I think this is obvious. The Magratheans planted them as they were a necessary part of the programming.
Some people just completely fail to see the point. Even Douglas Adams, a noted atheist, shows us the validity of intelligent design. Also planets made of solid gold.
If you're ever in Kansas I highly suggest you leave, quickly. Anything outside of Kansas City (where most of the real action is really in Missouri) or Lawrence (home of the University of Kansas) is pretty much unbearable and even they're barely tolerable. If you happen to find yourself in Manhatan, KS look for the fastest route out.
Nope. Digital Shelf in Manhattan, KS. Amusingly the shop opened back in 1999 not terribly long after I moved to town to attend university. It has, since that time, grown increasingly larger, moved across the street to a much larger location and opened a branch location (not counting a largely ignored rack in the student union bookstore). It's very successful and just about bursting at the seams at present.
Blockbuster (at least their retail locations) are terrible. They have a horrible selection that concrentrates only on crap released in the last two months. The prices are insane and the employees utterly clueless.
Netflix has a much better selection, but it's still lacking. I don't get to select exactly what I want due to the list system and quite frankly I'm pretty damn picky about what I'm in the mood for. The turnaround time is also pretty bad. I want to select the movie that I feel like watching now, not a movie that I kinda want to see so I'll leave it around the house for a week or two until I'm in the mood and want to watch a movie.
My local video store, however, has a great selection (though anime fans may appreciate their huge selection I'm far less appreciative when they shove aside horror to make room for it), generally knowledgable employees, excellent prices (almost everything is $2 for 5 days, new releases are $3 for 3 days, a few are $1 for 5 days) and are cunningly located (the main location is next to the cheap pizza place, they're also smart enough to have a drop-off bin on campus). One of the few times they haven't had something that I asked about the employees said "Wow.. we don't have Foo? I can't believe that, we need to order it." Lo and behold it was on the shelf there not long after. It's also the little things. If a film is not a new release, but rather an older film just recently released onto DVD it does not go on the new release wall like so many other locations. The owner once dropped off my lates fees when I went to pay them off citing that they were only a few hours late. Employees regularly let me skirt the drop-off time (ingeniously 7pm so that the new movies are on the shelves when you come by to rent) if I'm a little bit late. They carry porn (though a really crappy selection and heavy on hentai).
I could go on and on, but quite frankly a good local shop will always win out over either a giant, crappy chain or a mail-order service in terms of giving the goods. Now, if you want something really obscure (not everyone is blessed with a store that has their own Troma section or carries the Short Films of David Lynch box) Greencine or some other option might help you find what you're looking for, but I doubt it'll be a primary rental location.
Not to say that it wasn't due to the poor writing, acting, etc. but I one of the thing that may have contributed to the death of Enterprise is the lack of a consistent time slot. I don't know how UPN had this thing scheduled, but in my local market the new episodes were run at 2:30 am. Not a rebroadcast of the same episode shown earlier that evening, that was the only time they ever showed it.
Frankly I personally dislike coinage of all sorts. I'd be totally in favor of having nothing but paper notes as they are vastly easier to carry and store in my wallet. For coins I need to keep them stashed in a pocket and then hunt around for them or carry some sort of coin purse.
True coins are essential for coin tricks and have a nice, hefty "real money" sort of feel, but they're just too damned inconvenient to ever spend (aside from using quarters on occasion).
My step-father had a couple of Gateway laptops well before eMachines was part of the deal (i.e. mid to late 90s) and they were pretty crappy back then as well.
As for tech. support's ability to do Linux I worry pretty strongly about their ability to do Windows. Some people are alright and know their stuff. The rest have the total extent of their computer knowledge limited to the three week traning course (which I, admittedly, did not take). Still, the number of times when people get sent SATA drives for IDE-only motherboards or AGP cards for a PCI-only motherboard is pretty staggering. Sure a few people just slip up, but the rest just know how to read the screen and follow the flow-chart.
Someone once stated that in general phone tech. support is never going to give you the best solution. Just the one most likely to solve your problem quickly and get you off the phone (e.g. lots of destructive reformats and the like). I suspect that this holds true for pretty much every company.
I feel it necessary to state that while this is more or less the company policy I am stating this in the capacity of a private citizen who is familiar with Gateway policy. Not as a Gateway employee. Thus this should not be interpreted as an official statement from Gateway nor that I represent Gateway in any official capacity in this statement.
That said this is pretty much how it's likely to go down. Likewise as a private citizen I highly suggest that if you have any concerns about this policy and really want the issue to be adressed by someone who might have the ability to cut through this don't take the issue up with customer service. Write a letter directly to the corporate office. The address is buried on www.gateway.com under "Corporate Information" and then "Fact Sheet". The people who answer these tend to have a bit more freedom in solving problems.
It's not technically considered another product, but an essential part of the product you're purchasing. It's a bit circuitious and IANAL, but it would function in the same fashion as stating that we won't sell the computer without a hard drive.
If it's really a sore issue I suggest asking to speak to the sales department as they might (though I doubt it) have a way to get it to go through.
I work in Gateway customer service so here's the official policy on this (and it was hard enough to find when I got hired and was curious so it'll probably be a bitch if you call and get one of the largely incompetent people who work there).
You cannot buy a computer without Windows on it. We simply will not do it. The way the ordering system is set up we cannot get it to go through no matter how sympathetic we are. Likewise if you purchase the system Gateway has determined that you agreed to the license the moment you power on the system. If you decide not to accept the license they will only accept the return of the software if you return the entire system (this being true of any pre-installed software that you want to return).
In other words don't buy Gateway. Then again, even if you aren't interested in the refund don't buy Gateway. They sell crap and their customer service (employees, polcies, turn-around times, etc.) are crap. While I wouldn't have bought one before I started working there I sure as hell wouldn't now.
Personally I haven't found much in the current realm of RPGs that really interests me. Looking over my bookshelves I realize that everything I like is at least a generation or two old. Most of the major RPG companies are dead no more FASA or West End Games, TSR is now just a part of WOTC. It's a new world and unless you like D20 a lot of it is gone.
Maybe it's just because I'm a holdout, but I find very little to get excited about in the current role-playing market.
I've got to agree and not only because I dislike rap and found the actual music to be relatively poor. Rather than create something actually new and original he merely reused other people's work to create a collage of sorts. At least Beatallica (Beatles songs transposed into Metallica songs) actually writes and performs their work.
I feel that he instead garnered a great deal of attention for being the underdog in a legal contest about the rights to the music. Regardless of the quality he was going to be glorified for creating a work of art that may have violated copyright and coming under legal pressure for it.
I agree entirely. There are a number of stores (Chipotle, Quiznos) that don't require me to sign my receipts and it really bugs me. Not quite as much as the ones where I have to twist their arm to get my copy, but I still dislike the idea of not having a printed copy somewhere stating that I authorized the purchase. The signature has never seemed to be as much about security and signature comparison as it has about disclosure. My signature is there as proof that I read the bill and the authorized charges and that I agreed to them. Thus preventing an unscrupulous (or merely careless) merchant from overcharging me. In this manner it's more like a contract and something I don't want to see go away. I suspect that other people such as myself who actually read the full text of any legally binding agreement (ok, ok software EULAs are the exception).
As for signing of cards I worked in retail while in college and was scrupulous about checking cards. I think I had one or two grumbles, but nobody ever got upset (the trick, I believe, is to be nice and state that you're doing this for their security). The people who specifically wrote "See ID" or left it intentionally unsigned were always most appreciative.
Convenience is all well and good, but a few simple steps towards greater security are almost always a good idea.
There's nothing wrong with social commentary and when done well it can be great. Science fiction is ideally suited to deal with these sorts of things. The problem is when the point is blindingly obvious from the beginning and we simply have it bashed into our heads for an hour. I'm not saying that Star Trek addressing relevant issues is bad, I'm just saying that subtlety and underlying causes are better and moer effective than The Big Obvious Metaphor.
Remember the old episode with the 2 aliens, each being half white and half black. At the end of the show, you realize that they hate each other because they are white on different sides. Wow. That was an excellent metaphore for race relations.
This is intended to be read as sarcasm, right? I mean... honestly Star Trek was often a good show, but whenever it (or ST:TNG which often did the same thing) went to absurb lengths to create an episode that only served to be a heavy-handed lesson it was rarely good.
Enterprise should take homosexuality or Tibet and frame those issues in a big metaphor and give the punch line at the end.
As others have stated game reviews (and for that matter pretty much every other review) exists for one point: should I pay for foo? Reviews are not criticism, nor are they narratives, anecdotes, or literature. They are a form of journalism wherein the reviewer attempts to impart information of a semi-objective nature devoted to answering the stated question of whether you should or should not do something.
It is possible to arrive at this point many ways, but if you remove that critical point (which does not always need to be stated explictly although it does help a bit) you have something else. My reminiscing about Castlevania doesn't tell someone whether they ought to buy it or not... it's something else entirely. In the specific case of the cited article it's more of... well... it's like a piece of short fiction based on the experience of playing the game. It's clearly based on the game, but it doesn't provide any information that would help me in regards to making a decision and thus, is not a review.
Earlier this summer I decided that a console system would really be nice. I've been a PC gamer for years, but my latest console was my beloved SNES. Yes, I think that the PC is, in many ways, a superior platform for many games there are plenty of things that a console does better that I was missing. I wanted something that I could just pick up and play some basic, light games on yet still gave me something to really sink my teeth into when I felt like it. I wanted something where I could just sit around and play with some friends or my girlfriend without each of us just staring into our own, distant screens. As far as game selection I wanted something that had a good lock on some exclusive titles that I would enjoy.
After looking at all of these factors I really had to choose the Gamecube as being the best of the batch. It has four player support out of box (unlike the PS2) and a number of great multi-player games that are fun for groups (Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart). It also has some really great exclusive titles (both the aforementioned, Zelda, Metroid, Paper Mario, Eternal Darkness). The major titles I'd be missing are often not only ported to the PC where they're often better (e.g. Grand Theft Auto), but many are originally designed for the PC and only co-developed for consoles. What's left is often multi-platform meaning I won't miss out (e.g. Prince of Persia, X-Men Legends, Tony Hawk). It also has a few revamped PS1 games that I'd wanted a chance to play (Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil) but had missed out on. Online play is something I'd often be able to get better on the PC regardless and while it would suck for a few titles, it was something I could deal with.
Thus, in my opinion, at least, while the Gamecube might not be the best system for someone who will be playing consoles exclusively (I do miss Katamari Damacy, Burnout 3, and some others) if you already have a PC it's probably the best console to pick up to scratch those itches that only a console can.
Having never played it on the Playstation (I missed that entire generation of consoles) and not bothering with the PC version: me. I picked it up a month or so ago and just really got into recently and I've been enjoying the hell out of it. Improved graphics, longer, improved cinematics, gameplay enhancements (I can't imagine trying to play this without the first-person view... you can only see two feet ahead of you most of the time).
Then again at the same time I also picked up the graphically enhanced port of Resident Evil, another PS1 game that I never got a chance to play.
Exactly. As the article mentions America is a Wal-Mart culture. People here want to buy cheap crap that doesn't work very well because they can get it cheaply. Quality, features, and reliability simply aren't as important to most Americans. Hence the reason why $30 DVD players at Wal-Mart sell well despite the fact that a good $100-200 model would have far more features, better build quality, and better picture quality making them a better buy in the long run.
Americans are also very resistant to change and quite opinionated about it. People actually demand pan and scan films because they chose not to understand why widescreen is better or they stubbornly refuse even after learning how they're being shorted. The attitude is "it's broken because it doesn't immediately conform to my expectations" rather than "I do not understand this fully".
The rest of the points are equally valid, but by and large America is composed of ignorant people who won't RTFM and see anything new as bad because it would require them to learn something.
As a recent graduate I have to say that this looks pretty sweet. At my own school much of the information was hard to find, obscure, rarely updated, and frequently inaccessible.
It's a bit cluttered, but the pure density of information is quite nice. As long as users can customize it to get rid of a lot of that extra crap (Google search box? No thanks, I use Firefox) it looks like something I'd really have liked my school to have had.
As others have stated this is a pretty holiday-heavy time of year for Americans. First off are our two non-religious ones that bookend it: Thanksgiving and New Year's. This makes the holiday season roughly November-January (or to those complaining about it it starts the day after Halloween when retailers start pushing for the next big holiday). In between you've got a big mess of religious, pseudo-religious, psuedo-secular and largely obsolete holidays: Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa (a recent holiday created in 1966 and designed for those of African descent, frankly most people don't really recognize it though), the winter solstice, Saturnalia, and sometimes even Ramadan (due to the use of a lunar calendar Islamic holidays correspond to different Gregorian dates).
Speaking as an atheist I definitely prefer the use of "the holidays" even though I know that in common usage it often implies Christmas as one of those. Part of the reason is that Christmas is becoming such an increasingly secular holiday that I only feel slightly odd celebrating it as "annual commercial gift-receiving day" with a complement of traditions and practices that aren't directly Christian in origin.
Not to drag this even deeper into a theological debate, but I find it odd that when prayers are unanswered the common reply is that "it was god's will" whereas when a prayer is answered the prayer itself is credited. Was your omniscient buddy asleep at the wheel and didn't notice until you gave him a heads-up? Is your diety responsive to bribes and begging?
Assuming a given of an interventionist, omnipotent, omniscient force (... in a vacuum of course) prayer itself should have absolutely no effect. Either it'll happen or it won't. Prayer is just a method of hoping that it happens and utterly ineffective.
Possibly, but it seems pretty forced. Maybe it's just the type of person I am, but when the CP troops come busting into the apartment at the beginning I'd be far more inclined to just go with them peacefully. Nor am I personally inclined to go along with some people I used to work with in some sort of poorly-understood plot. I at least want to know what I'm resisting before I start shooting the police... even if they are jackbooted alien thugs bent on global oppression.
Hah! In my gym classes we had actual paper tests. Things like knowing various obscure rules to volleyball and such. It was a terrible, useless class where the main emphasis was to teach us how to play games that I never had any interest in playing to begin with. I'm just glad my school didn't have a pool yet when I took gym.
I find that the vast majority of reviews are pretty kind. The assumption seems to be that 50% is only reserved for bad games rather than games of only average quality. So on a 10 point rating scale we should expect most games to bell-curve out towards the middle. Most publications, however, tend to rank poor games that most people would not consider purchasing around 50-60% which in my mind constitutes being above average. These types of ratings end up going down to single percentage points to compare the many games clustered in the upper reaches.
I believe this may have come about due to the American educational system's common method of ranking student work wherein 70% is average and anything below 50% is ignored as being poor.
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I think this is obvious. The Magratheans planted them as they were a necessary part of the programming.
Some people just completely fail to see the point. Even Douglas Adams, a noted atheist, shows us the validity of intelligent design. Also planets made of solid gold.
If you're ever in Kansas I highly suggest you leave, quickly. Anything outside of Kansas City (where most of the real action is really in Missouri) or Lawrence (home of the University of Kansas) is pretty much unbearable and even they're barely tolerable. If you happen to find yourself in Manhatan, KS look for the fastest route out.
Nope. Digital Shelf in Manhattan, KS. Amusingly the shop opened back in 1999 not terribly long after I moved to town to attend university. It has, since that time, grown increasingly larger, moved across the street to a much larger location and opened a branch location (not counting a largely ignored rack in the student union bookstore). It's very successful and just about bursting at the seams at present.
Frankly I dislike both options.
Blockbuster (at least their retail locations) are terrible. They have a horrible selection that concrentrates only on crap released in the last two months. The prices are insane and the employees utterly clueless.
Netflix has a much better selection, but it's still lacking. I don't get to select exactly what I want due to the list system and quite frankly I'm pretty damn picky about what I'm in the mood for. The turnaround time is also pretty bad. I want to select the movie that I feel like watching now, not a movie that I kinda want to see so I'll leave it around the house for a week or two until I'm in the mood and want to watch a movie.
My local video store, however, has a great selection (though anime fans may appreciate their huge selection I'm far less appreciative when they shove aside horror to make room for it), generally knowledgable employees, excellent prices (almost everything is $2 for 5 days, new releases are $3 for 3 days, a few are $1 for 5 days) and are cunningly located (the main location is next to the cheap pizza place, they're also smart enough to have a drop-off bin on campus). One of the few times they haven't had something that I asked about the employees said "Wow.. we don't have Foo? I can't believe that, we need to order it." Lo and behold it was on the shelf there not long after. It's also the little things. If a film is not a new release, but rather an older film just recently released onto DVD it does not go on the new release wall like so many other locations. The owner once dropped off my lates fees when I went to pay them off citing that they were only a few hours late. Employees regularly let me skirt the drop-off time (ingeniously 7pm so that the new movies are on the shelves when you come by to rent) if I'm a little bit late. They carry porn (though a really crappy selection and heavy on hentai).
I could go on and on, but quite frankly a good local shop will always win out over either a giant, crappy chain or a mail-order service in terms of giving the goods. Now, if you want something really obscure (not everyone is blessed with a store that has their own Troma section or carries the Short Films of David Lynch box) Greencine or some other option might help you find what you're looking for, but I doubt it'll be a primary rental location.
Not to say that it wasn't due to the poor writing, acting, etc. but I one of the thing that may have contributed to the death of Enterprise is the lack of a consistent time slot. I don't know how UPN had this thing scheduled, but in my local market the new episodes were run at 2:30 am. Not a rebroadcast of the same episode shown earlier that evening, that was the only time they ever showed it.
Frankly I personally dislike coinage of all sorts. I'd be totally in favor of having nothing but paper notes as they are vastly easier to carry and store in my wallet. For coins I need to keep them stashed in a pocket and then hunt around for them or carry some sort of coin purse.
True coins are essential for coin tricks and have a nice, hefty "real money" sort of feel, but they're just too damned inconvenient to ever spend (aside from using quarters on occasion).
My step-father had a couple of Gateway laptops well before eMachines was part of the deal (i.e. mid to late 90s) and they were pretty crappy back then as well.
As for tech. support's ability to do Linux I worry pretty strongly about their ability to do Windows. Some people are alright and know their stuff. The rest have the total extent of their computer knowledge limited to the three week traning course (which I, admittedly, did not take). Still, the number of times when people get sent SATA drives for IDE-only motherboards or AGP cards for a PCI-only motherboard is pretty staggering. Sure a few people just slip up, but the rest just know how to read the screen and follow the flow-chart.
Someone once stated that in general phone tech. support is never going to give you the best solution. Just the one most likely to solve your problem quickly and get you off the phone (e.g. lots of destructive reformats and the like). I suspect that this holds true for pretty much every company.
I feel it necessary to state that while this is more or less the company policy I am stating this in the capacity of a private citizen who is familiar with Gateway policy. Not as a Gateway employee. Thus this should not be interpreted as an official statement from Gateway nor that I represent Gateway in any official capacity in this statement.
That said this is pretty much how it's likely to go down. Likewise as a private citizen I highly suggest that if you have any concerns about this policy and really want the issue to be adressed by someone who might have the ability to cut through this don't take the issue up with customer service. Write a letter directly to the corporate office. The address is buried on www.gateway.com under "Corporate Information" and then "Fact Sheet". The people who answer these tend to have a bit more freedom in solving problems.
It's not technically considered another product, but an essential part of the product you're purchasing. It's a bit circuitious and IANAL, but it would function in the same fashion as stating that we won't sell the computer without a hard drive.
If it's really a sore issue I suggest asking to speak to the sales department as they might (though I doubt it) have a way to get it to go through.
I work in Gateway customer service so here's the official policy on this (and it was hard enough to find when I got hired and was curious so it'll probably be a bitch if you call and get one of the largely incompetent people who work there).
You cannot buy a computer without Windows on it. We simply will not do it. The way the ordering system is set up we cannot get it to go through no matter how sympathetic we are. Likewise if you purchase the system Gateway has determined that you agreed to the license the moment you power on the system. If you decide not to accept the license they will only accept the return of the software if you return the entire system (this being true of any pre-installed software that you want to return).
In other words don't buy Gateway. Then again, even if you aren't interested in the refund don't buy Gateway. They sell crap and their customer service (employees, polcies, turn-around times, etc.) are crap. While I wouldn't have bought one before I started working there I sure as hell wouldn't now.
Personally I haven't found much in the current realm of RPGs that really interests me. Looking over my bookshelves I realize that everything I like is at least a generation or two old. Most of the major RPG companies are dead no more FASA or West End Games, TSR is now just a part of WOTC. It's a new world and unless you like D20 a lot of it is gone.
Maybe it's just because I'm a holdout, but I find very little to get excited about in the current role-playing market.
I've got to agree and not only because I dislike rap and found the actual music to be relatively poor. Rather than create something actually new and original he merely reused other people's work to create a collage of sorts. At least Beatallica (Beatles songs transposed into Metallica songs) actually writes and performs their work.
I feel that he instead garnered a great deal of attention for being the underdog in a legal contest about the rights to the music. Regardless of the quality he was going to be glorified for creating a work of art that may have violated copyright and coming under legal pressure for it.
I agree entirely. There are a number of stores (Chipotle, Quiznos) that don't require me to sign my receipts and it really bugs me. Not quite as much as the ones where I have to twist their arm to get my copy, but I still dislike the idea of not having a printed copy somewhere stating that I authorized the purchase. The signature has never seemed to be as much about security and signature comparison as it has about disclosure. My signature is there as proof that I read the bill and the authorized charges and that I agreed to them. Thus preventing an unscrupulous (or merely careless) merchant from overcharging me. In this manner it's more like a contract and something I don't want to see go away. I suspect that other people such as myself who actually read the full text of any legally binding agreement (ok, ok software EULAs are the exception).
As for signing of cards I worked in retail while in college and was scrupulous about checking cards. I think I had one or two grumbles, but nobody ever got upset (the trick, I believe, is to be nice and state that you're doing this for their security). The people who specifically wrote "See ID" or left it intentionally unsigned were always most appreciative.
Convenience is all well and good, but a few simple steps towards greater security are almost always a good idea.
There's nothing wrong with social commentary and when done well it can be great. Science fiction is ideally suited to deal with these sorts of things. The problem is when the point is blindingly obvious from the beginning and we simply have it bashed into our heads for an hour. I'm not saying that Star Trek addressing relevant issues is bad, I'm just saying that subtlety and underlying causes are better and moer effective than The Big Obvious Metaphor.
Remember the old episode with the 2 aliens, each being half white and half black. At the end of the show, you realize that they hate each other because they are white on different sides. Wow. That was an excellent metaphore for race relations.
This is intended to be read as sarcasm, right? I mean... honestly Star Trek was often a good show, but whenever it (or ST:TNG which often did the same thing) went to absurb lengths to create an episode that only served to be a heavy-handed lesson it was rarely good.
Enterprise should take homosexuality or Tibet and frame those issues in a big metaphor and give the punch line at the end.
You forgot the part where everybody hugs.
As others have stated game reviews (and for that matter pretty much every other review) exists for one point: should I pay for foo? Reviews are not criticism, nor are they narratives, anecdotes, or literature. They are a form of journalism wherein the reviewer attempts to impart information of a semi-objective nature devoted to answering the stated question of whether you should or should not do something.
It is possible to arrive at this point many ways, but if you remove that critical point (which does not always need to be stated explictly although it does help a bit) you have something else. My reminiscing about Castlevania doesn't tell someone whether they ought to buy it or not... it's something else entirely. In the specific case of the cited article it's more of... well... it's like a piece of short fiction based on the experience of playing the game. It's clearly based on the game, but it doesn't provide any information that would help me in regards to making a decision and thus, is not a review.
Earlier this summer I decided that a console system would really be nice. I've been a PC gamer for years, but my latest console was my beloved SNES. Yes, I think that the PC is, in many ways, a superior platform for many games there are plenty of things that a console does better that I was missing. I wanted something that I could just pick up and play some basic, light games on yet still gave me something to really sink my teeth into when I felt like it. I wanted something where I could just sit around and play with some friends or my girlfriend without each of us just staring into our own, distant screens. As far as game selection I wanted something that had a good lock on some exclusive titles that I would enjoy.
After looking at all of these factors I really had to choose the Gamecube as being the best of the batch. It has four player support out of box (unlike the PS2) and a number of great multi-player games that are fun for groups (Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart). It also has some really great exclusive titles (both the aforementioned, Zelda, Metroid, Paper Mario, Eternal Darkness). The major titles I'd be missing are often not only ported to the PC where they're often better (e.g. Grand Theft Auto), but many are originally designed for the PC and only co-developed for consoles. What's left is often multi-platform meaning I won't miss out (e.g. Prince of Persia, X-Men Legends, Tony Hawk). It also has a few revamped PS1 games that I'd wanted a chance to play (Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil) but had missed out on. Online play is something I'd often be able to get better on the PC regardless and while it would suck for a few titles, it was something I could deal with.
Thus, in my opinion, at least, while the Gamecube might not be the best system for someone who will be playing consoles exclusively (I do miss Katamari Damacy, Burnout 3, and some others) if you already have a PC it's probably the best console to pick up to scratch those itches that only a console can.
Having never played it on the Playstation (I missed that entire generation of consoles) and not bothering with the PC version: me. I picked it up a month or so ago and just really got into recently and I've been enjoying the hell out of it. Improved graphics, longer, improved cinematics, gameplay enhancements (I can't imagine trying to play this without the first-person view... you can only see two feet ahead of you most of the time).
Then again at the same time I also picked up the graphically enhanced port of Resident Evil, another PS1 game that I never got a chance to play.
Exactly. As the article mentions America is a Wal-Mart culture. People here want to buy cheap crap that doesn't work very well because they can get it cheaply. Quality, features, and reliability simply aren't as important to most Americans. Hence the reason why $30 DVD players at Wal-Mart sell well despite the fact that a good $100-200 model would have far more features, better build quality, and better picture quality making them a better buy in the long run.
Americans are also very resistant to change and quite opinionated about it. People actually demand pan and scan films because they chose not to understand why widescreen is better or they stubbornly refuse even after learning how they're being shorted. The attitude is "it's broken because it doesn't immediately conform to my expectations" rather than "I do not understand this fully".
The rest of the points are equally valid, but by and large America is composed of ignorant people who won't RTFM and see anything new as bad because it would require them to learn something.
As a recent graduate I have to say that this looks pretty sweet. At my own school much of the information was hard to find, obscure, rarely updated, and frequently inaccessible.
It's a bit cluttered, but the pure density of information is quite nice. As long as users can customize it to get rid of a lot of that extra crap (Google search box? No thanks, I use Firefox) it looks like something I'd really have liked my school to have had.
As others have stated this is a pretty holiday-heavy time of year for Americans. First off are our two non-religious ones that bookend it: Thanksgiving and New Year's. This makes the holiday season roughly November-January (or to those complaining about it it starts the day after Halloween when retailers start pushing for the next big holiday). In between you've got a big mess of religious, pseudo-religious, psuedo-secular and largely obsolete holidays: Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa (a recent holiday created in 1966 and designed for those of African descent, frankly most people don't really recognize it though), the winter solstice, Saturnalia, and sometimes even Ramadan (due to the use of a lunar calendar Islamic holidays correspond to different Gregorian dates).
Speaking as an atheist I definitely prefer the use of "the holidays" even though I know that in common usage it often implies Christmas as one of those. Part of the reason is that Christmas is becoming such an increasingly secular holiday that I only feel slightly odd celebrating it as "annual commercial gift-receiving day" with a complement of traditions and practices that aren't directly Christian in origin.
Not to drag this even deeper into a theological debate, but I find it odd that when prayers are unanswered the common reply is that "it was god's will" whereas when a prayer is answered the prayer itself is credited. Was your omniscient buddy asleep at the wheel and didn't notice until you gave him a heads-up? Is your diety responsive to bribes and begging?
Assuming a given of an interventionist, omnipotent, omniscient force (... in a vacuum of course) prayer itself should have absolutely no effect. Either it'll happen or it won't. Prayer is just a method of hoping that it happens and utterly ineffective.
Possibly, but it seems pretty forced. Maybe it's just the type of person I am, but when the CP troops come busting into the apartment at the beginning I'd be far more inclined to just go with them peacefully. Nor am I personally inclined to go along with some people I used to work with in some sort of poorly-understood plot. I at least want to know what I'm resisting before I start shooting the police... even if they are jackbooted alien thugs bent on global oppression.
Hah! In my gym classes we had actual paper tests. Things like knowing various obscure rules to volleyball and such. It was a terrible, useless class where the main emphasis was to teach us how to play games that I never had any interest in playing to begin with. I'm just glad my school didn't have a pool yet when I took gym.
I find that the vast majority of reviews are pretty kind. The assumption seems to be that 50% is only reserved for bad games rather than games of only average quality. So on a 10 point rating scale we should expect most games to bell-curve out towards the middle. Most publications, however, tend to rank poor games that most people would not consider purchasing around 50-60% which in my mind constitutes being above average. These types of ratings end up going down to single percentage points to compare the many games clustered in the upper reaches.
I believe this may have come about due to the American educational system's common method of ranking student work wherein 70% is average and anything below 50% is ignored as being poor.