Forced upgrades for PC games is not only nothing new, but it's been *REALLY* toned down as compared to 10 or 15 years ago. An upgrade from a 486-SX 25 to a P-1 133MHz cost $2000; an upgrade from a Geforce 2 GTS and an Athlon 1.2GHz to a Radeon 9800 and an Athlon XP 2500+ is what, $600? I'd much rather spend less money than more money, neh?
Asking about whether the Bible is appropriate for kids under 18 is like asking whether a short-story anthology with 30-40+ contributing authors is appropriate for kids under 18.
"How should I know which books are appropriate for my kids?"
Same way as you *should* know for video games - try them out. Letting the government decide for you is, IMHO, bad parenting. Caveat: this is coming from a guy whose oldest son is 5 weeks old.
The blurb says that Manitoba wants to bring in video game ratings, and the story confirms that most video games *already* have ratings. What's going on here? Do they really want to waste more taxpayer's money on coming up with a new classification scheme? Why don't they just pass a law that says "Don't let kids under 13/18 play Teen/Mature" games and save us all a whack of cash?
You forget that UT2004 is basically an expansion pack of the previous two games combined. I know, I've played through it. As for the $10 refund that you're about to mention (for owners of UT2003), it doesn't apply outside of the US -- found that out the hard way. Also remember that UT Championship for the XBox was basically UT2003 rewrapped -- not a PC-only franchise, then.
Can you name any original franchise in the last 6 months that was exclusive to the PC?
I think there's a huge correlation between price decreases and the overall decrease in quality of video games. Now, before you go "Yeah, yeah, we've all heard this before," my argument goes a little something like this:
At the very beginning of time (i.e. early 80's), we have two very divergent systems: the computer and early consoles (NES being one of them). Comp games and console games were *very* different - compare and contrast Super Mario with King's Quest I. Sure, there were action games on the computer and adventure games (Zelda) for the NES, but for the most part console and computer games were two very different streams.
Fast forward to the mid-90's -- PS1. Here we have a system that rivals the computer for graphics and actually has fairly complicated games, in some cases more complicated than PC games. PS2 solidified this convergence, and now we have the XBox which is pretty much a cheap computer.
My point: you can now pick up the same game on all three consoles and the PC (Beyond Good and Evil, as quoted in article); the PC copy will have better graphics, sure, but for the most part it will be less polished (as it can be patched, and console games generally can't) and will come with a higher price tag, namely the computer itself. It's hard to compare with the same game and sometimes equivalent graphics (i.e. KOTOR, GTA) between a cheap console and a much more expensive computer.
So, in my opinion, there's no mystery -- PC games will go down in price quicker because PC games don't sell as well as console games. Why? Consoles are cheaper. EB Games and Walmart, a specialty and general retailer respectively, have increasingly offered less shelf space for PC games over the past ten or so years. One day, these game companies are going to wake up and say, "Hey, we're LOSING money on PC games! Forget the comp, go straight to the console!" (*cough*BIOWARE*cough*)
I understand that, for a lot of users, there's a huge difference between the cost of broadband and dialup, but here in Saskatchewan the price difference is virtually nil. Dial-up (50 hours a month) is 17.95 CAD, and 256/256 broadband w/free modem, install, and network card is 22.95 CAD. Heck, for another 9 CAD a month you can get 1.5/256 broadband.
If the majority of users were presented with dialup (max download 5KB/s) or broadband (max download 32KB/s) for $5 more a month, I guarantee they'd choose broadband.
Some bald guy named Kane will try to take over the world, while the rest of the world will unite in their attempt to harvest Tiberum with small bulldozers. Oh yeah, and WALKING MECHS! This is the day I've been waiting for!
I remember reading an editorial in Computer Gaming World way back when (92? 93?) that said that they respected their readers too much to add numbers to the end of their reviews. Basically, their argument was, what's the point of writing pros and cons in words if people are just going to flip to the end of the article to find out the score?
I completely agreed with this editorial. It's not much of a surprise, then, that I stopped reading CGW when they started adding scores to their reviews, something which they said they would NEVER DO. Not that I'm bitter.
Ah yes, the obligatory "I use the lunix b3cause it was on Hackers and I also need to s1am the windoze computers!" (I'm risking flamebait, I know, but I've been wanting to use "lunix" for a while now;))
These billboards have been around for a while, despite the/. blurb. Have they been hacked yet? Nope. They've crashed, they've blue-screened, and people have played solitaire on them with touch-screen ATMs, but not hacked. How, may I ask, do you hack a SCREEN?
Hacking requires physical access to the computer that is displaying the info on the screen, unless the comp is hooked up to a network (unlikely) or for whatever reason has wireless/bluetooth periphrial support (more likely, but still not exactly commonplace). Otherwise, the only way you'd be able to hack Time Square is using next season's Ono Sendai 7 with McCoy Pauley looking over your shoulder.
-A small, cheap flash HD.
-Backwards compatibility.
-Kick-ass Mario game.
That should about do it. I'm a huge Nintendo fan, but even I know that this is all they need to add if they want to still KATN. A next-gen F-Zero game and 3D goggles would help too.
Looking at this story makes me realise that I need a new keyboard, but I'm using a PC -- are there any PC keyboards "built like a tank" that I could pick up brand new too?
"Plus, the warranty is great. Battery died two days ago (don't know why, totally failed) I called it in shortly after that, and they overnighted it for free to me. So 24 hour turnaround on battery replacement."
Hmmm... I'd prefer, you know, the battery to *not* fail and have crappy customer support than a failed battery and great customer support.
Why isn't this modded up? The parent clearly demonstrates that it is very difficult (without the aid of a US citizen) to do what the story-poster wants?
Having said that, *some* notebook manufacturers do allow you to ship to hotels or PO boxes... I think IBM is one, but don't quote me on it. I'm pretty sure Alienware does, however, but their prices are ridiculously high anyway.
RTFS(Story). They're not tracking what you're doing, just how long you've been browsing for. If you have pop-ups and javascript disabled, they can't get you, either.
Besides, if you connect to a web site and download stuff off of it (web page, a picture, etc.) chances are they've got your IP already. It's like wanting to sue Slashdot because they know that you're posting a reply to a story.
Re:Expensive Electronics Cheap Scams, not taken do
on
eBay Fraud Vigilantes
·
· Score: 1
I dunno... $3 for the info plus another $20 for a mag subscription is still cheaper than buying the game for $30, right? I too missed out on the deal, and had i really wanted the disk I certainly would have paid $3 for the info, esp. if it only cost $20!
EULAs aren't enforcable unless you agree to the terms before you purchase the game. If I made a video game and one of the terms on the EULA (to be read once the game was installed and there was no possible way to return it, at least in North America) was "You agree to me hacking into your bank account and emptying it," or even "You agree to send me $10," would it hold up in court? Doubtful.
BitTorrent *is* cast in the same light as Kazaa, Morpheus etc. according to the media, and as such it will not (in the near future) be seen as legitimate, no matter how Atari or Blizzard uses p2p. Yes, p2p has legitimate uses, but until the world wakes up and realises that you can do more than download Britney_Spears_L33T-N3w-S0ng!.mp3, it will remain as shady as Napster 1.0.
I'm not sure that's exactly true, at least for Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. There have been several references to past history (Eliot's a Catholic with four children, Munsch is divorced, Olivia was an orphan), and IMHO SVU is the most effective and interesting show of all three iterations.
The problem is that hardcore gamers and those who use a comp for intensive graphics purposes (CADders) don't generally purchase their computers off the rack, and therefore wouldn't need these set of metrics at Best Buy.
Joe Six-Pack, however, doesn't know enough about computers to be able to compare a string of eight or nine variables, so metrics are wasted on them too.
Slashdot Mirror
Gomen nasai, nihongo wo hanashimasu ka, eh? That better?
Forced upgrades for PC games is not only nothing new, but it's been *REALLY* toned down as compared to 10 or 15 years ago. An upgrade from a 486-SX 25 to a P-1 133MHz cost $2000; an upgrade from a Geforce 2 GTS and an Athlon 1.2GHz to a Radeon 9800 and an Athlon XP 2500+ is what, $600? I'd much rather spend less money than more money, neh?
"How should I know which books are appropriate for my kids?"
Same way as you *should* know for video games - try them out. Letting the government decide for you is, IMHO, bad parenting. Caveat: this is coming from a guy whose oldest son is 5 weeks old.
The blurb says that Manitoba wants to bring in video game ratings, and the story confirms that most video games *already* have ratings. What's going on here? Do they really want to waste more taxpayer's money on coming up with a new classification scheme? Why don't they just pass a law that says "Don't let kids under 13/18 play Teen/Mature" games and save us all a whack of cash?
Star Chamber... mmm... if only I had the hundreds of dollars required to build a decent deck, I'd be playing it all day, every day.
Can you name any original franchise in the last 6 months that was exclusive to the PC?
At the very beginning of time (i.e. early 80's), we have two very divergent systems: the computer and early consoles (NES being one of them). Comp games and console games were *very* different - compare and contrast Super Mario with King's Quest I. Sure, there were action games on the computer and adventure games (Zelda) for the NES, but for the most part console and computer games were two very different streams.
Fast forward to the mid-90's -- PS1. Here we have a system that rivals the computer for graphics and actually has fairly complicated games, in some cases more complicated than PC games. PS2 solidified this convergence, and now we have the XBox which is pretty much a cheap computer.
My point: you can now pick up the same game on all three consoles and the PC (Beyond Good and Evil, as quoted in article); the PC copy will have better graphics, sure, but for the most part it will be less polished (as it can be patched, and console games generally can't) and will come with a higher price tag, namely the computer itself. It's hard to compare with the same game and sometimes equivalent graphics (i.e. KOTOR, GTA) between a cheap console and a much more expensive computer.
So, in my opinion, there's no mystery -- PC games will go down in price quicker because PC games don't sell as well as console games. Why? Consoles are cheaper. EB Games and Walmart, a specialty and general retailer respectively, have increasingly offered less shelf space for PC games over the past ten or so years. One day, these game companies are going to wake up and say, "Hey, we're LOSING money on PC games! Forget the comp, go straight to the console!" (*cough*BIOWARE*cough*)
If the majority of users were presented with dialup (max download 5KB/s) or broadband (max download 32KB/s) for $5 more a month, I guarantee they'd choose broadband.
Some bald guy named Kane will try to take over the world, while the rest of the world will unite in their attempt to harvest Tiberum with small bulldozers. Oh yeah, and WALKING MECHS! This is the day I've been waiting for!
I completely agreed with this editorial. It's not much of a surprise, then, that I stopped reading CGW when they started adding scores to their reviews, something which they said they would NEVER DO. Not that I'm bitter.
These billboards have been around for a while, despite the /. blurb. Have they been hacked yet? Nope. They've crashed, they've blue-screened, and people have played solitaire on them with touch-screen ATMs, but not hacked. How, may I ask, do you hack a SCREEN?
Hacking requires physical access to the computer that is displaying the info on the screen, unless the comp is hooked up to a network (unlikely) or for whatever reason has wireless/bluetooth periphrial support (more likely, but still not exactly commonplace). Otherwise, the only way you'd be able to hack Time Square is using next season's Ono Sendai 7 with McCoy Pauley looking over your shoulder.
-Backwards compatibility.
-Kick-ass Mario game.
That should about do it. I'm a huge Nintendo fan, but even I know that this is all they need to add if they want to still KATN. A next-gen F-Zero game and 3D goggles would help too.
Looking at this story makes me realise that I need a new keyboard, but I'm using a PC -- are there any PC keyboards "built like a tank" that I could pick up brand new too?
Sex || Pr0n
Um, yeah, Chernobyl was an accident, mmmkay? Didn't you get the memo?
Less than an inch thick, some come with 64MB VRam, most have battery life of 4 hours + (higher end with better batteries are 9 hr +).
Hmmm... I'd prefer, you know, the battery to *not* fail and have crappy customer support than a failed battery and great customer support.
Having said that, *some* notebook manufacturers do allow you to ship to hotels or PO boxes... I think IBM is one, but don't quote me on it. I'm pretty sure Alienware does, however, but their prices are ridiculously high anyway.
Besides, if you connect to a web site and download stuff off of it (web page, a picture, etc.) chances are they've got your IP already. It's like wanting to sue Slashdot because they know that you're posting a reply to a story.
I dunno... $3 for the info plus another $20 for a mag subscription is still cheaper than buying the game for $30, right? I too missed out on the deal, and had i really wanted the disk I certainly would have paid $3 for the info, esp. if it only cost $20!
And if I'm in Romania or Nigeria, good luck collecting. If the seller isn't legit, then it's not like they're going to sue!
EULAs aren't enforcable unless you agree to the terms before you purchase the game. If I made a video game and one of the terms on the EULA (to be read once the game was installed and there was no possible way to return it, at least in North America) was "You agree to me hacking into your bank account and emptying it," or even "You agree to send me $10," would it hold up in court? Doubtful.
It's been six months since this story, and since then Kazaa:
might be sued by the US government for facilitating IP infringement,
is being sued in Australia for IP infringement, and
is being sued for possible IP infringement of the Kazaa software itself.
BitTorrent *is* cast in the same light as Kazaa, Morpheus etc. according to the media, and as such it will not (in the near future) be seen as legitimate, no matter how Atari or Blizzard uses p2p. Yes, p2p has legitimate uses, but until the world wakes up and realises that you can do more than download Britney_Spears_L33T-N3w-S0ng!.mp3, it will remain as shady as Napster 1.0.
I'm not sure that's exactly true, at least for Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. There have been several references to past history (Eliot's a Catholic with four children, Munsch is divorced, Olivia was an orphan), and IMHO SVU is the most effective and interesting show of all three iterations.
Joe Six-Pack, however, doesn't know enough about computers to be able to compare a string of eight or nine variables, so metrics are wasted on them too.