My XP CD definitely does NOT include Audigy/Audigy 2-compatible drivers, so if they've added them it's a recent thing.
Unfortunately, the CD that came with my Audigy MP3 is known to totally break Windows XP installations as well. You pretty much have to install the drivers (at the risk of a dead system) along with any extra tools you need off the CD (like the audio control panel system) then immediately web-update off the Creative site before rebooting.
If you reboot before upgrading the drivers, the XP install will end up so broken you'll pretty much have to reinstall.
I know since then they've released XP-compatible drivers in the box, but I was one of the unlucky ones.
Is that mIRC or DCC in general? Do other clients do this as well? I'm not versed in the DCC protocol as that's a seperate RFC I haven't gotten to yet, but if that's across DCC's RFC, that's a braindead protocol design.
Unfortunately, you leave out the sheer asshat factor. MOST online opponents are assholes. Period. I've not yet gotten a chance to finish an online match of Madden for the opponent disconnecting as soon as it's apparent they're not going to pull a victory out of nowhere.
X-Box Live really isn't much of a factor for me at this point for that reason. No matter what they do, they're never going to get rid of the idiots that permeate the entire online gaming community anymore. They're on PC, they're on PS2, they're on X-Box.. hell, they're on GC and still on DC (Remember PSO and the PKing? It still happens on the 3rd party servers that're up!).
I think that while the X-Box has some nice hardware, it really needs analog buttons and a controller redesign. I shudder to think of how MGS3 will play on X-Box when they port it minus the analog. The PC port of MGS2 and the GC Twin Snakes make it all too clear how that's going to be.
Mege Man Anniversary Collection. Analog stick isn't fast enough on digital movement action games like that. The travel distance for switching from a walk to the left to a walk to the right is *MUCH* slower on analog sticks as compared to d-pad. The inherent latency on some movements will drive one absolutely bonkers.
Let's sure as hell hope not, considering how much I still use the d-pad on my PS2. Analog is fine for many games, but I've got more than a few where precise movement means d-pad only.
Captive NTFS works by providing a WINE-style interface between the real NTFS drivers from Microsoft and Linux. That would definitely explain why they're avoiding trying to tag that version as GPL, with 'tainted' filesystem drivers.
You might want to download and actually give it a try. It doesn't touch the HD at all, making it perfect for data recovery or situations where you don't have permission to use the drive for personal use. It gives you a complete set of applications and leaves no residue on the system.
Maybe, but most places I've seen won't even take wrapped packages anymore since it's so easy to rewrap these things. As early as 1991, a friend of mine at the former Babbages stores was ordered to not take returns on wrapped stuff if there was *any* question whatsoever.
What utter bullshit. They expect us to run to the store, look at the product, run home, read the EULA, then run back to the store to buy it? Yeah, right...
I'd say it's also highly dependant on how much pressure you put on the disc while writing. Press hard enough and it'll bleed through enough to destroy your data track. A light touch is best.
For the wireless router I picked up, I looked long enough through the manual to pick up the configuration address for my browser-- I already knew how to set it up otherwise.
For my recent motherboard upgrade, I checked the manual thoroughly to make sure there weren't going to be any surprises on the compatibility front, especially with RAM.
For videogames, I typically check the story section, a quick glance at the controls, and a quick glance over the weapons, with a later full-readthrough when I decide to see if there's anything I've missed. MGS3, which I picked up at launch, is a great example of such. I checked the CQC stuff in the manual, but I knew enough about the rest of the game from the previous games and demo to have no problems.
So, all in all I typically avoid using the manual unless I have to, but I don't hesitate to use it at that point.
It's easily possible. The way I understand it, Nintendo uses a standard 802.11b design for layers 1 and 2 as the specification allows. Layers 3 on down are all up to the programmer, so it IS possible to make a TCP/IP stack. Nintendo just chose to use a proprietary non-routable protocol for the existing games that are using the wireless (and Pictochat, for that matter).
The hackers working on the wifi and reverse engineering the cart system found one bit of difference in the BIOS, allowing them to actually tell if the system is a DS or GBA by doing a simple bios check.
Okay, I misread the original article. This is a re-running of it across multiple places because of the popularity of the original. Don't mind me, too early in the morning and not an ounce of caffeine.
I could have sworn there was already one concert with that name already in the last year or two-- Yeah, here we go, an announcement from quite awhile ago.. right here.
A lot of the PC games are using Gamespy on an *internal* basis now, using Gamespy-specific server design. There just won't be any way to communicate between the Mac and PC versions of the package because Mac development is almost 100% of the time licensed out to a handful of Mac developers.
The PC devs will pay the cash and make Gamespy internal and integral to their product, and the Mac devs won't be able to license Gamespy to make their ports talk. That's the big picture they're painting.
There's definitely a bit of a bias on their site, but you have to remember that these are hacks for a system that was NOT designed for such online play in the first place. Can you blame them for not following full specification if they're not intending it to be used as a full implementation?
I'm not saying it wasn't short-sighted of them, but there's a bit more to the picture than laziness.
Not to mention how to hook up the modem properly, obtain a copy of the terminal software of your choice, and somehow get the first BBS number so you could get others. Back before there were actual useful BBS lists, it could be somewhat difficult to get started.
I'll rephrase it as "The barrier to entry for the casual user was a bit steeper".
With ISPs being a mostly commercial venture, they're more inclined to provide enough support to get you started even without knowing someone already in the loop.
This really isn't much of a surprise. I was on the cutting edge as early as eight or nine years old, doing BBSes back in the 80s. I even ran one for nine years. Most of my BBS friends who were of equivelent age range (+/- 3 years) went right to the net in 1994 when it became more widely available and had already started the process we're seeing now.
The only reason we haven't seen this sooner is that the BBS world wasn't quite so accessible to your average kid-- you had to know a lot more to get online than you do now.
Well, about the only thing Enix has done that's high profile of late is Dragon Quest, and that series takes even longer than Final Fantasy between revisions.
Nevertheless I wouldn't count them out just yet.. though your point is valid and I agree-- the part of the company that faces the outward world the most is the Square side of Squeenix.
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My XP CD definitely does NOT include Audigy/Audigy 2-compatible drivers, so if they've added them it's a recent thing.
Unfortunately, the CD that came with my Audigy MP3 is known to totally break Windows XP installations as well. You pretty much have to install the drivers (at the risk of a dead system) along with any extra tools you need off the CD (like the audio control panel system) then immediately web-update off the Creative site before rebooting.
If you reboot before upgrading the drivers, the XP install will end up so broken you'll pretty much have to reinstall.
I know since then they've released XP-compatible drivers in the box, but I was one of the unlucky ones.
Is that mIRC or DCC in general? Do other clients do this as well? I'm not versed in the DCC protocol as that's a seperate RFC I haven't gotten to yet, but if that's across DCC's RFC, that's a braindead protocol design.
Don't waste your time. Check his past posting history-- we're looking at a serial troller here.
Unfortunately, you leave out the sheer asshat factor. MOST online opponents are assholes. Period. I've not yet gotten a chance to finish an online match of Madden for the opponent disconnecting as soon as it's apparent they're not going to pull a victory out of nowhere.
X-Box Live really isn't much of a factor for me at this point for that reason. No matter what they do, they're never going to get rid of the idiots that permeate the entire online gaming community anymore. They're on PC, they're on PS2, they're on X-Box.. hell, they're on GC and still on DC (Remember PSO and the PKing? It still happens on the 3rd party servers that're up!).
I think that while the X-Box has some nice hardware, it really needs analog buttons and a controller redesign. I shudder to think of how MGS3 will play on X-Box when they port it minus the analog. The PC port of MGS2 and the GC Twin Snakes make it all too clear how that's going to be.
There's some talk on the DS hacking forums about the touchscreen having been changed between two revisions of the hardware already.
Details here
I personally plan to check my hardware very carefully when I get mine and be ready to return it if I get one of the bad units.
Mege Man Anniversary Collection. Analog stick isn't fast enough on digital movement action games like that. The travel distance for switching from a walk to the left to a walk to the right is *MUCH* slower on analog sticks as compared to d-pad. The inherent latency on some movements will drive one absolutely bonkers.
Let's sure as hell hope not, considering how much I still use the d-pad on my PS2. Analog is fine for many games, but I've got more than a few where precise movement means d-pad only.
They kindasorta did that already-- it's called the NES Max. I thought it sucked horribly, though at least one of my friends loved the thing.
Captive NTFS works by providing a WINE-style interface between the real NTFS drivers from Microsoft and Linux. That would definitely explain why they're avoiding trying to tag that version as GPL, with 'tainted' filesystem drivers.
You might want to download and actually give it a try. It doesn't touch the HD at all, making it perfect for data recovery or situations where you don't have permission to use the drive for personal use. It gives you a complete set of applications and leaves no residue on the system.
Maybe, but most places I've seen won't even take wrapped packages anymore since it's so easy to rewrap these things. As early as 1991, a friend of mine at the former Babbages stores was ordered to not take returns on wrapped stuff if there was *any* question whatsoever.
What utter bullshit. They expect us to run to the store, look at the product, run home, read the EULA, then run back to the store to buy it? Yeah, right...
I'd say it's also highly dependant on how much pressure you put on the disc while writing. Press hard enough and it'll bleed through enough to destroy your data track. A light touch is best.
Depends on the product, really.
For the wireless router I picked up, I looked long enough through the manual to pick up the configuration address for my browser-- I already knew how to set it up otherwise.
For my recent motherboard upgrade, I checked the manual thoroughly to make sure there weren't going to be any surprises on the compatibility front, especially with RAM.
For videogames, I typically check the story section, a quick glance at the controls, and a quick glance over the weapons, with a later full-readthrough when I decide to see if there's anything I've missed. MGS3, which I picked up at launch, is a great example of such. I checked the CQC stuff in the manual, but I knew enough about the rest of the game from the previous games and demo to have no problems.
So, all in all I typically avoid using the manual unless I have to, but I don't hesitate to use it at that point.
Nowhere near as low as the 'mighty' anonymous coward, apparently, who seems to have the need to attack people for simple mistakes.
Such is life.
It's easily possible. The way I understand it, Nintendo uses a standard 802.11b design for layers 1 and 2 as the specification allows. Layers 3 on down are all up to the programmer, so it IS possible to make a TCP/IP stack. Nintendo just chose to use a proprietary non-routable protocol for the existing games that are using the wireless (and Pictochat, for that matter).
The hackers working on the wifi and reverse engineering the cart system found one bit of difference in the BIOS, allowing them to actually tell if the system is a DS or GBA by doing a simple bios check.
Okay, I misread the original article. This is a re-running of it across multiple places because of the popularity of the original. Don't mind me, too early in the morning and not an ounce of caffeine.
I could have sworn there was already one concert with that name already in the last year or two-- Yeah, here we go, an announcement from quite awhile ago.. right here.
A lot of the PC games are using Gamespy on an *internal* basis now, using Gamespy-specific server design. There just won't be any way to communicate between the Mac and PC versions of the package because Mac development is almost 100% of the time licensed out to a handful of Mac developers.
The PC devs will pay the cash and make Gamespy internal and integral to their product, and the Mac devs won't be able to license Gamespy to make their ports talk. That's the big picture they're painting.
There's definitely a bit of a bias on their site, but you have to remember that these are hacks for a system that was NOT designed for such online play in the first place. Can you blame them for not following full specification if they're not intending it to be used as a full implementation?
I'm not saying it wasn't short-sighted of them, but there's a bit more to the picture than laziness.
I would say generally to avoid offending those who may not share beliefs; Christmas is a particularly religious holiday at its core.
Not to mention how to hook up the modem properly, obtain a copy of the terminal software of your choice, and somehow get the first BBS number so you could get others. Back before there were actual useful BBS lists, it could be somewhat difficult to get started.
I'll rephrase it as "The barrier to entry for the casual user was a bit steeper".
With ISPs being a mostly commercial venture, they're more inclined to provide enough support to get you started even without knowing someone already in the loop.
This really isn't much of a surprise. I was on the cutting edge as early as eight or nine years old, doing BBSes back in the 80s. I even ran one for nine years. Most of my BBS friends who were of equivelent age range (+/- 3 years) went right to the net in 1994 when it became more widely available and had already started the process we're seeing now.
The only reason we haven't seen this sooner is that the BBS world wasn't quite so accessible to your average kid-- you had to know a lot more to get online than you do now.
Well, about the only thing Enix has done that's high profile of late is Dragon Quest, and that series takes even longer than Final Fantasy between revisions.
Nevertheless I wouldn't count them out just yet.. though your point is valid and I agree-- the part of the company that faces the outward world the most is the Square side of Squeenix.