I was speaking more in general terms--but I have to admit that co-op mode for things like Dynasty Warriors is a great deal of fun, and that there are times when I want to spend a few hours with Final Fantasy Tactics or something to get some quiet time.
But yes, you do have a good point--but I would think that the numbers of games sold tend to show that most people prefer the social aspect.;-þ
You do find games like that from time to time (c.f. Assassin's Creed and the Crusades, a little bit) but for the most part, developers have difficulty striking a balance between "making a game that will sell" and "making a game that will educate."
Oregon Trail managed to turn the life of a pioneer into a resource management simulation fairly decently (and a hunting minigame, which was always ridiculous amounts of fun), and thus succeeded in a decent balance.
Wars are easy, really, because they lend themselves immediately to two genres that have been around forever--strategy and tactics, and FPS games.
Other parts of history tend to lend themselves to games as well, but unless they tie into an existing game type, it's unlikely they'll sell (with few exceptions).
Physics, though, doesn't often lend itself to games unless you're using the physics to, for instance, target something with a catapult or cannon. Beyond that, though, there's usually not a whole lot you can do in a game with it.
Other fields of study are somewhat difficult as well (though I have some small hopes for Cell raising interest in evolutionary biology). You can use the other areas for puzzles, for instance, but outside of RPG puzzles and minigames inside of other games, how are you going to use mathematics or literature to build a game on?
Games have always been about competition, one way or another. Those games which are only single-player are, in a way, an aberration--sure, Final Fantasy games are wildly popular, but the people who buy 'em tend to like the 'interactive movie' aspect.
It's no real surprise that a game that offers extensive competition would outsell a game that, ultimately, requires you to sit alone for long periods of time. Beautiful graphics and engaging stories are a great thing, don't get me wrong--but unless there's a social aspect to it, it's going to be passed over for something that does allow interaction.
Witness the popularity of the Wii, for instance--a console that is, frankly, intended to be used in a multiplayer situation.
The games that you cite are, essentially, variants of genres which have been successful for centuries: Starcraft is, in the end, a board game much like chess--it requires tactical thinking, and there is a clear winner and loser at the end of the engagement; Halo is a variant of combat--a tamed down less lethal version, much like jousting or paintball.
People need the social aspect of games. They need to compete against each other. If you don't have some sort of socialization and competition in a game, it's not going to sell nearly as well as one that has those aspects.
Bit of a risk there, because you could trace it to 'em that way, potentially. That, and there might be a bit of lag going on. Helpful in terms up updating, though.
Still quite interesting, though. I wonder how many similar proxies there are out there....
Once you've got the router infected, you could use your new control over domains to inject other things to infect the machines, I suppose.
Or do it in reverse order, and get the machine first and the router after--so even if they fix their machine, on the next resynchronization they'd be hijacked again.
Or simply put it in the terms of service and require such a "service" for their "ultra-safe internet connection"--and incidentally have authorization to do all manner of net neutrality violating things.
Put it in enough marketspeak, and you'd be all set.
Fascinating idea....and if you've got access to the computer to change the DNS anyway, you could add in an authorization for the false cert agency, too.
With all due respect, there aren't that many different kinds of AV software out there, and only a relatively limited number of configurations possible. The changes to hosts.txt would be relatively small and would be easy to insert on a compromised computer--you could rehost all the common AV servers in hosts.txt with a relatively small worm payload, for instance--no version detection necessary.
I'd do it at the router level, myself. Lots of routers out there with easy or default passwords, and if you know the interface for that particular model/company, then changing the DNS settings would be easy as pie.
Get a lot of folks who have the money for a broadband connection that way--the folks with money and not much sense who are really ideal for identity theft.
After all, one must set your computer to use one of those servers.
I can think of a few possible ways to do this--a worm that modifies default-passworded routers, for instance, would be capable of modifying DNS entries at the router level--but is there an easy exploit to do so at the end-user's computer? Or a method of modifying the DNS via a browser window?
Darknets work well, also. WASTE is fairly popular, for instance, though finding the right network is sometimes a bit of a slow process--they're secretive by nature and all that.
I suppose this could lead to a bit of a class system online--those who know where to find all the interesting bits, and those who are just regular users. Moreso than usual, anyway.
Well, with the legislation in some areas mandating hands-free usage, sticking it on speakerphone on the dash provides not only a safety benefit (presumably) but also keeps your cancer rates down.;-P
It's the same yellow ink as anything else yellow, so if you're that concerned, print out a page with yellow on it and determine the properties thereof.
Or slap some whiteout over the dots, or scribble over 'em with a black marker. Or cut off that corner.
I know that they're said to have copied the concept of a GUI from apple (who, yes, stole it from PARC) but I didn't think Microsoft would follow the iBrick update also.
Slashdot Mirror
Going to be lots of complaints from the rural areas next week...assuming they can make it into town and find a phone, anyway.
I was speaking more in general terms--but I have to admit that co-op mode for things like Dynasty Warriors is a great deal of fun, and that there are times when I want to spend a few hours with Final Fantasy Tactics or something to get some quiet time.
;-þ
But yes, you do have a good point--but I would think that the numbers of games sold tend to show that most people prefer the social aspect.
You do find games like that from time to time (c.f. Assassin's Creed and the Crusades, a little bit) but for the most part, developers have difficulty striking a balance between "making a game that will sell" and "making a game that will educate."
Oregon Trail managed to turn the life of a pioneer into a resource management simulation fairly decently (and a hunting minigame, which was always ridiculous amounts of fun), and thus succeeded in a decent balance.
Wars are easy, really, because they lend themselves immediately to two genres that have been around forever--strategy and tactics, and FPS games.
Other parts of history tend to lend themselves to games as well, but unless they tie into an existing game type, it's unlikely they'll sell (with few exceptions).
Physics, though, doesn't often lend itself to games unless you're using the physics to, for instance, target something with a catapult or cannon. Beyond that, though, there's usually not a whole lot you can do in a game with it.
Other fields of study are somewhat difficult as well (though I have some small hopes for Cell raising interest in evolutionary biology). You can use the other areas for puzzles, for instance, but outside of RPG puzzles and minigames inside of other games, how are you going to use mathematics or literature to build a game on?
Mostly because most educational games are boring rubbish that put 'education' first--shove it in your face--and have the 'game' tacked on after.
I'm going to agree with you there.
Games have always been about competition, one way or another. Those games which are only single-player are, in a way, an aberration--sure, Final Fantasy games are wildly popular, but the people who buy 'em tend to like the 'interactive movie' aspect.
It's no real surprise that a game that offers extensive competition would outsell a game that, ultimately, requires you to sit alone for long periods of time. Beautiful graphics and engaging stories are a great thing, don't get me wrong--but unless there's a social aspect to it, it's going to be passed over for something that does allow interaction.
Witness the popularity of the Wii, for instance--a console that is, frankly, intended to be used in a multiplayer situation.
The games that you cite are, essentially, variants of genres which have been successful for centuries: Starcraft is, in the end, a board game much like chess--it requires tactical thinking, and there is a clear winner and loser at the end of the engagement; Halo is a variant of combat--a tamed down less lethal version, much like jousting or paintball.
People need the social aspect of games. They need to compete against each other. If you don't have some sort of socialization and competition in a game, it's not going to sell nearly as well as one that has those aspects.
Bit of a risk there, because you could trace it to 'em that way, potentially. That, and there might be a bit of lag going on. Helpful in terms up updating, though.
Still quite interesting, though. I wonder how many similar proxies there are out there....
That's absolutely brilliant....where'd they host the proxy? Same machine? Or did they host the proxy somewhere themselves?
Once you've got the router infected, you could use your new control over domains to inject other things to infect the machines, I suppose.
Or do it in reverse order, and get the machine first and the router after--so even if they fix their machine, on the next resynchronization they'd be hijacked again.
Do it via the usual means, then--the browser hijack, or the email trojan, or whatever else you'd want to use.
Perhaps there's a vulnerability in that particular platform that lends itself to spreading something in particular?
;-p
Or perhaps the author of the exploit wishes to spread things in a subtle manner, so as to delay discovery of their malware?
Or maybe someone's after you. Check your tinfoil hat.
Perhaps DNS settings should be shadowed or otherwise obfuscated...though how that would be done, I'm not quite sure.
Or simply put it in the terms of service and require such a "service" for their "ultra-safe internet connection"--and incidentally have authorization to do all manner of net neutrality violating things.
Put it in enough marketspeak, and you'd be all set.
Fascinating idea....and if you've got access to the computer to change the DNS anyway, you could add in an authorization for the false cert agency, too.
Do you have a newsletter? I'd subscribe to it.
With all due respect, there aren't that many different kinds of AV software out there, and only a relatively limited number of configurations possible. The changes to hosts.txt would be relatively small and would be easy to insert on a compromised computer--you could rehost all the common AV servers in hosts.txt with a relatively small worm payload, for instance--no version detection necessary.
I'd do it at the router level, myself. Lots of routers out there with easy or default passwords, and if you know the interface for that particular model/company, then changing the DNS settings would be easy as pie.
Get a lot of folks who have the money for a broadband connection that way--the folks with money and not much sense who are really ideal for identity theft.
After all, one must set your computer to use one of those servers.
I can think of a few possible ways to do this--a worm that modifies default-passworded routers, for instance, would be capable of modifying DNS entries at the router level--but is there an easy exploit to do so at the end-user's computer? Or a method of modifying the DNS via a browser window?
Darknets work well, also. WASTE is fairly popular, for instance, though finding the right network is sometimes a bit of a slow process--they're secretive by nature and all that.
I suppose this could lead to a bit of a class system online--those who know where to find all the interesting bits, and those who are just regular users. Moreso than usual, anyway.
Well, with the legislation in some areas mandating hands-free usage, sticking it on speakerphone on the dash provides not only a safety benefit (presumably) but also keeps your cancer rates down. ;-P
Could be useful in other ways, if you could incriminate someone else's printer by printing the right code...
It's the same yellow ink as anything else yellow, so if you're that concerned, print out a page with yellow on it and determine the properties thereof.
Or slap some whiteout over the dots, or scribble over 'em with a black marker. Or cut off that corner.
So to stay private, then, one should print sensitive documents on yellow paper?
So why didn't they catch this bug, then?
Or do they all have homogeneous hardware to test these things on?
Incorrect. If you paid attention, it was rolled out via the automatic update.
This is clearly a botch by Microsoft, not something "illegally downloaded".
I know that they're said to have copied the concept of a GUI from apple (who, yes, stole it from PARC) but I didn't think Microsoft would follow the iBrick update also.
Cheat Sheet, Short form:
Pick the answer that makes Microsoft look good.
That sound about right?