I think its a bit of a misconception that girls are somehow not interested in games. I think the 'core games, maybe, but as long as games are not designed purely for guys....
I'm going off the fact that my girlfriend and her 60+ yr. old mother like a bunch of my games. She loves the Zelda's and Soul Calibur (we're both just *waiting* for that August release date on SCII) and both she and I are having fun trying to get the high score on Ikaruga. This isn't counting countless hours of Gran Turismo and a bunch of other games on her PS2. Her mother, who's definitely in no way a techie, hanging around in Phenedra Drifts in Metroid Prime on the GameCube my g/f bought her and seems to be enjoying it.
But, my girlfriend definitely isn't interested in playing my copy of GTA3 or Splinter Cell, both of which seem to be deliberately tilted to guys.
I guess the point is, I think people who say "Why aren't we making games for girls?" are missing the point. Girls, at least the ones I know, aren't necessarily into pink bows and puppy dogs or Mary Kate and Ashley Play Dress Up. Just solid gameplay that isn't accompanied by ridiculous polygonal breasts.
Though I love my NOLF2 and Deus Ex and the like, I'm always on the look out for "pure" adventure games. It's unfortunate that the genre sells relatively badly (excepting the MYST's), since there have been a couple very good ones that have come out using modern graphical tech.
In particular, The Longest Journey blew my mind -- strong puzzles and, more importantly to me, a well-crafted story. Unfortunately, it got almost no distribution in the US, though you can find it for $20 at BestBuy, CompUSA, etc. And who can forget Grim Fandango? I'm hoping that the Sam and Max and Full Throttle sequels live up to those titles.
Re:Something I've been looking for...
on
An IMDb for Books
·
· Score: 1
Actually, Amazon offers Web Services which I believe does what you'd want for what's available on their site.
Go here or just do a Google search on "Amazon Web Services".
Beyond what the other replies have said, the added feature of having Season Passes is great. For example, I missed the Alias season premiere -- I usually have a friend tape it for me, but hadn't done it that time. We both were unaware of the time change from a few weeks ago when they played it late.
I get home the next day and ta-da, my Season Pass picked up the Alias without me knowing about it. This is even more true with other shows that I don't know the times on -- Good Eats, Mr. Show w/ Bob and David, etc. They come on irregularly, but I couldn't care less because they're taped when they're on.
Plus, the Tape to VCR feature does exist, you just have to do some of it manually. But if that Laverne and Shirley episode is actually that good, then you can preserve it on VHS, still. But, having the tapes around is what I think people were referring to as "bulky". My 200 VHS tapes certainly do take up a lot of space, especially since my DVD player and TiVo have made most of them useless.
Lastly, I think TiVo is a technology that falls under the "never knew I needed it" category. Despite the fact I'd never needed it before, those pause/rewind while watching features are put to frequent use. "What'd she say?" is no longer that difficult a question to answer.
It's definitely not true that just having a good game implies automatic success. Examples: Thief I & II, The Longest Journey, No One Lives Forever, and on and on.... These are games which got (deservedly) glowing reviews pretty much across the board but failed to actually sell much at all.
The movie industry for even more examples of quality definitely not ensuring success.
Not that I agree w/ "playola" at all. But the need to reach out to the press does not automatically mean that the game is bad -- maybe it just has a small market or low visibility that needs to be raised.
I believe you neglected the following sentence: "In these post-_______ (reference to an event which apparently colors our entire world view) times, we have begun to realize ______ (something totally obvious)."
As a gamer that hearkens from the 2600 days, I am far more excited about the Gamecube than the X-Box. I can't wait to experience Miyamoto's Pikmin, SW:Rogue Squadron II, Perfect Dark, and the next Zelda (I like the 'toon look).
The problem is that the X-Box stole Halo away from the PC and, more importantly, will have Shenmue II next fall, according to IGN.
*Sigh* It might warrant making a friend who owns an X-Box.
Ah, well. Here's hoping my Cube preorder gets shipped early.
Absolutely horrible
on
Review: K-PAX
·
· Score: 1, Flamebait
I am going to ignore the offense I usually take at Slashdot posting movie reviews and reply to this one.
This was an absolutely horrible movie with exactly one moment of inventiveness (see below). There was absolutely nothing that wasn't predictable, cliche, simplistic, and saccharine. Every person who came on screen with more than a few lines had their problems magically solved by prot in the most inane way possible. Work too much? Guess what, you'll come to appreciate your family! Have an estranged son mentioned in all of two scenes? I wonder if he'll be estranged by the end of the movie? Have OCD? Magic Jesus-analogue Kevin Spacey will make it all better.
I truly can't believe anyone actually enjoyed this movie.
As for the one inventive moment, it came at the end of the movie, as Jeff Bridges runs in slow motion to beat a digital countdown. The reason I consider this inventive is that the creators of K-PAX managed to throw in a completely unexpected movie cliche into a movie built entirely on other cliches. Note that I didn't put spoiler space around this because it was in the trailer.
My full review will appear sometime early in the week at Revolution SF. It will be more coherent than the above, which was written out of sheer shock in seeing someone think that there was actually something original about K-PAX.
I have had similar horrible experiences with the setting up of my DSL. First, BellSouth attempts install, spends weeks upon weeks telling me that it is getting done and then finds out that I am too far away from their offices to recieve DSL -- neglecting to inform me of this fact, leaving me to find out during one of my many phone calls to their customer service line.
I call Mindspring to get dialup until cable modem is available, and then they sell me on DSL, assuring me that they will be able to hook it up. They claim at one point to have successfully done so, but they never send me a modem. I attempt to rectify this situation, but every call gets me more incorrect information about where the package is. With an hour and a half wait time on each customer service call, I finally snapped and cancelled the service and am waiting until cable modem gets around to my area.
The whole process took about two months and more than 30 hrs of phone time, much of it listening to Mindspring's fantastic choice of psychosis-inducing Muzak. Basically, I don't suggest using Mindspring/Earthlink if you can avoid it -- Mindspring, as of about two years ago, used to have good customer service, but I see that has gone the way of pet rocks. BellSouth, although still, in general, not the smartest, at least has average customer service that one can reach in a reasonable amount of time.
In all of the `best console'-type discussion here, I see very little about Nintendo, which I believe to be by far the best console going.
It certainly has some of the best software out there -- The best console game ever, I believe, is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Plus, Goldeneye is an amazing console shooter and Perfect Dark is lining up to succeed it. There are a lot of other impressive games, even though the library is rather small ("Quality over quanity" being Nintendo's motto.)
Plus for the Dolphin, with second-party studios like Rare and Silicon Knights (who's coming out with the amazing looking Eternal Darkness) lined up, I'm holding out.
And to those who think Nintendo's a kiddie-console, check out the footage/screenshots of Conker's Bad Fur Day on IGN64. This is pretty much one of the most twisted games I've seen. Nothing compares to the violence done to a cute squirrel.
I guess I feel like I've almost never been disappointed by a Nintendo game, but a lot of the PSX games I've played around with haven't been all too impressive to me. Truth be told, though, I haven't played that much with the Dreamcast, so I can't say much about that.
For $12 per search, $6 per record, you can look at the criminal records of people in the state of North Carolina at 123nc.com. Check out if your new roommate is a murderer! Is your babysitter a child molester! Wonderful country.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. However, my concern is with people who immediately jump to thoughts like `closed source == wrong', when this might not always be the case (e.g., Loki to some). It seems that that sort of thinking bunches together programs/companies that maybe don't go together.
I also believe that you should do what you believe, which is the major reason I didn't simply say "Great, DVD for Linux, let's go get it." I have qualms about LinDVD because, as others have pointed out, it could do good for the MPAA, and I certainly don't think that is a positive thing at all.
Mostly, it is my distrust of the knee-jerk (on both sides -- `open-source nazi' seems a little much, eh?) reactions people had to the info about LinDVD.
Stand up for what you believe. I, personally, believe that Open Source is The Right Way and that, in the end, it will be The Only Way (go, idealism!). But, I also believe that in order for it to be completely accepted is if more people choose Linux or FreeBSD and demonstrate to the world in general that this is what they want. For the general public, this requires applications, whether they be closed or not.
Simply put, I fear the penguin going the way of the dodo for lack of (common) use. Linux is at an extremely important and dangerous crossroads and it makes me nervous:).
There seems to be a lot of black & white views on whether you should buy LinDVD or not, but I think both sides are missing the point, somewhat.
I think it's very important that (people like) the MPAA not be supported, but are we really going to do a favor to the Linux community by rejecting every closed source program that comes along?
I mean, as a fairly nascent-to-the-general-public OS, we need applications and no level of idealism is going to make every application open source at this time. An inroad has to be made into the business world to prove that Linux (or any other OS OS) is actually the better alternative. In the end, prominent companies like Creative will lead other `into the light.'
I don't think that the buying of a closed-source DVD player is an admission of guilt about DeCSS -- it's an expression of desire for a product.
I'm still not certain I would buy LinDVD, but I also don't think it's an issue that can be immediately seen to have a right way and a wrong way to view it.
It seems like some people fall in love with a show (or series of movies or books) and then end up placing these crazy, unattainable expectations on it. Hence, those shows past the first few seasons become crap, in their eyes. I mean, take a look at some of the reviews at The Simpsons Nuclear Power Plant. A ton of them involve a phrase similar to, "I can't believe I still watch this show now. The last good show was in the Xth season." (Although, they would use the p-code of the last show they liked rather than only narrowing it down to the imprecise level of a season.)
Personally, I think the Simpsons is still a great show -- fast paced and intelligent and one of the few shows I actually pay attention to. Although, I have to disagree with the original statement that it is the best show of the decade. That spot was recently taken over (for me) by the Sopranos, which, if you haven't seen, you are truly missing a great, great TV experience. You will shun network TV (not incl. the Simpsons) once you see how good HBO can do it.
Slashdot Mirror
I think its a bit of a misconception that girls are somehow not interested in games. I think the 'core games, maybe, but as long as games are not designed purely for guys....
I'm going off the fact that my girlfriend and her 60+ yr. old mother like a bunch of my games. She loves the Zelda's and Soul Calibur (we're both just *waiting* for that August release date on SCII) and both she and I are having fun trying to get the high score on Ikaruga. This isn't counting countless hours of Gran Turismo and a bunch of other games on her PS2. Her mother, who's definitely in no way a techie, hanging around in Phenedra Drifts in Metroid Prime on the GameCube my g/f bought her and seems to be enjoying it.
But, my girlfriend definitely isn't interested in playing my copy of GTA3 or Splinter Cell, both of which seem to be deliberately tilted to guys.
I guess the point is, I think people who say "Why aren't we making games for girls?" are missing the point. Girls, at least the ones I know, aren't necessarily into pink bows and puppy dogs or Mary Kate and Ashley Play Dress Up. Just solid gameplay that isn't accompanied by ridiculous polygonal breasts.
In particular, The Longest Journey blew my mind -- strong puzzles and, more importantly to me, a well-crafted story. Unfortunately, it got almost no distribution in the US, though you can find it for $20 at BestBuy, CompUSA, etc. And who can forget Grim Fandango? I'm hoping that the Sam and Max and Full Throttle sequels live up to those titles.
Actually, Amazon offers Web Services which I believe does what you'd want for what's available on their site.
Go here or just do a Google search on "Amazon Web Services".
Beyond what the other replies have said, the added feature of having Season Passes is great. For example, I missed the Alias season premiere -- I usually have a friend tape it for me, but hadn't done it that time. We both were unaware of the time change from a few weeks ago when they played it late.
I get home the next day and ta-da, my Season Pass picked up the Alias without me knowing about it. This is even more true with other shows that I don't know the times on -- Good Eats, Mr. Show w/ Bob and David, etc. They come on irregularly, but I couldn't care less because they're taped when they're on.
Plus, the Tape to VCR feature does exist, you just have to do some of it manually. But if that Laverne and Shirley episode is actually that good, then you can preserve it on VHS, still. But, having the tapes around is what I think people were referring to as "bulky". My 200 VHS tapes certainly do take up a lot of space, especially since my DVD player and TiVo have made most of them useless.
Lastly, I think TiVo is a technology that falls under the "never knew I needed it" category. Despite the fact I'd never needed it before, those pause/rewind while watching features are put to frequent use. "What'd she say?" is no longer that difficult a question to answer.
Eddie Izzard fan, are we?
The movie industry for even more examples of quality definitely not ensuring success.
Not that I agree w/ "playola" at all. But the need to reach out to the press does not automatically mean that the game is bad -- maybe it just has a small market or low visibility that needs to be raised.
-Navin
"In these post-_______ (reference to an event which apparently colors our entire world view) times, we have begun to realize ______ (something totally obvious)."
-Navin
As a gamer that hearkens from the 2600 days, I am far more excited about the Gamecube than the X-Box. I can't wait to experience Miyamoto's Pikmin, SW:Rogue Squadron II, Perfect Dark, and the next Zelda (I like the 'toon look).
The problem is that the X-Box stole Halo away from the PC and, more importantly, will have Shenmue II next fall, according to IGN.
*Sigh* It might warrant making a friend who owns an X-Box.
Ah, well. Here's hoping my Cube preorder gets shipped early.
This was an absolutely horrible movie with exactly one moment of inventiveness (see below). There was absolutely nothing that wasn't predictable, cliche, simplistic, and saccharine. Every person who came on screen with more than a few lines had their problems magically solved by prot in the most inane way possible. Work too much? Guess what, you'll come to appreciate your family! Have an estranged son mentioned in all of two scenes? I wonder if he'll be estranged by the end of the movie? Have OCD? Magic Jesus-analogue Kevin Spacey will make it all better.
I truly can't believe anyone actually enjoyed this movie.
As for the one inventive moment, it came at the end of the movie, as Jeff Bridges runs in slow motion to beat a digital countdown. The reason I consider this inventive is that the creators of K-PAX managed to throw in a completely unexpected movie cliche into a movie built entirely on other cliches. Note that I didn't put spoiler space around this because it was in the trailer.
My full review will appear sometime early in the week at Revolution SF. It will be more coherent than the above, which was written out of sheer shock in seeing someone think that there was actually something original about K-PAX.
I have had similar horrible experiences with the setting up of my DSL. First, BellSouth attempts install, spends weeks upon weeks telling me that it is getting done and then finds out that I am too far away from their offices to recieve DSL -- neglecting to inform me of this fact, leaving me to find out during one of my many phone calls to their customer service line.
I call Mindspring to get dialup until cable modem is available, and then they sell me on DSL, assuring me that they will be able to hook it up. They claim at one point to have successfully done so, but they never send me a modem. I attempt to rectify this situation, but every call gets me more incorrect information about where the package is. With an hour and a half wait time on each customer service call, I finally snapped and cancelled the service and am waiting until cable modem gets around to my area.
The whole process took about two months and more than 30 hrs of phone time, much of it listening to Mindspring's fantastic choice of psychosis-inducing Muzak. Basically, I don't suggest using Mindspring/Earthlink if you can avoid it -- Mindspring, as of about two years ago, used to have good customer service, but I see that has gone the way of pet rocks. BellSouth, although still, in general, not the smartest, at least has average customer service that one can reach in a reasonable amount of time.
-Navin
It certainly has some of the best software out there -- The best console game ever, I believe, is Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Plus, Goldeneye is an amazing console shooter and Perfect Dark is lining up to succeed it. There are a lot of other impressive games, even though the library is rather small ("Quality over quanity" being Nintendo's motto.)
Plus for the Dolphin, with second-party studios like Rare and Silicon Knights (who's coming out with the amazing looking Eternal Darkness) lined up, I'm holding out.
And to those who think Nintendo's a kiddie-console, check out the footage/screenshots of Conker's Bad Fur Day on IGN64. This is pretty much one of the most twisted games I've seen. Nothing compares to the violence done to a cute squirrel.
I guess I feel like I've almost never been disappointed by a Nintendo game, but a lot of the PSX games I've played around with haven't been all too impressive to me. Truth be told, though, I haven't played that much with the Dreamcast, so I can't say much about that.
For $12 per search, $6 per record, you can look at the criminal records of people in the state of North Carolina at 123nc.com. Check out if your new roommate is a murderer! Is your babysitter a child molester! Wonderful country.
I also believe that you should do what you believe, which is the major reason I didn't simply say "Great, DVD for Linux, let's go get it." I have qualms about LinDVD because, as others have pointed out, it could do good for the MPAA, and I certainly don't think that is a positive thing at all.
Mostly, it is my distrust of the knee-jerk (on both sides -- `open-source nazi' seems a little much, eh?) reactions people had to the info about LinDVD.
Stand up for what you believe. I, personally, believe that Open Source is The Right Way and that, in the end, it will be The Only Way (go, idealism!). But, I also believe that in order for it to be completely accepted is if more people choose Linux or FreeBSD and demonstrate to the world in general that this is what they want. For the general public, this requires applications, whether they be closed or not.
Simply put, I fear the penguin going the way of the dodo for lack of (common) use. Linux is at an extremely important and dangerous crossroads and it makes me nervous :).
I think it's very important that (people like) the MPAA not be supported, but are we really going to do a favor to the Linux community by rejecting every closed source program that comes along?
I mean, as a fairly nascent-to-the-general-public OS, we need applications and no level of idealism is going to make every application open source at this time. An inroad has to be made into the business world to prove that Linux (or any other OS OS) is actually the better alternative. In the end, prominent companies like Creative will lead other `into the light.'
I don't think that the buying of a closed-source DVD player is an admission of guilt about DeCSS -- it's an expression of desire for a product.
I'm still not certain I would buy LinDVD, but I also don't think it's an issue that can be immediately seen to have a right way and a wrong way to view it.
Actually, they have released some movies from the console at the GDC. Here they are at pc.ign.com.
Personally, I think the Simpsons is still a great show -- fast paced and intelligent and one of the few shows I actually pay attention to. Although, I have to disagree with the original statement that it is the best show of the decade. That spot was recently taken over (for me) by the Sopranos, which, if you haven't seen, you are truly missing a great, great TV experience. You will shun network TV (not incl. the Simpsons) once you see how good HBO can do it.