Console commands aren't normally needed. That isn't to say that you can do everything without them, but the majority of Linux users would rather have it that way. It allows for flexibility. Unless people with complaints start writing GUI-based apps that change that, there will never be a change... And the geeks won't care.
Mounting a harddrive isn't necessary to do by hand with Automount. Most "user-friendly" distributions use it. Windows also "mounts devices" but the way the file system structure works is different. Drives (most often) get letter assingments, while UNIX devices get attached (or mounted) to a directory on the tree. Either way, with automount, it doesn't matter. Many distributions detect when a new drive is installed. From there, it configured the fstab for the device so it mounts on bootup.
In comparison to Windows machines, in which you have something like "C:\My Documents\Username\My Pictures", Linux isn't really any different. A lot of programs default to "/home/username/" for file storage. Is it hard to add a "Documents" folder with Nautilus? I use one on my machine, and it works rather well. Nautilus (and other file managers) default to opening the user's home directory... Not some directory in/mnt as mentioned. It would make no sense for a program to default to "/mnt/users/username/home/pictures".
Yes. Linux has install files. They are generally with the extension SH, BIN or RUN. Theyrun the same way that Windows EXE files work. Most commercial Linux games come this way. They are self extracting and have graphical installers in the majority of situations. The difficult part is that you often have to launch them from a shell window. Programs like Nautilus tend to load SH script files up as text files, unless you teach it to work differently. Not sure about the KDE side of things though.
I loved both Shenmue games. In fact, I imported the European version of Shenmue II and I've played through it several times. They are definately some of my all time favorites. The fighting system is fantastic and fun when you get used to it, especially in Shenmue II when a good part of the end of the game means mastering pit-fighting techniques. The story was excellent and the graphics were astounding. Music in both games was top notch.
I really hope that there will be a third game. There are just too many loose ends.
Skies of Arcadia is definately a fantastic game. Though the Gamecube version had been improved in most ways, I couldn't get over how much worse the game's sound was. For some reason, they seemed to really skimp out when they ported the sound engine. Effects were tinny. Musical instruments sounded muted. Things would cut out at times.
Strangely, it wasn't always a problem. There were times when it was really noticable, and other times when it sounded just like the original.
I like the extras that they added to the Gamecube version though.
Any modern Linux distribution that has Hotplug can autodetect most standard hardware. It's been that way for some time. The exception is sometimes the videocard, but most distributions have a program that detects display devices and configures it for X. Even Slackware does this. These days, it requires very little work. Shoot. Even soundcards are autodetected and configured on Slack 9.1. This was a problem for many people in the past.
Keep in mind though that any new devices aren't always going to be autoconfigured, even on Windows. Windows, on the other hand, almost always has binary installers for device drivers.
Enix in the USA has unfortunately never had a whole lot of support. I remember them shutting down their US offices in the early '90s for some time. Then, during the PSX era, they seemed to pop up again out of nowhere.
Now, since the merger with Square and the US office shutdown, there is hardly any mention of their existence. The Square/Enix site (really the Square site made-over) mentions very few of their games. Strangely, all of the Square games are listed, even the poor ones.
It's a shame that Enix is relatively unrecognized in the US anymore, because Valkyrie Profile and the Star Ocean titles were some spectacular games of the last few years, Bust a Groove is quite cool as well. It is quite possible that the US branch of Enix was going to shut down again though. They just didn't have the level of US support to warrant their existence. I wonder if the employees were given the option to work with the new company?
Major Japanese software companies Square Co. Ltd. and Enix Co. have announced today of their decision to merge Companies on April 1st of 2003. The new comapny name has been announced as "Square Enix".
Square will be desolving and merging into Enix, with Enix trading 0.81 stock to each Square stock. Enix CEO Fukushima and associates will invest approximately 30% to the new company's capital, with Square's top shareholder Masashi Miyamoto leading behind at 18 % and Square's second top shareholder SCE at 8%.
Development structures for both companies are not scheduled to be changed at the current time, and no employees are planned to be laid off due to the merge (Current number of employees: Square 891, Enix 140.). Software developments announced by both companies prior to the merge decision will be developed as scheduled.
It is still not clear what kind of new software will be produced with the merger of Square and Enix. However, No combined Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest(Warrior) title is currently planned for development since both series have distinct differences to each other.
More details on the corporate strategies for the new company will be revealed at the analysts meeting on 11/29 in Tokyo.
(Reuters, Quoted) -- "TOKYO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Japanese game software makers Enix Corp 9684.T , known for its blockbuster "Dragon Quest" series, and Square Co Ltd 9620.T , maker of "Final Fantasy", said on Tuesday they would merge to help fight off intense competition.
Enix and Square said the deal would be worth about 89 billion yen ($727 million) based on Enix's pre-announcement share price.
The pact comes as Japanese video game software makers are facing rising development costs to create games for advanced systems such as Sony Corp's 6758.T PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Corp's MSFT.O Xbox in a heavily saturated market.
"We're going on the offensive with this merger. This will make our strengths complement each other," said Square President Yoichi Wada, who will become president of the new firm.
Wada told reporters that Square had a leading position in the online game market as well as strong name recognition in Europe and North America, while Enix had been successfully operating network games for personal computers in Asia.
The stock market gave the deal a high score, but analysts had mixed views. Enix shares, which stood at 1,821 yen by midday, shot up by their daily limit of 300 yen or 16.0 percent to 2,175 yen, while Square shares rose 6.42 percent to close at 2,005 yen.
"The merger is seen as a positive move for both companies as it will provide ample funds to cash-strapped Square while helping to smooth wide earnings swings at Enix, which depends solely on Dragon Quest sales," said Takeshi Tajima, analyst at BNP Paribas.
STABLE EARNINGS
Enix is known for stable earnings. It has never posted a loss since it became a listed company in 1991 and its cash reserves stood at 38 billion yen ($311 million) as of September.
But Takashi Oya, at Deutsche Securities, described the deal as a "virtual" merger and expressed doubts about the benefits.
"Enix outsources game development and has few in-house creators, while Square does everything by itself. The combination of the two provides no negative factors but would bring little in the way of operational synergies," he said.
Under the deal, one Square share will be exchanged for 0.81 share in Enix, which will be the surviving entity. Enix will issue 48.76 million new shares to swap for shares in Square.
Deutsche's Oya said the deal would create a company with a sizable market capitalisation, making it more attractive to investors. The combined companies have a market capitalisation of about 223 billion yen ($1.8 billion) at Mond
Enix to Buy Square for $764 Mln to Add Video Games (Update5) By Hiroshi Suzuki
Tokyo, Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Enix Corp. agreed to buy Square Co. for 93.2 billion yen ($764 million) in cash and stock, combining the makers of ``Dragon Quest'' and ``Final Fantasy,'' Japan's most-popular role-playing video-game series.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?T=marketsqu ot e99_relnews.ht&s=APeMumxNkRW5peCB0
While we're at it, I'll mention that several companies have invested in Square. In fact, they've been bleeding so much cash for the last few years because of their failed movie venture and sheer lack of new, hot-selling games (look at how long it has taken to release FF XI), that they've HAD to look to other sources for money.
Enix was Square's pillow. A Squareophyte like you might be blind to it, but it's the truth. Hell, even Nintendo *gave* them some money, and that is allegedly what landed the Gamecube and GBA a few exclusive Square titles.
By the way... Enix is much bigger in Japan than Square is. It's kinda the reverse in the USA, on the other hand.
Redeem itself? How much are you trying to contradict yourself? You claim X was mediocre, but does this new game look anything less than a clone of X? Even the characters designs are EXACTLY THE SAME.
It's sad, but there hasn't been a truly redeeming Final Fantasy game since VI. Maybe VII. I've still got my original cars of I, IV, and VI. Every once in a while I put the games in and play them a bit. Can't say that I've picked up FF VII since at least 1998. The PSX(2) Final Fantasy era of games have been pretty sad, in my opinion. I've got no hopes for XII.
Not to mention that there really aren't any *good* Windows games of late that aren't already available on Linux. BF1942 is perhaps the only one that comes to mind.
I appreciate your "pity" for my "foolishness," but you must realize that Gamecube gamers are generally well-aware of the network situation before they buy the machine... And really, we don't care. In fact, you'll find that from my GameFAQs link in an above post, most gamers don't care about online gaming in a console right now.
I've got PSO on my Gamecube, and overall it costs me less to play it than an XBox Live owner, evern if I have to buy an adapter to play it online. Is that so foolish? You get to pay two fees for the same service (as well as the price for a Live kit). Granted, there are extra games, but I can always play those same games on the PC *for free*, and use a headset with Teamspeak or Roger Wilco if I choose to do so. Frankly, neither the XBox nor PS2 have any other titles that appeal to me for online play... But to each his own. I'll go sit in a corner by myself; a foolish image of a man, along with his Gamecube - wallowing in self-pity over the state of online gaming... *SOB*
I'd like to see companies like EA do more the with the Gamecube's online capabilities. Broadband adapters and modems aren't too tough to come by anymore... It's just that nobody is doing anything with them.
Rumor has it though that since the upcoming Nintendo racing games will have LAN capability, Nintendo will provide some "Gamespy" branded software that will support packet forwarding that works along the lines of the Warp-Pipe project's software. I wish that more companies would just start making Internet playable games for the Gamecube in general though.
EA can charge as much as they please, just as SEGA charges for PSO. That's not the issue. The problem (for Microsoft) is that EA wishes to completely bypass the XBox Live service in favor of their own. We all know what happens when Microsoft doesn't get complete and utter control of such a thing. This is the issue. Microsoft is banking on total control of online content with this platform, hence the reason for its excellent network capabilities out of the box. XBox Live is a great service, however I don't blame EA for wanting to deny Microsoft control of their own (EA's) content. This is probably why many publishers are opting to stay away from the XBox Live service. It takes control (and general income) out of their hands. I can't tell you how many times I've heard XBox PSO owners complain about having to pay *two* fees. This is the reason that the PS2 is begining to eclipse the XBox live in online games, aside from the fact that more people own PS2 consoles.
Still, a recent GameFAQs poll shows that most gamers (almost 75%) really don't care too much about online gaming with their consoles.
I like seeing new competition in this business, but I really wish that PowerVR had some new products on the way. Things were really promising with the Kyro series cards, but then ST closed their graphics division, ending any new licensing with PowerVR. I love my Kyro 2. Drivers are excellent on Windows and Linux, but sadly it's getting to a point where new games won't run too well with a GF2-class chip. It's still hanging in there though. I just jope that we'll see some of PowerVR series 5 soon.
I've ALWYAYS had severe problems with all S3 problems. From PCI bus hogging with ViRGE chips, to more PCI bus problems with Savage2000, especially when using a bitdepth over 16 BPP (Windows or Linux).
I've not had any problems with my Matrox, ATI, or PowerVR Kyro series products. All have been great cards on both Windows and Linux.
What? I've never had a buggy Matrox product, but I've also never owned one of their Parhelia products. Millennium, Mistique, G200/G400... All were excellent products.
ATI cards have excellent Linux drivers, binary or open. It's really weird because I'm not too fond of nVidia's Linux binaries. It's almost the opposite of the Windows platform, where nVidia dominates with excellent drivers.
Buy a Gamecube and be done with it. I did. The last good Windows game that came out was BF1942, in my opinion... As a matter of fact, one of my friends made a comment similar to yours.
Him: "There are no games on Linux. Why would you want to use it?"
Me: "Have you played anything on Windows that's been good since BF1942 has been released?"
Him: "Well, no..."
He still plays only "Desert Combat" lately. Another recent game that he purchased was "Postal II." That game is a turd, even though it is kinda funny. MOH:AA got its new expansion, but that'll probably be coming to Linux anyway (thanks to Icculus).
Thanks, Confucious. You're so wise. I'll keep this one in mind next time I send my $40 to Pat and co. at Slackware.
As for taking chances... I seem to recall that two major games hit Linux this year. UT2003 and NWN ring a bell?
Cad software and video editing are not an issue. When groups like the movie industry demand more of these apps on Linux, you'll see them. It *IS* hapening, slowly.
Who exactly is this "they?" Is there some Linux entity out there that I am unaware of? That darn Linux company. You'd think they'd try to work harder to be more competitive.
White box Alphas? You mean like the Deskstation machines, or something else? Gosh. I'd love to have Linux on this old Deskstation Raptor that I've got access to. Doesn't look like it will happen.
Yeah, like 15 year old monitors. It's possible to do this on any OS as well. Unlike some, XF86 actually warns you. The other ones just go ahead and do it and revert to the previous setting if you don't click "ok" after 15 seconds.
Slashdot Mirror
Console commands aren't normally needed. That isn't to say that you can do everything without them, but the majority of Linux users would rather have it that way. It allows for flexibility. Unless people with complaints start writing GUI-based apps that change that, there will never be a change... And the geeks won't care.
/mnt as mentioned. It would make no sense for a program to default to "/mnt/users/username/home/pictures".
Mounting a harddrive isn't necessary to do by hand with Automount. Most "user-friendly" distributions use it. Windows also "mounts devices" but the way the file system structure works is different. Drives (most often) get letter assingments, while UNIX devices get attached (or mounted) to a directory on the tree. Either way, with automount, it doesn't matter. Many distributions detect when a new drive is installed. From there, it configured the fstab for the device so it mounts on bootup.
In comparison to Windows machines, in which you have something like "C:\My Documents\Username\My Pictures", Linux isn't really any different. A lot of programs default to "/home/username/" for file storage. Is it hard to add a "Documents" folder with Nautilus? I use one on my machine, and it works rather well. Nautilus (and other file managers) default to opening the user's home directory... Not some directory in
Yes. Linux has install files. They are generally with the extension SH, BIN or RUN. Theyrun the same way that Windows EXE files work. Most commercial Linux games come this way. They are self extracting and have graphical installers in the majority of situations. The difficult part is that you often have to launch them from a shell window. Programs like Nautilus tend to load SH script files up as text files, unless you teach it to work differently. Not sure about the KDE side of things though.
I loved both Shenmue games. In fact, I imported the European version of Shenmue II and I've played through it several times. They are definately some of my all time favorites. The fighting system is fantastic and fun when you get used to it, especially in Shenmue II when a good part of the end of the game means mastering pit-fighting techniques. The story was excellent and the graphics were astounding. Music in both games was top notch.
I really hope that there will be a third game. There are just too many loose ends.
Skies of Arcadia is definately a fantastic game. Though the Gamecube version had been improved in most ways, I couldn't get over how much worse the game's sound was. For some reason, they seemed to really skimp out when they ported the sound engine. Effects were tinny. Musical instruments sounded muted. Things would cut out at times.
Strangely, it wasn't always a problem. There were times when it was really noticable, and other times when it sounded just like the original.
I like the extras that they added to the Gamecube version though.
Any modern Linux distribution that has Hotplug can autodetect most standard hardware. It's been that way for some time. The exception is sometimes the videocard, but most distributions have a program that detects display devices and configures it for X. Even Slackware does this. These days, it requires very little work. Shoot. Even soundcards are autodetected and configured on Slack 9.1. This was a problem for many people in the past.
Keep in mind though that any new devices aren't always going to be autoconfigured, even on Windows. Windows, on the other hand, almost always has binary installers for device drivers.
Maybe you iPod has exceeded its useful life for Apple support? Maybe it's "time" for you to upgrade your iPod to a *newer*, *better* version.
Of course, I'm only being sarcastic. Remember. It's an Apple.
Enix in the USA has unfortunately never had a whole lot of support. I remember them shutting down their US offices in the early '90s for some time. Then, during the PSX era, they seemed to pop up again out of nowhere.
Now, since the merger with Square and the US office shutdown, there is hardly any mention of their existence. The Square/Enix site (really the Square site made-over) mentions very few of their games. Strangely, all of the Square games are listed, even the poor ones.
It's a shame that Enix is relatively unrecognized in the US anymore, because Valkyrie Profile and the Star Ocean titles were some spectacular games of the last few years, Bust a Groove is quite cool as well. It is quite possible that the US branch of Enix was going to shut down again though. They just didn't have the level of US support to warrant their existence. I wonder if the employees were given the option to work with the new company?
http://www.planetps2.com/mmcafe/soup_11-27-02.html
While we're at it, I'll mention that several companies have invested in Square. In fact, they've been bleeding so much cash for the last few years because of their failed movie venture and sheer lack of new, hot-selling games (look at how long it has taken to release FF XI), that they've HAD to look to other sources for money.
Enix was Square's pillow. A Squareophyte like you might be blind to it, but it's the truth. Hell, even Nintendo *gave* them some money, and that is allegedly what landed the Gamecube and GBA a few exclusive Square titles.
By the way... Enix is much bigger in Japan than Square is. It's kinda the reverse in the USA, on the other hand.
Redeem itself? How much are you trying to contradict yourself? You claim X was mediocre, but does this new game look anything less than a clone of X? Even the characters designs are EXACTLY THE SAME.
It's sad, but there hasn't been a truly redeeming Final Fantasy game since VI. Maybe VII. I've still got my original cars of I, IV, and VI. Every once in a while I put the games in and play them a bit. Can't say that I've picked up FF VII since at least 1998. The PSX(2) Final Fantasy era of games have been pretty sad, in my opinion. I've got no hopes for XII.
Not to mention that there really aren't any *good* Windows games of late that aren't already available on Linux. BF1942 is perhaps the only one that comes to mind.
You're right. This one's 163 MB.
e mo installer-linux.sh.html
http://www.3dgamers.com/dl/games/savage/savaged
I appreciate your "pity" for my "foolishness," but you must realize that Gamecube gamers are generally well-aware of the network situation before they buy the machine... And really, we don't care. In fact, you'll find that from my GameFAQs link in an above post, most gamers don't care about online gaming in a console right now.
I've got PSO on my Gamecube, and overall it costs me less to play it than an XBox Live owner, evern if I have to buy an adapter to play it online. Is that so foolish? You get to pay two fees for the same service (as well as the price for a Live kit). Granted, there are extra games, but I can always play those same games on the PC *for free*, and use a headset with Teamspeak or Roger Wilco if I choose to do so. Frankly, neither the XBox nor PS2 have any other titles that appeal to me for online play... But to each his own. I'll go sit in a corner by myself; a foolish image of a man, along with his Gamecube - wallowing in self-pity over the state of online gaming... *SOB*
I'd like to see companies like EA do more the with the Gamecube's online capabilities. Broadband adapters and modems aren't too tough to come by anymore... It's just that nobody is doing anything with them.
Rumor has it though that since the upcoming Nintendo racing games will have LAN capability, Nintendo will provide some "Gamespy" branded software that will support packet forwarding that works along the lines of the Warp-Pipe project's software. I wish that more companies would just start making Internet playable games for the Gamecube in general though.
EA can charge as much as they please, just as SEGA charges for PSO. That's not the issue. The problem (for Microsoft) is that EA wishes to completely bypass the XBox Live service in favor of their own. We all know what happens when Microsoft doesn't get complete and utter control of such a thing. This is the issue. Microsoft is banking on total control of online content with this platform, hence the reason for its excellent network capabilities out of the box. XBox Live is a great service, however I don't blame EA for wanting to deny Microsoft control of their own (EA's) content. This is probably why many publishers are opting to stay away from the XBox Live service. It takes control (and general income) out of their hands. I can't tell you how many times I've heard XBox PSO owners complain about having to pay *two* fees. This is the reason that the PS2 is begining to eclipse the XBox live in online games, aside from the fact that more people own PS2 consoles.
Still, a recent GameFAQs poll shows that most gamers (almost 75%) really don't care too much about online gaming with their consoles.
http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/poll/index.asp?poll=1434
Hmm... Maybe Nintendo had the right idea after all, with such a low-priority online initiative.
There's nothing in there about chips from PowerVR, S3, Rendition, etc.
I like seeing new competition in this business, but I really wish that PowerVR had some new products on the way. Things were really promising with the Kyro series cards, but then ST closed their graphics division, ending any new licensing with PowerVR. I love my Kyro 2. Drivers are excellent on Windows and Linux, but sadly it's getting to a point where new games won't run too well with a GF2-class chip. It's still hanging in there though. I just jope that we'll see some of PowerVR series 5 soon.
I've ALWYAYS had severe problems with all S3 problems. From PCI bus hogging with ViRGE chips, to more PCI bus problems with Savage2000, especially when using a bitdepth over 16 BPP (Windows or Linux).
I've not had any problems with my Matrox, ATI, or PowerVR Kyro series products. All have been great cards on both Windows and Linux.
What? I've never had a buggy Matrox product, but I've also never owned one of their Parhelia products. Millennium, Mistique, G200/G400... All were excellent products.
VIA/S3 don't own DiamondMM anymore. BestData does.
If you want to link to S3, it should be to S3Graphics.com
ATI cards have excellent Linux drivers, binary or open. It's really weird because I'm not too fond of nVidia's Linux binaries. It's almost the opposite of the Windows platform, where nVidia dominates with excellent drivers.
Buy a Gamecube and be done with it. I did. The last good Windows game that came out was BF1942, in my opinion... As a matter of fact, one of my friends made a comment similar to yours.
Him: "There are no games on Linux. Why would you want to use it?"
Me: "Have you played anything on Windows that's been good since BF1942 has been released?"
Him: "Well, no..."
He still plays only "Desert Combat" lately. Another recent game that he purchased was "Postal II." That game is a turd, even though it is kinda funny. MOH:AA got its new expansion, but that'll probably be coming to Linux anyway (thanks to Icculus).
Thanks, Confucious. You're so wise. I'll keep this one in mind next time I send my $40 to Pat and co. at Slackware.
As for taking chances... I seem to recall that two major games hit Linux this year. UT2003 and NWN ring a bell?
Cad software and video editing are not an issue. When groups like the movie industry demand more of these apps on Linux, you'll see them. It *IS* hapening, slowly.
Who exactly is this "they?" Is there some Linux entity out there that I am unaware of? That darn Linux company. You'd think they'd try to work harder to be more competitive.
White box Alphas? You mean like the Deskstation machines, or something else? Gosh. I'd love to have Linux on this old Deskstation Raptor that I've got access to. Doesn't look like it will happen.
Yeah, like 15 year old monitors. It's possible to do this on any OS as well. Unlike some, XF86 actually warns you. The other ones just go ahead and do it and revert to the previous setting if you don't click "ok" after 15 seconds.