Maybe it's part of "Steal this Subscription" day or something. It's comforting that they have a link to an editor presumably to cut down on duplicate stories.
You'd be surprised. I walked in my mother's house the other day and she wanted to show me her new sewing machine. Gee, how exciting. So I humored her and walked upstairs. Imagine my surpise when it had a LCD display and a USB cable to hooked up to her computer. All her friends at the local Sewing Guild (wow, a guild outside of Everquest!) all had similar models and she "needed to keep up".
The latest model sewing and quilt machines can download patterns and sew just about anything. Why a guy can use one of these things and feel pretty good about himself! Ahem... not like I've done that or... anything.
Forget Journey, et al. I'm afraid this is going to be a rehash of KISS: Pyscho Circus. At least it had somewhat of a plot. I mean, what possible plotline can a Metallica game have? Run away from fans? Nope, been done. I know, they have to get to a concert! No, that's been done too.
The only thing I can think of is a 3D Fighter with Lars vs. Shawn Fanning. I wonder what Lars Fatality move will be?
Hang on there. Download.com is not technically free. For a long time, it was free to list your shareware or freeware software there. Then Download.com starting to charge authors to have their software listed. As a result, almost all the freeware listings were dropped because of the cost.
You may not pay cash for using Download.com, but you paid in a different way.
You are pretty much on target. However the real reason that 3DMark is a bad benchmark is because the 3DMark Score is an aggregate number. You lose all your detail and are able to hide any "cheats" the hardware makers want. It's the reason that whenever people compare hardware in the real world (cars, televisions, computers) they don't use some made up figure. They measure using metrics like horsepower, torque, size, weight and speed.
What Futuremark is currently doing is akin to taking a Dodge Ram pickup and a Ford Mustang and saying that Dodge got 5427 Marks and Ford had 5621 Marks. What does that tell you? How can you truly compare the two? The Ford is better in some way, but without the base numbers, the result is useless.
I'd like to fast-forward into the future a bit and explore how machines and artificial intelligence will impact human beings and how robots will help us define ourselves," Wright said.
No Will! You don't know of the powers that you're messing with. Mixing robots and humans in a television show resulted in the worst sitcom that man has ever created: Small Wonder! Run for your lives!
You'll see it to a point. You could always use a random seed generator to "generate" buildings. This was done to an extent to generate dungeons for Diablo and for maps in Age of Empires. While many of the elements may appear to be the same (textures, cubicles, desks) the layout, design and goodies inside can be very random.
GE? C'mon! You can do better. General Electric is only ranked 9th on the Global 500 list. Wal-Mart is number one and by a large margin. Now an aircraft carrier with that Wal-Mart Happy face painted on the side is what I'd really like to see.
The Reporters Without Borders press release makes a big deal about how they were strip searched, put in a cell, etc. Guess what? That's standard procedure for anyone without the right visa to enter the country. I'm actually a bit more disturbed that the visa policy wasn't strictly inforced lending to more confusion.
So when you read an article about this incident, it really boils down to this quote I found by Alison Wood: "I also hope that E3 organisers, the Interactive Digital Software Association, take steps to ensure that in future they inform all international journalists what documentation is actually required to enter America as a journalist. It seems all this could've so easily been avoided if it had been made clear that entering the States, on the visa waiver program, as a journalist, is not permitted." [BTW, this happened in Atlanta as well a few years ago.]
There are bigger problems than journalists being detained for a few days. I wrote an article the other day that focuses on the ethics that some game publications and websites use in their reports. I'd rather a reporter go on a junket and be detained for the right reasons, than have have the reporter go on a junket and be influenced for the wrong ones.
I wrote an article that addresses this. E3 has become a show that tries to serve two masters. Either it is a place "where business gets fun" or a place where the fanboy can get jiggy wit it. It can't be both.
Count me in on the Starflight remake. I met Joe Ybarra right after I left Ensemble Studios and he joined. I mentioned to him that I thought Starflight was one of my favorite games. I think he was a little taken aback by its mention and thanked me for remembering it.
You've got it all wrong. This was actually a *good* thing. Have you even noticed the instability in the game industry? It isn't a question of making hit games, but weathering the storm when the bad times come. This is how Sony has survived the past decade. When the electronics giant had some serious problems due to the economy, the Playstation saved its butt. When the economy improves, Sony can use its other divisions to prop up the gaming side.
In fact, the most successful game publishers have other divisions that complement the game development. Lucasarts has the myriad of George Lucas properties. Cendant had hotels, car rentals to help them during slow periods. (Of course, the recession hit all their industries hard.) Microsoft became a juggernaught by using their other divisions to prop up the XBox and game publishing side. Heck, even Electronic Arts has edutainment software.
So it ends up being not just making hit games, but being able to take on the slow periods. If the game industry has another year like 1984, only those companies who have a large enough nest egg or are able to lean on other sources of income are going to survive.
I don't know about the rest of you, but this has me very interested. This franchise has been aching to have another installment. The good news is that Fargo is involved, which is a great sign. The question remains if a game, whose last sequel came out in 1988, can be updated to the standards of 2003.
This is akin to saying that if workers take cocaine to pep them up during the day, it's just like a cup of coffee. This is just asking to be abused. Sure, when was the last time you *only* played 30 minutes of Everquest. Gamecube at my desk? Well, gee, I guess five more minutes of Zelda wouldn't hurt. Ignore that I said that twice already.
That's not even touching the problem of support. Now I've got to open holes in the firewall so the good strong employee can play Star Wars Galaxies. Oops, looks like Doom 3 just hosed up the graphic drivers on everyone's laptop again. If having Solitaire and Minesweeper on every computer weren't bad enough...
I'm going to make a very un-PC like statement and come out and say if I had a choice between a notebook and a notebook laptop, I'm taking the hardware each and every time. I mean... it's a friggin' laptop! C'mon! I would have killed for one when I was in school.
My advice is to have a backup plan. More than likely, you won't be able to land a job for a while or after two or three years in the system you'll be so burned out you'll be looking for a new job.
The game industry isn't for the timid. You won't be paid well, you'll work insane hours, there's no social life to speak of - but you'll have fun doing it. It's like being on crack. It's the highest of highs and there are plenty of lows. I usually steer people away from getting jobs in the game industry, but if you really want to do it, then make sure you know what you're getting into and have a backup plan.
This is one of those article submissions where I'll set the comment filter to 5 simply because the comments are going to be in four groups. Thirty-two percent of the articles are going to be MS bashing, the other 32 percent will be either reposts of the NYT article or a link to the Google referrer page; 32 percent will mention that Apple stole from Xerox Parc and the remaining 4 percent will actually have something enlightening to say.
Well, sure there's going to be a sour apple in the bunch. What I'm saying is that there is very little research being done in understanding what makes good games work. It's like game designers think, "Oh gee, Starcraft and Age of Empires are cool. I'll just copy that" and we end up with these horrible clones.
I could do without those articles about game philosophy and their effect on the socio-economics of our society at large in real-life. Give me something on game design elements and I'll be happy.
This journal actually has some great material to read, judging by and perusing some of their archives. It's too bad that over two years, four issues have been published. Research and *thoughtful* analysis like this is badly needed in the industry.
Together, these two "killer apps" is what really separates the two operating systems. Just wait. I hear that Microsoft is working on a two-player version of Solitare that is going to seal the fate of Red Hat and it's ilk.
The conversation between Sandy and John was so dead on! I've worked with both of them and got a great chuckle out of it. Sandy is a blast to be around. If you saw him in Sears, you wouldn't know that he even worked with computers. Get him talking and he becomes animated and passionate about what he's talking about. Sigh, I miss working with ya Sandyman!
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe it's part of "Steal this Subscription" day or something. It's comforting that they have a link to an editor presumably to cut down on duplicate stories.
The latest model sewing and quilt machines can download patterns and sew just about anything. Why a guy can use one of these things and feel pretty good about himself! Ahem... not like I've done that or... anything.
The only thing I can think of is a 3D Fighter with Lars vs. Shawn Fanning. I wonder what Lars Fatality move will be?
You may not pay cash for using Download.com, but you paid in a different way.
What Futuremark is currently doing is akin to taking a Dodge Ram pickup and a Ford Mustang and saying that Dodge got 5427 Marks and Ford had 5621 Marks. What does that tell you? How can you truly compare the two? The Ford is better in some way, but without the base numbers, the result is useless.
No Will! You don't know of the powers that you're messing with. Mixing robots and humans in a television show resulted in the worst sitcom that man has ever created: Small Wonder! Run for your lives!
You'll see it to a point. You could always use a random seed generator to "generate" buildings. This was done to an extent to generate dungeons for Diablo and for maps in Age of Empires. While many of the elements may appear to be the same (textures, cubicles, desks) the layout, design and goodies inside can be very random.
GE? C'mon! You can do better. General Electric is only ranked 9th on the Global 500 list. Wal-Mart is number one and by a large margin. Now an aircraft carrier with that Wal-Mart Happy face painted on the side is what I'd really like to see.
So when you read an article about this incident, it really boils down to this quote I found by Alison Wood: "I also hope that E3 organisers, the Interactive Digital Software Association, take steps to ensure that in future they inform all international journalists what documentation is actually required to enter America as a journalist. It seems all this could've so easily been avoided if it had been made clear that entering the States, on the visa waiver program, as a journalist, is not permitted." [BTW, this happened in Atlanta as well a few years ago.]
There are bigger problems than journalists being detained for a few days. I wrote an article the other day that focuses on the ethics that some game publications and websites use in their reports. I'd rather a reporter go on a junket and be detained for the right reasons, than have have the reporter go on a junket and be influenced for the wrong ones.
I wrote an article that addresses this. E3 has become a show that tries to serve two masters. Either it is a place "where business gets fun" or a place where the fanboy can get jiggy wit it. It can't be both.
Count me in on the Starflight remake. I met Joe Ybarra right after I left Ensemble Studios and he joined. I mentioned to him that I thought Starflight was one of my favorite games. I think he was a little taken aback by its mention and thanked me for remembering it.
In fact, the most successful game publishers have other divisions that complement the game development. Lucasarts has the myriad of George Lucas properties. Cendant had hotels, car rentals to help them during slow periods. (Of course, the recession hit all their industries hard.) Microsoft became a juggernaught by using their other divisions to prop up the XBox and game publishing side. Heck, even Electronic Arts has edutainment software.
So it ends up being not just making hit games, but being able to take on the slow periods. If the game industry has another year like 1984, only those companies who have a large enough nest egg or are able to lean on other sources of income are going to survive.
I don't know about the rest of you, but this has me very interested. This franchise has been aching to have another installment. The good news is that Fargo is involved, which is a great sign. The question remains if a game, whose last sequel came out in 1988, can be updated to the standards of 2003.
That's not even touching the problem of support. Now I've got to open holes in the firewall so the good strong employee can play Star Wars Galaxies. Oops, looks like Doom 3 just hosed up the graphic drivers on everyone's laptop again. If having Solitaire and Minesweeper on every computer weren't bad enough...
Oh, I should also mention that the headline is slightly misleading. The press release is only for the X Box and not their PC lineup.
...when you can go straight to The Beast to read the press release from the source. It's at least formatted better.
I'm going to make a very un-PC like statement and come out and say if I had a choice between a notebook and a notebook laptop, I'm taking the hardware each and every time. I mean... it's a friggin' laptop! C'mon! I would have killed for one when I was in school.
The game industry isn't for the timid. You won't be paid well, you'll work insane hours, there's no social life to speak of - but you'll have fun doing it. It's like being on crack. It's the highest of highs and there are plenty of lows. I usually steer people away from getting jobs in the game industry, but if you really want to do it, then make sure you know what you're getting into and have a backup plan.
And no, I don't think that my comment is one of the four percent. Consider it a statistical anomaly.
This is one of those article submissions where I'll set the comment filter to 5 simply because the comments are going to be in four groups. Thirty-two percent of the articles are going to be MS bashing, the other 32 percent will be either reposts of the NYT article or a link to the Google referrer page; 32 percent will mention that Apple stole from Xerox Parc and the remaining 4 percent will actually have something enlightening to say.
I could do without those articles about game philosophy and their effect on the socio-economics of our society at large in real-life. Give me something on game design elements and I'll be happy.
This journal actually has some great material to read, judging by and perusing some of their archives. It's too bad that over two years, four issues have been published. Research and *thoughtful* analysis like this is badly needed in the industry.
* Solitare
* Minefield
Together, these two "killer apps" is what really separates the two operating systems. Just wait. I hear that Microsoft is working on a two-player version of Solitare that is going to seal the fate of Red Hat and it's ilk.
The conversation between Sandy and John was so dead on! I've worked with both of them and got a great chuckle out of it. Sandy is a blast to be around. If you saw him in Sears, you wouldn't know that he even worked with computers. Get him talking and he becomes animated and passionate about what he's talking about. Sigh, I miss working with ya Sandyman!
Not to stray too far off topic here, but since when has any story submission not prevented people at Slashdot from making a self-rightous post? ;-)