I've been toying with the idea of finally signing up for WoW for the last two weeks, but this story tears it. I'm not going to download giant patches via BitTorrent, run Warden, deal with cheaters, server downtimes, waiting lines to log in, and 45-minute waits for PvP all for the low, low price of $15 US per month if I have to fight against abusive GMs the whole time. Guild Wars is so much more elegant in terms of technology and game design, but I had no idea that the GMs were better to boot.
Ethics, morals, because it will benefit all humanity, etc. It's good enough for me. My family owns two cars and at least one of them is usually available. My parents offered to pay for driving lessons, all applicable testing fees and my insurance. And yet I choose to take the bus, for environmental reasons. Green stuff McDonald's could do:
Organics recycling. Just have an extra bin for uneaten food. I don't mind sorting my garbage.
Reuseable cups. Sell big, durable plastic cups and fill them for really cheap, like 7-11 or Tim Horton's.
Guess what? If you're calling it Intellectual Property, you're already siding with the people who abuse the copyright and patent systems. Intellectual Property is not a legal term. It was invented by people and organizations that control large bodies of copyrighted work and patented "inventions" who work very hard to resist the public domain. It's all about controlling language. When you say "tax relief," you're asserting that taxes are a burden. When you say "Intellectual Property," you're asserting that copyrights, patents and trademarks are property (they're not) and that they're all fundamentally the same (again, they're not). That's why copying a CD results in being charged with copyright infingement, rather than theft (as the music industry calls it - another attempt at controlling language).
I think that a computer game that could be just as, uh, involving as a sad film... uh, you know... so sad that it can actually... *sniff* make you, uh physically cry... *sob* I'd like to see that! That would be fantastic. *uncontrolled sobbing*
Fantastic
on
Quake 4 Linux
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· Score: 2, Interesting
It's nice to see id still supporting Linux. Bioware produced a very nice Linux client for Neverwinter Nights but since they started making Xbox games their new engines are based on DirectX. UT-UT2004 also had excellent Linux versions, but UT2007's target platforms are PS3, Xbox 360 and Windows. Who knows if that will hit Linux in the end.
I also have a strong dislike for the term. It's like going out of your way to say "Ethical Professors" or "Ethical Architects." What's wrong with a cracker being an evil hacker, and a script kiddie being a cracker without any real skill?
I was just watching Anderson Cooper, and they were doing an "exclusive" on Blitz: The League. It's an M-rated football game. Why on earth is this newsworthy? Because it gives them an excuse to interview Jack Thompson. He spoke at length about how stores like EB will happily sell M-rated games to any kid that has the money. This "fact" was not challenged by anybody on the show. None of the controversies surrounding Thompson were mentioned. Now, I can't quote any studies but I can remember EB employees telling 14-year-olds to come back with their parent or guardian... in the Pre-Hot Coffee Era! What does this mean? Well, the Slashdot and Penny Arcade readers may know both sides of this issue, but the other 99.98% of North Americans get the CNN version. That includes lawmakers. In the long run I guess I'll be expected to pass some sort of psychological test and register my purchase with the government before being allowed to buy something like Metroid Prime 3.
I doubt that this will be modded up, but there are plenty of trolls having a big laugh about "Ni-Fi" on Slashdot today. So let me set the record straight: Ni-Fi is what's used for local games. If you are at the mall with some friends and want to connect for Nintendogs or Bomberman, the DS will be using Ni-Fi. It is proprietary. It is not used for playing on the Internet. If you buy Mario Kart DS and you're at the mall with some friends, it will use Ni-Fi. If you stumble upon an unsecured wireless node at the mall and want to play on the Internet, the Mario Kart cartridge will fire up its own TCP/IP stack. This is how online play is going to work on the DS. So, Ni-Fi = LAN, Wifi + TCP/IP = Internet.
Frankly this whole McDonald's thing is not surprising. There are lots of McDonaldses in my area with "free" (with purchase) wireless Internet access. On top of that, every McDonald's in Scarborough has at least four Gamecubes in the kids area.
What does it mean in the end? Another reason to go to McDonald's. Damn you, with your McFlurries and your Big Macs and your Mario Kart and free drink refills... Aha! Free DS online play + unlimited pop for $1.50...
I tried, I tried! My mom hates video games because it's either a damsel in distress or chainmail bikini situation. She just hates the way that women are portrayed. I showed her Metroid Prime and she exclaimed, "Oh, so she's just fulfilling the role of a man! This game is so sexist." So, screw it! Feminists just can't like video games.
Honestly, I hope this industry fails, dies out, disappears, etc. I know that my cell phone is as powerful as a Gameboy Advance, but I really, really don't want to be playing games on it. A numberpad is a poor interface for gaming, and if you try to add gaming controls then you just end up adding a lot of clutter that interferes with silly, non-gaming activities like dialing numbers or talking to people.
Frankly I'd prefer manufacturers to spend their time making cheaper, more durable phones with longer battery lives. A smaller environmental footprint would be nice, too!
I've been playing Guild Wars since May and I love every aspect of it.
However, I'm disappointed that we've gone from calling it a CORPG to an MMORPG. People buy this game expecting "WoW for Free!" when they should be thinking "Diablo Done Right."
If you're looking for a fun, skill-based, multiplayer RPG then Guild Wars is the best you'll find. If you're looking for something that you can play every single day/night, find an active guild that plays a lot of PvP.
Oh yeah, and get your free trial. Don't worry about entering a serial number.
Will the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support WPA? How about WEP? I'd like to be able to play online at home but I'm not about to turn off encryption to do it.
Also, if you're playing on an untrusted network, how easy would it be for people to grab your username and password?
I don't see why not. You could certainly attach the converter to the GBA -> Gamecube link cable. If it does work, then Crystal Chronicles + Four Swords Adventures certainly warrants the $100.
Nintendo is a company that isn't just about wireless, we're a company that's focused very heavily on linking players and bringing them together. Absolutely. It took me until the release of Pokémon to realise that this is what Nintendo is focusing on. The game was really designed from the ground up to encourage players to not only trade Pokémon and items but to talk about the game in-person. It was a game where you would go out of your way to meet with someone for a trade, but just as easily challenge a stranger to a battle. I'm sure that this will continue with DS releases. Nintendogs has Bark mode. Maybe Animal Crossing will have Doorbell mode?
Apparently if you want to play multiplayer with an SP or connect the Micro to your Gamecube you need to buy a converter cable. I'm disappointed that they couldn't keep with the standard connector. It's not the end of the world, I'd just prefer not to worry about one more tiny accessory.
Well Nintendo doesn't have any online games yet, but their service is getting a bit of press attention and I think they can beat Microsoft in terms of total number of online players. The service will be free and from what I've read I think it'll be pretty easy to find your friends or even random players with a similar record. The fact that it'll be free (as opposed to Live's $6/month) can't hurt! However, There will be no voice chat in official Nintendo games for the DS. There has been nothing announced regarding headsets for the Revolution.
I think this is a big mistake. Nintendo should provide voice functionality but insist that users agree to a license stating that they acknowledge that they may hear offensive language and that Nintendo does not (and cannot feasibly) moderate the voice chat. This would avoid the "someone called my kid a f*g and it's all your fault!" lawsuits that Nintendo is afraid of while allowing adults like me to sling good-natured insults at my buddies in Mario Kart or Four Swords. If I hear something that offends me, I usually just add the user to my ignore list. If given the option, I'll spend the time to fill out a useful report.
Canada is very lucky to have Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party. I was reading an interview with him the other day and he was asked about the music industry's reaction to unauthorized copying. He talked about his experience teaching at university, and how the textbook publishers were predicting their own doom at the hands of widespread photocopier usage. The current textboox photocopying policy? A student may make a copy of up to 10% or one chapter of their text, whichever is shorter. The result? Students get to copy what they need and the textbook publishers are more profitable than ever (and continue to get away with RIAA-esque price gouging). He reasoned that the music sharing situation would be similar and he still opposes the anti-consumer solutions being supported by the Liberals and Conservatives (such as this DMCA workalike currently being forced through).
The problem? Most of Canada's new sources lean far to the right. The Toronto Star is one of the few papers in the country that will even attempt to give the NDP a fair shot. The Sun (widely read) frequently prints stories from the Canada Free Press, a self-labelled "conservative alternative." The result is that the public almost never hears about things like this DMCA bill, and when the spotlight is on people like Jack Layton, the stories (like his amazing efforts to get wind generators built) are extremely jaded (Canada Free Press describes him as a bird-murdering maniac).
The last mainstream article I read regarding music sharing was in The Sun. It described Kazaa as an "illegal service." I wrote to the editor and explained that a) Kazaa itself is not illegal in Canada and b) downloading music from P2P networks is not illegal in Canada. I received a curt letter stating that perhaps I would probably prefer to share my opinion in their moderated forums. I replied with information backing up these facts but nothing ever came back (and there was certainly no retraction).
Sounds like a great service. The lack of Nintendo titles is disappointing, but with their Virtual Console service on the way, I'm not surprised.
I guess the deciding factor will be the price of Virtual Console's downloads. Gametap is over $10 US per month - pretty pricey unless you play nothing but old ROMs anyway. I guess the price I'm looking for is about $5 CDN per N64 game, and SNES and NES ROMs for cheaper. Nintendo could rip into Gametap's market by getting Sega and Atari on board as well.
First of all, I don't think that music downloads took the music industry by surprise. I think they did a good job of acting surprised. It's very important to them that we think of ourselves and each other as thieves who will only feed the starving artists when we're forced to.
Okay, rant over.
As for downloading software, I've seen both ends of the spectrum. Steam, IMO, sucks hard. Downloads and patches take forever, and the decryption takes even longer.
Guild Wars, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. Buy your access key online, download the 90k client (which can be downloaded anywhere in case you want to show the game off to a friend or play during a long break at school) and you're playing within 10 minutes. Yes, it downloads the bare minimum to get you logged in and playing, then pulls down the rest of the content while you play.
I doubt very highly that I'll ever buy another Valve game, but I will be ordering Chapter 2 of Guild Wars as soon as it becomes available. The Guild Wars model (no annoying DRM, up and running in 10 minutes) should be blatantly ripped-off by everyone in the industry. It's elegant, simple, convenient and shows respect for the customer.
Okay, a little more ranting: the last game that I bought in store was Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. I brought it home to discover that the copy protection software isn't compatible with my drive, so I can't play it. Unfortunately I had to open the box to discover this, so I can't take it back, either. Ubisoft has ignored my e-mails so far (I even went so far as to send them postal mail, also ignored). I could have just downloaded a pre-cracked torrent for free but instead I got burned because I felt I should contribute to their company. So I'd much rather buy my software online if only to get around incredibly stupid copy protection schemes.
Yeah yeah, World of Warcraft, blah blah blah, I don't care.
Guild Wars has a lot more that a geek could sink their teeth into. Seriously, there's one worldwide "server," so the top guild is the best in the real world - how cool is that? How do they organize it? How do they distribute the load? How does the update streaming work?
I want to know the specifics behind joining an international district, forming a team of players from different regions, entering a PvE region, then coming back into a new town. How does it swap me and my party from server to server? How do they store so much data? How do they keep everything up and running?
Slashdot Mirror
The astronauts can ask Tony Curtis if he could donate one of his ME DI BOTs.
I've been toying with the idea of finally signing up for WoW for the last two weeks, but this story tears it. I'm not going to download giant patches via BitTorrent, run Warden, deal with cheaters, server downtimes, waiting lines to log in, and 45-minute waits for PvP all for the low, low price of $15 US per month if I have to fight against abusive GMs the whole time.
Guild Wars is so much more elegant in terms of technology and game design, but I had no idea that the GMs were better to boot.
Pro-union???
You do know that you're on Slashdot, right?
Okay, let me see your Libertarian Party card.
You're... not a Libertarian? Oh, my dear boy, you are in trouble.
Please turn in your Slashdot ID and Linux kernel this instant. You will comply or we will deploy ESR.
It's good enough for me. My family owns two cars and at least one of them is usually available. My parents offered to pay for driving lessons, all applicable testing fees and my insurance. And yet I choose to take the bus, for environmental reasons.
Green stuff McDonald's could do:
Guess what? If you're calling it Intellectual Property, you're already siding with the people who abuse the copyright and patent systems. Intellectual Property is not a legal term. It was invented by people and organizations that control large bodies of copyrighted work and patented "inventions" who work very hard to resist the public domain.
It's all about controlling language. When you say "tax relief," you're asserting that taxes are a burden. When you say "Intellectual Property," you're asserting that copyrights, patents and trademarks are property (they're not) and that they're all fundamentally the same (again, they're not). That's why copying a CD results in being charged with copyright infingement, rather than theft (as the music industry calls it - another attempt at controlling language).
I think that a computer game that could be just as, uh, involving as a sad film... uh, you know... so sad that it can actually... *sniff* make you, uh physically cry ... *sob* I'd like to see that! That would be fantastic. *uncontrolled sobbing*
It's nice to see id still supporting Linux. Bioware produced a very nice Linux client for Neverwinter Nights but since they started making Xbox games their new engines are based on DirectX. UT-UT2004 also had excellent Linux versions, but UT2007's target platforms are PS3, Xbox 360 and Windows. Who knows if that will hit Linux in the end.
I also have a strong dislike for the term. It's like going out of your way to say "Ethical Professors" or "Ethical Architects."
What's wrong with a cracker being an evil hacker, and a script kiddie being a cracker without any real skill?
I was just watching Anderson Cooper, and they were doing an "exclusive" on Blitz: The League. It's an M-rated football game. Why on earth is this newsworthy? Because it gives them an excuse to interview Jack Thompson.
He spoke at length about how stores like EB will happily sell M-rated games to any kid that has the money. This "fact" was not challenged by anybody on the show. None of the controversies surrounding Thompson were mentioned. Now, I can't quote any studies but I can remember EB employees telling 14-year-olds to come back with their parent or guardian... in the Pre-Hot Coffee Era!
What does this mean? Well, the Slashdot and Penny Arcade readers may know both sides of this issue, but the other 99.98% of North Americans get the CNN version. That includes lawmakers.
In the long run I guess I'll be expected to pass some sort of psychological test and register my purchase with the government before being allowed to buy something like Metroid Prime 3.
I doubt that this will be modded up, but there are plenty of trolls having a big laugh about "Ni-Fi" on Slashdot today. So let me set the record straight:
Ni-Fi is what's used for local games. If you are at the mall with some friends and want to connect for Nintendogs or Bomberman, the DS will be using Ni-Fi. It is proprietary. It is not used for playing on the Internet.
If you buy Mario Kart DS and you're at the mall with some friends, it will use Ni-Fi. If you stumble upon an unsecured wireless node at the mall and want to play on the Internet, the Mario Kart cartridge will fire up its own TCP/IP stack. This is how online play is going to work on the DS.
So, Ni-Fi = LAN, Wifi + TCP/IP = Internet.
Frankly this whole McDonald's thing is not surprising. There are lots of McDonaldses in my area with "free" (with purchase) wireless Internet access. On top of that, every McDonald's in Scarborough has at least four Gamecubes in the kids area.
What does it mean in the end? Another reason to go to McDonald's. Damn you, with your McFlurries and your Big Macs and your Mario Kart and free drink refills...
Aha! Free DS online play + unlimited pop for $1.50...
I tried, I tried! My mom hates video games because it's either a damsel in distress or chainmail bikini situation. She just hates the way that women are portrayed.
I showed her Metroid Prime and she exclaimed, "Oh, so she's just fulfilling the role of a man! This game is so sexist."
So, screw it! Feminists just can't like video games.
Honestly, I hope this industry fails, dies out, disappears, etc. I know that my cell phone is as powerful as a Gameboy Advance, but I really, really don't want to be playing games on it. A numberpad is a poor interface for gaming, and if you try to add gaming controls then you just end up adding a lot of clutter that interferes with silly, non-gaming activities like dialing numbers or talking to people.
Frankly I'd prefer manufacturers to spend their time making cheaper, more durable phones with longer battery lives. A smaller environmental footprint would be nice, too!
I've been playing Guild Wars since May and I love every aspect of it.
However, I'm disappointed that we've gone from calling it a CORPG to an MMORPG. People buy this game expecting "WoW for Free!" when they should be thinking "Diablo Done Right."
If you're looking for a fun, skill-based, multiplayer RPG then Guild Wars is the best you'll find. If you're looking for something that you can play every single day/night, find an active guild that plays a lot of PvP.
Oh yeah, and get your free trial. Don't worry about entering a serial number.
Will the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection support WPA? How about WEP?
I'd like to be able to play online at home but I'm not about to turn off encryption to do it.
Also, if you're playing on an untrusted network, how easy would it be for people to grab your username and password?
I don't see why not. You could certainly attach the converter to the GBA -> Gamecube link cable.
If it does work, then Crystal Chronicles + Four Swords Adventures certainly warrants the $100.
Nintendo is a company that isn't just about wireless, we're a company that's focused very heavily on linking players and bringing them together.
Absolutely. It took me until the release of Pokémon to realise that this is what Nintendo is focusing on. The game was really designed from the ground up to encourage players to not only trade Pokémon and items but to talk about the game in-person. It was a game where you would go out of your way to meet with someone for a trade, but just as easily challenge a stranger to a battle.
I'm sure that this will continue with DS releases. Nintendogs has Bark mode. Maybe Animal Crossing will have Doorbell mode?
Apparently if you want to play multiplayer with an SP or connect the Micro to your Gamecube you need to buy a converter cable.
I'm disappointed that they couldn't keep with the standard connector. It's not the end of the world, I'd just prefer not to worry about one more tiny accessory.
Discoveries don't count until a white westerner announces them.
Obviously!
Well Nintendo doesn't have any online games yet, but their service is getting a bit of press attention and I think they can beat Microsoft in terms of total number of online players. The service will be free and from what I've read I think it'll be pretty easy to find your friends or even random players with a similar record. The fact that it'll be free (as opposed to Live's $6/month) can't hurt! However,
There will be no voice chat in official Nintendo games for the DS.
There has been nothing announced regarding headsets for the Revolution.
I think this is a big mistake. Nintendo should provide voice functionality but insist that users agree to a license stating that they acknowledge that they may hear offensive language and that Nintendo does not (and cannot feasibly) moderate the voice chat. This would avoid the "someone called my kid a f*g and it's all your fault!" lawsuits that Nintendo is afraid of while allowing adults like me to sling good-natured insults at my buddies in Mario Kart or Four Swords. If I hear something that offends me, I usually just add the user to my ignore list. If given the option, I'll spend the time to fill out a useful report.
You have my demands. Get to work, Nintendo!
Canada is very lucky to have Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party. I was reading an interview with him the other day and he was asked about the music industry's reaction to unauthorized copying. He talked about his experience teaching at university, and how the textbook publishers were predicting their own doom at the hands of widespread photocopier usage. The current textboox photocopying policy? A student may make a copy of up to 10% or one chapter of their text, whichever is shorter. The result? Students get to copy what they need and the textbook publishers are more profitable than ever (and continue to get away with RIAA-esque price gouging).
He reasoned that the music sharing situation would be similar and he still opposes the anti-consumer solutions being supported by the Liberals and Conservatives (such as this DMCA workalike currently being forced through).
The problem? Most of Canada's new sources lean far to the right. The Toronto Star is one of the few papers in the country that will even attempt to give the NDP a fair shot. The Sun (widely read) frequently prints stories from the Canada Free Press, a self-labelled "conservative alternative." The result is that the public almost never hears about things like this DMCA bill, and when the spotlight is on people like Jack Layton, the stories (like his amazing efforts to get wind generators built) are extremely jaded (Canada Free Press describes him as a bird-murdering maniac).
The last mainstream article I read regarding music sharing was in The Sun. It described Kazaa as an "illegal service." I wrote to the editor and explained that a) Kazaa itself is not illegal in Canada and b) downloading music from P2P networks is not illegal in Canada. I received a curt letter stating that perhaps I would probably prefer to share my opinion in their moderated forums. I replied with information backing up these facts but nothing ever came back (and there was certainly no retraction).
Nintendo is dying!
Sounds like a great service. The lack of Nintendo titles is disappointing, but with their Virtual Console service on the way, I'm not surprised.
I guess the deciding factor will be the price of Virtual Console's downloads. Gametap is over $10 US per month - pretty pricey unless you play nothing but old ROMs anyway. I guess the price I'm looking for is about $5 CDN per N64 game, and SNES and NES ROMs for cheaper. Nintendo could rip into Gametap's market by getting Sega and Atari on board as well.
Ponder, ponder.
First of all, I don't think that music downloads took the music industry by surprise. I think they did a good job of acting surprised. It's very important to them that we think of ourselves and each other as thieves who will only feed the starving artists when we're forced to.
Okay, rant over.
As for downloading software, I've seen both ends of the spectrum. Steam, IMO, sucks hard. Downloads and patches take forever, and the decryption takes even longer.
Guild Wars, on the other hand, was a pleasant surprise. Buy your access key online, download the 90k client (which can be downloaded anywhere in case you want to show the game off to a friend or play during a long break at school) and you're playing within 10 minutes. Yes, it downloads the bare minimum to get you logged in and playing, then pulls down the rest of the content while you play.
I doubt very highly that I'll ever buy another Valve game, but I will be ordering Chapter 2 of Guild Wars as soon as it becomes available. The Guild Wars model (no annoying DRM, up and running in 10 minutes) should be blatantly ripped-off by everyone in the industry. It's elegant, simple, convenient and shows respect for the customer.
Okay, a little more ranting:
the last game that I bought in store was Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. I brought it home to discover that the copy protection software isn't compatible with my drive, so I can't play it. Unfortunately I had to open the box to discover this, so I can't take it back, either. Ubisoft has ignored my e-mails so far (I even went so far as to send them postal mail, also ignored). I could have just downloaded a pre-cracked torrent for free but instead I got burned because I felt I should contribute to their company. So I'd much rather buy my software online if only to get around incredibly stupid copy protection schemes.
Just downloaded and installed the beta. Feels much snappier than the last release.
I'll keep you guys posted.
Yeah yeah, World of Warcraft, blah blah blah, I don't care.
Guild Wars has a lot more that a geek could sink their teeth into. Seriously, there's one worldwide "server," so the top guild is the best in the real world - how cool is that? How do they organize it? How do they distribute the load? How does the update streaming work?
I want to know the specifics behind joining an international district, forming a team of players from different regions, entering a PvE region, then coming back into a new town. How does it swap me and my party from server to server? How do they store so much data? How do they keep everything up and running?