what about those small gaming companies who are struggling and running out of money? they would be stoked to be bought out by EA. They get cash, finish their game, then leave EA and use their money to form another dev studio.
I'm not saying it's all as easy as that, nor are the contracts likely to allow that in all cases, but that's a small developers dream isn't it?
There must be some good stories in all these buyouts.
I didn't even get that far... but it was many years ago when I tried to read it. From what I remember, it was like reading a book that the author had pulled out a thesaurus to find the most complicated version of every 2nd word. It was mind numbing to read. My ex swears that it's the greatest book she's ever read. Maybe I'm a dullard, but I like books written in plain english.
I'd have to look at it again to see if that's what actually stopped me reading it.
why do you feel the need to help? will that grant you a place in heaven?
and I have no interest in balance. you either misunderstood, or I misrepresented that fact. I have an interest in not forcing children how to think from an early age, brainwashing them, shall we say.
which is my original point. teaching children one perspective which is skewed is going to do them harm.
They might even end up like you. That would be sad indeed. Thinking that they are The One True Samaritan is dangerous.
Try and help yourself. Stop thinking about religion. Start thinking about yourself and how you can further YOUR life. Don't worry about others. You won't get an extra comfy chair in the sky set aside for you by doing the unknown will of an unknown god.
I'd offer to help you but that's stuppid because I don't care about you.
I take it you're religious. my comment wasn't meant to be an argument, but merely pointing out a possible argument. I don't want to get in a debate because I already know that religion is only something used to scare little kids. I believe in myself, not something invisible and intangible.
forcing children into religion at an early age doesn't show them balance. they are shown the "true way" according to those teaching them.
I was brought up in a perfectly balanced environment which allowed me to come to my own conclusions.
that is: people who are religious are either brought up that way from early childhood, or they have reached some desperate point in their lives and need something to hold on to.
which one are you Mike Hawk?
PS - I'm sorry that whatever religion you were exposed to purported to be presented in a balanced way, but don't let that prejudice your infantile mind.
"It is a nasty and vicious way of prejudicing young minds for the rest of their lives," said Dr Gibson. "Young people with fresh minds need to be brought into an understanding of the problem with both sides of the argument being put forward in a rational and reasonable way. Clearly such programmes are not bringing a balanced judgment to serious and difficult areas of understanding."
That sounds like a fantastic argument against religion.
that's why I said very few... nintendo have VERY FEW games which are considered "adult level" games... you mentioned two. another reply to mine mentioned 4 or 5...
in the scheme of things that is piss all.
and no, I don't think nintendo have allowed a port of GTA on the GC.. it's out for the GBA, but not for the GC... I think there's a good reason for that and it probably won't be because the developers won't port it...
of course, I'm only jumping to conclusions here because I think Nintendo is still a "family" business...
talk to some big publishers.. you might be surprised at nintendo's policies...
I think you misunderstand. A console SHOULD target every demographic. a game shouldn't.
Nintendo are known for their bias towards "family-oriented" entertainment, and only tend to allow publishers to release such games on their consoles. Yes, there are exceptions, but they are very, very few.
a console like the PS2 DOES support games written for every demographic. and that is one of the reasons why they have the biggest market share.
Your comparison to Hollywood movies is wrong. You should be comparing GAMES to MOVIES, not consoles to movies.
lcd's are just fine for casual gaming too, but most don't have quick enough response times and can't refresh as quickly as CRTs.
64MB is pretty damn good for a laptop. I didn't know they were getting that high.. my pussy little 550MHz TiBook only has a 16MB video card...
the other thing is that as I mentioned, the chips are nearly always cut down versions, usually because of heat rather than space considerations. they won't have all the bells and whistles and support all the modes that a full blown AGP card would..
but as you say, perfect for casual gaming.
however, I think that although Halo can be played casually, it's still a hardcore game. It's been in the works for so many years that to make it any less than the best, pushing all machines to their limits, would have made a lot of people ignore it or shit on it.
it's inception may have been 4 years ago, but it's only just come out on the mac and pc... so there's no way they're going to use 4 year old technology..
as the world moves on, so do the game's design documents.
hell yeh... I just hope they release a mac version in a timely manner, cos I don't want to go out and buy a PC.. the original TA only runs on Mac "classic" OS which is complete arse.
If you honestly expect to do any serious gaming on a laptop, PC or mac, then you were probably dropped on your head as a baby.
1. lcd screens suck. 2. laptop video cards are always underpowered, and always come with low memory. 3. laptop cpu's tend to be cut down versions of desktop cpu's.
the aim of laptops are to provide basic desktop functionality using minimum battery power, and giving off as little heat as possible.
yeh, they're cutting costs by putting in 3 CPUs...
whatever..
this article is complete bullshit. a few days ago an article came out which collected all the xbox 2 rumours. now we have news sites saying there are "leaked" specs with the exact same wording of the rumour article.
This article does a wonderful job of saying Jackson did this, Jackson did that, but Boyens and Walsh were also involved in writing the screenplay. Wasn't Philippa Boyens the primary writer of it?
you want sharp edges? ultra 5's aren't sharp... I used to build machines when I finished school (many years ago...) and we got cases from Edge Computer.. a real dodgy company if ever I saw one... The insides of their cases were so sharp, myself and the other techs regularly sliced ourselves open.
In fact, I made our unofficial motto at work: "A piece of us goes out with every machine."
the insides of Ultra 5's are blunt as hell compared to those...
The thing these kids don't understand is that back in the day, kit was built to last. Old SPARCStation 5's are dead reliable
hallelujah. I thought that this article was talking about sparc 5's and I thought to myself: "bugger, we're still running those in a commercial environment." Then I saw they were talking about ULTRA 5's and I thought: "shit, those are the best workstations we have here at work..."
People who think Ultra 5's are archaic beasts aren't geeks. they're n00bs. their opinion is worthless.
Here in Wellington, New Zealand, we have a place called LanPlace. You can hang out for free because you only pay when you use a network port. There are gaming servers there, and there is hardware available to hire, but pretty much eeryone brings their own rig. Of course, there are limited numbers of monitors for hire and the 19's are always gone within a few hours of an announcement of an event.
There are also 2 projectors which can either have PCs connected to them for movies or one on one comps, or for the inhouse PS2's.
People do hang out there occassionally who aren't playing, but there's no lounging space set aside.
Cameras are operated in all corners of the room for security and the images are available on the website so people who aren't there can see what's going on.
I won't give the URL in case it gets slashdotted. But if you're in wellington, you already know about it.
I'll take all these PCs, install Linux and then donate them to churches and schools.
Schools I understand. But why churches? Most of them have more money than they'll ever admit to. And what are they going to use the computers for?? Emailing god?
Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance was just plain dumb in comparison with it's PC-counterparts (though still highly enjoyable and a good game in it's own right).
I actually enjoyed it more. But I consider it a dungeon crawl, pure and simple.
What most impressed me is that they managed to get a game which made extensive use of the keyboard on a PC and left the controls lacking nothing on the console port. It was a dream to control and a lot of fun to play.
PC RPGs still have more depth to gameplay, character creation and controls, but the latest breed of console "RPGs" are holding their own very well.
I've completed BG:DA on PS2 and KOTOR and D&D:Heroes on Xbox and loved every one of them.
The last PC RPG I even remotely came close to completing was Dungeon Siege. But PC RPGs tend to require more hours at the keyboard.
I agree with everything you say here whole heartedly, but you also have to understand the other side of the coin. The publishers are fighting against people who think it's their divine right to have anything and everything free.
There are people who I stop lending my music CDs and DVDs to because I know that the first thing they do when they get them home is fire up a ripper. I spent good money on my collections, just to have a mate rip the shit for nothing.
They look at me strange when I recommend buying something.
What do you do when the "customers" think they should get everything free?
The only way in my eye to completely outlaw piracy is to charge less than the blank media. Even with lots of "tangible" goodies thrown in, some people will still copy the games.
Then again, I also believe that piracy helps sell some copies too. Some people I know treat it like "shareware." Pirate a game, play it, and if you like it, then buy it.
I think I could rant on for hours too...
btw - I do like someone else's idea that if you're only licensing a game, the publishers should replace damaged media....:)
You need to look at percentages and trends, not personal opinion.
Correct. Without looking at exact statistics, I feel entirely comfortable saying that MOST people will not use backwards compatibility. Whether that number is 60% or whether it's 99% is irrelevant. Those people that will buy a system because they MAY one day choose to play an older game are very few.
A lot more people will be inclined to repurchase the game. Some will complain if the price is too high. Some will have the old console and game, so won't care... but the majority, even if they whine about backwards compatibility, will not actually ever use it. Therefore, I think it's a waste of time and money making it work.
If Sony or MS or Nintendo did a public poll before the launch of a new console and gave people the following options: a $300 console with backwards compatibility, or a $250 console without, what do you think would be the outcome?
Slashdot Mirror
what about those small gaming companies who are struggling and running out of money? they would be stoked to be bought out by EA. They get cash, finish their game, then leave EA and use their money to form another dev studio.
I'm not saying it's all as easy as that, nor are the contracts likely to allow that in all cases, but that's a small developers dream isn't it?
There must be some good stories in all these buyouts.
hell, I'd be happy if I could get NEW games in new condition. especially game boy games. those stupid little boxes are always getting crushed...
they are paying the money to have the game made, it's their game, they can release it when and where they want.
I haven't rtfa, but could it just be that releasing certain games on other platforms are not going to bring them enough revenue?
I didn't even get that far... but it was many years ago when I tried to read it. From what I remember, it was like reading a book that the author had pulled out a thesaurus to find the most complicated version of every 2nd word. It was mind numbing to read. My ex swears that it's the greatest book she's ever read. Maybe I'm a dullard, but I like books written in plain english.
I'd have to look at it again to see if that's what actually stopped me reading it.
why do you feel the need to help? will that grant you a place in heaven?
and I have no interest in balance. you either misunderstood, or I misrepresented that fact. I have an interest in not forcing children how to think from an early age, brainwashing them, shall we say.
which is my original point. teaching children one perspective which is skewed is going to do them harm.
They might even end up like you. That would be sad indeed. Thinking that they are The One True Samaritan is dangerous.
Try and help yourself. Stop thinking about religion. Start thinking about yourself and how you can further YOUR life. Don't worry about others. You won't get an extra comfy chair in the sky set aside for you by doing the unknown will of an unknown god.
I'd offer to help you but that's stuppid because I don't care about you.
After being introduced to people. quite early in my life as I recall.
I don't think I ever indicated I was brought up in religion (I wasn't) or that I subscribe to any (I do)
It was quite obvious from your reply.
I want to help.
I want to shit down your throat. we don't always get what we want. Just accept that and move on.
I just found my +6 Bastard Sword of Flamebait.
I take it you're religious. my comment wasn't meant to be an argument, but merely pointing out a possible argument. I don't want to get in a debate because I already know that religion is only something used to scare little kids. I believe in myself, not something invisible and intangible.
forcing children into religion at an early age doesn't show them balance. they are shown the "true way" according to those teaching them.
I was brought up in a perfectly balanced environment which allowed me to come to my own conclusions.
that is: people who are religious are either brought up that way from early childhood, or they have reached some desperate point in their lives and need something to hold on to.
which one are you Mike Hawk?
PS - I'm sorry that whatever religion you were exposed to purported to be presented in a balanced way, but don't let that prejudice your infantile mind.
That sounds like a fantastic argument against religion.
my eyes burn at your scathing remarks, and your exceptional knowledge has humbled me.
I'll go sign up for a course now.
that's why I said very few... nintendo have VERY FEW games which are considered "adult level" games... you mentioned two. another reply to mine mentioned 4 or 5...
in the scheme of things that is piss all.
and no, I don't think nintendo have allowed a port of GTA on the GC.. it's out for the GBA, but not for the GC... I think there's a good reason for that and it probably won't be because the developers won't port it...
of course, I'm only jumping to conclusions here because I think Nintendo is still a "family" business...
talk to some big publishers.. you might be surprised at nintendo's policies...
I think you misunderstand. A console SHOULD target every demographic. a game shouldn't.
Nintendo are known for their bias towards "family-oriented" entertainment, and only tend to allow publishers to release such games on their consoles. Yes, there are exceptions, but they are very, very few.
a console like the PS2 DOES support games written for every demographic. and that is one of the reasons why they have the biggest market share.
Your comparison to Hollywood movies is wrong. You should be comparing GAMES to MOVIES, not consoles to movies.
I should have said serious games :)
lcd's are just fine for casual gaming too, but most don't have quick enough response times and can't refresh as quickly as CRTs.
64MB is pretty damn good for a laptop. I didn't know they were getting that high.. my pussy little 550MHz TiBook only has a 16MB video card...
the other thing is that as I mentioned, the chips are nearly always cut down versions, usually because of heat rather than space considerations. they won't have all the bells and whistles and support all the modes that a full blown AGP card would..
but as you say, perfect for casual gaming.
however, I think that although Halo can be played casually, it's still a hardcore game. It's been in the works for so many years that to make it any less than the best, pushing all machines to their limits, would have made a lot of people ignore it or shit on it.
it's inception may have been 4 years ago, but it's only just come out on the mac and pc... so there's no way they're going to use 4 year old technology..
as the world moves on, so do the game's design documents.
hell yeh... I just hope they release a mac version in a timely manner, cos I don't want to go out and buy a PC.. the original TA only runs on Mac "classic" OS which is complete arse.
If you honestly expect to do any serious gaming on a laptop, PC or mac, then you were probably dropped on your head as a baby.
1. lcd screens suck.
2. laptop video cards are always underpowered, and always come with low memory.
3. laptop cpu's tend to be cut down versions of desktop cpu's.
the aim of laptops are to provide basic desktop functionality using minimum battery power, and giving off as little heat as possible.
yeh, they're cutting costs by putting in 3 CPUs...
whatever..
this article is complete bullshit. a few days ago an article came out which collected all the xbox 2 rumours. now we have news sites saying there are "leaked" specs with the exact same wording of the rumour article.
This article does a wonderful job of saying Jackson did this, Jackson did that, but Boyens and Walsh were also involved in writing the screenplay. Wasn't Philippa Boyens the primary writer of it?
We should be blaming her, or all three of them.
I still don't understand how people soil their machines with Windows.
These guys should be punching people in the face and giving them a good OS
you want sharp edges? ultra 5's aren't sharp... I used to build machines when I finished school (many years ago...) and we got cases from Edge Computer.. a real dodgy company if ever I saw one... The insides of their cases were so sharp, myself and the other techs regularly sliced ourselves open.
In fact, I made our unofficial motto at work: "A piece of us goes out with every machine."
the insides of Ultra 5's are blunt as hell compared to those...
hallelujah. I thought that this article was talking about sparc 5's and I thought to myself: "bugger, we're still running those in a commercial environment." Then I saw they were talking about ULTRA 5's and I thought: "shit, those are the best workstations we have here at work..."
People who think Ultra 5's are archaic beasts aren't geeks. they're n00bs. their opinion is worthless.
There are also 2 projectors which can either have PCs connected to them for movies or one on one comps, or for the inhouse PS2's.
People do hang out there occassionally who aren't playing, but there's no lounging space set aside.
Cameras are operated in all corners of the room for security and the images are available on the website so people who aren't there can see what's going on.
I won't give the URL in case it gets slashdotted. But if you're in wellington, you already know about it.
Schools I understand. But why churches? Most of them have more money than they'll ever admit to. And what are they going to use the computers for?? Emailing god?
I actually enjoyed it more. But I consider it a dungeon crawl, pure and simple.
What most impressed me is that they managed to get a game which made extensive use of the keyboard on a PC and left the controls lacking nothing on the console port. It was a dream to control and a lot of fun to play.
PC RPGs still have more depth to gameplay, character creation and controls, but the latest breed of console "RPGs" are holding their own very well.
I've completed BG:DA on PS2 and KOTOR and D&D:Heroes on Xbox and loved every one of them.
The last PC RPG I even remotely came close to completing was Dungeon Siege. But PC RPGs tend to require more hours at the keyboard.
I agree with everything you say here whole heartedly, but you also have to understand the other side of the coin. The publishers are fighting against people who think it's their divine right to have anything and everything free.
:)
There are people who I stop lending my music CDs and DVDs to because I know that the first thing they do when they get them home is fire up a ripper. I spent good money on my collections, just to have a mate rip the shit for nothing.
They look at me strange when I recommend buying something.
What do you do when the "customers" think they should get everything free?
The only way in my eye to completely outlaw piracy is to charge less than the blank media. Even with lots of "tangible" goodies thrown in, some people will still copy the games.
Then again, I also believe that piracy helps sell some copies too. Some people I know treat it like "shareware." Pirate a game, play it, and if you like it, then buy it.
I think I could rant on for hours too...
btw - I do like someone else's idea that if you're only licensing a game, the publishers should replace damaged media....
If they port Xenon or Xenon 2: Megablast and bundled one or both with the Xbox, that'd just be the classiest...
Correct. Without looking at exact statistics, I feel entirely comfortable saying that MOST people will not use backwards compatibility. Whether that number is 60% or whether it's 99% is irrelevant. Those people that will buy a system because they MAY one day choose to play an older game are very few.
A lot more people will be inclined to repurchase the game. Some will complain if the price is too high. Some will have the old console and game, so won't care... but the majority, even if they whine about backwards compatibility, will not actually ever use it. Therefore, I think it's a waste of time and money making it work.
If Sony or MS or Nintendo did a public poll before the launch of a new console and gave people the following options: a $300 console with backwards compatibility, or a $250 console without, what do you think would be the outcome?