Plus it would be chaos for the American drug control people, since it would likely flood the US with dope.
'fraid I don't have a link to provide, but the local news paper (the Winnipeg Free Press) recently ran an article discussing US plans to start requiring some sort of passport containing biometric information before allowing border crossings. Currently, no paperwork is required (not sure if this applies in airports, rules might be different there), but I wouldn't be surprised if this whole passport thing ends up going through.
I think the reasons for this are probably more because of terrorist concerns rather than drugs (There was concern that some of the 9/11 terrorists may have entered the US from Canada)... but if we really do decriminilize marijuana, I'm sure border policies would have to change. Oh well, ever since the exchange rate started sucking, vacationing to the states hasn't been that great anyways.
Every reason you cite why it sucks is what made it so good. The game was a satire of the generic RPG.
I've been told that about this game before, but it just never feels like satire to me... Instead, I just get the feeling that they decided to call it a satire after they realized how the game turned out. Obviously, that's not the case, but I can never seem to shake that feeling that I get from the game. It's like watching a B-movie where the directory was thoroughly convinced that it would be a blockbuster.
You're definitely right about this game polarizing people though. There are very few people that think the game is "pretty good"... everyone seems to think it's either one of the best games ever made, or a steaming pile of hog fat. I still don't think Earthbound is a game that most people would like. Very few of my friends are into RPG's, and I can't imagine that this would be the game that would draw them into the genre. Any supposed humor content would definitely go over their heads (Hell, I've been playing video games for years and it apparently goes over my head).
The Law of Inverse Slashdot Moderation strikes again!:)
Funny how that works sometimes... I've made other outbursts that somehow got modded up to +5 that I certainly didn't expect. This one is already marked as Flamebait as I write this though, so it's not looking good.
Can someone tell EA or Origin or whoever is making these games these days to PLEASE make a new single player Ultima! I used to play Ultima 4 for hours, and aside from Ultima 8, they were all quality games. I'm definitely not buying into all of this MMORPG stuff though. They're an interesting idea, but they all look boring compared to a good game of Ultima 7, and there's no way I'm paying more than once for a game.
I completely agree, and I personally think that Earthbound (the SNES version anyways, haven't played the others) is the most overrated game I've ever played. It contains just about every Japanese-RPG cliche every invented (while inventing some new ones), and the whole feel of the game is so Japanese that I find it almost unplayable. Most of the dialog didn't even make any sense to me (Do Japanese people really act that childish? Or is that what passes for humor in Japan? I've lived in Canada my whole life, so I seriously don't know... Canadian girls certainly don't burst into tears when they don't get their way)... Perhaps someone will reply saying that I "didn't get" the game, or that I can't appreciate it or something to that effect... frankly, I'm glad that I "don't get" the game.
I'd always heard that it was such a good game, so I was happy to find a copy of it in a pawn shop (for a pretty decent price too), so I was willing to give it a go. By the time I found out that the second city was called Twoson (the first city being called Onett), I realized just how much I would dislike the game. What a dissappointment. From that point on, I've made it a point to warn people not to buy the game unless they know damn well what they're getting into. If new versions come out, I'll be sure to warn people against getting them too.
To be completely honest, I've always thought that all these Japanese RPG's (Final Fantasy, Grandia, etc) were shite. However, if someone can point me towards petitions for a new version of Dungeon Master, or an Ultima 4 remake, I'd be more than happy to sign it!
I'm sure I'll be modded back to the stone age for not liking this game, such is the fanaticism of moderators around here. Oh well, my karma can take the hit.
I can't see this thing catching on at all... it's a curiosity, but how many games will actually use this effectively? I can't imagine the games that use it will have much gameplay (anyone remember the Activator for the Genesis?)... you can also use it to put your face in the game for stuff like Tony Hawk Underground or perhaps EA's sports games... but I certainly wouldn't pay more than about $5 for that.
10 years from now, I think it'll just be another footnote in video game history next to the Nintendo U-Force and R.O.B.
I'm watching Daily Planet on Discovery channel right now, and they're showing this same story, along with some video of the program they're using... and it's definitely NOT Crazy Taxi! It's some unique (and rather crummy looking) 3D program that moves at one speed (and looks like it has bad handling too) and doesn't even show a car at all. All it shows is static buildings, ground and sky with nothing to interact with. Might as well be a Doom level.
I don't know who assumed that they were using Crazy Taxi, but they were wrong.
Back in my days, we'd get our friends to simply come over to our house if we wanted to play a game with more than one player. We were content with only a quarter of the screen for Mario Kart 64, and dammit, we liked it that way!
I've never really been very impressed with online gaming. Unless you can actually interact with the person you're playing against, they might as well just be a computer controller opponent. And stupid add-ons like the Dreamcast microphone for Alien Front Online doesn't cut it (trust me, I have it, and it was never any good). I'm certainly not going to pay $10 a month to play against against some nerd who plays the game 25 hours a day.
The only way any console is going to succeed with online support is if the system comes with the hardware you need. PC's generally come with what they need (or you got it anyways because you wanted the internet), and online gaming seems pretty successful for computer. The Dreamcast came with a modem, and there were quite a few games that supported it (although some of the support was a little odd, like downloading ghost cars in racing games, or downloading "fighting data" in Street Fighter Alpha 3). If Sony and Microsoft want their new hardware to have big online followings, they have to include this stuff with the system, because 80% of the owners are casual and probably won't bother to buy any goofy accessories.
F-Zero GX, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart Double Dash, Wario World, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Animal Crossing, Phantasy Star Online, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Sonic Adventure DX, Soul Calibur II, Ikaruga, P.N. 03, Luigi's Mansion, Starfox Adventures, Mario Party 4, Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2, Viewtiful Joe, Pikmin, plus a horde of multi-platform titles like Tony Hawk and EA sports games.
I'd say that's enough incentive to buy a Gamecube. It certainly beats buying a system for two games like you did.
I loved most of the single player Ultima games... are their days completely over? Online games are completely overrated, and I certainly can't afford to keep paying for my game every month.
Oh well, without Lord British, it'll probably suck anyways...
Things wrong with N-Gage: 1. Already a sub-par fone is made even more mediocre.
How does making it play video games make it less of a phone? The two abilities are mostly seperate. If anything, the fact that it's able to play (decent) video games likely means that the screen on it is much nicer than most cell phones I've seen.
Not only that, but even though this is meant as a games machine, it might be a smart idea for them to make a cartridge that provides some PDA functionality... could be useful. Seems like the fact that it has a cartridge slot could make it a BETTER phone than most.
2. You have to hold the thing sideways when talking on it
Uh... so what? You're holding it against the side of your face, so who cares? It could be argued that instead you're holding it sideways when you're playing games.
3. A whole face of buttons, you get a digital pad and 2 buttons for games, wth!
I'm not even sure what your complaint is here... I don't see why games wouldn't be able to use as many buttons as they want.
4. 3-d Graphics = battery drain
The processor that it uses probably doesn't drain batteries any faster than the one that's in the GBA. Processors are actually quite low power things these days, and the ability to do 3D graphics is not likely to be the reason for poor battery life. Things like backlighting and bluetooth probably drain a LOT more battery power.
Besides, if they leave out 3D graphics, they'll get completely swept out the door when Sony comes out with their machine. If this thing isn't any better than a GBA, then it really has no chance at all (At least the way it is, it has a slim chance).
5. Fully 3D graphics on a screen barely able to draw one poly = waste of space
Completely your opinion... and I'm guessing that you've never actually used one of these things, so you really have no idea what things are actually like with it.
Yes, the screen is fairly small... but there are 3D games on the GBA as well, are those a waste of space too?
6. 6 hour battery life? WHEN NOT USING IT AS A FONE?!??!
Ah, finally a valid complaint... 6 hours of battery life isn't very good... that's as much as my Lynx and Game Gear get, and that's using 80's technology. I sure hope they're not using flourescent tubes for lighting anymore....
7. No easy access to games for changes.
Another valid complaint... the N-Gage gets a lot of heat for this, but it's probably not as bad as people think... battery compartments are easily accessible in handheld devices these days, and I doubt that this will be any more obtrusive than having to open the lid on your Gamebox, your X-Station or your PlayCube. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a bad idea... but I don't think it's worth bashing Nokia for.
8. Hey, you get to take the battery off every time you change the game, at least you won't get any important fone calls in that time!?!
Gosh, how long does it take to unclip a battery pack? 5 seconds at most? I doubt many people get so many phone calls that 5 seconds will be a huge problem.
I really think people should have to try a device before offering their opinions on it. Ignorantly repeating rumors you've heard about something really isn't useful. I haven't used the N-Gage either, but I'm not going to judge it based on what everyone else says about it. I think the machine actually looks quite interesting... the only reason I'm not bothering with it is that I really don't want a cell phone (or "fone" as you seem to call it)
It's the price of the games that keeps me from buying new consoles. I don't mind dumping $200 on a new system, but when the games are as expensive as they are (In Canada, finding games between $70-80 is not uncommon), it's a much bigger investment. Of course, if there were more worthwhile games, then I might be less opposed to spending as much.
I'm waiting for the Gamecube price drop (The current price is fair in my opinion... but with the rumors spreading, I'll feel like an idiot if the price drops a few days after I buy one!). The games for it are getting fairly cheap, and the local EB has a lot of pre-owned games for $40 (CDN) or so. Coincidentally, this is almost the same situation that made me buy my beloved Dreamcast...
What about the small problem of finding 6 people to go to Mars, to work in a nuclear power station for no people for 30 years?
Hell, I'd love to get the chance to go to Mars... even if it meant working on a nuclear reactor for 30 years (actually, that would probably be rather interesting too!), and likely dying there (Whether by accident, or by one-way trip). If any of you russians are looking for someone in their early twenties with a degree in electrical engineering, call me up!
I actually bought a Jaguar when they were new. I still own it, and I still play it once in a while (Ahh, Tempest 2000...). At the time, I was a staunch opponent of the 3DO since the two consoles were rivals at the time, and the M2 scared me. I eventually lost interest in the video game industry when the PSX took over, and I stopped buying GamePro's or paying much attention at all to what was going on. It wasn't until years later that I realized that the M2 never came out at all. After all the talk about it, it is (in my opinion) the biggest chunk of vaporware every. Sadly, this is one case where they probably made the right decision by not releasing it. The PSX would have thoroughly trampled them (hell, the Saturn would probably have trampled them). They wasted a lot of money in developing it, but at least they cut their losses in the end.
When I look back, I always think about how silly it was to have such a pro-Jaguar opinion, and be so anti-3DO... little did I know that both would die such a quick death.
Not a fighting game, but I remember finding a rom of "Super Mario World" for the NES on the internet while trying to find the japanese version of SMB2. I figured either it was a SNES rom that was in the wrong spot, or it was one of the Super Mario Bros games hacked or mislabelled... but it actually turned out to be a pirate of the SNES game ported to the NES.
Surprisingly the graphics weren't that bad! Everything had fewer colors due to the hardware limitations, but even despite that, the backgrounds looked fairly nice, the characters were decently well ported, and moved fairly well. Mario himself had a few palette problems where the colors would be wrong, and larger sprites like the huge bullet bills were instead turned into three fireballs that took up about as much space. The levels seemed fairly similar (minus vertical scrolling), but the world map was entirely different. Not everything worked the way it was supposed to as well... smashing blocks acted funny and such.
Unfortunately, I could never get very far in the game due to the horrendously bad physics. Mario walked quite slow, but the minute you tried to run, the game sped up to an almost uncontrollable level. To make matters worse, if you tried to jump while running, you'd only jump at the "slow walking speed"... this completely screwed up any judgement you had while running and would insure that you'd never land where you expected. Even though the game gave you 15 lives from the start, you'd probably lose about 10 of them just on the first level.
It's too bad... if a decent group of programmers had spent a decent amount of time on this game, it actually could have been quite good. Try this game out if you find it.
Also, I remember a Samurai Showdown 2 pirate I found once... it was very much like these other pirate games with horrible flickering graphics that made 2600 Pac-Man look like a work of art, and a character select screen where every character was shown at least 3 times.
So how much better is this really?
on
Reiser4 Benchmarks
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· Score: 2, Insightful
All these numbers are nice, but I can't make heads or tails of them. Since these are times, I assume lower numbers are better? If so, they why are they usually in red in the report?
Would this increase the speed of a normal system by any noticable amount? Is it worth my time to switch over my EXT3 filesystem to reiser4? Are there programs that can perform the filesystem change for me?
Ah, games have had bugs for years... and it's definitely not a NEW thing to have video games development cycle shortened in order to get a product out by Christmas. I have Atari games with bugs in them too, and when you compare things, games these days probably have LESS bugs per unit of code than they used to. I mean hell, Mine Storm (the game built into the Vectrex) screws up if you beat level 13, because it tried to load information that isn't really there.
Obviously, some games have some pretty major bugs that stick out like a sore thumb these days... especially since imperfections aren't tolerated as well (sprite corruption in an Atari game isn't as bad as broken polygons, or a complete crash on a PC game), but I hardly think it's enough to warrant any major action.
No offense or anything, but I don't see much point in importing a game that is guaranteed to be released in North American anyways. Instead of spending twice the price and sitting through japanese menus and cutscenes, you could just wait the month or so and get a copy that has no compatibility issues whatsoever.
Of course, in Europe where everything seems to take forever to come out, I can understand it a little better.
[i]One thing many posters have ignored is the price of a GB SP + a good mobile phone, namly which is going to be ~$100-$200.[/i]
Not sure if many people know about the Pioneer Laseractive, but it was a Laserdisc player that you could buy add-ons for. The three add-ons that were released were a Genesis add-on, a Turbo-Grafx-16 add-on, and a Karaoko add-on. If you had the Genesis add-on, you could play Genesis games, SegaCD games, as well as special MegaLD games that came on laserdisc (guess how many of these actually came out). Similarly, the TG16 add-on played carts, TurboCD's and TurboLD's (Which were apperently completely different from the MegaLD games, and NOT compatible). This actually sounds like a good idea, since you'd be able to combine all your entertainment stuff into one unit.
However, the add-ons cost around $700 each. Naturally, everyone realized that buying an actual Genesis + SegaCD was about half that price, and the thing sold very poorly. It would make a nice collectors item these days though.
It's sad to see this series teetering on the edge of collapse. I remember in the Dreamcast days, it was one of the showcase titles for the system, yet the XBox community all but ignores it. Although I wasn't into this game myself (a little too much tedium for my case), I always thought it was exceptionally well done.
However, I remember reading somewhere that when Shenmue (The Dreamcast version) was originally made, it was intended to be the first part of a 16 part series. Perhaps that was a little too ambitious.
Maybe just being Starwars is enough for some peope in the same way that it
Although I thoroughly agree that this is true, I have a number of problems with this...
1. This only asserts that many people are too blinded by their own opinions to see the obvious. If we found an alien civilization that turned out to live in a communistic society, would we immediately hate them simply due to memories of the Cold War? I'd really like to think that the majority of people can overcome their own personal biases to see the truth behind something, but this is not the case.
2. I find it morally reprehensible that a company can profit so greatly without really having to work hard to do it. If the game was amazingly fun and thoroughly addictive, then kudos to the designers, who are then slightly more rich. However, when designers can still get slightly more rich off of a mediocre game that was rushed through development, then it provides no incentive for them to do any different.
3. The fact of the matter is that they all they had to do is make a half-decent MMORPG, slap the Star Wars name on it, and nerds flock to it. Instead of profiting off of their own work, they're really only profiting due to the brand name. If Daikatana had been a Star Wars themed game, perhaps it wouldn't have gotten nearly as much flak.
Although I bear no ill-will against MMORPG's, or Star Wars, or the developers, I sincerely hope this game is a failure... if only to teach the gaming industry the three lessons I just mentioned*. Of course, the chances of this happening is doubtful. I fully expect to see numerous SWG expansion packs that make the game incrementally less crappy, and bring in more money for the company. Hooray.
(* - Who am I kidding? If companies ever actually learned from their mistakes, Acclaim would be a model company by now...)
The concept is good- make a console with good hardware, use it in arcades, port the same game over to the home version of the console. (Profit?!?)
It's not really a good concept at all... once the game comes out for the console (in this case the XBox, although systems like the Dreamcast/NAOMI had the same situation), the arcade version is essentially doomed. The fact that home conversions are essentially perfect these days is completely killing arcades. If Sega really wanted to revitalize the arcade industry, they shouldn't port these games to home machines at all. But of course, they know all too well that home consoles are a much bigger market for them, so I can't imagine they'd make an arcade-only game at this point in time.
Slashdot Mirror
Plus it would be chaos for the American drug control people, since it would likely flood the US with dope.
'fraid I don't have a link to provide, but the local news paper (the Winnipeg Free Press) recently ran an article discussing US plans to start requiring some sort of passport containing biometric information before allowing border crossings. Currently, no paperwork is required (not sure if this applies in airports, rules might be different there), but I wouldn't be surprised if this whole passport thing ends up going through.
I think the reasons for this are probably more because of terrorist concerns rather than drugs (There was concern that some of the 9/11 terrorists may have entered the US from Canada)... but if we really do decriminilize marijuana, I'm sure border policies would have to change. Oh well, ever since the exchange rate started sucking, vacationing to the states hasn't been that great anyways.
only if you like being freezing all the time, eh?
Dude, when we said summers in Winnipeg commonly hit 40 degrees, we didn't mean fahrenheit!!
Every reason you cite why it sucks is what made it so good. The game was a satire of the generic RPG.
:)
I've been told that about this game before, but it just never feels like satire to me... Instead, I just get the feeling that they decided to call it a satire after they realized how the game turned out. Obviously, that's not the case, but I can never seem to shake that feeling that I get from the game. It's like watching a B-movie where the directory was thoroughly convinced that it would be a blockbuster.
You're definitely right about this game polarizing people though. There are very few people that think the game is "pretty good"... everyone seems to think it's either one of the best games ever made, or a steaming pile of hog fat. I still don't think Earthbound is a game that most people would like. Very few of my friends are into RPG's, and I can't imagine that this would be the game that would draw them into the genre. Any supposed humor content would definitely go over their heads (Hell, I've been playing video games for years and it apparently goes over my head).
The Law of Inverse Slashdot Moderation strikes again!
Funny how that works sometimes... I've made other outbursts that somehow got modded up to +5 that I certainly didn't expect. This one is already marked as Flamebait as I write this though, so it's not looking good.
Can someone tell EA or Origin or whoever is making these games these days to PLEASE make a new single player Ultima! I used to play Ultima 4 for hours, and aside from Ultima 8, they were all quality games. I'm definitely not buying into all of this MMORPG stuff though. They're an interesting idea, but they all look boring compared to a good game of Ultima 7, and there's no way I'm paying more than once for a game.
Thank god we still have Exult...
Its shitty japanese pop culture garbage.
I completely agree, and I personally think that Earthbound (the SNES version anyways, haven't played the others) is the most overrated game I've ever played. It contains just about every Japanese-RPG cliche every invented (while inventing some new ones), and the whole feel of the game is so Japanese that I find it almost unplayable. Most of the dialog didn't even make any sense to me (Do Japanese people really act that childish? Or is that what passes for humor in Japan? I've lived in Canada my whole life, so I seriously don't know... Canadian girls certainly don't burst into tears when they don't get their way)... Perhaps someone will reply saying that I "didn't get" the game, or that I can't appreciate it or something to that effect... frankly, I'm glad that I "don't get" the game.
I'd always heard that it was such a good game, so I was happy to find a copy of it in a pawn shop (for a pretty decent price too), so I was willing to give it a go. By the time I found out that the second city was called Twoson (the first city being called Onett), I realized just how much I would dislike the game. What a dissappointment. From that point on, I've made it a point to warn people not to buy the game unless they know damn well what they're getting into. If new versions come out, I'll be sure to warn people against getting them too.
To be completely honest, I've always thought that all these Japanese RPG's (Final Fantasy, Grandia, etc) were shite. However, if someone can point me towards petitions for a new version of Dungeon Master, or an Ultima 4 remake, I'd be more than happy to sign it!
I'm sure I'll be modded back to the stone age for not liking this game, such is the fanaticism of moderators around here. Oh well, my karma can take the hit.
I can't see this thing catching on at all... it's a curiosity, but how many games will actually use this effectively? I can't imagine the games that use it will have much gameplay (anyone remember the Activator for the Genesis?)... you can also use it to put your face in the game for stuff like Tony Hawk Underground or perhaps EA's sports games... but I certainly wouldn't pay more than about $5 for that.
10 years from now, I think it'll just be another footnote in video game history next to the Nintendo U-Force and R.O.B.
I'm watching Daily Planet on Discovery channel right now, and they're showing this same story, along with some video of the program they're using... and it's definitely NOT Crazy Taxi! It's some unique (and rather crummy looking) 3D program that moves at one speed (and looks like it has bad handling too) and doesn't even show a car at all. All it shows is static buildings, ground and sky with nothing to interact with. Might as well be a Doom level.
I don't know who assumed that they were using Crazy Taxi, but they were wrong.
Back in my days, we'd get our friends to simply come over to our house if we wanted to play a game with more than one player. We were content with only a quarter of the screen for Mario Kart 64, and dammit, we liked it that way!
I've never really been very impressed with online gaming. Unless you can actually interact with the person you're playing against, they might as well just be a computer controller opponent. And stupid add-ons like the Dreamcast microphone for Alien Front Online doesn't cut it (trust me, I have it, and it was never any good). I'm certainly not going to pay $10 a month to play against against some nerd who plays the game 25 hours a day.
The only way any console is going to succeed with online support is if the system comes with the hardware you need. PC's generally come with what they need (or you got it anyways because you wanted the internet), and online gaming seems pretty successful for computer. The Dreamcast came with a modem, and there were quite a few games that supported it (although some of the support was a little odd, like downloading ghost cars in racing games, or downloading "fighting data" in Street Fighter Alpha 3). If Sony and Microsoft want their new hardware to have big online followings, they have to include this stuff with the system, because 80% of the owners are casual and probably won't bother to buy any goofy accessories.
F-Zero GX, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart Double Dash, Wario World, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Metroid Prime, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Animal Crossing, Phantasy Star Online, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, Sonic Adventure DX, Soul Calibur II, Ikaruga, P.N. 03, Luigi's Mansion, Starfox Adventures, Mario Party 4, Super Monkey Ball 1 & 2, Viewtiful Joe, Pikmin, plus a horde of multi-platform titles like Tony Hawk and EA sports games.
I'd say that's enough incentive to buy a Gamecube. It certainly beats buying a system for two games like you did.
So what do I call this in conversation? "thirteen"? "ecks-eye-eye-eye"? "ecks-triple-eye"? "zi"?
I loved most of the single player Ultima games... are their days completely over? Online games are completely overrated, and I certainly can't afford to keep paying for my game every month.
Oh well, without Lord British, it'll probably suck anyways...
Things wrong with N-Gage:
1. Already a sub-par fone is made even more mediocre.
How does making it play video games make it less of a phone? The two abilities are mostly seperate. If anything, the fact that it's able to play (decent) video games likely means that the screen on it is much nicer than most cell phones I've seen.
Not only that, but even though this is meant as a games machine, it might be a smart idea for them to make a cartridge that provides some PDA functionality... could be useful. Seems like the fact that it has a cartridge slot could make it a BETTER phone than most.
2. You have to hold the thing sideways when talking on it
Uh... so what? You're holding it against the side of your face, so who cares? It could be argued that instead you're holding it sideways when you're playing games.
3. A whole face of buttons, you get a digital pad and 2 buttons for games, wth!
I'm not even sure what your complaint is here... I don't see why games wouldn't be able to use as many buttons as they want.
4. 3-d Graphics = battery drain
The processor that it uses probably doesn't drain batteries any faster than the one that's in the GBA. Processors are actually quite low power things these days, and the ability to do 3D graphics is not likely to be the reason for poor battery life. Things like backlighting and bluetooth probably drain a LOT more battery power.
Besides, if they leave out 3D graphics, they'll get completely swept out the door when Sony comes out with their machine. If this thing isn't any better than a GBA, then it really has no chance at all (At least the way it is, it has a slim chance).
5. Fully 3D graphics on a screen barely able to draw one poly = waste of space
Completely your opinion... and I'm guessing that you've never actually used one of these things, so you really have no idea what things are actually like with it.
Yes, the screen is fairly small... but there are 3D games on the GBA as well, are those a waste of space too?
6. 6 hour battery life? WHEN NOT USING IT AS A FONE?!??!
Ah, finally a valid complaint... 6 hours of battery life isn't very good... that's as much as my Lynx and Game Gear get, and that's using 80's technology. I sure hope they're not using flourescent tubes for lighting anymore....
7. No easy access to games for changes.
Another valid complaint... the N-Gage gets a lot of heat for this, but it's probably not as bad as people think... battery compartments are easily accessible in handheld devices these days, and I doubt that this will be any more obtrusive than having to open the lid on your Gamebox, your X-Station or your PlayCube. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a bad idea... but I don't think it's worth bashing Nokia for.
8. Hey, you get to take the battery off every time you change the game, at least you won't get any important fone calls in that time!?!
Gosh, how long does it take to unclip a battery pack? 5 seconds at most? I doubt many people get so many phone calls that 5 seconds will be a huge problem.
I really think people should have to try a device before offering their opinions on it. Ignorantly repeating rumors you've heard about something really isn't useful. I haven't used the N-Gage either, but I'm not going to judge it based on what everyone else says about it. I think the machine actually looks quite interesting... the only reason I'm not bothering with it is that I really don't want a cell phone (or "fone" as you seem to call it)
Crave Entertainment Inc. for 'Army Men' for $750,000
Damn... just when I thought we'd finally gotten rid of this crappy franchise...
It's the price of the games that keeps me from buying new consoles. I don't mind dumping $200 on a new system, but when the games are as expensive as they are (In Canada, finding games between $70-80 is not uncommon), it's a much bigger investment. Of course, if there were more worthwhile games, then I might be less opposed to spending as much.
I'm waiting for the Gamecube price drop (The current price is fair in my opinion... but with the rumors spreading, I'll feel like an idiot if the price drops a few days after I buy one!). The games for it are getting fairly cheap, and the local EB has a lot of pre-owned games for $40 (CDN) or so. Coincidentally, this is almost the same situation that made me buy my beloved Dreamcast...
What about the small problem of finding 6 people to go to Mars, to work in a nuclear power station for no people for 30 years?
Hell, I'd love to get the chance to go to Mars... even if it meant working on a nuclear reactor for 30 years (actually, that would probably be rather interesting too!), and likely dying there (Whether by accident, or by one-way trip). If any of you russians are looking for someone in their early twenties with a degree in electrical engineering, call me up!
I actually bought a Jaguar when they were new. I still own it, and I still play it once in a while (Ahh, Tempest 2000...). At the time, I was a staunch opponent of the 3DO since the two consoles were rivals at the time, and the M2 scared me. I eventually lost interest in the video game industry when the PSX took over, and I stopped buying GamePro's or paying much attention at all to what was going on. It wasn't until years later that I realized that the M2 never came out at all. After all the talk about it, it is (in my opinion) the biggest chunk of vaporware every. Sadly, this is one case where they probably made the right decision by not releasing it. The PSX would have thoroughly trampled them (hell, the Saturn would probably have trampled them). They wasted a lot of money in developing it, but at least they cut their losses in the end.
When I look back, I always think about how silly it was to have such a pro-Jaguar opinion, and be so anti-3DO... little did I know that both would die such a quick death.
Not a fighting game, but I remember finding a rom of "Super Mario World" for the NES on the internet while trying to find the japanese version of SMB2. I figured either it was a SNES rom that was in the wrong spot, or it was one of the Super Mario Bros games hacked or mislabelled... but it actually turned out to be a pirate of the SNES game ported to the NES.
Surprisingly the graphics weren't that bad! Everything had fewer colors due to the hardware limitations, but even despite that, the backgrounds looked fairly nice, the characters were decently well ported, and moved fairly well. Mario himself had a few palette problems where the colors would be wrong, and larger sprites like the huge bullet bills were instead turned into three fireballs that took up about as much space. The levels seemed fairly similar (minus vertical scrolling), but the world map was entirely different. Not everything worked the way it was supposed to as well... smashing blocks acted funny and such.
Unfortunately, I could never get very far in the game due to the horrendously bad physics. Mario walked quite slow, but the minute you tried to run, the game sped up to an almost uncontrollable level. To make matters worse, if you tried to jump while running, you'd only jump at the "slow walking speed"... this completely screwed up any judgement you had while running and would insure that you'd never land where you expected. Even though the game gave you 15 lives from the start, you'd probably lose about 10 of them just on the first level.
It's too bad... if a decent group of programmers had spent a decent amount of time on this game, it actually could have been quite good. Try this game out if you find it.
Also, I remember a Samurai Showdown 2 pirate I found once... it was very much like these other pirate games with horrible flickering graphics that made 2600 Pac-Man look like a work of art, and a character select screen where every character was shown at least 3 times.
All these numbers are nice, but I can't make heads or tails of them. Since these are times, I assume lower numbers are better? If so, they why are they usually in red in the report?
Would this increase the speed of a normal system by any noticable amount? Is it worth my time to switch over my EXT3 filesystem to reiser4? Are there programs that can perform the filesystem change for me?
Ah, games have had bugs for years... and it's definitely not a NEW thing to have video games development cycle shortened in order to get a product out by Christmas. I have Atari games with bugs in them too, and when you compare things, games these days probably have LESS bugs per unit of code than they used to. I mean hell, Mine Storm (the game built into the Vectrex) screws up if you beat level 13, because it tried to load information that isn't really there.
Obviously, some games have some pretty major bugs that stick out like a sore thumb these days... especially since imperfections aren't tolerated as well (sprite corruption in an Atari game isn't as bad as broken polygons, or a complete crash on a PC game), but I hardly think it's enough to warrant any major action.
No offense or anything, but I don't see much point in importing a game that is guaranteed to be released in North American anyways. Instead of spending twice the price and sitting through japanese menus and cutscenes, you could just wait the month or so and get a copy that has no compatibility issues whatsoever.
Of course, in Europe where everything seems to take forever to come out, I can understand it a little better.
[i]One thing many posters have ignored is the price of a GB SP + a good mobile phone, namly which is going to be ~$100-$200.[/i]
Not sure if many people know about the Pioneer Laseractive, but it was a Laserdisc player that you could buy add-ons for. The three add-ons that were released were a Genesis add-on, a Turbo-Grafx-16 add-on, and a Karaoko add-on. If you had the Genesis add-on, you could play Genesis games, SegaCD games, as well as special MegaLD games that came on laserdisc (guess how many of these actually came out). Similarly, the TG16 add-on played carts, TurboCD's and TurboLD's (Which were apperently completely different from the MegaLD games, and NOT compatible). This actually sounds like a good idea, since you'd be able to combine all your entertainment stuff into one unit.
However, the add-ons cost around $700 each. Naturally, everyone realized that buying an actual Genesis + SegaCD was about half that price, and the thing sold very poorly. It would make a nice collectors item these days though.
It's sad to see this series teetering on the edge of collapse. I remember in the Dreamcast days, it was one of the showcase titles for the system, yet the XBox community all but ignores it. Although I wasn't into this game myself (a little too much tedium for my case), I always thought it was exceptionally well done.
However, I remember reading somewhere that when Shenmue (The Dreamcast version) was originally made, it was intended to be the first part of a 16 part series. Perhaps that was a little too ambitious.
"Do you know about the three blades?"
Maybe just being Starwars is enough for some peope in the same way that it
Although I thoroughly agree that this is true, I have a number of problems with this...
1. This only asserts that many people are too blinded by their own opinions to see the obvious. If we found an alien civilization that turned out to live in a communistic society, would we immediately hate them simply due to memories of the Cold War? I'd really like to think that the majority of people can overcome their own personal biases to see the truth behind something, but this is not the case.
2. I find it morally reprehensible that a company can profit so greatly without really having to work hard to do it. If the game was amazingly fun and thoroughly addictive, then kudos to the designers, who are then slightly more rich. However, when designers can still get slightly more rich off of a mediocre game that was rushed through development, then it provides no incentive for them to do any different.
3. The fact of the matter is that they all they had to do is make a half-decent MMORPG, slap the Star Wars name on it, and nerds flock to it. Instead of profiting off of their own work, they're really only profiting due to the brand name. If Daikatana had been a Star Wars themed game, perhaps it wouldn't have gotten nearly as much flak.
Although I bear no ill-will against MMORPG's, or Star Wars, or the developers, I sincerely hope this game is a failure... if only to teach the gaming industry the three lessons I just mentioned*. Of course, the chances of this happening is doubtful. I fully expect to see numerous SWG expansion packs that make the game incrementally less crappy, and bring in more money for the company. Hooray.
(* - Who am I kidding? If companies ever actually learned from their mistakes, Acclaim would be a model company by now...)
The concept is good- make a console with good hardware, use it in arcades, port the same game over to the home version of the console. (Profit?!?)
It's not really a good concept at all... once the game comes out for the console (in this case the XBox, although systems like the Dreamcast/NAOMI had the same situation), the arcade version is essentially doomed. The fact that home conversions are essentially perfect these days is completely killing arcades. If Sega really wanted to revitalize the arcade industry, they shouldn't port these games to home machines at all. But of course, they know all too well that home consoles are a much bigger market for them, so I can't imagine they'd make an arcade-only game at this point in time.
Here's hopeing for a Gamecube port...
So there. All you weenies stuck at 10, I have no pity for you.
Why don't you just make 10 better, and make the version number 10 and make that a little better?