Ah, but Evian doesn't kill 50% of its users when taken in normal doses. And tobacco isn't essential for health.
Not sure what being essential for health has to do with anything. Meth certainly isn't, but the guy is pretty screwed anyway. Tobacco certainly does kill most of its users given enough time, and "has the capability to cause death or serious injury". Seems like it fits the bill perfectly. The problem is that the government is full of hypocrites.
Anton LaVey, founder of Satanism, wrote "Kneeling before the cathode ray God, with our TV Guide concordance in hand, we maintain the illusion of choice by flipping channels (chapters and verses). It doesn't matter what is flashing on the screen - all that's important is that the TV stays on".
Ok, so this guy said that. What gives his opinion any credibility anyway? Literacy is a noble pursuit, but not one that our prisons are likely to undertake in a serious way. Much cheaper and easier to just give the inmates something to keep them happy and docile. Prisons are an industry now and have to think about their bottom line. They really have no incentive to rehabilitate anyway, quite the contrary, repeat business is good for them.
I agree with some of these. I loved Zelda, River Raid, Ultima VI, Paperboy, and Street Fighter II. I would add Star Control II, Deus Ex, and Freespace 2 to the list. I'm probably missing some too though.
Doesn't really matter how original the book was, if the movie directly rips it off as badly as WW is claiming, then it's infringement. The last 20 or so points they list are pretty strong. If you know of any other vampire vs. werewolf source material that hasn't been mentioned, then that might be helpful too.
It seems to me that the case for directly riping off of the book, Love of Monsters, is stronger than the more general accusation of ripping of their "world". Reading the points towards the end, it becomes pretty apparent that they practically copied the storyline from the book. Not that it's an exceptionally inventive storyline or anything, but somebody else did it first.
They have to further optimize console versions. Consoles aren't as powerful as the latest PCs, and PCs don't need to be optimized in the same sense since you can change the graphics settings to acheive the performance/eye-candy balance that you want. So even if you have a PC that has hardware that is a couple years old (as I do), you can still play the latest games, albeit at somewhat lower graphics settings (which are still generally as good or better than what you get on a console anyway). The benefits of a PC far outweigh the drawbacks.
Nah, it's not disturbing. It's fun and satisfying to watch your friend's character get blown to bloody giblets. I've played FPS games with friends for as long as they've existed, and never have I had any desire to shoot anyone for real. What it boils down to is that kids that aren't raised properly and/or have mental problems are more likely to do extremely screwed up things. The rest of us, exposed to the same influences, turn out just fine. I don't think you can blame anyone but the kids and the parents in this case.
Plus, how are they going to know if you renege? I'd rather not be the subject of a surprise search of my hard drive to verify that I'm complying with my side of the deal even if I am. I don't need that kind of aggrevation any more than a business wants to deal with a BSA audit even if they're 100% legit.
You'll have to submit to searches by a UN inspection team. Don't worry though, they'll just check under your keyboard and peer into your floppy drive to make sure there's no illegal music in there.
Right. And being a complex piece of equipment, it will end up much like any other complex piece of equipment they own... hardly used. The people that don't know or understand what the thing is capable of, yet buy one anyway, are the same people that can't even figure out how to use a browser or email app on their computer. The same people who can't set the clock on their VCR. Unless you make the thing do practically everything on its own, nobody will be able to take advantage of the vast majority of its capabilities. But you have a point. It probably will sell better when marketed as a console. There's one born every minute ya know.
1) Acts more like a hybrid of a Tivo, an XBox, and a DVD Recorder.
Aside from playing X-Box games, a PC can do those things.
2) No "PC" Applications, like office suites, web browsers, etc.
Don't have to install those apps on your PC if you don't want to (well, except for IE, but you can consider that part of the OS and just delete the shortcuts to it, or you can consider internet access as a cool new feature of your "PC Console").
3) No desk needed. 4) It's part of your living-room setup (IE, you hook it up to your TV and stereo, etc)
Can buy a slim black case for your PC and stick it in your entertainment center if you like. There's lots of ways to make it look snazzy if you really want to.
By definition, *all* game consoles are personal computers. The difference is that game consoles are targeted at gaming.
Possibly so, if you use a very broad definition of PC. Most consoles are more like extremelely hobbled PCs, and their main redeeming quality is that they all use the same hardware so that they are easier to develop for.
Still, it's a great idea. A pre-configured, upgradable, HDTV-compatable game console? Great idea. Add in a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, or better yet, a DVD-RW/CD-RW, the ability to save TV shows to the hard drive (And make that drive big, fast, and upgradable) ala Tivo, or record live or already recorded video to DVD or (S)VCD (Hey, I watch a lot of anime fansubs, and burning them to an SVCD is cheaper than burning to DVD), the ability to network with PCs, and the best of the PC games out there, and you've got my money.
Wow, that would be awesome!! Ya know, I think we should call it a personal computer! Everyone will want one!
Yep, looks like you're right, according to the Official Shadowrun FAQ. I was thinking of FanPro, which is the German company that is releasing any new Shadowrun RPG material on behalf of WizKids. Guess I need to get Bill on the phone and nag him to do something cool with that license.:)
I have a buddy who survived a parachute failure. Does that mean that parachutes are unnecessary for those people who choose to throw themselves out of airplanes?
It might, if, like I said, the vast majority of people survived jumping out of planes without parachutes. We're talking about millions of people here, and you're saying that because a relative handful go berserk, it's somehow the fault of these games or the media or whatever the bad influence of the week is. I'm saying that the fact that the overwhelming majority of people, who are exposed to the same influences, grow up just fine, is the best counter-example out there.
Exactly! I've been wanting to see a Shadowrun game for the PC for years. I wish someone would get their hands on the license and do it. I forget who owns the license now though. I think it's a German company that has the game rights at this point.
Let's see, I was raised with Wiley Coyote, Bugs Bunny, and Tom and Jerry cartoons. Can't argue that those aren't violent. Additionally I played a ton of video games. My parents were firm believers in corporal punishment too. So, with that environment, you're claiming that I should have believed that it was ok to shove firecrackers down the cat's throat so that his eyes will pop out and his head will turn black and spikey. Guess what? Regardless of what I was watching and playing all those years, I knew that violence was wrong. And judging by the fact that the vast majority of my generation has grown up without killing anyone, I suspect that I wasn't alone in my understanding. So, What we end up with is the idea that maybe these games/movies/whatever aren't really the cause, but simply just a few of many possible stimuli that will cause screwed up people to do screwed up things. That seems quite a bit more likely to me.
Exactly. What he's talking about are muscle reflexes. That has nothing at all to do with aggressiveness or behavior, even if the person was actually learning to fire a real weapon in a game. As it stands, games give no advantage to real weapon use, aside from possibly better hand-eye coordination. Nor do games involve the kind of anger, rage, or other emotions that are generally associated with violence. So either a kid can't tell fantasy from reality and will laughingly blow his friend's head off in real life, or the kid has some extreme anger problems. Either way the kid has serious real life problems that aren't related to the game. They could be exacerbated by games, movies, or the evening news, but they certainly aren't caused by them.
Slashdot Mirror
I want an aerosol can full of this stuff so I can spray it at people like silly string!
Ah, but Evian doesn't kill 50% of its users when taken in normal doses. And tobacco isn't essential for health.
Not sure what being essential for health has to do with anything. Meth certainly isn't, but the guy is pretty screwed anyway. Tobacco certainly does kill most of its users given enough time, and "has the capability to cause death or serious injury". Seems like it fits the bill perfectly. The problem is that the government is full of hypocrites.
Anton LaVey, founder of Satanism, wrote "Kneeling before the cathode ray God, with our TV Guide concordance in hand, we maintain the illusion of choice by flipping channels (chapters and verses). It doesn't matter what is flashing on the screen - all that's important is that the TV stays on".
Ok, so this guy said that. What gives his opinion any credibility anyway? Literacy is a noble pursuit, but not one that our prisons are likely to undertake in a serious way. Much cheaper and easier to just give the inmates something to keep them happy and docile. Prisons are an industry now and have to think about their bottom line. They really have no incentive to rehabilitate anyway, quite the contrary, repeat business is good for them.
Sounds like a Southpark episode...
Warren Specter is the man behind System Shock and Deus Ex.
I agree with some of these. I loved Zelda, River Raid, Ultima VI, Paperboy, and Street Fighter II. I would add Star Control II, Deus Ex, and Freespace 2 to the list. I'm probably missing some too though.
I'd chip in for that. Anything to give the RIAA a good nipple-twisting.
If ever a group of slimeballs needed to get SARS en masse and die a horrible death that would be them.
I'd prefer to see them get a particularly nasty case of genital ebola. It would still be terminal, but much more satisfying in the process.
Doesn't really matter how original the book was, if the movie directly rips it off as badly as WW is claiming, then it's infringement. The last 20 or so points they list are pretty strong. If you know of any other vampire vs. werewolf source material that hasn't been mentioned, then that might be helpful too.
It seems to me that the case for directly riping off of the book, Love of Monsters, is stronger than the more general accusation of ripping of their "world". Reading the points towards the end, it becomes pretty apparent that they practically copied the storyline from the book. Not that it's an exceptionally inventive storyline or anything, but somebody else did it first.
They have to further optimize console versions. Consoles aren't as powerful as the latest PCs, and PCs don't need to be optimized in the same sense since you can change the graphics settings to acheive the performance/eye-candy balance that you want. So even if you have a PC that has hardware that is a couple years old (as I do), you can still play the latest games, albeit at somewhat lower graphics settings (which are still generally as good or better than what you get on a console anyway). The benefits of a PC far outweigh the drawbacks.
Ahh, so you're implying that all these problems will be fixed by the time HL2 is out? Do you bring greetings from the planet Pollyanna?
Nah, it's not disturbing. It's fun and satisfying to watch your friend's character get blown to bloody giblets. I've played FPS games with friends for as long as they've existed, and never have I had any desire to shoot anyone for real. What it boils down to is that kids that aren't raised properly and/or have mental problems are more likely to do extremely screwed up things. The rest of us, exposed to the same influences, turn out just fine. I don't think you can blame anyone but the kids and the parents in this case.
Plus, how are they going to know if you renege? I'd rather not be the subject of a surprise search of my hard drive to verify that I'm complying with my side of the deal even if I am. I don't need that kind of aggrevation any more than a business wants to deal with a BSA audit even if they're 100% legit.
You'll have to submit to searches by a UN inspection team. Don't worry though, they'll just check under your keyboard and peer into your floppy drive to make sure there's no illegal music in there.
Right. And being a complex piece of equipment, it will end up much like any other complex piece of equipment they own... hardly used. The people that don't know or understand what the thing is capable of, yet buy one anyway, are the same people that can't even figure out how to use a browser or email app on their computer. The same people who can't set the clock on their VCR. Unless you make the thing do practically everything on its own, nobody will be able to take advantage of the vast majority of its capabilities. But you have a point. It probably will sell better when marketed as a console. There's one born every minute ya know.
1) Acts more like a hybrid of a Tivo, an XBox, and a DVD Recorder.
Aside from playing X-Box games, a PC can do those things.
2) No "PC" Applications, like office suites, web browsers, etc.
Don't have to install those apps on your PC if you don't want to (well, except for IE, but you can consider that part of the OS and just delete the shortcuts to it, or you can consider internet access as a cool new feature of your "PC Console").
3) No desk needed. 4) It's part of your living-room setup (IE, you hook it up to your TV and stereo, etc)
Can buy a slim black case for your PC and stick it in your entertainment center if you like. There's lots of ways to make it look snazzy if you really want to.
By definition, *all* game consoles are personal computers. The difference is that game consoles are targeted at gaming.
Possibly so, if you use a very broad definition of PC. Most consoles are more like extremelely hobbled PCs, and their main redeeming quality is that they all use the same hardware so that they are easier to develop for.
Still, it's a great idea. A pre-configured, upgradable, HDTV-compatable game console? Great idea. Add in a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, or better yet, a DVD-RW/CD-RW, the ability to save TV shows to the hard drive (And make that drive big, fast, and upgradable) ala Tivo, or record live or already recorded video to DVD or (S)VCD (Hey, I watch a lot of anime fansubs, and burning them to an SVCD is cheaper than burning to DVD), the ability to network with PCs, and the best of the PC games out there, and you've got my money.
Wow, that would be awesome!! Ya know, I think we should call it a personal computer! Everyone will want one!
If you can view the document, then all you have to do is whip out your super secret ultra compact digicam and take shots or video of each page.
Yep, looks like you're right, according to the Official Shadowrun FAQ. I was thinking of FanPro, which is the German company that is releasing any new Shadowrun RPG material on behalf of WizKids. Guess I need to get Bill on the phone and nag him to do something cool with that license. :)
I have a buddy who survived a parachute failure. Does that mean that parachutes are unnecessary for those people who choose to throw themselves out of airplanes?
It might, if, like I said, the vast majority of people survived jumping out of planes without parachutes. We're talking about millions of people here, and you're saying that because a relative handful go berserk, it's somehow the fault of these games or the media or whatever the bad influence of the week is. I'm saying that the fact that the overwhelming majority of people, who are exposed to the same influences, grow up just fine, is the best counter-example out there.
Cyberpunk mods would be cool, but Shadowrun is just a rather unique cyberpunk world. Without the magic, I'd feel like something was missing. :)
Exactly! I've been wanting to see a Shadowrun game for the PC for years. I wish someone would get their hands on the license and do it. I forget who owns the license now though. I think it's a German company that has the game rights at this point.
Let's see, I was raised with Wiley Coyote, Bugs Bunny, and Tom and Jerry cartoons. Can't argue that those aren't violent. Additionally I played a ton of video games. My parents were firm believers in corporal punishment too. So, with that environment, you're claiming that I should have believed that it was ok to shove firecrackers down the cat's throat so that his eyes will pop out and his head will turn black and spikey. Guess what? Regardless of what I was watching and playing all those years, I knew that violence was wrong. And judging by the fact that the vast majority of my generation has grown up without killing anyone, I suspect that I wasn't alone in my understanding. So, What we end up with is the idea that maybe these games/movies/whatever aren't really the cause, but simply just a few of many possible stimuli that will cause screwed up people to do screwed up things. That seems quite a bit more likely to me.
Exactly. What he's talking about are muscle reflexes. That has nothing at all to do with aggressiveness or behavior, even if the person was actually learning to fire a real weapon in a game. As it stands, games give no advantage to real weapon use, aside from possibly better hand-eye coordination. Nor do games involve the kind of anger, rage, or other emotions that are generally associated with violence. So either a kid can't tell fantasy from reality and will laughingly blow his friend's head off in real life, or the kid has some extreme anger problems. Either way the kid has serious real life problems that aren't related to the game. They could be exacerbated by games, movies, or the evening news, but they certainly aren't caused by them.
Just wanted to post a big Amen! to the parent post. Great job. Give the guy a hand moderators!