While the submitter's assertion that the EULA forbids use of Flash on laptops does seem to be a little off-base, this EULA does seem to be a little restrictive (although that's nothing new).
Honestly, I hate watching programs (like Flash) become so commonplace that even when the EULA screws the consumer they continue to be used, simply because they're now so prevalent. If some kind of reasonably open standard were in use instead of Flash we would be able to use it on our mobile devices (PSPs, etc) and perhaps even correct some of the bugs (most flash ads still manage to run my CPU usage up to "99%" on Windows XP).
Honestly, in its present state, I don't think there's any way Flash would become as prevelant as it is. But thanks to the lack of alternatives when it was initially released it has now thoroughly entrenched itself (just like a dozen other common programs)...
"Linux won't make inroads because of anything Microsoft does, for better or worse."
I'd say that's a bit of an overstatement. There's a limit to what consumer's will take, and as computer purchases become more transparent (IE when people realize they're actually paying $100+ for Windows and MS's other software) I think the door will open for Linux.
Conversely MS could start charging a reasonable amount of money for their software and offering more open dev support and essentially zap up any need for an alternative.
It would be awesome, but real modding is more than just making a new map. It's access to an SDK which lets you rip up enough source code to actually change a few gameplay mechanics. I just don't see MS allowing people the ability to execute any kind of unsigned code.
And serious modding would also require a real keyboard and mouse. Those have been promised in the past and they've only been delivered on in relatively minor ways (no sensitivity adjustment, programable keys etc.)
MS simply doesn't get it. They make a page which is allegedly as simple and easy to use as google, but they throw in a bunch of crap that ends up breaking their 'simple' site. Honestly, not even the 'search' button renders correctly in Opera.
I'm sure it's all the IE specific code, too. Afterall, when it comes to actual standards support we all know that IE comes in dead last.
I'd buy an Xbox360 for HL 3 if a variety of conditions were met, and I doubt they will be:
1. HL 3 will have to be good (this is probably the easiest condition to meet. Say what you will about Valve, they know how to make a great single player FPS).
2. XBox 360 will have to support usb keyboards and mice. I'm not going to bother with an undersized, overpriced, semi-functional, half-supported pseudo-keyboard/mouse combo. FPSes simply aren't nearly as enjoyable without this method of control (at least not fo me).
3. HL 3 will have to require a significant PC upgrade for me. If it doesn't, then I'll simply get the PC version.
4. Some kind of mod compatibility. This is the most difficult of my requirements, obviously, and I doubt it will happen. But I also don't think 2 or 3 are all that likely.
All in all, I don't think a game not designed for the console's native control scheme is going to be much of a 'killer app'. After all, it's the mods that made the HL series truely great, and I don't see MS supporting the community...
Thanks for the heads up, but perhaps it's a good idea to mention the reason for these seizures alongside the fact that it just happened.
For those of you left wondering by the initial post these seizures are apparently related to an investigation of a bit of vandalism that cost somewhere around a hundred grand...
That's a little background, it's not like some evil government was seizing their servers simply because of a difference of opinion (although, depending on who you listen to, that may be the case)...
[senator] There's got to be a way we can fix this with legislation [/senator]
Seriously though, every time this point is brought up (that parents don't stop their kids from doing things the government thinks the kids shouldn't be doing) I fear that another little facet of personal responsibility is soon to be sealed off.
For one it undermines the very purpose of the game: Roleplaying. It degrades the entire game world into "a hunt for loot, camp spawns" power gamer fest. Sure, this has always been an element of any given MMORPG, but before there was at least some kind of line in the sand between the real world and the virutal one.
By that I mean the economics of the real world (money) had never legally invaded the game world, sure people sold stuff, but it was kept in check. Now, the whole game's prupose could well degrade into a money making scheme of a few ultra dedicated players. Not fun, not role playing.
Rich folks can get nice cards, big houses, and live-in call girls. We can't. Why is it wrong in a MMOG?
This is just the wrong attitude to take to an MMORPG, and I'm not at all surprised you left the "PR" out of your acronym there. These games are *supposed* about being enthralled in an interesting alternate universe, not just about collecting phat loots. This development truely destroys any shred of an RP environment left in the game world, turns it into a business.
I don't think that little idiom is all that applicable in this situation.
Video game sales are up because more video games are being sold (duh). More video games are being sold because a new system (the PSP) has been successfuly launched and those who buy it also buy games for it.
In this case, I think it's fair to say that the increase in sales is a result, at least in part, of the PSP's launch and the sales that said launch has generated...
Wowa, how did they manage to combine something I love (8 bit graphics) with three of the most annoying features of our modern world.
Geraldo, an all Flash site, and the Suicide Girls. A tri-fecta of things I hate representing what was a major part of my youth. This cannot end well.
Someone keep me away from my buried munitions and small army of deadly trained simians, I'm not sure if I'll be able to take this destruction of fond memories...
I'm most excited for applications in DAPs and cameras than anything else, and I think Hitachi has the same idea (at least I seem to recall seeing some press releases on a similar note). Current 3.5" drives have already hit the 500 gb range, so increasing their capacity isn't a significant priority as most consumers really don't have 500 gb of crap they need to store.
What this tech is really useful is making really small (1") drives for next gen DAPs. Whereas the highest density Hitachi currently (or rather, will soon, I don't think these have hit the market yet) offers is 30 gb/platter (that's a 30gb 7mm thick, 1 inch HD or 60gb 10mm thick, 1 inch HD) with this tech they say they can get over 100gb. That'd be awesome for a DAP, as you'd finally be able to compress large music collections losslessy, or have an even smaller HD (say, 3/4") that has enough capacity for your whole music collection in a lossy format.
Either way, I'm excited to see their next gen (or two gens away or whatever) HD and the DAPs that use them. Hopefully Hitachi fixes the reliability issues they've been having (I know the Hitachi drive in the Rio Karma gets a fair amount of press, although mine has never had problems)...
The Neuros is a brick when compared to the iPod, and that's the only reason it never sold that well. Had it had its current feature list and been the same size as an iPod it would have done much better, even with its limited marketing budget.
Sure, the iPod's looks carry it a ways, but it's the size of the thing, and its smootheness (which makes for better pocket-ability than any of its last gen competition) that have made it so popular. Most consumers care far more about how big a DAP is than about its format support or even battery life...
Joke-e-oke makes me a comedian like karaoke me a pop star. Suggesting that either of those statements are true can lead to some mind numbingly bad (but surprisingly confident) performances... especially when combined with alcohol.
I don't think it was the delaying of Vampire, so much as it was the rampant bugs that were still present in the game even after the game had been delayed for so long..
Whether it was Troika's or their publishers (I wanna say Sierra, but I can't remember right now) fault is debatable.. but you simply can't ship a game with that many bugs and expect it to sell well (MMORPGS being the possible exception to this rule).
That Maniac Mansion stitch really reminds me of the headache that game gave me the first time I tried to play it. I was quite young and keeping track of a 3D house layout with nothing but those 2D room layouts to guide me was. ..a little much.
Still, I imagine that learning experience (and others like it) really helped me learn to "think in 3D" (I'm sure there's some psyche term for this, but I don't know it). Kinda reminds ya that videogames of today don't make you think as hard as the old ones did... Less imigination required on the part of the user.
New copes of the game can be hard to find. I know that (as recently as last month) Blizzard wasn't moving any more retail copies because the game had become too popular and there were (are?) server issues.
I'm not sure if the poster was unable to find a new copy, or simply wanted to save a couple of bucks. Regardless, it seems like this kind of thing should be legal according to Blizzard's own EULA.
I guess I'm not surprised he's getting the run around from Customer Support, though. IMHO Blizzard has fallen a long way from it's lofty perch before the original owners were bought out..
Does anyone stop to think that there may be too many flavors of Linux for the average user? Consider this, if you will: Joe User, sick of cleaning the spyware and virii off his Windows box for the bazillionth time reads about "Linux" in the Times/on Cnet/wherever. Naturally, he googles it, and ends up with all 18 of these live distros, a ton of kernel related stuff that he doesn't understand, and a gazillion news articles reviewing things he knows nothing about.
I have RTFA, btw, and it was pretty approachable, but it still didn't make it much easier for the user to pick out something to replace his E-Mail checking/Web Surfing/Occasional Media playing (pr0n) computer. Perhaps the Linux community should get together and make a serious effort at a unified "desktop" launch. Personally, I think it'd go a long way towards getting more people off XP and involved in Open Source, all these fractured distros aren't really helping../2 cents
Nothing new about PC games being outsold by their console counterparts. It's been a long time since any PC game held a long term sales record (Myst). All that matters is that PC games are still profitable, and as consoles become more and more similar to your home PC development for both (or I guess I should say "all") platforms will become even more common than it is now.
I don't think there's any way to force companys to open code or keep authentication servers up. I mean, no judge is gonna say, "You made this game and part of it needs authentication so you're going to have to support it 'til you go bankrupt!"
Ideally once a company drops support they give the community enough hints to get their own replacement up and running (Bungie did this with both Myth: TFL and Myth 2) but I don't think there's any way to force them to do that.
I think one of the problems with this ideal, though, is that so much of the tech these days is licensed, that a given company may not be able to open source it's netcode or whatever needs to be done to keep a game running online. That said, most communities have at least a few pretty resourceful members, who can reverse engineer the net systems and get something up and running (see all the DAOC emulators, and BnetD).
I think you're hoping for an ideal that's a little "anti-American" (anti-capitalist, really) for the western world. Companies always want to protect their ip for as long as possible, so they can continue to sell games. This inevitably requires some kind of DRM system (the CD-Key system we've had for years and the auth systems we've had for years, Steam really isn't that different).
I got some bad news for yah, mrchaotica. Eventually support for a game is dropped, or the EULA is revised in subsequent releases. The latter of those options is, in many ways, worse than the former (and that's what happened with HL), but such is life. We can still LAN CS 1.5 if you want, but internet support is no longer there.
This happens to all games eventually. Sometimes (like in the case of the Myth series) the community steps up and continues to offer services that the publisher or developer can no longer afford (or no longer wants) to offer. Other times, an old system (WON) is replaced by a new system (Steam).
Remember though, WON isn't better than Steam when it comes to multiplayer, they both authenticate in much the same way. If the auth servers go down, you're outta luck....
Slashdot Mirror
While the submitter's assertion that the EULA forbids use of Flash on laptops does seem to be a little off-base, this EULA does seem to be a little restrictive (although that's nothing new).
Honestly, I hate watching programs (like Flash) become so commonplace that even when the EULA screws the consumer they continue to be used, simply because they're now so prevalent. If some kind of reasonably open standard were in use instead of Flash we would be able to use it on our mobile devices (PSPs, etc) and perhaps even correct some of the bugs (most flash ads still manage to run my CPU usage up to "99%" on Windows XP).
Honestly, in its present state, I don't think there's any way Flash would become as prevelant as it is. But thanks to the lack of alternatives when it was initially released it has now thoroughly entrenched itself (just like a dozen other common programs)...
Sucks, doesn't it?
"Linux won't make inroads because of anything Microsoft does, for better or worse."
I'd say that's a bit of an overstatement. There's a limit to what consumer's will take, and as computer purchases become more transparent (IE when people realize they're actually paying $100+ for Windows and MS's other software) I think the door will open for Linux.
Conversely MS could start charging a reasonable amount of money for their software and offering more open dev support and essentially zap up any need for an alternative.
It would be awesome, but real modding is more than just making a new map. It's access to an SDK which lets you rip up enough source code to actually change a few gameplay mechanics. I just don't see MS allowing people the ability to execute any kind of unsigned code.
And serious modding would also require a real keyboard and mouse. Those have been promised in the past and they've only been delivered on in relatively minor ways (no sensitivity adjustment, programable keys etc.)
MS simply doesn't get it. They make a page which is allegedly as simple and easy to use as google, but they throw in a bunch of crap that ends up breaking their 'simple' site. Honestly, not even the 'search' button renders correctly in Opera.
I'm sure it's all the IE specific code, too. Afterall, when it comes to actual standards support we all know that IE comes in dead last.
I'd buy an Xbox360 for HL 3 if a variety of conditions were met, and I doubt they will be:
1. HL 3 will have to be good (this is probably the easiest condition to meet. Say what you will about Valve, they know how to make a great single player FPS).
2. XBox 360 will have to support usb keyboards and mice. I'm not going to bother with an undersized, overpriced, semi-functional, half-supported pseudo-keyboard/mouse combo. FPSes simply aren't nearly as enjoyable without this method of control (at least not fo me).
3. HL 3 will have to require a significant PC upgrade for me. If it doesn't, then I'll simply get the PC version.
4. Some kind of mod compatibility. This is the most difficult of my requirements, obviously, and I doubt it will happen. But I also don't think 2 or 3 are all that likely.
All in all, I don't think a game not designed for the console's native control scheme is going to be much of a 'killer app'. After all, it's the mods that made the HL series truely great, and I don't see MS supporting the community...
Thanks for the heads up, but perhaps it's a good idea to mention the reason for these seizures alongside the fact that it just happened.
For those of you left wondering by the initial post these seizures are apparently related to an investigation of a bit of vandalism that cost somewhere around a hundred grand...
That's a little background, it's not like some evil government was seizing their servers simply because of a difference of opinion (although, depending on who you listen to, that may be the case)...
[senator]
There's got to be a way we can fix this with legislation
[/senator]
Seriously though, every time this point is brought up (that parents don't stop their kids from doing things the government thinks the kids shouldn't be doing) I fear that another little facet of personal responsibility is soon to be sealed off.
I assume the only reason Sony is picking them up is so they can shake any loose change out of their pockets, right?
/Ok, Sony might not be that evil...
For one it undermines the very purpose of the game: Roleplaying. It degrades the entire game world into "a hunt for loot, camp spawns" power gamer fest. Sure, this has always been an element of any given MMORPG, but before there was at least some kind of line in the sand between the real world and the virutal one.
By that I mean the economics of the real world (money) had never legally invaded the game world, sure people sold stuff, but it was kept in check. Now, the whole game's prupose could well degrade into a money making scheme of a few ultra dedicated players. Not fun, not role playing.
Rich folks can get nice cards, big houses, and live-in call girls. We can't. Why is it wrong in a MMOG?
This is just the wrong attitude to take to an MMORPG, and I'm not at all surprised you left the "PR" out of your acronym there. These games are *supposed* about being enthralled in an interesting alternate universe, not just about collecting phat loots. This development truely destroys any shred of an RP environment left in the game world, turns it into a business.
I don't think that little idiom is all that applicable in this situation.
Video game sales are up because more video games are being sold (duh). More video games are being sold because a new system (the PSP) has been successfuly launched and those who buy it also buy games for it.
In this case, I think it's fair to say that the increase in sales is a result, at least in part, of the PSP's launch and the sales that said launch has generated...
Wowa, how did they manage to combine something I love (8 bit graphics) with three of the most annoying features of our modern world.
Geraldo, an all Flash site, and the Suicide Girls. A tri-fecta of things I hate representing what was a major part of my youth. This cannot end well.
Someone keep me away from my buried munitions and small army of deadly trained simians, I'm not sure if I'll be able to take this destruction of fond memories...
I'm most excited for applications in DAPs and cameras than anything else, and I think Hitachi has the same idea (at least I seem to recall seeing some press releases on a similar note). Current 3.5" drives have already hit the 500 gb range, so increasing their capacity isn't a significant priority as most consumers really don't have 500 gb of crap they need to store.
What this tech is really useful is making really small (1") drives for next gen DAPs. Whereas the highest density Hitachi currently (or rather, will soon, I don't think these have hit the market yet) offers is 30 gb/platter (that's a 30gb 7mm thick, 1 inch HD or 60gb 10mm thick, 1 inch HD) with this tech they say they can get over 100gb. That'd be awesome for a DAP, as you'd finally be able to compress large music collections losslessy, or have an even smaller HD (say, 3/4") that has enough capacity for your whole music collection in a lossy format.
Either way, I'm excited to see their next gen (or two gens away or whatever) HD and the DAPs that use them. Hopefully Hitachi fixes the reliability issues they've been having (I know the Hitachi drive in the Rio Karma gets a fair amount of press, although mine has never had problems)...
That quote MGM quote should read: "I don't want Betamax to apply here."
Have to account for the lawyer spin..
The Neuros is a brick when compared to the iPod, and that's the only reason it never sold that well. Had it had its current feature list and been the same size as an iPod it would have done much better, even with its limited marketing budget.
Sure, the iPod's looks carry it a ways, but it's the size of the thing, and its smootheness (which makes for better pocket-ability than any of its last gen competition) that have made it so popular. Most consumers care far more about how big a DAP is than about its format support or even battery life...
Joke-e-oke makes me a comedian like karaoke me a pop star. Suggesting that either of those statements are true can lead to some mind numbingly bad (but surprisingly confident) performances... especially when combined with alcohol.
I don't think it was the delaying of Vampire, so much as it was the rampant bugs that were still present in the game even after the game had been delayed for so long..
Whether it was Troika's or their publishers (I wanna say Sierra, but I can't remember right now) fault is debatable.. but you simply can't ship a game with that many bugs and expect it to sell well (MMORPGS being the possible exception to this rule).
I'm crying now.. if only Lucasarts had taught me how to take a joke! :(
Ahh well, I'll still know how to navigate Maniac Mansion. You can never take that away from me.
That Maniac Mansion stitch really reminds me of the headache that game gave me the first time I tried to play it. I was quite young and keeping track of a 3D house layout with nothing but those 2D room layouts to guide me was. . .a little much.
Still, I imagine that learning experience (and others like it) really helped me learn to "think in 3D" (I'm sure there's some psyche term for this, but I don't know it). Kinda reminds ya that videogames of today don't make you think as hard as the old ones did... Less imigination required on the part of the user.
New copes of the game can be hard to find. I know that (as recently as last month) Blizzard wasn't moving any more retail copies because the game had become too popular and there were (are?) server issues.
I'm not sure if the poster was unable to find a new copy, or simply wanted to save a couple of bucks. Regardless, it seems like this kind of thing should be legal according to Blizzard's own EULA.
I guess I'm not surprised he's getting the run around from Customer Support, though. IMHO Blizzard has fallen a long way from it's lofty perch before the original owners were bought out..
Does anyone stop to think that there may be too many flavors of Linux for the average user? Consider this, if you will: Joe User, sick of cleaning the spyware and virii off his Windows box for the bazillionth time reads about "Linux" in the Times/on Cnet/wherever. Naturally, he googles it, and ends up with all 18 of these live distros, a ton of kernel related stuff that he doesn't understand, and a gazillion news articles reviewing things he knows nothing about.
/2 cents
I have RTFA, btw, and it was pretty approachable, but it still didn't make it much easier for the user to pick out something to replace his E-Mail checking/Web Surfing/Occasional Media playing (pr0n) computer. Perhaps the Linux community should get together and make a serious effort at a unified "desktop" launch. Personally, I think it'd go a long way towards getting more people off XP and involved in Open Source, all these fractured distros aren't really helping..
Nothing new about PC games being outsold by their console counterparts. It's been a long time since any PC game held a long term sales record (Myst). All that matters is that PC games are still profitable, and as consoles become more and more similar to your home PC development for both (or I guess I should say "all") platforms will become even more common than it is now.
I don't think there's any way to force companys to open code or keep authentication servers up. I mean, no judge is gonna say, "You made this game and part of it needs authentication so you're going to have to support it 'til you go bankrupt!"
Ideally once a company drops support they give the community enough hints to get their own replacement up and running (Bungie did this with both Myth: TFL and Myth 2) but I don't think there's any way to force them to do that.
I think one of the problems with this ideal, though, is that so much of the tech these days is licensed, that a given company may not be able to open source it's netcode or whatever needs to be done to keep a game running online. That said, most communities have at least a few pretty resourceful members, who can reverse engineer the net systems and get something up and running (see all the DAOC emulators, and BnetD).
I think you're hoping for an ideal that's a little "anti-American" (anti-capitalist, really) for the western world. Companies always want to protect their ip for as long as possible, so they can continue to sell games. This inevitably requires some kind of DRM system (the CD-Key system we've had for years and the auth systems we've had for years, Steam really isn't that different).
I don't even know what the GNAA is, but go ahead and mod me down...
I got some bad news for yah, mrchaotica. Eventually support for a game is dropped, or the EULA is revised in subsequent releases. The latter of those options is, in many ways, worse than the former (and that's what happened with HL), but such is life. We can still LAN CS 1.5 if you want, but internet support is no longer there.
This happens to all games eventually. Sometimes (like in the case of the Myth series) the community steps up and continues to offer services that the publisher or developer can no longer afford (or no longer wants) to offer. Other times, an old system (WON) is replaced by a new system (Steam).
Remember though, WON isn't better than Steam when it comes to multiplayer, they both authenticate in much the same way. If the auth servers go down, you're outta luck....
I am blushing, you can't tell because this is the internet and you can't see me.. but.. yeah...
My bad, thanks for the torrent (someone else snuck it in a couple posts up, too, so thanks to them as well).