There is this entire article that says the big thing missing in games is creativity. Well, maybe true but creativity is just part of a good or a bad game. Games, like film, books, and any other type of entertainment have elements. For films it is things like direction, acting, editing, plot, script, etc. For games it is interface, story, graphics, sound, etc. Everyone has their own opinions about these elements. Creativity is just one element and it will not determine, for most people, if a game is successful. For example, I don't think there has been a game about doing dishes. It could be an action, adventure, or role-playing game. You could go up in levels for scouring, drying and polishing. You could get docked for pruned hands. It is creative, but would it be fun? Maybe... if you could get all the other elements right. I think the successful games get most of the elements right and that is what makes them successful. It is true that there are a lot of copycat games but some of them perfect an original idea and get more of the elements in place. Total Annihilation was a game like this. You could say that it was a copy of any of the previous RTS games but it did everything very well. I think the article at Avault was just grousing about the lack of games in the author's favorite genre, adventure games. That is OK but I do not miss those games at all. They held little for me in terms of entertainment. To me it was just "keep clicking until you find the path that doesn't kill you". Sure you could make an educated guess now and then but I found them boring. I think there will always be creative games... there is always a new idea out there. But I don't think that one factor alone will make a great game. Right now my favorite game is not particularly original, it is just well done. That's is good enough for me.
The first is Robocode which teaches programming concepts through a simple tank game. It also allows for some competition in an arena. For the amount of time you have, this would be great!
http://robocode.alphaworks.ibm.com/home/home.htm l
Next is The Scrolling Game development kit.
http://gamedev.sourceforge.net/
Finally, I'd look at the level construction software for Neverwinter Nights. This is a great set of tools. My kids taught themselves to use it and have made huge levels. You can go as far as you want with scripting, etc.
It is not just you... I think it is telling that this guy raves about how you have to be completely immersed in something to make a game about it (fishing, golf or whatever) but now, he doesn't even play games and has little idea of what is going on in the industry. Makes me think that maybe he never knew what he was doing and benefited mostly from the facts that their were not a lot of competitors in his genre and he surrounded himself with talented people. I mean, Phantasmagoria is one of his favorite games... please! I think defining it a game is a reach. I think if I had been immersed in the industry and then acquired the means to be set for life, I'd at least dangle my foot into the waters now and then. I'd at least check out the top games and maybe back some promising projects. The only good games to come out of the Sierra factory were the ones that also had Valve or Dynamix on the box. Now THOSE were innovative and quality development houses! I always thought the adventure/quest games were shallow and lame. Clicking (or typing) your way through an adventure game is an exercise in repetition and backtracking. I think Lucasarts kicked their collective butts soundly in this category. Think about it... The Monkey Island Series, Indiana Jones, Sam and Max, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango... these are the pearls of the genre.
http://www.suddenstrike.de/english/index_news.ht ml
You'll see advertising for Sudden Strike, Sudden Strike II, etc. These are games that are made in Germany. I don't see any diplomatic options in these games. Can someone from Germany let us know if these games are also on the restricted list? Then we can see if this is another blatent Anti-US move and be appropriately pissed.
I find it strange that there just happens to be 10 dying game genres out there. In fact, a close read demonstrates that there aren't 10 dying genre but just an article that fleshes its number out to ten for unknown reasons. Why 10? Does the number of dying genres have to equal the number of fingers (or toes) on the human body? I didn't know that Space Shooter was a genre. If you think about it, a lot of these games are just side scrollers with different graphics and those certainly are not dead. Defender just was re-released for the Gameboy Advance... admittedly it is a very poor game but it would fall into this category. Puzzle Games are definitely not dead or even sick. What about Worms? What about the game pictured (Bejewelled). Take a look at Yahoo and note how many people play the puzzle games. What about Mahjong? These games don't even have a cold. Gun games are definitely few and far between but they always have been. Saying they are dying is not accurate. I'd say they are just a little anemic. New games and guns are still being produced at about the same clip they always have been. Text Adventure... are you kidding me? TEXT adventure? I played my first one of these on a Decwriter. I haven't seen one of these in about 10 years. Dead, buried, "The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out, turned to dust and forgotten is more like it. Even my memories of the memories have faded... Maze games are an entire genre? What is there besides Packman and Packman Wannbe? Is Bard's Tale a maze game? Virtual reality has never really caught on... it is even more sproadic in release than gun games. Home implementation hasn't ever been common and there has never been a killer app in this category. These games couldn't die because they were never even a twinkle in their developer's eyes. Education games are alive and well and though you could argue that there is nothing new under the sun in this genre, that doesn't mean it is dying. My local Bestbuy has one whole section devoted to these. I'd like to have had the SAT/ACT ones in my High School days. I practiced for my ACT by watching Gilligan's Island for 400 consecutive weekdays before the test. Full Motion Video - Here, finally, is gold. A crappy genre that I always hated. RIP... on second thought, rot in hell. Isn't Diablo just a differently themed Beat 'em Up? How about Neverwinter Nights? Certainly there are dozens of 3D fighting games out there. If you narrowly define this (which IMHO makes it not a genre) you still can't make this one look dead. The graphic adventure has been pronounced dead several times. It now can be called "undead" mainly to the efforts of one company, Lucasarts. Sierra abandoned this genre a long time ago. Why? They made several extremely crappy adventures (remember Phantasmagoria? ) and no one bought them. If they would return to their Space Quest/Kings Quest roots they could maybe repeat their successes of the past... don't count on it though. One thing that gets me about this list it that a lot of the so-called "dead" genres are showing up on the Gameboy. Hmmmmm..... grimzap
Yes... and the "secure" application that requests among other things, your credit card number, does not show as a secure page. I'd beware of this. It looks like a scam to me. There has definitely been a lot of technology improvment since the 1930's when the V2 was developed... I don't see anything that leads me to believe that there will be incorporation of new materials, fuels, etc.
I think you have nailed the low moments. Most people don't go to Star Wars for the love scenes but I don't think they expect to be TOTALLY EMBARRASSED by writing and acting that would feel more at home in a high-school senior project (frankly this is a cut to some of the talented high-schoolers I know). I couldn't stomach some of the plot holes either... What is with this super-cloning race? Someone tells them to build an army 10 years ago, someone else totally unknown to them shows up in a robe and they tell him all. They then turn the army over to someone else they don't know. I'd think they'd be spending a lot of time in the Imperial Courtroom fighting off lawsuits for being totally incompetent! It is no wonder they have such tiny heads the most of which are filled with giant eyeballs. They must have brains the size of walnuts with two sections: silly walks and cloning expertise. They have to come up with a reason why the queen isn't the queen any more. Get this, it is an elected position with term limits! Go figure... I guess they didn't want to spend a lot of dough on fancy costumes. Plus Amadala would have had a hard time fighting with all those strange hair get-ups in the first movie. The reason for Amadala's initial spurning of Anni is super lame. It goes something like... "I'm a senator and, and you're a Jedi..." Get it? I didn't either. In the 70's love meant never having to say you're sorry, now it means never having to make a career change. And speaking of senator Amadala, why is her vote so friggin important anyway? There are 100's maybe 1000's of senators. Is the vote really close? Are the Republicans planning a fillibuster? Has Newt Gingrich returned as an actual alien Newt? This is not explained. We just know her vote is really important... so important in fact that she leaves the mental giant Jar-Jar in her place when she must flee for her own saftey... what the!? I think the writers of this thing must have just finished long stints writing for Days Of Our Lives or (put any WB sitcom here)! In all honesty though, I was thrilled when Yoda kicked butt... it was cool to finally see what made him such a powerful master besides the fact that "wise is he". I'd put the movies so best to worst: Episodes 5, 6, 4, 2, 1.
Yup. You are a typical bigot. You believe that all Americans are spoiled brats that have everything handed to them on a platter. Your reasoning seems to indicate that you feel nothing for the innocents murdered yesterday because they have more things then most of the rest of the world. Is this some kind of crime? Is wanting and obtaining more for yourself and your children a capital offense that should be delt with by murdering 1000's.
You tell me what country or people on this planet does not have "self serving" ways. Is it some of the European countries that sold uranium enrichment equipment to Saddam and taught him how to create biological weapons and poision gas? Is it the Chinese that sold missles to Iran and have given N. Korea what they need to project nuclear weapons all over the world? Maybe it is some of the contries in Eastern Europe who sell millions of assault weapons and land mines to just about anyone who will ask. Or maybe some countries in latin America whose govenments are completely corrupted by drug money. There is enought blame to go around for all the misery in the world. Whenever America decides not to sell arms to a county, 100's of other countries line up to sell them.
If you try to blame everything all on America, you will never solve any problems because it is not true. Bigotry and stereotyping directed against Americans is just as wrong as it is against any other nation or ethinic group. We are a diverse nation with a lot of diverse opinions. I believe the US does much more to make the world better than any other country. If you think different, that is your privelege but you are simply wrong and you will never convince me otherwise because I KNOW BETTER. Don't believe the propaganda of the the enemies of the US!
I see this as a boon for handheld gaming systems. Nintendo says that they didn't put a backlight on Gameboy Advance because of power requirements. Mayby they knew this was comming and so can produce another game system relese EVENT next year. I know I'd sell my Advance in a second and get a backlit one at even double the current price. I can only see mine in the bathroom on a sunny day... very lame of Nintendo.
Slashdot Mirror
There is this entire article that says the big thing missing in games is creativity. Well, maybe true but creativity is just part of a good or a bad game. Games, like film, books, and any other type of entertainment have elements. For films it is things like direction, acting, editing, plot, script, etc. For games it is interface, story, graphics, sound, etc. Everyone has their own opinions about these elements. Creativity is just one element and it will not determine, for most people, if a game is successful.
For example, I don't think there has been a game about doing dishes. It could be an action, adventure, or role-playing game. You could go up in levels for scouring, drying and polishing. You could get docked for pruned hands. It is creative, but would it be fun? Maybe... if you could get all the other elements right.
I think the successful games get most of the elements right and that is what makes them successful. It is true that there are a lot of copycat games but some of them perfect an original idea and get more of the elements in place. Total Annihilation was a game like this. You could say that it was a copy of any of the previous RTS games but it did everything very well.
I think the article at Avault was just grousing about the lack of games in the author's favorite genre, adventure games. That is OK but I do not miss those games at all. They held little for me in terms of entertainment. To me it was just "keep clicking until you find the path that doesn't kill you". Sure you could make an educated guess now and then but I found them boring.
I think there will always be creative games... there is always a new idea out there. But I don't think that one factor alone will make a great game. Right now my favorite game is not particularly original, it is just well done. That's is good enough for me.
I have 3...
m l
The first is Robocode which teaches programming concepts through a simple tank game. It also allows for some competition in an arena. For the amount of time you have, this would be great!
http://robocode.alphaworks.ibm.com/home/home.ht
Next is The Scrolling Game development kit.
http://gamedev.sourceforge.net/
Finally, I'd look at the level construction software for Neverwinter Nights. This is a great set of tools. My kids taught themselves to use it and have made huge levels. You can go as far as you want with scripting, etc.
grimzap
It is not just you... I think it is telling that this guy raves about how you have to be completely immersed in something to make a game about it (fishing, golf or whatever) but now, he doesn't even play games and has little idea of what is going on in the industry. Makes me think that maybe he never knew what he was doing and benefited mostly from the facts that their were not a lot of competitors in his genre and he surrounded himself with talented people. I mean, Phantasmagoria is one of his favorite games... please! I think defining it a game is a reach. I think if I had been immersed in the industry and then acquired the means to be set for life, I'd at least dangle my foot into the waters now and then. I'd at least check out the top games and maybe back some promising projects. The only good games to come out of the Sierra factory were the ones that also had Valve or Dynamix on the box. Now THOSE were innovative and quality development houses!
I always thought the adventure/quest games were shallow and lame. Clicking (or typing) your way through an adventure game is an exercise in repetition and backtracking. I think Lucasarts kicked their collective butts soundly in this category. Think about it... The Monkey Island Series, Indiana Jones, Sam and Max, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango... these are the pearls of the genre.
grimzap
If you check the German website:
t ml
http://www.suddenstrike.de/english/index_news.h
You'll see advertising for Sudden Strike, Sudden Strike II, etc. These are games that are made in Germany. I don't see any diplomatic options in these games. Can someone from Germany let us know if these games are also on the restricted list? Then we can see if this is another blatent Anti-US move and be appropriately pissed.
I find it strange that there just happens to be 10 dying game genres out there. In fact, a close read demonstrates that there aren't 10 dying genre but just an article that fleshes its number out to ten for unknown reasons. Why 10? Does the number of dying genres have to equal the number of fingers (or toes) on the human body?
I didn't know that Space Shooter was a genre. If you think about it, a lot of these games are just side scrollers with different graphics and those certainly are not dead. Defender just was re-released for the Gameboy Advance... admittedly it is a very poor game but it would fall into this category.
Puzzle Games are definitely not dead or even sick. What about Worms? What about the game pictured (Bejewelled). Take a look at Yahoo and note how many people play the puzzle games. What about Mahjong? These games don't even have a cold.
Gun games are definitely few and far between but they always have been. Saying they are dying is not accurate. I'd say they are just a little anemic. New games and guns are still being produced at about the same clip they always have been.
Text Adventure... are you kidding me? TEXT adventure? I played my first one of these on a Decwriter. I haven't seen one of these in about 10 years. Dead, buried, "The worms crawled in, the worms crawled out, turned to dust and forgotten is more like it. Even my memories of the memories have faded...
Maze games are an entire genre? What is there besides Packman and Packman Wannbe? Is Bard's Tale a maze game?
Virtual reality has never really caught on... it is even more sproadic in release than gun games. Home implementation hasn't ever been common and there has never been a killer app in this category. These games couldn't die because they were never even a twinkle in their developer's eyes.
Education games are alive and well and though you could argue that there is nothing new under the sun in this genre, that doesn't mean it is dying. My local Bestbuy has one whole section devoted to these. I'd like to have had the SAT/ACT ones in my High School days. I practiced for my ACT by watching Gilligan's Island for 400 consecutive weekdays before the test.
Full Motion Video - Here, finally, is gold. A crappy genre that I always hated. RIP... on second thought, rot in hell.
Isn't Diablo just a differently themed Beat 'em Up? How about Neverwinter Nights? Certainly there are dozens of 3D fighting games out there. If you narrowly define this (which IMHO makes it not a genre) you still can't make this one look dead.
The graphic adventure has been pronounced dead several times. It now can be called "undead" mainly to the efforts of one company, Lucasarts. Sierra abandoned this genre a long time ago. Why? They made several extremely crappy adventures (remember Phantasmagoria? ) and no one bought them. If they would return to their Space Quest/Kings Quest roots they could maybe repeat their successes of the past... don't count on it though.
One thing that gets me about this list it that a lot of the so-called "dead" genres are showing up on the Gameboy. Hmmmmm.....
grimzap
Yes... and the "secure" application that requests among other things, your credit card number, does not show as a secure page. I'd beware of this. It looks like a scam to me. There has definitely been a lot of technology improvment since the 1930's when the V2 was developed... I don't see anything that leads me to believe that there will be incorporation of new materials, fuels, etc.
grimzap
*Spoilers Here Too*
I think you have nailed the low moments. Most people don't go to Star Wars for the love scenes but I don't think they expect to be TOTALLY EMBARRASSED by writing and acting that would feel more at home in a high-school senior project (frankly this is a cut to some of the talented high-schoolers I know). I couldn't stomach some of the plot holes either...
What is with this super-cloning race? Someone tells them to build an army 10 years ago, someone else totally unknown to them shows up in a robe and they tell him all. They then turn the army over to someone else they don't know. I'd think they'd be spending a lot of time in the Imperial Courtroom fighting off lawsuits for being totally incompetent! It is no wonder they have such tiny heads the most of which are filled with giant eyeballs. They must have brains the size of walnuts with two sections: silly walks and cloning expertise.
They have to come up with a reason why the queen isn't the queen any more. Get this, it is an elected position with term limits! Go figure... I guess they didn't want to spend a lot of dough on fancy costumes. Plus Amadala would have had a hard time fighting with all those strange hair get-ups in the first movie.
The reason for Amadala's initial spurning of Anni is super lame. It goes something like... "I'm a senator and, and you're a Jedi..." Get it? I didn't either. In the 70's love meant never having to say you're sorry, now it means never having to make a career change.
And speaking of senator Amadala, why is her vote so friggin important anyway? There are 100's maybe 1000's of senators. Is the vote really close? Are the Republicans planning a fillibuster? Has Newt Gingrich returned as an actual alien Newt? This is not explained. We just know her vote is really important... so important in fact that she leaves the mental giant Jar-Jar in her place when she must flee for her own saftey... what the!?
I think the writers of this thing must have just finished long stints writing for Days Of Our Lives or (put any WB sitcom here)!
In all honesty though, I was thrilled when Yoda kicked butt... it was cool to finally see what made him such a powerful master besides the fact that "wise is he".
I'd put the movies so best to worst:
Episodes 5, 6, 4, 2, 1.
Yup. You are a typical bigot. You believe that all Americans are spoiled brats that have everything handed to them on a platter. Your reasoning seems to indicate that you feel nothing for the innocents murdered yesterday because they have more things then most of the rest of the world. Is this some kind of crime? Is wanting and obtaining more for yourself and your children a capital offense that should be delt with by murdering 1000's.
You tell me what country or people on this planet does not have "self serving" ways. Is it some of the European countries that sold uranium enrichment equipment to Saddam and taught him how to create biological weapons and poision gas? Is it the Chinese that sold missles to Iran and have given N. Korea what they need to project nuclear weapons all over the world? Maybe it is some of the contries in Eastern Europe who sell millions of assault weapons and land mines to just about anyone who will ask. Or maybe some countries in latin America whose govenments are completely corrupted by drug money. There is enought blame to go around for all the misery in the world. Whenever America decides not to sell arms to a county, 100's of other countries line up to sell them.
If you try to blame everything all on America, you will never solve any problems because it is not true. Bigotry and stereotyping directed against Americans is just as wrong as it is against any other nation or ethinic group. We are a diverse nation with a lot of diverse opinions. I believe the US does much more to make the world better than any other country. If you think different, that is your privelege but you are simply wrong and you will never convince me otherwise because I KNOW BETTER. Don't believe the propaganda of the the enemies of the US!
grimzap
I see this as a boon for handheld gaming systems. Nintendo says that they didn't put a backlight on Gameboy Advance because of power requirements. Mayby they knew this was comming and so can produce another game system relese EVENT next year. I know I'd sell my Advance in a second and get a backlit one at even double the current price. I can only see mine in the bathroom on a sunny day... very lame of Nintendo.
grimzap