As far as quality control, not sure what you mean. If they don't pass, they aren't QC OK.
As for complete failures, generally this comes from the opposite - single manufacturer (whether in-house or not) and a whole shipment is contaminated. Yes, I remember the various different drive failures, not all were cheapest manufacturer type deals - the biggest always come from in-house/single source manufacturers.
Well, you would too if you'd been fucked over from lisencing your products previously... remember the Mac clones and that huge fuck up?
No, I don't own a Mac, I just see why they do things the way they are. Frankly, most users are too stupid to own a computer, let alone be trusted to install the OS on their own random bits of hardware. Hell, even with driver disks and Windows they seem to still fuck it up.
The way I see it if you want Mac OS you should be more than happy to fork out the extra cash for one...
*waits for the windows fanboys posing as mac lovers to flame him*
While I think you're a fucking cocksmoker for saying "sheeple", I do agree.
If anything, make a money order for however much the game cost and send it to Will Wright. If I choose to install the game, this is what I will be doing. I'm sure as hell not going to give EA cash to infect my computer with Securom.
I am with Optus, I get full ADSL2+ speeds and 20/40GB (20 peak, 40 off peak, and yes, peak is 12 noon to 12 midnight, off peak is the reverse).
I download enough to satisfy my needs, and the price is quite fair ($70 p/m).
I've only ever gone over my cap once, and that was to rebuild a Linux server for a mate.
I'd rather have a realistic cap than have some fucktard diddling with my packets.
As for "every Australian" you've ever talked to... what, is that a grand total of 5? I am a self confessed geek with lots of geek friends, we all love our ISPs because we're not idiots. We don't go for price, we go for quality and download capacity. I can only think of maybe 5 or 6 people I know that hate their ISP, and they aren't geeks - family members who didn't consult the family geek before getting their plan.
Net "neutrality" (I am still bewildered about how that term is valid) seems like a big excuse for ISPs in the US to punish their customers. I think the main downfall of the US is not having body like the TIO (http://www.tio.com.au/) to deal with ISPs fucking you over. I've had bad ISPs in the past that have tried to screw me, what do I do? Contact the TIO and have them fight my case for me. I don't go to court, I don't really need to do much other than contact them, give them details, and they do the investigations. They pull server logs, demand details of the case, and basically make the ISP think twice before dicking their customers. They don't enforce the laws, or even make them up, they are purely there to mediate cases. They have a "fee" structure that makes it hard for ISPs to see a net gain from screwing customers.
Case in point:
An ISP wasn't delivering advertised speeds for my connection, I said I wanted out due to false advertising. They returned saying I needed to pay AU$550 to release from the contract. Well, I wasn't going to take this laying down, so I went to the TIO. They investigated the case and ended up ruling in my favour. While they weren't fined (this is something for Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs, depending on the state), they were liable for AU$1500 in fees due to not responding at the first and second level of investigation. I ended up paying nothing, they ended up $2050 in the hole for being dickheads about it.
I digress, if you want to hear about people bitching about ISPs, talk to a Kiwi... or an American...
I don't see anything you said there as "fun" without solid gameplay and a solid storyline.
Two things missing from Crysis.
I can even hazard a guess at what it'll be like:
Insertion Go to objective
Oh no, something fucked up New objective Rinse Repeat
Talk about a yawn festival - I've played more interesting casual games (think Puzzle Quest). Sure, the graphics are very tasty, but that's NOT what makes a game.
I wish Crytek would stop making games and just focus on streamlining their engine for others to use - either that or hire some actual game developers (not just engine programmers).
The simple fact the first scriptures were written in THREE languages, NONE of them English, shoots you down in flames.
I really can't get over this blind arrogance of fundementalism. You people spend so much time with your heads up your arses that you don't even know the history of your own religion.
Personally, I'd prefer to live next to middle-of-the-road Muslims than Right-Wing-Wanktard Christians.
I think I'll stick with my Aptus ADSL2+ here in aust.
Not sure if Optus will provision a line that far... worth a shot.:D
On a more serious note, it amazes me that a supposed world leader is allowing this bullshit to continue.
QoS aids noone but the ISP. This is another bullshit "we don't have the bandwidth so the users can suffer". They take your money hand and fist, so they should be able to upgrade their ports.
I mean, seriously, 275 users per giga line is just stupid. When I used to program ADSL we'd have a max of 256 per 512mbps port on ADSL1 (max 1.5mbps downstream). With the newer ADSL2+ and ADSL1 8mbps it's more like 32 users per 512mbps port - while this is.
Companies that don't want to invest in infrastructure are the same companies that are causing the downfall of the US economy. This whole idea that the only thing that matters is shareholders is the quickest way to fuck your customers and go bankrupt.
Without customers your shares aren't worth crap, unfortunately for some of you guys in the US this isn't going to help - you're limited for choices. We have the same problems with Telstra here in Australia, but at least you can go with a tier 3 ISP that merely leases the gear from Telstra.
I know there has to be a middle ground somewhere for ISPs and customers, unfortunately the corporate juggernauts of this world are uninterested in compromise - it's all about squeezing the customer for every cent they're worth.
It's not a unique game. It's just like every other life/city/god sim you can think of. The game isn't that great.
Piracy SHOULDN'T be the answer. Invasive DRM is as bad, if not worse, than poorly programed game.
If anyone remembers FADE they'd know what truly fucked copy protection is. I had an original version of both Operation Flashpoint and the first expansion pack. I loved it. Until fade kicked in. I bought the game, but Codemasters FADE system decided that I wasn't. Gameplay degraded to the level where it was impossible to play.
I boycotted Codemasters for ages, didn't help. It was only when FADE received enough (almost any customer with ability to write) complaints that it was canned.
I for one refuse to buy this game due to the intrusive DRM. While I'm no Valve fanboy, I REALLY like Steam. It's the ultimate DRM without being fucked about it.
True, you need a decent internet connection, and need to be prepared for it to crash occasionally, but at least it doesn't fuck with the rest of my computer. I can reinstall windows on a different drive to the install and just run it. No install, nothing. It just works.
I can backup my games to disc, I can take them to a friend's house, install them, play them. Hell, even leave them installed and let the friend play when I'm not on.
The G series are a nice series from Asus... although you can get the same laptop much cheaper if you don't get a G series. It seems the lights and cover cost an extra $500-$1000 depending on the model you look at.
Instead of a G1 (which I couldn't afford at the time) I went with an F3JP which is a bit slower but all together a nice gaming laptop. I use it all the time when I go overseas and still am able to play the games I love fine.
In some ways, having an overspecced laptop really defeats the purpose of having it. Gaming mobility, not premium graphics. I don't want to either have a battery the size of a small car or only be able to log in for 5 minutes when running on battery (yes, I have played online games via 3G and lappy - Eve was a heap of fun:D).
While it is a massive drool factor, it's quite impractical to have a desktop graphics card in a laptop (which is what seems to be happening more and more). The power consumption of the card alone (heaven forbid it being SLi or Crossfire) chews your battery even in power saving mode.
I can see what they are doing, but to me, it's just a big "spend more money for better stuff" kind of argument that seems to fall over at the first hurdle.
It's not the bandwidth that's the issue in Australia. It's the latency that's the issue.
I can max out my adsl2+ to US sites, but playing online games hurts (mainly due to the amount of hops to the host). Running one cable between land and a barge ISN'T going to cause massive latency, nor degredation of bandwidth - after all it would be fibre.
As for being anchored to a platform vs land to land, well, I don't see that much of a difference. Even if they are harvesting waves from the movement of the barges all that would be needed is some slack in the cable between the mooring and the barge.
It's not rocket science, they've been doing this kind of stuff with oil rigs for years.
What the hell do you think runs between AUSTRALIA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD?
Christ, there are special ships to lay under-sea cables (one used to port in Newcastle where I used to live), it's not like it's a mammoth task. Start feed at shore... pilot boat until you get to anchored barged... plug in.
Slashdot Mirror
Why's that? So the people who "know best" can keep US citizens in line?
Rez
As far as quality control, not sure what you mean. If they don't pass, they aren't QC OK.
As for complete failures, generally this comes from the opposite - single manufacturer (whether in-house or not) and a whole shipment is contaminated. Yes, I remember the various different drive failures, not all were cheapest manufacturer type deals - the biggest always come from in-house/single source manufacturers.
Come on, it'd have to be a fight to the death in a ring with various ancient weapons in a spacey theme... wait, no, that was Star Trek...
So what you're saying is that it's not a comic?
No, the comic is shit... so un-funny it's making me regret clicking on this article.
I suppose as they say... small things amuse small minds... then again, this is retarded. I suppose the same works...
Where there's a will there's a way... where there's Microsoft you can bet your arse they'll try to proprietry it.
Well, you would too if you'd been fucked over from lisencing your products previously... remember the Mac clones and that huge fuck up?
No, I don't own a Mac, I just see why they do things the way they are. Frankly, most users are too stupid to own a computer, let alone be trusted to install the OS on their own random bits of hardware. Hell, even with driver disks and Windows they seem to still fuck it up.
The way I see it if you want Mac OS you should be more than happy to fork out the extra cash for one...
*waits for the windows fanboys posing as mac lovers to flame him*
While I think you're a fucking cocksmoker for saying "sheeple", I do agree.
If anything, make a money order for however much the game cost and send it to Will Wright. If I choose to install the game, this is what I will be doing. I'm sure as hell not going to give EA cash to infect my computer with Securom.
For anyone bored enough, the launch site can be found here:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=9.048616,167.743839&spn=0.006198,0.011373&t=h&z=17
I'm quite happy with my ISP.
I am with Optus, I get full ADSL2+ speeds and 20/40GB (20 peak, 40 off peak, and yes, peak is 12 noon to 12 midnight, off peak is the reverse).
I download enough to satisfy my needs, and the price is quite fair ($70 p/m).
I've only ever gone over my cap once, and that was to rebuild a Linux server for a mate.
I'd rather have a realistic cap than have some fucktard diddling with my packets.
As for "every Australian" you've ever talked to... what, is that a grand total of 5? I am a self confessed geek with lots of geek friends, we all love our ISPs because we're not idiots. We don't go for price, we go for quality and download capacity. I can only think of maybe 5 or 6 people I know that hate their ISP, and they aren't geeks - family members who didn't consult the family geek before getting their plan.
Net "neutrality" (I am still bewildered about how that term is valid) seems like a big excuse for ISPs in the US to punish their customers. I think the main downfall of the US is not having body like the TIO (http://www.tio.com.au/) to deal with ISPs fucking you over. I've had bad ISPs in the past that have tried to screw me, what do I do? Contact the TIO and have them fight my case for me. I don't go to court, I don't really need to do much other than contact them, give them details, and they do the investigations. They pull server logs, demand details of the case, and basically make the ISP think twice before dicking their customers. They don't enforce the laws, or even make them up, they are purely there to mediate cases. They have a "fee" structure that makes it hard for ISPs to see a net gain from screwing customers.
Case in point:
An ISP wasn't delivering advertised speeds for my connection, I said I wanted out due to false advertising. They returned saying I needed to pay AU$550 to release from the contract. Well, I wasn't going to take this laying down, so I went to the TIO. They investigated the case and ended up ruling in my favour. While they weren't fined (this is something for Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs, depending on the state), they were liable for AU$1500 in fees due to not responding at the first and second level of investigation. I ended up paying nothing, they ended up $2050 in the hole for being dickheads about it.
I digress, if you want to hear about people bitching about ISPs, talk to a Kiwi... or an American...
I don't see anything you said there as "fun" without solid gameplay and a solid storyline.
Two things missing from Crysis.
I can even hazard a guess at what it'll be like:
Insertion
Go to objective
Oh no, something fucked up
New objective
Rinse
Repeat
Talk about a yawn festival - I've played more interesting casual games (think Puzzle Quest). Sure, the graphics are very tasty, but that's NOT what makes a game.
I wish Crytek would stop making games and just focus on streamlining their engine for others to use - either that or hire some actual game developers (not just engine programmers).
I don't see how this is flamebait. It's quite valid, I was hoping a lot of franchises would die recently:
Street fighter
Mortal Kombat
Mario
Halo
Devil May Cry
Medal Of Honor
Sonic
The Sims
The list goes on, beating a dead horse is one thing, equine necrophilia is another.
Anything Bethsada makes is not anything near a classic.
They make the worst games around after EA.
Personally I think you're taking the comment out of context. Take a step back and read the comment until you understand it.
You even sort of understood it yourself to start with, then you went down the "religion has a place" argument without needing to.
Sometimes it's best to just understand than respond.
BAHAHAHAHA.
Fucking wanktard.
The simple fact the first scriptures were written in THREE languages, NONE of them English, shoots you down in flames.
I really can't get over this blind arrogance of fundementalism. You people spend so much time with your heads up your arses that you don't even know the history of your own religion.
Personally, I'd prefer to live next to middle-of-the-road Muslims than Right-Wing-Wanktard Christians.
$170 is nothing.
My last graphics card cost me $400. That was cheap.
The same people who cry about the price of components are also the same people that cry about performance.
It's a choice - spend big and get great performance, or spend small and get shitty performance.
Not like it's fucking rocket science.
I think I'll stick with my Aptus ADSL2+ here in aust.
Not sure if Optus will provision a line that far... worth a shot. :D
On a more serious note, it amazes me that a supposed world leader is allowing this bullshit to continue.
QoS aids noone but the ISP. This is another bullshit "we don't have the bandwidth so the users can suffer". They take your money hand and fist, so they should be able to upgrade their ports.
I mean, seriously, 275 users per giga line is just stupid. When I used to program ADSL we'd have a max of 256 per 512mbps port on ADSL1 (max 1.5mbps downstream). With the newer ADSL2+ and ADSL1 8mbps it's more like 32 users per 512mbps port - while this is.
Companies that don't want to invest in infrastructure are the same companies that are causing the downfall of the US economy. This whole idea that the only thing that matters is shareholders is the quickest way to fuck your customers and go bankrupt.
Without customers your shares aren't worth crap, unfortunately for some of you guys in the US this isn't going to help - you're limited for choices. We have the same problems with Telstra here in Australia, but at least you can go with a tier 3 ISP that merely leases the gear from Telstra.
I know there has to be a middle ground somewhere for ISPs and customers, unfortunately the corporate juggernauts of this world are uninterested in compromise - it's all about squeezing the customer for every cent they're worth.
It's not a unique game. It's just like every other life/city/god sim you can think of. The game isn't that great.
Piracy SHOULDN'T be the answer. Invasive DRM is as bad, if not worse, than poorly programed game.
If anyone remembers FADE they'd know what truly fucked copy protection is. I had an original version of both Operation Flashpoint and the first expansion pack. I loved it. Until fade kicked in. I bought the game, but Codemasters FADE system decided that I wasn't. Gameplay degraded to the level where it was impossible to play.
I boycotted Codemasters for ages, didn't help. It was only when FADE received enough (almost any customer with ability to write) complaints that it was canned.
I for one refuse to buy this game due to the intrusive DRM. While I'm no Valve fanboy, I REALLY like Steam. It's the ultimate DRM without being fucked about it.
True, you need a decent internet connection, and need to be prepared for it to crash occasionally, but at least it doesn't fuck with the rest of my computer. I can reinstall windows on a different drive to the install and just run it. No install, nothing. It just works.
I can backup my games to disc, I can take them to a friend's house, install them, play them. Hell, even leave them installed and let the friend play when I'm not on.
dude, learn to read before posting...
I swear this is a secret plot by book publishers to stay in business.
Post on /. and wait for the orders to start flooding in.
The G series are a nice series from Asus... although you can get the same laptop much cheaper if you don't get a G series. It seems the lights and cover cost an extra $500-$1000 depending on the model you look at.
Instead of a G1 (which I couldn't afford at the time) I went with an F3JP which is a bit slower but all together a nice gaming laptop. I use it all the time when I go overseas and still am able to play the games I love fine.
In some ways, having an overspecced laptop really defeats the purpose of having it. Gaming mobility, not premium graphics. I don't want to either have a battery the size of a small car or only be able to log in for 5 minutes when running on battery (yes, I have played online games via 3G and lappy - Eve was a heap of fun :D).
While it is a massive drool factor, it's quite impractical to have a desktop graphics card in a laptop (which is what seems to be happening more and more). The power consumption of the card alone (heaven forbid it being SLi or Crossfire) chews your battery even in power saving mode.
I can see what they are doing, but to me, it's just a big "spend more money for better stuff" kind of argument that seems to fall over at the first hurdle.
It's not the bandwidth that's the issue in Australia. It's the latency that's the issue.
I can max out my adsl2+ to US sites, but playing online games hurts (mainly due to the amount of hops to the host). Running one cable between land and a barge ISN'T going to cause massive latency, nor degredation of bandwidth - after all it would be fibre.
As for being anchored to a platform vs land to land, well, I don't see that much of a difference. Even if they are harvesting waves from the movement of the barges all that would be needed is some slack in the cable between the mooring and the barge.
It's not rocket science, they've been doing this kind of stuff with oil rigs for years.
What the hell do you think runs between AUSTRALIA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD?
Christ, there are special ships to lay under-sea cables (one used to port in Newcastle where I used to live), it's not like it's a mammoth task. Start feed at shore... pilot boat until you get to anchored barged... plug in.
US government in Iraq...