Yea, but Syntax is pretty easy to learn if you already have the development fundamentals. I had a background in VB and was able to figure out and maintain a Delphi application in about 20 minutes. Granted it wasn't incredibly complex, but the syntax was pretty easy to pick up by just looking at some existing code.
I consider that one of the problems with the PS2s numbers, there is no way to tell how many players are active and how many bought the device and never used it or haven't used it in a long while. Whereas with Live people will usually, you know, stop paying for a service if they don't use it anymore, bringing about more accurate numbers in terms of how many are active.
As far as how much Microsoft is losing, who cares? If there is a loss (I'm not sure one way or the other), they seem to be able to deal with it. It doesn't seem to effect gamers in any way.
I may be completed off base here, since I haven't purchased the game, but I was under the impression that one of the reasons for packaging it on the DVD was so that all clients were available on the same disc. Since the game data is the same, all they would have to have is a seperate installer/client executable.
Players could always make their own add-ons for the Sims. This isn't anything new, there were tons of sites (some you had to pay for) that had extra content for the original.
I agree with your assessment of expansions, but I think the SWG addition may behave a bit differently based on the giant fanbase for the XWing/Tie Fighter games.
It could possibly pull those people into MMOGs, if they make the cost of entry low enough that it doesn't require 6 months of play to get a fighter.
What about a USB memory dongle? They sell memory cards for consoles, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to have a USB memory stick with your system's drivers on it and space for save games. You could also load up game patches onto it that would apply when the game loads.
This opens up a new can of worms in terms of game hacking, but I don't think it's that far fetched.
Something like this might help to establish standards for kernel modules. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to download one driver that operated the device regardless of the OS you were running?
Why is this flamebait, it's true. Did you ever watch the behind the scenes video they had? They use software that's much more powerful than they'll ever need to do 'cut-out' artwork. They even mentioned that is why they are so timely.
I agree there is immaturity on both sides of the fence, but there has to be some happy medium somewhere. In the current implementations (that I've played at least), only one of those groups can have fun at a time.
I kind of see where you're going with your analogy, but for people who equate themselves with their character it becomes personal. The difference between "my character is a level 56 jizzmopper. He's pretty swank," and "I'm a level 56 jizzmopper. I'll beat your ass," can be the difference between a fun escape and ruining the game for yourself and/or others.
I assume that people still play games to have fun, not to impose their superiority on other people, but I'm probably wrong.
I have a feeling that as games become more and more accepted, the percentage of rabidly competitive people will increase with it.
(Hmmm, it seems I started every paragraph with the same thing, but I don't want to spend the time to modify it.)
I agree with this statement to a point, but it's not so much that people are better than you. They just have more disposable time than you do, or they're playing off a template posted on warcry for the express purpose of being all powerful. This wouldn't be a huge problem if the majority of MMORPG players were roleplayers, because each character would be put in context. That isn't the case, however, so it ends up with you ass up in a field somewhere with a 14yo kid in global chat exclaiming how he just 'pwned' a 'n00b.'
This opens up a whole different can of worms. How would you make a MMORPG signifigant for 'casual' players, yet not boring or too easy for the 'hardcore?'
Yes and no, you have to take into consideration the volume of units. When the RIAA is shipping 900,000,000+ albums, 72,000 is 0.00008 of that. Not a considerable amount. I'd guess (completed uneducated, mind you) they lose more from in-store theft than that.
Tycho's paragraph was a bit disjointed. That quote you posted was directed at previous MMORPGs, not WoW. He was commenting on how Blizzard's offering is more humane in that respect.
Full Quote: "The word which constantly comes to my mind when considering the game is "humane." I have quite a lot of patience for games of this type, I don't mind going to a town and asking every medieval jackhole I see where I can find the cathedral. Gabe's not going to do that. That sort of thing isn't fun for most people. Gabe's going to cancel his account when he finds out that it takes twice the experience to get from this level to this level, or the materials you worked so hard to get are destroyed because of some arbitrary roll. For you and me, hey, maybe we don't mind that kind of thing. Maybe we hate ourselves already and see the genre as a way to work off spiritual debt, like a karmic gym. Regular people, a definition I don't usually apply to Gabe, but whatever - regular people know that things like that are bullshit. So why do we consent to them? What's more, why do developers assail us with these notions? Part of it is, I think, a twisted sense of tradition - the games before did it. Part of it is that is keeps a person - a certain kind of person, at least - onboard for more suffering. Maybe there's some kind of grind in the upper levels I haven't reached yet. Maybe at level 30, you start losing experience when you die or some other antique convention of the genre. I doubt it."
I'll give you the GIMP (I personally can't get used to it and use Photoshop with Crossover Office), but I like OpenOffice/StarOffice Suite much better than anything in the MS Office Suite (which I use at work). I really prefer AbiWord over MSWord and StarOffice Writer, but that's neither here nor there.
I think that interfaces have been getting much better just recently. I have a feeling that a lot of Linux developers are coders rather than UI designers and artists. As Linux becomes more widespread I think you'll begin to see more of the later types throwing in to help.
For instance, as an easy window manager, KDE 3.2 with the Plastik theme is much better than the standard Win32 theme, or Luna (in my opinion of course). As for Linux apps that have better interfaces than Windows apps, I think GAIM has a nicer interface than any Windows IM app I've tried and I think that LogJam is a better looking LiveJournal client than Semagic.
For e-mail and web browsing I use Firefox and Thunderbird (which was the same thing I used in Windows) so that doesn't really count.
Okay I think I've wasted enough space. Did I have a point? Probably not... Time for sleep.
I agree, the game is wonderful but you can tell that the mouse/keyboard controls were added as an afterthought. I patched a USB end onto one of my Xbox controllers, downloaded the homebrew Windows2k/XP driver, and have been playing with that for the last few weeks. There should be a notice on the box suggesting a dual analog gamepad, because the game is much easier to play with one. Trying to move the camera around with the arrow keys alone was getting me frustrated when I first bought it.
Scouring of the Shire has been out for a while... The part they're talking about is when Gandalf goes to Isengard and breaks Saruman's staff. That's gone from the theatrical release (which really should have been at the end of TTT, but wasn't).
Perhaps you should read the rest of the article. About 4 paragraphs down it says this.
"This early sign of success gave him the confidence to change the licensing agreement so that people could make money selling Linux-based products as long as they continued to share the source code on any features they devised."
What sibling said. You also have to take into consideration the number of people who wouldn't play online if there was a subscription. One of the major draws of battle.net is that it's free.
Heh, you're both right. PSX was the original abbreviation for the Playstation, and they're making a new box called the PSX that's a PS2/DVR in a shiny silver box.
Slashdot Mirror
Yea, but Syntax is pretty easy to learn if you already have the development fundamentals. I had a background in VB and was able to figure out and maintain a Delphi application in about 20 minutes. Granted it wasn't incredibly complex, but the syntax was pretty easy to pick up by just looking at some existing code.
I consider that one of the problems with the PS2s numbers, there is no way to tell how many players are active and how many bought the device and never used it or haven't used it in a long while. Whereas with Live people will usually, you know, stop paying for a service if they don't use it anymore, bringing about more accurate numbers in terms of how many are active.
As far as how much Microsoft is losing, who cares? If there is a loss (I'm not sure one way or the other), they seem to be able to deal with it. It doesn't seem to effect gamers in any way.
*shrug*
I may be completed off base here, since I haven't purchased the game, but I was under the impression that one of the reasons for packaging it on the DVD was so that all clients were available on the same disc. Since the game data is the same, all they would have to have is a seperate installer/client executable.
Players could always make their own add-ons for the Sims. This isn't anything new, there were tons of sites (some you had to pay for) that had extra content for the original.
I agree with your assessment of expansions, but I think the SWG addition may behave a bit differently based on the giant fanbase for the XWing/Tie Fighter games.
It could possibly pull those people into MMOGs, if they make the cost of entry low enough that it doesn't require 6 months of play to get a fighter.
FFXI has been out in Japan for approximately 2 years, it only opened up in the US a few months ago.
Other only takes up 1%, the 30% you're looking at is Lineage.
What about a USB memory dongle?
They sell memory cards for consoles, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to have a USB memory stick with your system's drivers on it and space for save games. You could also load up game patches onto it that would apply when the game loads.
This opens up a new can of worms in terms of game hacking, but I don't think it's that far fetched.
Something like this might help to establish standards for kernel modules. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to download one driver that operated the device regardless of the OS you were running?
Why is this flamebait, it's true. Did you ever watch the behind the scenes video they had? They use software that's much more powerful than they'll ever need to do 'cut-out' artwork. They even mentioned that is why they are so timely.
I agree there is immaturity on both sides of the fence, but there has to be some happy medium somewhere. In the current implementations (that I've played at least), only one of those groups can have fun at a time.
I kind of see where you're going with your analogy, but for people who equate themselves with their character it becomes personal. The difference between "my character is a level 56 jizzmopper. He's pretty swank," and "I'm a level 56 jizzmopper. I'll beat your ass," can be the difference between a fun escape and ruining the game for yourself and/or others.
I assume that people still play games to have fun, not to impose their superiority on other people, but I'm probably wrong.
I have a feeling that as games become more and more accepted, the percentage of rabidly competitive people will increase with it.
(Hmmm, it seems I started every paragraph with the same thing, but I don't want to spend the time to modify it.)
I agree with this statement to a point, but it's not so much that people are better than you. They just have more disposable time than you do, or they're playing off a template posted on warcry for the express purpose of being all powerful. This wouldn't be a huge problem if the majority of MMORPG players were roleplayers, because each character would be put in context. That isn't the case, however, so it ends up with you ass up in a field somewhere with a 14yo kid in global chat exclaiming how he just 'pwned' a 'n00b.'
This opens up a whole different can of worms. How would you make a MMORPG signifigant for 'casual' players, yet not boring or too easy for the 'hardcore?'
Yes and no, you have to take into consideration the volume of units. When the RIAA is shipping 900,000,000+ albums, 72,000 is 0.00008 of that. Not a considerable amount. I'd guess (completed uneducated, mind you) they lose more from in-store theft than that.
Xbox Media Center
You can set up SMB shares and after tweaking the buffer size it streams nicely.
Nah, they'll just charge you twice. Once for the controller, and once for the USB cable adapter.
Tycho's paragraph was a bit disjointed. That quote you posted was directed at previous MMORPGs, not WoW. He was commenting on how Blizzard's offering is more humane in that respect.
Full Quote:
"The word which constantly comes to my mind when considering the game is "humane." I have quite a lot of patience for games of this type, I don't mind going to a town and asking every medieval jackhole I see where I can find the cathedral. Gabe's not going to do that. That sort of thing isn't fun for most people. Gabe's going to cancel his account when he finds out that it takes twice the experience to get from this level to this level, or the materials you worked so hard to get are destroyed because of some arbitrary roll. For you and me, hey, maybe we don't mind that kind of thing. Maybe we hate ourselves already and see the genre as a way to work off spiritual debt, like a karmic gym. Regular people, a definition I don't usually apply to Gabe, but whatever - regular people know that things like that are bullshit. So why do we consent to them? What's more, why do developers assail us with these notions? Part of it is, I think, a twisted sense of tradition - the games before did it. Part of it is that is keeps a person - a certain kind of person, at least - onboard for more suffering. Maybe there's some kind of grind in the upper levels I haven't reached yet. Maybe at level 30, you start losing experience when you die or some other antique convention of the genre. I doubt it."
I'll give you the GIMP (I personally can't get used to it and use Photoshop with Crossover Office), but I like OpenOffice/StarOffice Suite much better than anything in the MS Office Suite (which I use at work). I really prefer AbiWord over MSWord and StarOffice Writer, but that's neither here nor there.
I think that interfaces have been getting much better just recently. I have a feeling that a lot of Linux developers are coders rather than UI designers and artists. As Linux becomes more widespread I think you'll begin to see more of the later types throwing in to help.
For instance, as an easy window manager, KDE 3.2 with the Plastik theme is much better than the standard Win32 theme, or Luna (in my opinion of course). As for Linux apps that have better interfaces than Windows apps, I think GAIM has a nicer interface than any Windows IM app I've tried and I think that LogJam is a better looking LiveJournal client than Semagic.
For e-mail and web browsing I use Firefox and Thunderbird (which was the same thing I used in Windows) so that doesn't really count.
Okay I think I've wasted enough space. Did I have a point? Probably not... Time for sleep.
... because the shot is 10 seconds long ...
I agree, the game is wonderful but you can tell that the mouse/keyboard controls were added as an afterthought.
I patched a USB end onto one of my Xbox controllers, downloaded the homebrew Windows2k/XP driver, and have been playing with that for the last few weeks.
There should be a notice on the box suggesting a dual analog gamepad, because the game is much easier to play with one. Trying to move the camera around with the arrow keys alone was getting me frustrated when I first bought it.
Scouring of the Shire has been out for a while...
The part they're talking about is when Gandalf goes to Isengard and breaks Saruman's staff. That's gone from the theatrical release (which really should have been at the end of TTT, but wasn't).
Perhaps you should read the rest of the article.
About 4 paragraphs down it says this.
"This early sign of success gave him the confidence to change the licensing agreement so that people could make money selling Linux-based products as long as they continued to share the source code on any features they devised."
What sibling said.
You also have to take into consideration the number of people who wouldn't play online if there was a subscription. One of the major draws of battle.net is that it's free.
If they settled for a 17" MAG CRT, the Plasma was probably less than stellar also. Think $3200 Sampo "brand".
They'd probably issue bootable CDs that would fix the problem, since the dashboard is only loaded if there isn't a CD in the drive.
Heh, you're both right.
PSX was the original abbreviation for the Playstation, and they're making a new box called the PSX that's a PS2/DVR in a shiny silver box.
MBlast synfloods Windows Update once it has been installed. So if you're want to get your patch from there, do it soon.