Spoken like someone who doesn't know all the facts but has a position already set... XBox games are routinely patched.
If you actually read what I said bollockface I SAID I didn't know if the XBOX games were patched. Asshat.
Consoles would hopefully draw fuckwits as consoles are a shitload cheaper than PC's.
Do a search for some stats. Counterstrike is still the most popular online game, and Counterstrike was *NOT* a professionally released mod. It was already well on it's way to being the most played online game when Sierra bought the rights to rip people off with a boxed version (when they could get Half Life cheaper, and download CS for free.)
By fuckwits I meant the cheaters and the idiot teenagers who think they can insult me by saying things about my mother. You, sir, are an ass, and make it quite clear you think yourself superior when in actual fact you have your head up your ass and well and truly live up to your username, because that's what you're spewing.
The first, the AD-1500, I've hacked to remove region codes, RCE, macrovision etc... (I'm not in the US, so you assclowns who post about me violating the DMCA can go shove something sharp and pointy in the orifice of your choice.)
About a year ago it started acting up. It would freeze up. A power cycle was all that would fix it. Would often go days without one, then would go tits up many times in quick succession.
Local store got some APEX 2600's, so I bought one.
Within 48 hours, the disk tray motor died. Took it back, got a replacement. The replacement, so far, is fine, aside from an occasional flicker on the signal going to the TV (but then my PS1 used to do the same, but strangely stopped doing it.)
APEX are rated as less than satisfactory by the Better Business Bureau, and supposedly their customer service is terrible...
Yes I've played Warcraft 3 online. I notice a ton less griefers on there than back in Starcraft's boom period.
I think ultimately consoles will draw away the fuckwits. Of course, the big problem is the fact the the decent console online networks charge you money. The idiots who get off on ruining games for everyone else won't want to pay for the pleasure.
Another area online gaming on the consoles sucks is cheats. SOCOM for example has been ruined by cheats. On the PC, if a cheat is found, it's usually patched. On the Playstation or whatever (Xbox I'm not so sure with it's internal hard drive) the cheats are there forever. Any "patch" will come in the form of a new version of the game.
In short, what with the cheating issue, game mods etc... PC gaming OWNS the consoles in a big way. PC gaming online will survive, if for no other reason than the amazing communities that build up around games, create additional content etc... I mean take a look at games like Grand Prix Legends, Myth/Myth II... Them and so many more are still going strong online thanks to the community. Console games can't possibly compete with that.
Absolutely. I mean really, you ask anyone who has played Counterstrike or whatever on a PC if they'd like to go and play it with a console controller... I would bet damn near 100% wouldn't even give the console a look-in.
Same with games like Warcraft. I've played RTS games on consoles and they SUCK without a mouse, and playing a game like warcraft with it's sweet graphical nuances would just SUCK on the console.
Online console gaming, sure, will probably eat into the PC a little, but I'm really hoping that's where all the fuckwits go, leaving the mature, decent crowd on the PC. I mean sure, there'll always be the share of idiots in online games, but the consoles can be their playground.
The game "Out of the Park Baseball" was marketed briefly through Infogrames I think it was under the name "Season Ticket Baseball", but that deal finished with version 5. OOTP is a HUGE baseball game with a legion of fans, myself included.
The irony is, an independent developer distributing like this easily makes more money per copy than with a name publisher, and probably suffers less copying. OOTP for example is protected by Elicence which, last time I checked, has yet to be cracked.
More and more games are being released this way. It's very much like the indie film business. The most creativity and originality is with these indie development groups, while the mainstream publishers will only push generic "been there, done that" games.
In ten years, I fully expect the independent developers to rank up next to the independent filmmakers for kudos and cutting edge material.
I play TSO. I quite like it. I've not been scammed, but my wife has. Turned out okay in the end as the ratio of nice people far outweighs the scum, and she wound up far better off than she was prior to the bastard, Ryan Hummel (he plays on Interhogan), scamming her. (If you see this shit, make him an enemy. He's a cunt.)
I think this person needs to quit whining. The original article he posted was lame, and it seems a large number of people don't believe it was genuine, me included.
The BIG problem with the game is the enemy thing. If Maxis just removed that, that would cripple a lot of the extortion artists overnight. It servers absolutely no purpose in the game other than to be abused.
It's funny though, Maxis make a big deal about banning this guy for what he's posted, and yet if you complain about the scammers, Maxis send you a form email about gentlemans agreements etc, and how they have no control.
Yep, he's right. The library I used to frequent in Calgary had everything from current releases (which admittedly had a waiting list) right through to the most obscure Zappa stuff you can imagine:)
Erm... Dude, that may be, but let's not forget the good old Canadian Content laws that mandate anywhere from 15-65% of content must be Canadian on radio and TV in Canada. (Actually I think CBC is 85%. The norm is 35%.)
Or maybe it could be because approximately 100% of Canadian music sales belong to the likes of Celine Dion, Sarah McLachlan, and Shania Twain.
Just be grateful you don't have government laws FORCING these artists on you. All music providers, whether they be radio or TV, have to put out something like 35% Canadian content. What the law DIDN'T mandate is quality, which means an extremely high proportion of Canadian music utter shit, that's only become remotely popular because of the government mandated force feeding.
As for the three you mentioned, I have a scenario... All 3 on a plane... Think Big Bopper, Buddy Holly etc... Crash, burn, bye bye talentless harpies.
Radio has nothing to do with it. NOBODY I know listens to the radio anymore.
The fact is, most music today is formulaic excrement. As I posted earlier, people look fondly on Zeppelin, Floyd etc... "The Wall" is probably one of my top 3 favourite albums of all time. I was 8 when it was released, and never actually heard the album in it's entirety until 1989. I still love it now, almost a quarter century after it's release.
Do you honestly believe that come 2028... Hell, come 2013, *ANY* album or band from 2003 will be even remotely as highly regarded as Floyd and "The Wall" are now? Face it, the spirit of innovation and invention has had a stake driven through it's heart.
By 2010, nobody but the most hardcore fans will give a shit about ANY band from 2003.
Competition is a great example of the reason actually.
I mean think about it, 25 years ago, what competition was there for your entertainment dollar? Music and going to the theatre and paying to see a movie you watch and then leave.
I find it interesting that the CRIA is claiming the 23% drop in sales since 1999... 1999... Wasn't that around when DVD started to get mainstream? I mean Matrix was out that year, and I remember a BIG fuss over the Matrix DVD later that year... And that was probably a big selling point for DVD. Lord knows it was the movie that made me sit up and take notice of the format.
For all their failings, the MPAA have done a pretty good job with DVD. Sure, the DeCSS thing is lame etc... But really, a hell of a lot of DVD's these days are stuffed to the gills with cool content, at prices cheaper than movies used to be on VHS for just the movie. The MPAA has realised customers expect more and DVD has provided that. For the price you used to be able to buy one movie for in the early 80's, you can now get, for example, the Alien Quadrilogy, all the Alien movies, and 9 disks worth of content... Now THAT is progress at work in entertainment media.
The RIAA and it's evil brethren are still churning out the same shit, content wise, as they were 30 years ago. Stuffing a shitty Quicktime clip or two on a CD is not "adding value". I mean really, the ONLY improvement over 1973 is the fact that with CD's, we don't have to get up and flip them over halfway through. WOO! SMELL THE PROGRESS!
Yes, but there's nothing you can do about it. Groups HAVE complained and protested, and the thing was still passed.
If this kind of thing was passed in the US, you can guarantee it wouldn't be with the proviso that downloading is legal, they'd still let the RIAA fuck you up the ass every which way, while giving them a chunk of change on every blank CD and MP3 player that is sold.
Name 5 talented musicians or groups today that are signed to big labels. By talent I mean innovative, unique artists like Floyd and Zeppelin were in their day.
And for the record, you say about classical, jazz, gregorian... Yep, I listen to all them. In fact the only genres I don't listen to are country and reggae.
I'm 32. I grew up during disco. It hurts me as I mostly HATE disco. However, there's a great deal of 70's music that kicks ass. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc... I still listen to The Wall now, over 20 years after it was released. I can't think of ANYTHING released these days that people will be listening to in five years, let alone twenty.
The reason? Image. Back in the 70's it was about the music. It didn't matter if the singer had 3 eyes and no nose, and looked like a melted mouse mat, so long as he could sing. (Christ, look at the Floyd guys, hardly photogenic...) These days, if you don't have the looks, you don't get your video anywhere, you don't get the promotion... Basically the whole industry has become style over substance, hence we'll never see classics like "The Wall" again.
You only need to take a look at American Idol, Canadian Idol, Pop Idol etc... To see why the music industry is totally fucked and why nobody is buying anything.
DVD probably IS a big part of the problem. I mean you can get most new releases for less than $10 more than a regular CD, and as you say, it provides more bang for your buck.
I mean really, if someone said "You can have two albums, or one DVD for Christmas" I'd probably have said "DVD" before they'd even finished the sentence.
If I want music, I can turn on the radio, I can turn on any number of streaming stations on the net... I don't have to BUY anything to get noise in my living room. If I want to experience a movie, DVD is the only way to go.
Because most of the time there's one good song per CD of 10-20 tracks. One song is not worth $15, so people download it.
Absolutely. CD's are ridiculously overpriced. They're cheaper to mass produce than cassettes, but always retailed at way more than tape.
I used to buy a LOT of music, but I started boycotting the labels in 2000. They polish a turd, and expect you to pay $20 for it. Fuck off. I can't think of one release since then that I've thought "You know, if it wasn't for my boycott, I could have that. Damn my principles!" (Especially as the last big release I was really keen on in 1999 turned out to be such a disappointment.)
I've downloaded a lot of music (I'm in Canada, so it's legal, hahaha!) but I can't think of a single release I've downloaded that I'd have bought the original of. Hell, most stuff I barely listen to it once before shitcanning it. If someone asked me to list my favourite albums right now, there wouldn't be a single post 1999 album in the list.
I have no idea exactly what changed with the new ruling, but I know the Canadian ruling was like this.
You have an album, a friend wants it, you copy it for him. That's illegal.
You have an album, a friend wants it, you loan it to them, they copy it. That's legal.
In short, loan someone a CD, they can legally copy it here.
The drop in sales is more likely down to the amount of people boycotting the thieving shits in the industry (Not bought an album since early 2000 myself), and the general decline in quality of releases. I mean when we have shit like American Idol, Canadian Idol etc... Is it any wonder nobody buys the CD's anymore... It's for one very simply reason.
All the uploaders can be in countries that can turn round and say "FUCK OFF" to the recording industry, and me, sitting in Canada, can legally leech the shit out of it all and be perfectly safe.
I am disgusted at the levy I have to pay on blank CD's, especially when I do home movies for my Dad of his grandson, and pay the fuckers in the recording industry money to be able to do it, but at least the government had the balls to say "Fine, in that case, downloading is legal". In fact that almost makes the levy worthwhile for the comedy it has provided seeing this happen.
And if you want to avoid the new levy on MP3 players, just buy off of Ebay like I just did. Paid less than half price for a Panasonic MP3/CD player.
Yes, but in fairness, the only fuck up Blizzard have made with online stuff that I can remember is dramatically underestimating server loads for Diablo 2 when it was released. Blizzard learnt a lesson there, and have a reputation for releasing stuff when it's ready, and not before.
The companies prior track record would lead many to believe they're going to do this right.
I just wish they'd start the bastarding beta already:) I WANT IN!:)
Slashdot Mirror
I shall check that out. Cheers. And to the other poster, yes, I kept it. The 2600 can't be hacked yet, so I kept the other one for my region 2 disks.
I would have gone with a more expensive name brand, but sadly I can't afford it.
Ah well, my computer has a name brand DVD. (Toshiba:))
I have an dead Abit KA7
I misread that as you having a dead AK47...
Spoken like someone who doesn't know all the facts but has a position already set... XBox games are routinely patched.
If you actually read what I said bollockface I SAID I didn't know if the XBOX games were patched. Asshat.
Consoles would hopefully draw fuckwits as consoles are a shitload cheaper than PC's.
Do a search for some stats. Counterstrike is still the most popular online game, and Counterstrike was *NOT* a professionally released mod. It was already well on it's way to being the most played online game when Sierra bought the rights to rip people off with a boxed version (when they could get Half Life cheaper, and download CS for free.)
By fuckwits I meant the cheaters and the idiot teenagers who think they can insult me by saying things about my mother. You, sir, are an ass, and make it quite clear you think yourself superior when in actual fact you have your head up your ass and well and truly live up to your username, because that's what you're spewing.
I've bought two APEX DVD players.
The first, the AD-1500, I've hacked to remove region codes, RCE, macrovision etc... (I'm not in the US, so you assclowns who post about me violating the DMCA can go shove something sharp and pointy in the orifice of your choice.)
About a year ago it started acting up. It would freeze up. A power cycle was all that would fix it. Would often go days without one, then would go tits up many times in quick succession.
Local store got some APEX 2600's, so I bought one.
Within 48 hours, the disk tray motor died. Took it back, got a replacement. The replacement, so far, is fine, aside from an occasional flicker on the signal going to the TV (but then my PS1 used to do the same, but strangely stopped doing it.)
APEX are rated as less than satisfactory by the Better Business Bureau, and supposedly their customer service is terrible...
Yes I've played Warcraft 3 online. I notice a ton less griefers on there than back in Starcraft's boom period.
I think ultimately consoles will draw away the fuckwits. Of course, the big problem is the fact the the decent console online networks charge you money. The idiots who get off on ruining games for everyone else won't want to pay for the pleasure.
Another area online gaming on the consoles sucks is cheats. SOCOM for example has been ruined by cheats. On the PC, if a cheat is found, it's usually patched. On the Playstation or whatever (Xbox I'm not so sure with it's internal hard drive) the cheats are there forever. Any "patch" will come in the form of a new version of the game.
In short, what with the cheating issue, game mods etc... PC gaming OWNS the consoles in a big way. PC gaming online will survive, if for no other reason than the amazing communities that build up around games, create additional content etc... I mean take a look at games like Grand Prix Legends, Myth/Myth II... Them and so many more are still going strong online thanks to the community. Console games can't possibly compete with that.
Absolutely. I mean really, you ask anyone who has played Counterstrike or whatever on a PC if they'd like to go and play it with a console controller... I would bet damn near 100% wouldn't even give the console a look-in.
Same with games like Warcraft. I've played RTS games on consoles and they SUCK without a mouse, and playing a game like warcraft with it's sweet graphical nuances would just SUCK on the console.
Online console gaming, sure, will probably eat into the PC a little, but I'm really hoping that's where all the fuckwits go, leaving the mature, decent crowd on the PC. I mean sure, there'll always be the share of idiots in online games, but the consoles can be their playground.
The game "Out of the Park Baseball" was marketed briefly through Infogrames I think it was under the name "Season Ticket Baseball", but that deal finished with version 5. OOTP is a HUGE baseball game with a legion of fans, myself included.
The irony is, an independent developer distributing like this easily makes more money per copy than with a name publisher, and probably suffers less copying. OOTP for example is protected by Elicence which, last time I checked, has yet to be cracked.
More and more games are being released this way. It's very much like the indie film business. The most creativity and originality is with these indie development groups, while the mainstream publishers will only push generic "been there, done that" games.
In ten years, I fully expect the independent developers to rank up next to the independent filmmakers for kudos and cutting edge material.
The YDKJ series are great!
Sims Online added stuff like christmas trees and snowmen. They also gave everyone a turkey (same as they did for Thanksgiving).
I play TSO. I quite like it. I've not been scammed, but my wife has. Turned out okay in the end as the ratio of nice people far outweighs the scum, and she wound up far better off than she was prior to the bastard, Ryan Hummel (he plays on Interhogan), scamming her. (If you see this shit, make him an enemy. He's a cunt.)
I think this person needs to quit whining. The original article he posted was lame, and it seems a large number of people don't believe it was genuine, me included.
The BIG problem with the game is the enemy thing. If Maxis just removed that, that would cripple a lot of the extortion artists overnight. It servers absolutely no purpose in the game other than to be abused.
It's funny though, Maxis make a big deal about banning this guy for what he's posted, and yet if you complain about the scammers, Maxis send you a form email about gentlemans agreements etc, and how they have no control.
Yep, he's right. The library I used to frequent in Calgary had everything from current releases (which admittedly had a waiting list) right through to the most obscure Zappa stuff you can imagine:)
Forgive me if I just point and laugh... What on Earth leads you think this? I mean what prior event makes you believe this?
Erm... Dude, that may be, but let's not forget the good old Canadian Content laws that mandate anywhere from 15-65% of content must be Canadian on radio and TV in Canada. (Actually I think CBC is 85%. The norm is 35%.)
Or maybe it could be because approximately 100% of Canadian music sales belong to the likes of Celine Dion, Sarah McLachlan, and Shania Twain.
Just be grateful you don't have government laws FORCING these artists on you. All music providers, whether they be radio or TV, have to put out something like 35% Canadian content. What the law DIDN'T mandate is quality, which means an extremely high proportion of Canadian music utter shit, that's only become remotely popular because of the government mandated force feeding.
As for the three you mentioned, I have a scenario... All 3 on a plane... Think Big Bopper, Buddy Holly etc... Crash, burn, bye bye talentless harpies.
Radio has nothing to do with it. NOBODY I know listens to the radio anymore.
The fact is, most music today is formulaic excrement. As I posted earlier, people look fondly on Zeppelin, Floyd etc... "The Wall" is probably one of my top 3 favourite albums of all time. I was 8 when it was released, and never actually heard the album in it's entirety until 1989. I still love it now, almost a quarter century after it's release.
Do you honestly believe that come 2028... Hell, come 2013, *ANY* album or band from 2003 will be even remotely as highly regarded as Floyd and "The Wall" are now? Face it, the spirit of innovation and invention has had a stake driven through it's heart.
By 2010, nobody but the most hardcore fans will give a shit about ANY band from 2003.
Competition is a great example of the reason actually.
I mean think about it, 25 years ago, what competition was there for your entertainment dollar? Music and going to the theatre and paying to see a movie you watch and then leave.
I find it interesting that the CRIA is claiming the 23% drop in sales since 1999... 1999... Wasn't that around when DVD started to get mainstream? I mean Matrix was out that year, and I remember a BIG fuss over the Matrix DVD later that year... And that was probably a big selling point for DVD. Lord knows it was the movie that made me sit up and take notice of the format.
For all their failings, the MPAA have done a pretty good job with DVD. Sure, the DeCSS thing is lame etc... But really, a hell of a lot of DVD's these days are stuffed to the gills with cool content, at prices cheaper than movies used to be on VHS for just the movie. The MPAA has realised customers expect more and DVD has provided that. For the price you used to be able to buy one movie for in the early 80's, you can now get, for example, the Alien Quadrilogy, all the Alien movies, and 9 disks worth of content... Now THAT is progress at work in entertainment media.
The RIAA and it's evil brethren are still churning out the same shit, content wise, as they were 30 years ago. Stuffing a shitty Quicktime clip or two on a CD is not "adding value". I mean really, the ONLY improvement over 1973 is the fact that with CD's, we don't have to get up and flip them over halfway through. WOO! SMELL THE PROGRESS!
Yes, but there's nothing you can do about it. Groups HAVE complained and protested, and the thing was still passed.
If this kind of thing was passed in the US, you can guarantee it wouldn't be with the proviso that downloading is legal, they'd still let the RIAA fuck you up the ass every which way, while giving them a chunk of change on every blank CD and MP3 player that is sold.
Okay matey, put your money where your mouth is.
Name 5 talented musicians or groups today that are signed to big labels. By talent I mean innovative, unique artists like Floyd and Zeppelin were in their day.
And for the record, you say about classical, jazz, gregorian... Yep, I listen to all them. In fact the only genres I don't listen to are country and reggae.
I'm 32. I grew up during disco. It hurts me as I mostly HATE disco. However, there's a great deal of 70's music that kicks ass. Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc... I still listen to The Wall now, over 20 years after it was released. I can't think of ANYTHING released these days that people will be listening to in five years, let alone twenty.
The reason? Image. Back in the 70's it was about the music. It didn't matter if the singer had 3 eyes and no nose, and looked like a melted mouse mat, so long as he could sing. (Christ, look at the Floyd guys, hardly photogenic...) These days, if you don't have the looks, you don't get your video anywhere, you don't get the promotion... Basically the whole industry has become style over substance, hence we'll never see classics like "The Wall" again.
You only need to take a look at American Idol, Canadian Idol, Pop Idol etc... To see why the music industry is totally fucked and why nobody is buying anything.
DVD probably IS a big part of the problem. I mean you can get most new releases for less than $10 more than a regular CD, and as you say, it provides more bang for your buck.
I mean really, if someone said "You can have two albums, or one DVD for Christmas" I'd probably have said "DVD" before they'd even finished the sentence.
If I want music, I can turn on the radio, I can turn on any number of streaming stations on the net... I don't have to BUY anything to get noise in my living room. If I want to experience a movie, DVD is the only way to go.
Because most of the time there's one good song per CD of 10-20 tracks. One song is not worth $15, so people download it.
Absolutely. CD's are ridiculously overpriced. They're cheaper to mass produce than cassettes, but always retailed at way more than tape.
I used to buy a LOT of music, but I started boycotting the labels in 2000. They polish a turd, and expect you to pay $20 for it. Fuck off. I can't think of one release since then that I've thought "You know, if it wasn't for my boycott, I could have that. Damn my principles!" (Especially as the last big release I was really keen on in 1999 turned out to be such a disappointment.)
I've downloaded a lot of music (I'm in Canada, so it's legal, hahaha!) but I can't think of a single release I've downloaded that I'd have bought the original of. Hell, most stuff I barely listen to it once before shitcanning it. If someone asked me to list my favourite albums right now, there wouldn't be a single post 1999 album in the list.
I have no idea exactly what changed with the new ruling, but I know the Canadian ruling was like this.
You have an album, a friend wants it, you copy it for him. That's illegal.
You have an album, a friend wants it, you loan it to them, they copy it. That's legal.
In short, loan someone a CD, they can legally copy it here.
The drop in sales is more likely down to the amount of people boycotting the thieving shits in the industry (Not bought an album since early 2000 myself), and the general decline in quality of releases. I mean when we have shit like American Idol, Canadian Idol etc... Is it any wonder nobody buys the CD's anymore... It's for one very simply reason.
It's all mass produced, carbon copy shit.
All the uploaders can be in countries that can turn round and say "FUCK OFF" to the recording industry, and me, sitting in Canada, can legally leech the shit out of it all and be perfectly safe.
I am disgusted at the levy I have to pay on blank CD's, especially when I do home movies for my Dad of his grandson, and pay the fuckers in the recording industry money to be able to do it, but at least the government had the balls to say "Fine, in that case, downloading is legal". In fact that almost makes the levy worthwhile for the comedy it has provided seeing this happen.
And if you want to avoid the new levy on MP3 players, just buy off of Ebay like I just did. Paid less than half price for a Panasonic MP3/CD player.
Yes, but in fairness, the only fuck up Blizzard have made with online stuff that I can remember is dramatically underestimating server loads for Diablo 2 when it was released. Blizzard learnt a lesson there, and have a reputation for releasing stuff when it's ready, and not before.
The companies prior track record would lead many to believe they're going to do this right.
I just wish they'd start the bastarding beta already:) I WANT IN!:)
The guy needs to learn about interlace...
Fucking bastards. I submitted this story 2 days ago and it was ignored.
Fuck Slashdot.