There's another scheme like this that isn't StarForce.... I can't remember the name now, but it's the one that edits your MBR. I actually had a program that told me "This requires [such and such] copy protection software. Would you like to install it? (You will not be able to run this program unless you install the copy protection.)" Needless to say, I was shocked... and didn't install it. Although I hate the terrible copy protection software, I'm much happier when software makers are upfront about using it.
(a) I really didn't even expect the PSP as early as Q1 2005, so it kind of surpises me that it's being pushed back to then.
(b) since when did Sony ever release anything on time. It's a marketing tactic they use to prevent you from buying something else that's already out. Like, if you were gonna buy a GBA SP right now, you might say "well, I'll hold off and see what the PSP is like." As long as the launch is always right around the corner, they can squeeze a few more sales out.
That being said, GT4 portable is a very cool idea.
It's definitely the game players that "don't get it". Although saying that your target audience "doesn't get it" because they want something you view as inferior is a tough argument to support.
I was in a gamestop the other day and was looking at some bargain games when a group of teens walked up next to me and started looking at them also. One spotted BMX XXX (the leader of the group, as he was explaining the games to his lesser friends). He described it as "strippers on motocross bikes" to which all his friends reply "awesome!" "that game rocks" and "that's a great idea!" Then they went on to talk about how awesome Tony Hawk and all the Madden games are. Here's your sign.
One thing I wonder is if rendering techniques will have to be re-done. After all, most 3D rendering engines work on an RGB system. I wonder if having a very high accuracy RGB image (generated) would make for a better transition to RGBCMY than a regular RGB image (since we're talking about a virutal gammut anyway)
Not to sound like a total newbie, but what's to stop me from (a) extracting the tarball, (b) re-tarballing it, and (c) pirating it? I think I'm missing something in the deterrent... unless it's a really crappy deterrent.
Speaking of which, I wonder what the actual plot of the game is. Like in GTA3, the game overall was a quest for revenge, and as a sort of nomadic hired-gun, you were able to see how ridiculous the whole racial-gang/revenge thing was. It just led to more killing and extinction. I wonder if since 90's LA had so much racial tension, is this plot gonna have a moral about racism and violence?
Seriously, I can understand being offended by all this, but when you look at the GTA series you have to remember that a lot of the stereotyping and villainy is done on an exaggerated scale to highlight the absurity of it all.
I can probably name a couple dozen all-white (or, more to the point, all-Japanese) games off the top of my head, and I'm sure that the've largely gone un-acknowledged. What I have a harder time naming is any games where an inteligent main (or at least important) character was black, latino, etc...
I personally never found it very surprising that sports games sell well among minorities. They're one of the few genres of game where you can count on seeing successful minorities being judged solely on thier abilities, accomplishments, and occasionally team affiliation. (c'mon, we all have rivalries:P )
Oh, and as far as Rockstar using racial stereotypes in their games... no guff chet. You can be offended if you choose, but at least don't act so surprised.
I tend to agree with you on the price point. As much as the N-Gage is terrible, it was even more terrible at $300 instead of $200. No matter how good the system is, nobody will buy it if they can't afford it. Of course, this is by no means an excuse to make a Tiger game.com.::shudder::
I'm surprised with the very wide vertical FOV on the display, but it had a lot of blur on it (as most LCD's do). I couldn't really get a sense of the image quality or the real framerate. That photo of the PSP playing GT4 on the page is most definitely a mock-up, though, as that long of an exposure time would surely capture a few frames in real life (and it would look lower-contrast than that, too).
He almost put the disc in, but never fully inserted it. Maybe he's putting it behind the system? Maybe that's a pack-in game that's running while he's inserting the disc (like picto-chat on the DS or the personal organizer on the NGPC). And of course, maybe it's a mock-up. I'm most willing to think it's a pack-in, since they showed 2 games and only 1 game box at the end.
I've got my own unfinished games too, but for other reasons. I really suck at AI coding, so I usually never finish anything beyond PvP.
I also ran into the problem of a nigh-unusable menu when you're using a slow computer (as I put in way too much OpenGL goodies and the menu actually runs too slowly to move the cursor correctly).
Unfortunately, with the relative absence of demos for obscure games, pirating is usually the easiest way to see if it's actually worth playing. Furthermore, it's sometimes (as mentioned in the article) the only way to get a game to play on your system. And, for me, I wanna know if the product I buy will run at all. 85% of the time, the answer is no.
Pirating isn't all evil and theft... a lot of it is test driving. Just not officially sanctioned test driving.
6800GT continues to look by by far the best price/performance card currently available.
That may be, but it's still out of my price range. I think I'll be looking at the Radeon 9800/9700/9600 lines, and I really don't mind playing Doom3 in 640x480.
And one of the reasons that Carmack says that the framerate is not the be-all/end-all benchmark is that even though the ATi cards run OpenGL a bit slower than nVidia cards, they usually render a slightly better picture (better AA, beter AF, less color banding, etc...). This is one of the reasons why he actually said he thought the Radeon would be a good choice for Doom 3 (last year at E3) as this was an obvious difference in the Radeon 9800/GeForce FX iteration. I don't know if nVidia has improved their rendering quality since then, but if they didn't, then the choice in video card is more complicated than just framerate.
For me, though, the biggest factor for me will probably be features & price. I'm a big fan of the All In Wonder series for that.
Of course, the confusing nature of it doesn't help much. I'm really tired of reading patents that are complicated and overly-technical just so that the Patent Office will say "I can't think of anything like it, this must be an original idea!" Of course you can't think of anything like it, you can't even think of it. It's too confusing to actually read, comprehend, research, and search for predecessors when you're on as tight a schedule as the USPO.
No, but I've heard of compounding interest. 30k * 4 years = ~$200k
And I think they would've been much better off with mid-level PDA's with pre-loaded data (such as school events in the date book, campus hours in the memo pad, and maps of the campus). I think a freshman has more of a need to be organized than to listen to (even more) music. Besides, you could put solitaire on a PDA!
I think this formula would sell alot of games: Decent graphics/music, Simple concepts/control, High replay value. EA knows this and it shows in their sports series.
The only problem is that these qualities are still very open-ended. It's very hard to simply add high replay value to a game, especially once you actually get into the coding phase (and the concept portion is mostly complete).
There is something to note about all the games you menitioned, though (Contra, SMB, Metroid, Sonic, Mario Kart, and EA Sports titles). Each one has a very very wide range of difficulty. The real fun and replay value comes out of the continual self-improvement; the continual competition to be better, both with yourself and with your friends. You don't see this much in story-driven RPG's, as a lot of it is based on pre-determined events and decisions.
So... Your encyclopedia has been thrown at the nearest blackhole... Since you proved me wrong, you'll be quite able to recover the information presented in it...
"So.. uh... which black hole was it thrown in?"
"How should I know? Do I look like an astrophysicicist to you?"
I really wanna get my hands on that demo when it's ready. Doom 3 seems like the type of game I'd only play for like 10 minutes at a time to oogle at anyway. I'm just wondering how big that download will be, as the bootleged "alpha" was like 1 GB after un-raring it.
"A large group of xbox owners carrying pitchforks and lit torches were seen marching towards Vicarious Visions offices in California..."
Why? 'Cause it's coming out so late, or because it runs like an utter dog? Check out the video on the last demo disc.... it seems to slow down at key points... like when 2 zombies are on screen.
My rig is kinda borderline here. Any word of a demo or preview that one could use to check compatability? As I remember, that leaked alpha had quite a few bugs on my system... but then again, that was an alpha.
Slashdot Mirror
There's another scheme like this that isn't StarForce.... I can't remember the name now, but it's the one that edits your MBR. I actually had a program that told me "This requires [such and such] copy protection software. Would you like to install it? (You will not be able to run this program unless you install the copy protection.)" Needless to say, I was shocked... and didn't install it. Although I hate the terrible copy protection software, I'm much happier when software makers are upfront about using it.
- (a) I really didn't even expect the PSP as early as Q1 2005, so it kind of surpises me that it's being pushed back to then.
- (b) since when did Sony ever release anything on time. It's a marketing tactic they use to prevent you from buying something else that's already out. Like, if you were gonna buy a GBA SP right now, you might say "well, I'll hold off and see what the PSP is like." As long as the launch is always right around the corner, they can squeeze a few more sales out.
That being said, GT4 portable is a very cool idea.One thing I wonder is if rendering techniques will have to be re-done. After all, most 3D rendering engines work on an RGB system. I wonder if having a very high accuracy RGB image (generated) would make for a better transition to RGBCMY than a regular RGB image (since we're talking about a virutal gammut anyway)
At least NASA will get you to the moon and back. Halliburton will just charge you to sell your own oil back to you.
Not to sound like a total newbie, but what's to stop me from (a) extracting the tarball, (b) re-tarballing it, and (c) pirating it? I think I'm missing something in the deterrent... unless it's a really crappy deterrent.
Speaking of which, I wonder what the actual plot of the game is. Like in GTA3, the game overall was a quest for revenge, and as a sort of nomadic hired-gun, you were able to see how ridiculous the whole racial-gang/revenge thing was. It just led to more killing and extinction. I wonder if since 90's LA had so much racial tension, is this plot gonna have a moral about racism and violence?
Seriously, I can understand being offended by all this, but when you look at the GTA series you have to remember that a lot of the stereotyping and villainy is done on an exaggerated scale to highlight the absurity of it all.
I can probably name a couple dozen all-white (or, more to the point, all-Japanese) games off the top of my head, and I'm sure that the've largely gone un-acknowledged. What I have a harder time naming is any games where an inteligent main (or at least important) character was black, latino, etc ...
:P )
I personally never found it very surprising that sports games sell well among minorities. They're one of the few genres of game where you can count on seeing successful minorities being judged solely on thier abilities, accomplishments, and occasionally team affiliation. (c'mon, we all have rivalries
Oh, and as far as Rockstar using racial stereotypes in their games... no guff chet. You can be offended if you choose, but at least don't act so surprised.
I tend to agree with you on the price point. As much as the N-Gage is terrible, it was even more terrible at $300 instead of $200. No matter how good the system is, nobody will buy it if they can't afford it. Of course, this is by no means an excuse to make a Tiger game.com. ::shudder::
I'm surprised with the very wide vertical FOV on the display, but it had a lot of blur on it (as most LCD's do). I couldn't really get a sense of the image quality or the real framerate. That photo of the PSP playing GT4 on the page is most definitely a mock-up, though, as that long of an exposure time would surely capture a few frames in real life (and it would look lower-contrast than that, too).
He almost put the disc in, but never fully inserted it. Maybe he's putting it behind the system? Maybe that's a pack-in game that's running while he's inserting the disc (like picto-chat on the DS or the personal organizer on the NGPC). And of course, maybe it's a mock-up. I'm most willing to think it's a pack-in, since they showed 2 games and only 1 game box at the end.
Do either work in PearPC? I've been meaning to give the emulator a spin, but am not willing to buy a copy of OS X to run on it.
I've got my own unfinished games too, but for other reasons. I really suck at AI coding, so I usually never finish anything beyond PvP.
I also ran into the problem of a nigh-unusable menu when you're using a slow computer (as I put in way too much OpenGL goodies and the menu actually runs too slowly to move the cursor correctly).
Pirating isn't all evil and theft... a lot of it is test driving. Just not officially sanctioned test driving.
And one of the reasons that Carmack says that the framerate is not the be-all/end-all benchmark is that even though the ATi cards run OpenGL a bit slower than nVidia cards, they usually render a slightly better picture (better AA, beter AF, less color banding, etc ...). This is one of the reasons why he actually said he thought the Radeon would be a good choice for Doom 3 (last year at E3) as this was an obvious difference in the Radeon 9800/GeForce FX iteration. I don't know if nVidia has improved their rendering quality since then, but if they didn't, then the choice in video card is more complicated than just framerate.
For me, though, the biggest factor for me will probably be features & price. I'm a big fan of the All In Wonder series for that.
Of course, the confusing nature of it doesn't help much. I'm really tired of reading patents that are complicated and overly-technical just so that the Patent Office will say "I can't think of anything like it, this must be an original idea!" Of course you can't think of anything like it, you can't even think of it. It's too confusing to actually read, comprehend, research, and search for predecessors when you're on as tight a schedule as the USPO.
No, but I've heard of compounding interest. 30k * 4 years = ~$200k
And I think they would've been much better off with mid-level PDA's with pre-loaded data (such as school events in the date book, campus hours in the memo pad, and maps of the campus). I think a freshman has more of a need to be organized than to listen to (even more) music. Besides, you could put solitaire on a PDA!
There is something to note about all the games you menitioned, though (Contra, SMB, Metroid, Sonic, Mario Kart, and EA Sports titles). Each one has a very very wide range of difficulty. The real fun and replay value comes out of the continual self-improvement; the continual competition to be better, both with yourself and with your friends. You don't see this much in story-driven RPG's, as a lot of it is based on pre-determined events and decisions.
If I were the developer, I would have made them bigger and bigger and bigger until she paid a visit to our offices. :P
"How should I know? Do I look like an astrophysicicist to you?"
I really wanna get my hands on that demo when it's ready. Doom 3 seems like the type of game I'd only play for like 10 minutes at a time to oogle at anyway. I'm just wondering how big that download will be, as the bootleged "alpha" was like 1 GB after un-raring it.
My rig is kinda borderline here. Any word of a demo or preview that one could use to check compatability? As I remember, that leaked alpha had quite a few bugs on my system ... but then again, that was an alpha.