Have to agree with Call of Duty. The first FPS... Actually, scratch that, the first GAME in years to make me go "WOW!" There's something that happens in one of the early missions that had my jaw drop it was so cool.
Halo... Call me in 2001, when I still gave a shit...
The XBox GTA pack that just came out is fucked. LOAD of problems with it apparently.
Snipped from another site:
Reports are coming in today suggesting that Rockstar Games released a defective ver of their smash hit title, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Xbox). The errors concern a large extent of the sound effects and acoustic output.
RockStar have not comented on the situation and is not known whether they will remedy the problem by releasing a patch (via Xbox Live) or recall the defective vers.
The reason for the slightly screwy English is the report was from a German site.
What you don't seem to understand is not everyone can afford to splash out on a new DVD drive just for ONE FUCKING TITLE! Sure, when, say, 20% of games are shipping on DVD, it's possibly a valid argument, but for ONE TITLE, asking someone to shell out almost as much again on new hardware as they did on a game just to play the title is ridiculous.
You also approach things from the biased US perspective. Sure, a drive in the US may be that cheap, but consider other countries where the exchange rate is poor. You could probably spend well over $100 on a DVD drive. Importing from a cheaper market is not an option due to customs fees. In the past, I've wound up paying more in fees for something than the actual item cost. DVD drives are not "dirt cheap".
Until such time as a DVD is mandatory to install a good percentage of software, the old "I'm getting sick of the excuses" line is pretentious, elitist bollocks. It's simply not cost effective to buy a new piece of hardware that will do LESS (since most systems have a CDR these days) than your existing hardware. (Movies are not a valid reason to own a DVD drive as the majority of DVD rom content is total crap.)
The fact you've never owned a CD-ROM drive faster than your current DVD drive means you either have more money than sense, have only ever used REALLY slow CD-ROM drives, or have an employer who keeps you in hardware.
Actually, I remember reading there is evidence that flight was actually discovered in Australia. The Wright brothers nailed it a few years later. Have no idea how true that is.
DO NOT lump all American car racing into going in circles. NASCAR != American car racing. Check out any ALMS event. Infinitely more interesting. Same with Speed World Challenege.
WAY back when Geoff Crammond's F1GP came out, there was a story like this. A rookie driver who'd never driven Spa-Francorchamps (in Belgium) was racing in a touring car race at the circuit. To get to know it, he played F1GP and did a load of laps in the game to get to know the circuit, went out next day and won the race.
I also remember hearing that Jacques Villeneuve, back when he came to F1, played F1 video games to get to know the circuits.
It's a great idea. If the tech is there, use it, and games are getting SO realistic these days that a lot of racers agree that the sims we play these days pretty much nail what it's really like.
A few games ARE only coming out on DVD (Metal Gear Solid II: Substance for example), but if they want to sell more than a handful of copies, they need to get it out on CD.
I know a LOAD of people who warezed MGS, simply because they don't have a DVD drive. (And the old argument "Well buy one, they're cheap" is garbage. That's like having to buy a new CD player just to play one album you want, and you won't use for anything else.)
Hydrogenated oils are probably in there too, and a lot of products use it, and that stuff does FAR more damage than regular oils and fats because the human body doesn't know how to process it. (Do some research, it's outright terrifying.)
Claiming KFC is healthier than a Whopper is like saying "KFC is better for you than shooting yourself in the head with a sawn off shotgun." Technically accurate, but still bollocks.
I don't think it was any less silly than Green Goblin in Spiderman. And the effects were just incredible. I don't care what anyone says, the first time I actually saw Hulk (as in the creature in the movie) I was totally marking out like I did when I first saw the TV show when I was about 7:)
It's not actually unusual for a company to be forced to pull a misleading advertisement. The laws in England regarding advertising are FAR stricter than this side of the pond. (Which is far too lax IMO.)
So you say you use reviews, but then go on to say the one for Kill Bill was wrong. This kinda invalidates your theory. (And I don't understand why so many people hate Hulk.)
I only trust one reviewer. Roger Ebert. He's the only critic whose taste seems to match mine.
Well, of course there's that stupid wanker Leonard Maltin. I like his reviews. If he hates a movie, I know it must be good because he's an idiot.
That was what I meant:) Though in fairness, I do have quite a few with nothing on at all. Those, I just know what's on them by where they are in the pile:)
I use a felt marker to write on CD's. I've burnt well over 1000 CD's over the years (had a burner since 1998) and have labelled precisely one. And it wasn't even for me.
I have a rewritable from 1998 that still works just fine, I know that much...
With their RTS's, I agree. They have basically polished it, and added stuff onto it. Warcraft 3 is the best RTS since Total Annihilation IMO. (Though I can take or leave Diablo.)
As for WoW, it's the first MMORPG that's actually interested me. I'm going to sign up for the beta when they start it. (Heard everything from late December, to next week for the beta starting).
I've recently been testing Earth and Beyond, the MM space sim... And it's pretty boring so far. Played for about 7 hours and not met one other person.
If you create the character, yes, it engages you more. I still have fond memories of "Curse of the Azure Bonds", the old gold box game, and an Elf fighter named "Ted Grunt" who had a pink sword. (No jokes please.)
Characters in video games are mostly dull. In fact if someone said "Quick, name a character from a PC game", the only memorable one for me is Kerrigan in Starcraft. (Memorable for spoilerish reasons that, despite the game being a fair few years old, I won't spoil for anyone).
I fail to see how Max is engaging. For a character to be engaging, you have to spend time with them and become emotionally involved and attached. If the writer bonded with Max Payne instantly... He should probably seek professional help. (As should I, for typoing and saying about the writer boning Max Payne... Freud? Yes, hello, it's me again...")
I can't say I've ever found any video game character particularly engaging. Unless you count annoyance, in which case Tomi Undergallows in Neverwinter Nights wins. ("I can get that open easy!" Yes, well why don't you then instead of just standing there you stupid halfling bastard!)
But the Canadian courts ruled it legal when DirecTV wanted to prosecute people who bought grey market dishes. Since DirecTV wouldn't market their product in Canada, there was no profit loss, therefore no violation occured. If the courts ruled it legal, it ain't piracy.
The amusing thing is, in England, merely flashing your headlights does this. My driving instructor told me and I tested it on many occasions, and it works like a charm.
Pirating US based TV content? DirecTV wanted into the Canadian market, to applied to the CRTC to allow them into Canada. The CRTC require a certain percentage of programming to be Canadian in origin. DirecTV weren't willing to do this, so withdrew their application.
How is it piracy when the signal isn't commercially available in Canada? Nobody is being deprived of their signals. Nobody in Utah will find a blank screen and go "Damn Canadian's are stealing my signals again!"
Slashdot Mirror
Have to agree with Call of Duty. The first FPS... Actually, scratch that, the first GAME in years to make me go "WOW!" There's something that happens in one of the early missions that had my jaw drop it was so cool.
Halo... Call me in 2001, when I still gave a shit...
This is why my son is *NEVER* having a computer in his room. It will be in the living room.
As for the fact your children lied... WHAT?! CHILDREN LIED?! What next? Surprise when hitting someone with your car at 60mph kills them?
Snooping is a VERY bad idea. The genie's out of the bottle. They won't want the computer in the living room now it's in their bedroom.
In short, you're screwed.
The XBox GTA pack that just came out is fucked. LOAD of problems with it apparently.
Snipped from another site:
Reports are coming in today suggesting that Rockstar Games released a defective ver of their smash hit title, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Xbox). The errors concern a large extent of the sound effects and acoustic output.
RockStar have not comented on the situation and is not known whether they will remedy the problem by releasing a patch (via Xbox Live) or recall the defective vers.
The reason for the slightly screwy English is the report was from a German site.
What you don't seem to understand is not everyone can afford to splash out on a new DVD drive just for ONE FUCKING TITLE! Sure, when, say, 20% of games are shipping on DVD, it's possibly a valid argument, but for ONE TITLE, asking someone to shell out almost as much again on new hardware as they did on a game just to play the title is ridiculous.
You also approach things from the biased US perspective. Sure, a drive in the US may be that cheap, but consider other countries where the exchange rate is poor. You could probably spend well over $100 on a DVD drive. Importing from a cheaper market is not an option due to customs fees. In the past, I've wound up paying more in fees for something than the actual item cost. DVD drives are not "dirt cheap".
Until such time as a DVD is mandatory to install a good percentage of software, the old "I'm getting sick of the excuses" line is pretentious, elitist bollocks. It's simply not cost effective to buy a new piece of hardware that will do LESS (since most systems have a CDR these days) than your existing hardware. (Movies are not a valid reason to own a DVD drive as the majority of DVD rom content is total crap.)
The fact you've never owned a CD-ROM drive faster than your current DVD drive means you either have more money than sense, have only ever used REALLY slow CD-ROM drives, or have an employer who keeps you in hardware.
Actually, I remember reading there is evidence that flight was actually discovered in Australia. The Wright brothers nailed it a few years later. Have no idea how true that is.
DO NOT lump all American car racing into going in circles. NASCAR != American car racing. Check out any ALMS event. Infinitely more interesting. Same with Speed World Challenege.
NASCAR and IRL are the "roundy round" racing.
Really though, how complicated can it be for a NASCAR driver to get to know the course?
:)
"Okay, left... left... left... left... left... left... left... left... left...... left... left... left... left..."
GPL rules! Just got done a mammoth 3 hour online session:)
To correct you though, ABS IS STILL BANNED. Also, stuff like qualifying engines and super-sticky tyres were banned to keep costs down.
Traction control and launch control was all reinstated because the FIA couldn't police it.
F1 is TOO safe now. As Stirling Moss said, drivers need the fear of God shoved up them.
WAY back when Geoff Crammond's F1GP came out, there was a story like this. A rookie driver who'd never driven Spa-Francorchamps (in Belgium) was racing in a touring car race at the circuit. To get to know it, he played F1GP and did a load of laps in the game to get to know the circuit, went out next day and won the race.
I also remember hearing that Jacques Villeneuve, back when he came to F1, played F1 video games to get to know the circuits.
It's a great idea. If the tech is there, use it, and games are getting SO realistic these days that a lot of racers agree that the sims we play these days pretty much nail what it's really like.
A few games ARE only coming out on DVD (Metal Gear Solid II: Substance for example), but if they want to sell more than a handful of copies, they need to get it out on CD.
I know a LOAD of people who warezed MGS, simply because they don't have a DVD drive. (And the old argument "Well buy one, they're cheap" is garbage. That's like having to buy a new CD player just to play one album you want, and you won't use for anything else.)
Nope. They were worried it would eat into Galaxies I think, so no multiplayer.
Of course, GTA doesn't have multiplayer either, and rocks hard. (Yes yes, I know some group have hacked a multiplayer mod. Doesn't count.)
We may have to wait, but when we get it, we can point and laugh and say "XBox was just the beta test for the PC version":)
Was choked when the Sexbox got this first...
Christmas has come early:)
Hydrogenated oils are probably in there too, and a lot of products use it, and that stuff does FAR more damage than regular oils and fats because the human body doesn't know how to process it. (Do some research, it's outright terrifying.)
Claiming KFC is healthier than a Whopper is like saying "KFC is better for you than shooting yourself in the head with a sawn off shotgun." Technically accurate, but still bollocks.
I don't think it was any less silly than Green Goblin in Spiderman. And the effects were just incredible. I don't care what anyone says, the first time I actually saw Hulk (as in the creature in the movie) I was totally marking out like I did when I first saw the TV show when I was about 7:)
It's not actually unusual for a company to be forced to pull a misleading advertisement. The laws in England regarding advertising are FAR stricter than this side of the pond. (Which is far too lax IMO.)
So you say you use reviews, but then go on to say the one for Kill Bill was wrong. This kinda invalidates your theory. (And I don't understand why so many people hate Hulk.)
I only trust one reviewer. Roger Ebert. He's the only critic whose taste seems to match mine.
Well, of course there's that stupid wanker Leonard Maltin. I like his reviews. If he hates a movie, I know it must be good because he's an idiot.
That was what I meant:) Though in fairness, I do have quite a few with nothing on at all. Those, I just know what's on them by where they are in the pile:)
I use a felt marker to write on CD's. I've burnt well over 1000 CD's over the years (had a burner since 1998) and have labelled precisely one. And it wasn't even for me.
I have a rewritable from 1998 that still works just fine, I know that much...
With their RTS's, I agree. They have basically polished it, and added stuff onto it. Warcraft 3 is the best RTS since Total Annihilation IMO. (Though I can take or leave Diablo.)
As for WoW, it's the first MMORPG that's actually interested me. I'm going to sign up for the beta when they start it. (Heard everything from late December, to next week for the beta starting).
I've recently been testing Earth and Beyond, the MM space sim... And it's pretty boring so far. Played for about 7 hours and not met one other person.
I played Out of this World (or Another World as it was called in some markets I think.) Had forgotten his name:)
If you create the character, yes, it engages you more. I still have fond memories of "Curse of the Azure Bonds", the old gold box game, and an Elf fighter named "Ted Grunt" who had a pink sword. (No jokes please.)
Characters in video games are mostly dull. In fact if someone said "Quick, name a character from a PC game", the only memorable one for me is Kerrigan in Starcraft. (Memorable for spoilerish reasons that, despite the game being a fair few years old, I won't spoil for anyone).
I fail to see how Max is engaging. For a character to be engaging, you have to spend time with them and become emotionally involved and attached. If the writer bonded with Max Payne instantly... He should probably seek professional help. (As should I, for typoing and saying about the writer boning Max Payne... Freud? Yes, hello, it's me again...")
I can't say I've ever found any video game character particularly engaging. Unless you count annoyance, in which case Tomi Undergallows in Neverwinter Nights wins. ("I can get that open easy!" Yes, well why don't you then instead of just standing there you stupid halfling bastard!)
But the Canadian courts ruled it legal when DirecTV wanted to prosecute people who bought grey market dishes. Since DirecTV wouldn't market their product in Canada, there was no profit loss, therefore no violation occured. If the courts ruled it legal, it ain't piracy.
You leave Davidson and McCoy alone!
You can, however, kick the shit out of Baker (Colin) and that McGann boy all you want.:)
Best Dr. was Pertwee anyway:)
The amusing thing is, in England, merely flashing your headlights does this. My driving instructor told me and I tested it on many occasions, and it works like a charm.
Erm... Get your facts right mate.
Pirating US based TV content? DirecTV wanted into the Canadian market, to applied to the CRTC to allow them into Canada. The CRTC require a certain percentage of programming to be Canadian in origin. DirecTV weren't willing to do this, so withdrew their application.
How is it piracy when the signal isn't commercially available in Canada? Nobody is being deprived of their signals. Nobody in Utah will find a blank screen and go "Damn Canadian's are stealing my signals again!"
Your comment is pathetic.