Frankly... I'm happier if industry is behind this. People concerned soley with Civil Rights tend to fail, miserably. People are happy with their chains, as long as they are not too heavy. It's when big money gets involved whether from the Evangelism industry or Big Sugar that things get accomplished.
FRANK: When we talked, you only referred to him in the past tense. Do you remember that? Like he WAS an under-achiever, or he HAD very strong opinions. And I think the other one was: he WAS a very spirited kid.
[Frank slams his hand on the table.]
FRANK: Do you know something we don't?
ROE: Yes, I speak about Landon Bryce in the past tense, because there's a system in place, gentlemen, one that constantly evaluates our youths and our lives with no application of relativity. A 4.0 will succeed, a 2.5 will not. Below 750 on the SATs and certain doors close. A quality of person, sense of humor, heart, these are not on any applications. It's all about your numbers and although, yes, definitely Landon Bryce had it - that intangibility of soul that kept him in school, that could allow him to affect the quality of our lives for the better, that could lead people where they wished to go, Landon Bryce couldn't pass through the numbers. Numbers which tell a young person at 18 they're through. And unless there's some miracle of timing or events and greatness is thrust upon you, your life is over. Next? So, if I'm guilty of anything it's of giving in to this despicable system of numbers.
Well, that may be true, but the thing about Wal*Mart is they were already partly onboard with Jack's agenda. Two things I know about Wal*Mart:
1. The underrated game Sacrifice from Shiny had to have a rated 'T' cut made for Wal*Mart, even though the game was 'M' everwhere else.
2. The Comics Code Authority was on it's last legs. It was gasping its last breath and heading toward the dustbin of irrelevence... and the Wal*Mart decided to require it on comics that would be sold in its stores.
Another thing, that I'm hazier on not being a music fan or a Wal*Mart shopper, is that cleaned up versions of pop CDs get sold at Wal*Mart. (Censoring CDs is what Jack Thompson was about in his previous incarnation as a right wing wacko gadfly).
In fact, rather than Jack Thompson influencing Wal*Mart, it's much more likely that Wal*Mart influenced Jack Thompsons career.
Look, I'm all for giving Gibson props as creator of Cyberpunk or whatever, mainly because I don't care, though I'd probably put in a compelling argument for Philip K. Dick and some other more obscure authors if I did.
But Tolkien? Tolkien didn't create High Fantasy, he just wrote some good High Fantasy books. Heck, I could say Tolkien butchered Grettir's Saga if I was feeling particularly churlish. (Yes, I know the summary says Tolkien-Gibson, but I don't excuse the ignorance there, either.)
Shadowrun is just a bunch of nonsense but it makes for good videogames. I know, because I've played one of them. Orks and Cyberpunk, go with it!
This videogame, the one that Microsoft is making, is a bad video game.
Ah, the great innovations of Sands of Time are two:
1. You are mostly platforming in 2D despite the 3D environment. It rotates somewhat, but the way it works is walls and narrow ledges. In other words, your 3D polygonal character is restricted by elements of the 3D environment, most of the time, to 2D movement. Now, this isn't 100%, but much of the game works this way.
2. If that's not enough, you can rewind your death so that if you make a catastrophic mistake, you don't die.
I still like Super Mario Brothers 3 better, though. Oh, and Aria of Sorrow. Oh, and the Prince of Persia they made for the Super Nintendo....
Yes, I actually like Phantasy Star 2, but for me the defining quote for Phantasy Star 2 came from a video game magazine where the guy laments trying to get back to town to get some Dimate and is constantly attacked by monsters, "But... I just wanted some Dimate!!!"
Here's an example. Konami's Castlevania had interesting monsters, catchy music, and a great gimmick: a guy with a whip. But if you went back and played it today, chances are you wouldn't bother playing past the second level. Why are the newest games in the series so drastically different from the original? The answer is because gamers demand more from their hobby now, and there's just not a lot of meat on those old bones. But when the fully 3D, story-driven sequel fails, they point at the original on its lofty pedestal and demand an experience that lives up to their memories. It's a double standard that's next to impossible to satisfy.
Um... nobody wants a 3D Castlevania (Well, nobody except for the article's author, but then he's So Cool.) , but new 2D Castlevanias still do a respectable business. Trust me, they aren't coming out with Portrait of Ruin because of charity. The Castlevania series is still popular in 2D, and sometimes I even hear grumbling about the Metroidvania sequels from people (my brother) who miss the old level-boss-level-boss-etc. until Dracula-end. I don't like the original Castlevania. (My brother does though, and always has. I guess he likes the challenge, but he always was stubborn.) However, Dracula's Curse (I think Simon's Quest, too, but I haven't played it recently.) is still a lot of fun despite it's dated graphics, and the later 2D entries in the series are mostly good. I've beaten Castlevania: Bloodlines many times, and usually when I play, I at least get to Atlantis before quitting.
Oh, and you know what I did Thursday? I gave a 12 year old girl my Gameboy and let her play Super Mario Brothers III. Know what? She had fun. She wanted to play with it, it was her choice. Later on, she picked it up and played it again. No nostalgia involved.
I'll repeat, nobody wants a 3D Castlevania, and if Konami (at the behest of S--y) wants to keep shoveling money into that hole, I say more power to them (in my very best Emile Lizardo/John Whorfin voice)... as long as it doesn't stop the DS Castlevanias.
Parent is not a Troll, and shouldn't have been modded as such. It simply quotes two articles that have shown up in Slashdot Games recently, one of which is the very article I'm commenting on.
Sony made this distinction, to a large extent, not so much through original design or perspective or technology as through psychology. Their message: videogames are childish, uncool garbage. What we have to offer, it's barely even videogames. It's more like movies, or some other kind of entertainment. They reinforced the premise by generally refusing "old fashioned" 2D games on their systems, unless explicitly labeled as a retro package; through putting a heavy emphasis on "mature"-themed games, and by funneling Sony's limitless funds into years of blanket advertising - rarely showing actual game footage if CG was available, emphasizing the cinematic and familiar. The implication was, the less videogames in any sense resembled what you and I think of as videogames, the better.
-- What's Wrong With Console Design?
Well, this is something that goes along with another quote I read recently:
Are you still dicking around with lovingly detailed 2D sprites? Enormous Gouraud shaded triangles are the wave of the future! Glazed, emotionless eyes! Hair that's been hacked out of stone! Giant 3D booger men in diapers are what today's gamers want, and we'll give you the tools to craft those horrendously ugly damn creatures. Someone perfect time travel already so we can just bomb 1994.
-- Worst Video Game Ads comments
This is why I get irritated whenever anyone says Nintendo censors (oh they do, and in very irritating ways) and Sony doesn't. Sony loves to censor, and they have from the beginning, but they are good at projecting an image, I'll give them that. You suck, Sony!
Maybe the Japanese can find at least one Japanese whaler to go?
He'd be a whaler, and a sailor, on the Moon!
Oh ye who go about saying unto each other: "Hello sailor": Dost thou know the
magnitude of thy sin before the gods? Yea, verily, thou shalt be ground
between two stones. Shall the angry gods cast thy body into the whirlpool?
Surely, thy eye shall be put out with a sharp stick! Even unto the ends of the
earth shalt thou wander and unto the land of the dead shalt thou be sent at
last. Surely thou shalt repent of thy cunning.
Hey, I'm glad of it's obscurity in the U. S. I got the game for $14.00. Of course, I'd have preferred to get it for $13.00, but what are you going to do.
Of course, now if there is ever a sequel, it'll probably be Europe only, oh well...
Films like Green Snake and The Magic Blade have always been close to my heart. Now, if you are like me (and God help you if you are) and you watch a film like the two mentioned, you immediately think, "How would I make a Pen and Paper Role Playing Game out of the ideas presented in those films?" You might try dragging out your old copy of Oriental Adventures to see how TSR did it back in the day, or you might just seek out Outlaws of the Water Margin if you have a lot of time on your hands.
The point is, it would be incredibly stupid, almost unbelievably stupid, to accuse the Chinese of a lack of absolutely brilliant native source materials for Fantasy based games. The Japanese have been plundering it for years (rightly so, and I appreciate their efforts at times... though I'm afraid I've never been a huge Dragonball Z fan, no offense intended). So, what we have is not a question of imagination, but a question of rules. How exactly does snake spirit magic work? What are the differences between the powers of Buddhist Monks and Taoist Hermits? How do you model various martial arts sword fighting techniques in an online RPG? Would the Five Venoms make good boss characters? etc.
But creating rules for these things are trivial if the developers follow my advice and steal, steal, steal. Heck, the Japanese did it when building their own video gaming industry, unless you think Final Fantasy I owes nothing to Dungeons and Dragons.
We'll see, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see some brilliant games coming out of China.
So how would one go about detecting invisible men/women? Infrared? Gaurd dogs?
Guard dogs work really well against both spies and Yuris, so I imagine they'd work against invisible soldiers as well. Just watch out for Chrono Commandos.
The review of this game points out that many of Ms. Cheney's adventures have these kinds of problems. She also seems to like having a lot of depravity in her games. (Hey, I'm all for depravity. Yay, depravity!)
Also, she wrote these games in GAGS which compatible with AGT but a much more limited parser. Of course, nowadays I'd suggest Inform or TADS.
Slashdot Mirror
It was supposed to be called Yuggoth. So now, what, we have to wait for an 11th planet? Damn it.
You forgot one alternaty spelling for Johnny, Nny.
Frankly... I'm happier if industry is behind this. People concerned soley with Civil Rights tend to fail, miserably. People are happy with their chains, as long as they are not too heavy. It's when big money gets involved whether from the Evangelism industry or Big Sugar that things get accomplished.
[Frank slams his hand on the table.]
FRANK: Do you know something we don't?
ROE: Yes, I speak about Landon Bryce in the past tense, because there's a system in place, gentlemen, one that constantly evaluates our youths and our lives with no application of relativity. A 4.0 will succeed, a 2.5 will not. Below 750 on the SATs and certain doors close. A quality of person, sense of humor, heart, these are not on any applications. It's all about your numbers and although, yes, definitely Landon Bryce had it - that intangibility of soul that kept him in school, that could allow him to affect the quality of our lives for the better, that could lead people where they wished to go, Landon Bryce couldn't pass through the numbers. Numbers which tell a young person at 18 they're through. And unless there's some miracle of timing or events and greatness is thrust upon you, your life is over. Next? So, if I'm guilty of anything it's of giving in to this despicable system of numbers.
Millenium: A Room with No View
That's better than having to buy her a blue Cadillac Escalade... how I wish that was a theoretical example....
Oh, and the Millenium Season 2 episode, "A Room with No View," heh...
1. The underrated game Sacrifice from Shiny had to have a rated 'T' cut made for Wal*Mart, even though the game was 'M' everwhere else.
2. The Comics Code Authority was on it's last legs. It was gasping its last breath and heading toward the dustbin of irrelevence... and the Wal*Mart decided to require it on comics that would be sold in its stores.
Another thing, that I'm hazier on not being a music fan or a Wal*Mart shopper, is that cleaned up versions of pop CDs get sold at Wal*Mart. (Censoring CDs is what Jack Thompson was about in his previous incarnation as a right wing wacko gadfly).
In fact, rather than Jack Thompson influencing Wal*Mart, it's much more likely that Wal*Mart influenced Jack Thompsons career.
Look, I'm all for giving Gibson props as creator of Cyberpunk or whatever, mainly because I don't care, though I'd probably put in a compelling argument for Philip K. Dick and some other more obscure authors if I did.
But Tolkien? Tolkien didn't create High Fantasy, he just wrote some good High Fantasy books. Heck, I could say Tolkien butchered Grettir's Saga if I was feeling particularly churlish. (Yes, I know the summary says Tolkien-Gibson, but I don't excuse the ignorance there, either.)
Shadowrun is just a bunch of nonsense but it makes for good videogames. I know, because I've played one of them. Orks and Cyberpunk, go with it!
This videogame, the one that Microsoft is making, is a bad video game.
Didn't the author of the article ever see, or read, Needful Things? Where's a Satanic Max von Sydow when you need him?
1. You are mostly platforming in 2D despite the 3D environment. It rotates somewhat, but the way it works is walls and narrow ledges. In other words, your 3D polygonal character is restricted by elements of the 3D environment, most of the time, to 2D movement. Now, this isn't 100%, but much of the game works this way.
2. If that's not enough, you can rewind your death so that if you make a catastrophic mistake, you don't die.
I still like Super Mario Brothers 3 better, though. Oh, and Aria of Sorrow. Oh, and the Prince of Persia they made for the Super Nintendo....
Yes, I actually like Phantasy Star 2, but for me the defining quote for Phantasy Star 2 came from a video game magazine where the guy laments trying to get back to town to get some Dimate and is constantly attacked by monsters, "But... I just wanted some Dimate!!!"
Oh, and you know what I did Thursday? I gave a 12 year old girl my Gameboy and let her play Super Mario Brothers III. Know what? She had fun. She wanted to play with it, it was her choice. Later on, she picked it up and played it again. No nostalgia involved.
I'll repeat, nobody wants a 3D Castlevania, and if Konami (at the behest of S--y) wants to keep shoveling money into that hole, I say more power to them (in my very best Emile Lizardo/John Whorfin voice)... as long as it doesn't stop the DS Castlevanias.
I guess the Sony fanboys really are scared.
Well, this is something that goes along with another quote I read recently:
This is why I get irritated whenever anyone says Nintendo censors (oh they do, and in very irritating ways) and Sony doesn't. Sony loves to censor, and they have from the beginning, but they are good at projecting an image, I'll give them that. You suck, Sony!
6) Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - It came with the system, so you are stuck with it.
7) Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch - It was like falling into Hell!
He'd be a whaler, and a sailor, on the Moon!
I'm in a silly mood...This post is the property of the Monsanto Corporation.
Of course, now if there is ever a sequel, it'll probably be Europe only, oh well...
It's never gone out of print.
The point is, it would be incredibly stupid, almost unbelievably stupid, to accuse the Chinese of a lack of absolutely brilliant native source materials for Fantasy based games. The Japanese have been plundering it for years (rightly so, and I appreciate their efforts at times... though I'm afraid I've never been a huge Dragonball Z fan, no offense intended). So, what we have is not a question of imagination, but a question of rules. How exactly does snake spirit magic work? What are the differences between the powers of Buddhist Monks and Taoist Hermits? How do you model various martial arts sword fighting techniques in an online RPG? Would the Five Venoms make good boss characters? etc.
But creating rules for these things are trivial if the developers follow my advice and steal, steal, steal. Heck, the Japanese did it when building their own video gaming industry, unless you think Final Fantasy I owes nothing to Dungeons and Dragons.
We'll see, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see some brilliant games coming out of China.
yanos, click here...
Oh, and I just have to add...
Also, she wrote these games in GAGS which compatible with AGT but a much more limited parser. Of course, nowadays I'd suggest Inform or TADS.