Minor issue, but I think the ship was damaged. A story yesterday said that, at one point during the flight, he heard a "crunch"
Depends on what you consider damage. I know people that consider a small ding "damage" to their car, while others don't care.
But yeh, something happened to SpaceShipOne that needs minor repair, which I would consider "damage," particularly when dealing with aircraft.
From what I understand, the result of the "crunch" or "bang" sound is believed to be a deformed panel, which wasn't life-threatening (as the panel was just for covering and not structural integrity).
My guess is, they'll just replace the thing with something stronger.
Umm, can you back that statement up? Or are you going along with your "-1,FLAIMBAIT,ROCK" sig?
I personally have no stability problems with XP. To me, MS finally got it right (a very good OS).
But I also recently made "the switch," though am no way near a zealot. My Powerbook has yet to give me any problems what-so-ever. In fact, for many reasons, my PowerBook has become my primary computer. I only boot into my Wintel PC for games or accessingthe 120+ GB of crap on the secondary partition.
OS X is a very stable OS, and is positively great! My only complaint is that it might be considered somewhat of a hog compared to XP (sometimes isn't as responsive cycle-for-cycle).
I think both os's are finally at a very nice place. They are both very stable and have some security.
But to diss OS X for being unstable is definately flaim.
Yeh, I thought the season finale was doing ok, and I was actually enjoying it (though not loving it). I see the sphere blow up and I'm like "Good, disaster averted, go back to exploration and diplomacy."
Instead, we get P-51 Mustangs and Alien Nazis. I was actually laughing because I said "Oh Boy" outloud before remembering that was the catch phrase from Quantum Leap.
Time Travel and Trek will always be tied together; meaning there will always be a time-travel episode every season or 2 of every series.
But to base the entire plot and premise of the series on a Temporal Cold War, and Sphere Builders that keep messing with the Time Line, that's just weak.
I think they best "captain" character has to be from Firefly.
- Bad guy won't deliver a message and instead threatens to kill you, then kick him into the ship's turbine.
- Pain in the ass crew member betrays the crew for money, lock him in the airlock while the ship is lifting off and open the outer doors. Let the sunovabitch suffocate.
He was moral, he would do the right thing, and sometimes LOOKED like a pansy. But he was a real badass underneath it all.
Now THAT's who I want saving my planet from a fancy looking Death Star.
I hate to say it, but in the GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, Microsoft might be right about the 10% figure.
Sure, when the PS2 first came out, I'm sure like 50% of the users bought it for that reason "hey, it can run my old games, and new games too!!!"
But the PS2 has been out for how long now? It's the oldest system out there that's still getting games developed for it. It's been around for-flipping-ever.
I personally doubt too many people now-a-days see the original PS games as much of anything to buy (ecept as stocking stuffers). And most probably don't give the compatibility a second though. This might balance out the early figures to something really low (maybe not 10%, but like 15% or 20%).
It all comes down to support. Do you make a conviluted system that can do new and advanced stuff while supporting something old or different? Or do you focus all of your efforts into making something that plays the new stuff well.
It's kind of (KIND OF) like what Apple did. They wiped the slate clean (or clean-ish) when they went with OS X. It was a new architecture, something entirely different. And while they support some OX Classic stuff, it's sort of a new thing all together.
Personally, I won't mind so much. Sure, it'll take up more room having the 2 systems, but I have a switch-box and plenty of inputs available.
I'd rather they try to get the XBOX 2 to be streamlined and run well then have it emulate the XBOX 1.
But seriously, the Linksys hardware isn't that expensive. While a slow PC would be more versatile and probably perform better, you're talking about losing some convenience.
A Small PC would: Be Louder Use More Electricity (cost more) Generate More Heat Take Up More Space Probably Be an Eye-Sore Harder to use / configure for the less tech savvy
Sure, if you're a geek and don't mind, then sure, go for it. But really, you can find a good Linksys Router / NAT for really cheap if you look in the sale ads. While it might not be as good, I think the convenience far outways the monetary costs and geek-factor.
Where did you get such a list? It's not that I doubt the info perse, I'd just never seen an official list.
But still, between manufacturing, packaging, and shipping, there's no way the gamecube costs less than $99. Wages and equipment upkeep factors into each of those scenarios.
I mean, parts might hover under 99, but everything else has to push it above that, or at least VERY close to it.
Then again, I've never seen hard facts to back that up.
Last I knew MS was selling the Xbox for little to no profit and were technically losing money on every machine sold
Ummm, you realize every console (Gamecube, PS2, etc) are sold at a loss (or like 1% profit). I mean, do you really think it only cost Nintendo $99 in parts, machine hours, and man hours to make, package, and ship that Gamecube to distributors, did you?
The stategy for consoles is sell the systems cheap, and sell the games for a nice markup (or require a nice % from a third party game). THAT's how they make money.
As for the price of the XBox 2...
I can forseeably see the XBox 2 (if it had dual CPU's) for 300, especially if they decide not to include the hard drive (which is the current rumor).
Word Perfect 5.1 was by far the best word processor I've ever used. I liked reading in fixed-width fonts, the color scheme was great, but most importantly it was a dream to use.
Sure, today's word processors look fancy, and offer more intuitive styling as well as presenting what the final product will looks like. But I was more productive with WP51 than any other word processor today.
I'm still kicking myself for losing those install disks. I'd love to still be using it today, but I'm too lazy (and law-abiding) to try to find it on the 'net. Also, I doubt it'll work with my inkjet.
Depending how far you go back, PIIIisn't that old.
Sure, it came out like 8 years ago, but it was the standard for a while. They were still churning those things out like 5 years ago.
And if I'm not mistaken, that's about when the G3 400 came out.
I'm a recent Mac convert (not a zealot), but I have to agree that x86 scales a little better. An older PC can run XP (provided it has enough RAM) better than an old Mac can run OS X. Then again, I think OS X is a better operating system than XP (though XP never game me any problems).
However, I don't have any experience with Linux on my Mac yet, so I can't comment on that.
I don't know if you mean "ads" or commecials, as you seem to be from Australia.
Since forever, we've always had "adds" before the trailers start. These ads are little more than slideshows showing some local store or restaurant. Then, there MIGHT be a movie-service related or something (like a moviefone or something). But those were it.
However, starting a year of so ago, they starting throwing full-blown commercials, most you'd get from TV. Like Levis jeans, Noxema skin lotion, Cable-access tv shows. Etc.
Again, you could be talking about the same exact thing existing in Australia (and "ads" being just a culture / language gap). But I'm guessing the 25+ year remark means you MIGHT just be talking about the ads or slideshows.
Yes, they can filter it out on the tower, but it's a pain. They have to find your wire and put a special splitter, but sometimes the technicianns forget or don't bother. The problem is, when they occassionally send guys out to see who's pirating the cable (non-payers with lines running to the house), they also check for the filters.
There was a news story about a year or 2 back about a guy that wanted Cable Internet, but not TV. The tech forgot to put in the filter, and said he'd be back in a few weeks to do it.
The guy wound up getting fined and brought to court for "stealing cable." It took MONTHS and a lot of lawyer fees to get it rectified.
I wish I still had the link to the story. But I reformatted my PC since then.
In any case, it's possible to filter it out. It just depends what kind of person your technician is that sets you up.
I agree. If I wanted a seperate unit, I'd go Tivo. It's just more convenient.
However, I bought a TV Tuner card, and Snapstream for my main Windows box.I split the coax and ran it to my desktop. It's great if I need to record something, and I can archive stuff to DVD if I really like it.
I've started to ween myself off Windows, and start using my Powerbook for most things. So I figured I might as well put my Windows PC to good use. I rarely play games anymore (other than Thief III), so it just seemed like to best solution.
All-in-all, it works great. And since my powerbook has a DVD burner, I can burn DVD's of the stuff I really like.
But there's no way in hell I'd spend the time or money on a seperate PC to just sit there and act like a Tivo.
I don't know about the US, but here in the UK, then if a court has found you guilty, then legally speaking you _are_ guilty, until and unless an higher court overturns that finding.
I am not a lawyer, but...
From watching almost every episode of Law and Order, I believe it is the same way here in the States.
I've never played the demo. I pre-ordered the PC version for in-store pickup and was playing the day after release. So I can't comment on how accurate the demo was. I don't know if the training for the pc is the same as the training for the demo.
As for linearity, the plot-based missions have to be done in a certain order, but that only makes sense, and I believe that's the way it was in the first 2. More and more of the story is unlocked in-game or via cutscenes the further along you go, and it has to do with what you've completed. Example: you can't go on a mission to find an OBJECT B until you learn about OBJECT B by finding OBJECT A in an earlier mission. But you can take a break and just roam around, or do side-quests.
There are side missions that you can take or leave. While most of them aren't as robust as the plot missions (some are pretty lame and short), there's enough there to take up some time and be interesting. Some ar emerely for profit, while others will increase your stature among the other factions. Stature missions are a MUST, as they make the ending game a lot easier.
The training mission was pretty weak, but in the full version training, you were never pigeon-holed into a particular path or doors locking behind you. The only times I've seen doors lock behind you is at the beginning of some of the plot-missions, so you can't leave THE ENTIRE MISSION until you finish the mission. In every other instance in my memory, the only locked doors are doors that don't go anywhere and unusable in general (just wall textures to make the place look bigger).
I beat the game. And in just about all of the plot missions, it's open-ended how you want to go about things (with a few exceptions). You can bypass 3 gaurds by going left, or take the long way and only have to sneak past 1 gaurd (and find more loot on the way); that kind of thing.
The "worst" missions in my opinion were the training, sunken-citadel, and keeper-library missions. In those 2 cases, the map was pretty narrow, so you were limited in how to get from point a to b, with few other points of interest. Be warned, those 2 missions sucked may-wise.
In most of the other missions, it's pretty open-ended how to get from point A to point B; St Edgars library is pretty confusing, Museum is very open-ended, a mansion later on is expansive if you go around and explore everything, and the Cradle was a pure work of art in its delivery.
The missions have a set of goals, and 2 of the missions say you must complete some of the goals in a certain order (annoying, but it's only 2 missions, and they have a reason for it). But in those cases, you're still free to access 99% of the map during this time.
It may not have been as great as Thief II, as I haven't played it in a few years and can't say for certain. But it was definately a fun play-through for me. In any case, the only things that suffered from the XBox dual-port was the performance and the map sizes.
I say it's worth a try. I'm no professional reviewer (as you can tell by reading this), but I thought it was good. However, I'm not easily won over by game hype, and think most of the stuff that comes out lately is cookie-cutter, boring, eye-candy. But Thief III held onto my interest from beginning to end, and I enjoyed it. I'll probably play through it again in a few months, which is more than I can say for my other games.
"It would appear that the developers behind DEII really didn't like the original Deus Ex. Hence the unified ammo, lack of skills, no depth, poor voice-acting, etc.
With such a rock-solid gameplan, what could go wrong ?!?"
Arrggghhh!!!
Don't mention that game, EVER!
As far as I'm concerned, there is no such game. Its existence should be stricken from all record books, and all copies melted into something more useful, like shoe horns or something.
DX:IW game was a DISGRACE to the original. They really sold out with that game. The general "universe" was the same, and some elements were there, but they took away a lot that made DX a great game, and turned it into a run-of-the-mill console shooter. I'm not talking about unified ammo, but "hacking into consoles" was gone, looking for keycodes was gone, A LOT was removed.
Thief III, on the other hand, was quite well done. IMHO, they followed the original formula quite nicely, and thus a good product was formed.
I think Zelda is by far the greatest commodity Nintendo has (ok, maybe Mario is greater, but it's just my opinion). They need to make sure they treat it with respect. I don't think they did that with Wind Waker.
My favorite Zelda game still has to be "A Link to the Past" on the SNES. The graphics were alright (for the SNES), but it was the gameplay that drew me in. The puzzles were good, the monsters were a little more bad-a$$ (except in dark world, where pumpkins and cucumbers roamed the earth). It was just an overall fun experience that a 7-year-old or a 20-year-old can enjoy.
Personally, I LOVE cel shading, so it wasn't the art that made me dislike "Wind Waker." I think cel shading is a better approach to some games; stop going for pure realism (because it's hard to do, and would sort of suck), and go for a cartoon look (like anime). Though "Robotech: Battle Cry" was a poor game, it was AWESOME to jump into action and have it act like the cartoon.
What I didn't like about Wind Waker was it just didn't feel like Zelda. You travelled via boat, and all of the enemies acted like they were in a kiddie cartoon. The game was alright, it just didn't appeal to me as much. Guys running-in-place in mid-air, kiddy enemies, talking boats, playing hide-and-seek, etc just didn't appeal to me.
In short, I hope they maintain the dignity that the Zelda franchise deserves. If they have kick-ass graphics, then good. But they better have a good story and great gameplay. Otherwise we may have to wait years (and console-generations) for another title. Until then, I remain skeptical.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I read the post as that he was donating an old Grap iMac to the school, and not buying a new machine. Are iMacs even available in "flavors" anymore?
In any case, using a Mac isn't rocket science. The "dock" is pretty self explanitory, and for complete newbies you can put shortcuts on the desktop to launch applications. For example, put a Safari shortcut on the desktop and label it "Internet," or a shortcut to iPhoto and call it "Picture Tools."
Maintaining a Mac isn't that bad. You can install updates in a similar manner as Windows (though they aren't as frequent). Likewise with antivirus software.
With windows (XP for example), some software won't run right (or at all) unless you have Power User or Administrative status (in which case, you're system is wide open to getting screwed). With a Mac, you can lock down write-access to everything but certain directories and the software should still run.
I'm torn. I'm only a recent convert, but not a zealot. I'd say, if he's jsut giving away his old iMac (or one he got for practically nothing), then power to him (or her). Mac OS X "just works."
But if the chruch is already used to PC's and has never used a Mac before, it'll just be a little harder to get used to.
Church's are used to getting donations, and are probably used to getting stuff they normally don't use. I'm sure most have learned to adapt, and an IT guy should be able to get the hang of OS X (even admin stuff) in a short time.
Well, I make sure to do that with all of my Windows boxes. While viruses aren't CURRENTLY a major threat to mac's, file deletions and random acts of God are (lightning, hard drive dying, etc).
I've recently switched to a Mac (15" Powerbook) as my main non-gaming machine. I Love it!
But what imaging (backup) software do you recommend? I haven't had much time to look into it recently.
Personally, I'm a little offended that Thief III was mentioned as a victim of the X-Box. It is still a darn good game despite being a dual-port.
Deus Ex: II sucked. It was HORRIBLE. Not only did it perform horribly, but the gameplay was scaled back A LOT. It didn't deserve the "Deus Ex" title; it was something else, something horribly WRONG. It DESERVES to be an example of dual-porting. But Thief III deserves more respect.
Performance: Thief III ran slow, but faster than Deus Ex II. This is coming from someone with a P4 2.4 w/ Radeon 9800XT. But it ran fast enough to enjoy it (Thief is usually a slowpaced game). However, that performance in a SHOOTER would suck (which Thief III is not).
Gameplay: The gameplay felt exactly like Thief I and II. Sneaking around, black jacking people, taking stuff, etc. It was great. The AI was "alright" (better than Deus Ex II, but could have been better). The funny conversations you overhear, the shadows (it was the first game I played where shadows actually MATTERED).
Complainst: Map sizes. As in Deus Ex II, the maps were shrunk to fit the XBox requirements. But they were complex enough that the size didn't bother you (you could still get "lost" if you weren't paying attention).
Conclusion: The game was fun, despite it's performance and map sizes.
Really? I love that flick. I'd rather see "Oscar" on that list (it was a bad mob satire).
Johnny Dangerously was funny. While I usually find those kind of comedies (where they don't even take themselves seriously) pretty stupid, that movie stands in my VHS collection.
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Minor issue, but I think the ship was damaged. A story yesterday said that, at one point during the flight, he heard a "crunch"
Depends on what you consider damage. I know people that consider a small ding "damage" to their car, while others don't care.
But yeh, something happened to SpaceShipOne that needs minor repair, which I would consider "damage," particularly when dealing with aircraft.
From what I understand, the result of the "crunch" or "bang" sound is believed to be a deformed panel, which wasn't life-threatening (as the panel was just for covering and not structural integrity).
My guess is, they'll just replace the thing with something stronger.
They must fly again within 2 weeks with the weight of 2 people
I believe it's that they must fly within 2 weeks with 3 people (1 pilot, 2 passengers).
Umm, can you back that statement up? Or are you going along with your "-1,FLAIMBAIT,ROCK" sig?
I personally have no stability problems with XP. To me, MS finally got it right (a very good OS).
But I also recently made "the switch," though am no way near a zealot. My Powerbook has yet to give me any problems what-so-ever. In fact, for many reasons, my PowerBook has become my primary computer. I only boot into my Wintel PC for games or accessingthe 120+ GB of crap on the secondary partition.
OS X is a very stable OS, and is positively great! My only complaint is that it might be considered somewhat of a hog compared to XP (sometimes isn't as responsive cycle-for-cycle).
I think both os's are finally at a very nice place. They are both very stable and have some security.
But to diss OS X for being unstable is definately flaim.
Yeh, I thought the season finale was doing ok, and I was actually enjoying it (though not loving it). I see the sphere blow up and I'm like "Good, disaster averted, go back to exploration and diplomacy."
Instead, we get P-51 Mustangs and Alien Nazis. I was actually laughing because I said "Oh Boy" outloud before remembering that was the catch phrase from Quantum Leap.
Time Travel and Trek will always be tied together; meaning there will always be a time-travel episode every season or 2 of every series.
But to base the entire plot and premise of the series on a Temporal Cold War, and Sphere Builders that keep messing with the Time Line, that's just weak.
I think they best "captain" character has to be from Firefly.
- Bad guy won't deliver a message and instead threatens to kill you, then kick him into the ship's turbine.
- Pain in the ass crew member betrays the crew for money, lock him in the airlock while the ship is lifting off and open the outer doors. Let the sunovabitch suffocate.
He was moral, he would do the right thing, and sometimes LOOKED like a pansy. But he was a real badass underneath it all.
Now THAT's who I want saving my planet from a fancy looking Death Star.
I hate to say it, but in the GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS, Microsoft might be right about the 10% figure.
Sure, when the PS2 first came out, I'm sure like 50% of the users bought it for that reason "hey, it can run my old games, and new games too!!!"
But the PS2 has been out for how long now? It's the oldest system out there that's still getting games developed for it. It's been around for-flipping-ever.
I personally doubt too many people now-a-days see the original PS games as much of anything to buy (ecept as stocking stuffers). And most probably don't give the compatibility a second though. This might balance out the early figures to something really low (maybe not 10%, but like 15% or 20%).
It all comes down to support. Do you make a conviluted system that can do new and advanced stuff while supporting something old or different? Or do you focus all of your efforts into making something that plays the new stuff well.
It's kind of (KIND OF) like what Apple did. They wiped the slate clean (or clean-ish) when they went with OS X. It was a new architecture, something entirely different. And while they support some OX Classic stuff, it's sort of a new thing all together.
Personally, I won't mind so much. Sure, it'll take up more room having the 2 systems, but I have a switch-box and plenty of inputs available.
I'd rather they try to get the XBOX 2 to be streamlined and run well then have it emulate the XBOX 1.
But seriously, the Linksys hardware isn't that expensive. While a slow PC would be more versatile and probably perform better, you're talking about losing some convenience.
A Small PC would:
Be Louder
Use More Electricity (cost more)
Generate More Heat
Take Up More Space
Probably Be an Eye-Sore
Harder to use / configure for the less tech savvy
Sure, if you're a geek and don't mind, then sure, go for it. But really, you can find a good Linksys Router / NAT for really cheap if you look in the sale ads. While it might not be as good, I think the convenience far outways the monetary costs and geek-factor.
Where did you get such a list? It's not that I doubt the info perse, I'd just never seen an official list.
But still, between manufacturing, packaging, and shipping, there's no way the gamecube costs less than $99. Wages and equipment upkeep factors into each of those scenarios.
I mean, parts might hover under 99, but everything else has to push it above that, or at least VERY close to it.
Then again, I've never seen hard facts to back that up.
Last I knew MS was selling the Xbox for little to no profit and were technically losing money on every machine sold
Ummm, you realize every console (Gamecube, PS2, etc) are sold at a loss (or like 1% profit). I mean, do you really think it only cost Nintendo $99 in parts, machine hours, and man hours to make, package, and ship that Gamecube to distributors, did you?
The stategy for consoles is sell the systems cheap, and sell the games for a nice markup (or require a nice % from a third party game). THAT's how they make money.
As for the price of the XBox 2...
I can forseeably see the XBox 2 (if it had dual CPU's) for 300, especially if they decide not to include the hard drive (which is the current rumor).
Word Perfect 5.1 was by far the best word processor I've ever used. I liked reading in fixed-width fonts, the color scheme was great, but most importantly it was a dream to use.
Sure, today's word processors look fancy, and offer more intuitive styling as well as presenting what the final product will looks like. But I was more productive with WP51 than any other word processor today.
I'm still kicking myself for losing those install disks. I'd love to still be using it today, but I'm too lazy (and law-abiding) to try to find it on the 'net. Also, I doubt it'll work with my inkjet.
Depending how far you go back, PIIIisn't that old.
Sure, it came out like 8 years ago, but it was the standard for a while. They were still churning those things out like 5 years ago.
And if I'm not mistaken, that's about when the G3 400 came out.
I'm a recent Mac convert (not a zealot), but I have to agree that x86 scales a little better. An older PC can run XP (provided it has enough RAM) better than an old Mac can run OS X. Then again, I think OS X is a better operating system than XP (though XP never game me any problems).
However, I don't have any experience with Linux on my Mac yet, so I can't comment on that.
Well, depending on what you define a "great" game (as there's so much sh!t out there now), I'd say Unreal 2004.
I'm a recent convert, but no zealot. I use my Wintel desktop for the occassional game or if I need to work on a Visual C++ app for work.
But I use my Powerbook for everything else, including Java development.
Games aren't top priority anymore for me. Sure, I'm addicted to "Thief III," but buyond that there's very little that appeals to me.
I don't know if you mean "ads" or commecials, as you seem to be from Australia.
Since forever, we've always had "adds" before the trailers start. These ads are little more than slideshows showing some local store or restaurant. Then, there MIGHT be a movie-service related or something (like a moviefone or something). But those were it.
However, starting a year of so ago, they starting throwing full-blown commercials, most you'd get from TV. Like Levis jeans, Noxema skin lotion, Cable-access tv shows. Etc.
Again, you could be talking about the same exact thing existing in Australia (and "ads" being just a culture / language gap). But I'm guessing the 25+ year remark means you MIGHT just be talking about the ads or slideshows.
Yes, they can filter it out on the tower, but it's a pain. They have to find your wire and put a special splitter, but sometimes the technicianns forget or don't bother. The problem is, when they occassionally send guys out to see who's pirating the cable (non-payers with lines running to the house), they also check for the filters.
There was a news story about a year or 2 back about a guy that wanted Cable Internet, but not TV. The tech forgot to put in the filter, and said he'd be back in a few weeks to do it.
The guy wound up getting fined and brought to court for "stealing cable." It took MONTHS and a lot of lawyer fees to get it rectified.
I wish I still had the link to the story. But I reformatted my PC since then.
In any case, it's possible to filter it out. It just depends what kind of person your technician is that sets you up.
I agree. If I wanted a seperate unit, I'd go Tivo. It's just more convenient.
However, I bought a TV Tuner card, and Snapstream for my main Windows box.I split the coax and ran it to my desktop. It's great if I need to record something, and I can archive stuff to DVD if I really like it.
I've started to ween myself off Windows, and start using my Powerbook for most things. So I figured I might as well put my Windows PC to good use. I rarely play games anymore (other than Thief III), so it just seemed like to best solution.
All-in-all, it works great. And since my powerbook has a DVD burner, I can burn DVD's of the stuff I really like.
But there's no way in hell I'd spend the time or money on a seperate PC to just sit there and act like a Tivo.
I don't know about the US, but here in the UK, then if a court has found you guilty, then legally speaking you _are_ guilty, until and unless an higher court overturns that finding.
I am not a lawyer, but...
From watching almost every episode of Law and Order, I believe it is the same way here in the States.
Looking back at the training mission, it was sort of linear. At most, there were only 2 choices to go, and the choice was obvious.
But later on, there is more variety, and with the exception of 2 maps, it's somewhat open-ended. At least, more open-ended than Splinter Cell
I've never played the demo. I pre-ordered the PC version for in-store pickup and was playing the day after release. So I can't comment on how accurate the demo was. I don't know if the training for the pc is the same as the training for the demo.
As for linearity, the plot-based missions have to be done in a certain order, but that only makes sense, and I believe that's the way it was in the first 2. More and more of the story is unlocked in-game or via cutscenes the further along you go, and it has to do with what you've completed. Example: you can't go on a mission to find an OBJECT B until you learn about OBJECT B by finding OBJECT A in an earlier mission. But you can take a break and just roam around, or do side-quests.
There are side missions that you can take or leave. While most of them aren't as robust as the plot missions (some are pretty lame and short), there's enough there to take up some time and be interesting. Some ar emerely for profit, while others will increase your stature among the other factions. Stature missions are a MUST, as they make the ending game a lot easier.
The training mission was pretty weak, but in the full version training, you were never pigeon-holed into a particular path or doors locking behind you. The only times I've seen doors lock behind you is at the beginning of some of the plot-missions, so you can't leave THE ENTIRE MISSION until you finish the mission. In every other instance in my memory, the only locked doors are doors that don't go anywhere and unusable in general (just wall textures to make the place look bigger).
I beat the game. And in just about all of the plot missions, it's open-ended how you want to go about things (with a few exceptions). You can bypass 3 gaurds by going left, or take the long way and only have to sneak past 1 gaurd (and find more loot on the way); that kind of thing.
The "worst" missions in my opinion were the training, sunken-citadel, and keeper-library missions. In those 2 cases, the map was pretty narrow, so you were limited in how to get from point a to b, with few other points of interest. Be warned, those 2 missions sucked may-wise.
In most of the other missions, it's pretty open-ended how to get from point A to point B; St Edgars library is pretty confusing, Museum is very open-ended, a mansion later on is expansive if you go around and explore everything, and the Cradle was a pure work of art in its delivery.
The missions have a set of goals, and 2 of the missions say you must complete some of the goals in a certain order (annoying, but it's only 2 missions, and they have a reason for it). But in those cases, you're still free to access 99% of the map during this time.
It may not have been as great as Thief II, as I haven't played it in a few years and can't say for certain. But it was definately a fun play-through for me. In any case, the only things that suffered from the XBox dual-port was the performance and the map sizes.
I say it's worth a try. I'm no professional reviewer (as you can tell by reading this), but I thought it was good. However, I'm not easily won over by game hype, and think most of the stuff that comes out lately is cookie-cutter, boring, eye-candy. But Thief III held onto my interest from beginning to end, and I enjoyed it. I'll probably play through it again in a few months, which is more than I can say for my other games.
Remember the SNES game whose title escapes me at the moment?
How could I forget, it's my absolute favorite game. I still try to play it from beginning to end once a year.
It was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
"It would appear that the developers behind DEII really didn't like the original Deus Ex. Hence the unified ammo, lack of skills, no depth, poor voice-acting, etc. With such a rock-solid gameplan, what could go wrong ?!?"
Arrggghhh!!!
Don't mention that game, EVER!
As far as I'm concerned, there is no such game. Its existence should be stricken from all record books, and all copies melted into something more useful, like shoe horns or something.
DX:IW game was a DISGRACE to the original. They really sold out with that game. The general "universe" was the same, and some elements were there, but they took away a lot that made DX a great game, and turned it into a run-of-the-mill console shooter. I'm not talking about unified ammo, but "hacking into consoles" was gone, looking for keycodes was gone, A LOT was removed.
Thief III, on the other hand, was quite well done. IMHO, they followed the original formula quite nicely, and thus a good product was formed.
I think Zelda is by far the greatest commodity Nintendo has (ok, maybe Mario is greater, but it's just my opinion). They need to make sure they treat it with respect. I don't think they did that with Wind Waker.
My favorite Zelda game still has to be "A Link to the Past" on the SNES. The graphics were alright (for the SNES), but it was the gameplay that drew me in. The puzzles were good, the monsters were a little more bad-a$$ (except in dark world, where pumpkins and cucumbers roamed the earth). It was just an overall fun experience that a 7-year-old or a 20-year-old can enjoy.
Personally, I LOVE cel shading, so it wasn't the art that made me dislike "Wind Waker." I think cel shading is a better approach to some games; stop going for pure realism (because it's hard to do, and would sort of suck), and go for a cartoon look (like anime). Though "Robotech: Battle Cry" was a poor game, it was AWESOME to jump into action and have it act like the cartoon.
What I didn't like about Wind Waker was it just didn't feel like Zelda. You travelled via boat, and all of the enemies acted like they were in a kiddie cartoon. The game was alright, it just didn't appeal to me as much. Guys running-in-place in mid-air, kiddy enemies, talking boats, playing hide-and-seek, etc just didn't appeal to me.
In short, I hope they maintain the dignity that the Zelda franchise deserves. If they have kick-ass graphics, then good. But they better have a good story and great gameplay. Otherwise we may have to wait years (and console-generations) for another title. Until then, I remain skeptical.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I read the post as that he was donating an old Grap iMac to the school, and not buying a new machine. Are iMacs even available in "flavors" anymore?
In any case, using a Mac isn't rocket science. The "dock" is pretty self explanitory, and for complete newbies you can put shortcuts on the desktop to launch applications. For example, put a Safari shortcut on the desktop and label it "Internet," or a shortcut to iPhoto and call it "Picture Tools."
Maintaining a Mac isn't that bad. You can install updates in a similar manner as Windows (though they aren't as frequent). Likewise with antivirus software.
With windows (XP for example), some software won't run right (or at all) unless you have Power User or Administrative status (in which case, you're system is wide open to getting screwed). With a Mac, you can lock down write-access to everything but certain directories and the software should still run.
I'm torn. I'm only a recent convert, but not a zealot. I'd say, if he's jsut giving away his old iMac (or one he got for practically nothing), then power to him (or her). Mac OS X "just works."
But if the chruch is already used to PC's and has never used a Mac before, it'll just be a little harder to get used to.
Church's are used to getting donations, and are probably used to getting stuff they normally don't use. I'm sure most have learned to adapt, and an IT guy should be able to get the hang of OS X (even admin stuff) in a short time.
Well, I make sure to do that with all of my Windows boxes. While viruses aren't CURRENTLY a major threat to mac's, file deletions and random acts of God are (lightning, hard drive dying, etc).
I've recently switched to a Mac (15" Powerbook) as my main non-gaming machine. I Love it!
But what imaging (backup) software do you recommend? I haven't had much time to look into it recently.
Personally, I'm a little offended that Thief III was mentioned as a victim of the X-Box. It is still a darn good game despite being a dual-port.
Deus Ex: II sucked. It was HORRIBLE. Not only did it perform horribly, but the gameplay was scaled back A LOT. It didn't deserve the "Deus Ex" title; it was something else, something horribly WRONG. It DESERVES to be an example of dual-porting. But Thief III deserves more respect.
Performance:
Thief III ran slow, but faster than Deus Ex II. This is coming from someone with a P4 2.4 w/ Radeon 9800XT. But it ran fast enough to enjoy it (Thief is usually a slowpaced game). However, that performance in a SHOOTER would suck (which Thief III is not).
Gameplay:
The gameplay felt exactly like Thief I and II. Sneaking around, black jacking people, taking stuff, etc. It was great. The AI was "alright" (better than Deus Ex II, but could have been better). The funny conversations you overhear, the shadows (it was the first game I played where shadows actually MATTERED).
Complainst:
Map sizes. As in Deus Ex II, the maps were shrunk to fit the XBox requirements. But they were complex enough that the size didn't bother you (you could still get "lost" if you weren't paying attention).
Conclusion:
The game was fun, despite it's performance and map sizes.
"Johnny Dangerously"
Really? I love that flick. I'd rather see "Oscar" on that list (it was a bad mob satire).
Johnny Dangerously was funny. While I usually find those kind of comedies (where they don't even take themselves seriously) pretty stupid, that movie stands in my VHS collection.