The fact you can load/reset/restart, and get a second ending or a win makes even horror games tame. Don't know which game he's refering too, but a lot of the horror games we have now are like that jerk who jumps out and shouts boo, they'll scare you only if you don't know what to expect.
Personally I don't have many games that really terrify me, maybe I just am not playing the right games, but even back in the day, the resident evils just were annoyingly hard, not exactly "scary".
The best situation here is if it was 0 dollars to download the FULL engine and have one level of each type available. Then make it clear how to buy each mode. If you want puzzle mode you're forced to by the based game. If you want to play just puzzle mode you're not customizing your game you're enhancing it. Customizing content is a great idea, but don't force people to buy stuff in Bundles like this.
Then of course they blame Microsoft's 50 meg limit? That's easy, make a 50 meg game that costs 1500 points, and then give all the add ons for free, again I get a customized game, but I'm paying one cost. not 5.
As for Microsoft, or shall I say Weasel soft? Those numbers suck.
We have 4 million LIVE users, how many Gold users? Still no numbers, people arn't paying for the system (I am and a couple buds are but they still are avoiding those numbers for some reason)
Factor in 1 year ago at launch they had 2 million. So for the 6 million consoles they sold, only 1/3 are new subscribers and at most 2/3 are online with a FREE account (and remember 2 accounts on the same console, so it could be lower then 1/3)
70 million piece of content? Include how many patches, How many freebees, how many 'oh we forgot to add this in the game"?
12 million XBLA downloads? that's 3 a person... except that's DOWNLOADS again. Not purchases. so with 24 percent of the demos becoming real purchases the minimum actual purchases are around 2 million (likely moremore)?
Time logged on? Who knows. I leave my console on over night some times. I hang on Xbox live and chat with my buddy while playing Ps2 games (tales of Abyss rocks) It all counts towards this goal.
9 million text and voices weekly are the only one that's impressive And that really is an impressive number.
These are interesting, but Microsoft is touting these numbers because they have 0 competition. First thing I do with my Wii will be put it online too, if I got a PS3 that's the same thing I'll do. Since both are free, I'm guessing we'll see similar numbers from them too.
I love my 360 but god Microsoft, stop being Microsoft.
The question then becomes where did the transaction take place? In america, In russia, in neither? The answer according to courts tends to be "where ever we want it to".
It's a LOT of time. You have to plan your thoughts for the commentary, make a commentary system and record audio, implement it in the game (you don't add a feature like this in crunch, or even in production it will be something from the start of production at worst) and so on.
Ratchet and Clank has a perfect compromise. Something for true fans, yet it's mostly "broken" or semi broken/useless objects that people might want to check out. Yes I suggested that at my company, it's under consideration.
It's something really cool for some games but commentary tracks have to stay special, unlike on movies where people will do a commentary track just because people wanted it, and they might not even talk about the episode. Or they might do something stupid like have Andy dick talk about an episode every time he's in the room even though it's not funny because we can't see them (news radio).
I think giving something unique to the "hard core" fan is the best solution, but it's also a drain on resources, and not just a minor one like people think. It's a pretty major drain to make it working (even if it's just like the museum)
For most games a "making of" video included with the game disc is a far better solution for the studio, but to be honest, I never watch those for movies/tv shows, nor do I watch them for games. Games need more interactive stuff, but I think the commentary isn't the best solution for most companies.
Rage is something different then this. You don't have coherent thought, your unable to speak. I'd really doubt you'd be able to drive 70 miles in a "rage" to kill someone.
This more "web-assholishness" which does exist but has been documented more then enough times.
In conclusion rage != being really angry.
Though I must admit he certainly "went the distance".
"Amos agrees that MAYA-II could help researchers in this way. But he warns that the DNA molecules used cannot be controlled perfectly, and could be prone to the occasional malfunction."
Nuff said, so we'll attempt to use this til it completely fucks up and then go back to silcon.
DNA might work, but at 2 minutes a move a "real" computer should be able to play 3-4 games against a fast opponent or probably a couple hundred times that against another compupter. Tic tac toe isn't even a complex game. Tic Tac Toe can be calculated out to a tree with a max of 9 to the 9th power branches max. It'll have significantly less than that though. Game theorists have perfect move sets for Tic Tac Toe (from both sides of the board). Nothing new there too, and computers can be programmed with the strategies.
Have it play chess even compentantly and we'll talk.
And next time someone brags that DNA computers will take over our "primative" silcon punch him in the throat for me.
I just named stupid cities I thought of:) But my point was while probably most packed city is New York (and I love Boston, which is also over crowded) I know the other names for being large or huge. Of course Las Vegas gets more points for tourism but if you look at location it's a huge city for the desert. Miami is known as a big city in Florida (probably Orlando would work too).
But the main point I wanted to make is there's only 1 or 2 big cities in New York. There's also a huge amount of land in new york ripe for another huge city if we need to pack them in.
Actually the best way to look at it is Population/space, but the point should be made. Thanks for the site though, that's a sweet site.
I stopped buying music for two reasons: 1. Why buy music when you only want one song on an album. Itunes has solved this (too bad I really don't care about most music any more)
2. The music I wanted was not legal to get in my country, so the only option was the import at pretty hefty expense or get what ever had been brought over no matter the quality? New American music just sucks. Especially all the pop crap.
But also I don't pirate because like I said most music is pure crap so it would be like stealing shit from a waste management facility. I might get away with it but it stinks.
You switch the words state and city there pretty liberally. While Boston and New York may not be able to support more people, Buffalo, Green Bay, and others will support more. While the north does have some huge cities, they hardly take up the entire state, and the mid west as it's called have far fewer people then most people realize.
Can we support 100 million more? Sure. But I expect to see cities the size of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, New York and Boston start popping up. Notice many of those are in the south. Both areas have large cities.
Depends on how much you'll tailor the game to your project as well as how the engine is written. The company I'm working at has been in a space sim, RPG, Action, and FPS genres with a core engine. Obviously a good amount needs rewriting each time but the graphics and everything can be about the same.
The best way to go about it is to have a robust engine but not be afraid to change it to your evolving standards. If you keep everything the same, yes you get the Street fighter/Mega man syndrome.
The time you should be working on the engine should be as low as you can make it, but updating the engine is never a bad thing, especially if you're going to use it for something else. A good rule is "is this really useful for another game" and take it from there. Of course allow interfaces for other technology (havok, graphics engine, console SDKs allows it all to work easier.
Excuse me Stephen Ford, can I get some credentials? Do you work at EA? do you work at my company? Have you worked at a real company? How many? How many dev cycles? Finding your name on a Flash development site makes me wonder a bit. Or are you Steven Ford who talks about online gambling as an Analyst for Collins Stewart
I'm sorry I'm sick of listening to Gamesutra guys because most of them either don't know anything, or just have skewed ideas with only their personal experiences to go on, and usually those experiences suck or are non applicable to normal companies.
My company keeps a game project going at a time as well as one in flux. Most people find the office easier to work at than home, and it helps communication greatly, it keeps people focused, and while it costs 5K, that money is made up in wasted time. 5K per person isn't bad when you have a multi million dollar team.
Why not maintain a code-base, guess what? You don't sell them to make a profit. A good engine can work for every game you make not just the first one. Company at which I works uses the same engine and tweaks it every game, that works wonders especially when you consider we work on similar systems every time. It's true our first 360 game needed a lot of time (4 years dev cycle not fun) but we're running two products based on that engine now, we consolidate the similar stuff, and branch the non similar stuff. Money saved? 3 engines for the price of 1, you figure it out. And if something is bad in project 2 and great in project 3 we can bring the great system over to project 2. If it's something similar.
My company works, if yours doesn't that's fine but why tell us what's wrong with the "game industry" when there's not much wrong with the industry. The particular companies are the ones who have problems. His complaints sounds like a whiny guy who wants to program what he's working on, not constantly get bothered, and not get different scope changes. His only good advise is to blame management, but maybe his company sucks. Mine doesn't. If you don't like the company, change companies. If you don't like the industry, change industries. Just because this doesn't jib with you, doesn't mean it's a problem with everyone or everywhere.
I'm so sick of people acting like privacy is all they want. Guess what there's tropical islands, if you want privacy go there. People want privacy from everyone, even people they do business with. Guess what? You're not going to get it. Hell I know people who don't even want "we recommend.... " removed from sites.
If you don't like the privacy afforded by business don't go into them. If you don't want to be videotaped, don't go into a bank, if you don't want to be recorded do only cash business and look non descript. Guess what, people are going to be in your life.
As for the goverment we live in this country, if you really hate this country, leave. If you don't like something it's doing, write your goverment at all levels, but guess what? You live in a country and laws are for all people not just one. I agree the invasion of privacy isn't the best, but realize unless you do something illegal you really shouldn't be afraid of this.
The people who push for more privacy need to stop acting like there's stuff to hide. There are people with stuff to hide, not just "oh I like Janey even though I'm married, god I want a piece" but stuff more akin to "I want to destroy all of America and watch it burn". Guess what, those are the people they are looking for, not for those little pussies who downloaded a movie or two. If your afraid of doing that, don't do it. Write your congressman instead and explain to them how their laws against such acts are not right.
I've yet to feel offended by any "invasion of privacy" by my government. They need tools to stop criminal acts, when we allow 100 percent privacy to remain in the world then criminal acts will rise again too, but I'm sure we're all ok with a lawless society where anyone can do anything to you because the goverment won't invade their privacy, right?
Jobs is certainly afraid... of getting more money.
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Jobs Unfazed by Zune
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Let's see, creative labs tried it, Samsung tried it. Sony tried it. Every company has now made a MP3/digital media player. Guess what? The ipod is still number one. Hell the PSP screwed it up a lot. Why is Microsoft going beat them especially when they did "SO well" against the PS2? (Though I have to say the PS3 will lose ground just because of the product not the competition)
Simple fact is Jobs has no reason to be afraid, no one else has gotten close, microsoft might get the most marketshare out of the hacks, but I think that seeing their track record they won't.
There's four essential factors to market. Stylishness (if this wasn't a factor the Ipod wouldn't be the ipod), size of media is comparable, price for size is important but obviously not greatly (Ipod is still pretty hefty even with all the competitors) and finally ease of use. And seeing Microsoft's other products I'm guessing that's not going to be a huge win for them.
Jobs should worry a little bit, but not about Microsoft, and probably not about "Ipod killers" which have been coming for 2 years and apparently not a single one works. Worry 5 years from now when we get the zune 360.
First and for most. E3 is not for fans. I have to start here because of the stupidity I see everywhere about it. "Oh I gotta go to that" Want to know why we now have this format? Because of those stupid ass fans. Why would companies want to have huge trade shows for the media where 50 percent of their time is talking to whiny fans? Simple, they don't. At least not E3, E3 is for the industry, for the people in the industry, for the people who report on the industry.
Hint: They don't care about your stupid "blog" that your mommy reads. This is a trade show. So no PAX is not going to replace it TGS isn't going to replace it. This is exactly what they wanted. Now you'll have private showings because fans can't get it out of their head that they should be allowed in to this. If you're bitching and moaning about this move, guess what? You are the exact reason why this move was made.
Second, Large companies potentially killed E3. Now I'll ignore Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, because they have a reason to be that large. They need to sell their hardware. But explain to me why EA needs a booth that costs more than most development cycles? E3 is about telling the media/press about their stuff, showing their technology to others who might license it and learning about the industry. How does DJs blasting music help that? Answer: It doesn't.
EA has constantly been leading the pissing contest at E3. Good for them, but when small indie developers who can't get exposure any other way get over shadowed, the purpose of the confrence is lost. E3 isn't about booth babes and rap music, it's about games again. It's about getting exposure for companies that can't fly out every media organization when they have something to show off. It's not for EA, Activision or any other name you'd know. If the media came and got information on 30 games in a day, that's great. That's what they want, they don't need to go around and have to be distracted.
Finally the new format is exactly what's needed. You need something where there's less of a pissing match (again EA and others....), you need the media and industry ONLY, that means no fans and low amounts of Game Store employees. You need private rooms for some stuff, public rooms for others. Finally you'll want to control the size of the event because E3 was getting whorish near the end.
I'm hopeful to go this year, and no I'm not contridicting myself. For the first year I work at an actual game company and I really would like to go to see this thing. I've never been to one because I really didn't have a reason. Yes it's the "in thing" but guess what, the doesn't make it right to go. There's now PAX for the fans, and that's where you guys should go. E3 is for the industry itself, and that's where I want to go.
I could go on but that should be enough for most of the people with misunderstandings. The simple fact is the idea "I gotta go" is what killed it and I just see more people acting like they are going to continue to kill it. Want to keep E3 around? Stop trying to get in and the good E3 will return. Want to go? get a job in the industry, simple as that.
Do the math. For every subscriber if your numbers are right he earns 100 bucks and more as you say.
He may have boosted the subscriptions but they dug themselves a hole with the salary they gave him. They are in trouble as other posters have meantioned.
I never said it is better or worse. I really enjoy mine, but I use mine for videos and some games (well not many. it's a crappy gaming platform but there's some nice rpgs). I love it because at work I use it to listen to music and once or twice a week I watch a little anime on it. Plus you got the homebrew stuff if you want to go that way.
Is it the perfect digital media system? hell no, the price is too high for people just looking for digital media and not games, and the games are too weak currently but is it worthy of being in the running? Yup, without a doubt.
The PSP is a digital media platform for the simple reason it was basically built for it. It has a bigger screen then most devices, and it has games on it as a bonus. I purchased one and have used it quite a bit in the 2 monthes I've had it. Probably 90 percent of the usage is with anime eps that I convert myself, or Mp3s.
The biggest problem with the article is thr's little data on price ranges for some objects. If the Ipod killer is stylish but costs 1000 dollars, what's the use? On the other hand, if it's 100 bucks and looks like crap (those football helmets for most people) who cares what size the ram is?
The Ipod is stylish, "inexpensive" but with a good sized ram. Now however they have made them more expensive then they should be but still easy to use. Competitors go for so many markets but they fail to miss the reason why the ipod is the killer is because it's a status symbol as well as a mp3 player, and it's easy to use (supposidly)
Actually it's more "how lucky we've been". Or how an america not in combat kept everyone in check. Everyone knows we are working on 2 wars, how can we be the police of the world with 2 wars going on?
The problem is the Terroism alerts don't talk about this. Terrorism is more people with out a direct link to a city-state. NK and iran are both city states. They probably won't engage in terroism (funding it is a different story) because we would be able to retailiate directly on them. Like I've said, NK isn't going to grab a nuke and use it (if they are smart). NK is going to get a nuke and threaten to use it over and over.
It will be an unstabilizing force, but there's a difference from that to terroism.
And yes public terror alerts were a stupid idea. Privitized alerts would have been smart, but they would leak out so everyone would know and wonder. Neither system is flawless but one system had to be implemented.
These guys have seen the final system? Sure they have.
Remember that this is the same company who releases patches for the PSP over and over, yet does it actually improve the PSP? not exactly. They are just tempting people away from home brew and hacks and keep getting broken.
I'm all for a robust online experience, but from the sounds of it this is going to be the SAME online that Xbox has. Though with one difference. Xbox Live is a pay service which pays for the servers. the PS3, will not be paying for the servers which means the cost falls on the manufacturing price for the games, not the Xbox Live cost. I have a feeling that you'll see weaker online games where as the 360 has a huge push for "every game has online"... which has the best stategy? Don't know. don't care.
I found it funny the one out of the ice Illinois wind lined up so much faster then the one in the wind but by the campus town. Around 30 people showed up by the end but most weren't even there til 9:30 and most knew there was only 15 systems. Oh well, better luck next time for them.
In all seriousness though I think this was by far a worse debaticle than the 360 because it just smacks of Gamestop forcing people to buy the bundles that are about to appear on the website. In addition my preorder is IF they get 13 systems at that store. If they get 8 at each store, only 8 will be handed out? To me it sounds unfair because the people who buy the bundle will likely get one before the people at the store will be confirmed one even though they bought one first. Hopefully nothing will go wrong and there'll be enough but who gets the shaft first if something goes wrong?
Iran and North Korea are the very type of people who will get a nuclear weapon... and use it. How is that different? Well let's see, fall of communist russia, no nukes. Nukes in Cuba. NO boom. These countries know "using nukes means I die" That's good. Iran will hand weapons to terrorists with out second thoughts. Do you think they would say "no we won't give you a nuke" or rather "here's a nuke, point it at Israel".
Both of these countries don't deserve to be at the "parents" table not because they don't have the responsibility. I know in our world that seems insane when many countries deploy troops all the time, but also notice they don't deploy WMDs every time. Merely from the way they are talking it proves they won't have the responsibility to handle the weapons.
Let's put it in another way. A kid runs around and pretend to shoot everyone, saying "if you don't move I'll shoot you. BANG BANG, I got you!" then runs off. That's cute to some, annoying to others. But find me someone who would give that kid a loaded gun? Now maybe both countries will grow up with the weapons, but let's not make it easy for them.
There is a very big difference between nuclear and conventional warheads. Conventional are on a whole different scale. If you really think North Korea and Iran wouldn't care that they have regular weapons then look at israel why the fuck is Israel still there when Iran has vowed to destroy it. Simply because they know conventional weapons arn't enough especially when people will attack them back. They will get off one salvo, but those missles arn't fallible, they won't always hit what they are aiming for, they won't always destroy, and so on. Israel will launch back (conventionally) and Iran will be hit back, maybe Israel might be destroyed, maybe not, but you can sure as hell know that Iran will be destroyed.
A nuke doesn't really care about that. It's purpose is destruction. If the raw power of a nuke was available in a conventional weapon it wouldn't matter but there is a huge difference in power and utility. If a nuke is launched and detonated you can be sure as hell that what ever city they want to destroy will be destroyed, and many more will feel the effect. Remember only two nukes have been used in a war time. Look at the devestation those bombs have left.
If you really don't think that's true let me illustrate another side of it. "Mother of all bombs" is the most powerful conventional weapon ever detonated. It is 11 tons of TNT. The bomb over Hiroshima? 13 thousand tons of destruction. That's a bit of difference.
North Korea needs people to know they have a bomb. That's what we think now, but since we can't prove it, why accept it? North Koreas highest goal is to show off their tech, even if they have one. If you think they'll be using it militarially (well maybe) that's fine but why not just use it, but the value of a nuclear technology isn't one of military might, it's one of tactical value, and simply the fact you have the most powerful weapon known to man.
North Korea seems to have failed at the very essence of the Nuclear test. The idea isn't to test if your nuclear bomb work, you better fucking know your technology is ready before you even hint you have the bomb. The idea of a nuclear test is to PROVE you have the bomb, and to prove it works, and to show everyone you got big balls. They have not done this, and this further proves it. They might have one, but you don't brag about an underground nuclear test unless you have something to prove and North Korea definatly has that.
Personally I think it proves they DONT have a bomb.... yet. And more likely their real first test will be over Japan/Israel/South Korea/ whereever else, and their second will be during the all out nuclear bombardment where all the countries give them all the nuclear power they need, though they'll have to figure out how to contain it.
North Korea and Iran are both playing dangerous games. They are acting like children at the grown ups tables. Let's hope they mature or get slapped before they become teenagers who get into a massive car accident and "kill" one or more of the adults
I've notice a disturbing trend, of "games" news that really isn't about games, but about people using a game like VR (in that it's a virtual world) style system to work. This doesn't mean it's a "games article" and as such I wonder what use is it for it to be placed under "games".
There's no goals in Second Life, and what goals there are can be achieved by legitimently throwing more real money at it so you have more money. There's entertainment value, but everything has entertainment value. So is it really a game or is it a "game like" system and shouldn't be published here?
We can all agree MMORPGs are games, but can we say the same for stuff that has nothing more than a social network. Even the sims have to add tasks and goals to avoid just being called "entertainment", rather then a true game. So how is Second life, exactly a game, and this applicable to "game news"?
Slashdot Mirror
The fact you can load/reset/restart, and get a second ending or a win makes even horror games tame. Don't know which game he's refering too, but a lot of the horror games we have now are like that jerk who jumps out and shouts boo, they'll scare you only if you don't know what to expect.
Personally I don't have many games that really terrify me, maybe I just am not playing the right games, but even back in the day, the resident evils just were annoyingly hard, not exactly "scary".
The best situation here is if it was 0 dollars to download the FULL engine and have one level of each type available. Then make it clear how to buy each mode. If you want puzzle mode you're forced to by the based game. If you want to play just puzzle mode you're not customizing your game you're enhancing it. Customizing content is a great idea, but don't force people to buy stuff in Bundles like this.
Then of course they blame Microsoft's 50 meg limit? That's easy, make a 50 meg game that costs 1500 points, and then give all the add ons for free, again I get a customized game, but I'm paying one cost. not 5.
As for Microsoft, or shall I say Weasel soft? Those numbers suck.
We have 4 million LIVE users, how many Gold users? Still no numbers, people arn't paying for the system (I am and a couple buds are but they still are avoiding those numbers for some reason)
Factor in 1 year ago at launch they had 2 million. So for the 6 million consoles they sold, only 1/3 are new subscribers and at most 2/3 are online with a FREE account (and remember 2 accounts on the same console, so it could be lower then 1/3)
70 million piece of content? Include how many patches, How many freebees, how many 'oh we forgot to add this in the game"?
12 million XBLA downloads? that's 3 a person... except that's DOWNLOADS again. Not purchases. so with 24 percent of the demos becoming real purchases the minimum actual purchases are around 2 million (likely moremore)?
Time logged on? Who knows. I leave my console on over night some times. I hang on Xbox live and chat with my buddy while playing Ps2 games (tales of Abyss rocks) It all counts towards this goal.
9 million text and voices weekly are the only one that's impressive And that really is an impressive number.
These are interesting, but Microsoft is touting these numbers because they have 0 competition. First thing I do with my Wii will be put it online too, if I got a PS3 that's the same thing I'll do. Since both are free, I'm guessing we'll see similar numbers from them too.
I love my 360 but god Microsoft, stop being Microsoft.
The question then becomes where did the transaction take place? In america, In russia, in neither? The answer according to courts tends to be "where ever we want it to".
Is the second rule "troll on those you don't like" and the third "don't feed the troll"?
It's a LOT of time. You have to plan your thoughts for the commentary, make a commentary system and record audio, implement it in the game (you don't add a feature like this in crunch, or even in production it will be something from the start of production at worst) and so on.
Ratchet and Clank has a perfect compromise. Something for true fans, yet it's mostly "broken" or semi broken/useless objects that people might want to check out. Yes I suggested that at my company, it's under consideration.
It's something really cool for some games but commentary tracks have to stay special, unlike on movies where people will do a commentary track just because people wanted it, and they might not even talk about the episode. Or they might do something stupid like have Andy dick talk about an episode every time he's in the room even though it's not funny because we can't see them (news radio).
I think giving something unique to the "hard core" fan is the best solution, but it's also a drain on resources, and not just a minor one like people think. It's a pretty major drain to make it working (even if it's just like the museum)
For most games a "making of" video included with the game disc is a far better solution for the studio, but to be honest, I never watch those for movies/tv shows, nor do I watch them for games. Games need more interactive stuff, but I think the commentary isn't the best solution for most companies.
Rage is something different then this. You don't have coherent thought, your unable to speak. I'd really doubt you'd be able to drive 70 miles in a "rage" to kill someone.
This more "web-assholishness" which does exist but has been documented more then enough times.
In conclusion rage != being really angry.
Though I must admit he certainly "went the distance".
Buy software/hardware get a virus?
We have spyware in video games, malware protecting them, Viruses on new handheld devices, rootkits on CDs. This is total bs.
I do have to admit apple's stance takes the cake, blaming PC users. A true low.
"Amos agrees that MAYA-II could help researchers in this way. But he warns that the DNA molecules used cannot be controlled perfectly, and could be prone to the occasional malfunction."
Nuff said, so we'll attempt to use this til it completely fucks up and then go back to silcon.
DNA might work, but at 2 minutes a move a "real" computer should be able to play 3-4 games against a fast opponent or probably a couple hundred times that against another compupter. Tic tac toe isn't even a complex game. Tic Tac Toe can be calculated out to a tree with a max of 9 to the 9th power branches max. It'll have significantly less than that though. Game theorists have perfect move sets for Tic Tac Toe (from both sides of the board). Nothing new there too, and computers can be programmed with the strategies.
Have it play chess even compentantly and we'll talk.
And next time someone brags that DNA computers will take over our "primative" silcon punch him in the throat for me.
I just named stupid cities I thought of :) But my point was while probably most packed city is New York (and I love Boston, which is also over crowded) I know the other names for being large or huge. Of course Las Vegas gets more points for tourism but if you look at location it's a huge city for the desert. Miami is known as a big city in Florida (probably Orlando would work too).
But the main point I wanted to make is there's only 1 or 2 big cities in New York. There's also a huge amount of land in new york ripe for another huge city if we need to pack them in.
Actually the best way to look at it is Population/space, but the point should be made. Thanks for the site though, that's a sweet site.
I stopped buying music for two reasons:
1. Why buy music when you only want one song on an album. Itunes has solved this (too bad I really don't care about most music any more)
2. The music I wanted was not legal to get in my country, so the only option was the import at pretty hefty expense or get what ever had been brought over no matter the quality? New American music just sucks. Especially all the pop crap.
But also I don't pirate because like I said most music is pure crap so it would be like stealing shit from a waste management facility. I might get away with it but it stinks.
You switch the words state and city there pretty liberally. While Boston and New York may not be able to support more people, Buffalo, Green Bay, and others will support more. While the north does have some huge cities, they hardly take up the entire state, and the mid west as it's called have far fewer people then most people realize.
Can we support 100 million more? Sure. But I expect to see cities the size of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, New York and Boston start popping up. Notice many of those are in the south. Both areas have large cities.
Depends on how much you'll tailor the game to your project as well as how the engine is written. The company I'm working at has been in a space sim, RPG, Action, and FPS genres with a core engine. Obviously a good amount needs rewriting each time but the graphics and everything can be about the same.
The best way to go about it is to have a robust engine but not be afraid to change it to your evolving standards. If you keep everything the same, yes you get the Street fighter/Mega man syndrome.
The time you should be working on the engine should be as low as you can make it, but updating the engine is never a bad thing, especially if you're going to use it for something else. A good rule is "is this really useful for another game" and take it from there. Of course allow interfaces for other technology (havok, graphics engine, console SDKs allows it all to work easier.
Excuse me Stephen Ford, can I get some credentials? Do you work at EA? do you work at my company? Have you worked at a real company? How many? How many dev cycles? Finding your name on a Flash development site makes me wonder a bit. Or are you Steven Ford who talks about online gambling as an Analyst for Collins Stewart
I'm sorry I'm sick of listening to Gamesutra guys because most of them either don't know anything, or just have skewed ideas with only their personal experiences to go on, and usually those experiences suck or are non applicable to normal companies.
My company keeps a game project going at a time as well as one in flux. Most people find the office easier to work at than home, and it helps communication greatly, it keeps people focused, and while it costs 5K, that money is made up in wasted time. 5K per person isn't bad when you have a multi million dollar team.
Why not maintain a code-base, guess what? You don't sell them to make a profit. A good engine can work for every game you make not just the first one. Company at which I works uses the same engine and tweaks it every game, that works wonders especially when you consider we work on similar systems every time. It's true our first 360 game needed a lot of time (4 years dev cycle not fun) but we're running two products based on that engine now, we consolidate the similar stuff, and branch the non similar stuff. Money saved? 3 engines for the price of 1, you figure it out. And if something is bad in project 2 and great in project 3 we can bring the great system over to project 2. If it's something similar.
My company works, if yours doesn't that's fine but why tell us what's wrong with the "game industry" when there's not much wrong with the industry. The particular companies are the ones who have problems. His complaints sounds like a whiny guy who wants to program what he's working on, not constantly get bothered, and not get different scope changes. His only good advise is to blame management, but maybe his company sucks. Mine doesn't. If you don't like the company, change companies. If you don't like the industry, change industries. Just because this doesn't jib with you, doesn't mean it's a problem with everyone or everywhere.
I'm so sick of people acting like privacy is all they want. Guess what there's tropical islands, if you want privacy go there. People want privacy from everyone, even people they do business with. Guess what? You're not going to get it. Hell I know people who don't even want "we recommend .... " removed from sites.
If you don't like the privacy afforded by business don't go into them. If you don't want to be videotaped, don't go into a bank, if you don't want to be recorded do only cash business and look non descript. Guess what, people are going to be in your life.
As for the goverment we live in this country, if you really hate this country, leave. If you don't like something it's doing, write your goverment at all levels, but guess what? You live in a country and laws are for all people not just one. I agree the invasion of privacy isn't the best, but realize unless you do something illegal you really shouldn't be afraid of this.
The people who push for more privacy need to stop acting like there's stuff to hide. There are people with stuff to hide, not just "oh I like Janey even though I'm married, god I want a piece" but stuff more akin to "I want to destroy all of America and watch it burn". Guess what, those are the people they are looking for, not for those little pussies who downloaded a movie or two. If your afraid of doing that, don't do it. Write your congressman instead and explain to them how their laws against such acts are not right.
I've yet to feel offended by any "invasion of privacy" by my government. They need tools to stop criminal acts, when we allow 100 percent privacy to remain in the world then criminal acts will rise again too, but I'm sure we're all ok with a lawless society where anyone can do anything to you because the goverment won't invade their privacy, right?
Let's see, creative labs tried it, Samsung tried it. Sony tried it. Every company has now made a MP3/digital media player. Guess what? The ipod is still number one. Hell the PSP screwed it up a lot. Why is Microsoft going beat them especially when they did "SO well" against the PS2? (Though I have to say the PS3 will lose ground just because of the product not the competition)
Simple fact is Jobs has no reason to be afraid, no one else has gotten close, microsoft might get the most marketshare out of the hacks, but I think that seeing their track record they won't.
There's four essential factors to market. Stylishness (if this wasn't a factor the Ipod wouldn't be the ipod), size of media is comparable, price for size is important but obviously not greatly (Ipod is still pretty hefty even with all the competitors) and finally ease of use. And seeing Microsoft's other products I'm guessing that's not going to be a huge win for them.
Jobs should worry a little bit, but not about Microsoft, and probably not about "Ipod killers" which have been coming for 2 years and apparently not a single one works. Worry 5 years from now when we get the zune 360.
First and for most. E3 is not for fans. I have to start here because of the stupidity I see everywhere about it. "Oh I gotta go to that" Want to know why we now have this format? Because of those stupid ass fans. Why would companies want to have huge trade shows for the media where 50 percent of their time is talking to whiny fans? Simple, they don't. At least not E3, E3 is for the industry, for the people in the industry, for the people who report on the industry.
Hint: They don't care about your stupid "blog" that your mommy reads. This is a trade show. So no PAX is not going to replace it TGS isn't going to replace it. This is exactly what they wanted. Now you'll have private showings because fans can't get it out of their head that they should be allowed in to this. If you're bitching and moaning about this move, guess what? You are the exact reason why this move was made.
Second, Large companies potentially killed E3. Now I'll ignore Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, because they have a reason to be that large. They need to sell their hardware. But explain to me why EA needs a booth that costs more than most development cycles? E3 is about telling the media/press about their stuff, showing their technology to others who might license it and learning about the industry. How does DJs blasting music help that? Answer: It doesn't.
EA has constantly been leading the pissing contest at E3. Good for them, but when small indie developers who can't get exposure any other way get over shadowed, the purpose of the confrence is lost. E3 isn't about booth babes and rap music, it's about games again. It's about getting exposure for companies that can't fly out every media organization when they have something to show off. It's not for EA, Activision or any other name you'd know. If the media came and got information on 30 games in a day, that's great. That's what they want, they don't need to go around and have to be distracted.
Finally the new format is exactly what's needed. You need something where there's less of a pissing match (again EA and others....), you need the media and industry ONLY, that means no fans and low amounts of Game Store employees. You need private rooms for some stuff, public rooms for others. Finally you'll want to control the size of the event because E3 was getting whorish near the end.
I'm hopeful to go this year, and no I'm not contridicting myself. For the first year I work at an actual game company and I really would like to go to see this thing. I've never been to one because I really didn't have a reason. Yes it's the "in thing" but guess what, the doesn't make it right to go. There's now PAX for the fans, and that's where you guys should go. E3 is for the industry itself, and that's where I want to go.
I could go on but that should be enough for most of the people with misunderstandings. The simple fact is the idea "I gotta go" is what killed it and I just see more people acting like they are going to continue to kill it. Want to keep E3 around? Stop trying to get in and the good E3 will return. Want to go? get a job in the industry, simple as that.
Nice numbers.
Do the math. For every subscriber if your numbers are right he earns 100 bucks and more as you say.
He may have boosted the subscriptions but they dug themselves a hole with the salary they gave him. They are in trouble as other posters have meantioned.
I never said it is better or worse. I really enjoy mine, but I use mine for videos and some games (well not many. it's a crappy gaming platform but there's some nice rpgs). I love it because at work I use it to listen to music and once or twice a week I watch a little anime on it. Plus you got the homebrew stuff if you want to go that way.
Is it the perfect digital media system? hell no, the price is too high for people just looking for digital media and not games, and the games are too weak currently but is it worthy of being in the running? Yup, without a doubt.
The PSP is a digital media platform for the simple reason it was basically built for it. It has a bigger screen then most devices, and it has games on it as a bonus. I purchased one and have used it quite a bit in the 2 monthes I've had it. Probably 90 percent of the usage is with anime eps that I convert myself, or Mp3s.
The biggest problem with the article is thr's little data on price ranges for some objects. If the Ipod killer is stylish but costs 1000 dollars, what's the use? On the other hand, if it's 100 bucks and looks like crap (those football helmets for most people) who cares what size the ram is?
The Ipod is stylish, "inexpensive" but with a good sized ram. Now however they have made them more expensive then they should be but still easy to use. Competitors go for so many markets but they fail to miss the reason why the ipod is the killer is because it's a status symbol as well as a mp3 player, and it's easy to use (supposidly)
Actually it's more "how lucky we've been". Or how an america not in combat kept everyone in check. Everyone knows we are working on 2 wars, how can we be the police of the world with 2 wars going on?
The problem is the Terroism alerts don't talk about this. Terrorism is more people with out a direct link to a city-state. NK and iran are both city states. They probably won't engage in terroism (funding it is a different story) because we would be able to retailiate directly on them. Like I've said, NK isn't going to grab a nuke and use it (if they are smart). NK is going to get a nuke and threaten to use it over and over.
It will be an unstabilizing force, but there's a difference from that to terroism.
And yes public terror alerts were a stupid idea. Privitized alerts would have been smart, but they would leak out so everyone would know and wonder. Neither system is flawless but one system had to be implemented.
These guys have seen the final system? Sure they have.
Remember that this is the same company who releases patches for the PSP over and over, yet does it actually improve the PSP? not exactly. They are just tempting people away from home brew and hacks and keep getting broken.
I'm all for a robust online experience, but from the sounds of it this is going to be the SAME online that Xbox has. Though with one difference. Xbox Live is a pay service which pays for the servers. the PS3, will not be paying for the servers which means the cost falls on the manufacturing price for the games, not the Xbox Live cost. I have a feeling that you'll see weaker online games where as the 360 has a huge push for "every game has online"... which has the best stategy? Don't know. don't care.
Glad to hear it worked out for both of us.
I found it funny the one out of the ice Illinois wind lined up so much faster then the one in the wind but by the campus town. Around 30 people showed up by the end but most weren't even there til 9:30 and most knew there was only 15 systems. Oh well, better luck next time for them.
In all seriousness though I think this was by far a worse debaticle than the 360 because it just smacks of Gamestop forcing people to buy the bundles that are about to appear on the website. In addition my preorder is IF they get 13 systems at that store. If they get 8 at each store, only 8 will be handed out? To me it sounds unfair because the people who buy the bundle will likely get one before the people at the store will be confirmed one even though they bought one first. Hopefully nothing will go wrong and there'll be enough but who gets the shaft first if something goes wrong?
Iran and North Korea are the very type of people who will get a nuclear weapon... and use it. How is that different? Well let's see, fall of communist russia, no nukes. Nukes in Cuba. NO boom. These countries know "using nukes means I die" That's good. Iran will hand weapons to terrorists with out second thoughts. Do you think they would say "no we won't give you a nuke" or rather "here's a nuke, point it at Israel".
Both of these countries don't deserve to be at the "parents" table not because they don't have the responsibility. I know in our world that seems insane when many countries deploy troops all the time, but also notice they don't deploy WMDs every time. Merely from the way they are talking it proves they won't have the responsibility to handle the weapons.
Let's put it in another way. A kid runs around and pretend to shoot everyone, saying "if you don't move I'll shoot you. BANG BANG, I got you!" then runs off. That's cute to some, annoying to others. But find me someone who would give that kid a loaded gun? Now maybe both countries will grow up with the weapons, but let's not make it easy for them.
There is a very big difference between nuclear and conventional warheads. Conventional are on a whole different scale. If you really think North Korea and Iran wouldn't care that they have regular weapons then look at israel why the fuck is Israel still there when Iran has vowed to destroy it. Simply because they know conventional weapons arn't enough especially when people will attack them back. They will get off one salvo, but those missles arn't fallible, they won't always hit what they are aiming for, they won't always destroy, and so on. Israel will launch back (conventionally) and Iran will be hit back, maybe Israel might be destroyed, maybe not, but you can sure as hell know that Iran will be destroyed.
A nuke doesn't really care about that. It's purpose is destruction. If the raw power of a nuke was available in a conventional weapon it wouldn't matter but there is a huge difference in power and utility. If a nuke is launched and detonated you can be sure as hell that what ever city they want to destroy will be destroyed, and many more will feel the effect. Remember only two nukes have been used in a war time. Look at the devestation those bombs have left.
If you really don't think that's true let me illustrate another side of it. "Mother of all bombs" is the most powerful conventional weapon ever detonated. It is 11 tons of TNT. The bomb over Hiroshima? 13 thousand tons of destruction. That's a bit of difference.
North Korea needs people to know they have a bomb. That's what we think now, but since we can't prove it, why accept it? North Koreas highest goal is to show off their tech, even if they have one. If you think they'll be using it militarially (well maybe) that's fine but why not just use it, but the value of a nuclear technology isn't one of military might, it's one of tactical value, and simply the fact you have the most powerful weapon known to man.
North Korea seems to have failed at the very essence of the Nuclear test. The idea isn't to test if your nuclear bomb work, you better fucking know your technology is ready before you even hint you have the bomb. The idea of a nuclear test is to PROVE you have the bomb, and to prove it works, and to show everyone you got big balls. They have not done this, and this further proves it. They might have one, but you don't brag about an underground nuclear test unless you have something to prove and North Korea definatly has that.
Personally I think it proves they DONT have a bomb.... yet. And more likely their real first test will be over Japan/Israel/South Korea/ whereever else, and their second will be during the all out nuclear bombardment where all the countries give them all the nuclear power they need, though they'll have to figure out how to contain it.
North Korea and Iran are both playing dangerous games. They are acting like children at the grown ups tables. Let's hope they mature or get slapped before they become teenagers who get into a massive car accident and "kill" one or more of the adults
I've notice a disturbing trend, of "games" news that really isn't about games, but about people using a game like VR (in that it's a virtual world) style system to work. This doesn't mean it's a "games article" and as such I wonder what use is it for it to be placed under "games".
There's no goals in Second Life, and what goals there are can be achieved by legitimently throwing more real money at it so you have more money. There's entertainment value, but everything has entertainment value. So is it really a game or is it a "game like" system and shouldn't be published here?
We can all agree MMORPGs are games, but can we say the same for stuff that has nothing more than a social network. Even the sims have to add tasks and goals to avoid just being called "entertainment", rather then a true game. So how is Second life, exactly a game, and this applicable to "game news"?