No one said you had to buy it... Plus, almost all downloadable content goes free eventually. I didn't get any of the maps for Gears of War when it first came out because I didn't feel that I needed them. When they went free though, I picked them up and now I use them.
The point is, no one is twisting your arm to have this. It adds replayability to a single player game. If no one buys until it turns free, or never buys it if it doesn't, then it will show them that this marketing model isn't working.
Well, they seem to be shaking things up a bit over there and getting away from the "Mega-conglomerate" mode of thinking, and letting smaller teams work on their own. Hopefully they'll continue down that road and do the smart thing. That being, "leave Bioshock the fuck alone to do their, only now with more money!"
My point is that the publisher-sanctioned rerelease using emulation is not a new business model.
Again, while it might not be new, it's not widespread and doesn't receive a lot of support. Most of the emulators were user created, spotty and didn't work correctly. A few worked pretty good, but these weren't the norm. As for publisher-sanctioned rereleases through emulators, I don't know of very many. Even if there were, that's still just the same game on a PC platform as opposed to a console...it's not a remake with updated graphics and sound design, as well as new/tweaked content.
The movie Song of the South was first exhibited in the United States. It has never been published on VHS or DVD in the United States.
Again, I guess I don't see your point. So it's not available on VHS or DVD in the US, that suddenly invalidates making remastered movies? Either there's no perception of demand, Disney doesn't want to release it or it just fell through the cracks. In a lot of ways though that only further highlights the need for rereleases and remakes!
The only time I've ever seen anything from Song of the South was in clips from other movies or some TV programs. I've never seen the movie, and if it's not available on VHS or DVD then I probably never will. Nor will my children, or their children. The only way to see it would probably be to get some sort of celluloid print of it from a collector, as well as a projector capable of handling it...something that, frankly, I'm just not going to do in order to see a movie that I've never watched before.
That movie will die, just as many games will unless we take steps to preserve them.
No, it was your keyboard layout. Using a joystick allowed all simultaneous inputs.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but I don't really feel like playing Mega Man with a joystick. I want to play it on a console, with a controller, and with new 3d graphics.
That would actually be pretty useful... You could give the "replay" option at the end of any cutscene, whether it was watched or skipped. That way if you accidentally you could still see it, or if you missed something you can watch it again.
Emulation is not a new concept. Midway Arcade Treasures is emulated. Animal Crossing NES games are emulated. Classic NES Series for GBA is emulated.
Ummm...while emulation might not be a new concept, the Virtual Console on the Wii didn't exist until it was released...which was recently. The point was that, like MP3's, ROMs are sort of illegal. Excuse me if I don't want to end up paying thousands of dollars because I downloaded a ROM of 7th Saga.
Not to mention the fact that they can be buggy at times. Was it Nesticle that couldn't accept 3 simultaneous inputs? Meaning, you could diagonal jump and fire at the same time in a Mega Man game. They're not perfect...
The VC is a great start on preserving these classic games, as is XBox Live with releases like SotN and arcade games like Contra, Rushin Attack and Robotron. But it's just a start... Nintendo isn't remaking anything with updated technology, and their catalog is limited in scope.
What equipment would I need to watch Disney's Song of the South?
Well, beyond just being kind of pissy, I guess I don't understand your point. If it's only available on VHS, then maybe they should make a DVD...although according to another poster there is a region 2 DVD out already. The point that I was making though is that many movies are available in formats other than their releases...whether that be something from the 50's that went from celluloid, to VHS, to DVD, to HD-DVD or some direct to video 80's flick that got a new DVD version doesn't matter. It's the fact that they're now available for a new generation to see for the first time, or for the original generation to watch again and again without having to maintain archaic equipment that was abandoned by the entertainment industry long ago.
It may have been a dumbed down version, but it's the version I played. Also, since I never played the PC version I can't speak to the complexity of it and whether or not it would work with a console controller. The main point though is that I would love to play it again either in the form of a re-release or a remake based on that game. The complexity that could be put into such a project now, even on a console, would make both the original PC and SNES version look like dinosaurs.
Actually, that's a good point. Not only should all the cutscenes be skippable, but why the F aren't "replayable" cutscenes standard at this point? Tons of games I've played have had something in the menu like "saved movies" or "theater" or whatever that allow me to replay cutscenes that I've already seen. This should be standard in every game, that way it's there if you need it, and you won't have to worry if you bump the controller during a cutscene and skip past it by accident.
I've played GalCiv2, and yes, it's similar to the MOO games, but it's not the same. I miss the days of building up a planet with 80 missiles and then using my spies to sabatage the enemy defences (complete with mini-cutscene =) ) and take over their planet! That's what we're talking about here...not new games in the same genre, but actual remakes.
I miss colonizing some tiny little backwater world in the middle of enemy territory just because there's a ruin on it...and then discovering the Myrmadonic Carbonizer (I think that was the name) when you're only like 10% of the way through the tech tree. Plus, it's one of the few 4x games, even including the modern ones, that used an actual 3d tactical display. No massive fleets of dozens of starships, just small squads manuvering in 3d...it was great.
That's an excellent point too... Books have remained essentially unchanged in terms of how we access them for hundreds of years. If you can read the language, you merely have to procure a copy of it and you can enjoy it.
Movie are a changing media though, and this necessitates remasters and remakes over time. Yes, you can find the original Gone with the Wind, but it's still probably been updated in terms of sound, color and perhaps restored scenes.
Games change even more than movies though. I mentioned JC's The Thing earlier, that movie came out in 1982 when I was 2 years old. Nintendo came out in 1985. Barring Roms (which are sort of illegal) and the VC (because it's a recent development) I would actually need an original NES to replay games like Excitebike or Bayou Billy.
To watch JC's The Thing though I don't need an original, first generation VCR or Betamax, I'll just go and pick up the DVD. We don't have that luxury with games, and that's why some of the "classics" sort of get lost over time. New gamers don't have or appreciate the old systems, while older gamers like me have broken systems that are expensive to replace.
4. Always let players skip cut scenes no matter how important they are to the story. What a predicament cut scenes create. As a designer, you want all your hard work to be acknowledged, even the cut scenes. Sadly, interactive entertainment is the name of the game, and it always comes first. That's why gamers play these things. So rather than assume every player wants to watch your story-telling chops, allow them to bypass cut scenes, tutorials, and even speed up the showing of logos when a game boots up. Tell your story through engaging gameplay, and you'll easily be remembered and praised regardless of what you accomplished in a cut scene, tutorial, or start screen branding.
Yes, this is a must. When you have replay a section, or just when replaying the game, it sucks beyond belief when you waste hours watching the same cut scenes again and again.
Actually, there's a loophole in the EA deal...it only covers the active rosters. Now, whether that means it's totally open or it just means it's not covered in the exclusive deal and would require a separate liscense, I'm not sure about.
The above poster hit the nail on the head... Sequels are not remakes, that's the point. Die Hard 3 is not a remake of Die Hard, it just took existing characters and the world they were in and extended it. That's why, for example, you would need to see the first film to understand that the bad guy in DH3 is the brother of the guy McClane killed in the first Die Hard. Sequels build on the previous games.
What we're talking about here though is more along the lines of the John Carpenter remake of The Thing. He applied modern (well, in 1980 they were modern) visual effects and story telling techniques to an old B Sci-Fi/Horror flick. There were a couple of nods to the original to be sure, but it didn't build on it like a sequel, it reimagined it as what it could have been if it had been made with modern techniques.
You're also missing all of the one-off games out there. One that I mentioned above was 7th Saga for SNES. It was a unique setting and there were no sequels. However, it's a classic RPG that was brutally hard and which I remember fondly. Now, I could go out and buy an old SNES that works (mine's long gone) and get a copy of the game, but I would still have to deal with things like game breaking bugs, outdated graphics and all text bubbles.
But imagine a remake? You could keep the same basic story with a few tweaks, give it full 3d graphics rather than isometic 2d graphics, fully voices character interactions and you can add a lot of gameplay elements with new buttons the controllers and all of the things we've learned about RPG's over the years. Even if the story was identical I would buy that game in a heartbeat and recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone who didn't play the original. It was one of the most brutally hard games that I've ever played, and that challenge is something missing in a lot of RPG's today...that's why you remake a classic like that, is because it offers something unique compared to the games of today, and updating the graphics and controls allows it to be brought to a new generation (or re-enjoyed by the original players).
I would love to see a remake of 7th Saga (one of the hardest games I ever played), and probably Shining Force. A Secret Of Mana remake with the graphical power of a game like Blue Dragon would be a must play.
Going beyond RPG's for a sec though, I would love to see some remakes of the great space shooters. Namely, X-Wing and Tie Fighter. Also, the original Wing Commander that came out on SNES was a great game, I would love to see a console update of that.
Well, I don't know about the Britis counterpart, but in the US we have the ESRB. The ESRB gets paid a fee by the publishers to review and rate the game. Any games not reviewed would be "unrated" and Wal-Mart would not sell them (althought for some reason unrated DVD's are fine).
The ESRB's interests are also very much tied into the industries. Since Wal-Mart sells the most games, if they won't carry many distributors won't either, and so the game industry tends to shy away not getting their games rated. Being rated AO (18+) has essentially the same effect.
If the ESRB suddenly started skewing ratings to make it easier for stuff to get through then there would be public outcry and the government would try to get legislation passed that would allow them to rate the games. If that were to happen the medium would inevitably be stifled as the government would be much more controlling that the ESRB. Oh, and the ESRB would be out of a job.
So, the games industry needs the ESRB, and the ESRB needs them. It is captialism... It's no different than say, a construction inspector. His job ensures that the industry stays healthy and up to code, and it keeps the government out of it. In return, he gets paid and has a job thanks to the industry.
You're assuming that the police are aware of the multiple DNA profiles. At least in the US we have very strict privacy rules governing medical information...we can't just make someone where a bracelet saying "I have two DNA profiles!!!". Since it's in his medical records it's sealed and someone would either have to remember his name from a news story, or he would need to volunteer the info. (And yes, they can subpoena the medical records, but they would have no cause for doing so unless they already knew)
So if their DNA evidence came from skin or hair cells he could happily submit to a blood test to confirm that he's not the killer...all without their knowledge. Or vice-versa...they have blood and he says "Yeah, I'll give you a sample, but I don't like needles. Can we just do a cheek swab?"
Probably what this will lead to, if anything, is duplicate testing and/or testing of the same material as what was found. You find saliva, you test saliva. You find blood, you test blood.
When I tried to do it I wasn't allowed to, so perhaps that's an update to iTunes that wasn't out at the time. The problem though is that I shouldn't have to wait, or it should be easy and seamless to understand.
If I take a CD and I stick into my computer, it plays. That same CD plays in my truck, on my portable CD player, in my TV's DVD drive, on my various consoles, etc... I don't need an "update", there isn't a menu and I don't have to select a checkbox. It. Just. Plays. This concept has been lost in the music community now, and it looks like the MPAA is throwing it out the window too.
When your player wears out? How about people that happen to have two? I have a DVD player (I know, I haven't upgraded either) on my TV in the Living Room, and then another in the form of one of several consoles down in my basement. There have been plenty of movies that I've watched in one room, and then watched in the other at a later date. Now I have to buy a second copy?
Hell, this is one of the reasons that I already gave up on Apple and their DRM laden music. When my wife buys an MP3, which would be joint property in a legal sense, and we can't have it on both our iPods simultaneously, that's just stupid.
Welcome to the wonderful world of DRM, where pirates watch everything with ease while you have to jump through hoop after hoop just to listen to/watch something that you legitimately purchased. Enjoy the show...while your player still works that is.
I don't think so. SK was claiming that EPIC purposefully witheld things so that Gears of War would look better than the competition. UT3 is an EPIC game though. It's their in-house engine... Why would they withold from themselves?
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The whole point of them getting involved here is to show that it's the legitimate consumers that are being harmed by these practices.
The point is, no one is twisting your arm to have this. It adds replayability to a single player game. If no one buys until it turns free, or never buys it if it doesn't, then it will show them that this marketing model isn't working.
Yes, I meant to say Bioware.
Well, they seem to be shaking things up a bit over there and getting away from the "Mega-conglomerate" mode of thinking, and letting smaller teams work on their own. Hopefully they'll continue down that road and do the smart thing. That being, "leave Bioshock the fuck alone to do their, only now with more money!"
Again, while it might not be new, it's not widespread and doesn't receive a lot of support. Most of the emulators were user created, spotty and didn't work correctly. A few worked pretty good, but these weren't the norm. As for publisher-sanctioned rereleases through emulators, I don't know of very many. Even if there were, that's still just the same game on a PC platform as opposed to a console...it's not a remake with updated graphics and sound design, as well as new/tweaked content.
Again, I guess I don't see your point. So it's not available on VHS or DVD in the US, that suddenly invalidates making remastered movies? Either there's no perception of demand, Disney doesn't want to release it or it just fell through the cracks. In a lot of ways though that only further highlights the need for rereleases and remakes!The only time I've ever seen anything from Song of the South was in clips from other movies or some TV programs. I've never seen the movie, and if it's not available on VHS or DVD then I probably never will. Nor will my children, or their children. The only way to see it would probably be to get some sort of celluloid print of it from a collector, as well as a projector capable of handling it...something that, frankly, I'm just not going to do in order to see a movie that I've never watched before.
That movie will die, just as many games will unless we take steps to preserve them.
Sorry to rain on your parade, but I don't really feel like playing Mega Man with a joystick. I want to play it on a console, with a controller, and with new 3d graphics.
That would actually be pretty useful... You could give the "replay" option at the end of any cutscene, whether it was watched or skipped. That way if you accidentally you could still see it, or if you missed something you can watch it again.
Ummm...while emulation might not be a new concept, the Virtual Console on the Wii didn't exist until it was released...which was recently. The point was that, like MP3's, ROMs are sort of illegal. Excuse me if I don't want to end up paying thousands of dollars because I downloaded a ROM of 7th Saga.
Not to mention the fact that they can be buggy at times. Was it Nesticle that couldn't accept 3 simultaneous inputs? Meaning, you could diagonal jump and fire at the same time in a Mega Man game. They're not perfect...
The VC is a great start on preserving these classic games, as is XBox Live with releases like SotN and arcade games like Contra, Rushin Attack and Robotron. But it's just a start... Nintendo isn't remaking anything with updated technology, and their catalog is limited in scope.
Well, beyond just being kind of pissy, I guess I don't understand your point. If it's only available on VHS, then maybe they should make a DVD...although according to another poster there is a region 2 DVD out already. The point that I was making though is that many movies are available in formats other than their releases...whether that be something from the 50's that went from celluloid, to VHS, to DVD, to HD-DVD or some direct to video 80's flick that got a new DVD version doesn't matter. It's the fact that they're now available for a new generation to see for the first time, or for the original generation to watch again and again without having to maintain archaic equipment that was abandoned by the entertainment industry long ago.
It may have been a dumbed down version, but it's the version I played. Also, since I never played the PC version I can't speak to the complexity of it and whether or not it would work with a console controller. The main point though is that I would love to play it again either in the form of a re-release or a remake based on that game. The complexity that could be put into such a project now, even on a console, would make both the original PC and SNES version look like dinosaurs.
Actually, that's a good point. Not only should all the cutscenes be skippable, but why the F aren't "replayable" cutscenes standard at this point? Tons of games I've played have had something in the menu like "saved movies" or "theater" or whatever that allow me to replay cutscenes that I've already seen. This should be standard in every game, that way it's there if you need it, and you won't have to worry if you bump the controller during a cutscene and skip past it by accident.
Better yet, what about one of the greatest 4x games of all time? Ascendancy... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascendancy_(computer_game)/
I miss colonizing some tiny little backwater world in the middle of enemy territory just because there's a ruin on it...and then discovering the Myrmadonic Carbonizer (I think that was the name) when you're only like 10% of the way through the tech tree. Plus, it's one of the few 4x games, even including the modern ones, that used an actual 3d tactical display. No massive fleets of dozens of starships, just small squads manuvering in 3d...it was great.
Movie are a changing media though, and this necessitates remasters and remakes over time. Yes, you can find the original Gone with the Wind, but it's still probably been updated in terms of sound, color and perhaps restored scenes.
Games change even more than movies though. I mentioned JC's The Thing earlier, that movie came out in 1982 when I was 2 years old. Nintendo came out in 1985. Barring Roms (which are sort of illegal) and the VC (because it's a recent development) I would actually need an original NES to replay games like Excitebike or Bayou Billy.
To watch JC's The Thing though I don't need an original, first generation VCR or Betamax, I'll just go and pick up the DVD. We don't have that luxury with games, and that's why some of the "classics" sort of get lost over time. New gamers don't have or appreciate the old systems, while older gamers like me have broken systems that are expensive to replace.
Yes, this is a must. When you have replay a section, or just when replaying the game, it sucks beyond belief when you waste hours watching the same cut scenes again and again.
Actually, there's a loophole in the EA deal...it only covers the active rosters. Now, whether that means it's totally open or it just means it's not covered in the exclusive deal and would require a separate liscense, I'm not sure about.
What we're talking about here though is more along the lines of the John Carpenter remake of The Thing. He applied modern (well, in 1980 they were modern) visual effects and story telling techniques to an old B Sci-Fi/Horror flick. There were a couple of nods to the original to be sure, but it didn't build on it like a sequel, it reimagined it as what it could have been if it had been made with modern techniques.
You're also missing all of the one-off games out there. One that I mentioned above was 7th Saga for SNES. It was a unique setting and there were no sequels. However, it's a classic RPG that was brutally hard and which I remember fondly. Now, I could go out and buy an old SNES that works (mine's long gone) and get a copy of the game, but I would still have to deal with things like game breaking bugs, outdated graphics and all text bubbles.
But imagine a remake? You could keep the same basic story with a few tweaks, give it full 3d graphics rather than isometic 2d graphics, fully voices character interactions and you can add a lot of gameplay elements with new buttons the controllers and all of the things we've learned about RPG's over the years. Even if the story was identical I would buy that game in a heartbeat and recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone who didn't play the original. It was one of the most brutally hard games that I've ever played, and that challenge is something missing in a lot of RPG's today...that's why you remake a classic like that, is because it offers something unique compared to the games of today, and updating the graphics and controls allows it to be brought to a new generation (or re-enjoyed by the original players).
Going beyond RPG's for a sec though, I would love to see some remakes of the great space shooters. Namely, X-Wing and Tie Fighter. Also, the original Wing Commander that came out on SNES was a great game, I would love to see a console update of that.
The ESRB's interests are also very much tied into the industries. Since Wal-Mart sells the most games, if they won't carry many distributors won't either, and so the game industry tends to shy away not getting their games rated. Being rated AO (18+) has essentially the same effect.
If the ESRB suddenly started skewing ratings to make it easier for stuff to get through then there would be public outcry and the government would try to get legislation passed that would allow them to rate the games. If that were to happen the medium would inevitably be stifled as the government would be much more controlling that the ESRB. Oh, and the ESRB would be out of a job.
So, the games industry needs the ESRB, and the ESRB needs them. It is captialism... It's no different than say, a construction inspector. His job ensures that the industry stays healthy and up to code, and it keeps the government out of it. In return, he gets paid and has a job thanks to the industry.
Maybe he was listening to something by the band Hot Hot Heat? Either that or some Elton John... ;)
Yeah, or he would've OD's at 27 and we wouldn't even have E=MC
So if their DNA evidence came from skin or hair cells he could happily submit to a blood test to confirm that he's not the killer...all without their knowledge. Or vice-versa...they have blood and he says "Yeah, I'll give you a sample, but I don't like needles. Can we just do a cheek swab?"
Probably what this will lead to, if anything, is duplicate testing and/or testing of the same material as what was found. You find saliva, you test saliva. You find blood, you test blood.
If I take a CD and I stick into my computer, it plays. That same CD plays in my truck, on my portable CD player, in my TV's DVD drive, on my various consoles, etc... I don't need an "update", there isn't a menu and I don't have to select a checkbox. It. Just. Plays. This concept has been lost in the music community now, and it looks like the MPAA is throwing it out the window too.
Hell, this is one of the reasons that I already gave up on Apple and their DRM laden music. When my wife buys an MP3, which would be joint property in a legal sense, and we can't have it on both our iPods simultaneously, that's just stupid.
Welcome to the wonderful world of DRM, where pirates watch everything with ease while you have to jump through hoop after hoop just to listen to/watch something that you legitimately purchased. Enjoy the show...while your player still works that is.
They added an HDMI port to the Premium version Work with some updated information why don't ya.
I don't think so. SK was claiming that EPIC purposefully witheld things so that Gears of War would look better than the competition. UT3 is an EPIC game though. It's their in-house engine... Why would they withold from themselves?
How about I buy zero copies of your music? Then how many will I be stealing?
Yeah cuz, you know, I only use XBox Live for Halo...