The audience is aging, and has less time on their hands, the younger folks don't have the patience to stare at a static screen for an hour, trying to figure out you need to shove the fence post into the giant evil space pumpkin, to kill her.
You've described the gameplay of Phoenix Wright here.
Hmm... on further it seems that Lycos offers a similar deal, cheaper. So, my question is, did this guy just delete all her Email out of spite because he was annoyed. He is so fired if that's the case....
Hushmail's policy is better. You can have a free Email account, but you must log in every two weeks. Forget to log in, well, Hushmail will let you back in for a fee, of course.
I'm not saying "keep customers Email forever," I'm saying "Hang onto it for, say, a year and offer to sell it back to them."
Of course, this still doesn't change the fact that there are a million better free Email accounts than Lycos already available. Gmail is perfect enough that you need no other unless you want encrypted. (It's rapidly turning into my external memory a la Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, "Oh, that obscure movie that I couldn't remember the name of but I remembered some facts about, I'll just search my Gmail. Oh, here's one I sent to Inu Yasha about it a few months ago."
Also, scamming people (or killing people, as in a war) is a lot easier if you think that the people you are scamming (or helping your company to scam) deserve to be scammed.
Think of how badly the employees of things like State Lotteries and Credit Card Companies would feel if they didn't believe that the suckers deserve it.
Hmm... you know, Coca-Cola was an essential recovery item in Infocom's The Lurking Horror, but it wasn't a mood killer. Mainly because you were a college student pulling an all-nighter and the Coke was to keep you awake. (If you didn't stay awake, you suffered a grisly demise.)
Of course, in this case I'm pretty sure it wasn't product placement... though now I wonder...
The real problem here is that we know that the most that the average person is going to do is complain, and that people can put as much horrible advertising in games as they want and no one will stop them or stop buying the games. It can be a game set in a forboding manor house in the late 18th century, but we're still going to have to hear that Coke is "the pause that refreshes."
How do we, or me at least, know this? Television. They now have television advertising during the shows, covering up huge portions of the screen. Maybe I don't want to know what the pick four numbers are, but the idiots who do don't seem to care if they block half the screen.
The solution for TV? Wait for the DVD (to come to the library if you are cheap). The solution for games? I don't know...
Actually, I'd say that was true last generation with the PS2. If you are just talking about TV console gaming, I like to say the number one TV based console was the PS2 and the number two TV based console was the PS2, with Gamecube and Xbox battling for 3rd and 4th place. The contest wasn't even close, if you were serious about having the largest selection of games, and of getting any major non-First Party "exclusive" eventually ported to your system, you had a PS2.
I'll note that the only TV based consoles I owned were Dreamcast and Gamecube, but I'm being objective here. If you weren't a blind zealot and you like games, you owned a PS2 +/- one or more of the other consoles.
My own position on Sony was always, "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee," but they won hands down.
Lament of Innnocence is it "innovative" or is it just trying to move Castlevania into the generic "3D Adventure" game that every franchise must go into according to certain companies (ahem... Sony). To me, there's a lot innovative about Portrait of Ruin mainly in the way it uses two characters at the same time. (This has been done before in other series, the first one I can remember is The Lost Vikings, but it's still innovative in a Castlevainia title.)
One thing about me, is I'm always suspicious when a game series moves into "3D." A good example is Metroid, I'd have no problem with first person Metroid if I thought it was a spinoff series. I'll be disappointed if we only get 3D Metroids from now on... especially on DS.
Persistent corpses was one of the early improvements for Dawn of War. It's actually an important strategic resource for the Necrons now. (Who can use a special ability to resurrect a field of their own dead.)
It's a setting I believe you can turn on or off, though I think it's always on for Necrons.
Hey, remember when Universal Studios tried to sue Nintendo for infringing on their copyright on King Kong? And then Nintendo won the case, and proved that Universal didn't even hold the copyright on King Kong in the first place?
"So, what I'd like you to do is carve me a cross between the Sistene Chapel and Notre Dame Cathedral out of wood, well not exactly but in that realm you understand, and make it out of this kind of wood that we got from the vendor with the best salesman. Oh, and unfortunately we bought hammers but not carving tools, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. What? Oh no, you can't use your own carving tools or any of those GPL carving tools they aren't authorized. Oh? You're asking, 'Should it be a scale model or full size?' Good question, I'll get back to you on that but you'd better start making it in the mean time. Well, get going the schedule on this is fairly agressive."
Mark Ames recently wrote a book, called Going Postal. One of his theories about the phenomenon of "Going Postal" both in the schoolyard and the office, is that there are powerful, institutional forces at work that have a vested interest in people NOT understanding this phenomenon. If they can't get people to drop it with, "they were just kooks," (which becomes difficult when it becomes a trend) they have to come up with an excuse (video games, antidepressants, etc.) to explain the trend without getting to actual causes.
Basically, these events are an inevitable result of certain situations that are allowed to go unresolved, relentless pressure that causes a mental breakdown in certain people in our society, leading to these kamikaze missions. Demonizing these killers is useless, many of them intend to die either by their own hands or at the hands of the authorities. It's not like even the ones who survive get off with light sentences.
The plaintive "Why" at then end of one of these massacres is an important question that needs an honest, rational and thoughtful answer. However, such an answer will lead to calls for reform, which the people who push irrational, demagogic explanations for these events want to avoid.
Slamdance is supposed to be a place for controversial media that is to hot for even Sundance, so being too hot for Slamdance is something of an honor.
Well, Apple has been resisting pressure from studios to do a lot of things, because their main goal is to avoid alienating the user. Apple, however, is not anti-DRM. They just want the chains to rest lightly on the consumer.
The thing that most annoys me is that I have an older Apple Powerbook, with an older edition of OS X. I can watch all the iTunes Video I want on my Windows PCs but if I want to watch it on my Apple, I have to buy a more up to date version of OS X (I upgraded OS X once already... I refuse to upgrade a second time.).
I know this isn't a technological issue, because I can watch all the MPEGs or DVDs I want. Therefore, it's a DRM issue, and it annoys me that I must update my OS to read DRM.
That said, Apple knows that they can afford to lose me as a customer, with my old G4 and old version of OS X. However, they've been mostly liberal with their DRM. I'm impressed that they were smart enough to let people burn ordinary audio CDs from their iTunes, even knowing that people could just turn around and make those CDs into DRM free MP3s or OGGs. Otherwise, how could they compete with Peer-to-Peer? It's not altruism that drives Apple's competance with DRM, it's business savvy.
So, in conclusion I'll say that Apple is much more savvy than the current incarnation of Microsoft. Ironic really, as it was in producing an OS for open, generic computers that made Microsoft great and now they are looking to have input into the specs of every component and everything that attaches to a computer that uses Windows. It's absurd, and it may well be the thing that knocks MS down a peg or two, if a company out there is smart enough to exploit this weakness.
Will it be Apple? It's not impossible, but I'll be surprised if it is. They know what they are doing, but it doesn't involve replacing Microsoft in the PC space.
'Mine?' the arrested man hastily responded, his whole being expressing a readiness to answer sensibly, without provoking further wrath.
The procurator said softly:
'I know my own. Don't pretend to be stupider than you are. Yours.'
'Yeshua,' the prisoner replied promptly.
'Any surname?'
'Ha-Nozri.'
'Where do you come from?'
'The town of Gamala,' replied the prisoner, indicating with his head that there, somewhere far off to his right, in the north, was the town of Gamala.
'Who are you by blood?'
'I don't know exactly,' the arrested man replied animatedly, 'I don't remember my parents. I was told that my father was a Syrian . .
'Where is your permanent residence?'
'I have no permanent home,' the prisoner answered shyly, 'I travel from town to town.'
'That can be put more briefly, in a word - a vagrant,' the procurator said, and asked:
'Any family?'
'None. I'm alone in the world.'
'Can you read and write?'
'Yes.'
'Do you know any language besides Aramaic?'
'Yes. Greek.'
A swollen eyelid rose, an eye clouded with suffering fixed the arrested man. The other eye remained shut.
Pilate spoke in Greek.
'So it was you who was going to destroy the temple building and called on the people to do that?'
Here the prisoner again became animated, his eyes ceased to show fear, and he spoke in Greek:
'Never, goo...' Here terror flashed in the prisoner's eyes, because he had nearly made a slip. 'Never, Hegemon, never in my life was I going to destroy the temple building, nor did I incite anyone to this senseless act.'
Surprise showed on the face of the secretary, hunched over a low table and writing down the testimony. He raised his head, but immediately bent it to the parchment again.
'All sorts of people gather in this town for the feast. Among them there are magicians, astrologers, diviners and murderers,' the procurator spoke in monotone, 'and occasionally also Ears. You, for instance, are a liar. It is written clearly - "Incited to destroy the temple". People have testified to it.'
'These good people,' the prisoner spoke and, hastily adding 'Hegemon', went on: '... haven't any learning and have confused everything I told them. Generally, I'm beginning to be afraid that this confusion may go on for a very long time. And all because he writes down the things I say incorrectly.'
Silence fell. By now both sick eyes rested heavily on the prisoner.
'I repeat to you, but for the last time, stop pretending that you're a madman, robber,' Pilate said softly and monotonously, 'there's not much written in your record, but what there is is enough to hang you.'
'No, no, Hegemon,' the arrested man said, straining all over in his wish to convince, 'there's one with a goatskin parchment who follows me, follows me and keeps writing all the time. But once I peeked into this parchment and was horrified. I said decidedly nothing of what's written there. I implored him: "Burn your parchment, I beg you!" But he tore it out of my hands and ran away.'
'Who is that?' Pilate asked squeamishly and touched his temple with his hand.
'Matthew Levi,' the prisoner explained willingly. 'He used to be a tax collector, and I first met him on the road in Bediphage, where a fig grove juts out at an angle, and I got to talking with him. He treated
Slashdot Mirror
Then at the end of the game, it could turn out to be like in Psycho when they find Norman's mom...
I know, it was meant as humor. I meant my brother, but since I'm not giving out real names on the Internet....
Hmm... on further it seems that Lycos offers a similar deal, cheaper. So, my question is, did this guy just delete all her Email out of spite because he was annoyed. He is so fired if that's the case....
I'm not saying "keep customers Email forever," I'm saying "Hang onto it for, say, a year and offer to sell it back to them."
Of course, this still doesn't change the fact that there are a million better free Email accounts than Lycos already available. Gmail is perfect enough that you need no other unless you want encrypted. (It's rapidly turning into my external memory a la Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, "Oh, that obscure movie that I couldn't remember the name of but I remembered some facts about, I'll just search my Gmail. Oh, here's one I sent to Inu Yasha about it a few months ago."
Think of how badly the employees of things like State Lotteries and Credit Card Companies would feel if they didn't believe that the suckers deserve it.
I, for one, welcome our foriegn word using overlords.
Of course, in this case I'm pretty sure it wasn't product placement... though now I wonder...
How do we, or me at least, know this? Television. They now have television advertising during the shows, covering up huge portions of the screen. Maybe I don't want to know what the pick four numbers are, but the idiots who do don't seem to care if they block half the screen.
The solution for TV? Wait for the DVD (to come to the library if you are cheap). The solution for games? I don't know...
Capcom: Ghost's & Goblins (Gargoyles Quest, Demon's Crest, Ghouls & Ghosts)
I'll note that the only TV based consoles I owned were Dreamcast and Gamecube, but I'm being objective here. If you weren't a blind zealot and you like games, you owned a PS2 +/- one or more of the other consoles.
My own position on Sony was always, "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee," but they won hands down.
This generation, who knows?
One thing about me, is I'm always suspicious when a game series moves into "3D." A good example is Metroid, I'd have no problem with first person Metroid if I thought it was a spinoff series. I'll be disappointed if we only get 3D Metroids from now on... especially on DS.
It's a setting I believe you can turn on or off, though I think it's always on for Necrons.
Good times, good times....
Tom Monaghan: Domino's Pizza Founder
"So, what I'd like you to do is carve me a cross between the Sistene Chapel and Notre Dame Cathedral out of wood, well not exactly but in that realm you understand, and make it out of this kind of wood that we got from the vendor with the best salesman. Oh, and unfortunately we bought hammers but not carving tools, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. What? Oh no, you can't use your own carving tools or any of those GPL carving tools they aren't authorized. Oh? You're asking, 'Should it be a scale model or full size?' Good question, I'll get back to you on that but you'd better start making it in the mean time. Well, get going the schedule on this is fairly agressive."
No one is complaining that the festival is called Slamdance.
Not that they should be complaining about either one, but the name of the festival is just as offensive and irreverant as the name of the game.
Basically, these events are an inevitable result of certain situations that are allowed to go unresolved, relentless pressure that causes a mental breakdown in certain people in our society, leading to these kamikaze missions. Demonizing these killers is useless, many of them intend to die either by their own hands or at the hands of the authorities. It's not like even the ones who survive get off with light sentences.
The plaintive "Why" at then end of one of these massacres is an important question that needs an honest, rational and thoughtful answer. However, such an answer will lead to calls for reform, which the people who push irrational, demagogic explanations for these events want to avoid.
Slamdance is supposed to be a place for controversial media that is to hot for even Sundance, so being too hot for Slamdance is something of an honor.
The thing that most annoys me is that I have an older Apple Powerbook, with an older edition of OS X. I can watch all the iTunes Video I want on my Windows PCs but if I want to watch it on my Apple, I have to buy a more up to date version of OS X (I upgraded OS X once already... I refuse to upgrade a second time.).
I know this isn't a technological issue, because I can watch all the MPEGs or DVDs I want. Therefore, it's a DRM issue, and it annoys me that I must update my OS to read DRM.
That said, Apple knows that they can afford to lose me as a customer, with my old G4 and old version of OS X. However, they've been mostly liberal with their DRM. I'm impressed that they were smart enough to let people burn ordinary audio CDs from their iTunes, even knowing that people could just turn around and make those CDs into DRM free MP3s or OGGs. Otherwise, how could they compete with Peer-to-Peer? It's not altruism that drives Apple's competance with DRM, it's business savvy.
So, in conclusion I'll say that Apple is much more savvy than the current incarnation of Microsoft. Ironic really, as it was in producing an OS for open, generic computers that made Microsoft great and now they are looking to have input into the specs of every component and everything that attaches to a computer that uses Windows. It's absurd, and it may well be the thing that knocks MS down a peg or two, if a company out there is smart enough to exploit this weakness.
Will it be Apple? It's not impossible, but I'll be surprised if it is. They know what they are doing, but it doesn't involve replacing Microsoft in the PC space.
All I want for Xmas... is a nightmare... sent from Hell... by Satan himself...
I always got the impression that the Major was a bisexual who was in love with Batou and/or Hideo Kuze.
Build it yourself game console.
Have you ever read Bulgakov's The Master and Margerita ?
That's too much work, let's just start a religion based on Army of Darkness...