Money talks people. This things been on sale in Australia for over a month now and its been consistently sold out across Sydney for weeks at a time. I work at Toys 'R' Us (much to my dismay) and we just can't get enough of them. People will ring around all of Sydney and drive all the way across town if they find a shop with one left. Sony just keeps running out of them. People are buying PS2s just for this one peripheral. Parents see it as healthier than a normal game. The games are simple but sometimes addictive, and the hardware works very well from what I've seen. Sony have come up with a winner here, regardless of it being "lame" or whatever.
And you know that Australia is mini-America (but without the guns and huge trucks;) so it will probably work over there too.
ummm.... yes, many, many games are released on all platforms... tony hawk 3, spiderman, lord of the rings off the top of my head, and these are only the names that other people will know.:)
There are a few other problems with this software (it's called COGS) than just the fact that it can't really block dedicated cheaters. Sure, measures to block cheaters are fine, but this one went too far.
1. It's buggy as all hell, everytime I log on it downloads a new patch, and still doesn't always run properly. And this is after supposedly extensive testing. 2. It's unsecure, it transmits your username and password as get parameters for authentication. 3. Originally it was going to be released without Mac and Linux versions. (This has since been changed.) 4. It's basically trying to replace programs we already know and use. It has an in-built IRC client that automatically connects to the GameArena server (which we obviously already had), a server browser (we already had ServerQuery [serverquery.qgl.org] which is lightweight yet adequate, also GPLed) and even a web browser that opens the main GameArena site. All activities we had perfectly fine utilities for, yet someone has made a half-arsed effort to replace them.
Perhaps if it had been better executed we would have been a bit more accepting, but the amateur coding effort along with the draconian "use it or leave" policy has left a lot of gamers with a negative view of COGS.
racism
n.
1.The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2.Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
You, sir, are a fool and a bigot, not to mention an anonymous coward. Hitler was Austrian, not Australian, and to suggest otherwise is infantile.
You suggest that John Howard is responsible for "scores" of big businesses collapsing, and that the GST is a horror for small businesses. Now, the only big business failures I can think of lately are Ansett and One.Tel, neither of which can be attributed to the government... let alone John Howard. And the GST has caused trouble for small businesses, but only insofar as it takes time for a new system to become established and taken up. My family owns a small business and we don't have a problem with the GST. But then I guess you must have more experience with it than I? This may make me look like a huge Howard proponent, but I'm merely answering some mindless drivel with a bit of reason.
"But when he spouted his racist propaganda, redneck racist scum like this so-called Zealous Apathy lapped it up. Well, Zealous Apathy, I only hope you find yourself in a refugee boat one day. I hope you drown at sea, you friggin' asshole. Zig Heil, freakin' hilter youth."
And with respect to the above: You are a wonderful human being.
Yer, ok, there were some incidents before I was born. But there's nothing on that level these days, afaik. What was done in the past was done, you can't change it. Show me another colonized country that didn't have horribly racist crimes perpetrated by it's colonists. Do they get called racist today? I think not.
Also by having the attitude you have you are just giving in to the whole racist thing. You are not only ok if you are white anglo! It's a cliche to say so, but I have many friends who are not "anglo white skinned". I do not consider them lesser or better for what they look like! Jeez!
I acknowledge that not everyone in Australia is open-minded. But show me a society where this isn't the case. You can't. You never will be able to.
My point was that beating on Australia is the flavour of the moment and has no place on a website such as Slashdot.
Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters...
What on Earth does this story have to do with the above? It's kinda outside the scope of the site wouldn't you say? I read the first few lines, expecting a link to some device that was purportedly used, somehow relating to computers or even just cool gadgets. I found nothing of the sort. So why run this story?
The only conclusion is that/. is jumping onto the "Australia is naughty" bandwagon. I'm an Australian, and damn proud of it, and whatever the world has to say about my country won't really bother me... except when it begins to become a popular way of thinking. There have been articles in American newspapers that went close, but didn't quite come to, calling Australia racist. That's an incredible insult to every Australian, and is indicative of the current international opinion of Australia. Kind of ungrateful to one of the Western nations that gave unconditional support to the USA's "War on Terrorism" in the wake of September 11. 5 months on and it's time to pile shit on Australia. And the point of that little rant is that it is so pervasive an attitude that now even/. has been tainted by it.
Honestly guys, pull your head in! I know it's a shitty situation, don't worry, our govt is in a lot of trouble over it. The majority of Australians are just as concerned by what's happening as the rest of the world is. But perpetuating anti-Australian propaganda isn't helping my country solve it's problems, and it's only tarnishing Slashdot's good reputation.
Dave
Slashdot Mirror
Money talks people. This things been on sale in Australia for over a month now and its been consistently sold out across Sydney for weeks at a time. I work at Toys 'R' Us (much to my dismay) and we just can't get enough of them. People will ring around all of Sydney and drive all the way across town if they find a shop with one left. Sony just keeps running out of them. People are buying PS2s just for this one peripheral. Parents see it as healthier than a normal game. The games are simple but sometimes addictive, and the hardware works very well from what I've seen. Sony have come up with a winner here, regardless of it being "lame" or whatever.
;) so it will probably work over there too.
And you know that Australia is mini-America (but without the guns and huge trucks
ummm.... yes, many, many games are released on all platforms... tony hawk 3, spiderman, lord of the rings off the top of my head, and these are only the names that other people will know. :)
There are a few other problems with this software (it's called COGS) than just the fact that it can't really block dedicated cheaters. Sure, measures to block cheaters are fine, but this one went too far.
1. It's buggy as all hell, everytime I log on it downloads a new patch, and still doesn't always run properly. And this is after supposedly extensive testing.
2. It's unsecure, it transmits your username and password as get parameters for authentication.
3. Originally it was going to be released without Mac and Linux versions. (This has since been changed.)
4. It's basically trying to replace programs we already know and use. It has an in-built IRC client that automatically connects to the GameArena server (which we obviously already had), a server browser (we already had ServerQuery [serverquery.qgl.org] which is lightweight yet adequate, also GPLed) and even a web browser that opens the main GameArena site. All activities we had perfectly fine utilities for, yet someone has made a half-arsed effort to replace them.
Perhaps if it had been better executed we would have been a bit more accepting, but the amateur coding effort along with the draconian "use it or leave" policy has left a lot of gamers with a negative view of COGS.
Z
embarassing?! hardly! :D
Ummm... I dont want to be blocked from sites... Your fix is not so much a fix, as a "I'm on my moral high-horse" statement.
I'm Australian, and I don't condone what my government is doing. In fact I'm really bloody sick of just about everything the current government does.
Do you want to punish me for what my government does?
Let's all consult dictionary.com
racism
n.
1.The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.
2.Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
You, sir, are a fool and a bigot, not to mention an anonymous coward. Hitler was Austrian, not Australian, and to suggest otherwise is infantile.
You suggest that John Howard is responsible for "scores" of big businesses collapsing, and that the GST is a horror for small businesses. Now, the only big business failures I can think of lately are Ansett and One.Tel, neither of which can be attributed to the government... let alone John Howard. And the GST has caused trouble for small businesses, but only insofar as it takes time for a new system to become established and taken up. My family owns a small business and we don't have a problem with the GST. But then I guess you must have more experience with it than I? This may make me look like a huge Howard proponent, but I'm merely answering some mindless drivel with a bit of reason.
"But when he spouted his racist propaganda, redneck racist scum like this so-called Zealous Apathy lapped it up. Well, Zealous Apathy, I only hope you find yourself in a refugee boat one day. I hope you drown at sea, you friggin' asshole. Zig Heil, freakin' hilter youth."
And with respect to the above: You are a wonderful human being.
Dave
Yer, ok, there were some incidents before I was born. But there's nothing on that level these days, afaik. What was done in the past was done, you can't change it. Show me another colonized country that didn't have horribly racist crimes perpetrated by it's colonists. Do they get called racist today? I think not.
Also by having the attitude you have you are just giving in to the whole racist thing. You are not only ok if you are white anglo! It's a cliche to say so, but I have many friends who are not "anglo white skinned". I do not consider them lesser or better for what they look like! Jeez!
I acknowledge that not everyone in Australia is open-minded. But show me a society where this isn't the case. You can't. You never will be able to.
My point was that beating on Australia is the flavour of the moment and has no place on a website such as Slashdot.
Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters... What on Earth does this story have to do with the above? It's kinda outside the scope of the site wouldn't you say? I read the first few lines, expecting a link to some device that was purportedly used, somehow relating to computers or even just cool gadgets. I found nothing of the sort. So why run this story? The only conclusion is that /. is jumping onto the "Australia is naughty" bandwagon. I'm an Australian, and damn proud of it, and whatever the world has to say about my country won't really bother me... except when it begins to become a popular way of thinking. There have been articles in American newspapers that went close, but didn't quite come to, calling Australia racist. That's an incredible insult to every Australian, and is indicative of the current international opinion of Australia. Kind of ungrateful to one of the Western nations that gave unconditional support to the USA's "War on Terrorism" in the wake of September 11. 5 months on and it's time to pile shit on Australia. And the point of that little rant is that it is so pervasive an attitude that now even /. has been tainted by it.
Honestly guys, pull your head in! I know it's a shitty situation, don't worry, our govt is in a lot of trouble over it. The majority of Australians are just as concerned by what's happening as the rest of the world is. But perpetuating anti-Australian propaganda isn't helping my country solve it's problems, and it's only tarnishing Slashdot's good reputation.
Dave