In the 5th grade (about 1985) we were taught to program. Starting with Logo and ended with Basic. Our teachers said in the future everyone will know how to program. And everyone in that class knew how too, boy, girl, dork, cool kid, etc...
I am now and adult software engineer and I've been programming since the 5th grade, when the future meant, everyone will know how to program.
Somewhere, someone gave up; grade schools didn't adopt this curriculum, mainstream OS's stopped bundling dev tools out of the box, and funding for fucking football programs increase as ever.
It would be interesting to really know how much of that is actual product placement. I would have to guess anything that appears in recent movies is undoubtedly product placement. However, Apple products have been in movies for a long time, decades as noted by the OP.
I think many of the glimpses of Apple products we've seen in the past is largely due to the fact that those 'hollywood types' personally use Apple, as well as Apple being prominent in their industrial. In other words, Apple is in the movies because Apple is in that culture.
But I can't Imagine that is the chief reason we see Apple now days. Hollywood knows the value of screen time and they'll charge for it.
I bet he could get is App approved if he used the now in place DLC mechanisms for additional licensed ROMs.
The main purpose I see from this is Apple trying to prevent an 'App Store' being created within the App Store. The App Store is controlled and imposes some quality control with the submission process. Their is potential for abuse on Apple's part but this isn't a case of that.
You can distribute your apps freely on a JB phone, or develop for Andriod, Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, or any other system. What you shouldn't be able to do is distribute your apps within the App Store bypassing the control and payment schemes, while also taking advantage of their distro system and marketing.
Its nice to have a system with controls, where you don't have to be too worried about malicious content or getting it junked up with fragmented distro systems.
I am speaking as a professional game developer. I enjoy developing for Steam, XBOX 360, PS3, Wii, iPhone, or any other system with the bare minimum of quality standards in a submission process. Everything else is just to big of a mess and for the most part financially impractical, taking into account both piracy and the fact your software is commingled with just a ton of garbage.
I work in the game industry and even though I have never myself tried to pitch or 'sell' a game idea I can tell you that you are more than likely wasting you time.
But I do have some advice.
Complete you game, and do it with distributing it yourself in mind.
Currently there are several platforms that you could distribute on that have waiting audiences. Two notable ones are:
1. iPhone 2. xBox 360 (via XNA club)
Both of these platforms are accessible to the 'small guy' and 'big guys' are on there two. Both of these platforms have large customer bases. Both of the platforms offer digital distribution and allow you to charge money for your app.
That being said there is always the PC and Mac desktops you can develop for at anytime. However, getting our game noticed and distributed is a bit tougher.
You can either create a highly polished finished game and charge money for it.
Or release a demo for free to peak interest.
Either way you would be in a better position when it came to pitching your idea, but that would I would still think that would be a waste of time. But you would be in a good position to possibly apply for a job at a game company.
Like most have said in this thread. Ideas are cheap. Even demos are cheap. Hell look at Kongregate and all the other flash portals. We have more games than we can shake a stick at.
Everyone at my work has literally hundreds of great ideas, and a few more of us programmers are always making little demos.
So again my advice is to plan on making it yourself and distributing it. Maybe even for free and get your eye on obtaining a job.
Like the author, I dropped out of HS at age 15 and got my GED right when I turned 16. I eventually went to university and earned a BS in Computer Science, and now have a job as a Software Engineer in the Video Game Industry. The time frame from GED to University was about a decade and when I started classes my math skills where dull to say the least.
The best advice I think has already been given. Go to a community college and retake College Algebra, Trig, and how ever many calculus courses they offer. A probabilities course wouldn't hurt either. If you are getting into Software I would strongly recommend a Linear Algebra course as well.
In the end it will cost about a grand or so and take about a year, but at the end you'll have most of the math knowledge you need in non-academic settings. If you are a self disciplined kinda person then just buy the text books and go through them completely. But the structure of a class will help.
I always thought the Diablo Series did a good job of this. I guess the only problem is Diablo lacks alot of RPG elements. But you don't start off as a loser.
An MMOFPS has a few technical problems to work out, but in the end the only thing that matters for any MMO is community.
If you can build a healthy community around your MMO, (be it MMORPG, or MMOFPS) then you can succeed within reason. I think alot of the failure of Planetside is due to the lack of community building. IMO Planetside was a mediocre game, but its biggest fault was lack of community.
And alot of this might be attributed to the old idea of system design governs player motivation. If you have a system that primarily emphasizes ACTION on other players, then that will be the motivation of your player base. ACTION not INTERACTION.
And so in a way, FPS shooters have a disadvantage when building communities.
Uh no. It's called World War II Online, and thier motto is 'We PWN PvP.'
WWIIOL is the first MMOFPS and it continues today. IN fact it is the only MMOCSAHLSAFPS. (Massively Multiplayer Online Alternate History Land Sea Air Combat Simulation First Person Shooter).
The game is NOT for everyone. In fact it is the MOST hardcore game on the internet.
The game has been around a while and they have dealt and found solutions for just about everything that will pop up in a MMOFPS. Some of thier soluions are poor, but there is alot of thought behind everything in the game, and alot of it applies to MMOFPS in general.
I don't think anyone can even comment on MMOFPS if they havn't played this game for a few months. It's like recieving a PhD in MMOFPS.
From the Article: "In 2002 alone, Arimilli won 78 patents. That's three patents every two weeks. Either he's a wonder-dude who makes the rest of us look like slugs, or his name winds up on a lot of work done by teams of people."
I doubt it's the result of either being a wonder dude, or teams of people, and more likely the guy patents random obvious crap that has no business being patented in the first place. Just like 99% of all the other 'inventions' that are patented.
I for one typically don't play games for stories, but I understand that is the goal of many games.
I agree that games are sort of opposed to story telling. The more story telling the worse the gameplay. There is a balance there. Or at least that is the best we can do right now.
But games can do something movies, books, etc.. can not. They can create stories. Especially in MMOGs. And of course there is a whole struggling genre of Dynamic Story telling in games.
Can games tell stories, yes. Can movies create stories, nope.
I live in Denton, TX. The City has it's own Biodiesil Plant, one of the first. All the city vehicles run on B20; all the city trucks, heavy equipment, garbage trucks, etc...
Even though, its not 100% biodiesil (B20 is 80% diesel 20% biodesieal) they use a remarkable amount of it. There are a few more public biodiesel pumps in DFW area, and I think one other city around here uses it for thier equipment.
Ours plant is out by the land fill, and basicly all the vegetable oils, from restaruants and farms etc.., get processed. Pretty cool, and not experimental at all.
Don't get me wrong. I understand the point. I myself have played video games for 36 hours striaght, or skipped work to play a game, ingored, and lost girlfriends, or over slept becuase I was on a message board all night. I myself have about 40 gigs of pr0n, and I spend about 8 hours a day on the internet outside of work.
But calling it an addiction is like saying people are addicted to food, or addicted to watching T.V., or Addicted to reading books.
I also go stretches of days and weeks where I spend 10 or 12 hours a day working on a single math problem. I don't talk, I don't Sleep, I don't Eat. Am I addicted to Math???
Just becuase you do something constantly and it tends to outwiegh all other concerns doesn't make it an addiction.
Funny thing is, the behavior has all the markings of what we consider 'Addiction.' But I AM addicted to tobacco, and I have never once ignored a girlfirend to go smoke.
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In the 5th grade (about 1985) we were taught to program. Starting with Logo and ended with Basic. Our teachers said in the future everyone will know how to program. And everyone in that class knew how too, boy, girl, dork, cool kid, etc...
I am now and adult software engineer and I've been programming since the 5th grade, when the future meant, everyone will know how to program.
Somewhere, someone gave up; grade schools didn't adopt this curriculum, mainstream OS's stopped bundling dev tools out of the box, and funding for fucking football programs increase as ever.
Weed Eater, Kleenex, Super Glue... Dominant Brands enjoy being the general term. They gotta be careful though to not lose their trade names.
FU makefile and the bastard who thought it was a good idea.
It would be interesting to really know how much of that is actual product placement. I would have to guess anything that appears in recent movies is undoubtedly product placement. However, Apple products have been in movies for a long time, decades as noted by the OP.
I think many of the glimpses of Apple products we've seen in the past is largely due to the fact that those 'hollywood types' personally use Apple, as well as Apple being prominent in their industrial. In other words, Apple is in the movies because Apple is in that culture.
But I can't Imagine that is the chief reason we see Apple now days. Hollywood knows the value of screen time and they'll charge for it.
I bet he could get is App approved if he used the now in place DLC mechanisms for additional licensed ROMs.
The main purpose I see from this is Apple trying to prevent an 'App Store' being created within the App Store. The App Store is controlled and imposes some quality control with the submission process. Their is potential for abuse on Apple's part but this isn't a case of that.
You can distribute your apps freely on a JB phone, or develop for Andriod, Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, or any other system. What you shouldn't be able to do is distribute your apps within the App Store bypassing the control and payment schemes, while also taking advantage of their distro system and marketing.
Its nice to have a system with controls, where you don't have to be too worried about malicious content or getting it junked up with fragmented distro systems.
I am speaking as a professional game developer. I enjoy developing for Steam, XBOX 360, PS3, Wii, iPhone, or any other system with the bare minimum of quality standards in a submission process. Everything else is just to big of a mess and for the most part financially impractical, taking into account both piracy and the fact your software is commingled with just a ton of garbage.
Hi,
I work in the game industry and even though I have never myself tried to pitch or 'sell' a game idea I can tell you that you are more than likely wasting you time.
But I do have some advice.
Complete you game, and do it with distributing it yourself in mind.
Currently there are several platforms that you could distribute on that have waiting audiences. Two notable ones are:
1. iPhone
2. xBox 360 (via XNA club)
Both of these platforms are accessible to the 'small guy' and 'big guys' are on there two. Both of these platforms have large customer bases. Both of the platforms offer digital distribution and allow you to charge money for your app.
That being said there is always the PC and Mac desktops you can develop for at anytime. However, getting our game noticed and distributed is a bit tougher.
You can either create a highly polished finished game and charge money for it.
Or release a demo for free to peak interest.
Either way you would be in a better position when it came to pitching your idea, but that would I would still think that would be a waste of time. But you would be in a good position to possibly apply for a job at a game company.
Like most have said in this thread. Ideas are cheap. Even demos are cheap. Hell look at Kongregate and all the other flash portals. We have more games than we can shake a stick at.
Everyone at my work has literally hundreds of great ideas, and a few more of us programmers are always making little demos.
So again my advice is to plan on making it yourself and distributing it. Maybe even for free and get your eye on obtaining a job.
Like the author, I dropped out of HS at age 15 and got my GED right when I turned 16. I eventually went to university and earned a BS in Computer Science, and now have a job as a Software Engineer in the Video Game Industry. The time frame from GED to University was about a decade and when I started classes my math skills where dull to say the least.
The best advice I think has already been given. Go to a community college and retake College Algebra, Trig, and how ever many calculus courses they offer. A probabilities course wouldn't hurt either. If you are getting into Software I would strongly recommend a Linear Algebra course as well.
In the end it will cost about a grand or so and take about a year, but at the end you'll have most of the math knowledge you need in non-academic settings. If you are a self disciplined kinda person then just buy the text books and go through them completely. But the structure of a class will help.
Slashdot.org
Digg.com
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Cnn.com
Foxnews.com
Bbc.co.uk
I always thought the Diablo Series did a good job of this. I guess the only problem is Diablo lacks alot of RPG elements. But you don't start off as a loser.
I agree with you, ElectroPlankton should be considered as a toy. A very cool and fun toy.
I love both of these games on the DS.
Good step for MS, but I'm curious what will happen when 'the complaining' country is the US.
If the US says take something down, will MS only block it from the US and acrtually leave it up for the rest of the world.
I but a double standard arises rapidly.
You are correct, Good Job, thanks. The word is liar.
OP AC was me.
A lier is one who lies.
Heres a merriam Webster reference. Towards the bottom the have an audio pronounciation for you as well.
That's exactly what I was thinking, just ask.
It's not like the question "Hey, what do you want for Christmas?" is some wierd thing. People ask it all the time.
How about just asking them what they want?
Or, start a conversation with them about games, ya know actually talk to them, and they'll eventually volunteer the information.
No need for a covert operation.
An MMOFPS has a few technical problems to work out, but in the end the only thing that matters for any MMO is community.
If you can build a healthy community around your MMO, (be it MMORPG, or MMOFPS) then you can succeed within reason. I think alot of the failure of Planetside is due to the lack of community building. IMO Planetside was a mediocre game, but its biggest fault was lack of community.
And alot of this might be attributed to the old idea of system design governs player motivation. If you have a system that primarily emphasizes ACTION on other players, then that will be the motivation of your player base. ACTION not INTERACTION.
And so in a way, FPS shooters have a disadvantage when building communities.
Uh no. It's called World War II Online, and thier motto is 'We PWN PvP.'
WWIIOL is the first MMOFPS and it continues today. IN fact it is the only MMOCSAHLSAFPS. (Massively Multiplayer Online Alternate History Land Sea Air Combat Simulation First Person Shooter).
The game is NOT for everyone. In fact it is the MOST hardcore game on the internet.
The game has been around a while and they have dealt and found solutions for just about everything that will pop up in a MMOFPS. Some of thier soluions are poor, but there is alot of thought behind everything in the game, and alot of it applies to MMOFPS in general.
I don't think anyone can even comment on MMOFPS if they havn't played this game for a few months. It's like recieving a PhD in MMOFPS.
From the Article: "In 2002 alone, Arimilli won 78 patents. That's three patents every two weeks. Either he's a wonder-dude who makes the rest of us look like slugs, or his name winds up on a lot of work done by teams of people."
I doubt it's the result of either being a wonder dude, or teams of people, and more likely the guy patents random obvious crap that has no business being patented in the first place. Just like 99% of all the other 'inventions' that are patented.
I for one typically don't play games for stories, but I understand that is the goal of many games.
I agree that games are sort of opposed to story telling. The more story telling the worse the gameplay.
There is a balance there. Or at least that is the best we can do right now.
But games can do something movies, books, etc.. can not. They can create stories. Especially in MMOGs. And of course there is a whole struggling genre of Dynamic Story telling in games.
Can games tell stories, yes. Can movies create stories, nope.
I have seen them. I don't see what you describe.
I live in Denton, TX. The City has it's own Biodiesil Plant, one of the first. All the city vehicles run on B20; all the city trucks, heavy equipment, garbage trucks, etc...
Even though, its not 100% biodiesil (B20 is 80% diesel 20% biodesieal) they use a remarkable amount of it. There are a few more public biodiesel pumps in DFW area, and I think one other city around here uses it for thier equipment.
Ours plant is out by the land fill, and basicly all the vegetable oils, from restaruants and farms etc.., get processed. Pretty cool, and not experimental at all.
.. who cares?
Don't get me wrong. I understand the point. I myself have played video games for 36 hours striaght, or skipped work to play a game, ingored, and lost girlfriends, or over slept becuase I was on a message board all night. I myself have about 40 gigs of pr0n, and I spend about 8 hours a day on the internet outside of work.
But calling it an addiction is like saying people are addicted to food, or addicted to watching T.V., or Addicted to reading books.
I also go stretches of days and weeks where I spend 10 or 12 hours a day working on a single math problem. I don't talk, I don't Sleep, I don't Eat. Am I addicted to Math???
Just becuase you do something constantly and it tends to outwiegh all other concerns doesn't make it an addiction.
Funny thing is, the behavior has all the markings of what we consider 'Addiction.' But I AM addicted to tobacco, and I have never once ignored a girlfirend to go smoke.
Not too good mainly due to it's pacing and sometimes chunky camera work.
Don't get me wrong, I've watched the movie three times. Like I said it's interesting, but made poorly.
Theres lots of good in this movie, but the bad out numbers and out wieghs the good.
I like the movie, but there are lots of movies I like that are not too good.
Whoa... you're not talking about the Tarkovsky Solaris are you. That's an interesting movie, but in the long run, not too good.
So I suppose you are tlaking about the Clooney Film... I've never seen it.
This is just more work of the Hype Factory.
It's a good strategy to make a big deal of those who say your game must be faked! "Look, it's so real people think its fake!!!!"
It looks like a video game to me. Nothing unbelievable.
We train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't
allow them to write "fuck" on their airplanes because it's obscene!