One of the more amusing game-related memories I recall is that of a Defender champ playing Defender in the college arcade for hours and hours.
The guy racked up hundreds of extra lives. Eventually, he got tired of it and walked away (leaving kids to scramble to take over his game).
This video game whiz, obviously not a jack of all trades, walked to the nearby Donkey Kong console. He put in a quarter. Within seconds, Mario was crunched by a barrel. In anger, he hauled back and swatted the control knob, knocking it flying (joystick attached) across the room. He then left the arcade.
"T2 we see the Terminator and the T-1000 completely melt away. "
I'm pretty sure that in T2 they take care to destroy the hand left-over from T1. However, during the factory battle in T2, Arnold's Terminator loses another hand, which remains forgotten, undestroyed.
"They don't make the games for free, therefore they are at fault because there is a demand for free games?"
No, that wasn't it at all, Mr A.C. You missed my point. My point was that they often refuse to sell the games (or DVDs) *at all* in certain regions, which leaves piracy as the *only* method of getting the games.
"Publishers don't localize games into Russian because it is not profitable to do so."
How much overhead or cost to the company in letting the Russian distributors buy the games and distribute them in Russia? Very little.
"So are you saying the publisher is at fault because they don't make the game in Russian, when it would be impossible to sell that game in Russian because the market is saturated with illegal copies?"
No, in this instance the publisher would be remiss if they refused to sell legally the exact sort of games that are saturating the pirate market. If the pirates in Russia love the untranslated English games, then why aren't the publishers selling legal copies of these?
Producing games but refusing to sell them to those who would like buy them does have an effect of encouraging piracy among those who are prevented from buying them.
"The X-Box costs about $300-400 a pop to produce (don't quote me on that). MS loses money on each X-Box they sell. "
Will this always be the case? Typically, the same PC at the same speed, with the same hard disk becomes cheaper to produce as time goes on. Since an X is like a PC, if Microsoft is selling the same X-box that they started with, does this mean that they lose less and less money on each unit sold as the months go by, and eventually they will break even (unless they upgrade the platform?)
When the companies refuse to make available where there is a demand games which are available in other regions, this of course encourages piracy.
This is very similar to the region system in DVD's, which does nothing but encourage piracy, DeCSS, and region-free hacks of players because the companies often never make certain material available in certain regions.
In situations like this, the problem is not piracy: piracy is a symptom and result of the companies inexplicably refusing to take money for games (or movies) that the public wants to buy.
This would make sense if the taxes were going to necessary infrastructure, like dungeon maintenance, armor for the knights who police the place, sewage, dragon-polish, and the like.
Someone actually remembers the old "Wet Trek" show, where the acting bar was so low that members of the Deloise family outshined everyone else in the show?
Where Roy Scheider always had this tired "I got dragooned into this because of JAWS" look on his face?
Suggestion for a new "Star Trek Decay" icon:....a still snapshot of "The Simpsons" episode where a very round Scotty was waving his arms and complaining that he was too fat to reach the controls.
Viacom. Doing what angry Trekkies have wanted to do for years.
Well it could have been the New York Times
on
Bill Gates On Linux
·
· Score: 3, Funny
" The magazine with the widest readership in the nation. It probably has the lowest reader-IQ-average as a direct result."
Would you have rather that the interview had been in the New York Times, written by Jayson Blaire as he sat in his Manhattan den, performing in his mind a visit to Gate's office in Redmond?
In A.D. 2003 Broadcast was beginning. Captain: What happen ? Mechanic: Somebody set up us the boob tube Operator: We get signal Captain: What ! Operator: Main screen turn on Captain: It's You !! CaTV: How are you gentlemen !! CaTV: All your channel are belong to us CaTV: You are on the way to destruction Captain: What you say !! CaTV: You have no chance to watch make your time CaTV: HA HA HA HA.... Captain: Take off every 'zignal' Captain: You know what you doing Captain: Move 'zignal' Captain: For great reception
" This is the reason why Netscape lost out to IE on the Windows platform, not because Microsoft somehow unfairly leveraged its position as the developer of Windows..."
It is a combination of both factors. Netscape made their browser worse and worse, while M$ improved IE...which they bundled for free and promoted aggressively. The two factors combined nicely to turn Netscape into a footnote.
Slashdot Mirror
One of the more amusing game-related memories I recall is that of a Defender champ playing Defender in the college arcade for hours and hours.
The guy racked up hundreds of extra lives. Eventually, he got tired of it and walked away (leaving kids to scramble to take over his game).
This video game whiz, obviously not a jack of all trades, walked to the nearby Donkey Kong console. He put in a quarter. Within seconds, Mario was crunched by a barrel. In anger, he hauled back and swatted the control knob, knocking it flying (joystick attached) across the room. He then left the arcade.
Michael: "Luca Brasi held a gun to his head, and my father assured him that either his brains or his signature would be on the contract."
"T2 we see the Terminator and the T-1000 completely melt away. "
I'm pretty sure that in T2 they take care to destroy the hand left-over from T1. However, during the factory battle in T2, Arnold's Terminator loses another hand, which remains forgotten, undestroyed.
Does anyone have any good Arnold governor campaign slogans for Arnold's possible pending T4 in Sacramento?
"T4: The Rise of the Political Machine"
"They don't make the games for free, therefore they are at fault because there is a demand for free games?"
No, that wasn't it at all, Mr A.C. You missed my point. My point was that they often refuse to sell the games (or DVDs) *at all* in certain regions, which leaves piracy as the *only* method of getting the games.
"Publishers don't localize games into Russian because it is not profitable to do so."
How much overhead or cost to the company in letting the Russian distributors buy the games and distribute them in Russia? Very little.
"So are you saying the publisher is at fault because they don't make the game in Russian, when it would be impossible to sell that game in Russian because the market is saturated with illegal copies?"
No, in this instance the publisher would be remiss if they refused to sell legally the exact sort of games that are saturating the pirate market. If the pirates in Russia love the untranslated English games, then why aren't the publishers selling legal copies of these?
Producing games but refusing to sell them to those who would like buy them does have an effect of encouraging piracy among those who are prevented from buying them.
"The X-Box costs about $300-400 a pop to produce (don't quote me on that). MS loses money on each X-Box they sell. "
Will this always be the case? Typically, the same PC at the same speed, with the same hard disk becomes cheaper to produce as time goes on. Since an X is like a PC, if Microsoft is selling the same X-box that they started with, does this mean that they lose less and less money on each unit sold as the months go by, and eventually they will break even (unless they upgrade the platform?)
When the companies refuse to make available where there is a demand games which are available in other regions, this of course encourages piracy.
This is very similar to the region system in DVD's, which does nothing but encourage piracy, DeCSS, and region-free hacks of players because the companies often never make certain material available in certain regions.
In situations like this, the problem is not piracy: piracy is a symptom and result of the companies inexplicably refusing to take money for games (or movies) that the public wants to buy.
H. Ross Perot was inexplicably branded a racist for saying "you people".
This would make sense if the taxes were going to necessary infrastructure, like dungeon maintenance, armor for the knights who police the place, sewage, dragon-polish, and the like.
All funny + mod points to you!
Well, if that is not cutting off one's own nose to despite one's face....
Someone actually remembers the old "Wet Trek" show, where the acting bar was so low that members of the Deloise family outshined everyone else in the show?
Where Roy Scheider always had this tired "I got dragooned into this because of JAWS" look on his face?
Would be great if Sega was doing this for a game, like their Carbondale mapping effort.
The Universal Horror Game.
From Seinfeld episode "The Frogger":
.....
ELAINE: Guess what I ate.
GEORGE: An ostrich burger.
ELAINE: No. A $29,000 piece of cake. Peterman got it at The Duke Of Windsor auction. It was the most romantic thing I've ever eaten.
JERRY: How'd it taste?
ELAINE: A little stale.
JERRY: Yeah.
PETERMAN: Do you know what happens to a butter-based frosting after six decades in a poorly ventilated English basement?
ELAINE: Uh, I guess I hadn't--
PETERMAN: Well, I have a feeling that what you are about to go through is punishment enough. Dismissed.
Yes, they have a museum. I have one to, it is re-created in my e-mail box every single day
Instead of the Rosetta Stone, I have spams that are entirely garbage characters.
Instead of a stuffed elephant in the atrium, I have many spams promising prodigious enlargement.
Instead of a building to house the collection, I get many offers for home loans.
Instead of historical film loops showing in little theatres, my spam museum contains spams from Netflix.
Also featured are amazing pharmaceutical advances, such as v1agra
Instead of the priceless treasures of the Czars, my spam museum in my inbox contains several offers of Russian spamwives.
Instead of classical sculpture celebrating the human form, this museum contains many offers of "See your moms friend nekad blb".
Ah, the many wonders. Amazed? You shouldn't be, check your own inbox!
Let's call Spam "DLM" (digital luncheon meat) from now on, avoid the lawsuits!
Suggestion for a new "Star Trek Decay" icon: ....a still snapshot of "The Simpsons" episode where a very round Scotty was waving his arms and complaining that he was too fat to reach the controls.
"Electronic Giants Form CE Linux Forum"
I think this includes the Transformers, right? How about the other electronic giant monster and hero types?
Viacom. Doing what angry Trekkies have wanted to do for years.
" The magazine with the widest readership in the nation. It probably has the lowest reader-IQ-average as a direct result."
Would you have rather that the interview had been in the New York Times, written by Jayson Blaire as he sat in his Manhattan den, performing in his mind a visit to Gate's office in Redmond?
Cowboy Neal Stephenson? Ah... That explains.... nothing at all.
Here's the secret. Don't tell anyone. The password he uses is "neal".
In A.D. 2003 Broadcast was beginning. ....
Captain: What happen ?
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the boob tube
Operator: We get signal
Captain: What !
Operator: Main screen turn on
Captain: It's You !!
CaTV: How are you gentlemen !!
CaTV: All your channel are belong to us
CaTV: You are on the way to destruction
Captain: What you say !!
CaTV: You have no chance to watch make your time
CaTV: HA HA HA HA
Captain: Take off every 'zignal'
Captain: You know what you doing
Captain: Move 'zignal'
Captain: For great reception
Island tribe members have better underwater vision?
This must explain the increase of those "voted off the island" being hired for full-pool emergency maintenance calls.
" This is the reason why Netscape lost out to IE on the Windows platform, not because Microsoft somehow unfairly leveraged its position as the developer of Windows..."
It is a combination of both factors. Netscape made their browser worse and worse, while M$ improved IE...which they bundled for free and promoted aggressively. The two factors combined nicely to turn Netscape into a footnote.