PS3 and XBox 360 do "add something new to the board." They add some really spectacular graphics for one thing. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying better graphics is revolutionary or ground breaking but it does add something do the previous generation of consoles. The increased processing power also adds the ability to create larger worlds, more interesting AI, and more accurate physics. I can't speak for PS3's online capabilities, but the way XBox live is integrated with the 360 is actually pretty damn cool and definately has a "next-gen" feeling to it. Example: I can be playing Eternal Sonata (single player) on my 360 and I can see if my friend from Houston starts playing Halo3 with my other friend in NY. I didn't have to do anything besides signing in to my xbl account. Being able to download High-Def TV shows and movies to watch on the XBox 360 is a new and sweet thing too. I don't recall having these capabilities with any previous-gen systems.
While I think the Wii is probably great fun for everyone, what has it added that the PS3, 360 haven't? A new controller scheme (that's not actually that new)?
Don't be an ass. All the new consoles add something new to the table that previous iterations didn't. If you one like one console over the other, good for you, that doesn't mean that the others "don't add anything to the table."
Here is an example of where slashdot's moderating system fails. The parent post says something inflammatory and barely informative and they get a +5 informative.
Now if I were to say
"The Mac doesn't come with a TV tuner. That's because people who like iMacs are too busy taking it up the ass to bother watching TV."
While equally as informative and slightly more inflammatory (I almost rather be accused of being gay then be accussed of frequently watching Fox news, however), this post will be modded either troll or flamebait (assuming a few moderators see this) not because of the lack of information or the inflammatory remark, but simply because I said something mean about mac users. We might as well just add a "-1, Anti-Mac, Anti-Nintendo, Pro-Microsoft" at least then moderators can be honest why they are modding something down.
Or you can play it like a video game, and just twitch the controller around. Of course, as Tycho and Gabe put it so eloquently, that makes you a toolbox: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13 [penny-arcade.com] The comic was making fun of the people who do the full motions when only small motions is necessary. You totally missed it's point.
In reaching the conclusion that Wii is only a 2% increase in calorie burning over 360 games, I'm sure the kids were only moving their wrists. Then, the difference breaks down to 360 = twitching thumbs, Wii = twitching wrists. I could believe that twitching wrists instead of just thumbs is a 2% increase in calories burnt over the 360. You're sure they were only twitching their wrists? I know very few people who just use their wrists. They at least use a little bit of arm in their motions. How do you know the people playing XBox weren't moving around while they are playing? People get excited and move around when they are just using a normal controller too. I wouldn't be so sure.
I know that when playing Wii boxing and making real punching motions, my arms get physically tired and I can work up a sweat after long enough. I am sure if someone wanted to, they could run another study and grab another headline by stating something like Wii Burns As Many Calories as Real Workout. Don't you mean: "Playing Wii Boxing might Burn as Many Calories as a Real Workout If You Move Around a Bunch and Pretend You're Boxing and You Don't Really Play Athletic Sports and Consider Shadow Boxing a Real Workout?"
I just experienced my gaming moment of the year today.
After fixing my Assassin's Creed 360 disc (which I damaged by tilting the 360...oops) I played for a little bit up to where you arrive at Damascus. The view of the city as you come over the last hill was damn near breathtaking, at least with my 47" HDTV in 1080p. This was the first experience I had that made me feel the next-generation of console gaming had arrived. I've never seen such so much detail come from a tv displaying console gameplay.
I didn't know vaporware meant "software/hardware that has a delayed release date" or "software that will probably be made but hasn't been announced yet." I don't understand how you can mention Diablo III in a vaporware list and not mention Starcraft: Ghost.
The article was also way off on how the Spore multiplayer will supposedly work. You're not going to be able to directly compete with other people's races. The computer-controlled races will be based off a global database of races that other players upload their race information to. This is barely more "multiplayer" then a global high score list.
There are no degrees to amorality, you either are amoral, or you are not. Thus "how amoral they are" is wrong. It seems that the dictionary disagrees with you.
science as such is completely amoral -- W. S. Thompson
Completely is an adverb that modifies the amount of an adjective. If amoral was a binary decision, then these dictionary examples are redundant and, by your standards, wrong. The original use of "amoral" was grammatically correct and made sense. What exactly is wrong about it?
After 6 to 7 billion dollars and six years on the market you have to start thinking the rumors of Microsoft planning on exiting the console market have truth to them. What rumors? Oh, you mean the one you're trying to start?
The US is the only market the 360 is selling decent numbers but it appears that there are a massive number of current 360 owners who are either re-buying 360s or buying newer models hoping to get a console that doesn't have the RRoD or disc scratching issues. Yeah the increased sales are totally because of the RRoD issue. Lets just totally ignore the fact that Microsoft replaced most of the consoles with RRoD issues by paying out of their own pocket. They counted these replacement consoles as a loss, not as sales but lets not quibble with minor details. There's just no way that Halo3, Mass Effect, CoD4, BioShock, and Assassin's Creed had anything to do with the increased sales of the 360 in the last quarter.
The DS games you mentioned and Rock Band have nothing in common. How can you say that either game is "more awesome" than the other? You're comparing apples and oranges. I'm guessing you meant to say you enjoyed those games more than Rock Band?
Btw, a coworker threw a little "Rock Band" get-together this weekend, and I have to say that it was the most fun I had playing a video game in a very long time. If you play Rock Band with the right people (the ones who aren't afraid to mangle the vocals of well-known songs) things get down right hilarious. I would recommend Rock Band to anyone with more than two friends.
Check with the Association of Forensic Accountants and that association (I forget their exact title) of Fraud Examiners: turns out that in over 97% of cases where "normals" are involved along with criminals in corporate conspiracies - NO ONE ever comes foward. Data and facts - it's what us critically thinking humans grapple with! Okay, you just lost all your credibility with that statement. Obviously someone came forward about these conspiracies eventually, otherwise we couldn't really take statistics on something we don't know about, can we?
Dude, if someone honestly thinks that the United States government can pull off such a horrible, large scale feet without a single person with inside knowledge ever blowing a whistle or leaking some sort of clue, even after the fact it's happen, then some part of their brain (most likely the part that controls logic) is either broken or received the short ended stick when drawing from the gene pool.
Sweet, I love it when people can use the word "retard" and still get modded up. Seriously, I think people get way to sensitive about that word, but I think "retard" is probably best description for conspiracy theorists that believe that 9-11 was a "inside job" or anything half as ridiculous.
Honestly, how in the hell can a graphics upgrade be innovative? I can think of at least a couple more innovative things in EVE, and I think the game is a total bore.
I'm sure other companies have thought of upgrading their MMO's graphics engine. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'm sure other MMO's have at least improved some part of their graphics. I think this top 10 list will find it's way in to my top 10 list of "Most Poorly Thought-out Top 10 Lists of 2007."
Btw, the aim of a commercial is to sell a product and get name recognition. Some do it by entertaining, some do it by informing. Which method is better at selling stuff, I don't know. But just because it doesn't inform doesn't make it a bad commercial.
"We don't have any specific games worth showing to you, but the PS3 sure is awesome." I would argue that's why the commercials are good. They make the system seem really cool even though there aren't really any interesting games out for it yet. I think you confuse me for a PS3 shill or something. I'm obviously not interested in the console, but you have to admit it was really cool-looking commercial. The special effects, the choice of music, and the transitions between game footage and the PS3 CGI was really well done. Maybe it's just because I'm a graphics programmer and I'm really into computer generated graphics, but whatever. For those who don't know what I'm talking about check out the commercial. Trust me, I would only recommend the PS3 to my worst enemy, you don't have to watch if you don't want to.
For the record, I think it's funny that you got modded insightful. I could easily say the same thing about some wii commercials where they show a couple of japanese guys soliciting a family's house and them watching making retarded movements with the wiimote, but that would get modded to hell. Although, it's no less true. I'll probably get modded down for just saying that.
I think the new set of commercials for the PS3 really kick ass, and I think it may be convincing impulsive people to buy it. I'm just speculating, but I think the commercials could be significant reason why PS3 is seeing increased sales. The CGI of the PS3 morphing into guns, spaceships, etc was really well done. I have no idea what good exclusive games are out yet for the PS3 (if there is any), but the commercial made me want to buy a PS3 anyways (even though I won't, because I know better).
If you system is good for making sure that enough is loaded so that wherever the player goes the data is ready, it is quite workable. It's workable, but from a company's standpoint, is it really worth coming up with the schemes for loading data dynamically (which will probably be more complicated then just having predefined sets of memory loaded at certain points)? I think it's rare that people will refuse to play a game on the sole fact that the levels take 10-20 seconds to load. Now getting towards a minute and upwards, (like the battlefield series) companies may start getting in to problems.
As stated earlier, I think it depends on the type of game. MMO's like WoW greatly benefit from seamless travel, because they want an immersing experience to keep their subscribers addicted. Racing games won't see much of a benefit because I don't think players really care what happens in between the races, they just want to race.
I remember having a discussion about this about my brother. I think some asshole company (like Acclaim or Namco something) got a patent on having mini-games during loading screens. How something so obvious can be patented is beyond me, but unless you play games from Namco, you probably won't be seeing mini-games during loading for a while.
So does that mean if I become a janitor at Valve, I'll be able to help design Portal 2 from the ground up? Great, I want to focus on the multiplayer aspect and allow people to throw cake.
Slashdot Mirror
PS3 and XBox 360 do "add something new to the board." They add some really spectacular graphics for one thing. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying better graphics is revolutionary or ground breaking but it does add something do the previous generation of consoles. The increased processing power also adds the ability to create larger worlds, more interesting AI, and more accurate physics. I can't speak for PS3's online capabilities, but the way XBox live is integrated with the 360 is actually pretty damn cool and definately has a "next-gen" feeling to it. Example: I can be playing Eternal Sonata (single player) on my 360 and I can see if my friend from Houston starts playing Halo3 with my other friend in NY. I didn't have to do anything besides signing in to my xbl account. Being able to download High-Def TV shows and movies to watch on the XBox 360 is a new and sweet thing too. I don't recall having these capabilities with any previous-gen systems.
While I think the Wii is probably great fun for everyone, what has it added that the PS3, 360 haven't? A new controller scheme (that's not actually that new)?
Don't be an ass. All the new consoles add something new to the table that previous iterations didn't. If you one like one console over the other, good for you, that doesn't mean that the others "don't add anything to the table."
Here is an example of where slashdot's moderating system fails. The parent post says something inflammatory and barely informative and they get a +5 informative.
Now if I were to say
"The Mac doesn't come with a TV tuner. That's because people who like iMacs are too busy taking it up the ass to bother watching TV."
While equally as informative and slightly more inflammatory (I almost rather be accused of being gay then be accussed of frequently watching Fox news, however), this post will be modded either troll or flamebait (assuming a few moderators see this) not because of the lack of information or the inflammatory remark, but simply because I said something mean about mac users. We might as well just add a "-1, Anti-Mac, Anti-Nintendo, Pro-Microsoft" at least then moderators can be honest why they are modding something down.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13 [penny-arcade.com] The comic was making fun of the people who do the full motions when only small motions is necessary. You totally missed it's point. In reaching the conclusion that Wii is only a 2% increase in calorie burning over 360 games, I'm sure the kids were only moving their wrists. Then, the difference breaks down to 360 = twitching thumbs, Wii = twitching wrists. I could believe that twitching wrists instead of just thumbs is a 2% increase in calories burnt over the 360. You're sure they were only twitching their wrists? I know very few people who just use their wrists. They at least use a little bit of arm in their motions. How do you know the people playing XBox weren't moving around while they are playing? People get excited and move around when they are just using a normal controller too. I wouldn't be so sure. I know that when playing Wii boxing and making real punching motions, my arms get physically tired and I can work up a sweat after long enough. I am sure if someone wanted to, they could run another study and grab another headline by stating something like Wii Burns As Many Calories as Real Workout. Don't you mean: "Playing Wii Boxing might Burn as Many Calories as a Real Workout If You Move Around a Bunch and Pretend You're Boxing and You Don't Really Play Athletic Sports and Consider Shadow Boxing a Real Workout?"
I just experienced my gaming moment of the year today.
After fixing my Assassin's Creed 360 disc (which I damaged by tilting the 360...oops) I played for a little bit up to where you arrive at Damascus. The view of the city as you come over the last hill was damn near breathtaking, at least with my 47" HDTV in 1080p. This was the first experience I had that made me feel the next-generation of console gaming had arrived. I've never seen such so much detail come from a tv displaying console gameplay.
You must be from Digg. Welcome to Slashdot, we have sensationalist headlines here too.
I didn't know vaporware meant "software/hardware that has a delayed release date" or "software that will probably be made but hasn't been announced yet." I don't understand how you can mention Diablo III in a vaporware list and not mention Starcraft: Ghost.
The article was also way off on how the Spore multiplayer will supposedly work. You're not going to be able to directly compete with other people's races. The computer-controlled races will be based off a global database of races that other players upload their race information to. This is barely more "multiplayer" then a global high score list.
From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/amoral:
2. having no moral standards, restraints, or principles; unaware of or indifferent to questions of right or wrong: a completely amoral person.
From http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/amoral:
science as such is completely amoral -- W. S. Thompson
Completely is an adverb that modifies the amount of an adjective. If amoral was a binary decision, then these dictionary examples are redundant and, by your standards, wrong. The original use of "amoral" was grammatically correct and made sense. What exactly is wrong about it?
I really wish there was a "-1, Dumbass" mod.
The DS games you mentioned and Rock Band have nothing in common. How can you say that either game is "more awesome" than the other? You're comparing apples and oranges. I'm guessing you meant to say you enjoyed those games more than Rock Band?
Btw, a coworker threw a little "Rock Band" get-together this weekend, and I have to say that it was the most fun I had playing a video game in a very long time. If you play Rock Band with the right people (the ones who aren't afraid to mangle the vocals of well-known songs) things get down right hilarious. I would recommend Rock Band to anyone with more than two friends.
Judging from the way it runs on my laptop, probably not.
Dude, if someone honestly thinks that the United States government can pull off such a horrible, large scale feet without a single person with inside knowledge ever blowing a whistle or leaking some sort of clue, even after the fact it's happen, then some part of their brain (most likely the part that controls logic) is either broken or received the short ended stick when drawing from the gene pool.
Sweet, I love it when people can use the word "retard" and still get modded up. Seriously, I think people get way to sensitive about that word, but I think "retard" is probably best description for conspiracy theorists that believe that 9-11 was a "inside job" or anything half as ridiculous.
Honestly, how in the hell can a graphics upgrade be innovative? I can think of at least a couple more innovative things in EVE, and I think the game is a total bore.
I'm sure other companies have thought of upgrading their MMO's graphics engine. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I'm sure other MMO's have at least improved some part of their graphics. I think this top 10 list will find it's way in to my top 10 list of "Most Poorly Thought-out Top 10 Lists of 2007."
If this isn't news for nerds, I don't know what is.
I don't know what I would do in this sort of situation. But I know what I wouldn't do:
Publicly announce to thousands of people that my company may be acting in a unethical or illegal manner.
Btw, the aim of a commercial is to sell a product and get name recognition. Some do it by entertaining, some do it by informing. Which method is better at selling stuff, I don't know. But just because it doesn't inform doesn't make it a bad commercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irPVI0jTij0
For the record, I think it's funny that you got modded insightful. I could easily say the same thing about some wii commercials where they show a couple of japanese guys soliciting a family's house and them watching making retarded movements with the wiimote, but that would get modded to hell. Although, it's no less true. I'll probably get modded down for just saying that.
I think the new set of commercials for the PS3 really kick ass, and I think it may be convincing impulsive people to buy it. I'm just speculating, but I think the commercials could be significant reason why PS3 is seeing increased sales. The CGI of the PS3 morphing into guns, spaceships, etc was really well done. I have no idea what good exclusive games are out yet for the PS3 (if there is any), but the commercial made me want to buy a PS3 anyways (even though I won't, because I know better).
As stated earlier, I think it depends on the type of game. MMO's like WoW greatly benefit from seamless travel, because they want an immersing experience to keep their subscribers addicted. Racing games won't see much of a benefit because I don't think players really care what happens in between the races, they just want to race.
I remember having a discussion about this about my brother. I think some asshole company (like Acclaim or Namco something) got a patent on having mini-games during loading screens. How something so obvious can be patented is beyond me, but unless you play games from Namco, you probably won't be seeing mini-games during loading for a while.
So does that mean if I become a janitor at Valve, I'll be able to help design Portal 2 from the ground up? Great, I want to focus on the multiplayer aspect and allow people to throw cake.
Wow, so I'm guessing that this Acacia tree instantly grows to it's full height once the seed is planted?
You mean Dennis Radaman?