Soul Calibur was better when it was called "Soul Edge" or "Soul Blade" on the Playstation. The dreamcast was a sequel version that was better-looking, but inferior in almost every other aspect.
As for fighting, Virtual Fighter Evo 4 is the best I've ever played, even if it doesn't look as good. VF is more realistic and balanced - exactly what you want in a good fighting simulator.
What?!?!? Dragon's Lair was one of my favorite games on my Commodore Amiga (1985). A full-motion playable cartoon. Wow.
Then I bought Space Ace (88?) and loved it even more. Don Bluth and his animators had a quirky sense of humor that is still fun to enjoy. To say these games deserve to be "forgotten" is as stupid as saying Bluth Studios other works (american tail, secret of NIMH) deserve to be forgotten. It shows a lack of artistic appreciation on your part.
>>>Wing Commander was what ruined computer games for a while, with the introduction of "full motion video" and whatnot.
A "while"? You mean: Permanently. We still have full motion video today. It's become the dominant method of story-telling in games like Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, et cetera.
I didn't grow-up with Nintendo (I owned Atari, Commodore, Amiga) and when I eventually got-around to playing Zelda, I thought it was boring. Out of the whole series the only one I truly enjoyed was Ocarina of Time. A true masterpiece. The rest? Nah. There are better adventure games out there.
>>>Most gamers grew up on Nintendo
NES was popular (85% share), but half of the gamers split between the SNES and Genesis/megadrive (50-50 share), while the N64 and Gamecube barely sold any units at all (~20% share). Your statement is inaccurate.
I think a better observation is, "Nintendo fans are like Apple and Harry Potter fans - they vote rabidly and often on polls like these."
Amiga 500 only holds the record as the 2nd best-selling computer ever (after Commodore 64 and ahead of TRS-80). It was just THE console to own in the 80s, if you wanted the best game playing experience. It was merely used to produce graphics for NBC's seaQuest, FOX's Above and Beyond, and the syndicated show called Babylon 5.
Yeah you're right. Amiga wasn't important. Not even worth a mention.
>>>added extra sound channels and made the graphics nicer
Actually the extra chip didn't add anything to the graphics, nor did it add new audio channels. It just crunches music data, and uses the Atari's existing noise generator to play it. i.e. It uses the Atari's stock hardware.
Also Pitfall 2 isn't really nonlinear. Like Metroid or Super Metroid, there's only one path to solve the puzzle. First you have to fall to the bottom of the cave. Then ride a balloon high into the air... then move left and slowly climb upward until you find your lost niece and cat. It's a rail adventure.
Best-looking atari games? Typically they came from Activision. Look at the background scenery on games like Chopper Command or Barnstorming. Imagic's Cosmic Ark/Atlantis are also beautiful to behold.
>>>you can't use mere visuals for the criteria of their artistic merit any more than you would for a film.
Except many people do exactly that. I've seen many films praised by critics or movie fans because of "great visuals" even though the storyline is boring pap. So I'm not surprised to see games being judged in a similar fashion.
I remember this same discussion back in 1991, when a stealth fighter crashed in Iraq, and "experts" were worried that the crash parts would be stolen and help enemies build their own stealth fighter. So far I've not seen any great harm caused. Remember: These pundits are paid to talk, even if it's just "the sky is falling" nonsense and/or hand-wringing like an old maid.
Why was this article even promoted to the first page? I stopped at "I'm a math major," because unless he's a genius, he's like most college kids (and professors 0 - not a clue about how the world actually works (lies, backstabbing, and networking). Plus: It's not even his field of study. I'm sure he's great at calculus, but that has no relation to how the Law works (which is often the opposite of logical).
Bennet's comment is no more worthy of reading than any other Comment from any other person.
>>>The power plant does this on behalf of the trains, but at minimum it's away from where people live.
Yeah it's a good thing that power plant pollution only affects the suburbanites/farmers that live next to it. They don't matter. It's also good that pollution doesn't drift on wind currents from rural america eastward to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, etc. (Oh wait - it does.)
I'm not buying your "it's okay to pollute the countryside" argument. Can you tell?;-)
It should be possible to defend onself, without having to point fingers at other people. Anonymous is acting like Sony:
"5. It should be remembered that several federal contractors such as HBGary and Palantir have been caught planning a variety of unethical and potentially criminal conspiracies by which to discredit the enemies of their clients. This is not a theory - this is a fact that has been reported at great length by dozens of journalists with major publications. Insomuch as that our enemies have either engaged in or planned to engage in false flag efforts, it should not be surprising that many of the journalists who have covered us, who know who we are and what motivates us - and who have alternatively seen the monstrous behavior of those large and "respectable" firms that are all too happy to throw aside common decency at the behest of such clients as Bank of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - also have their suspicions that some capable party performed this operation as a means by which to do great damage to Anonymous in the public eye. Those who consider such a prospect to be somehow unlikely are advised to read about what was proposed by Team Themis in their efforts to destroy Wikileaks, and should otherwise take a few minutes to learn about COINTELPRO and other admitted practices by the U.S. intelligence community.
"The fact is that Anonymous has brought a great deal of discomfort to powerful entities such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Palantir, and much of the federal government; the Justice Department in particular is likely unhappy that our efforts revealed that it was they themselves who recommended the now-discredited "law firm" Hunton & Williams to Bank of America in order that the latter might better be able to fight back against Wikileaks. All of this is now public record"
>>>we promised Social Security, Medicare, Medicade and interest on the national debt. That's money we HAVE to spend.
Not according to the Supreme Court ruling of 1936 which stated SS is a tax, and like any tax, it may be discontinued whenever congress feels like it. There is not "have" about it. (Of course if the programs were discontinued there'd be a revolt, just like what's happening in Greece.)
As for saving these programs, I'd make a few modifications that would reduce costs by half: - raise the age to match the current life expectancy (just like when SS was created). That's 79 if I recall correctly. - exclude anyone with a lifetime income over 10 million (i.e. the rich people like Gates, Trump, or your company's CEO). - SS, medicare, et cetera is supposed to benefit the working class, not the wealthy class who already have tons of dollars are their disposal. Just like Welfare and Food Stamps.
In my state the Metro (train and subway) is losing money hand-over-fist. The only thing that keeps it viable is Gas Tax. If half the people decided to stop driving cars, thus reducing gas tax revenue by half, the metro system would collapse from lack of funds to stay viable.
As for pollution, study-after-study shows trains are no cleaner than if all the passengers rode in 25 mpg sedans. Why? Because trains are 95% coal-fired.
>>>Blind compliance to government demands is anti-American and it saddens me to see so many people simply fall in line.
I had a former classmate call me an "idiot" because I refused to let my car be searched by the Homeland SA. He's right that it would be easier to comply, but the law is the law. I obey the law and I expect government employees to obey the law too.
No search without court-issued warrant, and affirmed by oath before the judge.
Now I'm willing to bend that a little bit, like if a mass murderer just escaped from prison, but not while I'm trying to enjoy a nice summer drive and no emergency exists. They've ALL sworn to obey that law. So let them obey it, instead of ignoring it.
This story is one of the main reasons why. Instead of doing the job the government was created to do (protect individual rights from thieves, murderers, etc), the politicians/bureaucrats are the ones doing the infringing on those rights.
"If it were possible to have no government, we would do so. It is only to protect our rights that we resort to any government at all." - Thomas Jefferson.
It's the Person who makes the Claim who has responsibility to back it up with sources. Not the reader.
"Search google" makes sense if it's something trivial like "Who starred in the transformers movie", but this doesn't fit that description. The Claimant appears to have advanced engineering knowledge that road damage equals "cube" of mass. That's not something one can find in less than a minute,.
>>>They know, knew, and understand that you cannot fix a deficit or reduce the national debt without raising taxes.
Of course you can. Just spend less money. It's how I fixed my deficit, while my wages held steady. Canceled the cable, canceled the cellphone, turned off the heat, et cetera. Same principle applies at the national level - just cut spending on unnecessary bullshit (like wars, studying butterfly sex, renovating congressional offices, and so on).
>>>driving is a luxury. Just so long as we don't get taxed for the bus, the train, the plane or group transportation.
Why should these individuals be tax-free? I say if car drivers are hit with an additional ~25% per year, then the same thing should happen to metro/bus tickets. Add another 25% tax.
>>>Conservatives hate big government, but they hate the little tax payers even more. Look at the flexible/health spending accounts... >>>
It wasn't the Conservatives - it was the liberal Democrats that killed-off those taxfree medical accounts, as part of the Pelosicare Bill (passed in 2009).
Oh fuck. I interrupted your hate-spiel with some inconvenient facts. Sorry about that.
>>>The heavier vehicles create more wear due to their greater mass and they pay more into the tax fund because they consume more fuel to move that mass around. >>>
Unless they are electric powered (like hybrids). Then the heavier vehicle might actually burn less gasoline, and pay less tax, than a lighter vehicle.
Slashdot Mirror
Soul Calibur was better when it was called "Soul Edge" or "Soul Blade" on the Playstation. The dreamcast was a sequel version that was better-looking, but inferior in almost every other aspect.
As for fighting, Virtual Fighter Evo 4 is the best I've ever played, even if it doesn't look as good. VF is more realistic and balanced - exactly what you want in a good fighting simulator.
>>>In the dust bins of history where it belongs.
What?!?!? Dragon's Lair was one of my favorite games on my Commodore Amiga (1985). A full-motion playable cartoon. Wow.
Then I bought Space Ace (88?) and loved it even more. Don Bluth and his animators had a quirky sense of humor that is still fun to enjoy. To say these games deserve to be "forgotten" is as stupid as saying Bluth Studios other works (american tail, secret of NIMH) deserve to be forgotten. It shows a lack of artistic appreciation on your part.
L8r
URU's real time rendered graphics look like monkey poo next to the artist-drawn Myst perspectives.
>>>Wing Commander was what ruined computer games for a while, with the introduction of "full motion video" and whatnot.
A "while"? You mean: Permanently. We still have full motion video today. It's become the dominant method of story-telling in games like Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, et cetera.
I didn't grow-up with Nintendo (I owned Atari, Commodore, Amiga) and when I eventually got-around to playing Zelda, I thought it was boring. Out of the whole series the only one I truly enjoyed was Ocarina of Time. A true masterpiece. The rest? Nah. There are better adventure games out there.
>>>Most gamers grew up on Nintendo
NES was popular (85% share), but half of the gamers split between the SNES and Genesis/megadrive (50-50 share), while the N64 and Gamecube barely sold any units at all (~20% share). Your statement is inaccurate.
I think a better observation is, "Nintendo fans are like Apple and Harry Potter fans - they vote rabidly and often on polls like these."
Amiga 500 only holds the record as the 2nd best-selling computer ever (after Commodore 64 and ahead of TRS-80). It was just THE console to own in the 80s, if you wanted the best game playing experience. It was merely used to produce graphics for NBC's seaQuest, FOX's Above and Beyond, and the syndicated show called Babylon 5.
Yeah you're right. Amiga wasn't important. Not even worth a mention.
>>>added extra sound channels and made the graphics nicer
Actually the extra chip didn't add anything to the graphics, nor did it add new audio channels. It just crunches music data, and uses the Atari's existing noise generator to play it. i.e. It uses the Atari's stock hardware.
Also Pitfall 2 isn't really nonlinear. Like Metroid or Super Metroid, there's only one path to solve the puzzle. First you have to fall to the bottom of the cave. Then ride a balloon high into the air... then move left and slowly climb upward until you find your lost niece and cat. It's a rail adventure.
Best-looking atari games? Typically they came from Activision. Look at the background scenery on games like Chopper Command or Barnstorming. Imagic's Cosmic Ark/Atlantis are also beautiful to behold.
>>>you can't use mere visuals for the criteria of their artistic merit any more than you would for a film.
Except many people do exactly that. I've seen many films praised by critics or movie fans because of "great visuals" even though the storyline is boring pap. So I'm not surprised to see games being judged in a similar fashion.
POKE781,96:SYS58251 makes my screen do funky things.
I'm experiencing deja vu.
I remember this same discussion back in 1991, when a stealth fighter crashed in Iraq, and "experts" were worried that the crash parts would be stolen and help enemies build their own stealth fighter. So far I've not seen any great harm caused. Remember: These pundits are paid to talk, even if it's just "the sky is falling" nonsense and/or hand-wringing like an old maid.
zzzzzzzzzzz
Why was this article even promoted to the first page? I stopped at "I'm a math major," because unless he's a genius, he's like most college kids (and professors
0 - not a clue about how the world actually works (lies, backstabbing, and networking). Plus: It's not even his field of study. I'm sure he's great at calculus, but that has no relation to how the Law works (which is often the opposite of logical).
Bennet's comment is no more worthy of reading than any other Comment from any other person.
>>>The power plant does this on behalf of the trains, but at minimum it's away from where people live.
Yeah it's a good thing that power plant pollution only affects the suburbanites/farmers that live next to it. They don't matter. It's also good that pollution doesn't drift on wind currents from rural america eastward to Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, etc. (Oh wait - it does.)
I'm not buying your "it's okay to pollute the countryside" argument. Can you tell? ;-)
Donated to the judge's campaign.
How convenient.
>>>disappear your ass and throw you in Guantanamo Bay
Now that's crazy. No way could the Homeland SA get away with throwing a natural-born citizen into some random prison without trial.
It should be possible to defend onself, without having to point fingers at other people. Anonymous is acting like Sony:
"5. It should be remembered that several federal contractors such as HBGary and Palantir have been caught planning a variety of unethical and potentially criminal conspiracies by which to discredit the enemies of their clients. This is not a theory - this is a fact that has been reported at great length by dozens of journalists with major publications. Insomuch as that our enemies have either engaged in or planned to engage in false flag efforts, it should not be surprising that many of the journalists who have covered us, who know who we are and what motivates us - and who have alternatively seen the monstrous behavior of those large and "respectable" firms that are all too happy to throw aside common decency at the behest of such clients as Bank of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - also have their suspicions that some capable party performed this operation as a means by which to do great damage to Anonymous in the public eye. Those who consider such a prospect to be somehow unlikely are advised to read about what was proposed by Team Themis in their efforts to destroy Wikileaks, and should otherwise take a few minutes to learn about COINTELPRO and other admitted practices by the U.S. intelligence community.
"The fact is that Anonymous has brought a great deal of discomfort to powerful entities such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Palantir, and much of the federal government; the Justice Department in particular is likely unhappy that our efforts revealed that it was they themselves who recommended the now-discredited "law firm" Hunton & Williams to Bank of America in order that the latter might better be able to fight back against Wikileaks. All of this is now public record"
NO. He meant you should *support* Mozilla because they fight government tyranny. Google would have just complied with this request w/o a fight.
I'm concerned about what I've read about this addon: "MafiaaFire Redirector hasn't any build-in list of redirected sites. MafiaaFire Redirector download the "redirect list" from 4 websites:
http://mafiaafire.com/xml-update/xml-list.php
http://ifucksexygirls.com/xml-update/xml-list2.php
http://ezee.se/xml-update/xml-list3.php
http://mafiaafire.com/xml-update/xml-list1.php"
>>>we promised Social Security, Medicare, Medicade and interest on the national debt. That's money we HAVE to spend.
Not according to the Supreme Court ruling of 1936 which stated SS is a tax, and like any tax, it may be discontinued whenever congress feels like it. There is not "have" about it. (Of course if the programs were discontinued there'd be a revolt, just like what's happening in Greece.)
As for saving these programs, I'd make a few modifications that would reduce costs by half:
- raise the age to match the current life expectancy (just like when SS was created). That's 79 if I recall correctly.
- exclude anyone with a lifetime income over 10 million (i.e. the rich people like Gates, Trump, or your company's CEO).
- SS, medicare, et cetera is supposed to benefit the working class, not the wealthy class who already have tons of dollars are their disposal. Just like Welfare and Food Stamps.
In my state the Metro (train and subway) is losing money hand-over-fist. The only thing that keeps it viable is Gas Tax. If half the people decided to stop driving cars, thus reducing gas tax revenue by half, the metro system would collapse from lack of funds to stay viable.
As for pollution, study-after-study shows trains are no cleaner than if all the passengers rode in 25 mpg sedans. Why? Because trains are 95% coal-fired.
>>>Blind compliance to government demands is anti-American and it saddens me to see so many people simply fall in line.
I had a former classmate call me an "idiot" because I refused to let my car be searched by the Homeland SA. He's right that it would be easier to comply, but the law is the law. I obey the law and I expect government employees to obey the law too.
No search without court-issued warrant,
and affirmed by oath before the judge.
Now I'm willing to bend that a little bit, like if a mass murderer just escaped from prison, but not while I'm trying to enjoy a nice summer drive and no emergency exists. They've ALL sworn to obey that law. So let them obey it, instead of ignoring it.
This story is one of the main reasons why. Instead of doing the job the government was created to do (protect individual rights from thieves, murderers, etc), the politicians/bureaucrats are the ones doing the infringing on those rights.
"If it were possible to have no government, we would do so. It is only to protect our rights that we resort to any government at all." - Thomas Jefferson.
It's the Person who makes the Claim who has responsibility to back it up with sources. Not the reader.
"Search google" makes sense if it's something trivial like "Who starred in the transformers movie", but this doesn't fit that description. The Claimant appears to have advanced engineering knowledge that road damage equals "cube" of mass. That's not something one can find in less than a minute,.
>>>road wear is a function of the cube of the weight.
If the mass is double, I would expect road wear to be double (twice the force pressing downward). Where did you come-up with this "cube" idea?
>>>They know, knew, and understand that you cannot fix a deficit or reduce the national debt without raising taxes.
Of course you can.
Just spend less money. It's how I fixed my deficit, while my wages held steady. Canceled the cable, canceled the cellphone, turned off the heat, et cetera. Same principle applies at the national level - just cut spending on unnecessary bullshit (like wars, studying butterfly sex, renovating congressional offices, and so on).
>>>driving is a luxury. Just so long as we don't get taxed for the bus, the train, the plane or group transportation.
Why should these individuals be tax-free? I say if car drivers are hit with an additional ~25% per year, then the same thing should happen to metro/bus tickets. Add another 25% tax.
>>>Conservatives hate big government, but they hate the little tax payers even more. Look at the flexible/health spending accounts...
>>>
It wasn't the Conservatives - it was the liberal Democrats that killed-off those taxfree medical accounts, as part of the Pelosicare Bill (passed in 2009).
Oh fuck. I interrupted your hate-spiel with some inconvenient facts. Sorry about that.
>>>The heavier vehicles create more wear due to their greater mass and they pay more into the tax fund because they consume more fuel to move that mass around.
>>>
Unless they are electric powered (like hybrids). Then the heavier vehicle might actually burn less gasoline, and pay less tax, than a lighter vehicle.