Clearly the author has never worked at a company whose IT department gets taken over by a Windows-only chief who outlaws all other OS's because he doesn't want to learn or support them.
The interestign thing to me is that the 3 big name episodic games are folow up on previous franchises. my question on that is why? Is it simply that no one is willing to test the watters with a no name game? Are the developers figguring on cashign in in brand name recognition (stupid idea with SiN as the orig was rather bad)?
That's just because the lesser-known titles aren't getting the same amount of press. I have the honor of being the recording engineer on all of Telltale's games (except their first title, a poker game). Sam & Max is not the first episodic title we've done, it's just the most recognizable. The first episodic game TTG produced was Bone, based on Jeff Smith's comic book of the same name.
I can address this in a limited manner, as I have been involved with project as the recording engineer.
Know that the E3 Trailer to which you are referring to came well before the voice actors had actually been cast. I can tell you a great deal of care has been put into the process of casting and recording the voice for the new SnM games.
And the trailer on the TTG website is not an example of the voiceover from the game itself.
If a user is set up with an Administrator account by default during an OS X installation, then I surmise that Apple doesn't give a shit about security either. We've seen what happens in the Windows world when a company chooses user-friendliness over security. It's a disaster.
I disagree with your inference. In the Windows world, there the Administrator user is essentially the full root user, whereas in Mac OS X, the Admin user can be granted root permissions, but it is supposed to require a password in order to elevate to that status. Hence the issue at hand, where in this particular situation the password requirement has been bypassed.
This is not about smugness; it's about a legitimate security issue.
Are you saying that the insane quantity of malware, virii, and other attacks on Windows is the fault of the users? Most don't even know that something was just install on their system or that it is running, and that includes experienced users.
This same type of issue is what is being discussed.
At least in this case, the issue requires a user to run an installer, but they should still be prompted for root-level access. In a case like this, it IS Apple's job to protect the user. Just because Microsoft doesn't give a shit about their users doesn't mean it's the correct way to behave.
Sounds like GM quality to me. You could have been luckier like me. I have a 1997 Chevy S-10 pickup. For several years I had problems with the windshield wipers suddenly stopping. I thought the motor was going bad, so I checked in with my mechanic. He looked up the part and, in doing so discovered that there was a special secret warranty extension + a recall for cold solder joints on the wiper motor module!
BUT...GM wouldn't honor it because I had more than 70k miles on the truck (as if that has anything to do with their defect cold solder joints AND they wouldn't accept the recall because my VIN didn't fit within their list.
After using RainX for 2 years, I finally got fed up and went back to the mechanic about it. We discovered that the module can be removed without disconnecting the motor or the linkages. It took me all of 25 minutes to re-solder the bad joints and now my wipers work great.
But it wasn't worth 25 minutes of GM's time to fix a problem they created. And it's ever-so-safe to have your wipers suddenly stop when you're driving 70mph in the rain.
Actually, I studied the St. Francis dam break a little in college. While Wired is blaming Mullholland for it, he wasn't actually at fault for its failure. Prior to that dam, it was not known that building a dam on two different kinds of rock would subvert its foundation. That was only learned afterwards, when studying the dam's failure.
Yes, Mullholland did visit the damn and see the cracks. He also did make the mistaken determination that the dam would survive. As a result, he was distraught in regards to his failure and from the lives that were lost as a result.
While there's not media content, there's a lot of useful info and a huge quantity of data for those of us in the US who only get to find out snippets about what our favorite actors/comics have been up to in the UK.
Actually, it'll probably help me understand quite a few of the pop culture jokes in Vicar of Dibley.:-)
The Hollywood Walk of Fame, of which you referred to, is run by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, so of course it's about advertising. It's about advertising Hollywood as a place to come visit. And the person (or entity) who sponsors the nomination for a Star is responsible for coming up with the $15,000 cost of installing a new star, too!
And as for who can get one, there are a five categories:
So far, you're the only one who hasn't liked the voice acting in general. Apart from two characters that we wanted to re-cast before the initial release (but couldn't due to budget limitations), everyone else who acted in the game was excellent. They are actors we use all the time on LOTS of projects.
I have no idea if this game is related in any way, though.
The Telltale Sam & Max title will be completely new and different. While part of the time came from the LucasArts Sam & Max team, many others worked on other projects either at LucasArts or other game companies.
It's not that there aren't fans. Clearly there are. The real "problem" is that adventure games don't sell a million copies. They receive critical acclaim (when well done) and help promote the company as a top-notch developer, but they rarely (over the past decade) do much beyond breaking even, and that typically is at around 50-100k copies.
Sam & Max (at LucasArts) was canceled for this very reason. It wasn't that a bad game was going to be made or that it wouldn't sell. But it wouldn't sell nearly as well as something with a Star Wars logo on it, such as KotoR.
What Telltale's business model allows is for them to release smaller games quickly, allowing them to recoup their costs and make some profit, enabling another game to be made.
And they don't have the huge distribution costs.
Making quality games isn't exactly inexpensive, especially if you want to have well-acted dialog. Consider that in order to make a Bone game, in addition to just the artists, level designers, writers, programmers, and other in-house folks, there are outside vendors, such as myself. And let's not forget the voice talent!
Note that nearly all the reviews of Bone: Out from Boneville (and many of the comments here on/.) have noted the high quality voice acting. This doesn't come cheap.
While I don't know the actual numbers of how much Telltale pays for their game production, I would estimate that just the dialog recording & editing alone (not including sound design and music) cost somewhere around $20k. At $20 per copy, that translates to sales of around 1000 games just to pay for the voice in one episode!
I don't even want to think about how much it costs to employ all the animators, programmers, and more who also create the game!
Slashdot Mirror
Clearly the author has never worked at a company whose IT department gets taken over by a Windows-only chief who outlaws all other OS's because he doesn't want to learn or support them.
I didn't buy a Wii to play "normal" games. I can do that on my PS2 (assuming it feels like reading the disc). I got a Wii because the games are fun!
I'd just be happy to get my hands on one. They are never available in the stores.
a fairly entertaining rebuke of Macromedia's letter.
Macromedia!?
The interestign thing to me is that the 3 big name episodic games are folow up on previous franchises. my question on that is why?
Is it simply that no one is willing to test the watters with a no name game?
Are the developers figguring on cashign in in brand name recognition (stupid idea with SiN as the orig was rather bad)?
That's just because the lesser-known titles aren't getting the same amount of press. I have the honor of being the recording engineer on all of Telltale's games (except their first title, a poker game). Sam & Max is not the first episodic title we've done, it's just the most recognizable. The first episodic game TTG produced was Bone, based on Jeff Smith's comic book of the same name.
Wow.
What about monthly, as Telltale Games is doing with Sam & Max?
I can address this in a limited manner, as I have been involved with project as the recording engineer.
Know that the E3 Trailer to which you are referring to came well before the voice actors had actually been cast. I can tell you a great deal of care has been put into the process of casting and recording the voice for the new SnM games.
And the trailer on the TTG website is not an example of the voiceover from the game itself.
If a user is set up with an Administrator account by default during an OS X installation, then I surmise that Apple doesn't give a shit about security either. We've seen what happens in the Windows world when a company chooses user-friendliness over security. It's a disaster.
I disagree with your inference. In the Windows world, there the Administrator user is essentially the full root user, whereas in Mac OS X, the Admin user can be granted root permissions, but it is supposed to require a password in order to elevate to that status. Hence the issue at hand, where in this particular situation the password requirement has been bypassed.
This is not about smugness; it's about a legitimate security issue.
Are you saying that the insane quantity of malware, virii, and other attacks on Windows is the fault of the users? Most don't even know that something was just install on their system or that it is running, and that includes experienced users.
This same type of issue is what is being discussed.
At least in this case, the issue requires a user to run an installer, but they should still be prompted for root-level access. In a case like this, it IS Apple's job to protect the user. Just because Microsoft doesn't give a shit about their users doesn't mean it's the correct way to behave.
...Bill Frist Post!?
Sounds like GM quality to me. You could have been luckier like me. I have a 1997 Chevy S-10 pickup. For several years I had problems with the windshield wipers suddenly stopping. I thought the motor was going bad, so I checked in with my mechanic. He looked up the part and, in doing so discovered that there was a special secret warranty extension + a recall for cold solder joints on the wiper motor module!
BUT...GM wouldn't honor it because I had more than 70k miles on the truck (as if that has anything to do with their defect cold solder joints AND they wouldn't accept the recall because my VIN didn't fit within their list.
After using RainX for 2 years, I finally got fed up and went back to the mechanic about it. We discovered that the module can be removed without disconnecting the motor or the linkages. It took me all of 25 minutes to re-solder the bad joints and now my wipers work great.
But it wasn't worth 25 minutes of GM's time to fix a problem they created. And it's ever-so-safe to have your wipers suddenly stop when you're driving 70mph in the rain.
Fucking GM quality.
From what I understand, yes.
Actually, I studied the St. Francis dam break a little in college. While Wired is blaming Mullholland for it, he wasn't actually at fault for its failure. Prior to that dam, it was not known that building a dam on two different kinds of rock would subvert its foundation. That was only learned afterwards, when studying the dam's failure.
Yes, Mullholland did visit the damn and see the cracks. He also did make the mistaken determination that the dam would survive. As a result, he was distraught in regards to his failure and from the lives that were lost as a result.
While there's not media content, there's a lot of useful info and a huge quantity of data for those of us in the US who only get to find out snippets about what our favorite actors/comics have been up to in the UK.
:-)
Actually, it'll probably help me understand quite a few of the pop culture jokes in Vicar of Dibley.
...and they've gone wrong!
OMG!!! I love the MS-DOS 3.2 Terminal window under Mac OS X. :):):)
The Hollywood Walk of Fame, of which you referred to, is run by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, so of course it's about advertising. It's about advertising Hollywood as a place to come visit. And the person (or entity) who sponsors the nomination for a Star is responsible for coming up with the $15,000 cost of installing a new star, too!
And as for who can get one, there are a five categories:
Well, disclosing that there are secret domestic wiretaps is aiding and abetting the enemy. You know...the American People!
Unless you are a corporation, then it would be:
Heaven:
French Chefs
German Engineers
British Bobbies
American Patent approval
Hell:
British Chefs
French Engineers
German Police
American Patent Lawyers
So far, you're the only one who hasn't liked the voice acting in general. Apart from two characters that we wanted to re-cast before the initial release (but couldn't due to budget limitations), everyone else who acted in the game was excellent. They are actors we use all the time on LOTS of projects.
I have no idea if this game is related in any way, though.
The Telltale Sam & Max title will be completely new and different. While part of the time came from the LucasArts Sam & Max team, many others worked on other projects either at LucasArts or other game companies.
It's not that there aren't fans. Clearly there are. The real "problem" is that adventure games don't sell a million copies. They receive critical acclaim (when well done) and help promote the company as a top-notch developer, but they rarely (over the past decade) do much beyond breaking even, and that typically is at around 50-100k copies.
/.) have noted the high quality voice acting. This doesn't come cheap.
Sam & Max (at LucasArts) was canceled for this very reason. It wasn't that a bad game was going to be made or that it wouldn't sell. But it wouldn't sell nearly as well as something with a Star Wars logo on it, such as KotoR.
What Telltale's business model allows is for them to release smaller games quickly, allowing them to recoup their costs and make some profit, enabling another game to be made.
And they don't have the huge distribution costs.
Making quality games isn't exactly inexpensive, especially if you want to have well-acted dialog. Consider that in order to make a Bone game, in addition to just the artists, level designers, writers, programmers, and other in-house folks, there are outside vendors, such as myself. And let's not forget the voice talent!
Note that nearly all the reviews of Bone: Out from Boneville (and many of the comments here on
While I don't know the actual numbers of how much Telltale pays for their game production, I would estimate that just the dialog recording & editing alone (not including sound design and music) cost somewhere around $20k. At $20 per copy, that translates to sales of around 1000 games just to pay for the voice in one episode!
I don't even want to think about how much it costs to employ all the animators, programmers, and more who also create the game!
Those parts have already been re-cast and recorded.