But maybe an add on. Microsoft could send out "cradles" made of some wire-frame and a fan (seperate powersource) for the P/S. It would elevate the supply and keep it cool. There would probably be a longer cord that leads into the 360, I'd say about 20-30'. Plus an A/C reimbursment check for those too-toasty winter nights of Perfect Dark.
Then again, maybe they'll just tell you too keep it in the mini-fridge, with your beer.
I'll have to check into the VMWare sometime. I just use XP on my laptop for Games and Photoshop and use a 700MHz box with 2000 as a splashgaurd for any browsing. I've been thinking about making an original ghost of my laptop drive (IE nothing installed but the latest drivers), and getting a second HDD for it so I can plug in around town or at friends' houses without carring about infection.
I knew a few people in college that could have showed me all about Linux and had a RedHat distro running on that box for a while, but never found myself too attatched to it. With all the new distros (it's been four years) maybe something will catch my eye, but for now Photoshop and the few games I play are basicaly the only things that hold me back from heavy experimenting.
Apple looks like a real bargain when you think of what this guy's time is worth. Or even what yours is.
I actually don't charge much at all. Usually by the job, not by the hour, and I drive out to the house, if it's close by (10-15 miles) I won't charge for gas. 40 bucks to clean off your PC and set you up with whatever you want to use for protection, as long as they pay for it. The really bad computers are 80 to 100, but I rarely ever hit 100 bucks unless I'm at if for a couple hours and have to self clean the registries, I also try to catch the deep-set self-perpetuating malware that's got itself embeded so far in the dll's that it can't be erased. Some of these are very difficult to track. So far, though, I've only had to recommend a complete re-install twice.
After all that I try to educate them so they don't have to call me again. It's better for business if they want to recommend me to their friends. It's not a full-time job, either. I may do two or three a month. Just extra spending money.
For the last few years, I've been contracting to clean both spyware and malware off of Windows PCs. I've been using SpyBot and Hijack this and eventualy found a few more programs that I really like to replace Norton and McAffee's products for those users.
I post this comment because I've been finding that, more and more, people complain to me of slower and slower systems. Well, the biggest problem is that people I've helped out are subscribing to up to five anti-virus programs at a time. You get great tips when you can take a PC's boot time from over five minutes down below a minute thirty. People are so afraid of getting spyware and virusus that they don't mind running their computers as if they were 286 boxes.
I kid you not, some of these PCs have taken over eight minutes just from power on to system idle process. Opening MSConfig takes over two minutes in some cases. All those anti-virus programs and these guys' PCs are still so full of spy/malware and other crap that it takes twenty minutes just to boot, kill off some processes, edit the boot file, and turn it off.
My honest opinion? Install one anti-virus, a different firewall, and a spyware watcher like SpyBot (as long as they play nice). Next, if you really are that desperate for free programs, movies, porn, then get a seperate box for the P2P software and browsing free movie sites or whatever (unless that's the only reason you own one, you sorry soul, you). That's your firewall. Any internet stuff outside of casual browsing, or updates/patching is done on the POS PC and if you need something on your good computer (work or gaming PC), then burn it to disk for the transfer. Don't even share your files. It's a lot easier to catch malware that way.
"now available for $29.99 at Wal-Mart and quality electronics retailers nationwide" Implies that Wal-Mart is not a quality electronics retailer... which is true.
A friend of mine worked in the electronics dept. at Wal Mart for around four years. He had a defeated look on his face whenever he was working. Customers who shop at Wal-Mart, typically, are not looking for quality. He can tell endless stories of store patrons asking why the Sony DVD player for $130 was so much more than the $30 APEX. He tried to tell them about digital out, but that didn't matter because 90% of the time they also needed an A/V to RF adapter for a 15" B/W TV. Stories of customers who would bitch because they bought a new DVD player and (I kid you not) it wouldn't play their tapes.
Yes, these stories are recent. Yes, we live in a metropolitan/suburban area.
No, you're not. I'm in the same boat. I don't even know how I got the game. Found the CD in my house and my family claimed they didn't know where it came from. I threw it on my computer thinking that all the sim games had been great, so this one would not be an exception.
I created some charecters and was dissapointed at the lack of charecter models. Didn't like any of them. Then I bought them a house... Tried to get them to do stuff. They wouldn't get up for work. There was trash everywhere. They wouldn't clean the house. I tried to set the house on fire, but there was no blowtorches. I sufficed for leaving the stove on, but I don't think that worked... Then I realized that somehow, the game knew exactly how my family was organized. Boring, lazy, and watched too much TV.
Quickly, I got rid of the TV, now they were boring, lazy, and angry. (I actualy did this, in a way, in real life. I hate watching TV, but it's all my family did, I would go out to the cable box and rip out our connector, figuring nobody could get angry at me as we were stealing it anyway).
In minutes I got sick of it and boxed up the house, turned time up and went to class for the day. Came back that night and one of them wasn't dead... I uninstalled the game and passed it to a friend of mine... who has played it incessently ever since.
True story. I was in my friends' dorm about three years ago. I was chilling with on of them talking about his latest "physics" experement (had something to do with a go-kart and a '91 Honda 600cc crotch rocket engine, IIRC). We heard this noise coming from the absent roommate's speakers. At first I ignored it, but it got kind of annoying after a minute. I assumed it was a screen saver or something, so I moved his mouse around and as the screen returned, there on his AOL client was some kid completely naked masturbating like he'd never noticed his penis before and just saw two chicks making out. Guy was staring into the webcam. It took me a second to figure it out, it's not something you'd really ever be prepared for. I looked into the camera and a small look of confusion came over the lude fellow, and he quickly reached for the keyboard and was not heard from again.
Anyway, I mentioned it to the computer's owner and as it turns out, apparently this guy was his friends "roommate" at a different college and thought that he was screwing with the roommate's girlfriend. Don't know why he'd be embarassed if he was willing to wack it in front of his roommates girlfriend, but whatever.
Thank you for defining the difference between "stupid sheep" and "smart sheep." I agree with you almost completely. I don't force people to believe me ever. Bottom line, I will tell you what I'm about, it's your choice if you want to listen or tell me to shut up. I'm always vocal about my faith and I'm likely to offend a few people, but I don't care. Just like you don't care if you offend me by looking at Porn or drinking yourself silly (or both).
By no means ask me to condone it. By no means expect/force me to change my beliefs. If you don't think I've looked at things from your angle, you're wrong. I have many close friends who are Islamic, Jewish, Buddhists, Christians, Pagans, and atheists (and I love every one of them). I have heard a lot of arguments either way about gaming, abortion, gambling, the Ananoki (very interesting), and a whole lot more. You know what I do? I honestly think about every new argument, every new angle. So, if you tell me something and I brush it off, it's because I've heard it before and have already made my decision. Give me a new angle, and I'll take the time to look at it again.
I'll be damned (literally), though, if I'm going to sit back and watch other people run my life without taking a stand (just like they are) for my rights and beliefs. Fire and brimstone? Sometimes, but it's rarely neccessary. Mostly being motivated by love is all I need.
I agree completely. The problem is that when the state funds these programs, people are often too proud to use them. I work in health care and there is a very generous state aid program that protects the middle class from small to astronomical bill amounts, but people are too proud half the time to use it.
Back in the day you could trust your kids were at some church youth group some nights, but those days are gone now. Nobody trusts anyone. But that isn't even the problem. Most of the time it's because somebody trusts the wrong person (say, priests, in general, are not all bad) to be a role model. A lot could be fixed if parents took a much more active role and held those our children interact with accountable for all their actions. And vice-versa. As the phrase goes, "It takes a village to raise a child."
It's not just the family structure that's been breaking down (some laws help, others hinder), but the community structure as well. I guess it's a lot easier to hide at home and complain about other people's beliefs than just accept it and move on (all those people who want churches to keep from being seen from state highways/freeways). Those churches have every same freedom of expression to walk up into your face and tell you you're going to hell as you do to tell them you think their God doesn't exist and they should find a real job.
I've considered using such things in my house as an intruder deterrent, the problem is that MN laws protect the intruder before the homeowner. If you set up a "booby trap" (I kid you not, it's in the state laws) you lose your rights faster than that SOB who thought it was his moral obligation to relieve you of some of your worldly possesions.
I've been doing northern shaolin kung fu for a long time now. If there's anything I've learned, it's that even a half pound weight on your arms makes a big difference. I agree wholely with you that the average gamer should be able to handle 4-6oz of controller, seeing as we alread do, just most of us tend to not flail it about.
Seriously, though, there could easily be an add-on that makes the controller 5 pounds and includes a work-out video. Maybe you'd get points for how well you could stick to the routine. It could even teach you some of the movements of kung fu, tai kwon do, and the like. Maybe even be able to pysically battle somebody over the wifi across the world. It's a different matter when it's a question of who can mash buttons faster, but who's fists are faster? Hmmm?
All in all, with a 3D space to work with (even if the videos have been exagerated) the possibilities really are wide open. I'm giddy with excitement.
Offtopic, but a friend of mine was just shipped his new computer. He spent around 2500 for a video/sound-editing rig with a P4 3.2GHz and GeForce 5x00... not too sure on this, but GPU has a fan. Anyway, he loaded up one of the games that came with the Audigy 4. (Hitman Contracts?...) Thing shut down 10 to 20 seconds after the game booted into playable modes.
I instantly tore the thing apart, assuming he'd been sent an overclocked CPU instead of what he ordered. Nope, he got the processor he order. On further inspection, I found that the sound card was blocking airflow to the GPU. There was a whooping 3.5mm of clearance. Way to go guys! I wish I could remember who built it so I could offer a repremand.
Anyway, switched the sound card with the tiny modem card (don't know why they gave him a modem, he's got high-speed) and it doesn't have a problem....
I'm kinda glad the GPU can shut the thing off now too, or he'd be SOL (seeing as a lot of these no-name companys won't do jack for you even if it was their shoddy job).
From TFA "My personal opinion is that there should absolutely be more AO-rated product available in the market. While I'm not a First Amendment absolutist, I believe in expression, and I also would hope that like music and movies adults interested in purely adult content should be able to purchase or rent similar content on differing media"
He also speaks in favor of Jack Thomson's efforts saying that the only front he disagrees with is the limitation of MA or AO games to the public in general... which is the only issue Thompson ever argues about (well, I know he'd like it banned, but that's not going to happen).
Personally, I agree that certain content should NEVER fall into the hands of minors. I don't care what the parents say. There is no such thing as a non-impressionable teenager. You can tell me how independent you or your kids are, but right up till you die your environment has an impact on you.
Any parent who thinks their 13 year old son is old enough to handle extreme violence (killing bystanders for fun), sexuality (nudity, scantally clad women/men doing their thing, porn), or drug use (the support of it) in any video games/movies (very few exceptions) more than likely would rather let the game machine and TV raise thier kids than step up to the plate. At any rate, they're not okay in my book.
The article doesn't make much sense, and it's kind of hard to understand if this guy's got a point.
They're worried about their wallets. This guy doesn't care what's actually in the game. Free speech is to keep voices from being quelled on a political front, for the most part. They aren't being silenced anyway. We aren't violating free speech, we're protecting our kids', and thier future's!
I actually feel sorry for Lacie. In this case, somebody might have been watching the network activity and thinking, "Hey, things are looking up!" Just then the server starts shaking. The coffee pot mysterously drains into nowhere. Smoke rises from the PSU's, the redundent power supplies buzz and spurt, with every attempt at survival. The netadmin's smile turns to a look of horror, "No, this can't be. NOOOOOOOO!!! DAMN YOU SLASHDOT!"
Re:"Several posts" on a few boards = "very" unstab
on
Xbox 360 Very Unstable
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· Score: 1
I agree, the only time I ever saw a BSOD for Windows 2k was when installing the first set of ATI's Radeon drivers. Those were the most buggy drivers I've ever delt with. After a while they were fixed, but for while I couldn't do much gaming on that box.
XP is worse, however. I'm not going to put it down... too bad, but I think 2k was a lot more stable and handled issues a lot better. XP seems to run most anything, but it doesn't do it well. Also, the compatablity modes have never worked for me. But it's always a breath of fresh air to go back to a buggy XP install from working on ANY '98 machine (or SHUTTER a ME machine... I just won't touch them).
I've been dealing with ads in my favorite video games since the first. Gran Turismo. Tires, cars, mod shops. The ads are plastered all over the track. Do I care? Not at all. Because it's in context.
Now, let's say I'm playing Jade Empire and some guy holds a sign that tries to sell me some toothpaste.. okay, I suppose that might be feasable. As long as I can ignore it. Now, if it's some sort of pop-up ad? That would turn me off instantly. I would never buy a game that forced me to read an add. Unless... take Jade Empire again. I'm running around. Random guy X wants to talk to me and forces me to listen to some shpeel about some toilet paper that's triple ply and has fourteen more squares per roll than the leading brand. I'd be pissed.... unless I can kill him and never worry about it again. And, idealy, I'd get good guy points for doing so.
There are too many people who think their opinions matter to the public. There are definatly too many people who are getting paid to tell us thier opionions. I get sick of all the Gamespot, IGN, EGM, GamePro, PSM, Nintendo Power, and anybody else that reviews a game. Lately, I've come to rely on the opionions of people who are dumbenoughto buy most of the games I don't want to play. That is, if my friends haven't played them first. If they give a good review, and I end up profiting for it, I slip 'em a few bucks via paypal. If not, I need not worry (no offense for the dumb enough comment, but they've weeded out some terrible games for me). They don't have to be restrained when they want to go on a two paragraph rant about the play control in game X, or the absurdness of the story line.
I'm not saying shut down all the media, I'm saying shut down the media ego. Yes, thank you for playing the game long before I can. Yes, thank you for telling me the quality of the graphics and sound. No, thank you, I'd rather not read a fourteen page blowout of Halo 2/DOA Ultimate/Fable. No, thank you, I don't need you to fill half the rag with opionions from editors about what it was like to be at E3. And so on...
I believe the main difference between selling the PSOne and X-Box would be profit. Microsoft still loses money on every X-Box they produce. They've also halted all their 1st party developement of X-Box games and are concentrating resources upon the 360.
Sony's PSOne sells at a profit and they don't need to make large quanties of the units for that profit (almost every part, IIRC is manufactured in-house).
So, it only makes sense to produce legacy devices that will turn a profit. Perhaps Microsoft could make a (much) smaller version of the old X Box that was fully compatible (which is feasable these days) with the old library with all embedded technology on a single board with a HDD and DVD rom, but it's not likely seeing as they'd need nVidia's cooperation.
If you want cops to get pissed at you for breaking the law, try out the Driver series. The first two were great because they incorporated following the law while you were on missions.
Missions included get this car across town and don't let the cops spot you. Don't let the car have a scratch. Sometimes it was harder and you had a time limit. If a cop appeared on the radar, you had to stop at lights, not speed, and definately not pass cops going the same way. Usually you could get away with turning off the road. The only real complaint I would have is that the cops could see "through" the buildings with thier vision. So, they knew if you were speeding whether you could see them or not.
Like I said, the first two were amazing games. Driv3r was actually pretty bad. It was too much like GTA. Steal a car, do a mission... didn't like it at all. Heck, Driver was about driving, not shoot-outs. The physics were great. If you turned too much you'd lose control of the vehicle and go into a powerslide. There wasn't a speedometer which almost added to the immersion. Essentially, you either went with the flow of traffic, faster, slower, or top speed. The cars would even flip if you dug the tires into sand or turf. I mean, it's nice to be able to nab a new car if the mission allows it, but it isn't necessary to make the game more challenging.
I suppose a hybrid of Driver and The Getaway (IE good control outside of the vehicle) would make for a great game. And, if you haven't noticed, I'm more about the driving aspect. I could care less about shooting at people. I'd rather play any other FPS than GTA.
You could just drop your arguement and buy a headphone to RCA jack. That's the cheapest and most simple solution. I'm sure you know this, but arguing for the sake of an argument is rather pointless. And it makes you look kinda dumb.
They believe demand will be constant no matter what price is or quality of the product.
Agreed. After all, have you seen the price of CDs at Borders or Barnes and Noble lately? Astronoical (even though the latter seems to be having a "sale"). Save five bucks and hit up Target or, if you have to, WalMart.
Of course, if you don't live in the states, I'm basically talking out of my ass. I know prices get jacked even higher for Europe. It's absurd.
And, hey, if it makes it easier for smaller bands to get off the ground, then more power to 'em. Given the choice, most people will go with what they know it it's the same cost as taking a leap of faith on music they haven't heard. Even at ten or possibly twenty cents cheaper, I'd be more likely to try out a lot of music.
Slashdot Mirror
Then again, maybe they'll just tell you too keep it in the mini-fridge, with your beer.
I knew a few people in college that could have showed me all about Linux and had a RedHat distro running on that box for a while, but never found myself too attatched to it. With all the new distros (it's been four years) maybe something will catch my eye, but for now Photoshop and the few games I play are basicaly the only things that hold me back from heavy experimenting.
I actually don't charge much at all. Usually by the job, not by the hour, and I drive out to the house, if it's close by (10-15 miles) I won't charge for gas. 40 bucks to clean off your PC and set you up with whatever you want to use for protection, as long as they pay for it. The really bad computers are 80 to 100, but I rarely ever hit 100 bucks unless I'm at if for a couple hours and have to self clean the registries, I also try to catch the deep-set self-perpetuating malware that's got itself embeded so far in the dll's that it can't be erased. Some of these are very difficult to track. So far, though, I've only had to recommend a complete re-install twice.
After all that I try to educate them so they don't have to call me again. It's better for business if they want to recommend me to their friends. It's not a full-time job, either. I may do two or three a month. Just extra spending money.
I post this comment because I've been finding that, more and more, people complain to me of slower and slower systems. Well, the biggest problem is that people I've helped out are subscribing to up to five anti-virus programs at a time. You get great tips when you can take a PC's boot time from over five minutes down below a minute thirty. People are so afraid of getting spyware and virusus that they don't mind running their computers as if they were 286 boxes.
I kid you not, some of these PCs have taken over eight minutes just from power on to system idle process. Opening MSConfig takes over two minutes in some cases. All those anti-virus programs and these guys' PCs are still so full of spy/malware and other crap that it takes twenty minutes just to boot, kill off some processes, edit the boot file, and turn it off.
My honest opinion? Install one anti-virus, a different firewall, and a spyware watcher like SpyBot (as long as they play nice). Next, if you really are that desperate for free programs, movies, porn, then get a seperate box for the P2P software and browsing free movie sites or whatever (unless that's the only reason you own one, you sorry soul, you). That's your firewall. Any internet stuff outside of casual browsing, or updates/patching is done on the POS PC and if you need something on your good computer (work or gaming PC), then burn it to disk for the transfer. Don't even share your files. It's a lot easier to catch malware that way.
A friend of mine worked in the electronics dept. at Wal Mart for around four years. He had a defeated look on his face whenever he was working. Customers who shop at Wal-Mart, typically, are not looking for quality. He can tell endless stories of store patrons asking why the Sony DVD player for $130 was so much more than the $30 APEX. He tried to tell them about digital out, but that didn't matter because 90% of the time they also needed an A/V to RF adapter for a 15" B/W TV. Stories of customers who would bitch because they bought a new DVD player and (I kid you not) it wouldn't play their tapes.
Yes, these stories are recent. Yes, we live in a metropolitan/suburban area.
I suppose there might be a way for "A Boy and His Blob?
Too bad the Belmonts are all Konami's charecters. I'd like to battle it out with them some time.
I created some charecters and was dissapointed at the lack of charecter models. Didn't like any of them. Then I bought them a house... Tried to get them to do stuff. They wouldn't get up for work. There was trash everywhere. They wouldn't clean the house. I tried to set the house on fire, but there was no blowtorches. I sufficed for leaving the stove on, but I don't think that worked... Then I realized that somehow, the game knew exactly how my family was organized. Boring, lazy, and watched too much TV.
Quickly, I got rid of the TV, now they were boring, lazy, and angry. (I actualy did this, in a way, in real life. I hate watching TV, but it's all my family did, I would go out to the cable box and rip out our connector, figuring nobody could get angry at me as we were stealing it anyway).
In minutes I got sick of it and boxed up the house, turned time up and went to class for the day. Came back that night and one of them wasn't dead... I uninstalled the game and passed it to a friend of mine... who has played it incessently ever since.
Anyway, I mentioned it to the computer's owner and as it turns out, apparently this guy was his friends "roommate" at a different college and thought that he was screwing with the roommate's girlfriend. Don't know why he'd be embarassed if he was willing to wack it in front of his roommates girlfriend, but whatever.
By no means ask me to condone it. By no means expect/force me to change my beliefs. If you don't think I've looked at things from your angle, you're wrong. I have many close friends who are Islamic, Jewish, Buddhists, Christians, Pagans, and atheists (and I love every one of them). I have heard a lot of arguments either way about gaming, abortion, gambling, the Ananoki (very interesting), and a whole lot more. You know what I do? I honestly think about every new argument, every new angle. So, if you tell me something and I brush it off, it's because I've heard it before and have already made my decision. Give me a new angle, and I'll take the time to look at it again.
I'll be damned (literally), though, if I'm going to sit back and watch other people run my life without taking a stand (just like they are) for my rights and beliefs. Fire and brimstone? Sometimes, but it's rarely neccessary. Mostly being motivated by love is all I need.
Back in the day you could trust your kids were at some church youth group some nights, but those days are gone now. Nobody trusts anyone. But that isn't even the problem. Most of the time it's because somebody trusts the wrong person (say, priests, in general, are not all bad) to be a role model. A lot could be fixed if parents took a much more active role and held those our children interact with accountable for all their actions. And vice-versa. As the phrase goes, "It takes a village to raise a child."
It's not just the family structure that's been breaking down (some laws help, others hinder), but the community structure as well. I guess it's a lot easier to hide at home and complain about other people's beliefs than just accept it and move on (all those people who want churches to keep from being seen from state highways/freeways). Those churches have every same freedom of expression to walk up into your face and tell you you're going to hell as you do to tell them you think their God doesn't exist and they should find a real job.
Or is she just trying to keep tabs on what Bill's video games are showing him.
I've considered using such things in my house as an intruder deterrent, the problem is that MN laws protect the intruder before the homeowner. If you set up a "booby trap" (I kid you not, it's in the state laws) you lose your rights faster than that SOB who thought it was his moral obligation to relieve you of some of your worldly possesions.
Seriously, though, there could easily be an add-on that makes the controller 5 pounds and includes a work-out video. Maybe you'd get points for how well you could stick to the routine. It could even teach you some of the movements of kung fu, tai kwon do, and the like. Maybe even be able to pysically battle somebody over the wifi across the world. It's a different matter when it's a question of who can mash buttons faster, but who's fists are faster? Hmmm?
All in all, with a 3D space to work with (even if the videos have been exagerated) the possibilities really are wide open. I'm giddy with excitement.
Of course, there's more, but I'm tired.
I instantly tore the thing apart, assuming he'd been sent an overclocked CPU instead of what he ordered. Nope, he got the processor he order. On further inspection, I found that the sound card was blocking airflow to the GPU. There was a whooping 3.5mm of clearance. Way to go guys! I wish I could remember who built it so I could offer a repremand.
Anyway, switched the sound card with the tiny modem card (don't know why they gave him a modem, he's got high-speed) and it doesn't have a problem....
I'm kinda glad the GPU can shut the thing off now too, or he'd be SOL (seeing as a lot of these no-name companys won't do jack for you even if it was their shoddy job).
He also speaks in favor of Jack Thomson's efforts saying that the only front he disagrees with is the limitation of MA or AO games to the public in general... which is the only issue Thompson ever argues about (well, I know he'd like it banned, but that's not going to happen).
Personally, I agree that certain content should NEVER fall into the hands of minors. I don't care what the parents say. There is no such thing as a non-impressionable teenager. You can tell me how independent you or your kids are, but right up till you die your environment has an impact on you.
Any parent who thinks their 13 year old son is old enough to handle extreme violence (killing bystanders for fun), sexuality (nudity, scantally clad women/men doing their thing, porn), or drug use (the support of it) in any video games/movies (very few exceptions) more than likely would rather let the game machine and TV raise thier kids than step up to the plate. At any rate, they're not okay in my book.
The article doesn't make much sense, and it's kind of hard to understand if this guy's got a point.
They're worried about their wallets. This guy doesn't care what's actually in the game. Free speech is to keep voices from being quelled on a political front, for the most part. They aren't being silenced anyway. We aren't violating free speech, we're protecting our kids', and thier future's!
I actually feel sorry for Lacie. In this case, somebody might have been watching the network activity and thinking, "Hey, things are looking up!"
Just then the server starts shaking.
The coffee pot mysterously drains into nowhere.
Smoke rises from the PSU's, the redundent power supplies buzz and spurt, with every attempt at survival.
The netadmin's smile turns to a look of horror, "No, this can't be. NOOOOOOOO!!! DAMN YOU SLASHDOT!"
XP is worse, however. I'm not going to put it down... too bad, but I think 2k was a lot more stable and handled issues a lot better. XP seems to run most anything, but it doesn't do it well. Also, the compatablity modes have never worked for me. But it's always a breath of fresh air to go back to a buggy XP install from working on ANY '98 machine (or SHUTTER a ME machine... I just won't touch them).
Now, let's say I'm playing Jade Empire and some guy holds a sign that tries to sell me some toothpaste.. okay, I suppose that might be feasable. As long as I can ignore it. Now, if it's some sort of pop-up ad? That would turn me off instantly. I would never buy a game that forced me to read an add. Unless... take Jade Empire again. I'm running around. Random guy X wants to talk to me and forces me to listen to some shpeel about some toilet paper that's triple ply and has fourteen more squares per roll than the leading brand. I'd be pissed.... unless I can kill him and never worry about it again. And, idealy, I'd get good guy points for doing so.
I'm not saying shut down all the media, I'm saying shut down the media ego. Yes, thank you for playing the game long before I can. Yes, thank you for telling me the quality of the graphics and sound. No, thank you, I'd rather not read a fourteen page blowout of Halo 2/DOA Ultimate/Fable. No, thank you, I don't need you to fill half the rag with opionions from editors about what it was like to be at E3. And so on...
Sony's PSOne sells at a profit and they don't need to make large quanties of the units for that profit (almost every part, IIRC is manufactured in-house).
So, it only makes sense to produce legacy devices that will turn a profit. Perhaps Microsoft could make a (much) smaller version of the old X Box that was fully compatible (which is feasable these days) with the old library with all embedded technology on a single board with a HDD and DVD rom, but it's not likely seeing as they'd need nVidia's cooperation.
Now that you've read the comments, your Windows box belongs to OSTG. Please stand by while we load Linux.........
Missions included get this car across town and don't let the cops spot you. Don't let the car have a scratch. Sometimes it was harder and you had a time limit. If a cop appeared on the radar, you had to stop at lights, not speed, and definately not pass cops going the same way. Usually you could get away with turning off the road. The only real complaint I would have is that the cops could see "through" the buildings with thier vision. So, they knew if you were speeding whether you could see them or not.
Like I said, the first two were amazing games. Driv3r was actually pretty bad. It was too much like GTA. Steal a car, do a mission... didn't like it at all. Heck, Driver was about driving, not shoot-outs. The physics were great. If you turned too much you'd lose control of the vehicle and go into a powerslide. There wasn't a speedometer which almost added to the immersion. Essentially, you either went with the flow of traffic, faster, slower, or top speed. The cars would even flip if you dug the tires into sand or turf. I mean, it's nice to be able to nab a new car if the mission allows it, but it isn't necessary to make the game more challenging.
I suppose a hybrid of Driver and The Getaway (IE good control outside of the vehicle) would make for a great game. And, if you haven't noticed, I'm more about the driving aspect. I could care less about shooting at people. I'd rather play any other FPS than GTA.
You could just drop your arguement and buy a headphone to RCA jack. That's the cheapest and most simple solution. I'm sure you know this, but arguing for the sake of an argument is rather pointless. And it makes you look kinda dumb.
Agreed. After all, have you seen the price of CDs at Borders or Barnes and Noble lately? Astronoical (even though the latter seems to be having a "sale"). Save five bucks and hit up Target or, if you have to, WalMart.
Of course, if you don't live in the states, I'm basically talking out of my ass. I know prices get jacked even higher for Europe. It's absurd.
And, hey, if it makes it easier for smaller bands to get off the ground, then more power to 'em. Given the choice, most people will go with what they know it it's the same cost as taking a leap of faith on music they haven't heard. Even at ten or possibly twenty cents cheaper, I'd be more likely to try out a lot of music.