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I think the grand parent was "inspired" by this gag.

Microsoft might like that better than a big blank check.

They've combined two things I'd never watch into one convenient, easy-to-avoid program.

Seriously, besides the terrible but funny things I've heard about G4, I've never seen it and never really heard of TechTV either. Why would I watch TV when I've got the real thing?

They've combined two things I'd never watch into one convenient, easy-to-avoid program.

Seriously, besides the terrible but funny things I've heard about G4, I've never seen it and never really heard of TechTV either. Why would I watch TV when I've got the real thing?

They've combined two things I'd never watch into one convenient, easy-to-avoid program.

Seriously, besides the terrible but funny things I've heard about G4, I've never seen it and never really heard of TechTV either. Why would I watch TV when I've got the real thing?

No slashdot arcticle at all would be complete without a semi-relevent Penny Arcade link.

Without Penny Arcade's Review of G4TV!

this cartoon from penny arcade

Large amounts of chemicals must have inspired this suit - that's usually where I get my weirder ideas from.

So, it's a broken computer?

Hiring Huang as a security advisor means that this "free" computer will be harder to hack into a general purpose machine than an Xbox, that's all. I give it six months-- that is, running under the sickeningly optimistic assumption that the Phantom even gets made.

Can we get some confirmation that Huang was actually hired? Specifically from Huang himself? Infinium has a habit of lying about who they're associated with, you know.

Normal person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Fuckwad.

PA

I've come to trust PA for game review and commentary, so here is a link to their review of the game here.

Gabe makes a point to say that it will be hard to find in stores. I do remember people complaining that Disgea was impossible to find. I haven't been to a game store since its release, so I'm curious to know if he is right. Has anyone been able, or not been able to find it?

is brief and evocative.

is brief and evocative.

Here.

OK : the battlefield series. As illustrated by this penny-arcade strip

I'm obviously biased, but it seems to me that a "gaming" channel is pretty specialized (catering only to a small audience of hard-core gamers), while a tech channel might be of more general interest.

I could imagine putting gamer shows on a tech channel, but I don't really see tech shows being at home on a gaming channel. So it looks to me like they killed the wrong channel.

I used to get TechTV -- it had some interesting shows. In fact, it's probably the only reason I'd consider digital cable. On the other hand, I'd never consider purchasing a "gamer" channel. Not my thing. Expecially considering my knowledge of G4 comes from Penny Arcade:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-10 -28
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-05 -16

I'm obviously biased, but it seems to me that a "gaming" channel is pretty specialized (catering only to a small audience of hard-core gamers), while a tech channel might be of more general interest.

I could imagine putting gamer shows on a tech channel, but I don't really see tech shows being at home on a gaming channel. So it looks to me like they killed the wrong channel.

I used to get TechTV -- it had some interesting shows. In fact, it's probably the only reason I'd consider digital cable. On the other hand, I'd never consider purchasing a "gamer" channel. Not my thing. Expecially considering my knowledge of G4 comes from Penny Arcade:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-10 -28
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-05 -16

Apparently Penny Arcade agrees that people plus an audience plus anonymity equals a breeding ground for people to do stupid stuff.

-jdm

Plus there are bears outside.

That reminds me of something... but what... ah yes, here it is!

he he --- funny enough, a technology recently investigated by Penny-Arcade here

http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-05 -24&res=l

I don't think you're being fair. Pandora Tomorrow is a fine name, compared to what they could have chosen.

Kind of like how Pong was so popular because of its story? Then Ms. Pac-Man totally had a better story, which is why it was so popular. Super Mario Bros. had the best story yet. Then there was Doom... Man, that Doom story took at least a paragraph to tell. It owned.

Story is sometimes important, but it is possibly the most overrated element (maybe graphics are). Look at the FMV games that focused on story and Square's Bouncer. These are games that worried about story. Chris Crawford has been focused on stories for years and nobody remembers who he is... How did Deux Ex2 do with its great story? :) A story can't make up for medicore game play

I don't think Half Life was even that popular on the console. Why not? Same story... Probably because FPS work best with the keyboard mouse so the game itself just wasn't as fun as it was on the PC. Half Life never even got a cartoon like Street FighterII. My point is even though Half Life was popular in a niche you know what games completely killed it in terms of popularity, even if you limit yourself to the PC? The Sims and Roller Coaster Tycoon. Those are fun "sand box" games. No story unless you want to make one up. Sports games like NHL Hockey 200x and party games like Eye Toy and Mario also do extremely well without stories. License games also do very well.

Take a look at the top 30 games. You can see there are games in there with story elements like Ninja Gaiden (currently in 1st place), but is it at the top because there is compelling character development or because you get to be a Ninja? I'd say because it is cool to be a ninja. There is basically no story, at least no compared to a book, or even a sitcom for that matter. Doors open, hundreds of faceless ninjas pop out, and you remoreslessly kill them for 95% of the time you are playing the game. There is only a bit of down time to pace the game where you get story hints, right? Here is the story for Ninja Gaiden.

The bottom line is games need to be fun. I'll admit I loved Half Life and I'm totally looking forward to the 2nd one probably because of the story, but the gfx, sound, and story are like icing on the cake. There needs to be a fundementally enjoyable experince there for the game to succeed. If they can give you a little break between levels to pace things out and put in a compelling story then even better. I thought Star Craft did that well. The thing you do is "Build a base and kill the other base", but with a story behind it. Same with Grand Theft Auto. "drive from point A to B", but sometimes you're picking something up, other times you're dropping something off.

Worry about a fun game first of all and once you've got that get an advanced graphics engine and write a good story. Don't do it the other way around like Bouncer.

There are already some good writers out there. People eat up comics like VGCats and Penny Arcade. Why not tap these guys as consultants or writers instead of coming into the culture as an outsider?

Indeed. You'd better work M$ in there too ;-)

"Your star burns!"

I'm assuming that you saw today's Penny Arcade?

Where have I heard that joke before? Oh yeah, Penny Arcade.

...unfortunately, I'm not sure it was all positive. I'm quite certain that one of the hospital scenes in MP2 was the first time I thought to myself, "Enough of the fucking back story already. I want to play!"

The Max Payne team, and Sam Lake in particular, should be commended for bringing a level of depth to the story that most games in the genre have never even attempted. But there are a lot of people who believe that all that great story came at the price of disrupting the balance between exposition and gameplay. Plus, there are plenty of people who thought that the story just sucked.

On a side note: anyone else notice the resemblance between Max Payne story author Sam Lake, and Mr. Needs a Maalox himself?

Not that I am one to disagree, because I've never played the sequel, but MP2 has long been a butt of joke after joke because of the dialouge. All this despite the fact that everyone agrees that the game itself is very good. But it sounds as though you are talking about the story more than the game, and thusly the dialouge more than the play.

I think not. Penny Arcade, as usual, puts it best.

> games like Tomb Raider held my attention much longer than some basic arcade style game.
> ...
> not some 2d game that offers no change upon repeated plays. (emphasis mine)

Hmm...

Couldn't possibly been becuase of the bump maps now could it have?
(shamelessly stolen from PA)

This reminds me of the Penny Arcade strip about the new Tribes game... When is the RIAA just going to let it go?

And see this rather funny comic on the subject.

I agree with you. When people play together, it should be in the name of fun. When one player decides that his winning is more fun than everyone else's then he is an asshole. Worse, when cheesing, it often isn't even about fun for them, it's about kill counts or ego. I don't see spawn campers laughing a lot, bragging yes, but no real joy.

And this guy is a hypocritical prick too. He tells people to get better at the games and then says,
"In Soul Calibur II, I use only two moves with Raphael--not because I hate variety but because I don't have the time to study each character's wide array of attacks and defenses"
In other words, it's only you that needs to get better. And I'll bet that once you do get better, he'll want to play another game or stop playing entirely. He doesn't like whining because it annoys him, but he cheeses even though he knows it annoys people. What a prick. Exactly the type of person that ruins online games, the type of person adressed in this Penny Arcade comic.

As far as I'm concerned this isn't about language, it's about behavior and courtesy. Consider all the assholes on TV and the radio that still come up clean as far as the FCC is concerned.

Consider. You can scrub their language until you're blue in the face, but they're still assholes and they still detract from the gaming experience of paying customers.

And, conversely, it is possible to be polite while still swearing like the proverbial sailor.

I really couldn't care less about the Olsen twins otherwise (and I know I'm probably the only guy here who doesn't have their 18th birthday marked on a calendar somewhere), but anybody who goes after Acclaim makes them alright in my book. May they go bankrupt and take their copies of BMX XXX with them.

Acclaim should declare they're now developing exclusively for the Phantom. The two deserve each other.

.. but WHERE is your other hand

but seriously, back away from the computers, the men in white coats will be here shortly.

don't worry, everything is going to be ok.

Yeah, this isn't about PC games in general, but Penny Arcade definitely addressed this.

Penny Arcade Link

Cushion your audio portable.

Here's a good one for hacking your game boy advance.

No, she's just... she's kinda straightening that picture.

The other obligatory PA reference.

Obligatory PA Reference

Me to the rescue!

Dancing Robot 1
Dancing Robot 2

Me to the rescue!

Dancing Robot 1
Dancing Robot 2