The "blown out of proportions" problem can happen with any complicated product. Try finding a forum about your car, like VW Vortex or Mazda. It could be that the problem happens with less than 3% of units produced, but if you read the forums it'll sound like it happens to everyone and you should fear for the lifespan of your product.
Let me guess, you live in a densely populated area or close to a major urban center? There aren't lots of office buildings and jobs where a college degree matter when you go out to rural areas. Wal-Mart is the straw that breaks the camel's back. If all the local businesses shut down, there's no choice but to work at Wal-Mart.
Project Gotham Racing 2 has the best difficulty curve I've seen. Basic/bronze medals are very easy to get, and give you a good feel for the course. Silver medals are the sweet spot, you won't have trouble if you are good, but it's not a cakewalk. Gold medals will take some retries, and platinum medals are punishment:)
Not to mention that you get to see your Kudos rank on Xbox Live after each course. It was a motivating factor to keep playing because I kept getting higher and higher on the lists.
Yeah, I had that in the back of my mind when I originally posted. It's really up to the consumer. Some people play Final Fantasy for 70+ hours to get every character to level 99, some people listen to the same CDs over and over, I think it breaks even.
No, it does not apply to music as well as it does to games. You can't put 8 compressed games onto 1 CD. You don't rip individual levels out of games to make a mixgame.
This argument is a very flogged horse, but the fact remains. The dollar to entertainment value of video games is superior to music CDs. If the average game is 10 hours (and that's being very generous), that's $5 per hour. A regular CD is $12-15 for an hour, even shorter some of the time. I'd say the magic price point is around $7-8 for CDs. If I were a betting man, I would wager that the RIAA would see a massive increase in sales. But they've never done anything logical before, so why start now?
Everyone seems to be against having singles show up in games, the main reason being the music is no good. I've got news for you: NFL Street/Madden/SSX/etc. are "mainstream" games. That means a lot of casual gamers will play these games and casual gamers are more likely to dig the music. Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. It's better than generic menu music, and if it bothers you so much then turn it off.
EA has done a decent job so far of using licensed music in a good way. The in-game music for NFL/NBA Street goes along with the gameplay quite well. If you don't like hip-hop/turntablism then it's not going to be appealing.
Microsoft has done the best job of using licensed music so far in Project Gotham Racing 2. You race through multiple cities all over the world, and the radio stations are real stations in those cities with the real DJs. I was impressed that WPGC 95.5 in Washington DC even had a couple go-go (club/party reggae-ish music that's huge in DC) tracks in its playlist. Plus the actual music was decent and turned me on to some new bands.
Would I have been happy if Viewtiful Joe had music from a bunch of nu-metal bands? Hell no! But if sports/racing/dance games want to use licensed music, it's a whole lot better than some generic techno the sound guy threw together.
(That statement excludes Daytona USA... DAY-TON-AHHHHHH! Let's go away!)
I think the difference here is that it's *your* character. There could be 50 different girls dressed up as Yuna at any convention, but your Sims costume will be 100% unique.
However, whoever organized this did so for one reason... to get laid.
When did you notice the difficulty start going up? I was 88-2 and got sick of having to win 500 matches to enter the tournament for each arcade. I found the only difference between 1st kyu and 1st dan to be that against the dan, you have to block.
It's been done, sort of. In the early 90's, Sega created an arcade game called R-360. It was similar to After Burner, except the machine had full rotation. It never became popular due to the fact that it needed a dedicated arcade tech, in case the machine got stuck. If I wasn't at work I'd find some pics/info.
I don't know how to put this very well, so my post may not make sense. That being said, there seems to be a similarity between indie games and indie music.
If I were itching to play a FPS, would I rather play Half-Life 2 (hypothetically) or a indie FPS created by a 3-man team? Personally, I'd choose to play HL2, and I think 9 out of 10 people would make the same choice.
Likewise, if I were itching to listen to some rock, would I rather listen to some Led Zeppelin or some indie band that sounds a little bit like Led Zeppelin? Again, the mainstream choice would probably win.
What I'm getting at is, indie developers should strive to innovate like the previously mentioned Puzzle Pirates and Stair Dismount. The same goes with indie music where bands who do something interesting get recognition. The band Cursive comes to mind for including a cello along with their guitar rock.
It's circular logic, but indie games that copy mainstream games have a problem. A new twist on the game concept is added, which may be very cool, however the entire package doesn't stack up to the original material. But if the entire package was/is great, the chances of being bought and published by a large company goes up.
I'm not even considering the presence of indie snobs who define themselves by being "indie", and automatically assume a game published by EA is the worst thing ever.
His point about music transcending technical limits is spot on. Whether you hear it out of a mono speaker on a 13" TV, or performed by an orchestra, the Mario Main Theme is awesome.
But why hate on pixelart? It certainly gave characters, well, more character. I used to make Marios on graph paper because I knew how many squares to use. Check out Diesel Sweeties for an awesome pixelart webcomic.
miniPod to get you buying songs from iTMS. Buy a bunch of songs from iTMS, until they no longer fit on the miniPod. Buy an iPod to be able to fit all the music. Buy a G5 because you've taken a hit of that Mac crack and can't turn back. World domination.
Blackknight is right, any scheduled recording can still take place while you're playing games. Also, there's a pause button for games, but not pressing Start. It just freezes the game exactly how it was, something akin to an emulator.
Karaoke Revolution is not an actual part of the Bemani series since it's developed by Harmonix, the company behind Frequency/Amplitude (those 2 titles were published by SCEA.)
You are completely wrong. The games in Mario Party do not last only 3-5 seconds, and Mario Party gives you the controls for each game before you start. Until you've played it for awhile, you have no idea what to do in each microgame and you've gotta figure it out fast. I don't think you've actually played WW, MP or possibly either.
Since you decided to bold it up and make it your most important point, I'll tell you now that you're flat out wrong. Game return policies are getting to be the same as CDs and DVDs, if it's open, it's not coming back or only getting exchanged for the same thing. Of course, this has always been the policy of big retail chains (Best Buy and Toys R Us to name a couple). The specialty chains are going the same direction too, they'd much rather have you trade in your games than give you full price back.
Why is anyone surprised by this? Sure, it doesn't make sense for Playmore to do this. Some of the guys on the Neo-Geo board said they had emailed the company and asked about censorship, and Playmore told them there would be none. Obviously people at the company had the wrong information.
As anyone who's been a Neo-Geo fan since the beginning knows, this is nothing new. There was this same outcry back in the early 90's when KOF '94 came out. Good thing it can be reversed on the MVS by changing the region.
As for the PS2 port, it shouldn't make a difference except to hardcore fans. And if you won't play a game because it doesn't have blood and boobs, I suggest you find some other hobby.
I drive sports cars that get lower mpg when under 70mph
I'm calling bullshit on this. Since you say 'sports cars' I figure you're driving a manual transmission with either 5 or 6 gears. There is absolutely no way you can't go 60 in 5th or 6th and have lower RPM than 70mph and above.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is currently available on Xbox. If you haven't played a MGS game before, I'd try to start with MGS1, but it's still fun to play even if the story doesn't make as much sense as it should.
There is no discount on game consoles. I'm 99% certain that if you look at the inventory database of any major retail chain, their cost on a GameCube or PS2 is going to be within $5 of the retail price. When I worked at CompUSA, the GameCubes were priced at $199.99 and our cost was $201.46 shortly after release.
Re:Game mods are the best card for PC games
on
NYT on Game Mods
·
· Score: 1
At least in the case of Half-Life 2, don't you think Microsoft/Sierra will see dollar signs as soon as a mod gets a buzz around it like Counter-Strike? The Xbox does have a hard drive, and there is a content distribution model in Xbox Live. They'd probably charge $5 along the lines of the new MechAssault content, but it could certainly be worth it.
I'll be getting HL2 for the Xbox, if only because I don't bother to have a gaming PC.
Slashdot Mirror
The "blown out of proportions" problem can happen with any complicated product. Try finding a forum about your car, like VW Vortex or Mazda. It could be that the problem happens with less than 3% of units produced, but if you read the forums it'll sound like it happens to everyone and you should fear for the lifespan of your product.
Let me guess, you live in a densely populated area or close to a major urban center? There aren't lots of office buildings and jobs where a college degree matter when you go out to rural areas. Wal-Mart is the straw that breaks the camel's back. If all the local businesses shut down, there's no choice but to work at Wal-Mart.
Project Gotham Racing 2 has the best difficulty curve I've seen. Basic/bronze medals are very easy to get, and give you a good feel for the course. Silver medals are the sweet spot, you won't have trouble if you are good, but it's not a cakewalk. Gold medals will take some retries, and platinum medals are punishment :)
Not to mention that you get to see your Kudos rank on Xbox Live after each course. It was a motivating factor to keep playing because I kept getting higher and higher on the lists.
Yeah, I had that in the back of my mind when I originally posted. It's really up to the consumer. Some people play Final Fantasy for 70+ hours to get every character to level 99, some people listen to the same CDs over and over, I think it breaks even.
No, it does not apply to music as well as it does to games. You can't put 8 compressed games onto 1 CD. You don't rip individual levels out of games to make a mixgame.
This argument is a very flogged horse, but the fact remains. The dollar to entertainment value of video games is superior to music CDs. If the average game is 10 hours (and that's being very generous), that's $5 per hour. A regular CD is $12-15 for an hour, even shorter some of the time. I'd say the magic price point is around $7-8 for CDs. If I were a betting man, I would wager that the RIAA would see a massive increase in sales. But they've never done anything logical before, so why start now?
Everyone seems to be against having singles show up in games, the main reason being the music is no good. I've got news for you: NFL Street/Madden/SSX/etc. are "mainstream" games. That means a lot of casual gamers will play these games and casual gamers are more likely to dig the music. Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. It's better than generic menu music, and if it bothers you so much then turn it off.
EA has done a decent job so far of using licensed music in a good way. The in-game music for NFL/NBA Street goes along with the gameplay quite well. If you don't like hip-hop/turntablism then it's not going to be appealing.
Microsoft has done the best job of using licensed music so far in Project Gotham Racing 2. You race through multiple cities all over the world, and the radio stations are real stations in those cities with the real DJs. I was impressed that WPGC 95.5 in Washington DC even had a couple go-go (club/party reggae-ish music that's huge in DC) tracks in its playlist. Plus the actual music was decent and turned me on to some new bands.
Would I have been happy if Viewtiful Joe had music from a bunch of nu-metal bands? Hell no! But if sports/racing/dance games want to use licensed music, it's a whole lot better than some generic techno the sound guy threw together.
(That statement excludes Daytona USA... DAY-TON-AHHHHHH! Let's go away!)
I think the difference here is that it's *your* character. There could be 50 different girls dressed up as Yuna at any convention, but your Sims costume will be 100% unique.
However, whoever organized this did so for one reason... to get laid.
When did you notice the difficulty start going up? I was 88-2 and got sick of having to win 500 matches to enter the tournament for each arcade. I found the only difference between 1st kyu and 1st dan to be that against the dan, you have to block.
It's been done, sort of. In the early 90's, Sega created an arcade game called R-360. It was similar to After Burner, except the machine had full rotation. It never became popular due to the fact that it needed a dedicated arcade tech, in case the machine got stuck. If I wasn't at work I'd find some pics/info.
I don't know how to put this very well, so my post may not make sense. That being said, there seems to be a similarity between indie games and indie music.
If I were itching to play a FPS, would I rather play Half-Life 2 (hypothetically) or a indie FPS created by a 3-man team? Personally, I'd choose to play HL2, and I think 9 out of 10 people would make the same choice.
Likewise, if I were itching to listen to some rock, would I rather listen to some Led Zeppelin or some indie band that sounds a little bit like Led Zeppelin? Again, the mainstream choice would probably win.
What I'm getting at is, indie developers should strive to innovate like the previously mentioned Puzzle Pirates and Stair Dismount. The same goes with indie music where bands who do something interesting get recognition. The band Cursive comes to mind for including a cello along with their guitar rock.
It's circular logic, but indie games that copy mainstream games have a problem. A new twist on the game concept is added, which may be very cool, however the entire package doesn't stack up to the original material. But if the entire package was/is great, the chances of being bought and published by a large company goes up.
I'm not even considering the presence of indie snobs who define themselves by being "indie", and automatically assume a game published by EA is the worst thing ever.
His point about music transcending technical limits is spot on. Whether you hear it out of a mono speaker on a 13" TV, or performed by an orchestra, the Mario Main Theme is awesome.
But why hate on pixelart? It certainly gave characters, well, more character. I used to make Marios on graph paper because I knew how many squares to use. Check out Diesel Sweeties for an awesome pixelart webcomic.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
I think it works more like this...
miniPod to get you buying songs from iTMS.
Buy a bunch of songs from iTMS, until they no longer fit on the miniPod.
Buy an iPod to be able to fit all the music.
Buy a G5 because you've taken a hit of that Mac crack and can't turn back.
World domination.
Blackknight is right, any scheduled recording can still take place while you're playing games. Also, there's a pause button for games, but not pressing Start. It just freezes the game exactly how it was, something akin to an emulator.
Karaoke Revolution is not an actual part of the Bemani series since it's developed by Harmonix, the company behind Frequency/Amplitude (those 2 titles were published by SCEA.)
You are completely wrong. The games in Mario Party do not last only 3-5 seconds, and Mario Party gives you the controls for each game before you start. Until you've played it for awhile, you have no idea what to do in each microgame and you've gotta figure it out fast. I don't think you've actually played WW, MP or possibly either.
Your point is very important, due to 'equal protection' under law.
The real question is, is it possible to create a game-to-movie conversion?
Oh, I can think of one.
Please stop stealing ideas from Parker Lewis Can't Lose!
Since you decided to bold it up and make it your most important point, I'll tell you now that you're flat out wrong. Game return policies are getting to be the same as CDs and DVDs, if it's open, it's not coming back or only getting exchanged for the same thing. Of course, this has always been the policy of big retail chains (Best Buy and Toys R Us to name a couple). The specialty chains are going the same direction too, they'd much rather have you trade in your games than give you full price back.
Why is anyone surprised by this? Sure, it doesn't make sense for Playmore to do this. Some of the guys on the Neo-Geo board said they had emailed the company and asked about censorship, and Playmore told them there would be none. Obviously people at the company had the wrong information.
As anyone who's been a Neo-Geo fan since the beginning knows, this is nothing new. There was this same outcry back in the early 90's when KOF '94 came out. Good thing it can be reversed on the MVS by changing the region.
As for the PS2 port, it shouldn't make a difference except to hardcore fans. And if you won't play a game because it doesn't have blood and boobs, I suggest you find some other hobby.
I drive sports cars that get lower mpg when under 70mph
I'm calling bullshit on this. Since you say 'sports cars' I figure you're driving a manual transmission with either 5 or 6 gears. There is absolutely no way you can't go 60 in 5th or 6th and have lower RPM than 70mph and above.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is currently available on Xbox. If you haven't played a MGS game before, I'd try to start with MGS1, but it's still fun to play even if the story doesn't make as much sense as it should.
There is no discount on game consoles. I'm 99% certain that if you look at the inventory database of any major retail chain, their cost on a GameCube or PS2 is going to be within $5 of the retail price. When I worked at CompUSA, the GameCubes were priced at $199.99 and our cost was $201.46 shortly after release.
At least in the case of Half-Life 2, don't you think Microsoft/Sierra will see dollar signs as soon as a mod gets a buzz around it like Counter-Strike? The Xbox does have a hard drive, and there is a content distribution model in Xbox Live. They'd probably charge $5 along the lines of the new MechAssault content, but it could certainly be worth it.
I'll be getting HL2 for the Xbox, if only because I don't bother to have a gaming PC.