I'm not a big anti piracy guy, I pirate the occasional game. But I would have to say that you cant look at the block busters and say "see piracy doesnt hurt anyone". These games are going to make money regardless. Its the marginal games that get hurt most by piracy. Games that people are interested enough to pirate them instead of going out to buy them.
Look at a developer like Looking Glass (thief series). They made some great games, but were eventually squeezed out of the market. How many copies of thief were pirated that could have put money into the developers pocket. No one really knows I suppose, and so ppl will just fall back to whatever arguement they prefer to justify their piracy. But there is an effect on sales by piracy, and would a marginal company like Looking Glass have survived? I think its quite possible.
Actually Steam is two issues rolled into one, so its hard to say if its good or not. Being able to buy games online is a great idea. More money for valve, no waiting in lines at game stores, etc. I love this part of steam.
The other thing that steam does is authenticate your copy of the game. This is a terrible idea, that was created to 'prevent' piracy. I wish game companies would get a clue: YOU CANT STOP PIRACY. All you do is harm your paying customers. I have friends that were playing the game several days before they unlocked it on the 16th. Whereas Valves paying cutomers have had to wait up to several hours after getting home because the steam servers were getting hammered. I'm sure that Valve has lost a lot of future customers with this horrible release. I know I will think twice before I buy another Valve game.
You've been flamed enough so I wont go with what I was first going to write;)
but let me ask you this: What does dual wielding add to the game experience?
I havent played halo 2 yet, but I have played some dual wield games (most recently the lastest GTA) and I would have to answer not much. Visually it is kind of cool, but it doesnt change the mechanics of combat. You are still just pointing and shooting, but instead you are now doing more damage. Its not like you cant target multiple enemies, John Woo style.
ok, I'm not sure if I entirely agree with these sites to be 'bought' by developers, Gamespot usually gives fair reviews. But 9+? Think about what that means for a minute? I'm in university and the kids getting 95% are super genius' that spend their entire life doing school work. They are a shining ideal of what students are supposed to achieve. THEY HAVE NO NEGATIVE ACADEMIC TRAITS. Reading the review for Halo 2 it seems like it isnt a perfect game. 10 hours? More of the same? 9.5? I dont get it.
I dont think that sites are being bribed, but I think that hype plays a huge role in skewing results. Reviewers have already decided what to give the game before they get into it. It makes me kind of mad (although its tempered by the fact that I've been seeing this sort of stuff for about 15 years now) that games arent given honest reviews. Fable, Doom, GTA:SA, and now Halo 2.
Note to reviewers: Its ok to give a great game 8. A million rabid fanboys wont come tear your house down, I promise
I think you might have to register, and the main site is down. So check http://tracker.shuntv.net/ in a week or so. I think they were revamping the site.
"God forbid that America might use its power to get rid of fascist dicators."
This is a fucking joke.
Seriously.
The US only ever uses its power to get rid of people that are in the way of their interests. Seriously, ask your self: Why now? Why didn't they get those fuckers pre-9/11 if they are such bad dudes? People are such suckers for propaganda its funny. I have to laugh. HAH!
There seems to be some debate in this forum about the merits of computer chess players and their brute force method. Some posters have brought up go as a 'real' challenge for computers. Although I haven't played go I would like to bring up another alternative: Magic the Gathering.
Now before I get scoffed at, and modded down I think the case for magic should be heard. And I am not talking about casual play with your latest dragon deck, but competitive magic. The WOTC and DCI support a fairly large, world wide, competitive player base, with prize support up to about $30,000. Now this doesn't compare to what chess masters can win but I find the similarities very interesting.
The thing in my mind that makes magic far more interesting and challenging than chess is that the game changes every 4 months. Based on some essential fundamentals the actual rules recieve a complete overhaul, and even top players that cannot adapt to the new format will find themselves sharing tables with the scrubs.
I think a real challenge for programmers would be able to make a program that could thrive in this type of environment. To me that would be true AI. Being able to actually LEARN and not brute force its way to a win would be an amazing accomplishment for AI programmers.
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It doesnt matter what kind of system you have, there will always be people trying to take advantage of it.
I'm not a big anti piracy guy, I pirate the occasional game. But I would have to say that you cant look at the block busters and say "see piracy doesnt hurt anyone". These games are going to make money regardless. Its the marginal games that get hurt most by piracy. Games that people are interested enough to pirate them instead of going out to buy them.
Look at a developer like Looking Glass (thief series). They made some great games, but were eventually squeezed out of the market. How many copies of thief were pirated that could have put money into the developers pocket. No one really knows I suppose, and so ppl will just fall back to whatever arguement they prefer to justify their piracy. But there is an effect on sales by piracy, and would a marginal company like Looking Glass have survived? I think its quite possible.
Actually Steam is two issues rolled into one, so its hard to say if its good or not. Being able to buy games online is a great idea. More money for valve, no waiting in lines at game stores, etc. I love this part of steam.
The other thing that steam does is authenticate your copy of the game. This is a terrible idea, that was created to 'prevent' piracy. I wish game companies would get a clue: YOU CANT STOP PIRACY. All you do is harm your paying customers. I have friends that were playing the game several days before they unlocked it on the 16th. Whereas Valves paying cutomers have had to wait up to several hours after getting home because the steam servers were getting hammered. I'm sure that Valve has lost a lot of future customers with this horrible release. I know I will think twice before I buy another Valve game.
You've been flamed enough so I wont go with what I was first going to write ;)
but let me ask you this: What does dual wielding add to the game experience?
I havent played halo 2 yet, but I have played some dual wield games (most recently the lastest GTA) and I would have to answer not much. Visually it is kind of cool, but it doesnt change the mechanics of combat. You are still just pointing and shooting, but instead you are now doing more damage. Its not like you cant target multiple enemies, John Woo style.
ok, I'm not sure if I entirely agree with these sites to be 'bought' by developers, Gamespot usually gives fair reviews. But 9+? Think about what that means for a minute? I'm in university and the kids getting 95% are super genius' that spend their entire life doing school work. They are a shining ideal of what students are supposed to achieve. THEY HAVE NO NEGATIVE ACADEMIC TRAITS. Reading the review for Halo 2 it seems like it isnt a perfect game. 10 hours? More of the same? 9.5? I dont get it.
I dont think that sites are being bribed, but I think that hype plays a huge role in skewing results. Reviewers have already decided what to give the game before they get into it. It makes me kind of mad (although its tempered by the fact that I've been seeing this sort of stuff for about 15 years now) that games arent given honest reviews. Fable, Doom, GTA:SA, and now Halo 2.
Note to reviewers: Its ok to give a great game 8. A million rabid fanboys wont come tear your house down, I promise
Here you go boss:
http://forums.shuntv.net///index.php?showforum=21
I think you might have to register, and the main site is down. So check http://tracker.shuntv.net/ in a week or so. I think they were revamping the site.
of course not, They are being 'diplomatically removed'
"God forbid that America might use its power to get rid of fascist dicators."
This is a fucking joke.
Seriously.
The US only ever uses its power to get rid of people that are in the way of their interests. Seriously, ask your self: Why now? Why didn't they get those fuckers pre-9/11 if they are such bad dudes? People are such suckers for propaganda its funny. I have to laugh. HAH!
There seems to be some debate in this forum about the merits of computer chess players and their brute force method. Some posters have brought up go as a 'real' challenge for computers. Although I haven't played go I would like to bring up another alternative: Magic the Gathering.
Now before I get scoffed at, and modded down I think the case for magic should be heard. And I am not talking about casual play with your latest dragon deck, but competitive magic. The WOTC and DCI support a fairly large, world wide, competitive player base, with prize support up to about $30,000. Now this doesn't compare to what chess masters can win but I find the similarities very interesting.
The thing in my mind that makes magic far more interesting and challenging than chess is that the game changes every 4 months. Based on some essential fundamentals the actual rules recieve a complete overhaul, and even top players that cannot adapt to the new format will find themselves sharing tables with the scrubs.
I think a real challenge for programmers would be able to make a program that could thrive in this type of environment. To me that would be true AI. Being able to actually LEARN and not brute force its way to a win would be an amazing accomplishment for AI programmers.