'Any gamer worth his salt'? Must have some sugar mixed in there then.
Pre-Playstation video games were shunned like the plague wrapped around Barbie dolls with their heads ripped off and replaced with GI-Joe action figure heads. People need to stop comparing the outcast days of the SNES/Genesis and earlier days of gaming from the PS1/N64 days. If you walked into a public place, beside from a local video game store, and randomly started talking about how long it took you to beat a Megaman game, people avoided you.. for miles.
Weren't people about twenty/thirty years ago saying that only nerds used computers, later followed by social outcasts on the internet? Weren't video games 'just for kids' less than twenty years ago?
Twenty years from now, talking to all-in-one-watch-sized-PDA-GPS-positioner cell phones hybrids will be considered "dorky", using anything slower than a 1 GB/s to connect to the internet will be considered "old school", and kids who play play with Gi-Joe toys will be marked as "the next kid to snap and shootup the school."
'You do realize that the reason Sept. 11th happened in the first place was because the United States stuck it's nose into their business.'
So supporting a now proven successful democratic state in arguably the most disruptive part of the world is something we shouldn't have gotten into? Should we have let the Russia pwn Afghanistan by not supplying them with weapons to take down the Russian Hind helicopters?
Its retards like you that can't take a step back, look at history, and see that the U.S. has been helping the world more than anyone is willing to admit. (I'm fucking paying taxes for some homeless kid in Iraq/Africa/Southeast Asia/South America and you got the nerve to tell me I don't know what my own country is fighting for? Wtf is YOUR country fighting for? The 'greater will of Allah?' Yeah, while you're at it, why not send me a check for the $400 USD in taxes I paid last year during my internship?)
True but the original PSO had offline capability so people didn't HAVE to play online with that game (course those people were weirdos...)
IMO, it looks like the PS2 is getting beaten by the Xbox in the online contest. In the long term, unless the PS3 manages to a TKO AND kicks Microsoft in the balls when they're down, the Xbox is going to win in the long term monetary sense. Nintendo... well, isn't even in the online scene right now.
Considering this is Sony we're talking about, I can't play FFXI on my PS2 when it comes out since I don't want to buy a network adaptor (I bought my PS2 before the PS2+network adaptor package), I don't want to buy a hard drive, nor do I want to buy a headset or an extra keyboard. Seeing as both my Xbox and my PC already have a hard drive and network adaptor already plugged in and set up, upgrading my PS2 for a few games is a rip-off.
To make up your own tricks. The problem is that so many developers try to simply "build off another idea" that it all looks the same after the first few dozen. We still have Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, UT2k3, Half-Life/Counter-Strike, and the -free- America's Army running the FPS show. We got Warcraft 3, C&C:Generals, and Age of Mythology running the RTS genre. And theres Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2004 serving the extremely niche group of Simulator fans.
If small time developers wanna break into the market (at least fairly well) they need to do something absolutely outstanding/kick ass to catch the attention of gamers. Give us a Freedom Force or Moonbase Commander game! Give us a MMO-top down shooter game (like GTA2) where we can blast people away without the need of crack reflexes that would give a 60+ year old man a heart attack.
Hmm... Amount of data a PS2 DVD disc can hold vs old Sega Master System and Sega Genesis capabilities... Anyone not seeing the potential to cram another twenty or so games in there?
True the add-on system would be nice to play unique games like Boktai and Kirby Tilt and Tumble, BUT heres the kicker. Who do you think is going to pay for these extra add-on gizmos? The consumer. I donno about you but the idea of having to buy a Bluetooth adaptor, a sun sensor adaptor, or a 'tilt and tumble' adaptor doesn't make me very happy at all. And I was pissed when I had to buy a headphone adaptor for my GBA-SP.
'I believe the choice to block banner ads belongs to the consumer, not Symantec, and it should be more than a "yes-or-no" choice.'
I think that settles the issue fairly well. If the spam filter sucks, then the majority (who are smart enough to turn it off) will turn it off. If it manages to satisfy the majority (doubtful but possible) then people will keep it on.
Woo! Lithium ion battery! I guess the days of having battery eating handheld systems are finally gone. But 'regional code system'? Uh oh.. 'Shock proof'? I don't think they understand the kind of stress gamers put their handhelds' through.. 'Expansion port'!? Uh oh, this means they'll end up releasing some kind of add-on(s) in the future. Maybe a mini-hard drive?
Based on the specs, Nintendo is gonna have a run for its money, but I'm not laying any bets down until I see the games and play them myself.
True user review scores can help counter bias in reviews, however keep in mind that readers themselves can become bias. Especially in games that have long outstanding reputations or big brand name backup. For example:
On Gamespot, they list GTA3 for the PC at a score of 9.3 (not bad since the PS2 version got 9.6). But lo and behold, the reader's score(s) drop the score by.3 points for the PS2 version and an even harsher.8 points. If you're concerned about small bias (a couple people picking 1's) : 19578 readers voted on the PS2 version and 2454 readers voted on the PC version. Hard to sway that kind of majority..
However, vice versa this also happens: Gamespot (again) lists GTA2 for the PC at a fairly low 6.8 (OUCH compared to GTA3's score) and the PS1 version at 6.9. But insert reader reviews and GTA2 for the PC shoots up a whole 1.4 points and the PS1 version almost breaks acceptable levels with an insane 1.9 points! Nearly 2.0 whole points, and just.2 away from the much coveted 9.0 spot.
Keeping this in mind, its VERY easy to see how jaded or how harshly the public can "vote" when it comes to their favorite games. Throw a "reader review" system on Slashdot for programs between Windows, Linux, and Macs; and Windows will be lucky to get a score of 1.2.
P.S. If you want to check the scores, use the GameFinder on the left sidebar on Gamespot.
'There are a few independant groups which make wildly popular games. eg Doom, snood, various other 'indies'. Over the last few years the indie game scene has really taken off.'
Using Doom as an example isn't saying much. As for Snood, other than my brother who got the game via Spyware, I don't know anyone who played the game in my workplace, in my group of gaming friends, or any one in my family. Saying that a 'million' people downloaded it doesn't mean a 'million' different people played it.
VERY few 'indies' manage to barely scrape together a few hundred dollars and usually go the way of Freeware. Why? Because no one has the time, the money, or the willingness to sift through all the crap because less-than-crap is the best there is for 'indies.'
'After narrowly surviving the lab incident in Raccoon Forest, Alice wakes up in the middle of Raccoon City, a city of the dead, now she must escape before Umbrellas newest creation, Nemesis, finds her.. '
Could we at least get the continuity correct? Resident Evil 1 (both the game and the movie) took place in/under a mansion. It had nothing to do with any forestlike areas (unless you consider the greenhouse area to be the Everglades). I know Hollywood likes to butcher video games during their transition to the silver screen, but is it too much to ask for correct plot summaries?
The day Sony used the PS2 ability to also play DVD movies is the day they stopped making "video game consoles." That was the day they became "entertainment systems" which by defination is true. However, I think most people would agree with me when I say that, the image of a PS3 or Xbox 2 being sold next to home surround sound system setups in the future is something reserved for neverever land.
I know the Xbox doesn't have an official mascot yet (although the Master Chief from Halo seems to be the -unofficial- one) but I think they need to adopt one and plaster it onto their system.
Although to be fair, the Playstation (1 and 2) never had a mascot although they didn't need one with FF7 selling the system almost single-handedly.
'If people find a game to be non-entertaining now, I doubt they will find it entertaining in a decade's time.'
That is, assuming you can still find a copy of the game. I'm sure anyone who doesn't make a habit of buying games within the first 6 months of release knows how difficult it can be to find aging games. (Anyone got an aging copy of Fire Pro Wrestling D for the Dreamcast?)
'When you've got people out there sharing tens of thousands of songs it's hard for me to see that as anything but a big rip-off and very hard for me to see why the RIAA should leave them alone.'
Compared to the SHEER number of CDs that get sold containing those songs, about what percentage do you think the downloaded songs represent? In the eyes "Mikey the Musician", letting five people download his song(s) to sell one is great. Especially if those five people live, I donno maybe, -halfway across the country-! When people talk about gaming warez, where do you look? China and Hong Kong. How long does it take for games to reach there? 6 months-to-NEVER.
That was C&C:Generals, and they had to change the cover art because the whole storyline (and thus the game) revolved around terrorists. As for MS Flight Simulator having to put out a patch, wasn't that for the 2000 edition or something? Thats not saying much since SimCity 2000 has been letting me play with airplane crashes as a disaster for years now. As for the recent Canadian outrage, the fact that the developers were specific about the terrorist organization and the location isn't saying much. Unless you can show me another game which PURPOSELY took a sensitive topic and published the game knowing the risks, I'm just going to classify the Syphon Filter Online incident as 'from the shoot-yourself-in-the-foot department.'
And political correctness is a result of real criticism. When a politician get criticized for making a sexist remark, doesn't he get corrected to fit the 'politically correct' views of the public? As far my reading of video game message boards go, the fact that people complain (bitch) and moan (whine) about certain reviews not praising (worshipping) their favorite game(s).
I know the Xbox and the Gamecube aren't being recieved too well either in Japan's domestic market or international (or in the case the Xbox, both) but does the list of awards have to be dominated by PS2 games? Only 9 games in the entire article (9 1/2 if you consider FF11) are NOT for the PS2, while 18 games (17 1/2 considering FF11) are for the PS2.
I played both Call of Duty demos as well, but I don't think you looked too carefully at the game. First, its not 'a team of privates' as there are plenty of Sgts. and Corporals running around with you; not to mention the fact that your Capt. can't be killed and always seems to know where to go.
During the moment when the soldiers are climbing on top of the tank to take it out, you can actually take out the take with a panzerfaust from the magical box of unlimited ammo. Theres THREE Tiger tanks (the Capt. identified them so if their something else, blaim the developers) that you encounter, two of which you destroy SINGLE HANDEDLY with an attack on the FRONT armor. The enemy are not too bright when it comes to grenades, especially those who are scripted. (When you first try to get a panzerfaust to take out the first tank, if you quickly toss grenades to the wall and the doorway to your right, you can almost completely stop their first wave with two grenades) The mortar shots are either scripted or hit the same ground at the same area repeatedly. Not exactly the smartest thing to do when your position is being advanced on.
'We need genuine game criticism, and not merely game reviews. There's a difference between criticism and reviews. A movie review tells you "Is this a fun movie? Do I want to go to this movie?" Movie criticism is a deeper analysis. It's a discussion of the relationship of the movie to other movies like it. Of the relationship of the movie to the wider aesthetic and cultural context in which it was made.' - Ernest Adams, quoted from the article
I agree with Adams that there should be a level of criticism when it comes to reporting video games, but I think having a 'deeper analysis' of video games would cause far too many problems.
First, games are ment to be fun. The moment you start questioning the symbolism of Mario magically absorbing a red mushroom into his body to grow bigger is the moment you've spent too much time watching rather than playing. Secondly, I think would lead to political correctness seeping into games. Personally, I don't like the thought of having my games delayed because some organization/religion/race/nation/culture did not like the way they were depicted in the game. Thirdly, games are all about gameplay simply put.
I think Blizzard shoulda focused on more numerous, although smaller, updates over a period of time. This sort of mass update doesn't really impress me since I know that the next update won't be released for a LONG time now.
Slashdot Mirror
Pre-Playstation video games were shunned like the plague wrapped around Barbie dolls with their heads ripped off and replaced with GI-Joe action figure heads. People need to stop comparing the outcast days of the SNES/Genesis and earlier days of gaming from the PS1/N64 days. If you walked into a public place, beside from a local video game store, and randomly started talking about how long it took you to beat a Megaman game, people avoided you.. for miles.
Weren't people about twenty/thirty years ago saying that only nerds used computers, later followed by social outcasts on the internet? Weren't video games 'just for kids' less than twenty years ago?
Twenty years from now, talking to all-in-one-watch-sized-PDA-GPS-positioner cell phones hybrids will be considered "dorky", using anything slower than a 1 GB/s to connect to the internet will be considered "old school", and kids who play play with Gi-Joe toys will be marked as "the next kid to snap and shootup the school."
So supporting a now proven successful democratic state in arguably the most disruptive part of the world is something we shouldn't have gotten into? Should we have let the Russia pwn Afghanistan by not supplying them with weapons to take down the Russian Hind helicopters?
Its retards like you that can't take a step back, look at history, and see that the U.S. has been helping the world more than anyone is willing to admit. (I'm fucking paying taxes for some homeless kid in Iraq/Africa/Southeast Asia/South America and you got the nerve to tell me I don't know what my own country is fighting for? Wtf is YOUR country fighting for? The 'greater will of Allah?' Yeah, while you're at it, why not send me a check for the $400 USD in taxes I paid last year during my internship?)
IMO, it looks like the PS2 is getting beaten by the Xbox in the online contest. In the long term, unless the PS3 manages to a TKO AND kicks Microsoft in the balls when they're down, the Xbox is going to win in the long term monetary sense. Nintendo... well, isn't even in the online scene right now.
You mean the same "veterans" that always play on servers running the same de_dust, de_dust2, and cs_militia maps 24/7?
Last time I checked CS was loaded with hundreds, if not thousands, of maps yet only 5-10 are really played.
Considering this is Sony we're talking about, I can't play FFXI on my PS2 when it comes out since I don't want to buy a network adaptor (I bought my PS2 before the PS2+network adaptor package), I don't want to buy a hard drive, nor do I want to buy a headset or an extra keyboard. Seeing as both my Xbox and my PC already have a hard drive and network adaptor already plugged in and set up, upgrading my PS2 for a few games is a rip-off.
If small time developers wanna break into the market (at least fairly well) they need to do something absolutely outstanding/kick ass to catch the attention of gamers. Give us a Freedom Force or Moonbase Commander game! Give us a MMO-top down shooter game (like GTA2) where we can blast people away without the need of crack reflexes that would give a 60+ year old man a heart attack.
Hmm... Amount of data a PS2 DVD disc can hold vs old Sega Master System and Sega Genesis capabilities... Anyone not seeing the potential to cram another twenty or so games in there?
True the add-on system would be nice to play unique games like Boktai and Kirby Tilt and Tumble, BUT heres the kicker. Who do you think is going to pay for these extra add-on gizmos? The consumer. I donno about you but the idea of having to buy a Bluetooth adaptor, a sun sensor adaptor, or a 'tilt and tumble' adaptor doesn't make me very happy at all. And I was pissed when I had to buy a headphone adaptor for my GBA-SP.
I think that settles the issue fairly well. If the spam filter sucks, then the majority (who are smart enough to turn it off) will turn it off. If it manages to satisfy the majority (doubtful but possible) then people will keep it on.
http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6078 174.html
Woo! Lithium ion battery! I guess the days of having battery eating handheld systems are finally gone. But 'regional code system'? Uh oh.. 'Shock proof'? I don't think they understand the kind of stress gamers put their handhelds' through.. 'Expansion port'!? Uh oh, this means they'll end up releasing some kind of add-on(s) in the future. Maybe a mini-hard drive?
Based on the specs, Nintendo is gonna have a run for its money, but I'm not laying any bets down until I see the games and play them myself.
On Gamespot, they list GTA3 for the PC at a score of 9.3 (not bad since the PS2 version got 9.6). But lo and behold, the reader's score(s) drop the score by .3 points for the PS2 version and an even harsher .8 points. If you're concerned about small bias (a couple people picking 1's) : 19578 readers voted on the PS2 version and 2454 readers voted on the PC version. Hard to sway that kind of majority..
However, vice versa this also happens : .2 away from the much coveted 9.0 spot.
Gamespot (again) lists GTA2 for the PC at a fairly low 6.8 (OUCH compared to GTA3's score) and the PS1 version at 6.9. But insert reader reviews and GTA2 for the PC shoots up a whole 1.4 points and the PS1 version almost breaks acceptable levels with an insane 1.9 points! Nearly 2.0 whole points, and just
Keeping this in mind, its VERY easy to see how jaded or how harshly the public can "vote" when it comes to their favorite games. Throw a "reader review" system on Slashdot for programs between Windows, Linux, and Macs; and Windows will be lucky to get a score of 1.2 .
P.S. If you want to check the scores, use the GameFinder on the left sidebar on Gamespot.
Using Doom as an example isn't saying much. As for Snood, other than my brother who got the game via Spyware, I don't know anyone who played the game in my workplace, in my group of gaming friends, or any one in my family. Saying that a 'million' people downloaded it doesn't mean a 'million' different people played it.
VERY few 'indies' manage to barely scrape together a few hundred dollars and usually go the way of Freeware. Why? Because no one has the time, the money, or the willingness to sift through all the crap because less-than-crap is the best there is for 'indies.'
Could we at least get the continuity correct? Resident Evil 1 (both the game and the movie) took place in/under a mansion. It had nothing to do with any forestlike areas (unless you consider the greenhouse area to be the Everglades). I know Hollywood likes to butcher video games during their transition to the silver screen, but is it too much to ask for correct plot summaries?
The day Sony used the PS2 ability to also play DVD movies is the day they stopped making "video game consoles." That was the day they became "entertainment systems" which by defination is true. However, I think most people would agree with me when I say that, the image of a PS3 or Xbox 2 being sold next to home surround sound system setups in the future is something reserved for neverever land.
Although to be fair, the Playstation (1 and 2) never had a mascot although they didn't need one with FF7 selling the system almost single-handedly.
That is, assuming you can still find a copy of the game. I'm sure anyone who doesn't make a habit of buying games within the first 6 months of release knows how difficult it can be to find aging games. (Anyone got an aging copy of Fire Pro Wrestling D for the Dreamcast?)
Compared to the SHEER number of CDs that get sold containing those songs, about what percentage do you think the downloaded songs represent? In the eyes "Mikey the Musician", letting five people download his song(s) to sell one is great. Especially if those five people live, I donno maybe, -halfway across the country-! When people talk about gaming warez, where do you look? China and Hong Kong. How long does it take for games to reach there? 6 months-to-NEVER.
And political correctness is a result of real criticism. When a politician get criticized for making a sexist remark, doesn't he get corrected to fit the 'politically correct' views of the public? As far my reading of video game message boards go, the fact that people complain (bitch) and moan (whine) about certain reviews not praising (worshipping) their favorite game(s).
I know the Xbox and the Gamecube aren't being recieved too well either in Japan's domestic market or international (or in the case the Xbox, both) but does the list of awards have to be dominated by PS2 games? Only 9 games in the entire article (9 1/2 if you consider FF11) are NOT for the PS2, while 18 games (17 1/2 considering FF11) are for the PS2.
During the moment when the soldiers are climbing on top of the tank to take it out, you can actually take out the take with a panzerfaust from the magical box of unlimited ammo. Theres THREE Tiger tanks (the Capt. identified them so if their something else, blaim the developers) that you encounter, two of which you destroy SINGLE HANDEDLY with an attack on the FRONT armor.
The enemy are not too bright when it comes to grenades, especially those who are scripted. (When you first try to get a panzerfaust to take out the first tank, if you quickly toss grenades to the wall and the doorway to your right, you can almost completely stop their first wave with two grenades)
The mortar shots are either scripted or hit the same ground at the same area repeatedly. Not exactly the smartest thing to do when your position is being advanced on.
I agree with Adams that there should be a level of criticism when it comes to reporting video games, but I think having a 'deeper analysis' of video games would cause far too many problems.
First, games are ment to be fun. The moment you start questioning the symbolism of Mario magically absorbing a red mushroom into his body to grow bigger is the moment you've spent too much time watching rather than playing.
Secondly, I think would lead to political correctness seeping into games. Personally, I don't like the thought of having my games delayed because some organization/religion/race/nation/culture did not like the way they were depicted in the game.
Thirdly, games are all about gameplay simply put.
If we're not counting MMO games, then The Sims and Counter-Strike (subject to debate).
That sounds like something out of a Japanese dating sim...
I think Blizzard shoulda focused on more numerous, although smaller, updates over a period of time. This sort of mass update doesn't really impress me since I know that the next update won't be released for a LONG time now.