"I've been thinking about buying a new system, and my bias is towards nintendo (they've always had the best games, in my opinion). The only thing holding me back is that there's no GTA for the gamecube to my knowledge. Does anyone know if this is a possibility? Cheers, T.H."
I realize that you probably have your reasons for wanting to play GTA on the consoles, but it really is a superior experience on the PC. Wanna play your own music in the game? No prob! Put your MP3s (or shortcuts to them) in the right spot. (not to mention the mods you can get for it..) I just got Vice City for PC and I'm not disappointed at all!
"and a voice actor backstage was responding to events in the booth,while Mario lipsynced and gestured correctly onscreen.
Kent Brockman: Animotion is up an eighth... after plunging seventy five points this morning! Homer: Oh, I hope plunging means up, and seventy five means two hundred!"
*psst* hey dudes with moderation points, the parent post isn't off-topic. It's a relevant Simpsons quote, and quite an amusing one.
"That always cracks me up. I suppose the mindset of DRM leads to the mindset of patents. Someday information will be free! "
Wasn't talking about DRM. It's a custom format so only GameCubes can play it. It's not like you can stick it in your DVD-ROM and read data off the disk on a PC. It's not clear you can even make a DVD-ROM do it.
"The disk size and format (small DVD) sounds like the GameCube format. I beleve that format is a standard, like mini-CD.
Wonder if this is a new format or if they are using that one. Don't see why they would roll there own with there's already one existing. "
It probably is a new format as Nintendo co-developed it with another company who's name excapes me at the moment to be 'piracy proof'. Due to the probable IP involved, Sony'll probably have to re-invent the wheel here.
There's some that feel that Nintendo's choice of media was lead the way towards a portable system a few years from now. Substantiated? No. But think about it, if Sony can do it, then Nintendo can just slightly miniaturize the GC hardware and *boom* have a product with a ton of titles already.
A few days ago I did a mockup of a slightly altered version of Slashdot's Games Dept theme that is a little more pleasing to the eyes. You can see it here. It recieved some good response, however the topic only got a few views. Just wanted to post it one more time in a busier thread and see if people like it enough for me to submit to the editors.
(I know, it's OT. At least I put some work into fixing the problem that's being complained about!)
" Ugh. You can't possibly be an independant AND make a profit. I forgot the rules."
Never said nor implied that. What I am implying is that the Star Wars movies of late are marketing stunts. Not only are they timed to get the ever critical 'summer opening', but they also come out with a TON of merchandising that often precedes the release of the movie.
This isn't a matter of "oh you have to make no money to be a true independent", it's a matter of Lucas creating movies not from his heart, but from his wallet. He used to be a really talented guy. These days, there's no inspiration motivating him except for technology.
"Its also a reason why the Patriot Act is a bad idea, because ALL people make mistakes and having access to information doesn't automatically make people informed. Checks and balances for all sorts of things are being thrown away in this country or legislated away in the interest of fighting "the war on piracy" or "the war on terror" and it just isn't a good idea. Accountability and review are GOOD things, the RIAA should have checked things BEFORE they sent a letter. "
Don't forget that it's too easy to frame somebody. If I really hated somebody, I could write a VB app that's a little game for them to play. In the background, the app could go to various sites around the web and download/save kiddie porn to a special 'folder' on their computer just waiting to be discovered. Then, an 'anonymous' tip could be phoned to get the guy locked up. Assuming he doesn't suspect the app did it, how would my framing be revealed? He could have logged in to his computer with a retinal scan, that wouldn't have stopped this malicious app from happening. Doh.
Heck, if the Patriot Act were to play out our fears, it'd make the job of a terrorist quite easy. Instead of blowing up buildings, one by one we'll frame innocent Americans. Wee.
" He makes films to satisfy his own desire to tell the stories he wants to tell and do it the way he wants to do it.. and if that just so happens to be something you like, then great... if not... well... George isn't going to loose any sleep over it."
Lotsa Pepsi endorsements brewing over a film created by a 'truely indpendent' director.
"The RIAA should search for files containing Usher and mp3, but instead of deleting them, they should all be replaced with ten second "sample" music clips. That way, users don't have to worry about losing files, *and* they get exposed to music they might like. This might even boost record sales! "
He's right. It would boost records. Criminal records. Like the assault and battery.
"Just go on kazaa or IRC and warez a copy of Maya. Everyone benefits. Maya benefits because you're more likely to have a paid copy of Maya once you get a real world job, and you benefit because you get to use 3d software which is used by real world companies (I doubt blender is used by any effects studios) "
Dude, don't suggest things like that. If it's public knowledge that stuff like that is easy to acquire, then the company who makes that stuff MUST do something about it or face not being able to take action down the road. Do you really want 3D rendering developers who make >$1000 per sale to become fans of DRM?
Please, use legit channels to acquire software. with a student ID, you can get LW for $400. That may seem high, but it's much better than using it's list price of $1,600. It's really not hard to sell your parents on either, provided you want to make a living with 3D. Let me explain:
1.) College doesn't exactly train you to take a decent paying position at a company. You still have to be talented. That's the type of thing that happens by pursuing it on your own creating inspired work. I'm dead serious about this. Somebody who didn't go to college that can show they have creativity + skills will go a lot farther than somebody with a 4 year degree but cannot do more than push a few buttons on the program. Art's funny like that.
2.) $400 is not too much to spend when learning how to use that app can get you a job you can make a living on. That $400 alone (plus personal effort put into making yourself into an artist) can earn you a living. My dad realized this while I was in high school and he spent $3,000 on a high end computer and software for me to expand my skills with. Not only did I earn a $22,000 scholarship with my 3D stuff at the top of my portfolio, but also within a year of starting college I had a job doing it. (I never finish college as a result of that, wish I did though. Drawing courses in particular would improve my abilities a lot.)
3.) 3D related demand is only going to go up. All one has to do is watch the 'making of' section of a few DVDs here and there to find that 3D's a major part of any movie or TV show. Even ER had some 3D effects in it last week that most people probably didn't notice.
Hope that's helpful. Don't take parent poster's advice.
"I'm a big fan of Lightwave [lightwave3d.com]. It's a LOT cheaper than Maya, especially if you get a student discount, and it's pretty easy to learn to use, and it's DAMN powerful. "
I second that. Out of the box, LW is very well rounded. Very good for character animation, modelling, and rendering. From LW, it's pretty easy to go to Maya or even 3D Studio MAX. (Or not move at all if you dun wanna...) If you start with something like MAX, though, you can end up with layers upon layers of stuff. That can be rather confusing if you move to LW. "Uh.. I just want to smooth this mesh, but I can't find the modifier for that!"
That's pretty much what I mean by 'get to the point'. You start with polygons, you end with polygons. You don't end up with an 'object' that has a bunch of settings to it you need to keep an eye on. It's like the difference between driving with a stick and having an automatic transmission. If you have an auto transmission, you can start driving right away but never truely understand what it is about shifting that makes a car efficient. LW would be more like the manual transmission, you have to do more work to get around, but you have a much more fundamental understanding of how your car works and how you can apply those gears to various situations like slowing yourself down on a steep incline.
*hopes that makse some sense, I'm in a bit of a hurry.*
"And spill orange juice over the keyboard while reading a recipe?"
Man! What's with the moderations today? The topic is that somebody wants a cheap defective, yet semi-useful LCD to use in the kitchen. He doesn't want to spend lotsa $$$ for something that will likely be damaged. There's nothing off-topic about the parent post!
Ricky, you bring up a good point. I'm sorry you were modded down for it. *Hopes people are meta-moderating*
This would have been amusing about a year or so ago when GTA3 came out for PC. In the game, you have radio stations you can listen to. You can also add your own music to the game by putting Mp3 files into the correct folder. Tell me it wouldn't be damn cool to have a collection of MP3s collected from the radio. "You're now listening to Art Bell.."
(It's a double bonus for me. I live in Portland, and one of the cities in GTA3 is called Portland...)
"Uh... what world are you living in? Apple charges for point releases to OS-X. And their hardware is still 1.5-2x the price of PC hardware, for less performance. Don't even try to indicate that Apple isn't raping their customers as bad, if not worse, than Microsoft."
Dare I mention the virtual lack of Apple clones? It's like having only Dell and Gateway to buy computers from.
Seriously tho, I'm not sure you'll find it. Problems like that show up early on. If somebody buys an LCD and it's got dead pixels, it gets returned. It'll show up again re-conditioned.
Perhaps you'd be better of spending a little more, then getting a laptop that can be closed?
"NASA is borrowing some things from the Pathfinder mission to help insure a success as well as doing extensive testing which was apparently not done for the Mars Polar Lander. "
"Right up to the point where they download their first XviD video file. Then, like anyone else, they'll pay the price and install the darn codec (after posting on countless message boards asking why the heck their video won't play)."
I know this is off-topic, but I'd like to throw my two cents in as an artist. The main problem with the color scheme is that the gradient goes from overl-bright purple to white with white text on top of it. This can be corrected by changing the gradient to go from black to a mid-range purple. It'd look much more tasteful.
I took about 5 minutes and roughly mocked up a screengrab of a more tasteful implementation of the Games Color Scheme. Check it out here.
Okay, so I'm off-topic and bitching about something that's been griped about a million times. At least give me credit for taking a little time to provide something to grab color codes off of.:)
Slashdot Mirror
"I've been thinking about buying a new system, and my bias is towards nintendo (they've always had the best games, in my opinion). The only thing holding me back is that there's no GTA for the gamecube to my knowledge. Does anyone know if this is a possibility? Cheers, T.H."
I realize that you probably have your reasons for wanting to play GTA on the consoles, but it really is a superior experience on the PC. Wanna play your own music in the game? No prob! Put your MP3s (or shortcuts to them) in the right spot. (not to mention the mods you can get for it..) I just got Vice City for PC and I'm not disappointed at all!
*psst* hey dudes with moderation points, the parent post isn't off-topic. It's a relevant Simpsons quote, and quite an amusing one.
"That always cracks me up. I suppose the mindset of DRM leads to the mindset of patents. Someday information will be free! "
Wasn't talking about DRM. It's a custom format so only GameCubes can play it. It's not like you can stick it in your DVD-ROM and read data off the disk on a PC. It's not clear you can even make a DVD-ROM do it.
"The disk size and format (small DVD) sounds like the GameCube format. I beleve that format is a standard, like mini-CD.
Wonder if this is a new format or if they are using that one. Don't see why they would roll there own with there's already one existing.
"
It probably is a new format as Nintendo co-developed it with another company who's name excapes me at the moment to be 'piracy proof'. Due to the probable IP involved, Sony'll probably have to re-invent the wheel here.
There's some that feel that Nintendo's choice of media was lead the way towards a portable system a few years from now. Substantiated? No. But think about it, if Sony can do it, then Nintendo can just slightly miniaturize the GC hardware and *boom* have a product with a ton of titles already.
"The games come on a new media format, half the size of a CD or DVD, holding 1.8 gigs."
"And we do use the term 'new' loosely..."
Hey dudes,
A few days ago I did a mockup of a slightly altered version of Slashdot's Games Dept theme that is a little more pleasing to the eyes. You can see it here. It recieved some good response, however the topic only got a few views. Just wanted to post it one more time in a busier thread and see if people like it enough for me to submit to the editors.
(I know, it's OT. At least I put some work into fixing the problem that's being complained about!)
" Ugh. You can't possibly be an independant AND make a profit. I forgot the rules."
Never said nor implied that. What I am implying is that the Star Wars movies of late are marketing stunts. Not only are they timed to get the ever critical 'summer opening', but they also come out with a TON of merchandising that often precedes the release of the movie.
This isn't a matter of "oh you have to make no money to be a true independent", it's a matter of Lucas creating movies not from his heart, but from his wallet. He used to be a really talented guy. These days, there's no inspiration motivating him except for technology.
"Its also a reason why the Patriot Act is a bad idea, because ALL people make mistakes and having access to information doesn't automatically make people informed. Checks and balances for all sorts of things are being thrown away in this country or legislated away in the interest of fighting "the war on piracy" or "the war on terror" and it just isn't a good idea. Accountability and review are GOOD things, the RIAA should have checked things BEFORE they sent a letter. "
Don't forget that it's too easy to frame somebody. If I really hated somebody, I could write a VB app that's a little game for them to play. In the background, the app could go to various sites around the web and download/save kiddie porn to a special 'folder' on their computer just waiting to be discovered. Then, an 'anonymous' tip could be phoned to get the guy locked up. Assuming he doesn't suspect the app did it, how would my framing be revealed? He could have logged in to his computer with a retinal scan, that wouldn't have stopped this malicious app from happening. Doh.
Heck, if the Patriot Act were to play out our fears, it'd make the job of a terrorist quite easy. Instead of blowing up buildings, one by one we'll frame innocent Americans. Wee.
" He makes films to satisfy his own desire to tell the stories he wants to tell and do it the way he wants to do it.. and if that just so happens to be something you like, then great... if not... well... George isn't going to loose any sleep over it."
Lotsa Pepsi endorsements brewing over a film created by a 'truely indpendent' director.
"That's right, Microsoft have done that for years and they've never been copied. Ever. "
Yep, I verified that. The cd label on Microsoft discs has never been copied.
"The RIAA should search for files containing Usher and mp3, but instead of deleting them, they should all be replaced with ten second "sample" music clips. That way, users don't have to worry about losing files, *and* they get exposed to music they might like. This might even boost record sales! "
He's right. It would boost records. Criminal records. Like the assault and battery.
"Just go on kazaa or IRC and warez a copy of Maya. Everyone benefits. Maya benefits because you're more likely to have a paid copy of Maya once you get a real world job, and you benefit because you get to use 3d software which is used by real world companies (I doubt blender is used by any effects studios) "
Dude, don't suggest things like that. If it's public knowledge that stuff like that is easy to acquire, then the company who makes that stuff MUST do something about it or face not being able to take action down the road. Do you really want 3D rendering developers who make >$1000 per sale to become fans of DRM?
Please, use legit channels to acquire software. with a student ID, you can get LW for $400. That may seem high, but it's much better than using it's list price of $1,600. It's really not hard to sell your parents on either, provided you want to make a living with 3D. Let me explain:
1.) College doesn't exactly train you to take a decent paying position at a company. You still have to be talented. That's the type of thing that happens by pursuing it on your own creating inspired work. I'm dead serious about this. Somebody who didn't go to college that can show they have creativity + skills will go a lot farther than somebody with a 4 year degree but cannot do more than push a few buttons on the program. Art's funny like that.
2.) $400 is not too much to spend when learning how to use that app can get you a job you can make a living on. That $400 alone (plus personal effort put into making yourself into an artist) can earn you a living. My dad realized this while I was in high school and he spent $3,000 on a high end computer and software for me to expand my skills with. Not only did I earn a $22,000 scholarship with my 3D stuff at the top of my portfolio, but also within a year of starting college I had a job doing it. (I never finish college as a result of that, wish I did though. Drawing courses in particular would improve my abilities a lot.)
3.) 3D related demand is only going to go up. All one has to do is watch the 'making of' section of a few DVDs here and there to find that 3D's a major part of any movie or TV show. Even ER had some 3D effects in it last week that most people probably didn't notice.
Hope that's helpful. Don't take parent poster's advice.
"I'm a big fan of Lightwave [lightwave3d.com]. It's a LOT cheaper than Maya, especially if you get a student discount, and it's pretty easy to learn to use, and it's DAMN powerful. "
I second that. Out of the box, LW is very well rounded. Very good for character animation, modelling, and rendering. From LW, it's pretty easy to go to Maya or even 3D Studio MAX. (Or not move at all if you dun wanna...) If you start with something like MAX, though, you can end up with layers upon layers of stuff. That can be rather confusing if you move to LW. "Uh.. I just want to smooth this mesh, but I can't find the modifier for that!"
That's pretty much what I mean by 'get to the point'. You start with polygons, you end with polygons. You don't end up with an 'object' that has a bunch of settings to it you need to keep an eye on. It's like the difference between driving with a stick and having an automatic transmission. If you have an auto transmission, you can start driving right away but never truely understand what it is about shifting that makes a car efficient. LW would be more like the manual transmission, you have to do more work to get around, but you have a much more fundamental understanding of how your car works and how you can apply those gears to various situations like slowing yourself down on a steep incline.
*hopes that makse some sense, I'm in a bit of a hurry.*
"And spill orange juice over the keyboard while reading a recipe?"
Man! What's with the moderations today? The topic is that somebody wants a cheap defective, yet semi-useful LCD to use in the kitchen. He doesn't want to spend lotsa $$$ for something that will likely be damaged. There's nothing off-topic about the parent post!
Ricky, you bring up a good point. I'm sorry you were modded down for it. *Hopes people are meta-moderating*
This would have been amusing about a year or so ago when GTA3 came out for PC. In the game, you have radio stations you can listen to. You can also add your own music to the game by putting Mp3 files into the correct folder. Tell me it wouldn't be damn cool to have a collection of MP3s collected from the radio. "You're now listening to Art Bell.."
(It's a double bonus for me. I live in Portland, and one of the cities in GTA3 is called Portland...)
" I mean... what would be the point of using this for a top 40 station? "
It beats buying CDs.
"Uh... what world are you living in? Apple charges for point releases to OS-X. And their hardware is still 1.5-2x the price of PC hardware, for less performance. Don't even try to indicate that Apple isn't raping their customers as bad, if not worse, than Microsoft."
Dare I mention the virtual lack of Apple clones? It's like having only Dell and Gateway to buy computers from.
.. as long as they know you need it.
Seriously tho, I'm not sure you'll find it. Problems like that show up early on. If somebody buys an LCD and it's got dead pixels, it gets returned. It'll show up again re-conditioned.
Perhaps you'd be better of spending a little more, then getting a laptop that can be closed?
"NASA is borrowing some things from the Pathfinder mission to help insure a success as well as doing extensive testing which was apparently not done for the Mars Polar Lander. "
Either way, they should still call it Jupiter 2.
"... but over here, we just call it a flashlight. "
It's a pity you can't pretend to be a Jedi with an ultraviolet light.
"Honey? Why does the remote have only one button?"
"Right up to the point where they download their first XviD video file. Then, like anyone else, they'll pay the price and install the darn codec (after posting on countless message boards asking why the heck their video won't play)."
I'm tellin you guys, porn's a great motivator!
"o bad the Slashguys aren't likely to listen to you. That's a lot better."
Hmm.. anybody know who I should email?
"Just because GTA is violent doesn't mean as much time didn't go in to making it "fun to play" as say, Super Mario Sunshine."
Actually, SMS is rather violent. At one point, you have to pull the tentacles off of a squid! OUCH! At least PETA won't be all over GTA.
"From the OMFG-it-looks-like-shit dept.
:)
Well, it sucks."
I know this is off-topic, but I'd like to throw my two cents in as an artist. The main problem with the color scheme is that the gradient goes from overl-bright purple to white with white text on top of it. This can be corrected by changing the gradient to go from black to a mid-range purple. It'd look much more tasteful.
I took about 5 minutes and roughly mocked up a screengrab of a more tasteful implementation of the Games Color Scheme. Check it out here.
Okay, so I'm off-topic and bitching about something that's been griped about a million times. At least give me credit for taking a little time to provide something to grab color codes off of.