Don't forget, adding insult to injury, WiiWare games are inextricably linked to the system that downloaded them. If anything ever happens to that system, those games are gone forever.
And if you don't actively attempt to defend your trademarks... you can lose them.
I always hear fanboys trot this one out when a company stomps a fanmade project into the ground. But does it have any real merit? I'm not familiar with trademark law at all, but it seems fishy to me that you can legally own the rights to a property you developed, and then lose those rights to another party -- who would have no legal claim to said property otherwise -- simply because you didn't attack them with lawyers at every opportunity.
Can someone cite a case of this actually happening?
You obviously don't understand the difference between a game like DDR, where your input has no audible counterpart, and one like IIDX, where it does. I'd explain it, but you seem to be rather content in your ignorance. Enjoy.
He shouldn't have referenced "BPM" because it's not really accurate, but by "500 BPM," he's talking about the rate at which the notes are falling down the screen. Many people take advantage of Hi-speed settings which allow you to increase this rate, thus decreasing the total number of notes your brain has to process at any given time. So a 125BPM song at Hi-speed 4 scrolls the notes at a rate of "500BPM." The actual beats per minute remain the same, though, obviously.
DDR != any rhythm/timing based game. For example, early IIDX and Pop'n Music, pre-timing adjustment settings, are more or less unplayable on modern TVs. You're actually "building" the songs -- constructing them note by note -- as the basic framework plays on. Try doing that with terrible lag, it ain't pretty. In short, this:
"...any rhythm/timing based game will be perfectly fine with a fair amount of lag so long as the lag is consistent."
Agreed. Now tell me how I'm supposed to fix it when the fat retarded hypocrite reactionists who fully support these kinds of rulings outnumber me 100 to 1. They are The People. At least in the US.
It's cool if I forcibly strip-search a 13 year-old girl as long as I'm a school official working on "official business." I can't be held accountable.
But if that same girl willingly texts me a cellphone pic of herself in a bikini, I'm looking at time in hard prison and branded a sex offender for life.
No, the child isn't being directly harmed by someone viewing their exploitation, however their honor and dignity are chipped away at with each viewing. Just because the video was already made -- the brunt of the damage has been done -- doesn't give us all the right to see it guilt-free. And completely decriminalizing possession would send an implicit message that the depictions themselves are acceptable.
That said, I certainly agree punishments shouldn't be anywhere near what they are today for mere possession, especially since regardless of conviction the person's life is oft-times destroyed upon mere accusation. (And as for your comparison up there, I actually think possessing videos depicting real murder should carry a similar punishment.)
Of course, as others have mentioned rational thought frequently doesn't enter the picture at all when this subject is on the table, so I see things getting worse, not better. The public hysteria has really reached a fever pitch with stuff like drawings being deemed child porn, or kids taking cell phone pics of THEMSELVES getting charged. It's classic witch hunt mentality, where you literally can't say ANYTHING against someone once they've played the pedophile card without eyes narrowing and the accusations swinging your way. "Oh, you're sticking up for the CHILD MOLESTERS, are you?! Methinks you may be one of them!"::torches raise:: "GET HIM!"
And society's hypocrisy makes the whole thing even more ludicrous -- in the US anyway -- where the age of consent is 18 (if you're EVER attracted to anything below you're automatically pure evil -- no ifs, ands, or buts), and yet models regularly start their careers at 13/14, and marketing and media bombards us with idealized images of youth around the clock.
Here's an interesting thread that discusses some of Scientology's favorite psychological methods and related famous experiments. Former Scientologists even chime in.
An important note: the human brain is a pattern-recognizing machine that evolved over billions of years. It was not engineered to be flawless, and the studies I listed essentially 'reverse-engineer' the system and identify 'exploits.'
I had Mailwasher as well, and used it for a couple years, but never really noticed a big difference in spam. (The address may have just been a lost cause at that point.)
It was nice being able to check messages while they were technically still on the server, though. Helpful when you want to read an email before deciding whether you want the sender to know it had been downloaded. (Can't remember why exactly... I think it had something to do with receiving emails from work while I was at home "sick." -_-.)
New "stealth" predator drone?
on
Robotic Penguins
·
· Score: 5, Funny
while larger helium-filled designs can "swim" through the air...
WTF?
Army Guy: "Hey kids, see the cute penguin?!"
Youngster: "But, mister, why is it flying around, shooting lasers out of its eyes at those Muslims?!"
Army Guy: "Penguins do that sometimes!...Run along now."
He's already responded, and reassured us all the show will continue:
In response to [GamePolitics'] speculation that "the... decision almost certainly ends Thompson's fight to have his permanent disbarment overturned," - Not at all. I have four more options, all better than this one. This was the longest of shots. All four of the others are much, much shorter shots. Stay tuned. As Winston Churchill implored: "Never give in. Never, never, never, never, never."
To know you have been beaten. To know you cant ever fight again. Must be a terrible feeling. Doesnt make anything he did right per say. But I cant help but feel bad for the guy. If I was him I would probably be considering suicide right now.
Titan Quest was awful. It didn't have stability issues, but "another Diablo II rehash" is exactly what it was, except far, far worse than Diablo II (and Diablo I for that matter) in every single way but visuals.
Think about it. He's arguably done more to marginalize the anti-videogame movement than anyone else in history. His over-the-top, histrionic antics absolutely destroy any credibility his arguments might have.
I never understood why gamers cheered for his downfall. Imagine if there was someone competent in his place?::shudder::
Jack Thompson is hilarious as always. Big deal. Move along, nothing to see. The only real disturbing part is this Waddoups character's behavior. Choosing not to support a bill as some kind of revenge for getting too many emails? Not for, I don't know, the fact that the bill sucks, and is bad for the people?
So, basically, even if this guy wholly supports a bill, you can change his mind by sending him a few irritating emails. Capital.
Probably what Namco, EA and Capcom have learned.
Namely, you don't have to actually let the user access the full game they bought for full price anymore. You're free to lock content on their disc, then charge them for it again later (or even on release day) via DLC. Best of all, after basically spitting in the faces of your biggest fans, they'll fall over themselves to defend you for it on the Interwebs.
Slashdot Mirror
Don't forget, adding insult to injury, WiiWare games are inextricably linked to the system that downloaded them. If anything ever happens to that system, those games are gone forever.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to contact the FBI about some naked cartoon images that might not be of legal age.
I was positive this article was going to be about Bethesda games.
The Tony Hawk Pro Skater games were always developed by Neversoft. Neversoft was acquired by Activision in 1999.
And if you don't actively attempt to defend your trademarks... you can lose them.
I always hear fanboys trot this one out when a company stomps a fanmade project into the ground. But does it have any real merit? I'm not familiar with trademark law at all, but it seems fishy to me that you can legally own the rights to a property you developed, and then lose those rights to another party -- who would have no legal claim to said property otherwise -- simply because you didn't attack them with lawyers at every opportunity.
Can someone cite a case of this actually happening?
You obviously don't understand the difference between a game like DDR, where your input has no audible counterpart, and one like IIDX, where it does. I'd explain it, but you seem to be rather content in your ignorance. Enjoy.
He shouldn't have referenced "BPM" because it's not really accurate, but by "500 BPM," he's talking about the rate at which the notes are falling down the screen. Many people take advantage of Hi-speed settings which allow you to increase this rate, thus decreasing the total number of notes your brain has to process at any given time. So a 125BPM song at Hi-speed 4 scrolls the notes at a rate of "500BPM." The actual beats per minute remain the same, though, obviously.
DDR != any rhythm/timing based game. For example, early IIDX and Pop'n Music, pre-timing adjustment settings, are more or less unplayable on modern TVs. You're actually "building" the songs -- constructing them note by note -- as the basic framework plays on. Try doing that with terrible lag, it ain't pretty. In short, this:
"...any rhythm/timing based game will be perfectly fine with a fair amount of lag so long as the lag is consistent."
is completely false.
Agreed. Now tell me how I'm supposed to fix it when the fat retarded hypocrite reactionists who fully support these kinds of rulings outnumber me 100 to 1. They are The People. At least in the US.
It's cool if I forcibly strip-search a 13 year-old girl as long as I'm a school official working on "official business." I can't be held accountable.
But if that same girl willingly texts me a cellphone pic of herself in a bikini, I'm looking at time in hard prison and branded a sex offender for life.
Seems perfectly logical to me.
No, the child isn't being directly harmed by someone viewing their exploitation, however their honor and dignity are chipped away at with each viewing. Just because the video was already made -- the brunt of the damage has been done -- doesn't give us all the right to see it guilt-free. And completely decriminalizing possession would send an implicit message that the depictions themselves are acceptable.
::torches raise:: "GET HIM!"
That said, I certainly agree punishments shouldn't be anywhere near what they are today for mere possession, especially since regardless of conviction the person's life is oft-times destroyed upon mere accusation. (And as for your comparison up there, I actually think possessing videos depicting real murder should carry a similar punishment.)
Of course, as others have mentioned rational thought frequently doesn't enter the picture at all when this subject is on the table, so I see things getting worse, not better. The public hysteria has really reached a fever pitch with stuff like drawings being deemed child porn, or kids taking cell phone pics of THEMSELVES getting charged. It's classic witch hunt mentality, where you literally can't say ANYTHING against someone once they've played the pedophile card without eyes narrowing and the accusations swinging your way. "Oh, you're sticking up for the CHILD MOLESTERS, are you?! Methinks you may be one of them!"
And society's hypocrisy makes the whole thing even more ludicrous -- in the US anyway -- where the age of consent is 18 (if you're EVER attracted to anything below you're automatically pure evil -- no ifs, ands, or buts), and yet models regularly start their careers at 13/14, and marketing and media bombards us with idealized images of youth around the clock.
There are mods that allow you to rotate objects, and more easily line up books and other items.
::shudder::
Or did you actually play a Bethesda game on console...
Gah. Shoulda been "How Does Anyone Fall For It?"
Here's an interesting thread that discusses some of Scientology's favorite psychological methods and related famous experiments. Former Scientologists even chime in.
http://forums.whyweprotest.net/291-scientology-discussion/brainwashing-long-14420/
I like this quote:
An important note: the human brain is a pattern-recognizing machine that evolved over billions of years. It was not engineered to be flawless, and the studies I listed essentially 'reverse-engineer' the system and identify 'exploits.'
Calm down.
I had Mailwasher as well, and used it for a couple years, but never really noticed a big difference in spam. (The address may have just been a lost cause at that point.)
It was nice being able to check messages while they were technically still on the server, though. Helpful when you want to read an email before deciding whether you want the sender to know it had been downloaded. (Can't remember why exactly... I think it had something to do with receiving emails from work while I was at home "sick." -_-.)
while larger helium-filled designs can "swim" through the air...
...Run along now."
WTF?
Army Guy: "Hey kids, see the cute penguin?!"
Youngster: "But, mister, why is it flying around, shooting lasers out of its eyes at those Muslims?!"
Army Guy: "Penguins do that sometimes!
He's already responded, and reassured us all the show will continue:
In response to [GamePolitics'] speculation that "the... decision almost certainly ends Thompson's fight to have his permanent disbarment overturned," - Not at all. I have four more options, all better than this one. This was the longest of shots. All four of the others are much, much shorter shots. Stay tuned. As Winston Churchill implored: "Never give in. Never, never, never, never, never."
http://kotaku.com/5223111/supreme-court-on-jack-thompson-appeal-no-thanks
To know you have been beaten. To know you cant ever fight again. Must be a terrible feeling. Doesnt make anything he did right per say. But I cant help but feel bad for the guy. If I was him I would probably be considering suicide right now.
...
per say
Really?
Titan Quest was awful. It didn't have stability issues, but "another Diablo II rehash" is exactly what it was, except far, far worse than Diablo II (and Diablo I for that matter) in every single way but visuals.
Jack Thomson is actually a hardcore gamer.
::shudder::
Think about it. He's arguably done more to marginalize the anti-videogame movement than anyone else in history. His over-the-top, histrionic antics absolutely destroy any credibility his arguments might have.
I never understood why gamers cheered for his downfall. Imagine if there was someone competent in his place?
Agreed 100%.
Jack Thompson is hilarious as always. Big deal. Move along, nothing to see. The only real disturbing part is this Waddoups character's behavior. Choosing not to support a bill as some kind of revenge for getting too many emails? Not for, I don't know, the fact that the bill sucks, and is bad for the people?
So, basically, even if this guy wholly supports a bill, you can change his mind by sending him a few irritating emails. Capital.
Probably what Namco, EA and Capcom have learned. Namely, you don't have to actually let the user access the full game they bought for full price anymore. You're free to lock content on their disc, then charge them for it again later (or even on release day) via DLC. Best of all, after basically spitting in the faces of your biggest fans, they'll fall over themselves to defend you for it on the Interwebs.