the trailer clearly portrays robots as a threat - the main character is seen as the accuser while main society accepts them as harmless appliances.
this contradicts asimov's original motivation for writing many of his robot stories (in particular, "robbie" the first story he wrote about robots in which a robot saves a child's life), which was to counter works like frankenstein that portrayed robots as being, at worst, inherently hostile to their creators or, at best, incompetent.
but i don't blame will smith - minority actors are rarely given jobs (the majority of screenwriters (who are white), when interviewed, admitted not knowing how to write for non-white characters). i do blame the producers - the same kind of fucktards that ruined bicentennial man (another asimov work), and ai.
it's called AiY +/-OAa (jaeng ban keuk jang) or "metal cooking pot lid theater". celebrities grouped into two teams have to act out famous scenes from korean movies or tv series. if a team messes up at any point (script or action) a metal cooking pot lid (large but light) is dropped onto each team members head and the other team gets to try. one of the funny aspects of the acting is that it never recreates the scene exactly - they put a comic (and sanitized) spin to it every time. for example, in typical korean-protestant style, romance scenes involving kissing are reenacted using a balloon or a smiley face on a plate.
there's also a karoake version called AiY eae (jaeng ban norae bang) or "metal cooking pot lid karaoke". yeah, same idea except you only have one team and limited number of tries. and in typical korean teamwork style if one person messes everyone gets the jaeng ban! such a fun show...
How is it that this game got the same ESRB rating as Manhunt? They both get an M rating for mature though the comments may be different. But anyone who's played Deus Ex (the original or the sequel) can tell you it involves little violence. The only thing "mature" about it is the complex plot and gameplay. Look at this story for some perspective on how the ESRB needs to redefine its ratings.
Also note this statement from the article linked in the story above:
"Game ratings are decided upon in a subjective process that leans heavily on the honor system. Publishers submit footage of what they consider to be the extreme elements of their game. That footage is then viewed by three individuals, who submit a recommended rating. If there is a consensus, the rating stands. If not, more people are brought in to view the elements."
i submitted that story weeks ago...
the text of the story was so similar i seriously thought it was mine.
but i guess securitas had more links than i did.
anyhow, ironport is not doing anything illegal according to any federal or state laws i'm aware of. as for ethics? it's a corporation, come on. remember when bertelsmann was suing napster which it had just purchased? or when fox news tried to sue the simpsons? or the krupp family selling weapons to every power in europe before and during ww1?
better yet look at our own federal government - "checks and balances" seems to have gotten a little out of hand.
the larger an entity the more likely you'll have conflicts of interest and in our world business and government entities are only getting larger, not smaller.
those are two good examples. deus ex was a complex game and the devs took out that complexity (in mostly superficial ways, but still significant) for the sequel. the fans were enraged but ion storm at least responded. so they're walking a fine line (actually more like dancing back and forth on it). being a fan myself i want them to patch the pc version but if those changes were included in the initial release it might have cost them sales in the console market and ultimately displeased eidos, their publisher. it's a hard choice.
but at least they're dancing on that line. valve and steam are not, as a previous post pointed out. but that can be a problem. a while back valve released an update that inadvertently prevented people from playing half-life games in direct3d. the result was a firestorm of fan complaints that only got worse as valve released patch after patch (once a week actually) that added features like shadows under players or tweaks to weapons' strength in cs without even admitting the d3d problem much less fixing it or even announcing that they were fixing it or removing the broken feature that caused the mess in the first place. their priorities in updating the game are obviously insensitive to the needs of the users, and that kind of attitude is dangerous - even for a company as big as valve.
dance the line - the game that dances the best wins the prize.
Definitely Deus Ex. I've played the original over and over again. It's an fps with a strong plot, rpg elements, and variable gameplay. If she liked Myst she'll like Deus Ex's puzzles/encounters which allow you to solve or navigate them in nearly infinite ways. It was released for PC and later ported to PS2 though I can't speak for the console version. Also Deus Ex: Invisible, the sequel, is coming out this month.
For a little more linear game experience with more FPS combat try American McGee's Alice. It's a very polished game.
For more RPG try Morrowind. It has great replay value, decent plot, and it's for PC or XBox. But don't forget to get the patches - the initial release was full of bugs.
The Medal of Honor series (for pc or console) and Call of Duty are excellent FPS games with great "feel" that makes people next to you want to watch you play. You and your wife can alternate playing and watching. Other games with a good feel or theme include the Lord of the Rings game (Two Towers I think) and Homeworld. Lots of good options. And congratulations on finding a gaming woman!
This was already suggested but damn if it ain't the best couple game out there!
I've never tried those services but I do know that PennyArcade recommends it (scroll a little down to read Gabe's post about it). Considering how many games they play and how they like to complain about shitty service it must be a testament to Gamefly's reliability that they haven't bashed it yet.
I played through the demo once using my typical play style: mix of stealth and well-placed explosives. And it was okay.
Today I went back to the demo and played for crazy kills. Walked up to guard and just started knifing him. Amazingly enough I killed him and he only fired one or two rounds - right as I knifed him for the 7th or 8th time. Weird. So I pick up his flamethrower and attack all the guards. Guess what? They all burned to death and I beat the demo without a scratch. WTF? That "unified ammo" system let me expend half and flame half a dozen guards with no trouble. This can't be right.
http://www.petitiononline.com/DXIWDemo/petition.ht ml
There's a good chance I'm wrong, but is the competition hosted by Koreans? 'Cause I'm a Korean myself (born in Austin) and I know that it takes a Korean to make that many English typos in a website.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyhow, that's how I explain the "majority" that support(ed/s) our egregious actions overseas.
this contradicts asimov's original motivation for writing many of his robot stories (in particular, "robbie" the first story he wrote about robots in which a robot saves a child's life), which was to counter works like frankenstein that portrayed robots as being, at worst, inherently hostile to their creators or, at best, incompetent.
but i don't blame will smith - minority actors are rarely given jobs (the majority of screenwriters (who are white), when interviewed, admitted not knowing how to write for non-white characters). i do blame the producers - the same kind of fucktards that ruined bicentennial man (another asimov work), and ai.
it's called AiY +/-OAa (jaeng ban keuk jang) or "metal cooking pot lid theater". celebrities grouped into two teams have to act out famous scenes from korean movies or tv series. if a team messes up at any point (script or action) a metal cooking pot lid (large but light) is dropped onto each team members head and the other team gets to try. one of the funny aspects of the acting is that it never recreates the scene exactly - they put a comic (and sanitized) spin to it every time. for example, in typical korean-protestant style, romance scenes involving kissing are reenacted using a balloon or a smiley face on a plate. there's also a karoake version called AiY eae (jaeng ban norae bang) or "metal cooking pot lid karaoke". yeah, same idea except you only have one team and limited number of tries. and in typical korean teamwork style if one person messes everyone gets the jaeng ban! such a fun show...
How is it that this game got the same ESRB rating as Manhunt? They both get an M rating for mature though the comments may be different. But anyone who's played Deus Ex (the original or the sequel) can tell you it involves little violence. The only thing "mature" about it is the complex plot and gameplay. Look at this story for some perspective on how the ESRB needs to redefine its ratings.
Also note this statement from the article linked in the story above:
Here's another article.
Looks like PA can make fun of GameSpy and IGN at the same time now.
i submitted that story weeks ago... the text of the story was so similar i seriously thought it was mine. but i guess securitas had more links than i did.
anyhow, ironport is not doing anything illegal according to any federal or state laws i'm aware of. as for ethics? it's a corporation, come on. remember when bertelsmann was suing napster which it had just purchased? or when fox news tried to sue the simpsons? or the krupp family selling weapons to every power in europe before and during ww1?
better yet look at our own federal government - "checks and balances" seems to have gotten a little out of hand.
the larger an entity the more likely you'll have conflicts of interest and in our world business and government entities are only getting larger, not smaller.
those are two good examples. deus ex was a complex game and the devs took out that complexity (in mostly superficial ways, but still significant) for the sequel. the fans were enraged but ion storm at least responded. so they're walking a fine line (actually more like dancing back and forth on it). being a fan myself i want them to patch the pc version but if those changes were included in the initial release it might have cost them sales in the console market and ultimately displeased eidos, their publisher. it's a hard choice.
but at least they're dancing on that line. valve and steam are not, as a previous post pointed out. but that can be a problem. a while back valve released an update that inadvertently prevented people from playing half-life games in direct3d. the result was a firestorm of fan complaints that only got worse as valve released patch after patch (once a week actually) that added features like shadows under players or tweaks to weapons' strength in cs without even admitting the d3d problem much less fixing it or even announcing that they were fixing it or removing the broken feature that caused the mess in the first place. their priorities in updating the game are obviously insensitive to the needs of the users, and that kind of attitude is dangerous - even for a company as big as valve.
dance the line - the game that dances the best wins the prize.
Definitely Deus Ex. I've played the original over and over again. It's an fps with a strong plot, rpg elements, and variable gameplay. If she liked Myst she'll like Deus Ex's puzzles/encounters which allow you to solve or navigate them in nearly infinite ways. It was released for PC and later ported to PS2 though I can't speak for the console version. Also Deus Ex: Invisible, the sequel, is coming out this month. For a little more linear game experience with more FPS combat try American McGee's Alice. It's a very polished game. For more RPG try Morrowind. It has great replay value, decent plot, and it's for PC or XBox. But don't forget to get the patches - the initial release was full of bugs. The Medal of Honor series (for pc or console) and Call of Duty are excellent FPS games with great "feel" that makes people next to you want to watch you play. You and your wife can alternate playing and watching. Other games with a good feel or theme include the Lord of the Rings game (Two Towers I think) and Homeworld. Lots of good options. And congratulations on finding a gaming woman! This was already suggested but damn if it ain't the best couple game out there!
I've never tried those services but I do know that PennyArcade recommends it (scroll a little down to read Gabe's post about it). Considering how many games they play and how they like to complain about shitty service it must be a testament to Gamefly's reliability that they haven't bashed it yet.
I played through the demo once using my typical play style: mix of stealth and well-placed explosives. And it was okay. Today I went back to the demo and played for crazy kills. Walked up to guard and just started knifing him. Amazingly enough I killed him and he only fired one or two rounds - right as I knifed him for the 7th or 8th time. Weird. So I pick up his flamethrower and attack all the guards. Guess what? They all burned to death and I beat the demo without a scratch. WTF? That "unified ammo" system let me expend half and flame half a dozen guards with no trouble. This can't be right. http://www.petitiononline.com/DXIWDemo/petition.ht ml
There's a good chance I'm wrong, but is the competition hosted by Koreans? 'Cause I'm a Korean myself (born in Austin) and I know that it takes a Korean to make that many English typos in a website.