Keep in mind that part of the Wii's lasting appeal are the social channels that are available, completely free.
It's with timekillers like Everbdoy Votes and Check Mii Out that the Wii appeals to the non-gamers of the family. It doesn't feel like a game when you're taking a silly survey and guessing what everyone else is going to pick, or watching a parade of virtual models (some of which are pretty clever).
Having the news, weather, even the whole World Wide Web available with just a click from the couch is nothing to gloss over.
Harriet Popham Rigney, Jordan's beloved wife and editor, said of her decision to have Sanderson complete the last book in The Wheel of Time series: "I have chosen Brandon Sanderson to complete Robert Jordan's great work, and I am absolutely delighted that he accepted. I will of course be editing this book as I have all of the other books of The Wheel of Time."
The Kindle looks like a really remarkable little gadget, and perhaps I'd own one if it wasn't for one nagging thing: the price.
All this hype now, positive and negative, only serves to keep the gadget in the limelight until the next generation is announced. That's when we'll see if it really has staying power, because like the iPod it should be tiered.
It'll be those budget models that makes or breaks it. Remove the EVDO connection, shrink the screen a bit, and get the price down to $99 for the "mini" option. A larger screened version with wifi is a $199 "Classic", and a new model with the cellular and wifi access and a color (or at least, a better grayscale) screen at the $399 "Premium" model.
If it fails to tier, or they hold on too stronly to the wireless mode to keep the price high, then it'll never trickle down to the people who are interested, but not willing to invest a month's car payment into it.
While music in games has been around since Pacman's intro notes, video games as a medium for orchestral masterpieces all owe something to Phillip Price and Gary Gilbertson. While many might not have even heard of them, Phillip pioneered some of the earliest forms of video gaming music by developing the AMP Engine (advanced music processor) which allowed music to play discrete tracks timed to animation and lyrics.
Gary Gilbertson used this engine to full effect in one of the earliest animated game introduction screens for Alternate Reality: The City and again in The Dungeon.
And yes, I have both themes on my portable MP3 player.
Seriously, stop calling it the "Red" planet. It just confuses the congresscritters into thinking it already belongs to China, and they're worried it'll turn into another Taiwan situation.
Seriously, aren't they just giving that thing away now? I guess Apple's push into the entertainment center hasn't been as strong as he'd hoped, so now it's time to poison the well by making the plastic disc industry suffer.
They really need to make up their mind. Either they're selling us a license to their content (in which case the media should be irrelevant) OR they should be charging us for a physical product, in which case we can do whatever we want with that product including turning it into something we can use in ways they didn't expect.
If I buy some boards and a nails from Home Depot, they don't get a piece of the action if I try to sell the cabinet I made.
After failing miserably to draw any attention to themselves for releasing yet-another MMO, it seems the developers have found the true key to any game's success: Marketing.
I'm relatively informed about gaming, and I'd never heard of this one until they made a big deal about how it failed. And of course while the article is all about how they tried really hard to make this first one good, it spends a few paragraphs reassuring us how the next one will be much better because they've learned from their mistakes.
So they've not only gotten more attention for their current offering, they've already started the hype machine for the second. And while they couldn't get coverage on random blogs before, who wants to bet we'll see reviews for "Arden II" in the likes of Game Informer and IGN? They'll all have the same headline: "Academic gaming learns from it's mistakes and offers a learning experience that's actually fun!"
One game I hold singlehandedly responsible for my eating disorder: Gauntlet. It just HAS to go and announce to the whole arcade, "Red Wizard needs food, badly"
Shut up! Shut up! Don't shoot my turkey! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
It's sites like Penny-Arcade, that don't have direct ties to the publishers, that somehow maintain a level of credibility above and beyond that of "Professional" journalists by calling a spade a spade. They even make a point of it to play games they advertise (even if it's only in pre-beta), and refuse the ones they don't like. While obviously they can't review every game, when they take issue with something they don't hold back to avoid pissing off a developer or publisher. Hell, I'd think the publishers would be more afraid of pissing *them* off.
There's a reason why PAX took over as the new E3 -- they always seem to be the voice of the average gamer. Not everybody agrees with Tycho & Gabe's opinions, but at least they get the respected nod of credibility. Something that places like Gamespot and IGN (with the exception of VE3D, which still maintains a veneer of street cred).
To get a PS3 down to $200, what would you *actually* be getting? I'm guessing the following features:
No Hard Disk included No DualShock controller included No Wifi adapter No bundled software No component/HDMI cables An external power brick Ad-supported version of PSN
I'm not excited enough for a PS3 that for $200 all these "Features" would make me buy it. The only game I currently want but can't have is Ratchet & Clank. And that'll only be $19.99 on the budget shelf when I eventually do get around to getting a PS3.
Considering the games are all about Conspiracy Theories, is it really so wrong to examine everything about the game *as* a conspiracy theory?
I'm going to stay reservedly interested until I see more, like a proper demo. But I won't discount it outright just because Spector's not involved. After all, neither is Witchboy, which can only be a good thing.
There are a few developers that I support whole-heartedly and will buy anything from them sight unseen. Carmack. Miyamoto. Spector. Wright. Meier. Even though they have the occasional flub, they more than make up for it in the quality of their work.
Then there are some developers, who once made a name for themselves but have completely destroyed any credibility they once had and I will NEVER buy another of their games again. Harvey Smith, demonstrating his complete and utter incompetence in developing DX:IW. Peter Molyneux and the enormously bland Fable series. John Romero, for being John Romero.
These guys are complete and utter wastes of my time and money. It's not hard to see that they have no business being in this business. What was good ideas twenty years ago does not translate into quality today. These guys are masters of only one thing: Hype. I don't support it, and I won't support them or any game that involves them.
There's already too many good games I'm missing out on, but at least I know avoiding their titles is safe.
Nobody should hold IW against Warren Spector, in fact a lot of the changes in the game he objected to.
The travesty that was DX:IW can be laid at the feet of one Harvey "Witchboy" Smith. I will never buy another game he's involved in, even if it's hyped as the greatest game ever.
I just hope they get Tom Hall to do some voiceover work again. His Walton Simons is one of the creepiest characters ever (right up there with Terri Brosius' Shodan) and his voice in the trailer was the main selling point for IW (too bad it turned out to be an incredibly insignificant character in the game)
Live Documents matches features found in Office 2007, the most recent version. It will be given away to individuals with 100MB of free data storage space per user.
Looks like Thinkfree.com gives away 1gb of free online space. Maybe we'll see the same kind of competition that happened when Gmail opened with 1GB of space, now everyone has multi-GB (or unlimited) free storage available.
Slashdot Mirror
Keep in mind that part of the Wii's lasting appeal are the social channels that are available, completely free.
It's with timekillers like Everbdoy Votes and Check Mii Out that the Wii appeals to the non-gamers of the family. It doesn't feel like a game when you're taking a silly survey and guessing what everyone else is going to pick, or watching a parade of virtual models (some of which are pretty clever).
Having the news, weather, even the whole World Wide Web available with just a click from the couch is nothing to gloss over.
only if we can trademark IORAL too...
No, Apple already trolled the iOral for their sex toy
Then Apple has probably already trademarked iAnal, too.
NSFW is (.)(.) and 3==D
I hate to go off topic, but what is this new trilogy by Neal Stephenson you refer to? I can't seem to find any information about it at all.
Harriet Popham Rigney, Jordan's beloved wife and editor, said of her decision to have Sanderson complete the last book in The Wheel of Time series: "I have chosen Brandon Sanderson to complete Robert Jordan's great work, and I am absolutely delighted that he accepted. I will of course be editing this book as I have all of the other books of The Wheel of Time."
Suddenly, the word "Edit" has lost all meaning.
A Shadowrun MMO in the Mass Effect engine would be about as close to perfection as gaming can go.
Umm, no -- overpaying for public resources is BAD.
-Do you really think the FCC is going to pump that money into tax refunds?
-Just where do you think the telco's going to get the money, anyway?
Google, at least, will bill their advertisers. That's who their real customer is.
The Kindle looks like a really remarkable little gadget, and perhaps I'd own one if it wasn't for one nagging thing: the price.
All this hype now, positive and negative, only serves to keep the gadget in the limelight until the next generation is announced. That's when we'll see if it really has staying power, because like the iPod it should be tiered.
It'll be those budget models that makes or breaks it. Remove the EVDO connection, shrink the screen a bit, and get the price down to $99 for the "mini" option. A larger screened version with wifi is a $199 "Classic", and a new model with the cellular and wifi access and a color (or at least, a better grayscale) screen at the $399 "Premium" model.
If it fails to tier, or they hold on too stronly to the wireless mode to keep the price high, then it'll never trickle down to the people who are interested, but not willing to invest a month's car payment into it.
While music in games has been around since Pacman's intro notes, video games as a medium for orchestral masterpieces all owe something to Phillip Price and Gary Gilbertson. While many might not have even heard of them, Phillip pioneered some of the earliest forms of video gaming music by developing the AMP Engine (advanced music processor) which allowed music to play discrete tracks timed to animation and lyrics.
Gary Gilbertson used this engine to full effect in one of the earliest animated game introduction screens for Alternate Reality: The City and again in The Dungeon.
And yes, I have both themes on my portable MP3 player.
I heard they've installed an ejector seat under the driver in case they detect a violation, to instantly "disable" the offending vehicle.
Or, just set associations so .REM files open with Media Player Classic.
Seriously, stop calling it the "Red" planet. It just confuses the congresscritters into thinking it already belongs to China, and they're worried it'll turn into another Taiwan situation.
Seriously, aren't they just giving that thing away now? I guess Apple's push into the entertainment center hasn't been as strong as he'd hoped, so now it's time to poison the well by making the plastic disc industry suffer.
They really need to make up their mind. Either they're selling us a license to their content (in which case the media should be irrelevant) OR they should be charging us for a physical product, in which case we can do whatever we want with that product including turning it into something we can use in ways they didn't expect.
If I buy some boards and a nails from Home Depot, they don't get a piece of the action if I try to sell the cabinet I made.
After failing miserably to draw any attention to themselves for releasing yet-another MMO, it seems the developers have found the true key to any game's success: Marketing.
I'm relatively informed about gaming, and I'd never heard of this one until they made a big deal about how it failed. And of course while the article is all about how they tried really hard to make this first one good, it spends a few paragraphs reassuring us how the next one will be much better because they've learned from their mistakes.
So they've not only gotten more attention for their current offering, they've already started the hype machine for the second. And while they couldn't get coverage on random blogs before, who wants to bet we'll see reviews for "Arden II" in the likes of Game Informer and IGN? They'll all have the same headline: "Academic gaming learns from it's mistakes and offers a learning experience that's actually fun!"
Maybe they were eating it mostly raw?
They'd have to be. Who shoots an 800 pound buffalo and only takes 100 pounds of meat back with them?
One game I hold singlehandedly responsible for my eating disorder: Gauntlet. It just HAS to go and announce to the whole arcade, "Red Wizard needs food, badly"
Shut up! Shut up! Don't shoot my turkey! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
(bastards)
I think it's supposed to be ironic.
It's sites like Penny-Arcade, that don't have direct ties to the publishers, that somehow maintain a level of credibility above and beyond that of "Professional" journalists by calling a spade a spade. They even make a point of it to play games they advertise (even if it's only in pre-beta), and refuse the ones they don't like. While obviously they can't review every game, when they take issue with something they don't hold back to avoid pissing off a developer or publisher. Hell, I'd think the publishers would be more afraid of pissing *them* off.
There's a reason why PAX took over as the new E3 -- they always seem to be the voice of the average gamer. Not everybody agrees with Tycho & Gabe's opinions, but at least they get the respected nod of credibility. Something that places like Gamespot and IGN (with the exception of VE3D, which still maintains a veneer of street cred).
To get a PS3 down to $200, what would you *actually* be getting? I'm guessing the following features:
No Hard Disk included
No DualShock controller included
No Wifi adapter
No bundled software
No component/HDMI cables
An external power brick
Ad-supported version of PSN
I'm not excited enough for a PS3 that for $200 all these "Features" would make me buy it. The only game I currently want but can't have is Ratchet & Clank. And that'll only be $19.99 on the budget shelf when I eventually do get around to getting a PS3.
Peter Molyneux Apologizes for Fable
Birds of a feather, yadda yadda.
Considering the games are all about Conspiracy Theories, is it really so wrong to examine everything about the game *as* a conspiracy theory?
I'm going to stay reservedly interested until I see more, like a proper demo. But I won't discount it outright just because Spector's not involved. After all, neither is Witchboy, which can only be a good thing.
There are a few developers that I support whole-heartedly and will buy anything from them sight unseen. Carmack. Miyamoto. Spector. Wright. Meier. Even though they have the occasional flub, they more than make up for it in the quality of their work.
Then there are some developers, who once made a name for themselves but have completely destroyed any credibility they once had and I will NEVER buy another of their games again. Harvey Smith, demonstrating his complete and utter incompetence in developing DX:IW. Peter Molyneux and the enormously bland Fable series. John Romero, for being John Romero.
These guys are complete and utter wastes of my time and money. It's not hard to see that they have no business being in this business. What was good ideas twenty years ago does not translate into quality today. These guys are masters of only one thing: Hype. I don't support it, and I won't support them or any game that involves them.
There's already too many good games I'm missing out on, but at least I know avoiding their titles is safe.
Or should we just start making Xerox copies of the zombie survival guide?
They're called photocopies, you trademark infringer!
Nobody should hold IW against Warren Spector, in fact a lot of the changes in the game he objected to.
The travesty that was DX:IW can be laid at the feet of one Harvey "Witchboy" Smith. I will never buy another game he's involved in, even if it's hyped as the greatest game ever.
I just hope they get Tom Hall to do some voiceover work again. His Walton Simons is one of the creepiest characters ever (right up there with Terri Brosius' Shodan) and his voice in the trailer was the main selling point for IW (too bad it turned out to be an incredibly insignificant character in the game)
Live Documents matches features found in Office 2007, the most recent version. It will be given away to individuals with 100MB of free data storage space per user.
Looks like Thinkfree.com gives away 1gb of free online space. Maybe we'll see the same kind of competition that happened when Gmail opened with 1GB of space, now everyone has multi-GB (or unlimited) free storage available.
Hurray for competition!