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Domain: tigrs.org

Stories and comments across the archive that link to tigrs.org.

Comments · 10

  1. Re:When was the last LAN party you went to? by tepples · · Score: 1 · on The Evolution of Multiplayer Games and Online Play
    There are two paths: either A. Windows continues to allow administrators to install unsigned or self-signed code, and indies work around some of the obstacles that the major publishers put in the way; or B. PCs that run Windows gain code signing with enforced verification back to a trusted root list that a computer's administrator cannot modify and in the process become Xbox consoles. Option B would only serve to drive the enterprise (which depends on custom Windows apps) toward Wine/Linux on the desktop, so we can reject it for now because the enterprise is Microsoft's cash cow even more than Windows gaming. I'd like you to explain these changes in the competitive environment to see how option A would play out.

    As major corporations continue turning the games industry into a Movies/Music style business venture, they'll use all the same tactics those industries use against indie developers: Ratings agencies to enforce decency, and which are owned by the big players.

    Indie games have their own set of decency self-certification marks called TIGRS that are sufficient for publishers using the download or disc-through-mail distribution channels.

    Cross promotions and restrictive deals.

    Please explain what they are so I can tell how they would affect an indie game based on an original set of copyrights.

    Emphasis on costly aspects (3D models/textures, big movie explosions, bands' stadium performances) and minimizing what's open for everyone to produce in the medium (good game play, character development and dialog, musical skill)

    Encouraging players to require these costly aspects hasn't worked in the App Store, so why would it work elsewhere?

    Legal changes from bought politicians.

    Please explain what they are so I can tell how they would affect an indie game based on an original set of copyrights, especially how they would mesh with freedom of speech that the supreme laws of the United States and some other countries guarantee.

    Corruption of reviewers and education/training to be biased towards their products.

    Digital restrictions management debacles, such as the Sony XCP rootkit and activation bottlenecks of Half-Life 2-era Steam and later Spore, are already countering this bias.

  2. If I made a game... by Stormwatch · · Score: 2, Insightful · on ESRB Eyeballing Ratings For iPhone Games

    ...I'd use TIGRS rather than ESRB.

  3. Does "rated other than by ESRB" mean rated? by tepples · · Score: 1 · on GameStop Cracks Down on Underage Game Sales

    No major retailer will sell unrated games. But will they sell games rated through systems other than the ESRB? If not, then how much is the ESRB paying the retail chains to be their exclusive ratings organization?
  4. Remember PICS? by tepples · · Score: 1 · on Vista To Be An Indie Games Killer?

    Microsoft gives it to them, because it actually is a potentially useful new feature that they can tack onto their aging and unexciting product. There's no other way to accomplish the same thing without setting up a pseudo-ESRB of their own, which is equally pointless.

    Microsoft could have built in functionality for parents to allow use of TIGRS self-certification, just as it built support for PICS labels generated by ICRA's form into IE.

  5. What about systems other than ESRB? by tepples · · Score: 1 · on Vista Casts A Pall On PC Gaming?

    anything that might require all games to have ESRB ratings is just plain stupid Yes, but this isn't the case. Unrated games are controlled as unrated games. Does your definition of "unrated" include games rated on a system other than ESRB, such as the TIGRS self-certification?
  6. ESRB only? by tepples · · Score: 1 · on Vista Casts A Pall On PC Gaming?

    Windows doesn't know if something is a game or not unless it's in MS's list.

    How about a heuristic involving values passed to the init functions of DirectSound, Direct3D, DirectInput, etc.? How about use of the SDL or Allegro libraries?

    If the administrator (parent) wants to restrict an account to certain ESRB ratings, they can.

    But can the administrator (parent) add other rating systems such as TIGRS self-certification?

  7. Re:Hmm... by tepples · · Score: 1 · on Vista Casts A Pall On PC Gaming?

    if you have an account that has Parental Controls applied to it to limit the kinds of games that can be run. Vista knows the ESRB (& other ratings boards) ratings for quite a large number of games You know, this is possibly the first feature of Vista I've heard about that I wholeheartedly approve of. Except does the database from rating systems other than ESRB and foreign counterparts? Smaller studios often don't have the finances to get their games rated by ESRB and thus turn to, say, TIGRS self-certification.
  8. TIGRS by tepples · · Score: 1 · on New ESRB Legislation in the Works
    Not only will this have absolutely no effect on ratings, it will make ESRB ratings much more expensive, putting innovative indie developers at an even greater disadvantage.

    Screw ESRB. What's wrong with TIGRS?

  9. Instructions for self-rating by tepples · · Score: 1 · on New ESRB Legislation in the Works

    Once you have made your game, you can determine and apply a TIGRS rating.

  10. Less ESRB, more TIGRS by tepples · · Score: 1 · on The Manifesto on the Evils of GameTap
    The question is, will online retailer put the same pressure on producers for ESRB ratings as companies like Wal-mart and Bestbuy?

    I predict less ESRB and more TIGRS.