CPU Bach was my favorite simulation from Sid Meier. I'm not sure why algorithmic random music generation never really took off. My version is the 3DO version, which I still have. After listening to it repeatedly, there were several movements you kept hearing over and over. Still, and excellent non-game program in a genre that never really got off the ground.
For a complete listing of Meier's accomplishments, Gamespot has The Sid Meier Legacy.
RPGs are a sub-genre of Adventure games. The article, though well written, seems to be a "fluff" article to just generate a thesis and support it with points. And it does it well. It's still a good read, fluff or not. I think it presents us with a trip down nostalgia lane and points out that old game styles are often abandoned for newer "formulas" because a great game that doesn't sell well is still a commercial flop. It's a shame, really, since I spent a lot of time on King's Quest.
Final Fantasy is up to number XI, and they've gotten two tactics games out, and a sequel to X. Sounds dead to me! Can you smell the sarcasm? Genres never die, they just fade into hobbyists.
Also, along the same lines, should Loki sue Mythic because their company name infringes on the name of their game, Myth? It's the same logic, as surely as if someone named a game Microsoftic. IANAL and I'm proud of that fact, because their lawyers obviously don't know the difference between dictionary words and trade names.
I hate to be obvious, but who names a game after Arthurian legend and then uses Norse mythology? That's just illiterate.
I have R: Racing Evolution and I think it's a very fine game. I think perhaps this award should have gone to Auto Modellista (Capcom) for having more fishtails than Finding Nemo. AM is an embarrassing mess for Capcom where everything is right except for the driving simulator.
R:RE is clearly an offshoot of the Ridge Racer line, as they clearly avoided calling it Ridge Racer VI. Ridge Racers are arcade games, not driving sims. I did research awhile back and found previews of a Japenese RR6 which was supposed to be cel-shaded and feature real cars this time. I'm getting really bad flashbacks on Auto Modellista.
If they made a SNES anthology for Nintendo's next system
Actually, good news! The GBA is playing many ported SNES games already. The only bad news is they're charging full price again.
However, on the Gamecube, I Nintendo has released several Zelda games that appear to be emulated versions of N64 (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask)and NES games (Zelda, Zelda II). Not to mention e-reader emulation on GBA and Animal Crossing, as well as Metroid Prime (it has Metroid in it).
This game is pricy at $29.95 MSRP (USD). The Playstation 2 Anthology is only $19.95. Also, the advertising on the box claims that some games like Pitfall 2 and others have never appeared in an anthology before. Many games haven't, but Pitfall 2 is most definitely on the PS2 disc. Bottom line: the reason to buy this must be portability of the Gameboy and/or those home-brew games or you're wasting your money if you're buying another Activision anthology.
I'll be the first to admit that buying Namco Anthology (Pole Position, Ms Pac Man, Galaga, Galaxian) on Gameboy Advance was a repeat purchase that was incredibly worth it ($12.99 at most stores!) for the portability factor. Not to mention it keeps the kids busy.
You two should seriously consider games with editors. Visual Pinball, Heroes of Might and Magic, Contraptions, Neverwinter (as mentioned), RPG Maker and such. Visual Pinball has scores of premade tables, but the Visual Basic can be slightly daunting. Still, the stuff you make and play together might be the most entertaining of all.
Editors appeal to the puzzle lover, plus you can challenge each other.
I'm a user/peruser of the Nival Forums, specifically for the Etherlords II forum. A lot of suggestions are great. Some contradict. Some are awful. One thing I do know is that users want everything.
There's a reason for this. It's economic bias. They want as much as they can get for their $30-70. They forget development costs are fixed to a certain limit. As long as the company is willing to listen, they're gonna ask.
Let's face it. You need a reasonably small selection of users of the end product to filter the crap from all of the users. You also need a small panel of the programmers to breathe some sense into the producer as to what is possible off the filtered list. And the producers of the product really owe it to themselves to stick to the original product specs/plans/capabilities as much as possible.
As far as priorities, listen to the user's bug reports. If you don't kill all the current bugs, you'll never get them all. New "stuff" will always add new bugs, and you don't want the errors to interact.
As far as Etherlords II, a lot of the suggestions are great, but for a sequel. So even bad suggestions in the present can be good suggestions in the future.
I haven't seen this mentioned in the article or the thread, and it's obvious. Random encounters, when incorporated into plot and gameplay, are very effective and entertaining. There are several key elements to randomness "done right":
1) The selection of monsters that pop up require you to be a certain level to pass. Often, a key location cannot be reached at first because the monsters between you and it kill you with one hit.
2) You may need a certain item to defeat a particular group of monsters, like a water pendant to defeat fire creatures. So if you haven't got it, they'll tear you down no matter what level you are until you use the proper item.
3) Random monsters may leave key components behind, like a mosquito wing, green humour, or gobs of money. These items are later used in item construction or passkeys.
4) Likewise, some of the optional but really rare items may only be obtained thru random combat.
5) The random encounters can be bypassed once passed. Usually, this is done with a town teleporter or other teleporting conveyence. Then, if the creatures have served their purpose, they can be skipped. If they haven't served their purpose, you may wander aimlessly to meet them again.
6) Gallery, collection, or similar things require you to seek out different monsters. Obviously, Pokemon comes to mind. You get an entry if you meet them, a different one if you catch them. Also, some spells in RPGs allow you to summon a creature only after you've previously fought or beaten it.
7) Weapons practice. How else do you find out how new weapons are used unless you beat a "sure thing?"
In summary, random encounters can mask the true purpose of non-random elements in the game. If the game uses randomized codes or recipes, you may have to search for different monsters each time you play. So, it can be more than a level-building annoyance.
[I've never understood why non-humanoid monsters would carry all that money, though. I guess it's a shortcut to going to town and selling the pelts/meat.]
My nephews, ages 7 and 3, absolutely love the Namco Museum and Pac Man Collection on Gameboy Advance SP. But when we played other, more modern games, they lost interest quickly. There is something very primal in those original games that tweaks people the right way. The colors are high-contrast. The sounds are brash. The emphasis is on game play, not graphics or quarter-crunching. That probably says a lot.
So the new game sounds great, except Qix didn't seem to be widely distributed in the USA. This cabinet might introduce many of 3 generations to a brand new video game, when abstract games were actually marketed.
I have two other observations. If Namco hid a code on here, it's probably for Space Invaders Deluxe or Super Qix. Cross your fingers for Space Invaders Deluxe because Super Qix was a bastard stepchild of the original game.
The other observation was on our local copy of Ms. Pacman/Galaga. It does really well in our local arcade from all ages of players because Pacman and Ms. Pacman are turbo speed. That makes the game more fun, makes patterns harder to do, and, believe it or not, it makes the maze games easier.
Could someone please show me that Space Invaders "Icing the Cake" secret? I've never been able to pull it off.
I've been a GAMES subsciber since about 1978. There were 4 or 5 years on non-publication. The original publisher was Playboy. The current publisher keeps changing almost yearly. The GAMES 100 has been one of the few steady things.
GAMES used to include old games in the list, but they had several games repeatedly, so they retired the best to the "Hall of Fame." The board games are usually excellent games if you can find them. Many are foreign (not English) language, so make sure they're translated if you need it.
You used to be able to get many boardgames from Wizards of the Coast stores, but the last time I was there, they had cut their selection drastically because it's a niche market. Good boardgames cost $30 on up! I'm guessing that's why you can only find these at Funagain.
Something to be wary about, though. The games reviews are always upbeat and positive. The mini-reviews are doled out to their writers. Like any review, the games are to the taste of the reviewer. Try to research the game online before buying.
And finally, GAMES also publishes the Top 100 Electronic/Computer games. The list is the top video games for people who don't play video games regularly. Although they pick a lot of good ones, they always seem to pick flash over substance.
Replying to all replies: 1) Because mobile phones are more saturated among the Japanese population. It'd be a big hit there. Most of the hurdles that NGage has are not a problem with GBA SP: It folds small and protects screen, it's graphics are very nice, it has lots and lots of games, good construction and you don't have to remove the battery to play a different game. 2) 4x4x3 what? I think you mean 4:4:3 ratio. The Advance player, being much larger than the advance, is way too big. The reason I suggested smaller is competition for the PSP, which uses the same sized disk as cube. (Purse handle has got to go.) 3) Claratin or Allegra, and a LCD projector so that it flies thru the wall?;)
Nintendo has made and remade their old systems. Mostly its to include cheaper parts, and sometimes it also includes a size reduction. Gameboy goes thru the most facelifts. Therefore, I'm guessing it's either: a new design for the cube (perhaps smaller/lighter?), a new design for Gameboy Advance with a mobile phone imbedded (that's where my money is), or a new phone with yet another set of cartridges for games. I suppose another possibility is a super Game-N-Watch system, but how unlikely is that?
I like UK choices--the Commodore 64 to be specific. I can't say it fared too well for the Lynx or the Jaguar video game systems. I hope the sales of XBox aren't forshadowing something.
The legal system is not for education, but for settling disputes, determining guilt, and punishing the guilty (or responsible) parties. Using the legal system in this fashion is misuse and abuse. I hope the RIAA has their collective butts sued for this. There are two ways to educate people: through teaching and/or advertisement. I don't think dragging judges, lawyers, and ordinary citizens through financial hell to teach millions of others a lesson is a fair or justifiable use of resources.
I'm unfamiliar with the source of the blog. He/she/they may be very influential, but it's still an independent's opinion. The comments to the post are revealing enough that other people felt things were left out.
The canon should have a reason for each item, like "first game to introduce lopsided play mechanics with draw potential," or the like.
This is the sort of thing that should be tackle by a consortium, like Gamasutra and altered as little as possible with the exception of adding new games that achieve some innovation.
I think the list is an excellent attempt, though. Hopefully, it will get the ball rolling for an authoritative list of innovations in chronological order as a reference for game developers.
Yes, that's right. It always felt like I was a guest in AC, and that my world only extended to the ends of my avatar.
Keep in mind, previous responses, that in the first 3 months, nothing happened at all. Learning dungeons were always looted, which made no sense since they were learning dungeons.
There were no single-player oriented quests early on. Ultimately, it boiled down to me not wanting to "wait" for the game to get interesting. I guess the good stuff was later, but I found regular RPGs more suited to my tastes.
I've discovered that the original Asheron's call was boring: because you didn't advance in abilities fast enough, the world didn't change, and there was incredible lag and errors. Same thing with the orginal Lineage. In both these examples, you spend your first 40 hours or so battling training level NPGs, dying a lot, and looting your old corpse. That just isn't fun.
Yet Diablo 2 and Phantasy Star Online kept me glued for hours. Mainly because of the quasi-random dungeons and puzzle placement, as well as the slim possibility of obtaining more rare items for use or trade. Then, when I beat the game single player, I lost interest in both, because the quests didn't change. It was all level building at that point.
So here's my criteria so far for a good MMORPG: 1) Fast level building early on, slow later, with a really high ceiling on levels, or no ceiling at all. 2) Randomly rare items that increase in ability as you advance in level 3) Somewhat random dungeons that seem familiar, but everything moves around each game 4) Fascinating single-player play, but more than 5 chapters, please! Perhaps some Chapter 6 random questing mode? I don't have all the answers. 5) Fascinating multi-player cooperative play. Some things should only be achievable as a group and cooperating. 6) Fascinating multi-player antagonistic play. Hacking and slashing at each other in PK mode is boring as crap and rather dumb. I suggest in addition of PK arena type play, also add competitions throughout the world: races, creature hunts, gambling, treasure hunts, target practice, or whatever is appropriate for the fantasy world. 7) You should never feel maxxed out nor finished with the quests! Especially if you're paying a monthly fee. With Diablo, it kinda made sense that you maxxed out, since you paid all your fees up front with the software purchase. Subscription services should live up to their name: periodic quests, periodic events, holidays, change of season, contests, etc. (not to mention software patches) 8) You should also have some level of permanent effect on the world. A plot of land where your hut is, for example.
I agree. Something else to consider is that if you took a random sampling of all people, taller people would make a lot more than shorter people. Why? Babies and children are usually shorter than adults and often make nothing.
It's an obvious conclusion, but I'd like to believe they didn't poll babies' salaries.
There also has to be a height that is generally considered "freakish" and the pay scale swings back the other way.
The article pretty well defines that the defection of key employees may actually become a trade secrets issue as well as breach of contract issue on the "non-disclosure" clause. The key missing detail is the actual contract language, which is bound to be boring, on WotC publishing of Pokemon cards. These details are probably secret, but are what the entire case is based, I'd bet.
Reminds me very much of the fiasco of Nintendo vs Atari/Tengen on the Tetris license.
The last time I checked, baring your breasts for a camera is not indecent exposure. There are thousands of film, many nonpr0n, where this goes on. It is not indecent to broadcast breasts over cable TV. If the woman didn't bare her breasts in view of anyone--which they'd have to prove--simply catching it on camera doesn't mean it's indecent. And if this woman happens to be underage, doesn't that make the police liable for pornagraphy (referring to the Girls Gone Wild underage scandal)? And since they're broadcasting it on TV in a non-news, non-fair use capacity, don't they owe the people acting fees? Aren't people required to sign release agreements for this sort of thing? This can get ugly fast.
Excerpt: Although the study showed twice as many boys who had played the criminal adventure game reported having been in a fight in the last year, the survey's authors cautioned that did not prove a link between game violence and real-life behavior.
Later on, the article does paraphrase that this does not show causality. However, a lot of care is always required in interpreting statistics.
If I gave a sample group peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but didn't put jelly on 30% of the sandwiches, I'd have 70% PB&J, and 30% PB. Now, if I were to randomly select one person out of the group, observe his sandwich, then put him back into group, and repeat, the number of PB&J's would be about 70% and PB's would be 30%. Guess what? The probability I'll select a person with a PB&J is more than twice that of a PB.
The important thing to realize is that the violent behavior displayed by the teens that play GTA is not statistically different than random chance. If they took a lot of samples, it's actually less, being 2-to-1 more likely (67% probable) instead of 7-to-3 more likely (70% probable).
Video games are in the entertainment category. They are very much like movies in that regard. The obvious tactic seems to be the movie trailer. Final Fantasy VII did this and completely drew me in. So did Shenmue. However, if the game doesn't have a movie-like story scripted behind the game, other tactics may be required.
Another tactic that works particularly well is the what happens to you when you play this game. I'm not talking about the people turning into game characters--that's stupid. However, the "she kicks high" DOA3 ad implies the people, mostly guys, are turned on by modeled characters. The Mortal Kombat 4 ad has Shao Khan trying to bust out of a guys stomach because he's possessed.
You should always show the product, and it's best if it fills the TV screen the way it will appear when on the video game system.
Jack Thompson is right. All killing sprees are caused by video games. Therefore Lizzie Borden must've either traveled in time or had a time traveller visit her so that she could log in 200 to 400 hours on Quake to numb her ethical reasoning power. Then, because she was exposed to so much on-screen violence, she killed her parents. I have to find this time traveler so we can introduce video games to the Spaniards before the inquisition.
Slashdot Mirror
CPU Bach was my favorite simulation from Sid Meier. I'm not sure why algorithmic random music generation never really took off. My version is the 3DO version, which I still have. After listening to it repeatedly, there were several movements you kept hearing over and over. Still, and excellent non-game program in a genre that never really got off the ground.
For a complete listing of Meier's accomplishments, Gamespot has The Sid Meier Legacy.
RPGs are a sub-genre of Adventure games. The article, though well written, seems to be a "fluff" article to just generate a thesis and support it with points. And it does it well. It's still a good read, fluff or not. I think it presents us with a trip down nostalgia lane and points out that old game styles are often abandoned for newer "formulas" because a great game that doesn't sell well is still a commercial flop. It's a shame, really, since I spent a lot of time on King's Quest.
Final Fantasy is up to number XI, and they've gotten two tactics games out, and a sequel to X. Sounds dead to me! Can you smell the sarcasm? Genres never die, they just fade into hobbyists.
Also, along the same lines, should Loki sue Mythic because their company name infringes on the name of their game, Myth? It's the same logic, as surely as if someone named a game Microsoftic. IANAL and I'm proud of that fact, because their lawyers obviously don't know the difference between dictionary words and trade names.
I hate to be obvious, but who names a game after Arthurian legend and then uses Norse mythology? That's just illiterate.
I have R: Racing Evolution and I think it's a very fine game. I think perhaps this award should have gone to Auto Modellista (Capcom) for having more fishtails than Finding Nemo. AM is an embarrassing mess for Capcom where everything is right except for the driving simulator.
R:RE is clearly an offshoot of the Ridge Racer line, as they clearly avoided calling it Ridge Racer VI. Ridge Racers are arcade games, not driving sims. I did research awhile back and found previews of a Japenese RR6 which was supposed to be cel-shaded and feature real cars this time. I'm getting really bad flashbacks on Auto Modellista.
If they made a SNES anthology for Nintendo's next system
Actually, good news! The GBA is playing many ported SNES games already. The only bad news is they're charging full price again.
However, on the Gamecube, I Nintendo has released several Zelda games that appear to be emulated versions of N64 (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask)and NES games (Zelda, Zelda II). Not to mention e-reader emulation on GBA and Animal Crossing, as well as Metroid Prime (it has Metroid in it).
This game is pricy at $29.95 MSRP (USD). The Playstation 2 Anthology is only $19.95. Also, the advertising on the box claims that some games like Pitfall 2 and others have never appeared in an anthology before. Many games haven't, but Pitfall 2 is most definitely on the PS2 disc. Bottom line: the reason to buy this must be portability of the Gameboy and/or those home-brew games or you're wasting your money if you're buying another Activision anthology.
I'll be the first to admit that buying Namco Anthology (Pole Position, Ms Pac Man, Galaga, Galaxian) on Gameboy Advance was a repeat purchase that was incredibly worth it ($12.99 at most stores!) for the portability factor. Not to mention it keeps the kids busy.
You two should seriously consider games with editors. Visual Pinball, Heroes of Might and Magic, Contraptions, Neverwinter (as mentioned), RPG Maker and such. Visual Pinball has scores of premade tables, but the Visual Basic can be slightly daunting. Still, the stuff you make and play together might be the most entertaining of all.
Editors appeal to the puzzle lover, plus you can challenge each other.
I'm a user/peruser of the Nival Forums, specifically for the Etherlords II forum. A lot of suggestions are great. Some contradict. Some are awful. One thing I do know is that users want everything.
There's a reason for this. It's economic bias. They want as much as they can get for their $30-70. They forget development costs are fixed to a certain limit. As long as the company is willing to listen, they're gonna ask.
Let's face it. You need a reasonably small selection of users of the end product to filter the crap from all of the users. You also need a small panel of the programmers to breathe some sense into the producer as to what is possible off the filtered list. And the producers of the product really owe it to themselves to stick to the original product specs/plans/capabilities as much as possible.
As far as priorities, listen to the user's bug reports. If you don't kill all the current bugs, you'll never get them all. New "stuff" will always add new bugs, and you don't want the errors to interact.
As far as Etherlords II, a lot of the suggestions are great, but for a sequel. So even bad suggestions in the present can be good suggestions in the future.
I haven't seen this mentioned in the article or the thread, and it's obvious. Random encounters, when incorporated into plot and gameplay, are very effective and entertaining. There are several key elements to randomness "done right":
1) The selection of monsters that pop up require you to be a certain level to pass. Often, a key location cannot be reached at first because the monsters between you and it kill you with one hit.
2) You may need a certain item to defeat a particular group of monsters, like a water pendant to defeat fire creatures. So if you haven't got it, they'll tear you down no matter what level you are until you use the proper item.
3) Random monsters may leave key components behind, like a mosquito wing, green humour, or gobs of money. These items are later used in item construction or passkeys.
4) Likewise, some of the optional but really rare items may only be obtained thru random combat.
5) The random encounters can be bypassed once passed. Usually, this is done with a town teleporter or other teleporting conveyence. Then, if the creatures have served their purpose, they can be skipped. If they haven't served their purpose, you may wander aimlessly to meet them again.
6) Gallery, collection, or similar things require you to seek out different monsters. Obviously, Pokemon comes to mind. You get an entry if you meet them, a different one if you catch them. Also, some spells in RPGs allow you to summon a creature only after you've previously fought or beaten it.
7) Weapons practice. How else do you find out how new weapons are used unless you beat a "sure thing?"
In summary, random encounters can mask the true purpose of non-random elements in the game. If the game uses randomized codes or recipes, you may have to search for different monsters each time you play. So, it can be more than a level-building annoyance.
[I've never understood why non-humanoid monsters would carry all that money, though. I guess it's a shortcut to going to town and selling the pelts/meat.]
My nephews, ages 7 and 3, absolutely love the Namco Museum and Pac Man Collection on Gameboy Advance SP. But when we played other, more modern games, they lost interest quickly. There is something very primal in those original games that tweaks people the right way. The colors are high-contrast. The sounds are brash. The emphasis is on game play, not graphics or quarter-crunching. That probably says a lot.
So the new game sounds great, except Qix didn't seem to be widely distributed in the USA. This cabinet might introduce many of 3 generations to a brand new video game, when abstract games were actually marketed.
I have two other observations. If Namco hid a code on here, it's probably for Space Invaders Deluxe or Super Qix. Cross your fingers for Space Invaders Deluxe because Super Qix was a bastard stepchild of the original game.
The other observation was on our local copy of Ms. Pacman/Galaga. It does really well in our local arcade from all ages of players because Pacman and Ms. Pacman are turbo speed. That makes the game more fun, makes patterns harder to do, and, believe it or not, it makes the maze games easier.
Could someone please show me that Space Invaders "Icing the Cake" secret? I've never been able to pull it off.
I've been a GAMES subsciber since about 1978. There were 4 or 5 years on non-publication. The original publisher was Playboy. The current publisher keeps changing almost yearly. The GAMES 100 has been one of the few steady things.
GAMES used to include old games in the list, but they had several games repeatedly, so they retired the best to the "Hall of Fame." The board games are usually excellent games if you can find them. Many are foreign (not English) language, so make sure they're translated if you need it.
You used to be able to get many boardgames from Wizards of the Coast stores, but the last time I was there, they had cut their selection drastically because it's a niche market. Good boardgames cost $30 on up! I'm guessing that's why you can only find these at Funagain.
Something to be wary about, though. The games reviews are always upbeat and positive. The mini-reviews are doled out to their writers. Like any review, the games are to the taste of the reviewer. Try to research the game online before buying.
And finally, GAMES also publishes the Top 100 Electronic/Computer games. The list is the top video games for people who don't play video games regularly. Although they pick a lot of good ones, they always seem to pick flash over substance.
Replying to all replies: ;)
1) Because mobile phones are more saturated among the Japanese population. It'd be a big hit there. Most of the hurdles that NGage has are not a problem with GBA SP: It folds small and protects screen, it's graphics are very nice, it has lots and lots of games, good construction and you don't have to remove the battery to play a different game.
2) 4x4x3 what? I think you mean 4:4:3 ratio. The Advance player, being much larger than the advance, is way too big. The reason I suggested smaller is competition for the PSP, which uses the same sized disk as cube. (Purse handle has got to go.)
3) Claratin or Allegra, and a LCD projector so that it flies thru the wall?
Nintendo has made and remade their old systems. Mostly its to include cheaper parts, and sometimes it also includes a size reduction. Gameboy goes thru the most facelifts. Therefore, I'm guessing it's either: a new design for the cube (perhaps smaller/lighter?), a new design for Gameboy Advance with a mobile phone imbedded (that's where my money is), or a new phone with yet another set of cartridges for games. I suppose another possibility is a super Game-N-Watch system, but how unlikely is that?
I like UK choices--the Commodore 64 to be specific. I can't say it fared too well for the Lynx or the Jaguar video game systems. I hope the sales of XBox aren't forshadowing something.
The legal system is not for education, but for settling disputes, determining guilt, and punishing the guilty (or responsible) parties. Using the legal system in this fashion is misuse and abuse. I hope the RIAA has their collective butts sued for this. There are two ways to educate people: through teaching and/or advertisement. I don't think dragging judges, lawyers, and ordinary citizens through financial hell to teach millions of others a lesson is a fair or justifiable use of resources.
I'm unfamiliar with the source of the blog. He/she/they may be very influential, but it's still an independent's opinion. The comments to the post are revealing enough that other people felt things were left out.
The canon should have a reason for each item, like "first game to introduce lopsided play mechanics with draw potential," or the like.
This is the sort of thing that should be tackle by a consortium, like Gamasutra and altered as little as possible with the exception of adding new games that achieve some innovation.
I think the list is an excellent attempt, though. Hopefully, it will get the ball rolling for an authoritative list of innovations in chronological order as a reference for game developers.
Yes, that's right. It always felt like I was a guest in AC, and that my world only extended to the ends of my avatar.
Keep in mind, previous responses, that in the first 3 months, nothing happened at all. Learning dungeons were always looted, which made no sense since they were learning dungeons.
There were no single-player oriented quests early on. Ultimately, it boiled down to me not wanting to "wait" for the game to get interesting. I guess the good stuff was later, but I found regular RPGs more suited to my tastes.
But these are only my tastes, remember.
I've discovered that the original Asheron's call was boring: because you didn't advance in abilities fast enough, the world didn't change, and there was incredible lag and errors. Same thing with the orginal Lineage. In both these examples, you spend your first 40 hours or so battling training level NPGs, dying a lot, and looting your old corpse. That just isn't fun.
Yet Diablo 2 and Phantasy Star Online kept me glued for hours. Mainly because of the quasi-random dungeons and puzzle placement, as well as the slim possibility of obtaining more rare items for use or trade. Then, when I beat the game single player, I lost interest in both, because the quests didn't change. It was all level building at that point.
So here's my criteria so far for a good MMORPG:
1) Fast level building early on, slow later, with a really high ceiling on levels, or no ceiling at all.
2) Randomly rare items that increase in ability as you advance in level
3) Somewhat random dungeons that seem familiar, but everything moves around each game
4) Fascinating single-player play, but more than 5 chapters, please! Perhaps some Chapter 6 random questing mode? I don't have all the answers.
5) Fascinating multi-player cooperative play. Some things should only be achievable as a group and cooperating.
6) Fascinating multi-player antagonistic play. Hacking and slashing at each other in PK mode is boring as crap and rather dumb. I suggest in addition of PK arena type play, also add competitions throughout the world: races, creature hunts, gambling, treasure hunts, target practice, or whatever is appropriate for the fantasy world.
7) You should never feel maxxed out nor finished with the quests! Especially if you're paying a monthly fee. With Diablo, it kinda made sense that you maxxed out, since you paid all your fees up front with the software purchase. Subscription services should live up to their name: periodic quests, periodic events, holidays, change of season, contests, etc. (not to mention software patches)
8) You should also have some level of permanent effect on the world. A plot of land where your hut is, for example.
I agree. Something else to consider is that if you took a random sampling of all people, taller people would make a lot more than shorter people. Why? Babies and children are usually shorter than adults and often make nothing.
It's an obvious conclusion, but I'd like to believe they didn't poll babies' salaries.
There also has to be a height that is generally considered "freakish" and the pay scale swings back the other way.
The article pretty well defines that the defection of key employees may actually become a trade secrets issue as well as breach of contract issue on the "non-disclosure" clause. The key missing detail is the actual contract language, which is bound to be boring, on WotC publishing of Pokemon cards. These details are probably secret, but are what the entire case is based, I'd bet.
Reminds me very much of the fiasco of Nintendo vs Atari/Tengen on the Tetris license.
The last time I checked, baring your breasts for a camera is not indecent exposure. There are thousands of film, many nonpr0n, where this goes on. It is not indecent to broadcast breasts over cable TV. If the woman didn't bare her breasts in view of anyone--which they'd have to prove--simply catching it on camera doesn't mean it's indecent. And if this woman happens to be underage, doesn't that make the police liable for pornagraphy (referring to the Girls Gone Wild underage scandal)? And since they're broadcasting it on TV in a non-news, non-fair use capacity, don't they owe the people acting fees? Aren't people required to sign release agreements for this sort of thing? This can get ugly fast.
Excerpt: Although the study showed twice as many boys who had played the criminal adventure game reported having been in a fight in the last year, the survey's authors cautioned that did not prove a link between game violence and real-life behavior.
Later on, the article does paraphrase that this does not show causality. However, a lot of care is always required in interpreting statistics.
If I gave a sample group peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but didn't put jelly on 30% of the sandwiches, I'd have 70% PB&J, and 30% PB. Now, if I were to randomly select one person out of the group, observe his sandwich, then put him back into group, and repeat, the number of PB&J's would be about 70% and PB's would be 30%. Guess what? The probability I'll select a person with a PB&J is more than twice that of a PB.
The important thing to realize is that the violent behavior displayed by the teens that play GTA is not statistically different than random chance. If they took a lot of samples, it's actually less, being 2-to-1 more likely (67% probable) instead of 7-to-3 more likely (70% probable).
Video games are in the entertainment category. They are very much like movies in that regard. The obvious tactic seems to be the movie trailer. Final Fantasy VII did this and completely drew me in. So did Shenmue. However, if the game doesn't have a movie-like story scripted behind the game, other tactics may be required.
Another tactic that works particularly well is the what happens to you when you play this game. I'm not talking about the people turning into game characters--that's stupid. However, the "she kicks high" DOA3 ad implies the people, mostly guys, are turned on by modeled characters. The Mortal Kombat 4 ad has Shao Khan trying to bust out of a guys stomach because he's possessed.
You should always show the product, and it's best if it fills the TV screen the way it will appear when on the video game system.
Jack Thompson is right. All killing sprees are caused by video games. Therefore Lizzie Borden must've either traveled in time or had a time traveller visit her so that she could log in 200 to 400 hours on Quake to numb her ethical reasoning power. Then, because she was exposed to so much on-screen violence, she killed her parents. I have to find this time traveler so we can introduce video games to the Spaniards before the inquisition.