I'm sorry, the Decipher CCG was awful - one of the worst CCGs I've played. The whole thing self-destructed by the third expansion. Wizards' new Star Wars CCG is actually pretty good. It's simpler, yes, but at least it's well-designed.
While I'm sure you've received few emails regarding LucasArts' decision to cancel the much-awaited title Sam & Max 2, I wanted to make my opinion known as a representative of a whole generation of gamers who grew up with LucasArts' classic graphic adventures. Our fond memories of these games, especially the original Sam & Max, have not faded - even just a few weeks a whole group of my friends sat down for a weekend and played through six of our favorite LucasArts graphic adventures, with a packed room of people watching. When gamers around the world heard that Full Throttle 2 had been canceled, they thought "That's sad, but at least LucasArts can concentrate on Sam & Max 2." The news of two days ago was heartbreaking - everyone I knew who had played or seen the original Sam & Max had been excited about its sequel's release. The news reported today - that Steve Purcell's team was on schedule, and that Mr. Purcell thought the product they had so far was excellent, is even more confusing. Whatever market research led LucasArts to believe that the game was not worth making is wrong - the graphic adventure market is not dead, it's just been waiting for Sam & Max 2. Please reconsider the cancellation of this project, and keep in mind the generation of gamers who would be thrilled to have another Sam & Max in their hands. Thank you.
Yeah, it should be out in the next couple of months. They're just putting the following touches on it - the movies and screens of it that I've seen look great, and there are rumors of it shipping with mod tools.
And that's the point of the XBox. I just returned from a 4-XBox game of Halo at a friend's house, 16 players in one room, yelling at each other and having a great time. Quite a bit more social than wehn we had UT LAN parties.
Given information on the net I've seen, and conversations with MS employees, the new thing that "requires ties to the OS" is crazy 3D visual effects, not DRM. Longhorn (the next windows) introduces all these dumb effects in the windowing system. I was talking to one guy about the next IE, and I said "I can't wait until standards support and PNG support are in there", and he said "Wouldn't you rather those developers be putting cool 3D page transitions like in PowerPoint and eye-candy effects like that?" So it seems it's stupid proprietary eye candy, not DRM. A good thing in that we won't be getting DRM, a bad thing in that we get stupid features instead of the things we want out of a modern browser.
I'd like to see the studios (and yes, I know they're too dumb to do this) release a screener copy of say, Matrix Reloaded, to the P2P networks themselves, and then see if people don't still flock to the theaters. I mean, they keep saying it's hurting sales so much, so if a good divx copy is widely available at the same time as the release in theaters, nobody should show up. But I think most people want the big-movie-theater experience with a movie like that.
Mp3s are ads - and they're what small bands need. Small bands typically get heard in the following way - people hear them at shows. Then their CD gets bought at the table. That means that only people who live in the area (and attend shows) hear stuff.
In contrast, a band with a web site and free downloads means that anyone wandering by can hear what they sound like, and hopefully order a CD off their website. That's what's happened to my band, The Girls - We've gotten fans in ways we never thought possible given the relatively few gigs we play in the Pittsburgh area. For example, a friend of ours posted a link to one of our free MP3s to his MMORPG message board - within a day we had lots of new CD sales and signups to our mailing list. We get random emails from people from all over. That couldn't happen if we only got exposure playing live, and it certainly couldn't happen if we didn't offer people completely free downloads (no DRM or anything).
I'm hoping this'll show up on the XBox Lite being announced in May at E3. It incorporates their new Media2Go stuff, so it might. Other than that it's a normal xbox, smaller and sleeker (and cheaper). Good news for someone like me who's been holding out on getting one.
Since all you'd have to do is buy an HDTV DVD player (pretty cheap, since all that's different is the software), and they bundle in the Windows Media HD version along with the normal DVD version. That way you have a regular DVD, plays on regular machines, that also pumps out HDTV for those who have a screen that can take it. Kind of like how they have all those different surround sound choices on DVDs. THe DVD can hold it all - look at the new T2 Extreme Edition.
Until google has a Google Bar for other browsers. Frankly, IE is fast, and no amount of gestures or tabs will replace the google bar for me as far as raw usefulness in navigating the web. And yes, I've tried the googlebar replacement from mozdev. It's useless.
I don't know how they're planning to make money off it, but I can see a LOT of people using this. I rarely get songs off Kazaa anymore - I usually grab stuff from my friends' FTP servers if they suggest something, or they upload something themselves to mine. This just seems like a more intuitive user interface for such a thing. Given some improvements (like the inevitable hack to remove all those silly limitations) this seems like a great idea for college campuses where lots of students want to share stuff. I mean, KaZaA's nice, but you have to know what you're looking for. It's much nicer to have somebody hand you something you've never heard of and say "Hey, you might like this."
When MS came to my school I had a little chat with one of the reps... he wasn't on the IE team, but I asked him about IE anyway - I want to know what's going on with IE7. I told him that I can't wait to have the #1 market-share browser get some more standards support, so that writing (and viewing) web pages would be a lot easier. He told me that standards support and pedestrian things like HTML rendering aren't that important, and wouldn't I rather have those developers working to add things like PowerPoint-style page transitions or 3D special effects to web pages? At this point I thought about punching him in the face and running in one direction for an hour. I just don't get it.
While it is true that MS has a poor history of security, your comment is not at all insightful. For one thing, Slammer could NOT infect other MS products. Only MS SQL (and MSDE, the dev version of MS SQL). Also, pulling out keywords like BSOD is totally irrelevant. I'm altogether sick of people lumping every Windows problem into "BSOD". There are problems, believe me. Lots of problems. But few of them cause BSOD anymore. The real reason the patch wasn't applied was just because it hadn't been packaged nicely and was a pain in the ass to install. Fault: Microsoft. Also, I somehow thing that MS wasn't "waiting for customers to beta test thier(sic) software before they even tried it themselves". A more likely scenario is that Microsoft is a huge company and when the MS MSL group releases a patch that dosen't mean that every SQL server in the company gets patched immediately. *sigh* I just feel bad seeing such empty comments getting modded so high.
I think it's worth pointing out that the RIAA isn't a government agency, they're a group that represents major record companies and is lobbying the government to turn the law to their favor.
Well, I took a look at some Tribes2 on PS2 screenshots... the antialiasing is nice, but it dosen't hold a candle to Halo's graphical quality. For example, I can't find any evidence of bumpmapping, and the terrain is still heightmapped so there aren't overhangs or tunnels or whatnot. The textures seem to be lower-resolution (and boring), and the models lower-poly (and ugly, but that's my own personal opinion). The weapon models are even uninspired. So how does it make Halo look like an utter "joke"?
I think you missed his point. The cost of software isn't the issue. He already bought all those applications. What is his incentive to throw them away? And comparing PhotoPaint to Photoshop isn't very fair. It's nowhere near as capable.
You know, your compelling argument has shown me the way. I mean... *I* have one butt, why shouldn't my mouse? And it should definitely match the color of my CPU - that dark silicon sheen is pretty sexy.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sorry, the Decipher CCG was awful - one of the worst CCGs I've played. The whole thing self-destructed by the third expansion. Wizards' new Star Wars CCG is actually pretty good. It's simpler, yes, but at least it's well-designed.
Sent to pr@lucasarts.com
Dear LucasArts,
While I'm sure you've received few emails regarding LucasArts' decision to cancel the much-awaited title Sam & Max 2, I wanted to make my opinion known as a representative of a whole generation of gamers who grew up with LucasArts' classic graphic adventures. Our fond memories of these games, especially the original Sam & Max, have not faded - even just a few weeks a whole group of my friends sat down for a weekend and played through six of our favorite LucasArts graphic adventures, with a packed room of people watching. When gamers around the world heard that Full Throttle 2 had been canceled, they thought "That's sad, but at least LucasArts can concentrate on Sam & Max 2." The news of two days ago was heartbreaking - everyone I knew who had played or seen the original Sam & Max had been excited about its sequel's release. The news reported today - that Steve Purcell's team was on schedule, and that Mr. Purcell thought the product they had so far was excellent, is even more confusing. Whatever market research led LucasArts to believe that the game was not worth making is wrong - the graphic adventure market is not dead, it's just been waiting for Sam & Max 2. Please reconsider the cancellation of this project, and keep in mind the generation of gamers who would be thrilled to have another Sam & Max in their hands. Thank you.
-My Name
Sam and Max was supposed to be on console - I was of the impression it was an XBox game.
this is Slashdot we're talking about. I don't think a crowd of women is something regular denizens have to worry about very often.
I would hope there would be. GTA3 gets boring after about 5 minutes.
Yeah, it should be out in the next couple of months. They're just putting the following touches on it - the movies and screens of it that I've seen look great, and there are rumors of it shipping with mod tools.
And that's the point of the XBox. I just returned from a 4-XBox game of Halo at a friend's house, 16 players in one room, yelling at each other and having a great time. Quite a bit more social than wehn we had UT LAN parties.
Given information on the net I've seen, and conversations with MS employees, the new thing that "requires ties to the OS" is crazy 3D visual effects, not DRM. Longhorn (the next windows) introduces all these dumb effects in the windowing system. I was talking to one guy about the next IE, and I said "I can't wait until standards support and PNG support are in there", and he said "Wouldn't you rather those developers be putting cool 3D page transitions like in PowerPoint and eye-candy effects like that?" So it seems it's stupid proprietary eye candy, not DRM. A good thing in that we won't be getting DRM, a bad thing in that we get stupid features instead of the things we want out of a modern browser.
I'd like to see the studios (and yes, I know they're too dumb to do this) release a screener copy of say, Matrix Reloaded, to the P2P networks themselves, and then see if people don't still flock to the theaters. I mean, they keep saying it's hurting sales so much, so if a good divx copy is widely available at the same time as the release in theaters, nobody should show up. But I think most people want the big-movie-theater experience with a movie like that.
Mp3s are ads - and they're what small bands need. Small bands typically get heard in the following way - people hear them at shows. Then their CD gets bought at the table. That means that only people who live in the area (and attend shows) hear stuff.
In contrast, a band with a web site and free downloads means that anyone wandering by can hear what they sound like, and hopefully order a CD off their website. That's what's happened to my band, The Girls - We've gotten fans in ways we never thought possible given the relatively few gigs we play in the Pittsburgh area. For example, a friend of ours posted a link to one of our free MP3s to his MMORPG message board - within a day we had lots of new CD sales and signups to our mailing list. We get random emails from people from all over. That couldn't happen if we only got exposure playing live, and it certainly couldn't happen if we didn't offer people completely free downloads (no DRM or anything).
I'm hoping this'll show up on the XBox Lite being announced in May at E3. It incorporates their new Media2Go stuff, so it might. Other than that it's a normal xbox, smaller and sleeker (and cheaper). Good news for someone like me who's been holding out on getting one.
Since all you'd have to do is buy an HDTV DVD player (pretty cheap, since all that's different is the software), and they bundle in the Windows Media HD version along with the normal DVD version. That way you have a regular DVD, plays on regular machines, that also pumps out HDTV for those who have a screen that can take it. Kind of like how they have all those different surround sound choices on DVDs. THe DVD can hold it all - look at the new T2 Extreme Edition.
They're porting WMP9 to linux and MacOS. Nice try.
Until google has a Google Bar for other browsers. Frankly, IE is fast, and no amount of gestures or tabs will replace the google bar for me as far as raw usefulness in navigating the web. And yes, I've tried the googlebar replacement from mozdev. It's useless.
Steve did much more for The Pixies than he did for Nirvana. And Nirvana's just a mediocre Pixies cover band anyway...
I don't know how they're planning to make money off it, but I can see a LOT of people using this. I rarely get songs off Kazaa anymore - I usually grab stuff from my friends' FTP servers if they suggest something, or they upload something themselves to mine. This just seems like a more intuitive user interface for such a thing. Given some improvements (like the inevitable hack to remove all those silly limitations) this seems like a great idea for college campuses where lots of students want to share stuff. I mean, KaZaA's nice, but you have to know what you're looking for. It's much nicer to have somebody hand you something you've never heard of and say "Hey, you might like this."
When MS came to my school I had a little chat with one of the reps... he wasn't on the IE team, but I asked him about IE anyway - I want to know what's going on with IE7. I told him that I can't wait to have the #1 market-share browser get some more standards support, so that writing (and viewing) web pages would be a lot easier. He told me that standards support and pedestrian things like HTML rendering aren't that important, and wouldn't I rather have those developers working to add things like PowerPoint-style page transitions or 3D special effects to web pages? At this point I thought about punching him in the face and running in one direction for an hour. I just don't get it.
1) iChat is an AIM wrapper. A nice one, but it's just like using AIM.
2) Rendezvous is nice, but has nothing to do with threedegrees or instant messenging.
3) If you need an autoconfigurating wireless protocol to chat with somebody else's computer IN THE SAME ROOM, you've got bigger problems than that.
To be fair, the tagline for Slashdot is "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters.", not "News about Linux, Stuff that's anti-Microsoft."
While it is true that MS has a poor history of security, your comment is not at all insightful. For one thing, Slammer could NOT infect other MS products. Only MS SQL (and MSDE, the dev version of MS SQL). Also, pulling out keywords like BSOD is totally irrelevant. I'm altogether sick of people lumping every Windows problem into "BSOD". There are problems, believe me. Lots of problems. But few of them cause BSOD anymore. The real reason the patch wasn't applied was just because it hadn't been packaged nicely and was a pain in the ass to install. Fault: Microsoft. Also, I somehow thing that MS wasn't "waiting for customers to beta test thier(sic) software before they even tried it themselves". A more likely scenario is that Microsoft is a huge company and when the MS MSL group releases a patch that dosen't mean that every SQL server in the company gets patched immediately. *sigh* I just feel bad seeing such empty comments getting modded so high.
I think it's worth pointing out that the RIAA isn't a government agency, they're a group that represents major record companies and is lobbying the government to turn the law to their favor.
But I think it was because my mail servers are dead.
Well, I took a look at some Tribes2 on PS2 screenshots... the antialiasing is nice, but it dosen't hold a candle to Halo's graphical quality. For example, I can't find any evidence of bumpmapping, and the terrain is still heightmapped so there aren't overhangs or tunnels or whatnot. The textures seem to be lower-resolution (and boring), and the models lower-poly (and ugly, but that's my own personal opinion). The weapon models are even uninspired. So how does it make Halo look like an utter "joke"?
I think you missed his point. The cost of software isn't the issue. He already bought all those applications. What is his incentive to throw them away? And comparing PhotoPaint to Photoshop isn't very fair. It's nowhere near as capable.
You know, your compelling argument has shown me the way. I mean... *I* have one butt, why shouldn't my mouse? And it should definitely match the color of my CPU - that dark silicon sheen is pretty sexy.