It may not be very good graphically, but whats to keep players from simply copying what they think looks best and then pasting it onto their own user made maps? Especially considering this is coming out on the console only (for now) IF they put in a program to make user made maps, they can't expect people to create textures and fancy models using a PS2 controller.
My idea is pretty unimaginative, but all I would need is a few grey textures, a square arena, and four divided areas with jumps, climbable buildings, a "pit", and an indoor area to satisfy my designing needs. Oh and all the guns and vehicles in the game.
Will there ever be a speed run record for people who play through getting the bare minimum items? At least in the Metroid games, you don't need to get all the items especially considering with 100% you'd end up with over 100 missles and 1000 energy..
am I the only person who has trouble believing people who claim to get a 100% completion rate in Super Metroid in less than 1:30?
Considering I personally have beaten Super Metroid in less than 1 hour with roughly 60% completion, its not hard to imagine some hardcore gamer out there getting 100%, with an extra half hour. (Unless you do a bare minimum run through, you will get at LEAST 30% completion rate. As it stands the lowest is 15% so 30% isn't that much more.)
Not only that, there are reports and entire FAQs dedicated to bare MINIMUM runs (theres even a report for a 1% run through in Metroid Fusion!) Naturally this were made on the emulator so they wouldn't count, but the fact that they CAN BE DONE remains.
"That's where PlanetSide has struck a chord with me. It takes the player interaction I enjoy in these games and combines it with a skill-based game."
I wouldn't say Planetside combines player interaction and skill-based action too well at all. People group together in that game because most early weapons are nearly useless, sure you got a big ol assault rifle and you can tear apart a stealth guy, but do you really think a stealth guy is gonna let himself get caught out in the middle of nowhere with his cloak off? Course not. The game also uses a "certificate" system, great except now everyone gravitates towards the "best" class with few people left for other classes, yet another reason to band together (Medic or Engineer anyone?).
The game FORCES players to group together by stripping them of individuality. Sure you have X weapon, but its so big you can't carry any extra weapons, no medipaks, and you used all your certificates to get it so you can't drive yourself around. Good luck trying to "lone wolf" that way.
The game also isn't that skill based. I played in the beta with a couple friend of mine and we discovered all sorts tricks more like standard MMORPGs rather than the game's MMOFPS gameplay. Some players would play as a stealth guy and have a friend fly them up into a tree and then camp there. When an enemy came near, he'd drop out of the tree and quickly kill him. Not very FPS-like is it?
Fights for bases also degrades into a traditional game of "seige". Since any competant defender will build all sorts of defenses inside, along with having actual players guarding it, entering any base without some SERIOUS preparations means suicide. So what do attackers do? Wait them out. Occasionally bombard the place to kill those careless enough to get caught outside the base. Same with the defenders, occasionally pop out to kill those who get too close, jump back in, heal/reload, repeat. Not exactly skill based is it?
My friend and I would participate in some of these... to an extent. Sometimes we'd take turns watching the game in case something important happened while the other went to eat/Alt-Tabbed out to surf the net/went to the bathroom/etc. Yeah, it was lame, but it worked. Too well for the style of gameplay we were expecting. Needless to say, we stopped playing after the beta ended.
Lets not forget the most obvious problem when it comes to communications for an overseas company. Language barrier. I know both the media and Nintendo have whole departments setup just to make sure the Japanese-English translation makes it through correctly, but somewhere along the line some Japanese Nintendo representative might forget to pass along some financial report or news report PRAISING the Gamecube to his U.S. Nintendo representative.
In addition to your comment about Microsoft being able to working the American press, the same could be said about Nintendo and Sony working the Japanese press. Nintendo is the the most experienced gaming company in history, they're bound to know the tricks when it comes to Japanese media. Sony is the biggest manufacturer and developer of gadgets and electronics, course they're gonna know a thing or two about the media.
Making them take down the website and if the then keep re-affending THEN slap them with some jail time.
The problem with this is, if they take down the site only to put up another one under a different name/IP address/etc, how do you prove hes the same guy from before? WITHOUT "invading" his privacy? The thing is, you can't thanks to the anonymity of the internet.
Considering what made Gauntlet fun was the insanely basic hack-and-slash system, its gonna be hard to argue that this new Gauntlet will be anything more than another medicore attempt at cashing in on a name that just won't die. The last two Gauntlet games (Legends and Dark Legacy) were nothing more graphics improvements with an extra button, what will they put into the next Gauntlet? Real AI? A level building program? A jump button? (In Gauntlet Legends, some of the "cliffs" were so thin you'd think your character would be able to step over them)
No they aren't. They're two totally different meanings.
"Most popular video game as of right now" implies NOW. Not 5 years ago, not 5 years into the future, not after you take a bathroom break. Now means NOW.
"Best game ever" means ever. Theres a huge difference based on how you phrase something. Saying "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest of them all" is not the same as "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest RPG series of them all" nor "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest series of all games."
If Gamespy was to rename their contest "The Most Popular Game Based on our Staff's Nominees"/.'ers wouldn't give a fuck.
It could just mean that the U.S. has the highest number of hijacked computers compared to the number of hijacked computers in the rest of the world. Sure other places like Asia and Europe may have more computers, but the U.S. has had an established computer base for a longer time than other places. Its not like computers are shipping with hijacked software to begin with.
Yeah, lets see you get all 150/250/whatever they're up to now Pokemon without cheating while maintaining your job as a professor. I spent over 50 hours in the original Pokemon and didn't even get 100 of them. Good luck trying to get double that number while writing an analyze of it up. Admittedly not exactly a fair statement considering the game, but how about RPGs? On average they now tend to average about 30-70 hours. Each.
Others say that games need a Shakespeare, someone who can catapult the digital medium forward.
You mean someone like John Carmack who is already considered to be the founder of the FPS genre, one of the best programmers in the industry, and the creator of some of the most recognizable video game serieses in history (Doom and Quake)? What about the people at Valve? They got Half-Life right, something great must be there. What about Hideo Kojima? He makes storylines so dense even hardcore gamers get pissed at him.
From the parent post : Get the courts to overturn it, and pass laws concentrating on the actual gambling.
From the news report : A draconian computer gaming ban enacted two years ago is still alive and kicking in Greece, despite a string of court decisions throwing it out as unconstitutional, the country's internet cafe owners complain.
As you can see, there ARE court decisions overruling the laws and letting the cybercafe owners get away with this. In the real world, however, this means still means squat in light of the fact that all your computer hardware (which is 99.9% of a cybercafe's investment) is destroyed from police confiscation, not to mention uncounted losses in profit. Until the laws fully get taken down, the cybercafe owners are gonna get screwed even if they get off the hook.
"The law is the law and we have to enforce it, even if it prevents us from pursuing our real aim, which is the fight against illegal gambling," an official at the Athens gaming police told AFP.
So the police are willing to spend thousands of dollars performing "raids" on public cybercafes just because their out in the open and obvious. Real smart there.
This is unlawful but, couldn't the police turn a blind eye on these cybercafes (the law abiding ones of course) and instead focus on the ones that promote/harbor/create/encourage illegal online gambling?
"These guys earn so much, that even when police catch them and confiscate their PCs, they can pay the fines and buy new material with just a single day's proceedings," Gusakis added.
Gee maybe its because they have to increase prices in order to replace the hardware you guys keep destroying? If I was running a car dealership and my cars kept getting confiscated and destroyed by the police, don't you think my prices would have to be pretty high?
A public screening of a movie is outside of the permissable license on a DVD sold for private viewing.
But then what defines a private viewing? If I decide to show a DVD to a group of 10 friends (say I'm really social), is that a private viewing? Outside of family relationship, showing a movie is one big grey area due to lack of specific parameters.
If I buy a laptop and sit on a park bench, using it, that would be a "public performance," according to you. There's absolutely no connection between this notion of "public performance" and computer software.
Of course it depends on what you're doing. If you were using a prototype laptop/software and you weren't supposed to use it/share it/demonstrate it to the public, yeah some company could send law on you for using it as a "public performance." The only reason why you don't hear about this too often is because its such a vague law. Whens the last time you ever heard of a local film club or friend get arrested for a "public performance" of a movie they were showing at the time? My local high school film club used to show off movies for free on Wednesdays, but they never got arrested (unarguably a public showing since it was open to the public and free). My friend invited my brother and I to see Cowboy Bebop the Movie in his basement for free a couple months ago along with about 10 other friends (again unarguably a public showing.)
Heck I could show off the movie The Matrix for free my local high school and I wouldn't get arrested. You know why? Because its such a hard law to actually enforce and prove. Hence the reason why this Slashdot report on video game copyright laws.
I cannot wait until Nintendo get some real competition. Gameboy has had too long a monopoly on the handheld gaming industry.
Some of the Gameboy's biggest competitors in handheld gaming history:
Game Gear. Produced by Sega. Had a COLOR SCREEN back when the Gameboy was still in black and white. Blew away, burned, and then buried the Gameboy in terms of graphics. Currently discontinued.
The Wonderswan Color. Recieved Final Fantasy remakes. Nuff said. Was never released outside of Japan. End of story.
The NeoGeo Pocket. Produced by SNK. Had back-lit screen, a little joystick instead of a D-pad (FINALLY), and shipped with wonderful games like Metal Slug. Currently discontinued but you can still buy them in special packages at local video game stores.
I'm sorry, real competition? They went up against Sega (gotta love that historic rivalry) and SNK. Now they're going up against Sony. Wtf do you wanna see Nintendo go up against? A Microsoft handheld?
How about a virtual penny arcade that let you play multiplayer Joust or Gauntlet II online with people from around the world?
If I play Gauntlet II online, how will I push my teammate away from his controls so I can steal the food before him? (Believe it or not, my friends and I actually do that when we play only to have someone "accidently" shoot it)
What characterized the heyday of the arcade game was creativity...
I wouldn't say arcade games weren't THAT much motivated by creativity. Why? Look at the longest lasting, tried and true arcade serieses there are. The Street Fighter series and the King of Fighter series are still going on strong (debatable) even through they still use the old 1-on-1 2D fighting game system (debatable depending on version). Look at Metal Slug as well. They're working on a 5th, and the U.S. only got 1 (on the NeoGeo Color Pocket) and X (on the PS1). We're FINALLY getting 3, after what? 2 or 3 years of waiting? (Yes we skipped 2, but X was a remake of 2 so I guess its acceptable)
Yes creativity is unarguably one of the most influencing factors when it comes to arcade games, but not the ONLY factor.
Think about it this way. Ever been to a public lab? A public high school? A library? They all have computers, all running copies of Windows. Is that a "public performance"? No. As long as you have one license for each computer, you're in the clear.
Actually a LAN party could be viewed as a "public performance" because of the broad defination of a LAN party. Theres primarily two types. Theres the 'bring your own computer' system or the cybercafe style of 'walk in, pay and play' system. In a broad defination both are LAN parties, the thing is it only applies for the latter. For the former, yeah you'd need one license for each computer (to be on the safe side.)
It depends on how you view it. If you invited 20 friends over to your house to watch a DVD, yes that could be considered a "public showing". If you were some rich ass mofo and decided to buy 20 Alienware computer and run 20 copies of UT2k4, yes that could be considered to be a "public performance." (For both Alienware and Epic.)
As for running Windows on multiple computers at a place like a library or a school, thats not really a fair statement. Some schools and libraries recieve the equipment (and software) for free (at the very least, discounted) so I'm sure theres some kind of special license agreements for them.
Dance Dance Revolution has already gotten over 6 "sequels" in Japan, as well as a guitar version, a drum version, and an electrical keyboard version. First one, yes that was a creative move but that was released a while ago in Japan. Since then, its been milked moreso than *gasp* The Sims.
Space Channel 5 is a rip off Bust-A-Groove for the PS1. You did the same thing in Bust-A-Groove, push the D-pad in the direction the game tells you in time. Not creative.
The Sims is horribly horribly milked. The Sims online, more expansions than any other game released, and a sequel is being made. Its Simcity at a microlevel. Not very creative.
As for Animal Crossing and Pikmin, both games were sadly undersold, are considered 'kiddie games', and are motivated largely by Nintendo's willingness to experiment insanely. Yes creative, but unsuccessful in the market.
As for Shenmue, thats more of a cult hit than a mass marketing hit.
Jak and Daxter as well as Ratchet and Clank were both expect to recieve sequels. They already had one before and they were both expect, so why not try it again? Expected.
But Sly Cooper? Never sold well, didn't have much marketing, and was certainly not noticed in the mainstream. Where did the idea for a sequel for this come from?
Slashdot Mirror
I think the question should be, "what was the life expectancy for this satellite?"
you insensitive clod!
My idea is pretty unimaginative, but all I would need is a few grey textures, a square arena, and four divided areas with jumps, climbable buildings, a "pit", and an indoor area to satisfy my designing needs. Oh and all the guns and vehicles in the game.
Will there ever be a speed run record for people who play through getting the bare minimum items? At least in the Metroid games, you don't need to get all the items especially considering with 100% you'd end up with over 100 missles and 1000 energy..
Considering I personally have beaten Super Metroid in less than 1 hour with roughly 60% completion, its not hard to imagine some hardcore gamer out there getting 100%, with an extra half hour. (Unless you do a bare minimum run through, you will get at LEAST 30% completion rate. As it stands the lowest is 15% so 30% isn't that much more.)
Not only that, there are reports and entire FAQs dedicated to bare MINIMUM runs (theres even a report for a 1% run through in Metroid Fusion!) Naturally this were made on the emulator so they wouldn't count, but the fact that they CAN BE DONE remains.
I wouldn't say Planetside combines player interaction and skill-based action too well at all. People group together in that game because most early weapons are nearly useless, sure you got a big ol assault rifle and you can tear apart a stealth guy, but do you really think a stealth guy is gonna let himself get caught out in the middle of nowhere with his cloak off? Course not. The game also uses a "certificate" system, great except now everyone gravitates towards the "best" class with few people left for other classes, yet another reason to band together (Medic or Engineer anyone?).
The game FORCES players to group together by stripping them of individuality. Sure you have X weapon, but its so big you can't carry any extra weapons, no medipaks, and you used all your certificates to get it so you can't drive yourself around. Good luck trying to "lone wolf" that way.
The game also isn't that skill based. I played in the beta with a couple friend of mine and we discovered all sorts tricks more like standard MMORPGs rather than the game's MMOFPS gameplay. Some players would play as a stealth guy and have a friend fly them up into a tree and then camp there. When an enemy came near, he'd drop out of the tree and quickly kill him. Not very FPS-like is it?
Fights for bases also degrades into a traditional game of "seige". Since any competant defender will build all sorts of defenses inside, along with having actual players guarding it, entering any base without some SERIOUS preparations means suicide. So what do attackers do? Wait them out. Occasionally bombard the place to kill those careless enough to get caught outside the base. Same with the defenders, occasionally pop out to kill those who get too close, jump back in, heal/reload, repeat. Not exactly skill based is it?
My friend and I would participate in some of these... to an extent. Sometimes we'd take turns watching the game in case something important happened while the other went to eat/Alt-Tabbed out to surf the net/went to the bathroom/etc. Yeah, it was lame, but it worked. Too well for the style of gameplay we were expecting. Needless to say, we stopped playing after the beta ended.
Will be able to kill the big headed, Mr. Big, again?
In addition to your comment about Microsoft being able to working the American press, the same could be said about Nintendo and Sony working the Japanese press. Nintendo is the the most experienced gaming company in history, they're bound to know the tricks when it comes to Japanese media. Sony is the biggest manufacturer and developer of gadgets and electronics, course they're gonna know a thing or two about the media.
The problem with this is, if they take down the site only to put up another one under a different name/IP address/etc, how do you prove hes the same guy from before? WITHOUT "invading" his privacy? The thing is, you can't thanks to the anonymity of the internet.
Considering what made Gauntlet fun was the insanely basic hack-and-slash system, its gonna be hard to argue that this new Gauntlet will be anything more than another medicore attempt at cashing in on a name that just won't die. The last two Gauntlet games (Legends and Dark Legacy) were nothing more graphics improvements with an extra button, what will they put into the next Gauntlet? Real AI? A level building program? A jump button? (In Gauntlet Legends, some of the "cliffs" were so thin you'd think your character would be able to step over them)
No they aren't. They're two totally different meanings.
"Most popular video game as of right now" implies NOW. Not 5 years ago, not 5 years into the future, not after you take a bathroom break. Now means NOW.
"Best game ever" means ever. Theres a huge difference based on how you phrase something. Saying "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest of them all" is not the same as "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest RPG series of them all" nor "I think Final Fantasy is the shittest series of all games."
If Gamespy was to rename their contest "The Most Popular Game Based on our Staff's Nominees" /.'ers wouldn't give a fuck.
It could just mean that the U.S. has the highest number of hijacked computers compared to the number of hijacked computers in the rest of the world. Sure other places like Asia and Europe may have more computers, but the U.S. has had an established computer base for a longer time than other places. Its not like computers are shipping with hijacked software to begin with.
according to an un-named source.
An un-named source? Gee, wow, thats real reliable.
This one guy also played through Contra and Super C, both under 20 minutes. Heres the link to his site here .
Researchers shouldn't use cheat codes, she said.
Yeah, lets see you get all 150/250/whatever they're up to now Pokemon without cheating while maintaining your job as a professor. I spent over 50 hours in the original Pokemon and didn't even get 100 of them. Good luck trying to get double that number while writing an analyze of it up. Admittedly not exactly a fair statement considering the game, but how about RPGs? On average they now tend to average about 30-70 hours. Each.
Others say that games need a Shakespeare, someone who can catapult the digital medium forward.
You mean someone like John Carmack who is already considered to be the founder of the FPS genre, one of the best programmers in the industry, and the creator of some of the most recognizable video game serieses in history (Doom and Quake)? What about the people at Valve? They got Half-Life right, something great must be there. What about Hideo Kojima? He makes storylines so dense even hardcore gamers get pissed at him.
From the news report : A draconian computer gaming ban enacted two years ago is still alive and kicking in Greece, despite a string of court decisions throwing it out as unconstitutional, the country's internet cafe owners complain.
As you can see, there ARE court decisions overruling the laws and letting the cybercafe owners get away with this. In the real world, however, this means still means squat in light of the fact that all your computer hardware (which is 99.9% of a cybercafe's investment) is destroyed from police confiscation, not to mention uncounted losses in profit. Until the laws fully get taken down, the cybercafe owners are gonna get screwed even if they get off the hook.
So the police are willing to spend thousands of dollars performing "raids" on public cybercafes just because their out in the open and obvious. Real smart there.
This is unlawful but, couldn't the police turn a blind eye on these cybercafes (the law abiding ones of course) and instead focus on the ones that promote/harbor/create/encourage illegal online gambling?
"These guys earn so much, that even when police catch them and confiscate their PCs, they can pay the fines and buy new material with just a single day's proceedings," Gusakis added.
Gee maybe its because they have to increase prices in order to replace the hardware you guys keep destroying? If I was running a car dealership and my cars kept getting confiscated and destroyed by the police, don't you think my prices would have to be pretty high?
But then what defines a private viewing? If I decide to show a DVD to a group of 10 friends (say I'm really social), is that a private viewing? Outside of family relationship, showing a movie is one big grey area due to lack of specific parameters.
If I buy a laptop and sit on a park bench, using it, that would be a "public performance," according to you. There's absolutely no connection between this notion of "public performance" and computer software.
Of course it depends on what you're doing. If you were using a prototype laptop/software and you weren't supposed to use it/share it/demonstrate it to the public, yeah some company could send law on you for using it as a "public performance." The only reason why you don't hear about this too often is because its such a vague law. Whens the last time you ever heard of a local film club or friend get arrested for a "public performance" of a movie they were showing at the time? My local high school film club used to show off movies for free on Wednesdays, but they never got arrested (unarguably a public showing since it was open to the public and free). My friend invited my brother and I to see Cowboy Bebop the Movie in his basement for free a couple months ago along with about 10 other friends (again unarguably a public showing.)
Heck I could show off the movie The Matrix for free my local high school and I wouldn't get arrested. You know why? Because its such a hard law to actually enforce and prove. Hence the reason why this Slashdot report on video game copyright laws.
Some of the Gameboy's biggest competitors in handheld gaming history :
Game Gear. Produced by Sega. Had a COLOR SCREEN back when the Gameboy was still in black and white. Blew away, burned, and then buried the Gameboy in terms of graphics. Currently discontinued.
The Wonderswan Color. Recieved Final Fantasy remakes. Nuff said. Was never released outside of Japan. End of story.
The NeoGeo Pocket. Produced by SNK. Had back-lit screen, a little joystick instead of a D-pad (FINALLY), and shipped with wonderful games like Metal Slug. Currently discontinued but you can still buy them in special packages at local video game stores.
I'm sorry, real competition? They went up against Sega (gotta love that historic rivalry) and SNK. Now they're going up against Sony. Wtf do you wanna see Nintendo go up against? A Microsoft handheld?
If I play Gauntlet II online, how will I push my teammate away from his controls so I can steal the food before him? (Believe it or not, my friends and I actually do that when we play only to have someone "accidently" shoot it)
I wouldn't say arcade games weren't THAT much motivated by creativity. Why? Look at the longest lasting, tried and true arcade serieses there are. The Street Fighter series and the King of Fighter series are still going on strong (debatable) even through they still use the old 1-on-1 2D fighting game system (debatable depending on version). Look at Metal Slug as well. They're working on a 5th, and the U.S. only got 1 (on the NeoGeo Color Pocket) and X (on the PS1). We're FINALLY getting 3, after what? 2 or 3 years of waiting? (Yes we skipped 2, but X was a remake of 2 so I guess its acceptable)
Yes creativity is unarguably one of the most influencing factors when it comes to arcade games, but not the ONLY factor.
Actually a LAN party could be viewed as a "public performance" because of the broad defination of a LAN party. Theres primarily two types. Theres the 'bring your own computer' system or the cybercafe style of 'walk in, pay and play' system. In a broad defination both are LAN parties, the thing is it only applies for the latter. For the former, yeah you'd need one license for each computer (to be on the safe side.)
It depends on how you view it. If you invited 20 friends over to your house to watch a DVD, yes that could be considered a "public showing". If you were some rich ass mofo and decided to buy 20 Alienware computer and run 20 copies of UT2k4, yes that could be considered to be a "public performance." (For both Alienware and Epic.)
As for running Windows on multiple computers at a place like a library or a school, thats not really a fair statement. Some schools and libraries recieve the equipment (and software) for free (at the very least, discounted) so I'm sure theres some kind of special license agreements for them.
In fact no, we should still be using horse and buggies because Model Ts don't have anti-lock brakes.
In fact no, we should still walk everywhere because horse and buggies suffer from the threat of runaway carriages.
Sometimes more can mean more.
Space Channel 5 is a rip off Bust-A-Groove for the PS1. You did the same thing in Bust-A-Groove, push the D-pad in the direction the game tells you in time. Not creative.
The Sims is horribly horribly milked. The Sims online, more expansions than any other game released, and a sequel is being made. Its Simcity at a microlevel. Not very creative.
As for Animal Crossing and Pikmin, both games were sadly undersold, are considered 'kiddie games', and are motivated largely by Nintendo's willingness to experiment insanely. Yes creative, but unsuccessful in the market.
As for Shenmue, thats more of a cult hit than a mass marketing hit.
But Sly Cooper? Never sold well, didn't have much marketing, and was certainly not noticed in the mainstream. Where did the idea for a sequel for this come from?