You have to understand that there's really only one fatal flaw in all game regulation legislation that we all rail against. The laws can be made good in theory, but in practice they're all legislative turds.
Yes, movies and music are regulated.... but the movie ratings and the parental advisory labels are all generated from within the industry, not from the government. The act of peer review allows for a quality assessment of the product and a determination on the character by a group of people who are knowledgeable enough to do so. It also allows for an ever-changing standard that matches the cultural mindest as it evolves.
Every piece of video game regulation legislation has tried to codify which content is "good" and which content is "bad," and this is where they all inevetably fail. Allowing the government to decide which content is good and bad is a quick and ugly way to invite in propoganda (which, while a worst-case-scenario, it must be considered when you have a legal system that works off precedent). A law that, while I may not get behind it, I could live with it, would ban the sale of games to minors that are judged by a peer review process to be unsuitable for children, and also have a caveat for MA17 titles and 17 year olds.
By the way,... the law does not prevent kids from seeing violent movies at all. The only legislation of age regulation in the movie industry is the prohibition of selling pornography to minors. Everything else is handled by the industry itself via the MPAA. And the next time you think it's working so well... go get a kid to go into any non-video-game store and buy an R rated movie... you'll realize quickly that they only ever check that when you go to a theater and that nobody really cares on the home video side of things. The reason nobody's up in arms about it is that movies have been around so long that something goes off in our brain when someone says "movies make you do bad things" that says "what a load of horse shit!" Those of us who have been playing games for decades now have that same alarm going off in our heads now.
I think that if he's talking about stuff like that and graphic nudity, he's talking about games clearly labeled Adults Only. To see how much this plague of bad taste was corrupting the youth of America, I went to the ESRB site and compiled a list of all Adults Only games:
All Nude Glamour
All Nude Nikki
All Nude Cyber
Body Language
Cyber Photographer
Crystal Fantasy
Critical Point
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Uncut and Uncensored
Playboy Screensaver: The Women of Playboy
Peak Entertainment Casinos
Riana Rouge
Singles
Snow Drop
The Joy of Sex (CDI)
Tokimeki Checkin!
Wet - The Sexy Empire
Water Closet: The Forbiidden Chamber
X-Change
Some of you may recognize some of those titles from various Something Awful hentai game reviews. I've noted also that the only AO title on a console is "The Joy of Sex" for the Philips CDI, which is a digital version of the classic 1979 book by the same title which is considered to be both in good taste and respectable as a serious look at sex.
Also worth noting for its oddity value, there are exactly 18 games intended only for people over 18.:P Also worth noting is that most video game stores won't touch these games and that the only way to get them is online directly from the publisher.
The reason that congreess people are so up-in-arms about this is because there are 3 sides to this issue. Pro regulation: You think that video game violence is dispicable and the sexual content is deplorable, even though you've never played a video game nor have you ever seen any of this content you're so enraged at. Anti regulation: You think that the industry is doing a good job of regulating itself. You play games and if you have children, you monitor what they play and consider the ESRB ratings before making any purchase. Apathetic: They're just games... who cares?
What makes lawmakers so fervent about this is that the type of people who are for regulation call them and write them constantly to make sure it happens. People who are anti-regulation write reactionary articles and either post them online or send them to the lawmakers, but since the lawmaker doesn't want to look like a "flip flopper," they refuse to change their stance. And the vast majority of people are apathetic on the subject, so even though they really aren't calling for regulation, nobody notices because they're not saying anything at all.
Political Correctness... like the mentality that drives sales of Maxim, Playboy, and Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball. I don't think we need to worry about her losing the skimpy suit, since the only people complaining about "decency in entertainment" are the conservatives who complain about politcal correctness.
On the good side, though, it's not being directed by Uwe Boll. So, uh... thumbs up on that one.
So basically, this is an article about a poorly chosen marketing slogan?:-P
I did pay attention to the MS presentation on the XBox 2 and a lot of the concepts seemed good. Their intense restrictions and (seemingly) rigid standardization makes me afraid that there could be an adverse effect on developers. I think they may rebel against the rules and end up doing stupid shit... but that probably depends more on how the rules are enforced, not how strict they are.
One of the semi-confirmed rumors about the Revolution is that it will have a DVI/VGA port directly on the back of the system for connecting monitors. I think it's safe to assume then that they will at least support progressive display in all games. I believe, though, that 1080i or 720p HDTV gaming will be the standard on all 3 consoles.
What MS is counting on is that consumers will believe that somehow, even though they don't have an HDTV, the HD capabilities of the X-Box 2 will make it display a higher quality picture on their regular TV.
While it almost certainly will look better on a regular TV than an X-Box, HD is not the reason. On the plus side, though, mandating HDTV support in all games is a positive step towards forward-compatability. It will ensure that the console will work well with TV's that come out even a decade down the road.
I still don't understand what all the huge fuss is about though. Was this a surprise to anyone at all? Does anyone think that the PS3 and Revolution won't also have HDTV support in every game? It only makes sense to support the technology as, in 6 years when these consoles are really hitting their mainstream, there's a strong possibility that HDTV will become more of a mainstream technology.
I don't know why you were modded offtopic, but that was a good thing to point out.
As I said, games can look good and be good. As you said, games can look bad and be good. (I still, even with all the graphical prowess we've grown used to, love to throw in Wipeout 3 and VibRibbon for the PSX... they are great games with dated graphics.)
One thing about the games we all mention, though, is that the graphics always look good, regardless of whether they're terrible. There's something in the quality of the design that just makes these games look "right" for what they are, even if it means not pushing a ton of polygons.
The survey actually is of console gamers, but does not ask if they pirate console games. It asks if they pirate any kind of software.
As much as I'm a generally honest guy, and I've never modded a system of mine (and probably never will), but I have pirate software on my computer. PC software is ridiculously expensive, especially when you're staring at Adobe's web suite and saying "Two month's rent, or the sense of honesty in knowing I didn't pirate something?" 99.95% of the time, I bet paying the god damned rent wins out.
I bet if the survey was done again, and the kids were asked if they had ever pirated any games for a console, there would be a far lower affirmative response (since I'm sure most of those kids don't have mod chips).
(a) the games: There are tons of great games on the gamecube. But you probably are unhappy with the lineup because you can't kill everything in sight without reason like in GTA.
(b) the controller: It's literally designed so that the controls require you to move your thumb no farther than 1/4 inch to reach the next button. I don't understand why people have such a hard time with this controller. "Which button do I push?" "Gee, I don't know there Einstein. This is just a guess, but could it be THE GIANT FUCKING GREEN BUTTON DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE?" "Well what button goes back?" "Try the RED ONE, the natural opposite of the GREEN ONE."
Nintendo has been saying that the "revolutionary" part of the console will not be revealed until E3. Therefore, the WiFi is not what they're calling revolutionary.
The wireless technology is to allow out-of-the-box connectivity to the DS as well as online gaming. The reason for it rather than wired is so that you don't have to have perhipherals to use the DS in conjunction with the revolution.
What are you talking about? You definitely won't be able to tunnel into a revolution and start playing it remotely. And I doubt that anyone will be wardriving for nintendos. They're gonna be set up to be clients, not WAPs. And as far as security goes... why? What's there to secure?
Who says they have to be mediocre-looking? All signs point to the Revolution using the same graphics chip as the X-Box 2. I always thought that Nintendo games had a knack for playing well, and looking good.
Re:A metaphor taken wayyyyy too far
on
Got Game
·
· Score: 1
"Johnson... You're a gamer. I'd like to hear your thoughts on our new corporate strategy."
"Well sir, I was thinking ZERG RUSH KEKEKEKEKEKEEKEKE LOLZ KPLZTHX."
The game industry in general does consider the effect that the contributions might have. This manifests itself in the ESRB ratings system.
I heartily agree with the respondent from the article that said (I'm paraphrasing) that game makers have no responsiblility to make their content "moral," but they do have to make clear the contents of their creation so that consumers can make an informed decision.
My answer to the question is that parents hold the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that their children are exposed to the correct morals, and byt that logic, it is their responsibility to check the ESRB rating and knowing what their child is playing. I'm tired of hearing stories about violent 16 year olds playing GTA games... if their parents were doing their jobs then he should've never gotten his hands on the game.
I think the idea behind this is that everybody would have a portable drive, and you can carry your drive to your friend's house and plug it into their box, etc... like 5 GB memory cards.
While the abacus is an absolutely amazing device, I woudn't call it a gadget. As a wise judge once said about pornography "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." Likewise, it feels like something other than a "gadget" to me.
Anyhow, if we're talking about mobile computing, I would have put PDA's above Laptops as top gadgets. Just my opinion is all.
Um.... take a look at the screenshots. This isn't a version of the GCN game brought to the arcade. It's a totally new game separte from it. (Back to the 1-player karts... w00t) In time, though, we may see this ported to home consoles.
I agree... Doom3 had some really spectacular character design. Then again, some of the characters were completely retarded (wasn't there an upside-down skull with wings or something?). I wonder if the occasional bad character designs in Doom 3 killed it, or whether the IGDA just thought that Doom 3's characters just weren't that spectacular. At any rate, I'm glad they're nominated for visual art.... Say what you will, Doom 3 is visually stunning, and it's not just because of the graphics engine. The levels are absolutely beautiful, even if they're annoying to play on.
I have to admit that you're right in the sense that the DOS command window is also old and antiquated. As much as I complain that it's a problem in Linux, I also complain that it's a problem in Windows. The difference is that in Linux, sometimes you have to go to the command line to get things done.
And my problem is mostly with the antiquated switches that Linux has on its programs. Take this from the FreeBSD online man page for ls:
SYNOPSIS: ls [-ABCFGHLPRTWZabcdfghiklmnopqrstuwx1] [file...]
Oh... great... crystal clear now. And I know FreeBSD isn't Linux, but its man pages are close enough for this example.
I'm sorry, no.
Graphics are nice, but gameplay is what counts. And Halo 2 is just another multiplayer FPS.
heh... and it only has mediocre graphics at that. Definitely blown away visually already by Metroid Prime, MP2, and Riddick... and that's just games in similar genres.
Slashdot Mirror
You have to understand that there's really only one fatal flaw in all game regulation legislation that we all rail against. The laws can be made good in theory, but in practice they're all legislative turds.
Yes, movies and music are regulated.... but the movie ratings and the parental advisory labels are all generated from within the industry, not from the government. The act of peer review allows for a quality assessment of the product and a determination on the character by a group of people who are knowledgeable enough to do so. It also allows for an ever-changing standard that matches the cultural mindest as it evolves.
Every piece of video game regulation legislation has tried to codify which content is "good" and which content is "bad," and this is where they all inevetably fail. Allowing the government to decide which content is good and bad is a quick and ugly way to invite in propoganda (which, while a worst-case-scenario, it must be considered when you have a legal system that works off precedent). A law that, while I may not get behind it, I could live with it, would ban the sale of games to minors that are judged by a peer review process to be unsuitable for children, and also have a caveat for MA17 titles and 17 year olds.
By the way,... the law does not prevent kids from seeing violent movies at all. The only legislation of age regulation in the movie industry is the prohibition of selling pornography to minors. Everything else is handled by the industry itself via the MPAA. And the next time you think it's working so well... go get a kid to go into any non-video-game store and buy an R rated movie... you'll realize quickly that they only ever check that when you go to a theater and that nobody really cares on the home video side of things. The reason nobody's up in arms about it is that movies have been around so long that something goes off in our brain when someone says "movies make you do bad things" that says "what a load of horse shit!" Those of us who have been playing games for decades now have that same alarm going off in our heads now.
Also worth noting for its oddity value, there are exactly 18 games intended only for people over 18.
The reason that congreess people are so up-in-arms about this is because there are 3 sides to this issue. Pro regulation: You think that video game violence is dispicable and the sexual content is deplorable, even though you've never played a video game nor have you ever seen any of this content you're so enraged at. Anti regulation: You think that the industry is doing a good job of regulating itself. You play games and if you have children, you monitor what they play and consider the ESRB ratings before making any purchase. Apathetic: They're just games... who cares?
What makes lawmakers so fervent about this is that the type of people who are for regulation call them and write them constantly to make sure it happens. People who are anti-regulation write reactionary articles and either post them online or send them to the lawmakers, but since the lawmaker doesn't want to look like a "flip flopper," they refuse to change their stance. And the vast majority of people are apathetic on the subject, so even though they really aren't calling for regulation, nobody notices because they're not saying anything at all.
Political Correctness... like the mentality that drives sales of Maxim, Playboy, and Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball. I don't think we need to worry about her losing the skimpy suit, since the only people complaining about "decency in entertainment" are the conservatives who complain about politcal correctness.
On the good side, though, it's not being directed by Uwe Boll. So, uh... thumbs up on that one.
So basically, this is an article about a poorly chosen marketing slogan? :-P
I did pay attention to the MS presentation on the XBox 2 and a lot of the concepts seemed good. Their intense restrictions and (seemingly) rigid standardization makes me afraid that there could be an adverse effect on developers. I think they may rebel against the rules and end up doing stupid shit... but that probably depends more on how the rules are enforced, not how strict they are.
One of the semi-confirmed rumors about the Revolution is that it will have a DVI/VGA port directly on the back of the system for connecting monitors. I think it's safe to assume then that they will at least support progressive display in all games. I believe, though, that 1080i or 720p HDTV gaming will be the standard on all 3 consoles.
What MS is counting on is that consumers will believe that somehow, even though they don't have an HDTV, the HD capabilities of the X-Box 2 will make it display a higher quality picture on their regular TV.
While it almost certainly will look better on a regular TV than an X-Box, HD is not the reason. On the plus side, though, mandating HDTV support in all games is a positive step towards forward-compatability. It will ensure that the console will work well with TV's that come out even a decade down the road.
I still don't understand what all the huge fuss is about though. Was this a surprise to anyone at all? Does anyone think that the PS3 and Revolution won't also have HDTV support in every game? It only makes sense to support the technology as, in 6 years when these consoles are really hitting their mainstream, there's a strong possibility that HDTV will become more of a mainstream technology.
For the love of God!
The joke is dead. Let it go.
I don't know what shocks me more.... that you care enough about this to comment, or that you even bothered to read the subject of a post at all.
I don't know why you were modded offtopic, but that was a good thing to point out.
As I said, games can look good and be good. As you said, games can look bad and be good. (I still, even with all the graphical prowess we've grown used to, love to throw in Wipeout 3 and VibRibbon for the PSX... they are great games with dated graphics.)
One thing about the games we all mention, though, is that the graphics always look good, regardless of whether they're terrible. There's something in the quality of the design that just makes these games look "right" for what they are, even if it means not pushing a ton of polygons.
The survey actually is of console gamers, but does not ask if they pirate console games. It asks if they pirate any kind of software.
As much as I'm a generally honest guy, and I've never modded a system of mine (and probably never will), but I have pirate software on my computer. PC software is ridiculously expensive, especially when you're staring at Adobe's web suite and saying "Two month's rent, or the sense of honesty in knowing I didn't pirate something?" 99.95% of the time, I bet paying the god damned rent wins out.
I bet if the survey was done again, and the kids were asked if they had ever pirated any games for a console, there would be a far lower affirmative response (since I'm sure most of those kids don't have mod chips).
(a) the games: There are tons of great games on the gamecube. But you probably are unhappy with the lineup because you can't kill everything in sight without reason like in GTA.
(b) the controller: It's literally designed so that the controls require you to move your thumb no farther than 1/4 inch to reach the next button. I don't understand why people have such a hard time with this controller. "Which button do I push?" "Gee, I don't know there Einstein. This is just a guess, but could it be THE GIANT FUCKING GREEN BUTTON DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE?" "Well what button goes back?" "Try the RED ONE, the natural opposite of the GREEN ONE."
Nintendo has been saying that the "revolutionary" part of the console will not be revealed until E3. Therefore, the WiFi is not what they're calling revolutionary.
The wireless technology is to allow out-of-the-box connectivity to the DS as well as online gaming. The reason for it rather than wired is so that you don't have to have perhipherals to use the DS in conjunction with the revolution.
What are you talking about? You definitely won't be able to tunnel into a revolution and start playing it remotely. And I doubt that anyone will be wardriving for nintendos. They're gonna be set up to be clients, not WAPs. And as far as security goes... why? What's there to secure?
Who says they have to be mediocre-looking? All signs point to the Revolution using the same graphics chip as the X-Box 2. I always thought that Nintendo games had a knack for playing well, and looking good.
"Johnson... You're a gamer. I'd like to hear your thoughts on our new corporate strategy."
"Well sir, I was thinking ZERG RUSH KEKEKEKEKEKEEKEKE LOLZ KPLZTHX."
The game industry in general does consider the effect that the contributions might have. This manifests itself in the ESRB ratings system.
... if their parents were doing their jobs then he should've never gotten his hands on the game.
I heartily agree with the respondent from the article that said (I'm paraphrasing) that game makers have no responsiblility to make their content "moral," but they do have to make clear the contents of their creation so that consumers can make an informed decision.
My answer to the question is that parents hold the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that their children are exposed to the correct morals, and byt that logic, it is their responsibility to check the ESRB rating and knowing what their child is playing. I'm tired of hearing stories about violent 16 year olds playing GTA games
"Hello, Pot? Yes. This is Kettle. Guess what. You're BLACK!!!!"
I think the idea behind this is that everybody would have a portable drive, and you can carry your drive to your friend's house and plug it into their box, etc... like 5 GB memory cards.
While the abacus is an absolutely amazing device, I woudn't call it a gadget. As a wise judge once said about pornography "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." Likewise, it feels like something other than a "gadget" to me.
Anyhow, if we're talking about mobile computing, I would have put PDA's above Laptops as top gadgets. Just my opinion is all.
Um.... take a look at the screenshots. This isn't a version of the GCN game brought to the arcade. It's a totally new game separte from it. (Back to the 1-player karts... w00t) In time, though, we may see this ported to home consoles.
I'm cheaper: $2.99 can opener. Instructions: Open can. dump in dish.
I agree... Doom3 had some really spectacular character design. Then again, some of the characters were completely retarded (wasn't there an upside-down skull with wings or something?). I wonder if the occasional bad character designs in Doom 3 killed it, or whether the IGDA just thought that Doom 3's characters just weren't that spectacular. At any rate, I'm glad they're nominated for visual art.... Say what you will, Doom 3 is visually stunning, and it's not just because of the graphics engine. The levels are absolutely beautiful, even if they're annoying to play on.
I have to admit that you're right in the sense that the DOS command window is also old and antiquated. As much as I complain that it's a problem in Linux, I also complain that it's a problem in Windows. The difference is that in Linux, sometimes you have to go to the command line to get things done.
...]
And my problem is mostly with the antiquated switches that Linux has on its programs. Take this from the FreeBSD online man page for ls:
SYNOPSIS: ls [-ABCFGHLPRTWZabcdfghiklmnopqrstuwx1] [file
Oh... great... crystal clear now. And I know FreeBSD isn't Linux, but its man pages are close enough for this example.