They should release the full story line on some web page (either in text form, unfinished cinematic scenes, etc). It's like deleted scenes in a movie that actually do add to the movie (ex: Superman Returns special edition dvd), you can enjoy them and have a richer experience if you want it. However, the cut-story should still be made to stand on its own.
MAD (mutually assured destruction) only works with rational people. While Stalin may have been evil, he wasn't an idiot. He knew as well as the US did that any nuclear attack would surely result in both of their country's downfalls.
However, irrational muslim extremists may not feel the same way. If they truly believe that "Allah" is backing them, then nuking Washington D.C. will be followed by some hand from the sky that will block any and all retallitory nuclear attacks on the middle east. MAD will not happen, or so their Imams will assure them...
Everyone always loves to say how the Big Oil guys keep getting richer by denying global warming, etc. Now, I know *someone* is making millions off of environmental activism. Anyone know which companies or which people? It'd just be interesting to see...
Didn't Dreamcast sell very well at first too? We need to reserve judgement on all 3 consoles for at least a year (maybe more, or maybe less for the 360) before seeing who the winners/losers are.
As of now, "every system Nintendo or Sony makes is sold immediately!" This obviously won't last, and we'll see who eventually comes out on top...
I didn't see the script for this, but I dount the new RotN would have been good anyway.
The original flick was a great film about "nerd persecution" in the 1980s. Back then, being a "nerd" was something that was truly dreaded. Not like today's "cool nerd" or "geek chic" like Weezer or Marc Cuban. Seriously, go watch the original movie, an substitute "nerd" for "black" or any other group. They were persecuted, driven out of their homes, had basically a direct-allusion to a burning cross outside their house (a burning "Nerds" sign), rocks thrown in their windows ("Nerds Get Out"), etc.
The 2nd movie was "ok" and the 3rd and 4th were awful. But all three of those were simply comedies, not in the same manner as the first one, which was a funny comedy, but subtly wrapped in a deeper social message. No, I'm not saying RotN was some amazingly socially insightful movie. But that doesn't mean that it didn't have some surprising amount of depth to it either...
Read Roving Mars, by Steve Squyres, the Rover. You'll see how these were NOT "overengineered" and were NOT "easy" to do. A thousand things had to go right (after another thousand went wrong) to build and send those things the way they did it. It was passion, and a bit of luck that they succeeded. But a "conspiracy" (which is essentially what you're alluding to) it was not. As someone above said, it may very-well be their greatest success since Apollo 11.
As a medical student, I can tell you that sites like WedMD and the like are both a blessing and a curse. It is very good to have an informed patient. When they come in with some idea of their ailment, it can help both of you. When you have gone hiking in the woods in New England, suspect you have a tick bite, and look up a picture of the (very distinct) Lyme Disease "Bulls-eye" rash and find that it is exactly the one you have, it can help you and your doctor.
However, sites like WebMD are horrible for patients with less knowledge. I always get people coming in, thinking they have horrible diseases like Lupus or Scleroderma because they types in "rash," "female" and "headache."
And patients often (very understandably) do not understand side effects of medications. They may refuse a drug that they definately need, because they typed it into google, and see a list of half a dozen side effects. These sites rarely explain that it is 1 in 100,000 that get these, or perhaps it is a single-reported case of side effect X, but they will fear that giving this anti-depressant to their daughter (for example) will make her commit suicide. Being informed of the risks is definately a good thing. They won't take the meds, they'll come back 3 months later and take it, and they get cured without a problem (and w/o side effects that weren't gonna happen anyway). Not getting the whole story makes life a lot harder for the patient. And I've seen it so much.
Personally, I agree with the argument for getting "Abandonware" for free being that there are no longer many legal ways to pay for those games; when companies like Nintendo and Gametap start making legal ways to gain access to their old libraries it is not reasonable to continue to steal those games.
Exactly. True, you still can make an argument for being able to download Big Top or some old PC game, but there really is no way around defending ROM sharing now that they're affordably available and easily available (on, after all, a console, which is ALWAYS better than a ROM with a USB gamepad sitting in a deskchair 2 feet from the screen).
And, BTW, they decided *not* to include Gamecube's Super Smash Bros Melee, one of the highest-rated (and one of the first-released) games for the system, that came out very shortly after launch.
The Nintendo 64 launched in North America with only two games: Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. The choices were to exclude the N64 entirely, include it with only two games, or include more games. We opted to include the games released through the beginning of December 1996. The next game after that, Mario Kart 64, was released in February 1997.
There is a huge difference between "launch" and "launch window," but they want you to forget that in hindsight, figuring 3 months is no big deal when you look at it 10 years later. The N64 was released on September 29, 1996 in North America with 2 games. That's it. Was it a poor amount of launch games? Perhaps. But it doesn't change the fact that it was launched with these 2 games, one of which is ALWAYS in the top 10 games of all-time list (and very often #1 or at least top 3). The Wii launches in a few weeks, and I'm curious how the LAUNCH games are. I have no concern how the games will be in February 2007.
That answers "which console could you buy when it was launched, sit at home for three months, buy more games, and then with the console and these now-released games, have fun?" rather than "One day 1, which system could you buy and go home to have the most entertaining time?"
Doing a launch window comaprison is a valid article, but it's a different article. True, including games 3 months into the N64's life might have saved that nice little Excel chart showing that most consoles launch with games scoring 75% +/-5%, but it conveys FALSELY that most launch games are "meh" games.
Actually, the hardware design calls for around 3 months. They rovers nearly died out a few months in, but a freak windstorm actually HELPED them by "cleaning" off the solar panels. THis was unexpected and not anticipated.
This is one of those things for people with entirely too much time on their hands, and way too much disposable income
I don't think paying $15 a month is insane. Perhaps the 6 million World of Warcraft people have too much time on their hands, true. But spending the $15 a month doesn't mean they have too much disposable income. Hell, $15 is practically ONE less movie a month (at least here in New York City).
he original estimates on their lifetime were wildly pessimistic though. Basically, the JPL wants more stories of how they "exceeded design specifications 20 times over!" instead of "big failure of a robot fails early, losers!"
Yeah, I've heard this explanation from you people who "really" know the story. Anyone else sick of these monday-morning quarterbacks? After Pathfinder lasted months instead of 30 days, they accused them of "knowing it'd last more than 30 days anyway." What, now you're gonna claim they KNEW it'd last 2.5 years?
Granted, if they lasted 98 days, and tried to sell that as "wildly exceeding expectations!" or played with the numbers like "Almost 10% more time than we thought!" then you'd have something. But sometimes, a cigar is a cigar: this is an AMAZING accomplishment, and 90 days to have a remote control rover working millions of miles away is NOT a pessimistic estimate, especially since that's around how long Pathfinder lasted...
Actually, NASA has failed as much as everyone else.
The USA is 5-for-6 in successfully landing it's landers (only failure was the Mars Polar Lander). Viking 1, 2, Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity all were successes (and wonderful successes at that).
My favourite (not stupid) take off of computer security is in Demolition Man where W/Snipes uses the guys plucked eyeball to get access out of the building.;) very choice. (NP: This wouldn't work in real life (well shouldn't;) ))
Considering your eyeball is mostly a glorified waterbag, and with Snipes having a scalpel through it, I doubt it'd work:)
Many games have zero resale value. True, a GTA game or a Mario game will always have some value, but buyers know that the Madden '0X game they buy has ZERO resale value after a year. There isn't an EB/Gamestop in the country that'd give you more than 40 cents for a perfect copy of Madden 2003...
I spent a summer in Cuba as part of a medical student exchange program dealy, and let me tell you... the people there do NOT have a "great quality of life" like you so boldly claim. The Cuba that Leonardo Dicaprio sees on his trip is nothing like the real cuba. They simply cannot wait for Fidel to die. You are a moron and you seem to be one of those "America is teh evil!1!1!" idiots...
What kind of financial state are Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess Cliffe in today, after making the most popular internet game of all time? I'm all for Vavle making millions from CS, but I hope these guys got a %, instead of an up-front $10,000 purchase and that was it.
I actually hate the names "Luna" and "Sol." I prefer Sun (capital) and Moon (capital), which are distinct from "The moons of Mars" and "The Vega system's sun is a class 3 star."
Slashdot Mirror
They should release the full story line on some web page (either in text form, unfinished cinematic scenes, etc). It's like deleted scenes in a movie that actually do add to the movie (ex: Superman Returns special edition dvd), you can enjoy them and have a richer experience if you want it. However, the cut-story should still be made to stand on its own.
However, irrational muslim extremists may not feel the same way. If they truly believe that "Allah" is backing them, then nuking Washington D.C. will be followed by some hand from the sky that will block any and all retallitory nuclear attacks on the middle east. MAD will not happen, or so their Imams will assure them...
Everyone always loves to say how the Big Oil guys keep getting richer by denying global warming, etc. Now, I know *someone* is making millions off of environmental activism. Anyone know which companies or which people? It'd just be interesting to see...
As of now, "every system Nintendo or Sony makes is sold immediately!" This obviously won't last, and we'll see who eventually comes out on top...
The original flick was a great film about "nerd persecution" in the 1980s. Back then, being a "nerd" was something that was truly dreaded. Not like today's "cool nerd" or "geek chic" like Weezer or Marc Cuban. Seriously, go watch the original movie, an substitute "nerd" for "black" or any other group. They were persecuted, driven out of their homes, had basically a direct-allusion to a burning cross outside their house (a burning "Nerds" sign), rocks thrown in their windows ("Nerds Get Out"), etc.
The 2nd movie was "ok" and the 3rd and 4th were awful. But all three of those were simply comedies, not in the same manner as the first one, which was a funny comedy, but subtly wrapped in a deeper social message. No, I'm not saying RotN was some amazingly socially insightful movie. But that doesn't mean that it didn't have some surprising amount of depth to it either...
Read Roving Mars, by Steve Squyres, the Rover. You'll see how these were NOT "overengineered" and were NOT "easy" to do. A thousand things had to go right (after another thousand went wrong) to build and send those things the way they did it. It was passion, and a bit of luck that they succeeded. But a "conspiracy" (which is essentially what you're alluding to) it was not. As someone above said, it may very-well be their greatest success since Apollo 11.
However, sites like WebMD are horrible for patients with less knowledge. I always get people coming in, thinking they have horrible diseases like Lupus or Scleroderma because they types in "rash," "female" and "headache."
And patients often (very understandably) do not understand side effects of medications. They may refuse a drug that they definately need, because they typed it into google, and see a list of half a dozen side effects. These sites rarely explain that it is 1 in 100,000 that get these, or perhaps it is a single-reported case of side effect X, but they will fear that giving this anti-depressant to their daughter (for example) will make her commit suicide. Being informed of the risks is definately a good thing. They won't take the meds, they'll come back 3 months later and take it, and they get cured without a problem (and w/o side effects that weren't gonna happen anyway). Not getting the whole story makes life a lot harder for the patient. And I've seen it so much.
i had no mod points, but wanted you to see a kudos...
Exactly. True, you still can make an argument for being able to download Big Top or some old PC game, but there really is no way around defending ROM sharing now that they're affordably available and easily available (on, after all, a console, which is ALWAYS better than a ROM with a USB gamepad sitting in a deskchair 2 feet from the screen).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=21W_Bct4XPI
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uqlg7VlUI2Q
And, BTW, they decided *not* to include Gamecube's Super Smash Bros Melee, one of the highest-rated (and one of the first-released) games for the system, that came out very shortly after launch.
The Nintendo 64 launched in North America with only two games: Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64. The choices were to exclude the N64 entirely, include it with only two games, or include more games. We opted to include the games released through the beginning of December 1996. The next game after that, Mario Kart 64, was released in February 1997.
There is a huge difference between "launch" and "launch window," but they want you to forget that in hindsight, figuring 3 months is no big deal when you look at it 10 years later. The N64 was released on September 29, 1996 in North America with 2 games. That's it. Was it a poor amount of launch games? Perhaps. But it doesn't change the fact that it was launched with these 2 games, one of which is ALWAYS in the top 10 games of all-time list (and very often #1 or at least top 3). The Wii launches in a few weeks, and I'm curious how the LAUNCH games are. I have no concern how the games will be in February 2007.
That answers "which console could you buy when it was launched, sit at home for three months, buy more games, and then with the console and these now-released games, have fun?" rather than "One day 1, which system could you buy and go home to have the most entertaining time?"
Doing a launch window comaprison is a valid article, but it's a different article. True, including games 3 months into the N64's life might have saved that nice little Excel chart showing that most consoles launch with games scoring 75% +/-5%, but it conveys FALSELY that most launch games are "meh" games.
Actually, the hardware design calls for around 3 months. They rovers nearly died out a few months in, but a freak windstorm actually HELPED them by "cleaning" off the solar panels. THis was unexpected and not anticipated.
I don't think paying $15 a month is insane. Perhaps the 6 million World of Warcraft people have too much time on their hands, true. But spending the $15 a month doesn't mean they have too much disposable income. Hell, $15 is practically ONE less movie a month (at least here in New York City).
Yeah, I've heard this explanation from you people who "really" know the story. Anyone else sick of these monday-morning quarterbacks? After Pathfinder lasted months instead of 30 days, they accused them of "knowing it'd last more than 30 days anyway." What, now you're gonna claim they KNEW it'd last 2.5 years?
Granted, if they lasted 98 days, and tried to sell that as "wildly exceeding expectations!" or played with the numbers like "Almost 10% more time than we thought!" then you'd have something. But sometimes, a cigar is a cigar: this is an AMAZING accomplishment, and 90 days to have a remote control rover working millions of miles away is NOT a pessimistic estimate, especially since that's around how long Pathfinder lasted...
The USA is 5-for-6 in successfully landing it's landers (only failure was the Mars Polar Lander). Viking 1, 2, Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity all were successes (and wonderful successes at that).
USSR had zero landers successfully make it.
The ESA is 0-for-1 in landers.
I need my RE-Wii!!!
Considering your eyeball is mostly a glorified waterbag, and with Snipes having a scalpel through it, I doubt it'd work :)
Many games have zero resale value. True, a GTA game or a Mario game will always have some value, but buyers know that the Madden '0X game they buy has ZERO resale value after a year. There isn't an EB/Gamestop in the country that'd give you more than 40 cents for a perfect copy of Madden 2003...
just out of curiosity... why did you do that?
I spent a summer in Cuba as part of a medical student exchange program dealy, and let me tell you... the people there do NOT have a "great quality of life" like you so boldly claim. The Cuba that Leonardo Dicaprio sees on his trip is nothing like the real cuba. They simply cannot wait for Fidel to die. You are a moron and you seem to be one of those "America is teh evil!1!1!" idiots...
Well, the retro GBA games from the NES era sold millions, for $19.99 each. So I think that yeah... people will pay to play...
Anyone know?
I actually hate the names "Luna" and "Sol." I prefer Sun (capital) and Moon (capital), which are distinct from "The moons of Mars" and "The Vega system's sun is a class 3 star."
Mono = One
Rail = Rail