A friend of mine runs prongo.com - it's pretty much a site with counting games and other sorts of "edutainment" - probably more skewed to the younger set (maybe 3-7), but worth a look.
On principle, I'll agree with you, but in this particular case, "Kavalier and Clay" is a wonderful book. Chabon also wrote "Wonder Boys" and "Summerland" a kids book that's got to be the best thing in that genre I've read since Gaiman's "Coraline"
I agree with your impression of "Redemption", and I wanted to mention "Regina's Song" in that same vein. I was looking forward to this one, after reading "Redemption" (and subsequent disappointment). Eddings has written a couple of other contemporary fiction books - "High Hunt" and "The Losers". "Hunt" was mediocre - his first book, even before "Pawn of Prophecy". "Losers" was a lot better - with much more realized supporting characters and a considerably smoother plot structure.
That said, "Regina's Song" was unfortunately pedantic and slow-moving, filled with characters that I can only describe as "Eddings Stereotypes" - The Ever-Wise Narrator, The Vulnerable Mousy Girl, The Self-Confident Woman Who Happens To Be An Excellent Cook, The Quiet Huge Guy. The narrative and dialog were exasperating, and it took me forever to finish the book, since I couldn't get through ten pages without rolling my eyes.
His fantasy novels are really great though. They're not deep at all - pretty much the closest thing you can get to a confection in the Swords-N-Sorcery genre - but they're a nice diversion and a quick read. I recommend them.
EA may have a diverse base of game genres it releases, but its real moneymaker are its sports franchises. NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, etc... tweak the graphics, update some AI elements, new UI, update the rosters, add in some new bennies, slap on a new logo and charge millions upon millions of people $50 every single year for what is essentially the same game that came out last year. Yes, there were big leaps when EA migrated from the Genesis to the Playstation and introduced 3D graphics as well as other platform changes and subsequent leaps in graphical detail and game depth, but a slant left pass is the same play as it was 10 years ago. You really can't beat that.
Disney only has a distribution agreement with Pixar. I believe they just recently extended it, but if Pixar chooses to go with someone else as a distributor, it's there prerogative.
I also think "Sleeping Beauty" is an excellent older Disney film. Compared to "Tarzan" or the execrable "Return to Neverland", it's golden.
I do agree with your speculation regarding the Studio Ghibli distribution, though. Disney animators hold Miyazaki in godlike stature, and maybe that has enough weight to at least get Disney to distribute his films (since it certainly doesn't make them want to market it with any vigor).
Yep. It has connectors for.NET applications and Java server apps as well. There are other projects out there to integrate it with PHP. It also natively parses WSDL.
It would be pretty interesting to be able to upload a black-and-white GIF or perhaps some similarly colored vector graphics to have engraved on the back. That sounds like the next obvious step after this pre-made designs and text customization.
Yes, acetaminophen and aspirin - as well as ibuprofen and naproxyn sodium - are readily available in the US in drug stores, convenience stores and even vending machines. They are, however in lesser strengths than their prescription bretheren (you can't buy Tylenol 3 at the gas station). I really don't know of any over-the-counter benzodiazepine-class medications, though. The FDA strongly regulates drugs that are not manufactured by companies that have made very large donations to the political parties of people in charge of major regulatory agencies.;)
Actually, the number of medical marijuana lawa on the books in some states, and the referendums as such - including decriminalization measures - that were on ballots earlier this month (whether they passed or not) is testament to the number of people here who do agree with you. However, virtually no politician in American agrees with you, since we don't want to look soft on crime before an election now, do we?
Diazepam? Valium's legal in the US. It is controlled by prescription, however.
I still have a copy of Spectrum Holobyte's Tetris that I originally acquired to play on my old CGA-graphics 8086 some 17 years ago or so. It relies on clock speed to set the block speed for the levels, and the game was almost unplayable when we got a 386SX in 1990/1991. Playing it on an Athlon XP or similar machine usually involves a nice blurp of Russian-sounding musical beeps from the PC speaker followed by.000003 seconds of something that may or may not be a game level before the "GAME OVER" splash comes up.
It's not that difficult. If you're making $60,000, you don't need to drive a $50,000 car. People my age (sigh - ok, Generation X) who are spiralling into credit card debt due to gratuitous overspending in the "boom years" only have themselves to blame. Save judiciously, live conservatively, and crappy economies like this one won't hurt quite as much.
For what it's worth, Windows XP offers the "Desktop Manager" which gives you four separate desktops. It's pretty clunky, and the "preview" is hilariously slow ("Oooh, look! It's shrinking into the corner!"), but it is a virtual desktop.
Maybe. Nintendo's got Metroid Prime and Capcom's blessing of exclusive Resident Evil licenses for a long time, as well as plenty of other non-kiddie games to try and broaden their percieved demographic.
What does MS get? Banjo-Kazooie. Microsoft has no platformers worth mentioning right now, save for a retread of Crash Bandicoot 3, and I'll bet you Steve Ballmer's sweat-stained oxford shirt at one of his company's pep rallies that Christmas 2003 will see Banjo-Threeie (or whatver they'll call it) at the front of the marketing blitz.
But if it will stop to be marketed this year, then in few years people will not understand what you are talking about when you will say AC.
I think you're wrong there. I picked up on D&D when I was 10 or 11 years old (nearly 20 years ago now) with no prodding from a multi-million dollar ad campaign or product tie-ins. The RPG community has existed quite well without large corporate sponsorship for a long time, and if there were to be some massive hemorrhaging at WotC, would continue just fine if there were some interruption with D&D's publishing schedule.
Pencil-and-paper roleplaying - I feel - isn't about having the latest rules or newest sub-class guide. It's about friendship and camaraderie and enjoying yourself in a pastime that requires a quick wit, a reasonable level of intelligence and a vivid imagination. That's enough to keep people playing, as I see it, for a long time coming.
That said - you still play D&D? REAL gamers play Hackmaster
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A friend of mine runs prongo.com - it's pretty much a site with counting games and other sorts of "edutainment" - probably more skewed to the younger set (maybe 3-7), but worth a look.
Actually, his (er... that is to say Sierra's Ken Williams, and not this one :) ) wife, Roberta, was the creator of "King's Quest."
Next month, Dvorak will have exclusive information on the release date for Duke Nukem: Forever!
On principle, I'll agree with you, but in this particular case, "Kavalier and Clay" is a wonderful book. Chabon also wrote "Wonder Boys" and "Summerland" a kids book that's got to be the best thing in that genre I've read since Gaiman's "Coraline"
Right, because some video production facilities and newsrooms still use BETA. Note how they say it's part of the Media Kit.
That said, "Regina's Song" was unfortunately pedantic and slow-moving, filled with characters that I can only describe as "Eddings Stereotypes" - The Ever-Wise Narrator, The Vulnerable Mousy Girl, The Self-Confident Woman Who Happens To Be An Excellent Cook, The Quiet Huge Guy. The narrative and dialog were exasperating, and it took me forever to finish the book, since I couldn't get through ten pages without rolling my eyes.
His fantasy novels are really great though. They're not deep at all - pretty much the closest thing you can get to a confection in the Swords-N-Sorcery genre - but they're a nice diversion and a quick read. I recommend them.
"Into the mud, scum queen!" - Dr. HFARFRL
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EA may have a diverse base of game genres it releases, but its real moneymaker are its sports franchises. NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, etc... tweak the graphics, update some AI elements, new UI, update the rosters, add in some new bennies, slap on a new logo and charge millions upon millions of people $50 every single year for what is essentially the same game that came out last year. Yes, there were big leaps when EA migrated from the Genesis to the Playstation and introduced 3D graphics as well as other platform changes and subsequent leaps in graphical detail and game depth, but a slant left pass is the same play as it was 10 years ago. You really can't beat that.
Disney only has a distribution agreement with Pixar. I believe they just recently extended it, but if Pixar chooses to go with someone else as a distributor, it's there prerogative.
I also think "Sleeping Beauty" is an excellent older Disney film. Compared to "Tarzan" or the execrable "Return to Neverland", it's golden.
I do agree with your speculation regarding the Studio Ghibli distribution, though. Disney animators hold Miyazaki in godlike stature, and maybe that has enough weight to at least get Disney to distribute his films (since it certainly doesn't make them want to market it with any vigor).
Yep. It has connectors for .NET applications and Java server apps as well. There are other projects out there to integrate it with PHP. It also natively parses WSDL.
Behold The Kia Rio
I did now :)
It would be pretty interesting to be able to upload a black-and-white GIF or perhaps some similarly colored vector graphics to have engraved on the back. That sounds like the next obvious step after this pre-made designs and text customization.
Yes, acetaminophen and aspirin - as well as ibuprofen and naproxyn sodium - are readily available in the US in drug stores, convenience stores and even vending machines. They are, however in lesser strengths than their prescription bretheren (you can't buy Tylenol 3 at the gas station). I really don't know of any over-the-counter benzodiazepine-class medications, though. The FDA strongly regulates drugs that are not manufactured by companies that have made very large donations to the political parties of people in charge of major regulatory agencies. ;)
Actually, the number of medical marijuana lawa on the books in some states, and the referendums as such - including decriminalization measures - that were on ballots earlier this month (whether they passed or not) is testament to the number of people here who do agree with you. However, virtually no politician in American agrees with you, since we don't want to look soft on crime before an election now, do we?
Diazepam? Valium's legal in the US. It is controlled by prescription, however.
I still have a copy of Spectrum Holobyte's Tetris that I originally acquired to play on my old CGA-graphics 8086 some 17 years ago or so. It relies on clock speed to set the block speed for the levels, and the game was almost unplayable when we got a 386SX in 1990/1991. Playing it on an Athlon XP or similar machine usually involves a nice blurp of Russian-sounding musical beeps from the PC speaker followed by .000003 seconds of something that may or may not be a game level before the "GAME OVER" splash comes up.
It's not that difficult. If you're making $60,000, you don't need to drive a $50,000 car. People my age (sigh - ok, Generation X) who are spiralling into credit card debt due to gratuitous overspending in the "boom years" only have themselves to blame. Save judiciously, live conservatively, and crappy economies like this one won't hurt quite as much.
For what it's worth, Windows XP offers the "Desktop Manager" which gives you four separate desktops. It's pretty clunky, and the "preview" is hilariously slow ("Oooh, look! It's shrinking into the corner!"), but it is a virtual desktop.
Maybe. Nintendo's got Metroid Prime and Capcom's blessing of exclusive Resident Evil licenses for a long time, as well as plenty of other non-kiddie games to try and broaden their percieved demographic.
What does MS get? Banjo-Kazooie. Microsoft has no platformers worth mentioning right now, save for a retread of Crash Bandicoot 3, and I'll bet you Steve Ballmer's sweat-stained oxford shirt at one of his company's pep rallies that Christmas 2003 will see Banjo-Threeie (or whatver they'll call it) at the front of the marketing blitz.
I think you're wrong there. I picked up on D&D when I was 10 or 11 years old (nearly 20 years ago now) with no prodding from a multi-million dollar ad campaign or product tie-ins. The RPG community has existed quite well without large corporate sponsorship for a long time, and if there were to be some massive hemorrhaging at WotC, would continue just fine if there were some interruption with D&D's publishing schedule.
Pencil-and-paper roleplaying - I feel - isn't about having the latest rules or newest sub-class guide. It's about friendship and camaraderie and enjoying yourself in a pastime that requires a quick wit, a reasonable level of intelligence and a vivid imagination. That's enough to keep people playing, as I see it, for a long time coming. That said - you still play D&D? REAL gamers play Hackmaster
Nothing at all, I suppose I just prefer the old "JPython" moniker.
Exactly. I wonder what they would have called EJB's if Sun had gone with their original idea and named the language "Silk"? Spinnerets?
Hey, it's not as bad as "Jython". At least they didn't come up with a snarky coffee-based reference.
I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic, although he could be a really big fan of Night Trap.