I've been doing technical support for a Fortune 500 company for the last 3 years and I have never had unrestricted internet access. In fact, I had to fill out a form and submit it to "Data Security" and wait approximately 2 months before I was even granted the almighty firewall password.
Sure we have access to commonplace sites like cnn.com, espn.com, and the like, but this is a very, very touchy situation. Traffic is monitored and regularly audited. The only way you know whether or not a site is restricted is by clicking a link and hoping to god you do see the dreaded WARNING!!! YOU HAVE VIOLATED COMPANY POLICY BY ENTERING THIS SITE! banner. Hell, I once got wacked by our firewall for a URL that happened to have "sex" in it. (ex. www.transexpress.com)
Needless to say, I rarely do much surfing during downtime at work for fear of a PHB confrontation on my internet habits.
Aside from that, there were no direct hardware access API's available... ever (as far as I know). When OS had to start competing with Windows 95, Microsoft was introducing the WinG (Windows Graphics) library, the library that eventually lead to DirectX. I'm not saying that OS/2 had no multimedia support (it had a fantastic multimedia model), but it simply was not ambitious enough.
On a somewhat related note, I can remember running the original Alone in the Dark on my 486/25SX in windowed mode on my OS/2 desktop way back when (a feat that you still can't accomplish to this day on a Win9x box). It ran great too, faster than a full-screen DOS session. OS/2 had a very extensive set of tweaks for running native DOS programs. Sort of reminded me of an early "wine".
I am running 2 IBM Deskstar drives (the 20 and 60 gig models) for the longest time now and have nothing but praise for them. Not only are they very fast, dependable IDE drive, but the CPU usage is very low as well.
Phantasy Star Online......It has broadband support and as soon as my pre-ordered copy arrives I'll be one happy mofo.:~)
I can't speak for everyone, but I personally don't mind if previous DC titles are not capable of using the broadband adapter. Hell, most of the earlier "online" titles for the platform don't do much anyway (i.e. downloading and uploading high scores, etc.) The only real losses here are NFL2k1 and NBA2k1 (let's hope Sega stays around long enough to get the 2k2 series games out with door _with_ broadband support.)
Check out this article on the Dreamcast section of IGN. It pits the DC against the PS2 in each of many different video game genres. Sorry to say, but in the opinion of the writer (and IMO as well) the Dreamcast blows away the PS2 library thus far. Don't forget IGN covers PS2 as well.
Are we going to stop buying cars too? We all know a personal computer is not an end-all investment. Of course, we could all go around surfing the web in our '78 Chevy Malibus if we want to.:D
Is there any doubt that this man is not one of the most consummate programmers alive? Carmack & crew at id have done some of the most stunning work in the field of 3d gaming that any of us have ever seen. The man's work is nothing short of prodigious.
He is certainly very influential in the entire industry as well. John is a major supporter of opengl (remember the OGL vs. directx days?) He is on several advisory boards in the industry... he has his hands into everything from Apple to Microsoft.
Let me start by saying that I love FPS gaming. I have been playing competitively online since the initial release of Quake (*sigh* hard to believe it's been 4 years now) and I am an absolute junky. Not only have I logged countless hours fragging bodies into the wee hours of the night, but I also frequently attend LAN parties. As someone who represents the "hardcore" online gaming community, I feel an obligation to speak my mind on the subject of professional gaming.
Ahh... Capitalism.
What is the ultimate goal of professional gaming? To make money. The sponsors want to make money. The gaming organization wants to make money. But most importantly, the gamers want to make money. The concept of professional gaming is inheritly flawed. Whatever happened to playing games for *gasp* fun? It amazes me that while I'm enjoying my nice afterwork game of |insert game title here|, somewhere there is a kid sweating out how much money he is making from the tourney he's playing in this week... or whether or not he is going to retain his sponsor if he loses again. Last time I checked, games (especially of the video game variety) were designed for personal enjoyment.
Professional Gaming vs. Competitive Gaming
See: Inheritly flawed. With all the high stakes at hand during "professional" gaming events, it's no secret that pro tournament games are usually less entertaining than the more casual online tourney or pickup game. This is especially true in 1on1 gameplay. In general, players are much less aggresive and exciting to watch when they know money is on the line. I can't argue with them.. when you're investing so much time of your life to one thing, can you really afford to be so bold? How can anyone in their right mind tote Pro-Gaming as a spectator sport when the best games I've seen from tourneys are usually warm-up matches between the players. And you can't ask for better displays of competitive gaming than the early online Quake tourneys where the only thing the players were fighting for was their clan's pride and respect.
Is FPS gaming a sport?
Sure, it's a sport. Regardless if what anyone thinks, it takes a certain amount of reflex, skill, and intelligence to be a very good FPS gamer. A spectator sport it is not. As much as I play, I still find game demos mainly drab and unentertaining (unless they are showing me a new strategy or tactic). With that in mind, why in the hell would I need to see the actual player sitting at his computer twitching his mouse and delicately manuevering across his keyboard. Does this qualify as a spectator sport? Certainly not. But some companies would have you believe so.
Sound like a great casting choice to me. I'm a fan of Angelina's work (no, not Hackers godamnit). If anyone has the 'tude to fill Lara's shoes, it is Jolie.
The success/failure of this film will ultimately depend on Simon West though. Con Air was a decent movie minus some common Hollywood action flick absurdity. Oh yea, and it doesn't hurt that Angelina is drop-dead gorgeous either.:P
Forgive the rant, but the Linux retail release coming out now is kind of pointless. If idsoftware really wanted to get an accurate measure of how well linux games will sell in the marketplace they should have released simultaneously across both the win32 and linux platforms.
Why, you ask? Simple. Pretty much every diehard Quake fan has already purchased the win32 release and downloaded the linux client and server binaries. Why wait for a later linux retail box when the client and server are available for free download on the web?
I know I would have bought the linux retail game if it was on the shelves when the windows version was released, but that wasn't the case. I expect to see disappointing q3a linux sales along with a questionable market value for future releases... Thumbs down idsoftware.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure we have access to commonplace sites like cnn.com, espn.com, and the like, but this is a very, very touchy situation. Traffic is monitored and regularly audited. The only way you know whether or not a site is restricted is by clicking a link and hoping to god you do see the dreaded WARNING!!! YOU HAVE VIOLATED COMPANY POLICY BY ENTERING THIS SITE! banner. Hell, I once got wacked by our firewall for a URL that happened to have "sex" in it. (ex. www.transexpress.com)
Needless to say, I rarely do much surfing during downtime at work for fear of a PHB confrontation on my internet habits.
On a somewhat related note, I can remember running the original Alone in the Dark on my 486/25SX in windowed mode on my OS/2 desktop way back when (a feat that you still can't accomplish to this day on a Win9x box). It ran great too, faster than a full-screen DOS session. OS/2 had a very extensive set of tweaks for running native DOS programs. Sort of reminded me of an early "wine".
The good ol' days... ;(
I am running 2 IBM Deskstar drives (the 20 and 60 gig models) for the longest time now and have nothing but praise for them. Not only are they very fast, dependable IDE drive, but the CPU usage is very low as well.
*shrug*
http://headline.gamespot.com/news/00_03/30_pc_outd adoh/
Nothing new here...
Phantasy Star Online......It has broadband support and as soon as my pre-ordered copy arrives I'll be one happy mofo. :~)
I can't speak for everyone, but I personally don't mind if previous DC titles are not capable of using the broadband adapter. Hell, most of the earlier "online" titles for the platform don't do much anyway (i.e. downloading and uploading high scores, etc.) The only real losses here are NFL2k1 and NBA2k1 (let's hope Sega stays around long enough to get the 2k2 series games out with door _with_ broadband support.)
JTK: must... resist... VIC-20...
JTK: credibility... fading....
Check out this article on the Dreamcast section of IGN. It pits the DC against the PS2 in each of many different video game genres. Sorry to say, but in the opinion of the writer (and IMO as well) the Dreamcast blows away the PS2 library thus far. Don't forget IGN covers PS2 as well.
Are we going to stop buying cars too? We all know a personal computer is not an end-all investment. Of course, we could all go around surfing the web in our '78 Chevy Malibus if we want to. :D
Is there any doubt that this man is not one of the most consummate programmers alive? Carmack & crew at id have done some of the most stunning work in the field of 3d gaming that any of us have ever seen. The man's work is nothing short of prodigious.
He is certainly very influential in the entire industry as well. John is a major supporter of opengl (remember the OGL vs. directx days?) He is on several advisory boards in the industry... he has his hands into everything from Apple to Microsoft.
When JohnC speaks, people listen.
Let me start by saying that I love FPS gaming. I have been playing competitively online since the initial release of Quake (*sigh* hard to believe it's been 4 years now) and I am an absolute junky. Not only have I logged countless hours fragging bodies into the wee hours of the night, but I also frequently attend LAN parties. As someone who represents the "hardcore" online gaming community, I feel an obligation to speak my mind on the subject of professional gaming.
Ahh... Capitalism.
What is the ultimate goal of professional gaming? To make money. The sponsors want to make money. The gaming organization wants to make money. But most importantly, the gamers want to make money. The concept of professional gaming is inheritly flawed. Whatever happened to playing games for *gasp* fun? It amazes me that while I'm enjoying my nice afterwork game of |insert game title here|, somewhere there is a kid sweating out how much money he is making from the tourney he's playing in this week... or whether or not he is going to retain his sponsor if he loses again. Last time I checked, games (especially of the video game variety) were designed for personal enjoyment.
Professional Gaming vs. Competitive Gaming
See: Inheritly flawed. With all the high stakes at hand during "professional" gaming events, it's no secret that pro tournament games are usually less entertaining than the more casual online tourney or pickup game. This is especially true in 1on1 gameplay. In general, players are much less aggresive and exciting to watch when they know money is on the line. I can't argue with them.. when you're investing so much time of your life to one thing, can you really afford to be so bold? How can anyone in their right mind tote Pro-Gaming as a spectator sport when the best games I've seen from tourneys are usually warm-up matches between the players. And you can't ask for better displays of competitive gaming than the early online Quake tourneys where the only thing the players were fighting for was their clan's pride and respect.
Is FPS gaming a sport?
Sure, it's a sport. Regardless if what anyone thinks, it takes a certain amount of reflex, skill, and intelligence to be a very good FPS gamer. A spectator sport it is not. As much as I play, I still find game demos mainly drab and unentertaining (unless they are showing me a new strategy or tactic). With that in mind, why in the hell would I need to see the actual player sitting at his computer twitching his mouse and delicately manuevering across his keyboard. Does this qualify as a spectator sport? Certainly not. But some companies would have you believe so.
And that's about all I have to say about that...
DR_Glock
Clan Dark Requiem
http://dr.stomped.com
Sound like a great casting choice to me. I'm a fan of Angelina's work (no, not Hackers godamnit). If anyone has the 'tude to fill Lara's shoes, it is Jolie.
:P
The success/failure of this film will ultimately depend on Simon West though. Con Air was a decent movie minus some common Hollywood action flick absurdity. Oh yea, and it doesn't hurt that Angelina is drop-dead gorgeous either.
Forgive the rant, but the Linux retail release coming out now is kind of pointless. If idsoftware really wanted to get an accurate measure of how well linux games will sell in the marketplace they should have released simultaneously across both the win32 and linux platforms.
Why, you ask? Simple. Pretty much every diehard Quake fan has already purchased the win32 release and downloaded the linux client and server binaries. Why wait for a later linux retail box when the client and server are available for free download on the web?
I know I would have bought the linux retail game if it was on the shelves when the windows version was released, but that wasn't the case. I expect to see disappointing q3a linux sales along with a questionable market value for future releases... Thumbs down idsoftware.