Silent Hill is, easily, the scariest game I've ever played. The first one was so good, I had to have the second one, though I was afraid to play it. It's the only game I've ever played that made me NOT want to push the button to see what happened next. It's also the only game that has ever gotten my heart pounding in my ears without the use of multiplayer. At one point, I had to save and walk away because it was 3:00am, I was playing alone in the dark, and I just couldn't go on.
Ok, so now I sound like a wuss. But I LIKE being immersed in a game. And Silent Hill sucks you in. If you let it.
Someone mentioned Resident Evil. Resident Evil is to Silent hill like, oh, Resident Evil: The Movie is to The Ring. It's like comparing biting into an apple and finding a worm, vs biting into an apple and watching the apple bleed warm, thick blood. It's like reading a Goosebumps novel at recess vs reading an HP Lovecraft story in the middle of the woods in New England at midnight on All Hallow's Eve over a black candle.
"People don't seem to think before posting, they are purposely rude, they blatantly violate copyrights, they crosspost everywhere, use 20 line signature files, and do basically every other thing the postings (and common sense and common courtesy) advise not to. Regularly, there are postings of questions that can be answered by the newusers articles, clearly indicating that they aren't being read."
This wasn't even news 5 years ago. Hell, this wasn't even news 10 years ago, at least to me. I agree with all of it, sure. But it's the byproduct of cultural evolution. As a community gets bigger, more stupid people move in.
Ever since I moved over to Dreamhost I've been as pleased as punch.
PHP, MYSQL, Apache,.htaccess, ssh1/2, telnet, pop3, stmp, webmail, personal jabber servers, options for CVS, https, streaming media, an outstanding customer service dept, and I could go on for days.
People outside the industry don't typically know a Tech Support person from a Java Engineer. It took me many many glazed-over looks to understand this.
Now, when people ask what I do, I ask how well they know computers.
if ($knowComputers==FALSE) { echo "I work in Computers"; } else { echo $jobtitle; };
I was a game tester for Sony Computer Entertainment of America (989 Studios). My work credits included Crash Bandicoot Warped, Spyro the Dragon, Medevil, and Syphon Filter, among endless counts of PlayStation Underground and Pack-In disks.
Being a game tester is a great job if you are single, or if you have no bills, or if you have no ambition to be financially successful. We got paid $10.00 an hour (in the San Francisco Bay Area, that amounts to jack and squat), and we worked anything between 40 and 80 hours a week. If we did not like the hours, or the work, or the way we were treated, tough luck, because there were a hundred people waiting at the door to take our place.
I got in because I knew someone on the inside who put my name on the top. This was how most people who worked there got their jobs. I had an interview, in which I was advised by my insider friend not to wear a "Dope" t-shirt like the previous candidate. The interview was simple, so I thought until I worked there for a while.
I had the pleasure of working with some of the most unbelievable human beings on the planet. You prolly think I mean that in a good way. But between the guy who fell asleep at his console every day, the guy with mysterious scalp problems, the racist, the interestingly unstable 'nam vet, the people who could not find their asses with both hands and a map, and of course, the guy whose young life was forever changed (arguably ruined) by a 6 year old who had beat him at Street Fighter 8 years earlier (he dedicated his life to being the best Street Fighter player there was. He was a ranked California champion - do they have such things???) - well, these people were unbeleivable. Not that they were all insane. I met some great people, and have some very fond memories of that time.
We had a bomb threat my very first day. One day, someone fired a shot through one of the windows at us.
Now, most people have said "For the love of god, don't do it!" I think I can temper my response somewhat. It's a fun job that has it's down times. People think it's all about playing. Sometimes it is. Sometimes, you spend the day plugging in every joystick you have in the house and pressing X-O-UP rapidly because someone yesterday got it to crash that way but they don't remember which controller it was. Sometimes you get to see games pre-alpha before the world. Sometimes you spend a whole weekend with nothing to test other than a PSU disk with nothing but video. Sometimes you test games like Jersey Devil, which make the bile raise up to your throat every time you see the damn main character. And then sometimes, you play through a game so much, that by the time it comes out on the market, you can visit a friend's house and kick their arse without looking.
To sum up - you get in by knowing someone (or getting very lucky). You stay in by enduring the sweatshop mentality and living with the crazies. And if you hang in there for a long time, put in your due, get a sharp head about you, you might just land the coveted Perm Tester position and the 36k yearly that comes with it.
Anyone in their right mind would prefer the pollution from a two-stroke engine to what I expel after a diet of Gatorade and Power Bars. Especially if you are riding behind me.
You must not work. Because nothing sucks more than being a sports fan (in my case, a hockey and now ex-Sharks) and being stuck at work while your team is playing a rival or is in the middle of a good game. Sure, I can tape it, but dammit (Jim) I want to see it NOW!.
... I think a more likely explanation is that Baseball (indeed, all sports) are filled with greedy owners, spoiled players, and weak executives...
*gasp* You mean our beloved players don't play for the love of the game? The owners want _MONEY_? The executives are CLUELESS?!?!?
I mean, no offense, but in what country is THAT news? "Professional Athletes, Owners are Spoiled, Want Money. Film at 11:00."
FAR more interesting is re-reading your above line. Greedy owners, spoiled players, weak executives. Hell, it's no wonder it's America's passtime. It's a MICROCOSM for $DIETY's sake. With the Microsoft Yankees, the AOLTW A's, General Motors Giants, and let's not forget the Amway Cubs.
Let's start with the observation above about how there is a known problem of obesity in this country.
What better way to SOLVE this problem than with biodiesel? All we need to make it sing is a home liposuction kit! Then we can use our own fat to drive our cars back to the grocery, to buy more food with all the money we are saving on gas. And we get to look thin no matter how much we eat! It's WIN WIN WIN! (Remind anyone of Fight Club?)
And how could someone pass up the Alcohol Fueled Car notation above?
"Alcohol fueled car, eh? . o O (One for you, one for me! One for you, one for me!) *homerdrool*"
Slashdot Mirror
they include his techno song as an option to play in a loop while you run around shooting people.
Now _that's_ entertainment.
How well does it work? Does it give you complete coverage? How loud is it?
Bender! Although they would never vote him in.
"I'll go make my own Robot Hall of Fame. With Blackjack! And Hookers! In fact, forget the Hall of Fame!"
Never get involved in a land Roshambo war on Slashdot, oh defeated one.
Don't be coming to ME about Roshambo. I am the Roshambo fooking MASTER. Got my technique down and everything. No ticklin.
them: . o O (Poor Predictable Immanis. Always picks Rock.)
me : . o O (Good Old Rock! Nothing Beats THAT!
I can be found at immanis AT sfgoth DOT com
Silent Hill is, easily, the scariest game I've ever played. The first one was so good, I had to have the second one, though I was afraid to play it. It's the only game I've ever played that made me NOT want to push the button to see what happened next. It's also the only game that has ever gotten my heart pounding in my ears without the use of multiplayer. At one point, I had to save and walk away because it was 3:00am, I was playing alone in the dark, and I just couldn't go on.
Ok, so now I sound like a wuss. But I LIKE being immersed in a game. And Silent Hill sucks you in. If you let it.
Someone mentioned Resident Evil. Resident Evil is to Silent hill like, oh, Resident Evil: The Movie is to The Ring. It's like comparing biting into an apple and finding a worm, vs biting into an apple and watching the apple bleed warm, thick blood. It's like reading a Goosebumps novel at recess vs reading an HP Lovecraft story in the middle of the woods in New England at midnight on All Hallow's Eve over a black candle.
*sits back, cracks knuckles, waits for the satire to land in everyone else's head ;)
"People don't seem to think before posting, they are purposely rude, they blatantly violate copyrights, they crosspost everywhere, use 20 line signature files, and do basically every other thing the postings (and common sense and common courtesy) advise not to. Regularly, there are postings of questions that can be answered by the newusers articles, clearly indicating that they aren't being read."
This wasn't even news 5 years ago. Hell, this wasn't even news 10 years ago, at least to me. I agree with all of it, sure. But it's the byproduct of cultural evolution. As a community gets bigger, more stupid people move in.
Ever since I moved over to Dreamhost I've been as pleased as punch.
PHP, MYSQL, Apache, .htaccess, ssh1/2, telnet, pop3, stmp, webmail, personal jabber servers, options for CVS, https, streaming media, an outstanding customer service dept, and I could go on for days.
This should help
This is a really good point.
People outside the industry don't typically know a Tech Support person from a Java Engineer. It took me many many glazed-over looks to understand this.
Now, when people ask what I do, I ask how well they know computers.
if ($knowComputers==FALSE) { echo "I work in Computers"; } else { echo $jobtitle; };
A look at their website should excite this thread (knowing geeks anyway).
It's hard to take this lawsuit seriously looking at this. And with terms like "Avatar of Techno-Wootz(TM) Damascus steel".
I wonder if we'd get sued for slashdotting their server.
Alcohol Fueled Car eh?
. o O (One for you, one for Me! One for you, one for Me!)
*HomerDrool(tm)*
Hilarious.
I did, well... exactly the same thing. I could help with this.
I was a game tester for Sony Computer Entertainment of America (989 Studios). My work credits included Crash Bandicoot Warped, Spyro the Dragon, Medevil, and Syphon Filter, among endless counts of PlayStation Underground and Pack-In disks.
Being a game tester is a great job if you are single, or if you have no bills, or if you have no ambition to be financially successful. We got paid $10.00 an hour (in the San Francisco Bay Area, that amounts to jack and squat), and we worked anything between 40 and 80 hours a week. If we did not like the hours, or the work, or the way we were treated, tough luck, because there were a hundred people waiting at the door to take our place.
I got in because I knew someone on the inside who put my name on the top. This was how most people who worked there got their jobs. I had an interview, in which I was advised by my insider friend not to wear a "Dope" t-shirt like the previous candidate. The interview was simple, so I thought until I worked there for a while.
I had the pleasure of working with some of the most unbelievable human beings on the planet. You prolly think I mean that in a good way. But between the guy who fell asleep at his console every day, the guy with mysterious scalp problems, the racist, the interestingly unstable 'nam vet, the people who could not find their asses with both hands and a map, and of course, the guy whose young life was forever changed (arguably ruined) by a 6 year old who had beat him at Street Fighter 8 years earlier (he dedicated his life to being the best Street Fighter player there was. He was a ranked California champion - do they have such things???) - well, these people were unbeleivable. Not that they were all insane. I met some great people, and have some very fond memories of that time.
We had a bomb threat my very first day. One day, someone fired a shot through one of the windows at us.
Now, most people have said "For the love of god, don't do it!" I think I can temper my response somewhat. It's a fun job that has it's down times. People think it's all about playing. Sometimes it is. Sometimes, you spend the day plugging in every joystick you have in the house and pressing X-O-UP rapidly because someone yesterday got it to crash that way but they don't remember which controller it was. Sometimes you get to see games pre-alpha before the world. Sometimes you spend a whole weekend with nothing to test other than a PSU disk with nothing but video. Sometimes you test games like Jersey Devil, which make the bile raise up to your throat every time you see the damn main character. And then sometimes, you play through a game so much, that by the time it comes out on the market, you can visit a friend's house and kick their arse without looking.
To sum up - you get in by knowing someone (or getting very lucky). You stay in by enduring the sweatshop mentality and living with the crazies. And if you hang in there for a long time, put in your due, get a sharp head about you, you might just land the coveted Perm Tester position and the 36k yearly that comes with it.
Do I have to come over there and demand satisfaction out of you two? Because you both need a little glove slap.
I really wanna hear from CleverNickName
And screw the political sidestepping of the issue. Wil, how would _YOU_ fix it? WWWWD? Inquiring minds want to know!
Don't make me get my dueling glove.
Anyone in their right mind would prefer the pollution from a two-stroke engine to what I expel after a diet of Gatorade and Power Bars. Especially if you are riding behind me.
Long Rides will do that to you.
You must not work. Because nothing sucks more than being a sports fan (in my case, a hockey and now ex-Sharks) and being stuck at work while your team is playing a rival or is in the middle of a good game. Sure, I can tape it, but dammit (Jim) I want to see it NOW!.
*gasp* You mean our beloved players don't play for the love of the game? The owners want _MONEY_? The executives are CLUELESS?!?!?
I mean, no offense, but in what country is THAT news? "Professional Athletes, Owners are Spoiled, Want Money. Film at 11:00."
FAR more interesting is re-reading your above line. Greedy owners, spoiled players, weak executives. Hell, it's no wonder it's America's passtime. It's a MICROCOSM for $DIETY's sake. With the Microsoft Yankees, the AOLTW A's, General Motors Giants, and let's not forget the Amway Cubs.
Let's start with the observation above about how there is a known problem of obesity in this country.
What better way to SOLVE this problem than with biodiesel? All we need to make it sing is a home liposuction kit! Then we can use our own fat to drive our cars back to the grocery, to buy more food with all the money we are saving on gas. And we get to look thin no matter how much we eat! It's WIN WIN WIN! (Remind anyone of Fight Club?)
And how could someone pass up the Alcohol Fueled Car notation above?
"Alcohol fueled car, eh? . o O (One for you, one for me! One for you, one for me!) *homerdrool*"
Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha
I can't believe I fell for that.
I have one of these.
Target, 15 bucks or so. Money WELL spent. How long has it been since YOU held a joystick like that?
perv.
"If you ever go back in time, don't step on anything."
Looks to me like the author just told Dr. Michael Brent to Zip his Genes.
Did he leave the barn door open?