When I was growing up, for educational games we had Number Munchers, Oregon Trail, Otter Lake, etc. While educational, we never really thought of them as being so because of how they were designed; they were just plain fun, while still being highly educational. Most games I see for kids nowadays seem to be more about entertainment than education.
For me personally, I would want my kid to play things like an Atari 2600, old NES games, old arcade games like Galaga, etc. The purpose behind this is to improve their hand/eye coordination and reaction time, two things that would benefit them in every day life. While every child is different, if pressed to pick an average I would say sometime between the ages of 4-6, depending on the intelligence level and how quickly they developed.
1. By studying the backstory, the mainstory in the game becomes more interesting because of what else you know about what is happening. An example: if you read the book that was released last year, and then played the game when it was released, when you might Anderson it was an entirely different experience...in the game, he just tells you that he and Saren had worked together. By reading the book, you know exactly what happend.
2. The main storyline in the game is a bit short...you could likely complete the storyline (without any side quests) in a matter of 12-14 hours, no problem. I think with the way that the game is broken up (i.e. I'm supposed to stop Saren, but I can spend 30 hours gameplay time if I want exploring random planets, with no mention of the main storyline in sight) makes you feel like you are getting less of the story than you actually are.
There are a few other reasons I have, but typing them out would likely prove to be useless. Keep in mind this is just my opinion.
For the most part, yes they could just walk in and buy it. Some stores, like gamestop, have a policy in place though in which tey will not sell M-rated games to minors.
The rating system for movies is voluntary as well...there is nothing legally stopping a movie theater for letting a 12 year old buy an r-rated movie ticket and and seeing it by themselves...
The minimum age for unaccompanied patrons at R films, and all patrons at X films, was originally set at 16. By 1970 it was raised to 17 (in some areas the age may be higher still--often 18--and in rare cases as high as 21). Theater owners could still allow anyone into R-rated films without being accompanied by an adult since the rating system is technically voluntary and in most jurisdictions (excluding Massachusetts[citation needed]) does not have the force of law behind it.
I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but since the age of 13 I haven't really read very much. It's not that I don't enjoy it...I love it! For whatever reason, however, after about 10 minutes of reading a book I get bored. I'm not really sure why this happens...when reading, I still "see" what is happening on the page (as opposed to interpreting the words) so I know it's not an imagination problem. I used to read for at least a couple hours a day when I was younger, and there are many MANY books I want to read that are out there...for some reason, I just can't do it any more. I get bored, no matter how good the story line is.
Again, another reason why the Mass Effect universe has me so excited...I have never been bored reading up on the storyline or the backstory. I don't know what is different about it compared to other things, but for whatever reason it is able to hold my interest.
No need to get a gym membership, I have a free-weight set in my basement which I use 5 days a week with a semi-strict diet plan. I can't play any sports due to injuries sustained when I was younger (torn knee ligament, minor ligament damage in BOTH wrists) and older (L3-L4 vertebrae fusion, bone spur in my left hip socket, early arthritis). Still, I do lift five times a week and do stretching and yoga seven days a week. You see, I HAVE to remain active. If I don't, my body will literally stiffen up to the point where I cannot walk. Don't talk to me about staying active. You have no idea.
That's just it though...the Mass Effect universe as a whole is so large that any part of it could easily become it's own story.
Each of the species alone could have an entire game-length storyline dedicated to their history. Hell, the Krogan and the Rachnii by themselves could have an entire SERIES devoted to their race. Or what about the protheans? Or maybe the discovery of humanity by the rest of the galaxy? Or our discovery of them? Or what about the BUILDING of the citadel, and the origin of the keepers? Then again, you could do an entire story line about the thresher maws...a good place to start would be how the hell they appear on so many different planets that are so far away.
There is of course the shadow broker, they could do an entire story line on that. Or how about the consort, how did she become who she was? Or perhaps Benezia? How did she come under sovereign's power so easily? What caused it to happen? What went on while it was happening? What was she like prior to the indoctrination?
What I'm getting at here is that while a lot of the things I have mentioned were touched on in the game, each of them has enough creativity and life in them to be able to hold a storyline for an entire book (if not an entire series of books) individually. Nearly everything in the Mass Effect universe (much like our own) has a very long and complex history, one which could be fleshed out in countless numbers of books and video games.
Perhaps, when seeing it in that way, you can understand why the Mass Effect universe is appealing to me...it's not just some little world created for a game...it's like an entire alternate reality.
I will answer your post with a cut and paste of my answer to the post above yours:
I am very well aware of what is out there...I have a 4-out-at-a time netflix plan, and own over 500 DVD's...trust me, I know what has come out in the last long while.
All told, FOR ME, no storyline in a movie captured my attention or made me want to know more about it quite like the story line and universe of Mass Effect. Sorry if my opinion is different from yours.
I am very well aware of what is out there...I have a 4-out-at-a time netflix plan, and own over 500 DVD's...trust me, I know what has come out in the last long while.
All told, FOR ME, no storyline in a movie captured my attention or made me want to know more about it quite like the story line and universe of Mass Effect. Sorry if my opinion is different from yours, but we wouldn't want to all be the same now would we?
Read the book that came out last year, and read through the codex entries in the game...look at all the side quests, and how different they are from each other. Look at how fleshed out your crew members become...look at the detail inherent just in the Citadel.
I like to compare Mass Effect to The Dark Crystal...sure, (mostly) everyone loves it, but hardly anyone realizes the unfathomable amount of detail and creativity that it took to create the universe and the species/people/stories that inhabit it.
In a world where commercials for soda have titties half-popping out of bras, soap commercials sensual show close-ups of women showering, and Brett Michaels slapping women's asses on VH1...they are complaining about a very tame sex scene in a game that has a story better than any movie put out in the last 30 years?
Seriously folks. I don't know who is the cause of all this trouble, but I can assure you it is the guy with the high-and-tight that back in the 60's was saying "damn hippies, with their long hair and their acid rock and their peace signs..."
It's always been around, but it's usually been kept to one or two postings per story. Lately (the past few weeks) I have watched this steadily increase...I'm not sure what caused it, and I'm not sure why it's happening...but it has definitely become more frequent.
Don't know if anyone mentioned this in the comments (and I'm not about to read through the 198 that are posted at the time of this writing) but Pure Pwnage is an EXCELLENT show. Very fun and imaginative stuff started by a couple of guys in their spare time.
The more recent episodes (i.e. Season 2) don't have quite the same "documentary" feel, but they are still highly entertaining. This is one of the ones that you have to watch from the very beginning though. http://www.purepwnage.com/ you can watch and download all of their episodes straight from their website.
Glad they are doing this...I personally didn't have any problems during the last election insofar as the voting machines themselves go, but givin Diebold's security track record I am very glad this is happening.
Don't know if you will see this or not, but I will respond anyway.
Had I known all of these issues, would I still have bought mine? Absolutely. I love most of the gaming systems that have been put out since the 2600 (and own many of them from many different competing brands as well) and excluding my time spent playing WoW with a bunch of friends for an entire summer, I would say my best gaming experiences have come from the 360. Fantastic games, amazing controller, great graphics...granted, just like every system there are turds that get released for it, but there are more games on the 360 that I consider to be the best games than on any other system.
Overall, out of all the gaming systems I have owned past and present, the 360 is by far my favourite. If mine died tomorrow, I would be buying a new one tomorrow.
Software that is rushed to release before it is ready can almost 100% of the time be blamed on the person or company financing the project. Or do you honestly think that programmers and game designers want people to think negatively of them?
Guitar hero is a full-fledged game necessitating hours upon hours of gameplay time to experience everything it has to offer. It is a full-blown game, even without the guitar.
Wii Play is a series of mini-mini games. The entire product can be experienced in roughly 45 minutes. Without the Wiimote, it would likely sell for $10 (considering the $10 increase in price over a Wiimote)
Between people I know and what I have seen the three times I waited in line to buy a Wii (one for myself, the other two for family members) NO ONE in line started buying WiiPlay until the stores ran out of Wii Remotes. All three times I stood in line to get one this occured.
And yes, I think Guitar Hero's huge popularity is very dependent on the guitar periphial. You wouldn't feel much like a rock star jamming out on your standard controller, would you?
We get Netflix and usually watch at least one movie a week (we are both big movie buffs...our DVD collection combined approaches the 700 mark) however we don't have any TV service of any kind. We get History Channel and PBS specials from Netflix, and if there is a show that we are particularly interested in (such as Dexter) we will just buy it on DVD.
Half of our gameplay time is spent playing different games, however...Generally, if I am playing a PC game, she will play Viva Pinata, mess around with the 2600, or will practice Wii Bowling (she takes pride in being undefeated in our circle of friends) When we DO play together, it's usually going through an old SNES game (we just finished playing Secret of Mana together), playing Wii Sports, or the occasional terrorist hunt in Rainbow Six: Vegas.
While we don't have any children as of yet, we already have a good plan for when we do: start them on the Atari, and work them up to modern-day stuff. As a very wise man once said, "For one to truly pwn, one must pwn in ALL games."
Hi. My name is Adam. I do call quality monitoring in a call center, play video games with my fiance 25-30 hours a week, enjoy comic books, movies, all forms of music, and am going jew-bald early (only 23 years old now). I personally own many game systems from many different companies...Nintendo, Microsoft, Sega, Atari, Sony...
I also own a PS3. I have had it for nearly a year, but I still don't own a single Blu-Ray movie that I have bought. I got it primarily because I was interested in Resistance and I knew that there will be some killer stuff out for it a little later on in it's life. Given the changes with backwords compatability and such, I'm glad I bought it around launch time when I did.
There. You now know someone who bought it for the games.
I personally have always preferred PC Gaming and Xbox gaming over Playstation gaming (primarily because of the controller...I truly despise all iterations of the Playstation controller) but the PS3 is one hell of a system. If I remember correctly, the first couple of years with the PS2 was a bit stangnant in comparison to it's 3-and-up years. Once developers get the hang of the hardware, they are going to producce some amazing stuff.
Saying that a PS3 is a version 1.5 of a PS2 is just plain immature and uninformed...almost as bad as calling a 360 an Xbox 1.5...they are far more powerful, have COMPLETELY different ways of processing information, and are far more functional in terms of their abilities other than playing games out of the box.
I am a loyal Sony fanboy...just like I am a loyal Nintendo fanboy, Sega fanboy, Microsoft fanboy...I am a gaming fanboy. If you can afford it, play as many different games on as many different systems as possible.
...it kind of bugs me that they everyone includes WiiPlay in the best seller lists for 2007....the ONLY reason people bought it is because it included a Wiimote and was only $10 more than a Wiimote by itself...I personally feel that if it didn't include a Wiimote, it wouldn't have sold even a quarter of the number of copies sold...
I don't think Mass Effect was overhyped...in fact, in every review that I read of it (which was many, I assure you) they DRILLED into the things that it does wrong...the texture pop-in, some funky animations, etc. Nearly every review universally praised the game, and nearly every review universally blasted the same negative parts of the game.
That's just it though. If a game has mistakes in it that would normally be a deal-breaker for other games, Mass Effect is amazing in many people's eyes DESPITE it's shortcomings. That is a sign of a truely great game.
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When I was growing up, for educational games we had Number Munchers, Oregon Trail, Otter Lake, etc. While educational, we never really thought of them as being so because of how they were designed; they were just plain fun, while still being highly educational. Most games I see for kids nowadays seem to be more about entertainment than education.
For me personally, I would want my kid to play things like an Atari 2600, old NES games, old arcade games like Galaga, etc. The purpose behind this is to improve their hand/eye coordination and reaction time, two things that would benefit them in every day life. While every child is different, if pressed to pick an average I would say sometime between the ages of 4-6, depending on the intelligence level and how quickly they developed.
A couple of reasons why I disagree.
1. By studying the backstory, the mainstory in the game becomes more interesting because of what else you know about what is happening. An example: if you read the book that was released last year, and then played the game when it was released, when you might Anderson it was an entirely different experience...in the game, he just tells you that he and Saren had worked together. By reading the book, you know exactly what happend.
2. The main storyline in the game is a bit short...you could likely complete the storyline (without any side quests) in a matter of 12-14 hours, no problem. I think with the way that the game is broken up (i.e. I'm supposed to stop Saren, but I can spend 30 hours gameplay time if I want exploring random planets, with no mention of the main storyline in sight) makes you feel like you are getting less of the story than you actually are.
There are a few other reasons I have, but typing them out would likely prove to be useless. Keep in mind this is just my opinion.
The rating system for movies is voluntary as well...there is nothing legally stopping a movie theater for letting a 12 year old buy an r-rated movie ticket and and seeing it by themselves...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPAA_film_rating_system#Effects_of_ratings
I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but since the age of 13 I haven't really read very much. It's not that I don't enjoy it...I love it! For whatever reason, however, after about 10 minutes of reading a book I get bored. I'm not really sure why this happens...when reading, I still "see" what is happening on the page (as opposed to interpreting the words) so I know it's not an imagination problem. I used to read for at least a couple hours a day when I was younger, and there are many MANY books I want to read that are out there...for some reason, I just can't do it any more. I get bored, no matter how good the story line is.
Again, another reason why the Mass Effect universe has me so excited...I have never been bored reading up on the storyline or the backstory. I don't know what is different about it compared to other things, but for whatever reason it is able to hold my interest.
No need to get a gym membership, I have a free-weight set in my basement which I use 5 days a week with a semi-strict diet plan. I can't play any sports due to injuries sustained when I was younger (torn knee ligament, minor ligament damage in BOTH wrists) and older (L3-L4 vertebrae fusion, bone spur in my left hip socket, early arthritis). Still, I do lift five times a week and do stretching and yoga seven days a week. You see, I HAVE to remain active. If I don't, my body will literally stiffen up to the point where I cannot walk. Don't talk to me about staying active. You have no idea.
That's just it though...the Mass Effect universe as a whole is so large that any part of it could easily become it's own story.
Each of the species alone could have an entire game-length storyline dedicated to their history. Hell, the Krogan and the Rachnii by themselves could have an entire SERIES devoted to their race. Or what about the protheans? Or maybe the discovery of humanity by the rest of the galaxy? Or our discovery of them? Or what about the BUILDING of the citadel, and the origin of the keepers? Then again, you could do an entire story line about the thresher maws...a good place to start would be how the hell they appear on so many different planets that are so far away.
There is of course the shadow broker, they could do an entire story line on that. Or how about the consort, how did she become who she was? Or perhaps Benezia? How did she come under sovereign's power so easily? What caused it to happen? What went on while it was happening? What was she like prior to the indoctrination?
What I'm getting at here is that while a lot of the things I have mentioned were touched on in the game, each of them has enough creativity and life in them to be able to hold a storyline for an entire book (if not an entire series of books) individually. Nearly everything in the Mass Effect universe (much like our own) has a very long and complex history, one which could be fleshed out in countless numbers of books and video games.
Perhaps, when seeing it in that way, you can understand why the Mass Effect universe is appealing to me...it's not just some little world created for a game...it's like an entire alternate reality.
I will answer your post with a cut and paste of my answer to the post above yours:
I am very well aware of what is out there...I have a 4-out-at-a time netflix plan, and own over 500 DVD's...trust me, I know what has come out in the last long while.
All told, FOR ME, no storyline in a movie captured my attention or made me want to know more about it quite like the story line and universe of Mass Effect. Sorry if my opinion is different from yours.
I am very well aware of what is out there...I have a 4-out-at-a time netflix plan, and own over 500 DVD's...trust me, I know what has come out in the last long while.
All told, FOR ME, no storyline in a movie captured my attention or made me want to know more about it quite like the story line and universe of Mass Effect. Sorry if my opinion is different from yours, but we wouldn't want to all be the same now would we?
Mass Effect is rated M, you know...
Read the book that came out last year, and read through the codex entries in the game...look at all the side quests, and how different they are from each other. Look at how fleshed out your crew members become...look at the detail inherent just in the Citadel.
I like to compare Mass Effect to The Dark Crystal...sure, (mostly) everyone loves it, but hardly anyone realizes the unfathomable amount of detail and creativity that it took to create the universe and the species/people/stories that inhabit it.
In a world where commercials for soda have titties half-popping out of bras, soap commercials sensual show close-ups of women showering, and Brett Michaels slapping women's asses on VH1...they are complaining about a very tame sex scene in a game that has a story better than any movie put out in the last 30 years?
Seriously folks. I don't know who is the cause of all this trouble, but I can assure you it is the guy with the high-and-tight that back in the 60's was saying "damn hippies, with their long hair and their acid rock and their peace signs..."
It's always been around, but it's usually been kept to one or two postings per story. Lately (the past few weeks) I have watched this steadily increase...I'm not sure what caused it, and I'm not sure why it's happening...but it has definitely become more frequent.
Don't know if anyone mentioned this in the comments (and I'm not about to read through the 198 that are posted at the time of this writing) but Pure Pwnage is an EXCELLENT show. Very fun and imaginative stuff started by a couple of guys in their spare time.
The more recent episodes (i.e. Season 2) don't have quite the same "documentary" feel, but they are still highly entertaining. This is one of the ones that you have to watch from the very beginning though. http://www.purepwnage.com/ you can watch and download all of their episodes straight from their website.
World of Warcraft was launched in 2004.
Glad they are doing this...I personally didn't have any problems during the last election insofar as the voting machines themselves go, but givin Diebold's security track record I am very glad this is happening.
Don't know if you will see this or not, but I will respond anyway.
Had I known all of these issues, would I still have bought mine? Absolutely. I love most of the gaming systems that have been put out since the 2600 (and own many of them from many different competing brands as well) and excluding my time spent playing WoW with a bunch of friends for an entire summer, I would say my best gaming experiences have come from the 360. Fantastic games, amazing controller, great graphics...granted, just like every system there are turds that get released for it, but there are more games on the 360 that I consider to be the best games than on any other system.
Overall, out of all the gaming systems I have owned past and present, the 360 is by far my favourite. If mine died tomorrow, I would be buying a new one tomorrow.
Software that is rushed to release before it is ready can almost 100% of the time be blamed on the person or company financing the project. Or do you honestly think that programmers and game designers want people to think negatively of them?
not THAT kind of rock, you insensitive clod!
Guitar hero is a full-fledged game necessitating hours upon hours of gameplay time to experience everything it has to offer. It is a full-blown game, even without the guitar.
Wii Play is a series of mini-mini games. The entire product can be experienced in roughly 45 minutes. Without the Wiimote, it would likely sell for $10 (considering the $10 increase in price over a Wiimote)
Between people I know and what I have seen the three times I waited in line to buy a Wii (one for myself, the other two for family members) NO ONE in line started buying WiiPlay until the stores ran out of Wii Remotes. All three times I stood in line to get one this occured.
And yes, I think Guitar Hero's huge popularity is very dependent on the guitar periphial. You wouldn't feel much like a rock star jamming out on your standard controller, would you?
Sorry, that should have said we watch at least one movie a DAY, not a week.
We get Netflix and usually watch at least one movie a week (we are both big movie buffs...our DVD collection combined approaches the 700 mark) however we don't have any TV service of any kind. We get History Channel and PBS specials from Netflix, and if there is a show that we are particularly interested in (such as Dexter) we will just buy it on DVD.
Half of our gameplay time is spent playing different games, however...Generally, if I am playing a PC game, she will play Viva Pinata, mess around with the 2600, or will practice Wii Bowling (she takes pride in being undefeated in our circle of friends) When we DO play together, it's usually going through an old SNES game (we just finished playing Secret of Mana together), playing Wii Sports, or the occasional terrorist hunt in Rainbow Six: Vegas.
While we don't have any children as of yet, we already have a good plan for when we do: start them on the Atari, and work them up to modern-day stuff. As a very wise man once said, "For one to truly pwn, one must pwn in ALL games."
Hi. My name is Adam. I do call quality monitoring in a call center, play video games with my fiance 25-30 hours a week, enjoy comic books, movies, all forms of music, and am going jew-bald early (only 23 years old now). I personally own many game systems from many different companies...Nintendo, Microsoft, Sega, Atari, Sony...
I also own a PS3. I have had it for nearly a year, but I still don't own a single Blu-Ray movie that I have bought. I got it primarily because I was interested in Resistance and I knew that there will be some killer stuff out for it a little later on in it's life. Given the changes with backwords compatability and such, I'm glad I bought it around launch time when I did.
There. You now know someone who bought it for the games.
I personally have always preferred PC Gaming and Xbox gaming over Playstation gaming (primarily because of the controller...I truly despise all iterations of the Playstation controller) but the PS3 is one hell of a system. If I remember correctly, the first couple of years with the PS2 was a bit stangnant in comparison to it's 3-and-up years. Once developers get the hang of the hardware, they are going to producce some amazing stuff.
Saying that a PS3 is a version 1.5 of a PS2 is just plain immature and uninformed...almost as bad as calling a 360 an Xbox 1.5...they are far more powerful, have COMPLETELY different ways of processing information, and are far more functional in terms of their abilities other than playing games out of the box.
I am a loyal Sony fanboy...just like I am a loyal Nintendo fanboy, Sega fanboy, Microsoft fanboy...I am a gaming fanboy. If you can afford it, play as many different games on as many different systems as possible.
...it kind of bugs me that they everyone includes WiiPlay in the best seller lists for 2007....the ONLY reason people bought it is because it included a Wiimote and was only $10 more than a Wiimote by itself...I personally feel that if it didn't include a Wiimote, it wouldn't have sold even a quarter of the number of copies sold...
I don't think Mass Effect was overhyped...in fact, in every review that I read of it (which was many, I assure you) they DRILLED into the things that it does wrong...the texture pop-in, some funky animations, etc. Nearly every review universally praised the game, and nearly every review universally blasted the same negative parts of the game.
That's just it though. If a game has mistakes in it that would normally be a deal-breaker for other games, Mass Effect is amazing in many people's eyes DESPITE it's shortcomings. That is a sign of a truely great game.