Re:Can't Start My Car After Mouthwash
on
BioShock Review
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· Score: 1
Most of the time the police don't have any affect on you if you aren't doing anything wrong. They don't pull you over and ask to check your license & paperwork for no reason at all. DRM on the other hand affects you wether you're ripping the game off or not. In fact, it arguably has MORE of an effect on those who bought the game than those who got it illegally.
Wow, you've never driven on a holiday then, have you? They have alcohol stops all the time out by me. They just kindly ask everyone, or ever x driver, to pull over and have a chat for second. If you seem impaired they'll ask you to do a field sobriety test. Inconvenient, perhaps, but it saves lives.
As for DRM, it's effect on me has been minor at best. I've never lost a CD key, so I've always had access that way. Any of the games that had limited isntalls weren't a problem either because I'm not running 10 copies at once without an uninstall. I've never needed to "crack" any of my software because the terms were simple to follow under normal use. The more people pirate, crack games and download cracked version to "spite" the devs though, the more complex the DRM will be. Then it will become a problem...but the onus will be on the pirates, not the devs.
Yet another evil DRM scheme that is cracked in like the first week. There are several cracked versions available for download at this point. I plan to download and generously seed one of those just on principle. The principle of spite.
And then you wonder why they have DRM? You basically just admitted that you're going to go out and download a pirated copy of the game and play it. That's why they're putting DRM on everything now, is because of people like you. There's no principle here, other than the principle of being cheap. "Principle" would be not buying it and not playing it.
If I do like the game and feel the desire to reward the publisher/developer I may be willing to buy the shrinkwrapped version if at some point they are willing to remove the DRM.
Yeah, I'm sure... So you're going to download a cracked version of the game and play it, and then if you like you're actually going to get up and go to a store and buy it? My ass...
More likely you'll download it, play it, beat it and then never give a second thought to it. Exactly how long is this "review" of yours going to take before you determine that you like it? Until the price drops? Until you beat it? Stop being an f-ing hyprocite and just admit what you are...a thief.
You're also focusing entirely on the PC delivery issues and glossing over the console version. There are no difficulties that I've found with running it on my 360. Reviews are content after all, and most of those bugs will be worked out I would imagine. Lots of great PC games have had buggy releases that get fixed with good patching.
I really don't have much of a problem with the copy protection. You have 5 installs each on up to 5 machines. That's a maximum of 25 installs. Are you really going to be installing it that much?
Additionally, there's not much an impact on gameplay there. Whether you install it once or 25 times it's still the same game.
I couldn't put "Da Bears" in as my motto because of the same error, but I doubt that MS has an anti-Chicago bias. It's simply an issue of something wonky with their content monitor, or they're trying to block certain trademarked names and phrases. Before we go jumping off the deep end about how MS is "anti-linux" when it comes to mottos, how about people do a little research into what else is blocked?
What exactly are you expecting to hear from them? The MPAA and ESRB both rate, to a large extent, on tone and context. A movie/game where you play a cop that shoots bad guys is not viewed as harshly as a movie/game where you play a bad guy shooting cops.
The tone and context of the imagery in a game/movie is something that is hard to express. The Shawshank Redemption is a movie that follows a bunch of convicts, for example, but the tone is one of respect that lets you know that while they made mistakes, many of them are still good people. That's hard to understand without seeing the movie, which is why they rate the final product, not the scripts.
To start openly saying "this was removed, that was removed, etc.." invites criticism and armchair rating. Suppose they say that a particular scene was cut from the AO version of Manhunt 2, but a similar scene shows up in another title that's rated M? People will start demanding to know why this title is rated M, whereas Manhunt 2 had the AO rating until it was removed, among other things.
Such questions won't take into account the fact that the M game might be something like GRAW or Rainbox Six, where you're playing a military character, and that this was one instance out of a game that stays well below the M threshold. Such questions also won't take into account the fact that in Manhunt 2 you're playing a lunatic killer that apparently kills for no reason, and that this scene might be the culmination of a brutal torture sequence. Once those sorts of questions get raised people will push even harder for laws governing it, so that there is the percpetion of a more rigid standard. This would be bad.
That is the most ridiculous argument that I've ever heard...
The man committed a crime for which there are punishments. It's called THE LAW. In doing so he essentially forked over some of his rights to the government, things like the ability to and do whatever he wants. The government in this case was kind enough to say "Normally this is a jailable offence, however we don't think you really need to go to the pen. Instead we're going to confine you to your house and monitor you computer to ensure that you're not pirating stuff from home. Since we don't have anything compatible with your OS, you'll have to switch to Windows."
It's no different than them saying "We'll let you out of jail early on certain conditions, such as not committing a crim for the next 3 years."
On a personal note, I was hoping that the story was about a real pirate...that would've been infinitely more interesting. =)
Another problem is that there are many bands who have one or two good songs, and then the rest of the album is just filler. This is one of the big reasons why iTunes is so popular right now, you can just buy the one or two songs for a couple of bucks, instead of shelling out $13-$15 for the whole CD.
This brings up an important question though...if they're merely counting number of items downloaded they're not taking into account that someone might be downloading a whole album. Conversely, they're also assuming that the person wouldn't just go out and buy the single on iTunes for $0.99, but instead assume it's a lost "album sale".
The problem is that people have poor memories. They'll remember Mitt Romney's ad showing children in a dirty sea representative of the "filth" prevalent in video games, movies and other media forms. What they won't remember though is some law that some guy supported that got struck down 3 years ago.
Not to mention, there's always the spin factor... They'll just claim that they really care about the children, but their bill was defeated by other politicians who don't care and were swayed by industry lobbists.
Exactly, it's not so much that Bioshock is the "BEST GAME EVAR!!!", but rather that it's already doing quite well in preorders and looks to be one of the heavy hitters of 2007. Will it beat out Halo 3? Probably not. Will it sell a lot more than 250K copies? Yes.
I used Wikipedia because it was fastest way to access some comprehensive information. Yes, some of the info might be inaccurrate, but I'll bet you that at least 90-95% of the games on that list are in fact using the Unreal 3 engine.
Secondly, I didn't say it was an "amazing" engine, I said that so far only one company has a lawsuit pending in regards to that engine. If you can find me some evidence to contradict that claim, I'll gladly recind it.
That's the list of games that are out or in development and are currently using the Unreal 3 engine. Take off anything made by Epic and that's a lot of games. The only ones suing Epic so far are Silicon Knights.
Now, considering several of the games on that list were very successful and had good releases, what's more likely? That Epic are a bunch of fools with a broken engine that they can't support? Or that SK, a company that's only made half a dozen games, has gotten in over their heads and is looking for someone to blame?
Yeah, you forgot the other $500-$600 (Or $800 if you happen to live in Europe) that it's going to cost you to get that PS3.
Alternatively you could look at it like this: I can buy the new 120GB Elite for $450, then get the Halo 3 Legendary edition for $130.00 and that still won't equal the cost of the 80GB PS3 Motorstorm Pack.
The reason that they kept bringing him food was that if they didn't he would call take-out places in the area to deliver food to him. Since he was so large that he could hardly get out of his bedroom, let alone down to the street, he had an arangement with them where he would lower down a bucket for them to put the food in and then return it with the cash.
Granted, his family could take his money and his bucket, but the seemed to be enablers. They don't want to be the ones to tell him "no", and they figure that it's better that they cook his food than leaving it up to KFC.
The actual game is a lot better quality than the demo, actually. The weapons available in the demo are a broad smattering of weapons from different points in the game, playing the actual game through and getting them in progression makes it a lot easier to use them effectively.
As for the controls, as the poster said everything is customizable, even in the demo. If you think you can do a better job mapping, then why not give it a try rather than just bitching about it.
Lastly, I just wanted to add that the game only costs $40 USD, so it's not a full priced title. It's a pretty good game for the value, and I've been playing it non-stop since it came out. As the OP said, it'll never be a classic (and man, would a next-gen version of Tie Fighter be great) but it's a solid game nonetheless.
Yeah and, you know, why waste time helping ALS sufferers? I mean, they can't really move around unassisted or even speak for that matter. Maybe we should just abandon them too? Of course that would mean no Stephen Hawkins, but hey, he's defective too...right? [/sarcasm]
My wife is terrible about falling for that... I've said a couple of times how most people, unless they make a conscious determination not to, see $9.99 as $9 instead of $10. Or when you see new homes going up they say "from the $170,000's", which actually means $179,999. Of course, she would scoff at it and say "That ridiculous!"
Or rather, she did until I started catching her falling for it... "Hey, can we get this, it's only $7?" "Actually honey, that's $8, it's $7.99. And once you add in tax, it'll actually be more like $8.75."
I actually think it's benificial that/. talk about his goings ons because when it gets out of line we're prepared to deal with the inevitable aftermath that I'm sure most of us see from friends, family, and co-workers who just happened to see some expert on TV the other day who said that....
Talking about Jack Thompson on GP and/. isn't giving him a "platform" anymore than talking about Hitler in history class gives nazism a "platform". This man is attacking our chosen form of entertainment, to ignore him and not talk about his would be counter-productive. 99% of the people reading these stories on GP and/. oppose Jack Thompson's efforts, so shouldn't we be as informed as possible in regards to what he's doing?
Jack Thompson is not a fool; he might even be unstable; but he fights for something he believes in, and does so pretty well, albeit via use of questionable methods. To belittle him is to belittle the effect he has on free speech issues wrt gaming, and that is a foolish thing to do. If you consider him an enemy, you should analyze his strengths as much as his weakneses.
Exactly. To ignore Jack Thompson is to allow him to go on spreading his lies to everyone who listens to him...and before you discount those who listen to him as fools who don't matter, take a look at how many bills he has helped to draft. The parents listen to him and the politicians listen to him, and those are the two groups behind the recent wave of legislation and the anti-videogames movement.
Jack Thompson depends on media support to make his point. If you've ever actually read one of his letters, you would see that it reads like a freaking resume of programs that have had him on and bills that he's helped to draft. If the Florida Bar finds that he has engaged in professional misconduct and that he is an unstable individual incapable of performing his duties as an attorney, then he could probably be stripped of his ability to practice law. Consequently, he would be stripped of his ability to use the media as a tool to his advantage.
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Wow, you've never driven on a holiday then, have you? They have alcohol stops all the time out by me. They just kindly ask everyone, or ever x driver, to pull over and have a chat for second. If you seem impaired they'll ask you to do a field sobriety test. Inconvenient, perhaps, but it saves lives.
As for DRM, it's effect on me has been minor at best. I've never lost a CD key, so I've always had access that way. Any of the games that had limited isntalls weren't a problem either because I'm not running 10 copies at once without an uninstall. I've never needed to "crack" any of my software because the terms were simple to follow under normal use. The more people pirate, crack games and download cracked version to "spite" the devs though, the more complex the DRM will be. Then it will become a problem...but the onus will be on the pirates, not the devs.
And then you wonder why they have DRM? You basically just admitted that you're going to go out and download a pirated copy of the game and play it. That's why they're putting DRM on everything now, is because of people like you. There's no principle here, other than the principle of being cheap. "Principle" would be not buying it and not playing it.
Yeah, I'm sure... So you're going to download a cracked version of the game and play it, and then if you like you're actually going to get up and go to a store and buy it? My ass...
More likely you'll download it, play it, beat it and then never give a second thought to it. Exactly how long is this "review" of yours going to take before you determine that you like it? Until the price drops? Until you beat it? Stop being an f-ing hyprocite and just admit what you are...a thief.
You're also focusing entirely on the PC delivery issues and glossing over the console version. There are no difficulties that I've found with running it on my 360. Reviews are content after all, and most of those bugs will be worked out I would imagine. Lots of great PC games have had buggy releases that get fixed with good patching.
Additionally, there's not much an impact on gameplay there. Whether you install it once or 25 times it's still the same game.
Yeah, I kept trying to get my wife to play Rez with me...but she seemed afraid for some reason. :(
The whole article was tagged as "vaporware", that's what he was responding to. Please read the page before you go throwing around insults.
I couldn't put "Da Bears" in as my motto because of the same error, but I doubt that MS has an anti-Chicago bias. It's simply an issue of something wonky with their content monitor, or they're trying to block certain trademarked names and phrases. Before we go jumping off the deep end about how MS is "anti-linux" when it comes to mottos, how about people do a little research into what else is blocked?
The tone and context of the imagery in a game/movie is something that is hard to express. The Shawshank Redemption is a movie that follows a bunch of convicts, for example, but the tone is one of respect that lets you know that while they made mistakes, many of them are still good people. That's hard to understand without seeing the movie, which is why they rate the final product, not the scripts.
To start openly saying "this was removed, that was removed, etc.." invites criticism and armchair rating. Suppose they say that a particular scene was cut from the AO version of Manhunt 2, but a similar scene shows up in another title that's rated M? People will start demanding to know why this title is rated M, whereas Manhunt 2 had the AO rating until it was removed, among other things.
Such questions won't take into account the fact that the M game might be something like GRAW or Rainbox Six, where you're playing a military character, and that this was one instance out of a game that stays well below the M threshold. Such questions also won't take into account the fact that in Manhunt 2 you're playing a lunatic killer that apparently kills for no reason, and that this scene might be the culmination of a brutal torture sequence. Once those sorts of questions get raised people will push even harder for laws governing it, so that there is the percpetion of a more rigid standard. This would be bad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole#United_States/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probation/
The man committed a crime for which there are punishments. It's called THE LAW. In doing so he essentially forked over some of his rights to the government, things like the ability to and do whatever he wants. The government in this case was kind enough to say "Normally this is a jailable offence, however we don't think you really need to go to the pen. Instead we're going to confine you to your house and monitor you computer to ensure that you're not pirating stuff from home. Since we don't have anything compatible with your OS, you'll have to switch to Windows."
It's no different than them saying "We'll let you out of jail early on certain conditions, such as not committing a crim for the next 3 years."
On a personal note, I was hoping that the story was about a real pirate...that would've been infinitely more interesting. =)
This brings up an important question though...if they're merely counting number of items downloaded they're not taking into account that someone might be downloading a whole album. Conversely, they're also assuming that the person wouldn't just go out and buy the single on iTunes for $0.99, but instead assume it's a lost "album sale".
Not to mention, there's always the spin factor... They'll just claim that they really care about the children, but their bill was defeated by other politicians who don't care and were swayed by industry lobbists.
Clear Channel bans the blind from US streets because they can't see the their billboards...
Exactly, it's not so much that Bioshock is the "BEST GAME EVAR!!!", but rather that it's already doing quite well in preorders and looks to be one of the heavy hitters of 2007. Will it beat out Halo 3? Probably not. Will it sell a lot more than 250K copies? Yes.
Secondly, I didn't say it was an "amazing" engine, I said that so far only one company has a lawsuit pending in regards to that engine. If you can find me some evidence to contradict that claim, I'll gladly recind it.
That's the list of games that are out or in development and are currently using the Unreal 3 engine. Take off anything made by Epic and that's a lot of games. The only ones suing Epic so far are Silicon Knights.
Now, considering several of the games on that list were very successful and had good releases, what's more likely? That Epic are a bunch of fools with a broken engine that they can't support? Or that SK, a company that's only made half a dozen games, has gotten in over their heads and is looking for someone to blame?
Alternatively you could look at it like this: I can buy the new 120GB Elite for $450, then get the Halo 3 Legendary edition for $130.00 and that still won't equal the cost of the 80GB PS3 Motorstorm Pack.
Better luck next time fanboy.
Granted, his family could take his money and his bucket, but the seemed to be enablers. They don't want to be the ones to tell him "no", and they figure that it's better that they cook his food than leaving it up to KFC.
I believe the movie was Future War.
As for the controls, as the poster said everything is customizable, even in the demo. If you think you can do a better job mapping, then why not give it a try rather than just bitching about it.
Lastly, I just wanted to add that the game only costs $40 USD, so it's not a full priced title. It's a pretty good game for the value, and I've been playing it non-stop since it came out. As the OP said, it'll never be a classic (and man, would a next-gen version of Tie Fighter be great) but it's a solid game nonetheless.
Yeah and, you know, why waste time helping ALS sufferers? I mean, they can't really move around unassisted or even speak for that matter. Maybe we should just abandon them too? Of course that would mean no Stephen Hawkins, but hey, he's defective too...right? [/sarcasm]
Or rather, she did until I started catching her falling for it... "Hey, can we get this, it's only $7?" "Actually honey, that's $8, it's $7.99. And once you add in tax, it'll actually be more like $8.75."
Criteria: Stick 50 enemies in multiplayer ranked matches
Icon: Post-It note with a picture of a Plasma Grenade
Talking about Jack Thompson on GP and /. isn't giving him a "platform" anymore than talking about Hitler in history class gives nazism a "platform". This man is attacking our chosen form of entertainment, to ignore him and not talk about his would be counter-productive. 99% of the people reading these stories on GP and /. oppose Jack Thompson's efforts, so shouldn't we be as informed as possible in regards to what he's doing?
Exactly. To ignore Jack Thompson is to allow him to go on spreading his lies to everyone who listens to him...and before you discount those who listen to him as fools who don't matter, take a look at how many bills he has helped to draft. The parents listen to him and the politicians listen to him, and those are the two groups behind the recent wave of legislation and the anti-videogames movement.
Jack Thompson depends on media support to make his point. If you've ever actually read one of his letters, you would see that it reads like a freaking resume of programs that have had him on and bills that he's helped to draft. If the Florida Bar finds that he has engaged in professional misconduct and that he is an unstable individual incapable of performing his duties as an attorney, then he could probably be stripped of his ability to practice law. Consequently, he would be stripped of his ability to use the media as a tool to his advantage.
Seriously, it makes checking my e-mail in the winter SUCK...