(OK, time to do mental back-flips and justify my own double standard...)
The big difference between music and video games in my mind is what you intend to use it on. With music, most people intend to listen to it on a variety of devices in different places, be it a walkman, a car stereo, a home a/v setup or a computer. Being a passive media, people don't like to think about whether they have the right permissions on a file and/or the right proprietary hardware to listen to it where they happen to be.
With the active nature of video games, it's a little different. Unless you're a rabid collector that has to have one of every color GameCube available, most people buy exactly one player for a specific medium and leave it at that. With the exception of Game Boy, you get the game with the intent to sit in front of the TV and play it, as opposed to playing it in your car, at work, etc. And with that, DRM doesn't get in the way of typical console game use. You might have to bring the controller (i. e. the console) with you to someone else's house if you want to play the game elsewhere, even if they already have their own iQue, but this isn't much different from bringing your GBA with you to play Crystal Chronicles or Four Swords Adventures.
Really, it's a matter of the companies imposing restrictions where people never had any before. DRM restrictions were new to music because nobody ever thought about having "the right" to make a cassette recording of a song to listen to wherever. DRM on console games, on the other hand, isn't all that different from the requirement to own the right proprietary hardware to begin with.
There's also the issue of price: lossy, DRM-riddled music recordings are the same price as lossless, libre CD tracks, and that price is pretty much fixed no matter how old the album is. On the other hand, the games Nintendo is selling through their iQue network is the genuine article and the price is about the same as finding the original cartridges in a bargain bin.
Call it my inner rabid Ninetndo fanboy peeking through, but while I wouldn't touch an iPod with a three-meter pole, I'd jump on the opportunity to purchase an iQue stateside.
Except we're talking about John McCain here. You know, one of the front-runners that ran against Bush in the '00 Republican primaries? The only Republican right-wing crazies hate?
It's time people realize that the biggest threats to civil liberties in the US doesn't come from the White House but from the domed building down the street. Don't forget that Congress is still full of most of the people that were around to vote in favor of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Just how "new" is the new you're referring to? Is Zelda: Four Swords Adventures too old? It's the newes GCN game I have and it has no such warning that I'v eseen.
That's probably why Audiovox just released their third generation receiver. Too bad it's a different form factor from their earlier tuners; otherwise, getting it wouldn't mean getting new docking stations and such.
"For instance, most of the southeast US gets at least 50 inches of rain a year (far more around the Gulf coast...), but it is sunny for much of the year."
That's because we get all our rain at once, from storms that have names (Charlie, Frances, Ivan, Ivan again, Jeanne...)
"Because then all the states would scramble to come up with a system that would give their state more sway in the presidential elecion than the others."
I wasn't referring to elections of the Electoral College, I was thinking of Congress (the election of which Congress can control without a constitutional amendment). If certain federal laws weren't in the way, the states themselves could decide to use new voting methods or even set up multi-seat districts without having to drag states that don't want to along for the ride.
Election of members of the House of Representatives is done with single-member districts, which can leave up to 49% of the population without representation. We're using single-member districts because of a Nineteenth Century federal law. Before that law, most states went with the "winner-takes-all" party slate elections, like what's usually done with the Electoral College today. But instead of Congress saying "Don't do that," they went so far as to say "You will be doing it this way instead."
The act of voting, if nothing else, is a signal that you consent to be ruled by the options on the ballot. If nobody can give citizens something worthwhile to vote for, compulsory voting and silly schemes like this will only make matters worse.
"Interesting?" This post gets modded up as interesting?!?!
I swear I am never going to use Latin again! Between the editor who moved the link to someplace where it makes no sense and the moderator here who... sheesh...
Would y'all rather I said "the rampant music (and some other stuff besides music, like software and stuff, making this an obnoxiously long parenthetical for a group of people who probably don't even know what "parenthetical" means, all the while making me wonder if I should put this before or after the word "piracy") piracy in their country?"
"Why is it unacceptable to steal a car that is critical to my supporting myself and my family but okay to steal music which is a luxury?"
Because you can't purchase CDs by taking out a loan while using said CDs as the collateral. It's easier to get a secured loan than it is to get a credit card since the secured loan is... well.. secured.
All the complaints I've seen about their looks can be summed up in just two words: sour grapes. That, or their only exposure to women has been through their pr0n collection.
Slashdot Mirror
(OK, time to do mental back-flips and justify my own double standard...)
The big difference between music and video games in my mind is what you intend to use it on. With music, most people intend to listen to it on a variety of devices in different places, be it a walkman, a car stereo, a home a/v setup or a computer. Being a passive media, people don't like to think about whether they have the right permissions on a file and/or the right proprietary hardware to listen to it where they happen to be.
With the active nature of video games, it's a little different. Unless you're a rabid collector that has to have one of every color GameCube available, most people buy exactly one player for a specific medium and leave it at that. With the exception of Game Boy, you get the game with the intent to sit in front of the TV and play it, as opposed to playing it in your car, at work, etc. And with that, DRM doesn't get in the way of typical console game use. You might have to bring the controller (i. e. the console) with you to someone else's house if you want to play the game elsewhere, even if they already have their own iQue, but this isn't much different from bringing your GBA with you to play Crystal Chronicles or Four Swords Adventures.
Really, it's a matter of the companies imposing restrictions where people never had any before. DRM restrictions were new to music because nobody ever thought about having "the right" to make a cassette recording of a song to listen to wherever. DRM on console games, on the other hand, isn't all that different from the requirement to own the right proprietary hardware to begin with.
There's also the issue of price: lossy, DRM-riddled music recordings are the same price as lossless, libre CD tracks, and that price is pretty much fixed no matter how old the album is. On the other hand, the games Nintendo is selling through their iQue network is the genuine article and the price is about the same as finding the original cartridges in a bargain bin.
Call it my inner rabid Ninetndo fanboy peeking through, but while I wouldn't touch an iPod with a three-meter pole, I'd jump on the opportunity to purchase an iQue stateside.
Except we're talking about John McCain here. You know, one of the front-runners that ran against Bush in the '00 Republican primaries? The only Republican right-wing crazies hate?
It's time people realize that the biggest threats to civil liberties in the US doesn't come from the White House but from the domed building down the street. Don't forget that Congress is still full of most of the people that were around to vote in favor of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Just how "new" is the new you're referring to? Is Zelda: Four Swords Adventures too old? It's the newes GCN game I have and it has no such warning that I'v eseen.
... a slander lawsuit!
Or am I being too optimistic?
Piracy on the networks would be the equivalent of three or four San Franciscos!
"As any mouse user can tell you, taking your hands off your keyboard is damaging to your productivity."
Doesn't using Lynx all the time get old after a while, though?
"About 50% of those who died in WW2 were civilian, up from 10% in WW1."
How much of that was from the Eastern Front or the Japanese campaign in Manchuria, where the combattants made it a point to hit civillians?
"We are only two states away from a onstitutional convention,"
Which states have signed on?
That's probably why Audiovox just released their third generation receiver. Too bad it's a different form factor from their earlier tuners; otherwise, getting it wouldn't mean getting new docking stations and such.
Where's the power supply? Where's the antenna?
It's a plug-and-play shuttle, not a stand-alone unit. It's just like my Audiovox SIR-PNP2, only smaller.
Fry: "Well, it turned out I loved her, but I wasn't in love with her."
At least it didn't gush out of a bull...
"For instance, most of the southeast US gets at least 50 inches of rain a year (far more around the Gulf coast...), but it is sunny for much of the year."
That's because we get all our rain at once, from storms that have names (Charlie, Frances, Ivan, Ivan again, Jeanne...)
"Because then all the states would scramble to come up with a system that would give their state more sway in the presidential elecion than the others."
I wasn't referring to elections of the Electoral College, I was thinking of Congress (the election of which Congress can control without a constitutional amendment). If certain federal laws weren't in the way, the states themselves could decide to use new voting methods or even set up multi-seat districts without having to drag states that don't want to along for the ride.
Election of members of the House of Representatives is done with single-member districts, which can leave up to 49% of the population without representation. We're using single-member districts because of a Nineteenth Century federal law. Before that law, most states went with the "winner-takes-all" party slate elections, like what's usually done with the Electoral College today. But instead of Congress saying "Don't do that," they went so far as to say "You will be doing it this way instead."
Better yet, why can't Congress let the states decide how they want to elect federal officeholders?
Greetings starfighter! You have been recruited by Slashdot to defend the Electronic Frontier against Gates and the Corporate Armada!
Nah, he's just not a fan of NSFs.
The act of voting, if nothing else, is a signal that you consent to be ruled by the options on the ballot. If nobody can give citizens something worthwhile to vote for, compulsory voting and silly schemes like this will only make matters worse.
"Interesting?" This post gets modded up as interesting?!?!
I swear I am never going to use Latin again! Between the editor who moved the link to someplace where it makes no sense and the moderator here who... sheesh...
Would y'all rather I said "the rampant music (and some other stuff besides music, like software and stuff, making this an obnoxiously long parenthetical for a group of people who probably don't even know what "parenthetical" means, all the while making me wonder if I should put this before or after the word "piracy") piracy in their country?"
Et tu, Slashdot?
"Why is it unacceptable to steal a car that is critical to my supporting myself and my family but okay to steal music which is a luxury?"
Because you can't purchase CDs by taking out a loan while using said CDs as the collateral. It's easier to get a secured loan than it is to get a credit card since the secured loan is... well.. secured.
All the complaints I've seen about their looks can be summed up in just two words: sour grapes. That, or their only exposure to women has been through their pr0n collection.
"If it bothers you, turn up your own stereo. That's what it's there for: To drown out annoying sounds"
If this is what radio means to you, then ClearChannel has already won.
"the first woman to regularly defeat me at
StreetFighter regardless of age, race, or looks,
goes entirely unanswered.
I think I was born 5 years or so too late;"
Well, considering that you didn't put a "II" after "Street Fighter," I think 5 years is a little optimistic...
Ah, but will it die before or after implementing IPv6?
If it's after, I think we can relax a bit longer. Hell, I'm sure Duke Nukem Forever is currently aimed at IPv6 networked play...
"an acoustic sensor/camera combination that would detect these idiots on the road and mail them a ticket."
That doesn't go too far enough! This is why we have Metal Storm! Reduce those damned overgrown carts to chaffe!