I'll admit, Super Mario 64 was incredible, one of the best launch games ever, possibly the best launch game ever. But with a $40 million budget and Shigeru Miyamoto behind it, how could it suck?
... I'm waiting for some real games to come out on the system.
Games always suck at a console's launch. It's a historical fact. The good games start coming out when the designers figure the system out. Did we have games like Zelda: The Ocarina of Time for the N64 at launch? Would we ever have thought such a game was possible? Or what about Metal Gear Solid? Hell, we didn't even get Quake until, well, it must have been at least 2 years after the PC was introduced.
There's only really one game at this point I even want to play on the PS2, and that's Metal Gear 2: Sons of Liberty. That game looks incredibly kick-ass. The original MGS rocked hard on the PSX, I'm sure the next one will be amazing.
Of course, if I get MGS2, it'll only be so long until I have to get Metal Gear Solid X, which is apparently coming out on the X-Box. Fuck. Next I suppose Konami will be releasing Metal Gear Solid GAMECUBE.
Anyways, back to my point, the PS2 is pretty much worthless right now. Honestly, how much better are the games than the Dreamcast? I'd rather get the new Zelda game (which also came out today) than any game on the PS2, which says something about the longevity of the N64.
If you're buying it for the DVD instead of the games, what's the point? Buy a real DVD player and get the most out of those DVDs.
I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore. Just ranting on I guess. Did I have a point in there somewhere?
I, like every single NES owner in the world, also had this problem. Even this past summer, I could barely get one of those 42-in-one Asian carts. You know, the ones with 4 versions of Super Mario Bros., 2 versions of Tennis and at least 3 Galaxians on them. The screen would always flash green and black until I applied The Method.
Insert cart.
Press down on poorly conceived "VCR like" cartridge bay.
Turn on NES.
Watch green and black screens alternate.
Wiggle cartridge around a bit while NES is still on.
Watch as green and black screens become blue and white screens.
Remove cartridge.
Throw caution to the wind and disregard warning on back of cartridge by blowing on the connectors.
Re-insert cartridge and turn on power again.
Watch as scrambled sprites and backgrounds flash on the screen.
Wiggle cartridge some more.
Remove cartridge and blow on the connectors even harder. Wave cartridge around a bit just to be sure.
Insert, power on, pray, play.
Repeat procedure as necessary.
Many a times have I applied The Method to great results.
As a side note, does it seem strange to any of you just how indestructable those NES controllers were? I mean, they were built like brick shit houses. I've beaten those things silly and they just don't give in. Many a times have I taken one of the controllers by the cord and reamed it against the wall after constantly losing at the Adventures of Lolo, Ninja Gaiden and the nefarious last levels of Megaman. In my entire NES career, which includes up to this day, I've only replaced one controller. Meanwhile, I've gone through 2 MS Sidewinders in 2 years.
At my work, everything is Windows 98 and NT. The only exceptions are our Netware servers and the AS/400 that handles records and such. Everything, from DNS servers to mail servers, are all Microsoft.
So it was until I was hired 2.5 years ago, at which point I commandeered a slightly below average machine (P166, 24 MB of RAM) and installed linux. (RH 5.2 at the time.) I just wanted something stable to use for my workstation and something to play with and waste time.
The boss wasn't really concerned 'cause he trusts me, so I got to keep the rogue OS installed when it was discovered. (A co-worker tried the same thing with SuSE and had to dump it for some reason -- a shame.)
After a few months, the boss wanted that machine back into regular service, WinNT and all. So I came up with a nefarious plan -- I set up apache and made the thing into a web server, serving a tech support FAQ for the labs I worked in. (I was a student support tech at a university, you see.)
Now the system had been transformed from my simple toy/workstation to a server that students could use for help. It became indispensible and is still running to this day. The boss and a few of his cronies were impressed with the fact that in 2 years, it has only crashed once and only been rebooted, like, 8 times.
Word got around work how seriously stable linux was and I was offered another job -- setting up linux and unix servers for the entire system there. What started off as a toy suddenly became a phenomenon at work. Recently, I've set up:
a helpdesk system using MySQL, apache, PHP4 and IRM, a GPL'd helpdesk/tracking package. Gross cost of the system was $0, compared with the $20,000 for a package they were considering (for 2 seats!).
slash on another system for the students and faculty to use.
two weeks ago, I set up a Red Hat 6.2 box with apache/PHP4 on it for the frickin' web development department. These are the guys who are paid to know how set up servers and stuff on their own and they couldn't figure out how to get apache to compile.
this past week, I set up OpenBSD on a box which starting next week will take over for the WinNT DNS piece of crap they currently have running.
There's even talk of replacing their Exchange servers with some linux SMTPs, but that won't be my concern as I'm moving away.
The morale of the story is, businesses don't use linux because they assume because it is free and because it isn't Microsoft, it isn't worth their time. At my work, I showed them differently. My new boss is so impressed with linux and now OpenBSD that it's all he can talk about with his colleages. What was a predominantly WinNT environment has, over the past 2 years, slowly become more and more free, with many of their Internet servers making the jump from the crash-weekly NT to linux. None of the servers I've set up for them have crashed yet, and they simply cannot believe it, considering they didn't have to fork out big $$$ to Microsoft for any of the software, including the web servers, OS, etc, RDMBS, etc.
Show the management what it can do. Show them it's stable, affordable, reliable, roboust. I did, and it impressed the hell out them.
... aren't you allowed to make backup copies as it is on any media you wish, mp3s included? Isn't that fair use? If you own the CD, aren't you already allowed to make mp3s of them and send them off to your server at work from home via the Internet & ftp?
Isn't this bill redundant?
But then again, how many bills and laws aren't redundant. I guess everyone just needs to be formally told what their rights are. Eventually, every time we buy music we're going to get some Miranda rights telling us what we're allowed to do with the music.
If unix isn't really an OS then that means that linux isn't really an OS, so that line Microsoft has been feeding us about competition in the OS world must be bull. They really do have a monopoly!
... 'cause, after having tried it, the only thing I can sew is frickin' Pokemons.
Needless to say, it was rather difficult to explain why my pants were hemmed with Pikachu designs at work yesterday, and my Bulbasaur jacket has taken on a life of it's own recently.
Depends. I'm from Canada's East coast and sometimes, I wonder.
"L'ard tunderin' Jesus, bye, me server's been running up-backs one side by two, two side by none all friggin' nite and I stills gots more shit ta rite than a whore's got fleas."
Translation: Been running parallel backup's on my three servers all night, still have some data to write.
Then again, you American's have Alabama.
When's babelfish going to get a translation for Newfinese and Hick?
A pilot is flying a small, single-engine, charter plane with a couple of really important execs on board into Seattle airport. There is fog so thick that visibility is 40 feet, and his instruments are out. He circles looking for a landmark and after an hour, he is low on fuel and his passengers are very nervous. At last, through a small opening in the fog he sees a tall building with one guy working alone on the fifth floor.
Circling, the pilot banks and shouts through his open window: "Where am I?"
The solitary office worker replies: "You're in an airplane."
The pilot executes a swift 275 degree turn and executes a perfect blind landing on the airport's runway five miles away. Just as the plane stops, the engines cough and die from lack of fuel. The stunned passengers ask the pilot how he did it.
"Simple," replies the pilot, "I asked the guy in that building a simple question. The answer he gave me was 100% correct but absolutely useless; therefore, that must be Microsoft's support office and from there the airport is three minutes away on a course of 87 degrees."
We all need to go to grammar school I guess. Taco should set up a new section just for developments in grammar and spelling. It could be the most popular section on/..
If anybody is still having any delusions that the RIAA and Big Business are really out to protect their stable of cash cows, er, artists, the last few weeks destroy that notion. Courtney Love's share, anyone? Sony owning URLs for life? This Offspring deal? Etc. etc.?
Music companies could care less about their artists. And the sad thing is a lot of artists just let it happen, by not scouring contracts and not putting up a fight. Newer artists are just so happy to break into the business that they don't think about what'll happen to them in 6 months or a year. What if they leave their publisher after 5 albums and they want to set up a new web site? Oh, sucks to be you, artist, 'cause now instead of http://www.yourname.com you'll have to settle for http://listen.to/yourname, thank you very much SMEI.
The only artists now who still have the right to take a shit without their label's permission are the established, those who have been in the biz long enough that they make their own rules. But poor ol' Eiffel 65, N*SYNC and the rest (who I feel sorry for anyways, just listen to their "music") are pretty much screwed.
N*SYNC is particularly ironic -- ever see their new videos where they're being help up by strings like marionettes?
Speaking as a Canadian programmer who would one day like to work in the US (I'm just finishing up university in a few months), this really sucks. I know what a hastle it is just to get into the US using a student visa. (Passports, notarized affidavits from government agencies, bank statements.) One plan I had was to finish up university in the States and then start working there right out of college. (Or stay in Toronto, which ever was more feasible.)
Well, now it seems Toronto is the way to go. Getting to the States to study is a hastle enough, seems like staying there is even worse.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll admit, Super Mario 64 was incredible, one of the best launch games ever, possibly the best launch game ever. But with a $40 million budget and Shigeru Miyamoto behind it, how could it suck?
J
... I'm waiting for some real games to come out on the system.
Games always suck at a console's launch. It's a historical fact. The good games start coming out when the designers figure the system out. Did we have games like Zelda: The Ocarina of Time for the N64 at launch? Would we ever have thought such a game was possible? Or what about Metal Gear Solid? Hell, we didn't even get Quake until, well, it must have been at least 2 years after the PC was introduced.
There's only really one game at this point I even want to play on the PS2, and that's Metal Gear 2: Sons of Liberty. That game looks incredibly kick-ass. The original MGS rocked hard on the PSX, I'm sure the next one will be amazing.
Of course, if I get MGS2, it'll only be so long until I have to get Metal Gear Solid X, which is apparently coming out on the X-Box. Fuck. Next I suppose Konami will be releasing Metal Gear Solid GAMECUBE.
Anyways, back to my point, the PS2 is pretty much worthless right now. Honestly, how much better are the games than the Dreamcast? I'd rather get the new Zelda game (which also came out today) than any game on the PS2, which says something about the longevity of the N64.
If you're buying it for the DVD instead of the games, what's the point? Buy a real DVD player and get the most out of those DVDs.
I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore. Just ranting on I guess. Did I have a point in there somewhere?
J
That's what makes it even weirder. I noticed that the totals went up to 6 (and that none of them were troll) so I guess this is a bug.
And why pray tell does overrated == 1? Isn't that kind of the opposite of what would be expected? I suppose underrated is -1?
J
Is it just me or is this the highest moderated troll ever? Moderation Totals:Troll=4, Total=4?!
J
- Insert cart.
- Press down on poorly conceived "VCR like" cartridge bay.
- Turn on NES.
- Watch green and black screens alternate.
- Wiggle cartridge around a bit while NES is still on.
- Watch as green and black screens become blue and white screens.
- Remove cartridge.
- Throw caution to the wind and disregard warning on back of cartridge by blowing on the connectors.
- Re-insert cartridge and turn on power again.
- Watch as scrambled sprites and backgrounds flash on the screen.
- Wiggle cartridge some more.
- Remove cartridge and blow on the connectors even harder. Wave cartridge around a bit just to be sure.
- Insert, power on, pray, play.
- Repeat procedure as necessary.
Many a times have I applied The Method to great results.As a side note, does it seem strange to any of you just how indestructable those NES controllers were? I mean, they were built like brick shit houses. I've beaten those things silly and they just don't give in. Many a times have I taken one of the controllers by the cord and reamed it against the wall after constantly losing at the Adventures of Lolo, Ninja Gaiden and the nefarious last levels of Megaman. In my entire NES career, which includes up to this day, I've only replaced one controller. Meanwhile, I've gone through 2 MS Sidewinders in 2 years.
They don't make 'em like they used to I guess.
J
So it was until I was hired 2.5 years ago, at which point I commandeered a slightly below average machine (P166, 24 MB of RAM) and installed linux. (RH 5.2 at the time.) I just wanted something stable to use for my workstation and something to play with and waste time.
The boss wasn't really concerned 'cause he trusts me, so I got to keep the rogue OS installed when it was discovered. (A co-worker tried the same thing with SuSE and had to dump it for some reason -- a shame.)
After a few months, the boss wanted that machine back into regular service, WinNT and all. So I came up with a nefarious plan -- I set up apache and made the thing into a web server, serving a tech support FAQ for the labs I worked in. (I was a student support tech at a university, you see.)
Now the system had been transformed from my simple toy/workstation to a server that students could use for help. It became indispensible and is still running to this day. The boss and a few of his cronies were impressed with the fact that in 2 years, it has only crashed once and only been rebooted, like, 8 times.
Word got around work how seriously stable linux was and I was offered another job -- setting up linux and unix servers for the entire system there. What started off as a toy suddenly became a phenomenon at work. Recently, I've set up:
- a helpdesk system using MySQL, apache, PHP4 and IRM, a GPL'd helpdesk/tracking package. Gross cost of the system was $0, compared with the $20,000 for a package they were considering (for 2 seats!).
- slash on another system for the students and faculty to use.
- two weeks ago, I set up a Red Hat 6.2 box with apache/PHP4 on it for the frickin' web development department. These are the guys who are paid to know how set up servers and stuff on their own and they couldn't figure out how to get apache to compile.
- this past week, I set up OpenBSD on a box which starting next week will take over for the WinNT DNS piece of crap they currently have running.
There's even talk of replacing their Exchange servers with some linux SMTPs, but that won't be my concern as I'm moving away.The morale of the story is, businesses don't use linux because they assume because it is free and because it isn't Microsoft, it isn't worth their time. At my work, I showed them differently. My new boss is so impressed with linux and now OpenBSD that it's all he can talk about with his colleages. What was a predominantly WinNT environment has, over the past 2 years, slowly become more and more free, with many of their Internet servers making the jump from the crash-weekly NT to linux. None of the servers I've set up for them have crashed yet, and they simply cannot believe it, considering they didn't have to fork out big $$$ to Microsoft for any of the software, including the web servers, OS, etc, RDMBS, etc.
Show the management what it can do. Show them it's stable, affordable, reliable, roboust. I did, and it impressed the hell out them.
J
... aren't you allowed to make backup copies as it is on any media you wish, mp3s included? Isn't that fair use? If you own the CD, aren't you already allowed to make mp3s of them and send them off to your server at work from home via the Internet & ftp?
Isn't this bill redundant?
But then again, how many bills and laws aren't redundant. I guess everyone just needs to be formally told what their rights are. Eventually, every time we buy music we're going to get some Miranda rights telling us what we're allowed to do with the music.
J
If unix isn't really an OS then that means that linux isn't really an OS, so that line Microsoft has been feeding us about competition in the OS world must be bull. They really do have a monopoly!
J
... that nobody's made a Microsoft joke about the car literally crashing on Windows 2000.
c'mon, people.
J
Will these do?
t s.html
http://www -pe rsonal.umd.umich.edu/~nhughes/htmldocs/deepthough
J
The French would all explosively decompress in a shower of obnoxious, sticky goo.
Riiight... as if the French would ever be caught dead in a shower.
J
... 'cause, after having tried it, the only thing I can sew is frickin' Pokemons.
Needless to say, it was rather difficult to explain why my pants were hemmed with Pikachu designs at work yesterday, and my Bulbasaur jacket has taken on a life of it's own recently.
J
- Selling Free Software; and
- GNU General Public License.
JDid I not mention I'm from Canada's East coast? English is practically a second language there, the first being gibberish.
J
Depends. I'm from Canada's East coast and sometimes, I wonder.
"L'ard tunderin' Jesus, bye, me server's been running up-backs one side by two, two side by none all friggin' nite and I stills gots more shit ta rite than a whore's got fleas."
Translation: Been running parallel backup's on my three servers all night, still have some data to write.
Then again, you American's have Alabama.
When's babelfish going to get a translation for Newfinese and Hick?
J
A pilot is flying a small, single-engine, charter plane with a couple of really important execs on board into Seattle airport. There is fog so thick that visibility is 40 feet, and his instruments are out. He circles looking for a landmark and after an hour, he is low on fuel and his passengers are very nervous. At last, through a small opening in the fog he sees a tall building with one guy working alone on the fifth floor.
Circling, the pilot banks and shouts through his open window: "Where am I?"
The solitary office worker replies: "You're in an airplane."
The pilot executes a swift 275 degree turn and executes a perfect blind landing on the airport's runway five miles away. Just as the plane stops, the engines cough and die from lack of fuel. The stunned passengers ask the pilot how he did it.
"Simple," replies the pilot, "I asked the guy in that building a simple question. The answer he gave me was 100% correct but absolutely useless; therefore, that must be Microsoft's support office and from there the airport is three minutes away on a course of 87 degrees."
J
We all need to go to grammar school I guess. Taco should set up a new section just for developments in grammar and spelling. It could be the most popular section on /..
J
You take things too seriously, you know that?
J
Uh, oh, double negative.
There is such a thing as a free lunch.
And ain't ain't a word.
J
If anybody is still having any delusions that the RIAA and Big Business are really out to protect their stable of cash cows, er, artists, the last few weeks destroy that notion. Courtney Love's share, anyone? Sony owning URLs for life? This Offspring deal? Etc. etc.?
Music companies could care less about their artists. And the sad thing is a lot of artists just let it happen, by not scouring contracts and not putting up a fight. Newer artists are just so happy to break into the business that they don't think about what'll happen to them in 6 months or a year. What if they leave their publisher after 5 albums and they want to set up a new web site? Oh, sucks to be you, artist, 'cause now instead of http://www.yourname.com you'll have to settle for http://listen.to/yourname, thank you very much SMEI.
The only artists now who still have the right to take a shit without their label's permission are the established, those who have been in the biz long enough that they make their own rules. But poor ol' Eiffel 65, N*SYNC and the rest (who I feel sorry for anyways, just listen to their "music") are pretty much screwed.
N*SYNC is particularly ironic -- ever see their new videos where they're being help up by strings like marionettes?
Puppets indeed.
J
Just because the West Edmonton Mall has more submarines than the Canadian navy doesn't give you the right to laugh at our miliary.
J
wasting too much time
forgot Option Explicit
time for bugs galore
J
Well, Microsoft started off with 2...
Although I doubt that Red Hat will become Microsoft.
J
Speaking as a Canadian programmer who would one day like to work in the US (I'm just finishing up university in a few months), this really sucks. I know what a hastle it is just to get into the US using a student visa. (Passports, notarized affidavits from government agencies, bank statements.) One plan I had was to finish up university in the States and then start working there right out of college. (Or stay in Toronto, which ever was more feasible.)
Well, now it seems Toronto is the way to go. Getting to the States to study is a hastle enough, seems like staying there is even worse.
J
J