Just a small quibble - Valve didn't build the engine from scratch - note the splash screen at the start talking about the Havok engine. Also referenced here. And considering the high reliance on physics in the game, its not something to overlook.
Now, back to watching the clock until home time and getting back in to HL2;-).
Razor thin margins? I take it that you have never worked in grocery, either sales or consumer goods supply to grocery. Lets look at some of the numbers behind grocery;
Average margin on goods - 20-60% for most non-perishable, sub $20 goods. Thats excluding "Trade promotion" spend from the consumer goods supplier for better locations, shelf spaces, next-to-counter implulse buy locations, etc.
Listing fees for each and every item - with a limited guarantee for how long it will be listed. Not performing? Either pay another list fee, or get yanked. Price varies by country.
Catalogs, TV ad placements with products named - all paid for by the supplier of those goods. And guess who pays for the 40c discount per item (in Trade Promotion spend....) hint : not the grocery store!
Returns? Freshness issues? cough up supplier.
OK, so what to pay for? Staff, restacking of shelves, rent on property (although most chains own the entire complex). Sounds like a sweet deal to me:-)
Grocery is the a huge cash cow out there right now - the only people being squeezed are the little mom & pop grocery, who don't have the muscle to stand up to suppliers and the buying power to compete with the major chains. And guess who aren't putting locks on their trolleys?
I love the fact that you comment on the fact that the population (and the Slashdot community) is easily tricked..... and then your.sig is a link to a ponzi / pyramid scheme. You're just as much someones bitch pimping that stuff as a zombie computer user. Its just a different flavour in the social engineering icecream range.
Oh, and if it wasn't obvious - that goes for everyone else with iPod/TV/Projector/MP3 player/shiny widget links as well.(Finally, a topic where I can rant about this.... and stay on topic!)
You don't need to log on to steam every time you want to play an offline game. You only have to log in once in your entire life to authenticate your HL key. From then on, you can run offline any time you want..... I mean come on, whats the problem? If you don't want to use the technology, you and your offline mates can play the old style using the released mods, and live with it.
Just do what I do - copy the/STEAM directory with all the games you play to a CD/DVD and voila! its all backed up. Bonus is, you copy the files from the CD/DVD to a new machine and its good to go, no downloads required on the target machine, unless there has been updates since your last backup. I find it to be tonnes quicker and easier than the old model of install original CD, patch the base game, install the mods you want, patch them......
You can't play any of the games without logging into Steam, even if you have the CD.
That used to be the case, however Steam has been updated and you can now launch into offline mode, and chose if you want to go online or not. Great for lans, playing a home networked game, etc.
The driver for people to visit the site is an email discussing unlocking a cabinet - if you visit the site, you get the code to a cabinet which contains the chain-gun. This allows you to access it about 20-30 minutes earler than you find it in-game.... a very handy thing to have:-)
Not sure on the costs involved with the XBox obviously, but this is exactly what was done with the Gameboy Advance. Inside is both a Gameboy and a Gameboy Advance CPU, and on boot it chooses which to run based on the game type.
Good enough for a sub $100 handheld good enough for the XBox2 I say:-)
To build on this point - I've got a coupon for Half Life 2 that came with an ATI video card. That coupon is about 7 or 8 months old, as is the (at the time bleeding edge) Radeon 9800. I'm jacked that I'm waiting for a game I've paid for is not in my hands. I'll be even more ropeable if the video card has ANY troubles with the game at all, but thats another story.
Serves me right I suppose.... repeat after me boys and girls, never pay for something that is not available yet. Preordered games fall into the same category.
Damnit, p0rn was going to be my 2nd step in the 3 step process.
1. Make a game with p0rn 2. Mothers, family groups, right wing groups and advocates for less pink bits go rabid mad, being quoted all over the media, dropping the name of my game as the example of all that is wrong with the world..... 3. Profit!!!!
Doh! Ok, so what's left? School shooting simulations? Sim-Abortion-Clinic? Terrorist training - the game (buy the tin set, comes with authentic box cutter!)????
Not too sure I agree about it being an inside job - very likely a hiker or outdoor adventure nut who pulled the prank. Pre-planned? Perhaps. The prank-puller(s) could have hiked there before and remembered to bring something funny for next time. Could have been their first trip but they had already checked out the lie of the land on the net first, and found the camera in their googling. Or could have been completely spontaneous.
And come on, if you see a rig with a camera and teleco gear attached, even if you didn't know it was a webcam, a true prankster would still pull the prank even if they would never hear the outcome!
This is a very poor logic argument - a significant cut down on legal firearms in Australia (ban on semi-auto rifles in 96, semi-auto pistols over a certain calibre and/or magazine size in 03) have not impacted firearm deaths in Australia. We have seen a signifant decrease in legal firearms and licensed shooters, and both buy-backs have seen hundreds of thousands of previously registered and legally owned firearms handed in and destroyed, with the taxpayer funding these purchases.
Illegal imports (especially pistols) make up the majority of illegal firearms used in criminal activities in Australia - safe to say, no matter what the penalty or barriers, firearms will make their way into the hands of criminals.
..... so now it's time to harness the power of slashdot for GOOD. SCOmeone has been stuffing the ballot box, lets stuff it right back the way it is supposed to be!!!!!
Sydney, Australia is 4360 nautical miles from Tokyo, Japan. Los Angeles is 4782 nautical miles from Tokyo. Thats just over 10 hours of flying for Aussies, and slightly less than 11 hours for Americans. Rather more than 5 hours, and similar travel times for Americans and Aussies:).
/snip/
Me, if someone gets violent I pull my.38. If they continue to act violent, I don't take chances - I fire in their general direction and stop when I run out of bullets. Then I reload. /snip/
Slashdot Mirror
I'd just be happy if everyone attached a page 3 girl to their posts before submitting :-)
Just a small quibble - Valve didn't build the engine from scratch - note the splash screen at the start talking about the Havok engine. Also referenced here. And considering the high reliance on physics in the game, its not something to overlook. Now, back to watching the clock until home time and getting back in to HL2 ;-).
Razor thin margins? I take it that you have never worked in grocery, either sales or consumer goods supply to grocery. Lets look at some of the numbers behind grocery; Average margin on goods - 20-60% for most non-perishable, sub $20 goods. Thats excluding "Trade promotion" spend from the consumer goods supplier for better locations, shelf spaces, next-to-counter implulse buy locations, etc. Listing fees for each and every item - with a limited guarantee for how long it will be listed. Not performing? Either pay another list fee, or get yanked. Price varies by country. Catalogs, TV ad placements with products named - all paid for by the supplier of those goods. And guess who pays for the 40c discount per item (in Trade Promotion spend....) hint : not the grocery store! Returns? Freshness issues? cough up supplier. OK, so what to pay for? Staff, restacking of shelves, rent on property (although most chains own the entire complex). Sounds like a sweet deal to me :-)
Grocery is the a huge cash cow out there right now - the only people being squeezed are the little mom & pop grocery, who don't have the muscle to stand up to suppliers and the buying power to compete with the major chains. And guess who aren't putting locks on their trolleys?
I love the fact that you comment on the fact that the population (and the Slashdot community) is easily tricked ..... and then your .sig is a link to a ponzi / pyramid scheme. You're just as much someones bitch pimping that stuff as a zombie computer user. Its just a different flavour in the social engineering icecream range.
Oh, and if it wasn't obvious - that goes for everyone else with iPod/TV/Projector/MP3 player/shiny widget links as well.(Finally, a topic where I can rant about this.... and stay on topic!)
You don't need to log on to steam every time you want to play an offline game. You only have to log in once in your entire life to authenticate your HL key. From then on, you can run offline any time you want..... I mean come on, whats the problem? If you don't want to use the technology, you and your offline mates can play the old style using the released mods, and live with it.
Steampowered website - Exhibit A
Just do what I do - copy the /STEAM directory with all the games you play to a CD/DVD and voila! its all backed up. Bonus is, you copy the files from the CD/DVD to a new machine and its good to go, no downloads required on the target machine, unless there has been updates since your last backup. I find it to be tonnes quicker and easier than the old model of install original CD, patch the base game, install the mods you want, patch them......
You can't play any of the games without logging into Steam, even if you have the CD.
That used to be the case, however Steam has been updated and you can now launch into offline mode, and chose if you want to go online or not. Great for lans, playing a home networked game, etc.
My guess for the password is 'gaben' :-)
The driver for people to visit the site is an email discussing unlocking a cabinet - if you visit the site, you get the code to a cabinet which contains the chain-gun. This allows you to access it about 20-30 minutes earler than you find it in-game.... a very handy thing to have :-)
There is one. googling is good for you
Not sure on the costs involved with the XBox obviously, but this is exactly what was done with the Gameboy Advance. Inside is both a Gameboy and a Gameboy Advance CPU, and on boot it chooses which to run based on the game type. Good enough for a sub $100 handheld good enough for the XBox2 I say :-)
Exactly how many people do you expect to go to the site in your .sig after that comment? ;-)
You mean a PS1 emulator for the XBox like this one????
:-).
Of course you need to have modded your box to run it, which kind of impacts the sales of XBox games by default
To build on this point - I've got a coupon for Half Life 2 that came with an ATI video card. That coupon is about 7 or 8 months old, as is the (at the time bleeding edge) Radeon 9800. I'm jacked that I'm waiting for a game I've paid for is not in my hands. I'll be even more ropeable if the video card has ANY troubles with the game at all, but thats another story.
:-).
Serves me right I suppose.... repeat after me boys and girls, never pay for something that is not available yet. Preordered games fall into the same category.
Ah well, I guess Far Cry will tide me over
Damnit, p0rn was going to be my 2nd step in the 3 step process.
1. Make a game with p0rn
2. Mothers, family groups, right wing groups and advocates for less pink bits go rabid mad, being quoted all over the media, dropping the name of my game as the example of all that is wrong with the world.....
3. Profit!!!!
Doh! Ok, so what's left? School shooting simulations? Sim-Abortion-Clinic? Terrorist training - the game (buy the tin set, comes with authentic box cutter!)????
Not too sure I agree about it being an inside job - very likely a hiker or outdoor adventure nut who pulled the prank. Pre-planned? Perhaps. The prank-puller(s) could have hiked there before and remembered to bring something funny for next time. Could have been their first trip but they had already checked out the lie of the land on the net first, and found the camera in their googling. Or could have been completely spontaneous. And come on, if you see a rig with a camera and teleco gear attached, even if you didn't know it was a webcam, a true prankster would still pull the prank even if they would never hear the outcome!
This is a very poor logic argument - a significant cut down on legal firearms in Australia (ban on semi-auto rifles in 96, semi-auto pistols over a certain calibre and/or magazine size in 03) have not impacted firearm deaths in Australia. We have seen a signifant decrease in legal firearms and licensed shooters, and both buy-backs have seen hundreds of thousands of previously registered and legally owned firearms handed in and destroyed, with the taxpayer funding these purchases.
Illegal imports (especially pistols) make up the majority of illegal firearms used in criminal activities in Australia - safe to say, no matter what the penalty or barriers, firearms will make their way into the hands of criminals.
Boy loves BFG.
Boy loses BFG.
Boy does rocket jump to prove love for BFG.
Boy and BFG live happily ever after.
And who says sequels arent as good as the original?
Don't be too sure - its now at;
..... so now it's time to harness the power of slashdot for GOOD. SCOmeone has been stuffing the ballot box, lets stuff it right back the way it is supposed to be!!!!!
Yes - 32%
Undecided - 2%
No - 60%
Unsure - 6%
Knowing my luck all the powerful senators with good drops will be camped....
Sydney, Australia is 4360 nautical miles from Tokyo, Japan. Los Angeles is 4782 nautical miles from Tokyo. Thats just over 10 hours of flying for Aussies, and slightly less than 11 hours for Americans. Rather more than 5 hours, and similar travel times for Americans and Aussies :).
The guys have said they will keep the Childs Play article on the front page until christmas, so no big stress there.