fuck around with my social circle.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-09 -20&res=l

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-06 -23

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-09 -20&res=l

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-06 -23

I'd contest that the PS2 lacks 'hardcore' appeal, or really that 'hardcore' appeal matters. The PS2 has had many games that could be described as Hardcore, from Final Fantasy Online to Devil May Cry to Rez. The PS2 has had a lot of great exclusives in it's lifetime. Ratchet and Clank, Metal Gear Solid, ICO, Katamari Damacy, the Silent Hill series, Tekken, Onimusha, Kingdom Hearts, Xenosaga, Hot Shots Golf, *Plug* Amplitude, Eyetoy: AntiGrav */Plug*

The PS2 did well during it's early days because of Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid 2, Gran Turismo, Tony Hawk, Max Payne, SSX, Final Fantasy, Virtua Fighter 4, and a bunch of other great games. It also ran uncontested during a period of the console cycle when people were in a buying mood. The Dreamcast died because it launched at a dead spot during people's buying cycles. People had just got PS1's En Masse, and asking them to switch again to a moderately more powerful system was just foolish. People weren't ready. On the other hand, if you had Dreamcasts that would put you at ripe for a new console about when the XBox started strutting it's stuff, which makes sense. I don't recall any of this so-called developer pinching... Any links?

But no system is without their exclusive must-try games. The GameCube has the astoundingly great and totally original Metroid Prime, an excellent Treasure title in Ikaruga, a great Zelda, Resident Evil 4, Pikmin 2, the highly original Harvest Moon series, the excellent and gimmocky Crystal Chronicles and 4 Swords Adventures, Donkey Konga, Wario Ware, etc. No hardcore gamer that appreciates the art can afford to ignore the gamecube.

The Xbox's online capabilities are excellent, but remember that even with XBox live, only 10% of all gamers ever bring their console online. It also only pushes about 50% more polys than the PS2, which when it comes to gaming terms is not a significant difference. The XBox does have some great exclusives, such as Halo, Ninja Gaiden, and Crimson Skies, but I don't need to convince you of that. I do really hope that with the next generation of hardware, everyone emulates XBox's online capabilities. On the other hand, I'm not looking forward to the headache of implementing and debugging all of that online capability, but oh well. All for the fans.

But really, everyone defines 'hardcore' as something different. To me the hardcore gamer has all three of the current platforms, and most of the past ones as well. I'd consider someone hardcore if they owned a SuperGraphix, a Final Fantasy Wonderswan, or possibly just a Neo Geo. A Dreamcast, Virtual Boy, Jaguar, or 3DO bought after they were obviously dead systems might also suffice if there were mitigating circumstances. Most of the publishers I've talked to consider hardcore players to be owners of two systems, who spend over X hours a week on videogames, and who buy more than N titles a month. You, apparently, are defining hardcore people as those whom you see on XBox live. Hence, if you're trying to appeal to "hardcore" people because you think they buy more games, you really need to break that down into the demographic that you think that you're getting. If you're trying to appeal to "hardcore" gamers because you think that only they will understand your genius design, then you need to look at why your system is so impossible to use (MOO3, anyone?). If on the other hand, you're trotting out the name of the 'hardcore' gamer because you want some cred for your argument, you need to find a better backing. Who are these hardcore gamers, specifically, and what is it about the [ NES / SNES / Genesis / TG16 / Sega CD / 3DO / N64 / Saturn / Playstation / Jaguar / Dreamcast / PS2 / XBox / Game Cube / PS3 / XBox 2 / Game Tetrahedron ] that makes them feel that it [ Roxxors / Suxxors / Blows 'yo Mamma / Is going to rule over all ].

And in summary, a Penny Arcade cartoon.

Penny Arcade explains it perfectly.

You have to spend 1500 gil on a worldpass to get your friends on your server. The average mob you fight at that level drops items or gil itself worth about 10 gil. Needless to say, it takes a bit to earn enough for a worldpass, and even then, it costs more than equipment you'd need to play the game, so...

To fix that, they implemented server caps and a line that could take TWO HOURS to get in and play.

The queue system was actually there at the initial release and was something they took out after doubling the server capacity. It's sad that they've had to reinstate it..

Penny Arcade has more.. http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php3?date=2005-01 -19

...here.

3 Words:

Tycho and Gabe

3 Words:

Tycho and Gabe

Almost as good as the real thing...

How about a link to the comic that'll work after Wednesday?

Here is PA's take on the new bot.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm watching him watch his Sims watch TV."

Now it's going to be:

"I'm watching him watch TV to watch the Sims so he can vote for what the Sims watch on TV."

Wow! With this new TV show, I can turn on the TV and watch the Sims watch TV!

(Apologies to Penny Arcade)

Luckily someone managed to revert the Wikipedia article before too many people saw it.

Perhaps before posting a story with a link to a Wikipedia article, the Slashdot editors could e-mail the Wikipeople to place a temporary lock on the mentioned article. That would be the best compromise between allowing anonymous, open group collaboration whilst countering the trolls.

As the great philosopher John Gabriel theorises, the large audience and relative anonymity of the internet can make good people do bad things.

You seem to have already sent the email, so in this case the "peer review" you're submitting to will necessarily come too late to make any sort of a difference. But I'll give you my opinion anyway: If anything, your letter is making the situation worse.

There may be a few esoteric points of open-source philosophy and ideology that the article author is "not getting", but given the audience I hardly think emphasising those aspects of the issue would have been a good thing for him to do. Actually, reading the article it strikes me as quite possible that the author in fact does "get it", and just chose to gloss over a few points to focus on what the article was meant to be: A product review.

You, on the other hand, show with your letter that there are many other much more important things that *you* are "not getting". For example, you seem to have no idea what ActiveX is, or alternatively no idea what ASP is, yet you choose to discuss them as if you did.

You're also "not getting" what the article author himself is saying: Your annoyingly snotty-sounding dismantling of his article ends off with a long ramble brought on by an upbraiding of his calling the lack of ActiveX support a bug, when he in fact did no such thing. Notice the critical "also" in the second sentence you quote under your "thirdly" point. He is saying that Firefox has bugs, and that it *also* can't run ActiveX programs. In other words, he recognizes that the problem is not a bug, but it's quite patently true that the lack of ActiveX support will be a problem for a significant percentage of potential users.

And to top it all off your letter is terribly badly written, not to mention inflammatory in an "i'm better than you because I use Linux" sort of way (Windows and Mac obsolete? Come on!). Basically you come off as a perfect example of the MS-bashing kid in parent's basement stereotype.

Maybe the same motives applied for inventing this toaster...

Reminds me of a Penny Arcade a while back . . .

http://penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-09-27& res=l

Huh? Sounds like a simple expansion of JG's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory, only with overly complicated philosophy undergrad words. Simpler explanations with more insight are usually more impressive, BTW, than statements of the obvious couched in obscure terms.