It would work great for consumers-- if you play more, you get more games to play.
But it would be a terrible idea for the business. "Spent" achievement points don't show up on a company's profit reports.
Right now, Microsoft is winning on both sides of the achievements equation-- it costs very little for them to keep the Achievements system up and running, since they've already built in a tracking system, and it obviously (as they say in the article) drives both sales and rentals.
Turning Achievement points into some kind of currency wouldn't do anything but cost them money. Sure, it would give you free games, but none of the major videogame companies are in the business of giving away free games.
I like the idea of Steam, but I have an issue with it that has kept me from buying anything on it (I have tried the Darwinia demo, and liked it, but didn't end up buying the actual game).
My question is: what if Steam goes away someday?
I really want Episode One (and for sure will get Episode 2 when it comes out-- Portal is sweet). But if I buy them over Steam, and then my computer dies, and Steam dies someday, I've got nothing left. If I go to the store and buy a disc, then at least I'll be able to reinstall the game and play it even if I don't have a connection to Steam (or is that even possible?). But if I download the whole game on Steam, aren't I losing any chance to play it, should Steam ever disappear?
I have already bought Half Life and HL2 (in the boxes), and play them over Steam without any problems. But I've been staying away from actually buying things through Steam (even though I'd buy Episode I and Civ III in a second) because of these issues. Any answers?
Stand behind what you said, dude! The Revolution controller IS obnoxious, and while there will be some great first party games from Nintendo, there will be lots and lots of third party crap.
If that controller is used well, it will be awesome. A lot of the games on the original EyeToy disc were great and worked well.
But did you ever play EyeToy Antigrav? Nicktoons Movin'? Operation Spy Toy?
This controller will create a few great games, but, like Rein said, it'll also create a lot of stupid games.
One of the things I find most interesting about technology is that it's pushed forward by the strangest things-- here's an open source program, the prime example of open source theory, and it's pushed forward why?
Wow I think you're right!! 10 bucks a month would be a pretty good deal from Bertelsmann..
Wait, while I was typing this, my friend just told me about some deal that gets you 12 CDs for JUST ONE CENT!!!! Man if everyone knew about this, we probably wouldn't need Napster anymore!
Hey kids, I'm a television radio major, have two jobs in commercial radio, and just did a fifteen page research project on LPFM and its follies with the FCC, NAB and Congress. Thought I'd weigh in, even though I'm probably already going to be lost in the pile that is Slashdot.
LPFM, in the first place, is a new form of license that the FCC will give out to only noncommercial entities to broadcast at 10 and 100 watts (that's about 3 and 10 city blocks, respectively-- very very small). The actual cost to set up and license a station comes to about 500-700 dollars, making it ideal for schools, community groups, churches, etc, that want a media voice of their own. FCC Chair William Kennard is an African American, and worked with programs that helped to develop radio stations in black communities before he became chairman, so he is gaga for the program, as are many community leaders who feel they aren't represented well by commercial radio.
Speaking of commercial radio, the National Association of Broadcasters is not happy at all with the program. The first problem, they say (we'll see later what they really want-- hint: $$), is that dozens of LPFM stations will interfere with their signals in large cities, as the radio spectrum is already crowded. Since one of the FCC's duties is to protect established broadcast industries, this is the main, lawful reason why Congress is so against LPFM. HOWEVER, we can all guess that the real reason the NAB doesn't like LPFM is that it will steal audiences that would normally be theirs-- originally, the FCC said to get better programming to keep their audiences, but why provide more options for the public when the ones they have now are ok? (I'll leave any operating system analogies up to Slashdot to make). The FCC also did tests already, and set up a procedure to make sure no commercial signals were interrupted, but Congress didn't think it was enough, and wants the FCC to hold off until more testing is done.
And now it looks like they want to hold the FCC off even longer. Personally, even though I am in commercial radio, I am for LPFM as a whole-- if commercial radio has to fight for audiences, so be it-- they already are in many ways due to audience fragmentation with Internet, cable, etc. Reply and let me know what you think, I am very interested in the subject. I'm actually in the process of writing another paper on the media and the First Amendment, and so I just jotted this down quickly, if I missed anything, correct me.
.04 seconds! I am not human!
on
Quickie Twister
·
· Score: 1
Heh if you just hold down the reflex button, you can release it right when the screen changes-- before I realized this, I was hitting about.22 regularly, but one I just released the button I got down to about.04!:)
Of course, all this reflex testing is just honing my skills of nabbing a first post... if I can get a post up in.04 seconds, I think I have a pretty good chance...
Maybe I'm repeating (and I hope not) but the Indrema RUNS LINUX. Check out their faq.. not only do they run DV, but they call linux and open source, as a development accelerator not just a business advantage, but a business necessity.
I was intent on buying a PS2 (not an Xbox), and I probably still will unless Indrema can announce some games fast, but this is really one step closer to letting open source and linux become accepted in the main stream, not just in the tech world.
Another question, however, is why Indrema doesn't list the fact they are running open source as a feature...
I'm also on a relatively small college campus, and not having a printer has presented me with the problem of somehow getting papers to the lab so I can print them. At first I did use floppies, but it only took about two or so attempts where I lost all information due to the horrible nature of public lab floppy drives to realize I needed something else.
Fortunately, so did the rest of the campus. They set up a series of network folders-- each student got one when they entered that could be accessible by password from any campus computer. When I want to print something out, I save to my folder, go to lab at my convenience, open from my folder and print away. With a campus of 5000 students, giving them as much space as a floppy, you only have about 7500mb to add on, which keeps cost low, and system maintenance is easy because you only have to watch one drive (I would assume-- I didn't set the system up myself).
I think something has to be said for the "Normal Layout". Back in the days of Doom everyone was using the arrow keys (non-numeric keypad) and Ctrl and Alt to do all the shooting (which I still use for simple 2d movement games like GTA2).
But nowadays everybody's got like fifty different commands, from using doors and switches to directing teammates to taunting l4m3rs, etc. I'm going to call this the standard layout for most FPSs:
W-forward
A-strafe left
S-backward
D-strafe right
E-use/talk/open door
left CTRL-crouch
SPACE-jump
Q,Z,X,C-other random commands per game
T-speak
V-team speak
TAB-show scores
~-console
More functions than the Claw, all in one place on a standard keyboard. The Claw does look interesting, but I don't like that you'll really need open space to put it on-- When I first read the article, I assumed it was something that was connected to your hand-- would make for interesting watching, as most players I see still sway back and forth in real life to dodge bullets on screen:) What if you could wave your hand around too..
I think we also need to remember that the ps2 is going to be completely backwards compatible (games, controllers, everythings), and that, even though (as the article mentions) it will cut into their DVD player market, Sony did agree to put a fully functional and impressive (in terms of sound, etc) DVD player. Now, maybe they are really just trying to win "the war of the living room," (and I am sure, as a business, that's their number one goal), but they also seem to be very user supportive in this endeavor.
The question then, of course, is will Microsoft do the same? Sure they open the system to developers, but when I want a feature that will cost Microsoft money, will they include it to keep my business?
Very interesting that both the black and white hats in MSNBC's little interactive example both use Linux... The "honeypot," attacked by the "hax0r," is running Red Hat, which has an exploit. Now, if he was using good old Windows, none of this would have happened.
Of course, if he was using Windows, he wouldn't be able to keep his server up enough for anyone to break into it...
*sigh* Frank Miller did not write Watchmen. Alan Moore did. And it would not RULE on the screen... it was too long and too complex to fit into two/three hours. Even Moore himself has said that the only format the series might fit into is some kind of miniseries, but even that would be a little too pathetic to match the art, story, and general genius that is Watchmen.
Slashdot Mirror
It would work great for consumers-- if you play more, you get more games to play.
But it would be a terrible idea for the business. "Spent" achievement points don't show up on a company's profit reports.
Right now, Microsoft is winning on both sides of the achievements equation-- it costs very little for them to keep the Achievements system up and running, since they've already built in a tracking system, and it obviously (as they say in the article) drives both sales and rentals.
Turning Achievement points into some kind of currency wouldn't do anything but cost them money. Sure, it would give you free games, but none of the major videogame companies are in the business of giving away free games.
I like the idea of Steam, but I have an issue with it that has kept me from buying anything on it (I have tried the Darwinia demo, and liked it, but didn't end up buying the actual game).
My question is: what if Steam goes away someday?
I really want Episode One (and for sure will get Episode 2 when it comes out-- Portal is sweet). But if I buy them over Steam, and then my computer dies, and Steam dies someday, I've got nothing left. If I go to the store and buy a disc, then at least I'll be able to reinstall the game and play it even if I don't have a connection to Steam (or is that even possible?). But if I download the whole game on Steam, aren't I losing any chance to play it, should Steam ever disappear?
I have already bought Half Life and HL2 (in the boxes), and play them over Steam without any problems. But I've been staying away from actually buying things through Steam (even though I'd buy Episode I and Civ III in a second) because of these issues. Any answers?
Civ is a prime example of a game that is NOT real-time strategy. It is a turn-based strategy game.
Just FYI. I do agree that there are too many clicks in RTS games like Starcraft, Warcraft, and even Rise of Nations.
"Wow."
More importantly, at what FPS does it play WoW?
Though I wouldn't be surprised if it needs a new graphics card for Crysis...
Yes, innovation is completely dead. Humanity will never invent anything completely new again, ever. Thanks for playing.
Geez, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.
Stand behind what you said, dude! The Revolution controller IS obnoxious, and while there will be some great first party games from Nintendo, there will be lots and lots of third party crap.
If that controller is used well, it will be awesome. A lot of the games on the original EyeToy disc were great and worked well.
But did you ever play EyeToy Antigrav? Nicktoons Movin'? Operation Spy Toy?
This controller will create a few great games, but, like Rein said, it'll also create a lot of stupid games.
I can't believe no one has mentioned Skynet yet.
Really. Come on, people. These things are our thirtieth or fortieth step towards Judgement Day. Then comes the rise of the machines!
Why would they care who gets the Google Image Search data?
Could you imagine a beowulf cluster of FlashMobs?!??
how about quick fix? fastpass? extremely expedient content delivery system?
That last one may not be quite as catchy...
One of the things I find most interesting about technology is that it's pushed forward by the strangest things-- here's an open source program, the prime example of open source theory, and it's pushed forward why?
Because it's a game. "It's geeky."
Funny.
Forget the tigers... they said years ago that we were going to get Mastodons, and I haven't seen a single one.
WHERE IS MY MASTODON?!?!
..from the Terrible Secret of Space!!
Wow I think you're right!! 10 bucks a month would be a pretty good deal from Bertelsmann..
Wait, while I was typing this, my friend just told me about some deal that gets you 12 CDs for JUST ONE CENT!!!! Man if everyone knew about this, we probably wouldn't need Napster anymore!
Hey kids, I'm a television radio major, have two jobs in commercial radio, and just did a fifteen page research project on LPFM and its follies with the FCC, NAB and Congress. Thought I'd weigh in, even though I'm probably already going to be lost in the pile that is Slashdot.
LPFM, in the first place, is a new form of license that the FCC will give out to only noncommercial entities to broadcast at 10 and 100 watts (that's about 3 and 10 city blocks, respectively-- very very small). The actual cost to set up and license a station comes to about 500-700 dollars, making it ideal for schools, community groups, churches, etc, that want a media voice of their own. FCC Chair William Kennard is an African American, and worked with programs that helped to develop radio stations in black communities before he became chairman, so he is gaga for the program, as are many community leaders who feel they aren't represented well by commercial radio.
Speaking of commercial radio, the National Association of Broadcasters is not happy at all with the program. The first problem, they say (we'll see later what they really want-- hint: $$), is that dozens of LPFM stations will interfere with their signals in large cities, as the radio spectrum is already crowded. Since one of the FCC's duties is to protect established broadcast industries, this is the main, lawful reason why Congress is so against LPFM. HOWEVER, we can all guess that the real reason the NAB doesn't like LPFM is that it will steal audiences that would normally be theirs-- originally, the FCC said to get better programming to keep their audiences, but why provide more options for the public when the ones they have now are ok? (I'll leave any operating system analogies up to Slashdot to make). The FCC also did tests already, and set up a procedure to make sure no commercial signals were interrupted, but Congress didn't think it was enough, and wants the FCC to hold off until more testing is done.
And now it looks like they want to hold the FCC off even longer. Personally, even though I am in commercial radio, I am for LPFM as a whole-- if commercial radio has to fight for audiences, so be it-- they already are in many ways due to audience fragmentation with Internet, cable, etc. Reply and let me know what you think, I am very interested in the subject. I'm actually in the process of writing another paper on the media and the First Amendment, and so I just jotted this down quickly, if I missed anything, correct me.
Heh if you just hold down the reflex button, you can release it right when the screen changes-- before I realized this, I was hitting about .22 regularly, but one I just released the button I got down to about .04! :)
.04 seconds, I think I have a pretty good chance...
Of course, all this reflex testing is just honing my skills of nabbing a first post... if I can get a post up in
Almost forgot.. now that the ps2 and dreamcast are both out, shouldn't we get that games icon changed?
<joke>Considering that Sony sold over half a million units in less than a day, maybe we should change it to a dollar sign... </joke>
Maybe I'm repeating (and I hope not) but the Indrema RUNS LINUX. Check out their faq.. not only do they run DV, but they call linux and open source, as a development accelerator not just a business advantage, but a business necessity.
I was intent on buying a PS2 (not an Xbox), and I probably still will unless Indrema can announce some games fast, but this is really one step closer to letting open source and linux become accepted in the main stream, not just in the tech world.
Another question, however, is why Indrema doesn't list the fact they are running open source as a feature...
I'm also on a relatively small college campus, and not having a printer has presented me with the problem of somehow getting papers to the lab so I can print them. At first I did use floppies, but it only took about two or so attempts where I lost all information due to the horrible nature of public lab floppy drives to realize I needed something else.
Fortunately, so did the rest of the campus. They set up a series of network folders-- each student got one when they entered that could be accessible by password from any campus computer. When I want to print something out, I save to my folder, go to lab at my convenience, open from my folder and print away. With a campus of 5000 students, giving them as much space as a floppy, you only have about 7500mb to add on, which keeps cost low, and system maintenance is easy because you only have to watch one drive (I would assume-- I didn't set the system up myself).
Floppies are dead.. Long live networking!
I think something has to be said for the "Normal Layout". Back in the days of Doom everyone was using the arrow keys (non-numeric keypad) and Ctrl and Alt to do all the shooting (which I still use for simple 2d movement games like GTA2).
:) What if you could wave your hand around too..
But nowadays everybody's got like fifty different commands, from using doors and switches to directing teammates to taunting l4m3rs, etc. I'm going to call this the standard layout for most FPSs:
W-forward
A-strafe left
S-backward
D-strafe right
E-use/talk/open door
left CTRL-crouch
SPACE-jump
Q,Z,X,C-other random commands per game
T-speak
V-team speak
TAB-show scores
~-console
More functions than the Claw, all in one place on a standard keyboard. The Claw does look interesting, but I don't like that you'll really need open space to put it on-- When I first read the article, I assumed it was something that was connected to your hand-- would make for interesting watching, as most players I see still sway back and forth in real life to dodge bullets on screen
I think we also need to remember that the ps2 is going to be completely backwards compatible (games, controllers, everythings), and that, even though (as the article mentions) it will cut into their DVD player market, Sony did agree to put a fully functional and impressive (in terms of sound, etc) DVD player. Now, maybe they are really just trying to win "the war of the living room," (and I am sure, as a business, that's their number one goal), but they also seem to be very user supportive in this endeavor.
The question then, of course, is will Microsoft do the same? Sure they open the system to developers, but when I want a feature that will cost Microsoft money, will they include it to keep my business?
Very interesting that both the black and white hats in MSNBC's little interactive example both use Linux... The "honeypot," attacked by the "hax0r," is running Red Hat, which has an exploit. Now, if he was using good old Windows, none of this would have happened.
Of course, if he was using Windows, he wouldn't be able to keep his server up enough for anyone to break into it...
Only outlaws will play games!!
*sigh* Frank Miller did not write Watchmen. Alan Moore did. And it would not RULE on the screen... it was too long and too complex to fit into two/three hours. Even Moore himself has said that the only format the series might fit into is some kind of miniseries, but even that would be a little too pathetic to match the art, story, and general genius that is Watchmen.
from the article:
I found a paper book the other day that described the rise and fall of something called the "Internet".
Man, I sure hope that when I'm forty I have a much better memory than this guy.