I've owned a GBA, and played a friend's DS, and to be honest I tire of games on those platforms far too quickly.
Really? Advance Wars 2 and WarioWare are two of the most replayable games I've ever seen. The only other games I've played as much are 4x games on the PC.
The problem with AI in games is two-fold: players want to be challenged, but players want to win. It's a lot easier to write a chess program that will beat the hell out of everyone except a grandmaster than it is to make something that will let weaker players win.
Similarly, it's difficult to make bots in FPS games that aren't completely stupid, but also don't headshot the player 100% of the time. Computer players will not miss unless you make them.
The problem isn't that it's hard to make computers smarter, it's that it's hard to make computers act like smarter people. It would fairly easy to write the perfect RTS opponent who never makes mistakes and beats the player every single time, but nobody would play that game. A challenge is only a challenge if it's achievable, otherwise it's just punishment.
There are actually games out there which learn. I've heard that Sega's ESPN NFL 2K5 has a virtual coach option which builds a profile based on how you play, and if you load that profile (or if someone else does) as the AI it's like playing against yourself. A similar engine for RTS games would be pretty cool.
What does this say? That they like their animal documentaries anthropomorphic and Disneyfied. "...extreme heroism, self-sacrifice, sorrow and unshakable love." Jesus Christ, you might as well praise them for walking on two feet and wearing tuxedos. These are birds, not people. Their mating cycle is interesting and I'm kind of glad I saw the movie, but all the crap ascribing human emotions and motivation to them is annoying and stupid, and only appeals to stupid people. This movie isn't 1/10 the movie Winged Migration is.
Sure, but when has MS ever put out a good product prior to version three? Windows, IE, Word.... Maybe that's why they're naming it 360.
Re:retro GBAs rule for long distance travel.
on
The GBA's Last Stand
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· Score: 1
Yup, Advance Wars and one spare set of batteries is all you need for most vacations. It's quite possibly the greatest travel game ever created.
It's funny how the gaming press always talks about tech specs like they matter. The PSP has a bigger screen and a more powerful processor, therefor it's better. Never mind that there aren't any "system seller" games for it yet. All my friends who bought one when it came out are now regretting it, because not only are there no games for it now, there are no games announced for the next several months.
Mine plays Red Alert, Dungeon Keeper, Animal Crossing and Super Smash Brothers.
The similarity I see is that they're all old. Where I got bored of Animal Crossing after a couple months (which is actually a long time for me) she's been playing it fairly regularly for over a year. And Dungeon Keeper, she's not only been playing the same game for 7+ years, it has no skirmish mode so she's been playing the exact same levels.
That's the main difference I see, that in a lot of ways makes female gamers less relevant to the market. Sure, she may spend as much time on games as I do, but she doesn't spend any money. EA doesn't care about people who find one or two games they like and play them over and over, even if that game isn't free (and a lot of female gamers spend all their time on Bookworm and Bejewelled, making them even less relevant to the market). EA caters to people who will buy new versions of the same game every year. This industry is built on sequels and knockoffs and expansion packs, and anyone who doesn't buy the latest and greatest will continue to be irrelevant no matter how many of them there are.
Also known as rubber-banding. It's one of the reasons I lose interest in most racing games pretty quickly, most recently Wave Race on the GameCube. If you're in first, there's no reason to use turbo because you won't ever get more than a second ahead no matter what you do. I've set a course record while finishing sixth because I wiped out near the end of the race and the whole pack was right behind me. Absolutely idiotic.
"They WANTED a blog, not a wiki. A wiki is for information management, and information management takes time.... It's not a commentary system like they wanted."
Exactly. This is a case of buzzword-based decision making. Wiki's are in, let's have a Wiki. Never mind that they had no idea what a Wiki is or how it works.
Even if the page hadn't been defaced with racial slurs and goatse.cx links, it still would've been a failure because it would've just been an editing battle between the two sides of the issue. There is no way you can have a collaborative public editorial. An editorial is, by definition, an opinion piece. Everyone has a different opinion. If it hadn't been the Slashdot crowd ruining it, it would've been someone else. This is like blaming the pneumonia when someone with AIDS dies.
You're correct, the Revolution will support GameCube discs and all previous Nintendo systems via ROMs. Including the N64. So, obviously, to play Pikmin you will need to own it.
As far as I know, they've made no other distinction about the system so all first-party N64 games (Mario 64, for example) will be free.
Re:Gamers never know what's good for them
on
A Gamer's Manifesto
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· Score: 1
No, the simple solution is to design your levels as if there will be limited saves and then implement save anywhere. The problem isn't that players can save/reload their way through the game, it's that some areas are so hard that they have to. All save points do is force the player to replay the same shitty level fifteen times to figure out exactly how to get through it. How is that fun? With save/reloading every fifteen seconds, you may not be having any more fun but you're wasting a lot less time getting through the shitty level.
Re:Spoiler Warning: Star Wars movies have it too
on
A Gamer's Manifesto
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· Score: 1
Revenge of the Sith had a much better jumping puzzle scene in the Senate.
Yup. I have nothing against the Mac, but I hate Mac users. My aversion to joining a cult (coupled with the price and the lack of application/game support) is the reason I don't own one.
I want a new Shadowrun single player game. The MMOG I want to play is Fallout, with permadeath and rampant player-killing. There would be no item drops, everything you have or make would be scavenged from the ruins of civilization. People would band together and build towns out of rusted out cars and aluminum siding, and other bands of people would kill them all and raze the place to the round. It would be glorious.
There was a rumour awhile ago about a new Shadowrun game for the XBox, but since it didn't get demo'd at E3 and the 360 did, I'm guessing it was just a rumour. That's the one game I would go out and buy an XBox (or any other system) to play. Shadowrun on the Genesis was one of the best RPGs ever.
I don't want them to make it an MMOG though. The chances of it not just being Everquest with hand razors are miniscule.
I suspect they will use the ability to download games as a selling point for their online service. So, you pay the $10 or $20 per month to get the online service, and you have access to the whole library of old games "free".
Advertising Reality Games
on
The Rise of ARGs
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· Score: 4, Insightful
In my experience, the hype surrounding ARGs vastly overshadows the actual reach and market penetration of the game. Despite all the stories about it being the Next Big Thing(TM), I don't know anyone who's done more than click a couple links or, more likely, read a story like this one.
Most likely, the reason for the hype is that they're advertising vehicles, and the hype is the whole reason for the game. It doesn't really matter whether anyone actually plays the game, so long as the media talks about the game and by proxy, whatever product is being pushed.
"What we should be asking is why they're trying to define science in the first place."
No, what we need to ask is why they're trying to change the definition of science.
...instead of "seeking natural explanations for what we observe around us," the new standards would describe it as a "continuing investigation that uses observation, hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation, logical argument and theory building to lead to more adequate explanations of natural phenomena."
Note that they've changed "natural explanations" to "more adequate explanations of natural phenomena." Now, whatever possible reason could a bunch of religious luddites trying to get creationism taught in science classes have for wanting that semantic change? Maybe, just maybe, it's because they want to propose non-natural explanations which they believe are "more adequate."
If you want to know more about intelligent design, watch the Bullshit episode about creationism. There is no science behind it, it's merely a rebranding of creationism because creationism got tossed out. Fundamentally, it is exactly the same. They've merely tried to make it sound more scientific, to slip past people's bullshit detectors. As they are doing here.
My site is a webcomic/rant site that uses some fairly... colourful language. Apparently MSN search has a porn filter, so we get all sorts of traffic from porn searches that didn't turn up any porn. In fact, MSN search is our number 2 referer, beating out every marketing campaign we've ever done.
If you search MSN for things like "anal fucker", "hardcore sites", or "why is leah remini fat now" there's a good chance UAC will be right there on the first page. And our site is PHP and Apache all the way.
Obviously they should copy the Hit&Run formula, because it worked. That being, use an existing engine and copy the gameplay from a successful game. Get the real writers and voice actors to create the content. Half the fun in Hit&Run was driving around, smashing into things and listening to the characters make excuses or berate you for your bad driving.
Not only that, they had the actual Simpsons writers involved too. There were flaws in the game, sure, but you can't say anything bad about the licensed content. It's one of the few games I kept playing even after I got bored of the game, because I wanted to see all the material. Unfortunately, Homer's lines are the best and he's in it right away. "I have no insurance!" still cracks me up.
Exactly. Windows isn't really the problem, it's just the symptom most people are likely to see. I've got a number of Windows and UNIX boxes that are uninfected. But I never connect to the internet without a firewall in the middle. It's just basic paranoia.
No kidding. I had someone tell me there was a display issue on a website I built. I asked her what browser she was using, and she had no idea. About the only reliable info she could give me was that she was using a Mac.
The thing I don't understand is the way people equate "fun for kids" with "unfun for adults". There are some GameCube and GBA games that I have no interest in, particularly the crappy license games like Yu-Gi-O and Zone of the Enders, but most of the "kiddy games" are top knotch. Animal Crossing is a fabulous game, despite there being no way to describe it that doesn't make it sound boring and stupid. Ribbit King is great, as are most of the Mario games. Advance Wars 2 has some annoying dialog, but it's still one of my favourite games all time.
What's missing from Nintendo games? Blood? Disproportionately busty women? Swearing? None of those things directly relate to fun. And most of what people call "mature" games are decidedly immature.
Slashdot Mirror
From what I've seen of the new legislation, we (Canadians) may be subject to the levy and restrictive anti-copying laws.
The problem with AI in games is two-fold: players want to be challenged, but players want to win. It's a lot easier to write a chess program that will beat the hell out of everyone except a grandmaster than it is to make something that will let weaker players win.
Similarly, it's difficult to make bots in FPS games that aren't completely stupid, but also don't headshot the player 100% of the time. Computer players will not miss unless you make them.
The problem isn't that it's hard to make computers smarter, it's that it's hard to make computers act like smarter people. It would fairly easy to write the perfect RTS opponent who never makes mistakes and beats the player every single time, but nobody would play that game. A challenge is only a challenge if it's achievable, otherwise it's just punishment.
There are actually games out there which learn. I've heard that Sega's ESPN NFL 2K5 has a virtual coach option which builds a profile based on how you play, and if you load that profile (or if someone else does) as the AI it's like playing against yourself. A similar engine for RTS games would be pretty cool.
What does this say? That they like their animal documentaries anthropomorphic and Disneyfied. "...extreme heroism, self-sacrifice, sorrow and unshakable love." Jesus Christ, you might as well praise them for walking on two feet and wearing tuxedos. These are birds, not people. Their mating cycle is interesting and I'm kind of glad I saw the movie, but all the crap ascribing human emotions and motivation to them is annoying and stupid, and only appeals to stupid people. This movie isn't 1/10 the movie Winged Migration is.
Sure, but when has MS ever put out a good product prior to version three? Windows, IE, Word.... Maybe that's why they're naming it 360.
Yup, Advance Wars and one spare set of batteries is all you need for most vacations. It's quite possibly the greatest travel game ever created. It's funny how the gaming press always talks about tech specs like they matter. The PSP has a bigger screen and a more powerful processor, therefor it's better. Never mind that there aren't any "system seller" games for it yet. All my friends who bought one when it came out are now regretting it, because not only are there no games for it now, there are no games announced for the next several months.
Wrap the player in duct tape so it doesn't look like a music player. And then hide it under your hat!
Mine plays Red Alert, Dungeon Keeper, Animal Crossing and Super Smash Brothers.
The similarity I see is that they're all old. Where I got bored of Animal Crossing after a couple months (which is actually a long time for me) she's been playing it fairly regularly for over a year. And Dungeon Keeper, she's not only been playing the same game for 7+ years, it has no skirmish mode so she's been playing the exact same levels.
That's the main difference I see, that in a lot of ways makes female gamers less relevant to the market. Sure, she may spend as much time on games as I do, but she doesn't spend any money. EA doesn't care about people who find one or two games they like and play them over and over, even if that game isn't free (and a lot of female gamers spend all their time on Bookworm and Bejewelled, making them even less relevant to the market). EA caters to people who will buy new versions of the same game every year. This industry is built on sequels and knockoffs and expansion packs, and anyone who doesn't buy the latest and greatest will continue to be irrelevant no matter how many of them there are.
Also known as rubber-banding. It's one of the reasons I lose interest in most racing games pretty quickly, most recently Wave Race on the GameCube. If you're in first, there's no reason to use turbo because you won't ever get more than a second ahead no matter what you do. I've set a course record while finishing sixth because I wiped out near the end of the race and the whole pack was right behind me. Absolutely idiotic.
Exactly. This is a case of buzzword-based decision making. Wiki's are in, let's have a Wiki. Never mind that they had no idea what a Wiki is or how it works.
Even if the page hadn't been defaced with racial slurs and goatse.cx links, it still would've been a failure because it would've just been an editing battle between the two sides of the issue. There is no way you can have a collaborative public editorial. An editorial is, by definition, an opinion piece. Everyone has a different opinion. If it hadn't been the Slashdot crowd ruining it, it would've been someone else. This is like blaming the pneumonia when someone with AIDS dies.
You're correct, the Revolution will support GameCube discs and all previous Nintendo systems via ROMs. Including the N64. So, obviously, to play Pikmin you will need to own it. As far as I know, they've made no other distinction about the system so all first-party N64 games (Mario 64, for example) will be free.
No, the simple solution is to design your levels as if there will be limited saves and then implement save anywhere. The problem isn't that players can save/reload their way through the game, it's that some areas are so hard that they have to. All save points do is force the player to replay the same shitty level fifteen times to figure out exactly how to get through it. How is that fun? With save/reloading every fifteen seconds, you may not be having any more fun but you're wasting a lot less time getting through the shitty level.
Revenge of the Sith had a much better jumping puzzle scene in the Senate.
Yup. I have nothing against the Mac, but I hate Mac users. My aversion to joining a cult (coupled with the price and the lack of application/game support) is the reason I don't own one.
I want a new Shadowrun single player game. The MMOG I want to play is Fallout, with permadeath and rampant player-killing. There would be no item drops, everything you have or make would be scavenged from the ruins of civilization. People would band together and build towns out of rusted out cars and aluminum siding, and other bands of people would kill them all and raze the place to the round. It would be glorious.
There was a rumour awhile ago about a new Shadowrun game for the XBox, but since it didn't get demo'd at E3 and the 360 did, I'm guessing it was just a rumour. That's the one game I would go out and buy an XBox (or any other system) to play. Shadowrun on the Genesis was one of the best RPGs ever.
I don't want them to make it an MMOG though. The chances of it not just being Everquest with hand razors are miniscule.
I suspect they will use the ability to download games as a selling point for their online service. So, you pay the $10 or $20 per month to get the online service, and you have access to the whole library of old games "free".
In my experience, the hype surrounding ARGs vastly overshadows the actual reach and market penetration of the game. Despite all the stories about it being the Next Big Thing(TM), I don't know anyone who's done more than click a couple links or, more likely, read a story like this one. Most likely, the reason for the hype is that they're advertising vehicles, and the hype is the whole reason for the game. It doesn't really matter whether anyone actually plays the game, so long as the media talks about the game and by proxy, whatever product is being pushed.
No, what we need to ask is why they're trying to change the definition of science.
Note that they've changed "natural explanations" to "more adequate explanations of natural phenomena." Now, whatever possible reason could a bunch of religious luddites trying to get creationism taught in science classes have for wanting that semantic change? Maybe, just maybe, it's because they want to propose non-natural explanations which they believe are "more adequate."
If you want to know more about intelligent design, watch the Bullshit episode about creationism. There is no science behind it, it's merely a rebranding of creationism because creationism got tossed out. Fundamentally, it is exactly the same. They've merely tried to make it sound more scientific, to slip past people's bullshit detectors. As they are doing here.
My site is a webcomic/rant site that uses some fairly... colourful language. Apparently MSN search has a porn filter, so we get all sorts of traffic from porn searches that didn't turn up any porn. In fact, MSN search is our number 2 referer, beating out every marketing campaign we've ever done.
If you search MSN for things like "anal fucker", "hardcore sites", or "why is leah remini fat now" there's a good chance UAC will be right there on the first page. And our site is PHP and Apache all the way.
Obviously they should copy the Hit&Run formula, because it worked. That being, use an existing engine and copy the gameplay from a successful game. Get the real writers and voice actors to create the content. Half the fun in Hit&Run was driving around, smashing into things and listening to the characters make excuses or berate you for your bad driving.
Not only that, they had the actual Simpsons writers involved too. There were flaws in the game, sure, but you can't say anything bad about the licensed content. It's one of the few games I kept playing even after I got bored of the game, because I wanted to see all the material. Unfortunately, Homer's lines are the best and he's in it right away. "I have no insurance!" still cracks me up.
Exactly. Windows isn't really the problem, it's just the symptom most people are likely to see. I've got a number of Windows and UNIX boxes that are uninfected. But I never connect to the internet without a firewall in the middle. It's just basic paranoia.
No kidding. I had someone tell me there was a display issue on a website I built. I asked her what browser she was using, and she had no idea. About the only reliable info she could give me was that she was using a Mac.
The thing I don't understand is the way people equate "fun for kids" with "unfun for adults". There are some GameCube and GBA games that I have no interest in, particularly the crappy license games like Yu-Gi-O and Zone of the Enders, but most of the "kiddy games" are top knotch. Animal Crossing is a fabulous game, despite there being no way to describe it that doesn't make it sound boring and stupid. Ribbit King is great, as are most of the Mario games. Advance Wars 2 has some annoying dialog, but it's still one of my favourite games all time.
What's missing from Nintendo games? Blood? Disproportionately busty women? Swearing? None of those things directly relate to fun. And most of what people call "mature" games are decidedly immature.