A decade-old question...
on
Ask Neil Gaiman
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Neil,
Back in March of 1993, some friends and I met you at the Motor City Comic Con. I brought Good Omens with me for you to sign, and one of my friends asked when you were going to get back together with Terry Pratchett to write another book. You mumbled something about the book to her, and signed "Burn this book!" in my copy.
So, for a decade, I've wondered on and off: What your true feelings are about Good Omens and Pratchett? Might we ever see another book from you two?
BTW, you gave me the best piece of advice I ever got about writing: Finish it. Whatever you start, finish it.
I think you're reading way too much into The Matrix. The brothers, while I like them, are not really deep thinkers from what I've seen. They're flashy, they're stylistic, they've got good FX. But, in the end, I think The Matrix is going to be nothing more than a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. I just hope Neo doesn't wake up at the same computer he was at in the first movie.
One thing I will say is that Lucas has never said he's trying to do anything other than tell a story. It's a simple story, not too complex, but there really isn't anything to take away from it other than your own thoughts as to whether Lucas told the story well. In that regards, I hold him in much higher esteem than the aforementioned brothers who seem to prefer making people think there is something more to their movies then there ever will be...
Star Wars is Lucas's. It is his story. Take it or leave it - but don't invalidate it just because you don't like it. By doing that all you do is say that he doesn't have the right to tell a story the way he weants to. Too many SW fans seem to think they own the story, and that Lucas is somehow betraying them for what he's doing. The characters are his, the storyline is his, the idea is his. He has the right to do what he wants to with the pieces as he sees fit. Go see another movie if you don't want to watch his presentation of his story.
Obviously someone was not paying attention in history class in high school. Try again, Nimrod!
Fascism and Socialism are two ENTIRELY different systems. Hitler was not a Socialist, even if the Nazi Party's formal name included the term. Hitler despised Socialism with a passion, almost as much as he hated Democracy.
Just because someone calls themselves one thing does not mean they are that thing. For example: North Korea's "official" name is the People's Democratic Republic of Korea. Last I looked, North Korea isn't a democracy.
Don't speak if you have no damn clue as to what you're talking about.
Well, I could ask why you don't do your English homework (because grammar clearly isn't a strong suit for you, is it?), but I won't.
Anyhow, once I get my hands on my staff's G5 I'll be able to tell you if that bad boy is going into a laptop any time soon.
I still say that we have to wait for the G5 laptops until January, if not next late summer/fall, and you can quote me on that. If I turn out to be wrong next week, feel free to quote this entire post and tell me you told me so.
A G5 PowerBook?!? Are you mad? Have you looked at the size of the heatsink in the new Power Macs? Have you looked at it's specs? It isn't ready for a laptop. There will not be a G5 laptop for months, if not a year...
You should try to meet Gaiman one of these days. He might actually agree with you. Sandman is more about storytelling than anything else - and that is what Gaiman excels at. The entire storyline to the comic (it is a comic - Gaiman wouldn't disagree with you) does a wonderful job in its story. You need to look beyond the goth trappings.
I think you mistyped above - Halo is a singular game, not plural (as in "games"). Thus, there haven't been good Western "games" brought to Japan for the Xbox...there's just been a good Western game.
When KOTOR gets over there, then you can add the "s."
Now, let's assume the kids aren't lying through their teeth (I don't remember taking potshots at cars in GTA while standing...maybe if I had a large weapon...but to each his own) about the game influencing them to do this: Who let the kids get access to a gun, but who let the kids get access to GTA?!?
From the article: William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, who turns 14 Sunday, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.
A 13-year-old and a 16-year-old. Now, I think the argument could be made that a 16-year-old MIGHT be mature enough to play GTA (obviously not Billy-boy, though), but WTF was a 13-year-old doing playing that game?!? To add on to that, why have I seen kids - young kids - in game stores getting M-rated games? My wife and I watched a 9- or 10-year-old kid and his mother buy Vice City earlier this year, and the mother asked him if he wanted the strategy guide! Obviously that's one smart little kid...
Now, don't get me wrong: I love the GTA series, but I'm 30. I wouldn't have let me at 13 play GTA, and I sure as hell know my mother wouldn't have, either. At 13, I couldn't handle that game, I know that.
Where the hell are these kids' parents? Is Tennessee going to prosecute those idiots (I hope!)?
Think about it: should a Flash Gordon serial have the same weight as 2001? Should Star Wars? And, I'll tell you, I am a HUGE SW fanboy, but I'm willing to place SW outside of hard SF. Not snobbery to me - just common sense.
It is snobbery when the community dismisses the science in the fiction because it is not supported by hard science. Thus, I would consider Star Trek to, in general, be SF. Science, whether it be psuedo-science or not, plays a massive role in the ST universe (again, in SW it doesn't). Foundation is clearly seen as hard SF, but how many true "hard" sciences are included? I agree with you that the definition is cloudy, but hardly anal.
It comes down to the fact that I would also argue that Harlan Ellison's definition of SF as "speculative fiction" is a better fit, allowing for a wide reach of science (include social sciences, allowing utopian/dystopian pieces, for example, to be given "hard" status), instead of just the traditional bio, chem and physics.
But, in the end, SW would still be a fantasy because it truly employs no science.
First: Dude...you obviously are not hanging out with the "OS X crowd." Of the ten people I work with who use OS X, six of them are coders. Complete and utter geeks, all of whom fit your qualifications and exceed them. OS X changed everything. Once 10.2 was out, you should have seen the influx of Macs into my office.
Second: WINE needs to be on an x86 processor - it's not an emulator. Thus, to run on a G5, WINE would have to be run on an emulator like VPC...sounds kinda silly to me.
Why put the work into it? There is so much to take into consideration with your computer.
For example: Do you have this specific Nvidia card in it? If so, you may experience major graphic glitches during gameplay. Our engineers expect to have a patch out next week.
Add on top of that: Is your processor fast enough? Do you have enough RAM? Did you build it, or is it off-the-shelf? Etc., etc., etc.
It's too much work for the vast majority of game companies to develop for the PC when they can simply develop for a closed system like a console. You may have to buy an add-on here and there (the Network Adaptor on the PS2 for SOCOM, the added graphic memory for the N64 and Perfect Dark), but those are across the board.
Okay, where in Star Wars did you get the idea that it was science fiction?
It's not. "Sci-Fi?" Maybe (Sci-Fi isn't Science Fiction). It is defintiely fantasy. The best litmus test of "Is it Science Fiction?" I've ever heard was "Does the science portion play a integral part in the story? is it almost like a character?"
The answer for Star Wars is "no." It's a great fantasy that just happens to take place in space - but it isn't SF.
Alien isn't SF - it's a horror flick that's set in space. Aliens is an action flick.
Now think of movies where they try to take actual science into account (not to say the movies are good, however): 2001, The Abyss...
So, while I agree with your critique, I think you should be comparing apples to apples, not oranges.
I think what everyon is missing is that DOAXBV has been designed as a tease, sort of like a burlesque show.
Now, don't get me wrong - if someone wants to edit Tina so she's just wearing boots and a hat, then feel free. Whatever floats your boat, homey.
But I think the point of the game is to play with the imagination, but not to go all the way. When you look at Japanese pop culture recently, especially the emphasis on the schoolgirls, there is an incessant teasing going on. That teasing may not necessarily be a good thing in Japan, since there have been increased incidents with real Japanese schoolgirls having problems with peeping toms and with incidents on subways, etc. (I've yet to hear of any rapes, though).
It's like a calm river with a severely violent undertow. However, I think that Itagaki would prefer that people mod the game than go after young girls. Just an opinion.
Slashdot Mirror
Back in March of 1993, some friends and I met you at the Motor City Comic Con. I brought Good Omens with me for you to sign, and one of my friends asked when you were going to get back together with Terry Pratchett to write another book. You mumbled something about the book to her, and signed "Burn this book!" in my copy.
So, for a decade, I've wondered on and off: What your true feelings are about Good Omens and Pratchett? Might we ever see another book from you two?
BTW, you gave me the best piece of advice I ever got about writing: Finish it. Whatever you start, finish it.
I appreciate that advice to this day.
Thanks,
Geoffrey Sperl
Detroit, MI
One thing I will say is that Lucas has never said he's trying to do anything other than tell a story. It's a simple story, not too complex, but there really isn't anything to take away from it other than your own thoughts as to whether Lucas told the story well. In that regards, I hold him in much higher esteem than the aforementioned brothers who seem to prefer making people think there is something more to their movies then there ever will be...
Star Wars is Lucas's. It is his story. Take it or leave it - but don't invalidate it just because you don't like it. By doing that all you do is say that he doesn't have the right to tell a story the way he weants to. Too many SW fans seem to think they own the story, and that Lucas is somehow betraying them for what he's doing. The characters are his, the storyline is his, the idea is his. He has the right to do what he wants to with the pieces as he sees fit. Go see another movie if you don't want to watch his presentation of his story.
Right, becuase The Matrix is just full of original thought!
</dripsarcasm>
HEY! How did you find the transcript from one of my Jedi Outcast games?!? - Darth Binks
Man...maybe I can blame my being overweight to playing too much Pac-Man as a kid. So I can sue Namco and Atari and Midway, right?
Oh, wait a second!...there are no PowerBook G5s...I wonder why?
Obviously someone was not paying attention in history class in high school. Try again, Nimrod!
Fascism and Socialism are two ENTIRELY different systems. Hitler was not a Socialist, even if the Nazi Party's formal name included the term. Hitler despised Socialism with a passion, almost as much as he hated Democracy.
Just because someone calls themselves one thing does not mean they are that thing. For example: North Korea's "official" name is the People's Democratic Republic of Korea. Last I looked, North Korea isn't a democracy.
Don't speak if you have no damn clue as to what you're talking about.
I think he was being sarcastic. Re-read the post.
We could have asked her to dress up as the Wicked Witch of the West (Hollywood, that is) for Halloween...
Anyhow, once I get my hands on my staff's G5 I'll be able to tell you if that bad boy is going into a laptop any time soon.
I still say that we have to wait for the G5 laptops until January, if not next late summer/fall, and you can quote me on that. If I turn out to be wrong next week, feel free to quote this entire post and tell me you told me so.
What is this "radio" of which you speak?
A G5 PowerBook?!? Are you mad? Have you looked at the size of the heatsink in the new Power Macs? Have you looked at it's specs? It isn't ready for a laptop. There will not be a G5 laptop for months, if not a year...
You should try to meet Gaiman one of these days. He might actually agree with you. Sandman is more about storytelling than anything else - and that is what Gaiman excels at. The entire storyline to the comic (it is a comic - Gaiman wouldn't disagree with you) does a wonderful job in its story. You need to look beyond the goth trappings.
When KOTOR gets over there, then you can add the "s."
From the article: William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, who turns 14 Sunday, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault.
A 13-year-old and a 16-year-old. Now, I think the argument could be made that a 16-year-old MIGHT be mature enough to play GTA (obviously not Billy-boy, though), but WTF was a 13-year-old doing playing that game?!? To add on to that, why have I seen kids - young kids - in game stores getting M-rated games? My wife and I watched a 9- or 10-year-old kid and his mother buy Vice City earlier this year, and the mother asked him if he wanted the strategy guide! Obviously that's one smart little kid...
Now, don't get me wrong: I love the GTA series, but I'm 30. I wouldn't have let me at 13 play GTA, and I sure as hell know my mother wouldn't have, either. At 13, I couldn't handle that game, I know that.
Where the hell are these kids' parents? Is Tennessee going to prosecute those idiots (I hope!)?
I didn't say that, did I? Read the post, in context, and try again.
Think about it: should a Flash Gordon serial have the same weight as 2001? Should Star Wars? And, I'll tell you, I am a HUGE SW fanboy, but I'm willing to place SW outside of hard SF. Not snobbery to me - just common sense.
It is snobbery when the community dismisses the science in the fiction because it is not supported by hard science. Thus, I would consider Star Trek to, in general, be SF. Science, whether it be psuedo-science or not, plays a massive role in the ST universe (again, in SW it doesn't). Foundation is clearly seen as hard SF, but how many true "hard" sciences are included? I agree with you that the definition is cloudy, but hardly anal.
It comes down to the fact that I would also argue that Harlan Ellison's definition of SF as "speculative fiction" is a better fit, allowing for a wide reach of science (include social sciences, allowing utopian/dystopian pieces, for example, to be given "hard" status), instead of just the traditional bio, chem and physics.
But, in the end, SW would still be a fantasy because it truly employs no science.
Second: WINE needs to be on an x86 processor - it's not an emulator. Thus, to run on a G5, WINE would have to be run on an emulator like VPC...sounds kinda silly to me.
For example: Do you have this specific Nvidia card in it? If so, you may experience major graphic glitches during gameplay. Our engineers expect to have a patch out next week.
Add on top of that: Is your processor fast enough? Do you have enough RAM? Did you build it, or is it off-the-shelf? Etc., etc., etc.
It's too much work for the vast majority of game companies to develop for the PC when they can simply develop for a closed system like a console. You may have to buy an add-on here and there (the Network Adaptor on the PS2 for SOCOM, the added graphic memory for the N64 and Perfect Dark), but those are across the board.
It's not. "Sci-Fi?" Maybe (Sci-Fi isn't Science Fiction). It is defintiely fantasy. The best litmus test of "Is it Science Fiction?" I've ever heard was "Does the science portion play a integral part in the story? is it almost like a character?"
The answer for Star Wars is "no." It's a great fantasy that just happens to take place in space - but it isn't SF.
Alien isn't SF - it's a horror flick that's set in space. Aliens is an action flick.
Now think of movies where they try to take actual science into account (not to say the movies are good, however): 2001, The Abyss...
So, while I agree with your critique, I think you should be comparing apples to apples, not oranges.
Now, don't get me wrong - if someone wants to edit Tina so she's just wearing boots and a hat, then feel free. Whatever floats your boat, homey.
But I think the point of the game is to play with the imagination, but not to go all the way. When you look at Japanese pop culture recently, especially the emphasis on the schoolgirls, there is an incessant teasing going on. That teasing may not necessarily be a good thing in Japan, since there have been increased incidents with real Japanese schoolgirls having problems with peeping toms and with incidents on subways, etc. (I've yet to hear of any rapes, though).
It's like a calm river with a severely violent undertow. However, I think that Itagaki would prefer that people mod the game than go after young girls. Just an opinion.
See my reply above - but you are right. My bad. :(
Okay - you're right. I was tired and getting ready for bed...
You forgot: "Double sweet."
Now I, as a fellow Earl Grey addict (plain, nothing added, please), will have to get some of No. 42 and try it out...