It's wasy to take this too far, Mario Kart comes to mind, both multiplayer and single, using somewhat cheesy tactics (weapons and arbitrary speed increases) to keep the field much closer to even than would otherwise be the case.
One problem with systems like that is when players try to scam the system, like purposefully just hanging back in second or beyond to get good weapons but never getting so far back that they can't catch up. Admittedly, that takes a certain amount of skill on its own, but still.
-not the best chosen before/after pictures. At least the before...she doesn't look like a 230lb-er
-3 hours a day? Yikes, I'm a little less impressed w/ the power of the DDR power. Who the hell has that kind of time?
-also, there's a big difference between the arcade mode most people play and even the lighter 'workout' modes, at least on the DDR pads I have...the latter is much tougher to keep up with
Just because ice floats in water, does than mean it has negative weight?
Sure, when I'm in water at least.
But seriously...my original post was a joke. Though I do confess to never having really grokked bouyancy, despite getting a 5 on both parts of the Physics AP. (Calculus based, so it was deeper into E+M and simple motion and left out other topics) Like, you have a balloon, with fewer molecule per cc...I don't see where the net force up comes from, why the balloon isn't being pressed in all directions equally by the outer air, and pressed all directions equally by the gas inside....
which supposedly would yield about 1000 times more energy per pound than coal
Well, OF COURSE it would...it's HELIUM, for crying out loud...I mean, it weights negative pounds! That's why they pit it in balloons!! That's gotta be screwing up their smarty-pants equations.
To find fax numbers, the company used a sophisticated automated "war dialing" system that randomly called and recorded millions of fax numbers.
Yeah, real sophisticated. Call every damn number you can, sequentially, and listen for the whistle. Didn't mention the many millions more of non-fax numbers it called and hung up on.
what I said is correct, even if the primary exploit is the online PSO trick. The usefulness of the GC-as-computer is limited mostly by the discs; otherwise you need a network connection at that hypothetical kiosk location I mentioned.
Something like that...but w/ a custom game that didn't make pedaling a substitute for a gas "button"...since in most racers you keep the button mashed, it seems like an unfair disadvantage...
Prop Cycle was a cool looking game that had a built in exercise bike...you're onscreen character was a flying bicycle glider thingy and you had to burst balloons. I was always surprised there wasn't a home console game that had hardware to connect to an exercise bike, seems like a decently written game could be pretty engaging, like Pilot Wings on the N64......better for people than the Donkey Konga hardware...
GTA:3 and Vice City are games that I think really suffer from being first made for PS2 and then ported...at least, PS2's limited memory issues is the explanation I heard for the games' tendency to dissappear random traffic cars and pedestrian while your back is turned. I can't help thinking those 2 games would be much better if they had started on Xbox, or GC (as unlikely as that is)
K'Nex is conceptually cool and I cede most of the points you mention, but everything ends up looking pretty skeletal. For kids interested in visual design (poor man's CAD), LEGO was hard to beat, and a certain amount of specialized pieces were very welcome indeed, so everything wasn't just squares.
From my limited experience, just a few sets, the Star Wars kits really shied away from too many pieces, and some of the pieces they did add they reused among several sets (like the laser cannons, used on the snowspeeder and a few others)
Also, they did show you ideas for alternate models w/ the same pieces...they still looked Star Warsy but were original, kind of like those "minirigs" back in the day.
My main random grip w/ Star Wars sets is that they chose to paint artoo's features way on the top of his head, so it looks like he's a blank bot wearing a cyber yarmulke rather than having a proper electronicky dome.
JoustPong controls more simply....press button to flap and move your paddle/player into position, against gravity. (I'm also trying a port for the atari 2600.
Trickier to control than pong, but in some ways simpler.
Oh, also, I'm making a game for the 2600 called "JoustPong" which is "Pong with a Flap button"...a bit like SF-cave in that regard, using "going against gravity" as a way of making a minimal-control, decent-movement-complexity game.
I've made some games you might be interested in... game button arcade, reasonably playable games that take place ENTIRELY in a single normal HTML grey pushbutton (via javascript)...the only input is the button, and the only output is, in effect, the caption on the button, but I still came up with some half decent action games.
I think one button might be pushing it, just the way I think one button is too few on the Mac. (Using the "command" key to click seems like cheating a bit to me)
One thing the GC controller does well is grouping buttons into a logical hierarchy. A+B, X+Y, shoulders, and then Z, all very well differentiated.
"Mario Party" series is another good example of minimal control schemes, and not quite so ADD-ish as WarioWare.
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It's wasy to take this too far, Mario Kart comes to mind, both multiplayer and single, using somewhat cheesy tactics (weapons and arbitrary speed increases) to keep the field much closer to even than would otherwise be the case.
One problem with systems like that is when players try to scam the system, like purposefully just hanging back in second or beyond to get good weapons but never getting so far back that they can't catch up. Admittedly, that takes a certain amount of skill on its own, but still.
-not the best chosen before/after pictures. At least the before...she doesn't look like a 230lb-er
-3 hours a day? Yikes, I'm a little less impressed w/ the power of the DDR power. Who the hell has that kind of time?
-also, there's a big difference between the arcade mode most people play and even the lighter 'workout' modes, at least on the DDR pads I have...the latter is much tougher to keep up with
For the time, and even today, that game in all its incarnations had some amazing production values...
Huh. That makes sense, though it seems amazing that there's a big enough pressure differential to matter.
Just because ice floats in water, does than mean it has negative weight?
Sure, when I'm in water at least.
But seriously...my original post was a joke.
Though I do confess to never having really grokked bouyancy, despite getting a 5 on both parts of the Physics AP. (Calculus based, so it was deeper into E+M and simple motion and left out other topics) Like, you have a balloon, with fewer molecule per cc...I don't see where the net force up comes from, why the balloon isn't being pressed in all directions equally by the outer air, and pressed all directions equally by the gas inside....
which supposedly would yield about 1000 times more energy per pound than coal
Well, OF COURSE it would...it's HELIUM, for crying out loud...I mean, it weights negative pounds! That's why they pit it in balloons!! That's gotta be screwing up their smarty-pants equations.
Man, I gotta get ME one of those research grants.
Heh, reminds me of some of the old dual screen game and watch... ...well, better that than Virtual Boy!
Yeah, real sophisticated. Call every damn number you can, sequentially, and listen for the whistle. Didn't mention the many millions more of non-fax numbers it called and hung up on.
Figures.
The links are busted.
Don't be such an ass...
what I said is correct, even if the primary exploit is the online PSO trick. The usefulness of the GC-as-computer is limited mostly by the discs; otherwise you need a network connection at that hypothetical kiosk location I mentioned.
GameCubes will be even cheaper than they are now.
Plus, they're the cutest damn system, save for the psone. you could think of some theoretical applications for that, kiosk displays or something.
I think the main problem might be those little disks the GC uses, very propiertary, and harder to burn than the PS1.
Another theoretical possibility is homebrew games, though that's probably not the focus here.
I like the a ones with a handle.
I don't care that I'm hardly ever gonna move it. I wanna handle!
Gamespot's "Worst of 2003" included Gods and Generals...the "See it in action" video on that page is worth checking out.
Something like that...but w/ a custom game that didn't make pedaling a substitute for a gas "button"...since in most racers you keep the button mashed, it seems like an unfair disadvantage...
Prop Cycle was a cool looking game that had a built in exercise bike...you're onscreen character was a flying bicycle glider thingy and you had to burst balloons. I was always surprised there wasn't a home console game that had hardware to connect to an exercise bike, seems like a decently written game could be pretty engaging, like Pilot Wings on the N64... ...better for people than the Donkey Konga hardware...
For Star Wars, is that first release, or including the re-releases? Which is what they did before the advent of the VCR...
GTA:3 and Vice City are games that I think really suffer from being first made for PS2 and then ported...at least, PS2's limited memory issues is the explanation I heard for the games' tendency to dissappear random traffic cars and pedestrian while your back is turned. I can't help thinking those 2 games would be much better if they had started on Xbox, or GC (as unlikely as that is)
I'm sorry but an Obi Wan Kenobi figure with one connector on his head is NOT a piece of Lego.
You mean a more or less "regular" minifig? An inch or so high, yellow face?
The head comes off and can be replaced with a few different things. I had fun making cyborgs like that.
The hands can grip a few different things.
Admittedly the arms aren't terribly compatible/replacable with other brick parts.
The torso can be mounted on another brick, or the legs into a block that's tall enough (the studs are longer than usual, I think for stability)
The legs also have 6 holes, 4 for use if you're sitting, 2 if its standing.
K'Nex is conceptually cool and I cede most of the points you mention, but everything ends up looking pretty skeletal. For kids interested in visual design (poor man's CAD), LEGO was hard to beat, and a certain amount of specialized pieces were very welcome indeed, so everything wasn't just squares.
From my limited experience, just a few sets, the Star Wars kits really shied away from too many pieces, and some of the pieces they did add they reused among several sets (like the laser cannons, used on the snowspeeder and a few others)
Also, they did show you ideas for alternate models w/ the same pieces...they still looked Star Warsy but were original, kind of like those "minirigs" back in the day.
My main random grip w/ Star Wars sets is that they chose to paint artoo's features way on the top of his head, so it looks like he's a blank bot wearing a cyber yarmulke rather than having a proper electronicky dome.
JoustPong controls more simply....press button to flap and move your paddle/player into position, against gravity. (I'm also trying a port for the atari 2600.
Trickier to control than pong, but in some ways simpler.
Oh, also, I'm making a game for the 2600 called "JoustPong" which is "Pong with a Flap button"...a bit like SF-cave in that regard, using "going against gravity" as a way of making a minimal-control, decent-movement-complexity game.
The page for the atari 2600 version is here, or you can check out an earlier java version.
Mario Party has some good ones.
...
I've made some games you might be interested in
game button arcade, reasonably playable games that take place ENTIRELY in a single normal HTML grey pushbutton (via javascript)...the only input is the button, and the only output is, in effect, the caption on the button, but I still came up with some half decent action games.
I think one button might be pushing it, just the way I think one button is too few on the Mac. (Using the "command" key to click seems like cheating a bit to me)
One thing the GC controller does well is grouping buttons into a logical hierarchy. A+B, X+Y, shoulders, and then Z, all very well differentiated.
"Mario Party" series is another good example of minimal control schemes, and not quite so ADD-ish as WarioWare.
Actually, that was a really funny self-referential way of pointing out a typo...too bad it got modded to hell.
Some people just are WAY too quick on the moderate down button...