Maybe it's time the OSS community started holding quartly Pro-Linux events. Ones where we run over boxes of Microsoft software with a steamroller driven by a penguin who's handing out free Linux/OSS CDs. Or maybe David Letterman will drop blocks of cement from a building on Microsoft CDs below...
I'm confused. How is this constructive in any way? And how does it deal with Microsoft's billions in cash reserves?
I look forward to the day that Microsoft operating systems will be unnecessary, but this suggestion doesn't seem to bring it any closer to happening.
And yes, I do realize that it's meant as a joke. Unfortunately, comments like this make supporters of Microsoft alternatives look extremely childish and unprofessional.
You're right, to a point. It definitely isn't much fun to get stuck in a game and never progress. However, when something like that happens to me (which is very, very rarely. Most 'puzzles' in video games are so transparent that a 5-year-old with ADD could see through them), I take the same approach I do with other things -- step back, put the game down, come back to it another day. Repeat as necessary. Never spend frustrating amounts of time at it if you're not making any progress. Hell, this can even extend the longevity of some games. (It took me over 4 years of off-and-on playing to figure out a puzzle in Tetrisphere)
Games, like any other problem-solving endeavour, can sometimes be beaten just by approaching it with a different frame of mind.
That's the problem I have with strategy guides. I get no satisfaction 'solving' a tough problem if I didn't actually solve it myself. I can't imagine why people willingly (or even pay to) cheat themselves out of the satisfaction of overcoming an obstacle by using FAQs or strategy guides. I think in many cases it's indicative of a deeper societal problem of instant gratification being the highest goal for most people, but I'll save that rant for another thread.
The down side is that with 10 employees working 40-hour weeks, you have 10 people with decent jobs that might be able to support themselves. They should also get some level of benefits, since they're working full-time.
However, with 20 people half-time, you have 20 shitty jobs that can't support anyone, forcing most of those employees to get second jobs. And if they ever have to take a trip to the doctor/hospital, it's probably going to come out of *your* pocket (indirectly, obviously), because they won't be able to pay for it and won't have insurance to cover it. Those 20 people will also probably have the attitude that "it's just a shitty job, they can get rid of me at any time," wich leads to low morale and poor performance.
It'd be great if everyone could live off of 20 hours a week. But the $6 something that most places like that pay leads to a monthly take home of well under $500, which isn't enough for anyone in the real world. Add a second similar job, and you're almost half-way to the poverty level!
Apparently you are unfamiliar with the term "working poor"?
Yeah, that world in Zelda: Wind Waker was sure cramped. I mean, it *only* took about 10 minutes to sail across the entire (seamless) map. Or as someone else mentioned, the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, with 1 huge seamless castle, or the GTA cities. Damn, those consoles are limited.
Your entire post is based on 1 game. Here's another game that was released on hardware that's vastly inferior to any console released since the PS1, had a huge world with no load times, and came on a half-dozen or so floppies: Ultima VII.
By your clueless logic, if a game's world/presentation were limited only by the hardware it ran on, we'd have worlds that are thousands of times bigger/better than those of U7, since we have hardware that's (literally) thousands of times better.
Obviously *that* isn't the case, so there must be some other factors... Like, maybe, (poor) decisions made by the developers? *cough* Splinter Cell *cough*
TV is still stuck at NTSC unless you're willing to shell out $$$ for HDTV, and that TOTALLY shifts things back in favor of the PC
Only if you're willing to ignore all of the other things a good TV will do far better than any computer monitor. Also, comparing apples-to-apples might make your argument carry more water.
A decent HD-ready direct-view TV (Sony Wega, Panasonic Tau) can be had for around $1000. A big-screen (~46") rear-projection HD TV will run you around $1500.
A good 21" CRT monitor will run you what, $500? A 21" LCD will be at least a grand.
Personally, I'd rather spend the extra money (as I did) on a good TV so that I can have friends over to watch movies, play games, and watch ESPN HD. The thought of doing that huddled around a 21" monitor at my computer desk just isn't very appealing.
Your $500 PC will do a shitty job at playing most newer games, and will be restricted to playing them at the low resolutions you hate, wheras my $200 console can play every game released on it without turning the graphics details all the way down.
This whole argument is stupid anyway. I don't understand why people feel such a need to have the Ub3R l33t gaming system. Personally, I play good PC games on my PC, and good console games on my consoles. High polygon counts alone don't make a game fun.
The only 'new' information in this article is that EA isn't planning on publishing a European football game on the 'Cube.
Umm, so? The 'Cube isn't selling terribly in Europe, which is a large part of the non-Madden-type football-game-buying market. I can hardly say I blame them.
Lucasarts has no games scheduled for this year? Well, it's fairly well known that Factor 5 is working on a Pilot Wings sequel for the next Nintendo system, so in that sense they've dropped support for the 'Cube... to work on the N5.
Codemasters isn't releasing any 'Cube games? You mean they made it out of the '80s alive? Why should I care again?
After those few factoids, the author of the article apparently had to flesh it out with the usual "so and so has also dropped support, as has such and such," but then they don't even get those facts straight. Acclaim is still working on Gamecube titles... Maybe he meant Midway.
Pointless article, author didn't even do rudimentary fact-checking... Wake me up when the next Metroid and Zelda games get cancelled, or at least fail to sell a million copies.
That CNN story doesn't explain all the problems -- like purging anyone with the same first/last name as a felon in largely democratic districts, causing chaos at the polls.
I don't doubt that Bush got more votes in Florida. In that sense, the CNN story is right. I do, however, doubt that more people went to the polls intending to vote for Bush.
You obviously haven't played FF:CC multiplayer, or you wouldn't be claiming that it's not innovative.
The amount of teamwork required in that game is unparalleled outside of the team-RTS genre. Coordinating attacks to get rid of weaker enemies, casting fused spells or spells/focus attacks to maximize damage or weaken enemies... It's a very good, innovative 4-player game.
You don't seem to have any understanding of what Animal Crossing is all about either. What is it simulating, and where is the 'puzzle'?
I don't know why people are so hung up on 'innovation' in games, anyway. I'd rather play a fun game than an innovative one. If a game is both, that's just icing on the cake.
Hey! You're one of the guys I was referring to in a previous post about crappy ports!
The Game Cube port was canceled half way through our development.
Thank you for not shoveling your crap onto my system!
It is so lacking in installed based and hardware compared to XBox and PS2 that often it does not make financial sense to support it, unless you're Nintendo or an exclusive developer.
You get your numbers straight from Microsoft press releases, right?
Hear hear. I feel the same way about ports to my Gamecube, and it's even worse since most publishers shaft us 'Cube owners with really bad ports.
Generally, most non-exclusives for the Gamecube look and sound worse than on the other two systems. That said, most exclusives are some of the best looking and sounding games of this generation.
It's just infuriating that 3rd party developers do such a shoddy job with ports, and then blame the 'Cube audience when they don't sell well.
But Nintendo hasn't been making the damn thing for quite some time
Nintendo resumed the production of the Gamecube a long time ago -- seems like it was somewhere around July/August of last year?
How else would you expect them to have sold better than one million in the US alone last holiday season? You think there were 1 million + leftover 'Cubes sitting on store shelves?
The fact that your post is modded +4 while I'm a troll just goes to show what a immature fanboy crowd the GC has.
No, it just shows that you're an uninformed troll that, for some reason, takes moderation personally.
The ONLY reason their sales resurfaced over the holidays was because of the massive price drop.
The ONLY reason that Microsoft's sales were ever higher (in the US) is the nauseatingly large number of advertisements they plastered all over the place for it. So what does it matter what the reason is for good sales? The 'Cube is selling well now.
The N64 was a terrible console, had fewer games than the Playstation, had terrible texture support, and the games had to be so small to fit on the cartridge that it was near impossible to write a decent RPG for them.
No, it was a great console. I got to play Mario 64, Mario Kart, Zelda, Goldeneye, Super Smash Bros: Melee, Tetrisphere, The New Tetris, Excitebike 64, Waverace 64, and plenty more that I won't list here. And are you saying that the SNES didn't have any decent RPGs? It had tighter space restrictions than the SNES... About the only thing you *couldn't* do on the N64 was FMV... oh, whoops -- RE2, with all of its FMV, was put on an N64 cart.
The PS1 was a terrible console. It had terrible load times. I found the controller to be uncomfortable. It had pathetic FMV compression. Its 3d capabilities were laughable -- no bilinear anti-aliasing? No perspective correction? No mip-mapping? I'll take the N64's 4k texture cache over the PS1's lack of 3d features any day.
You are right about one thing. The N64 had fewer games than the PS1. What exactly does that prove again?
The only way Nintendo will survive in the game market today is if they stop producing consoles and focus entirely on producing games.
Oops -- there it is. You're a tool.
You'd probably love for this to happen, though -- you could finally play Nintendo games from the comfort of your 'mature' console of choice. It's not gonna happen, though.
They can't keep up with companies like Microsoft and Sony who are willing to try something new.
The biggest 'innovation' Sony brought to the video game world was heavy advertising. And it worked *extremely* well. Microsoft has copied this with less success. Microsoft's biggest innovation so far is running an operating loss on the XBox division every quarter. The hard drive? Ok, nice feature, but mostly goes unused. XBox Live? Sure, good feature. In use by less than 10% of XBox owners.
Let's list a couple 'new' things that Nintendo's tried... GBA->GCN connectivity? Mixed results, both FF:Crystal Chronicles and Pac Man vs. are really good, but for most other titles it's just a gimmick. The Nintendo DS? We'll wait and see. Games like Animal Crossing and Pikmin? Critically acclaimed, relatively disappointing sales.
Basically, gamers have said repeatedly "We don't want innovation! We want another release of Madden! We want another Pokemon! We want another Final Fantasy!" All of the supposedly new/cool stuff that we see on consoles is consistently underutilized and outperformed by the rehashed stuff that people *want*.
It's the oldest horse in the bunch and will probably go the same way as Sega in the next few years.
blah blah blah. Have any facts or historical evidence to support that BS?
Critically, Nintendo just can't justify being in last place console-after-console...
They've never been in last place. The Sega Saturn was in last place in the previous generation. The Dreamcast I suppose would technically be in last place now, but it's not even in the running anymore, so that honor goes to the XBox.
... it can focus on the truely-profitable sectors of the industry that they're already doing well at
You mean the make-consoles-and-games sector that they're already doing well at?
People (like you) like to speculate about how much more profitable Nintendo would be if it developed for other platforms... Well, what about the licensing fees that they
How are you supposed to learn anything meaningful about a game if you defeat entire point of the game by using a cheat device?
Researcher's findings: After sampling 25 games (using a GameShark for infinite ammo and health and all weapons), it has become apparent that games offer absolutely no challenge, mental or otherwise, whatsoever. The game merely boils down to holding an 'attack' button and running through the levels.
In-game puzzles are rediculously easy to solve. In all cases, their solution could be found by visiting www.gamefaqs.com or reading the Prima Strategy Guide.
Also, I certainly wouldn't classify John Carmack as a game maker. He makes amazing engines, but engine != game. If you want a gaming 'Shakespeare,' think Warren Spector, Shigeru Miyamoto, and/or Sid Mier.
Playing Tetris on a GameCube is a bitch and a half.
Well, that's partly because Tetris Worlds is the only Tetris game for the GCN, and it's a steaming pile of crap.:) They somehow managed to make it so easy that I'd never lose, and didn't friggin' keep score so there was NO POINT IN PLAYING. I'd basically start up a game and play 'til I got bored and then just shut it off.
As far as I'm concerned, The New Tetris for the N64 is currently the pinnacle of Tetris games.
Stay alive? Although this theory is impossible to test, I'd have wagered that if Intel had decided to make IA32e incompatible with AMD64, AMD64 would go away.
Why? Because manufacturers include Intel chips in most of their systems.
Jeez... I don't claim to be half the programmer that Linus is, but I've never once had any confusion over what IA32 meant. It's just a freakin' NAME. It's meant to distinguish itself from other x86 instruction sets that *aren't* IA32. Get over it, Linus.
Save your self-righteous rants for somewhere else.
When does something become history? In 5 years, will the SNES be part of history? How about 10? Surely at least in another 20 years, you'd have to classify the Genesis and SNES as 'history.'
Now, my point: what the hell is wrong with starting to preserve it *now*, before it's gone? There are some very, very good games on all of those systems. It'd be a shame to lose bits and pieces of them forever.
Similarly, as someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, baseball cards were just little pieces of cardboard too. I certainly don't expect the packaging from video games to appreciate in value as much as a Joe Namath card, maybe there's still some reason to hang onto this stuff while it's still *possible* to hang onto it.
You're probably too old to appreciate all of videogame history, anyway. I consider myself lucky to have gotten into video gaming when I did -- old enough to appreciate the real classics, young enough that I'm not afraid of new things. (sorry, cheap shot)
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe it's time the OSS community started holding quartly Pro-Linux events. Ones where we run over boxes of Microsoft software with a steamroller driven by a penguin who's handing out free Linux/OSS CDs. Or maybe David Letterman will drop blocks of cement from a building on Microsoft CDs below...
I'm confused. How is this constructive in any way? And how does it deal with Microsoft's billions in cash reserves?
I look forward to the day that Microsoft operating systems will be unnecessary, but this suggestion doesn't seem to bring it any closer to happening.
And yes, I do realize that it's meant as a joke. Unfortunately, comments like this make supporters of Microsoft alternatives look extremely childish and unprofessional.
--Jeremy
Sure, they could do that, and go back to court with Microsoft.
--Jeremy
You're right, to a point. It definitely isn't much fun to get stuck in a game and never progress. However, when something like that happens to me (which is very, very rarely. Most 'puzzles' in video games are so transparent that a 5-year-old with ADD could see through them), I take the same approach I do with other things -- step back, put the game down, come back to it another day. Repeat as necessary. Never spend frustrating amounts of time at it if you're not making any progress. Hell, this can even extend the longevity of some games. (It took me over 4 years of off-and-on playing to figure out a puzzle in Tetrisphere)
Games, like any other problem-solving endeavour, can sometimes be beaten just by approaching it with a different frame of mind.
That's the problem I have with strategy guides. I get no satisfaction 'solving' a tough problem if I didn't actually solve it myself. I can't imagine why people willingly (or even pay to) cheat themselves out of the satisfaction of overcoming an obstacle by using FAQs or strategy guides. I think in many cases it's indicative of a deeper societal problem of instant gratification being the highest goal for most people, but I'll save that rant for another thread.
--Jeremy
The down side is that with 10 employees working 40-hour weeks, you have 10 people with decent jobs that might be able to support themselves. They should also get some level of benefits, since they're working full-time.
However, with 20 people half-time, you have 20 shitty jobs that can't support anyone, forcing most of those employees to get second jobs. And if they ever have to take a trip to the doctor/hospital, it's probably going to come out of *your* pocket (indirectly, obviously), because they won't be able to pay for it and won't have insurance to cover it. Those 20 people will also probably have the attitude that "it's just a shitty job, they can get rid of me at any time," wich leads to low morale and poor performance.
It'd be great if everyone could live off of 20 hours a week. But the $6 something that most places like that pay leads to a monthly take home of well under $500, which isn't enough for anyone in the real world. Add a second similar job, and you're almost half-way to the poverty level!
Apparently you are unfamiliar with the term "working poor"?
--Jeremy
your logic falls apart when I point out that nobody's complaining about the [$20] collections of Atari or Activision or Intellivision games
And your logic falls apart when I point out that these things sold extremely well in Japan, outrageous price and all.
--Jeremy
If the PC game scene were to die out, unlikely as that is, I'd no longer have a need for Windows.
--Jeremy
Yeah, that world in Zelda: Wind Waker was sure cramped. I mean, it *only* took about 10 minutes to sail across the entire (seamless) map. Or as someone else mentioned, the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, with 1 huge seamless castle, or the GTA cities. Damn, those consoles are limited.
Your entire post is based on 1 game. Here's another game that was released on hardware that's vastly inferior to any console released since the PS1, had a huge world with no load times, and came on a half-dozen or so floppies: Ultima VII.
By your clueless logic, if a game's world/presentation were limited only by the hardware it ran on, we'd have worlds that are thousands of times bigger/better than those of U7, since we have hardware that's (literally) thousands of times better.
Obviously *that* isn't the case, so there must be some other factors... Like, maybe, (poor) decisions made by the developers? *cough* Splinter Cell *cough*
--Jeremy
TV is still stuck at NTSC unless you're willing to shell out $$$ for HDTV, and that TOTALLY shifts things back in favor of the PC
Only if you're willing to ignore all of the other things a good TV will do far better than any computer monitor. Also, comparing apples-to-apples might make your argument carry more water.
A decent HD-ready direct-view TV (Sony Wega, Panasonic Tau) can be had for around $1000. A big-screen (~46") rear-projection HD TV will run you around $1500.
A good 21" CRT monitor will run you what, $500? A 21" LCD will be at least a grand.
Personally, I'd rather spend the extra money (as I did) on a good TV so that I can have friends over to watch movies, play games, and watch ESPN HD. The thought of doing that huddled around a 21" monitor at my computer desk just isn't very appealing.
Your $500 PC will do a shitty job at playing most newer games, and will be restricted to playing them at the low resolutions you hate, wheras my $200 console can play every game released on it without turning the graphics details all the way down.
This whole argument is stupid anyway. I don't understand why people feel such a need to have the Ub3R l33t gaming system. Personally, I play good PC games on my PC, and good console games on my consoles. High polygon counts alone don't make a game fun.
--Jeremy
The only 'new' information in this article is that EA isn't planning on publishing a European football game on the 'Cube.
... to work on the N5.
... Maybe he meant Midway.
... Wake me up when the next Metroid and Zelda games get cancelled, or at least fail to sell a million copies.
Umm, so? The 'Cube isn't selling terribly in Europe, which is a large part of the non-Madden-type football-game-buying market. I can hardly say I blame them.
Lucasarts has no games scheduled for this year? Well, it's fairly well known that Factor 5 is working on a Pilot Wings sequel for the next Nintendo system, so in that sense they've dropped support for the 'Cube
Codemasters isn't releasing any 'Cube games? You mean they made it out of the '80s alive? Why should I care again?
After those few factoids, the author of the article apparently had to flesh it out with the usual "so and so has also dropped support, as has such and such," but then they don't even get those facts straight. Acclaim is still working on Gamecube titles
Pointless article, author didn't even do rudimentary fact-checking
--Jeremy
That CNN story doesn't explain all the problems -- like purging anyone with the same first/last name as a felon in largely democratic districts, causing chaos at the polls.
I don't doubt that Bush got more votes in Florida. In that sense, the CNN story is right. I do, however, doubt that more people went to the polls intending to vote for Bush.
--Jeremy
When I look at writers like Elmore Leonard, Chang Rae-Lee, Coatzee, Michael Chabon and others, I'm blown away by their sheer technical virtuosity.
:)
For a second I read that as "Michael Chrichton" and nearly had an anneurism.
--Jeremy
You obviously haven't played FF:CC multiplayer, or you wouldn't be claiming that it's not innovative.
The amount of teamwork required in that game is unparalleled outside of the team-RTS genre. Coordinating attacks to get rid of weaker enemies, casting fused spells or spells/focus attacks to maximize damage or weaken enemies... It's a very good, innovative 4-player game.
You don't seem to have any understanding of what Animal Crossing is all about either. What is it simulating, and where is the 'puzzle'?
I don't know why people are so hung up on 'innovation' in games, anyway. I'd rather play a fun game than an innovative one. If a game is both, that's just icing on the cake.
--Jeremy
So let me get this right, you have to buy a Gamecube and FOUR Gameboy Advanced units to play the game? Screw that.
No, you need 3 friends with Gameboys. It's really not that difficult to comprehend.
--Jeremy
It was a "fuck you, Nintendo" move.
And yet, it's Microsoft that's taking it up the ass on the deal. Oh, the delicious irony.
--Jeremy
Hey! You're one of the guys I was referring to in a previous post about crappy ports!
The Game Cube port was canceled half way through our development.
Thank you for not shoveling your crap onto my system!
It is so lacking in installed based and hardware compared to XBox and PS2 that often it does not make financial sense to support it, unless you're Nintendo or an exclusive developer.
You get your numbers straight from Microsoft press releases, right?
--Jeremy
And the series' return to the Nintendo? FF:CC sucked more than the previous champion, Mystic Quest.
Only because you probably don't have any friends to play it with.
Multiplayer is great fun. And I'll still take single player Crystal Chronicles over the garbage that was FF8 any day.
--Jeremy
Hear hear. I feel the same way about ports to my Gamecube, and it's even worse since most publishers shaft us 'Cube owners with really bad ports.
Generally, most non-exclusives for the Gamecube look and sound worse than on the other two systems. That said, most exclusives are some of the best looking and sounding games of this generation.
It's just infuriating that 3rd party developers do such a shoddy job with ports, and then blame the 'Cube audience when they don't sell well.
--Jeremy
They almost certainly will.
However, retailers still shouldn't be selling it to minors.
--Jeremy
But Nintendo hasn't been making the damn thing for quite some time
Nintendo resumed the production of the Gamecube a long time ago -- seems like it was somewhere around July/August of last year?
How else would you expect them to have sold better than one million in the US alone last holiday season? You think there were 1 million + leftover 'Cubes sitting on store shelves?
The fact that your post is modded +4 while I'm a troll just goes to show what a immature fanboy crowd the GC has.
No, it just shows that you're an uninformed troll that, for some reason, takes moderation personally.
--Jeremy
The ONLY reason their sales resurfaced over the holidays was because of the massive price drop.
... About the only thing you *couldn't* do on the N64 was FMV ... oh, whoops -- RE2, with all of its FMV, was put on an N64 cart.
... GBA->GCN connectivity? Mixed results, both FF:Crystal Chronicles and Pac Man vs. are really good, but for most other titles it's just a gimmick. The Nintendo DS? We'll wait and see. Games like Animal Crossing and Pikmin? Critically acclaimed, relatively disappointing sales.
... it can focus on the truely-profitable sectors of the industry that they're already doing well at
The ONLY reason that Microsoft's sales were ever higher (in the US) is the nauseatingly large number of advertisements they plastered all over the place for it. So what does it matter what the reason is for good sales? The 'Cube is selling well now.
The N64 was a terrible console, had fewer games than the Playstation, had terrible texture support, and the games had to be so small to fit on the cartridge that it was near impossible to write a decent RPG for them.
No, it was a great console. I got to play Mario 64, Mario Kart, Zelda, Goldeneye, Super Smash Bros: Melee, Tetrisphere, The New Tetris, Excitebike 64, Waverace 64, and plenty more that I won't list here. And are you saying that the SNES didn't have any decent RPGs? It had tighter space restrictions than the SNES
The PS1 was a terrible console. It had terrible load times. I found the controller to be uncomfortable. It had pathetic FMV compression. Its 3d capabilities were laughable -- no bilinear anti-aliasing? No perspective correction? No mip-mapping? I'll take the N64's 4k texture cache over the PS1's lack of 3d features any day.
You are right about one thing. The N64 had fewer games than the PS1. What exactly does that prove again?
The only way Nintendo will survive in the game market today is if they stop producing consoles and focus entirely on producing games.
Oops -- there it is. You're a tool.
You'd probably love for this to happen, though -- you could finally play Nintendo games from the comfort of your 'mature' console of choice. It's not gonna happen, though.
They can't keep up with companies like Microsoft and Sony who are willing to try something new.
The biggest 'innovation' Sony brought to the video game world was heavy advertising. And it worked *extremely* well. Microsoft has copied this with less success. Microsoft's biggest innovation so far is running an operating loss on the XBox division every quarter. The hard drive? Ok, nice feature, but mostly goes unused. XBox Live? Sure, good feature. In use by less than 10% of XBox owners.
Let's list a couple 'new' things that Nintendo's tried
Basically, gamers have said repeatedly "We don't want innovation! We want another release of Madden! We want another Pokemon! We want another Final Fantasy!" All of the supposedly new/cool stuff that we see on consoles is consistently underutilized and outperformed by the rehashed stuff that people *want*.
It's the oldest horse in the bunch and will probably go the same way as Sega in the next few years.
blah blah blah. Have any facts or historical evidence to support that BS?
Critically, Nintendo just can't justify being in last place console-after-console...
They've never been in last place. The Sega Saturn was in last place in the previous generation. The Dreamcast I suppose would technically be in last place now, but it's not even in the running anymore, so that honor goes to the XBox.
You mean the make-consoles-and-games sector that they're already doing well at?
People (like you) like to speculate about how much more profitable Nintendo would be if it developed for other platforms... Well, what about the licensing fees that they
How are you supposed to learn anything meaningful about a game if you defeat entire point of the game by using a cheat device?
Researcher's findings:
After sampling 25 games (using a GameShark for infinite ammo and health and all weapons), it has become apparent that games offer absolutely no challenge, mental or otherwise, whatsoever. The game merely boils down to holding an 'attack' button and running through the levels.
In-game puzzles are rediculously easy to solve. In all cases, their solution could be found by visiting www.gamefaqs.com or reading the Prima Strategy Guide.
Also, I certainly wouldn't classify John Carmack as a game maker. He makes amazing engines, but engine != game. If you want a gaming 'Shakespeare,' think Warren Spector, Shigeru Miyamoto, and/or Sid Mier.
--Jeremy
Playing Tetris on a GameCube is a bitch and a half.
:) They somehow managed to make it so easy that I'd never lose, and didn't friggin' keep score so there was NO POINT IN PLAYING. I'd basically start up a game and play 'til I got bored and then just shut it off.
Well, that's partly because Tetris Worlds is the only Tetris game for the GCN, and it's a steaming pile of crap.
As far as I'm concerned, The New Tetris for the N64 is currently the pinnacle of Tetris games.
--Jeremy
Stay alive? Although this theory is impossible to test, I'd have wagered that if Intel had decided to make IA32e incompatible with AMD64, AMD64 would go away.
Why? Because manufacturers include Intel chips in most of their systems.
--Jeremy
Jeez ... I don't claim to be half the programmer that Linus is, but I've never once had any confusion over what IA32 meant. It's just a freakin' NAME. It's meant to distinguish itself from other x86 instruction sets that *aren't* IA32. Get over it, Linus.
--Jeremy
Save your self-righteous rants for somewhere else.
When does something become history? In 5 years, will the SNES be part of history? How about 10? Surely at least in another 20 years, you'd have to classify the Genesis and SNES as 'history.'
Now, my point: what the hell is wrong with starting to preserve it *now*, before it's gone? There are some very, very good games on all of those systems. It'd be a shame to lose bits and pieces of them forever.
Similarly, as someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, baseball cards were just little pieces of cardboard too. I certainly don't expect the packaging from video games to appreciate in value as much as a Joe Namath card, maybe there's still some reason to hang onto this stuff while it's still *possible* to hang onto it.
You're probably too old to appreciate all of videogame history, anyway. I consider myself lucky to have gotten into video gaming when I did -- old enough to appreciate the real classics, young enough that I'm not afraid of new things. (sorry, cheap shot)
--Jeremy