If I recall correctly, FF14 and DCUO are both being released on PS3 sometime in the future, and will be the first two attempts at an MMO on the console.
Happened a lot in Team Fortress. So much so that Team Fortress 2 had all its grenades removed in response to it (because that's usually what did it in TF/TFC).
The Ravenholm level in HL2 was pretty scary to me. The rotten zombies are insanely agile and they really hurt. The venomous headcrabs really hurt. The sequence also starves you for ammo and health, so you're forced to throw sawblades with the gravity gun, and if you throw a sawblade and miss, you have to resort to whatever bits of ammo you have left to kill the rotten zombie that's zipping towards you at 50mph before it takes off your last bit of health. The scariest parts though have to be sneaking around when you can hear things moving nearby. The place is infested with zombies and headcrabs and you're poorly armed and low on health so you try to avoid them. But you can hear something big moving upstairs, something crawling outside the building and some venomous headcrabs that could be just about anywhere.
If you go into Ravenholm well-stocked (somehow) I could see how it could be a lot less scary. It relies on resource starvation and an overwhelming number of especially dangerous bad guys to create fear. If you have lots of resources, then you don't have to worry about running out and the number of bad guys isn't so overwhelming.
There's an achievement now for playing through Ravenholm and the mines after it with just the gravity gun.
Are the other 2D variants (which I haven't tried) not as good ad Zelda 3 on the SNES? Any idea why?
As good? No. Zelda 3 is still the best 2D Zelda.
That doesn't mean there are no good ones, though.
Of the 2D Zelda games, the one other that is closest to Zelda 3 is likely:
Minish Cap - Game Boy Advance - The art is nice, the music is a throwback to earlier Zelda games, and it uses abilities to lock off areas of the world map until you have the equipment to deal with it.
The transport bird from Zelda 3 makes a reappearance, although you have to unlock its target locations by finding specific stones on the overworld.
One of the dungeons is actually a throwback to Zelda 1, right up to the music and sound effects in it.
It also uses a number of new items rather than just rehashing the same items from every other Zelda game.
------
Other good 2D Zelda games are.
Oracle of Ages - Game Boy Color - Upgraded version of the Link's Awakening DX engine. Graphics are still somewhat more primitive than Zelda 3.
The item trading sequence unlocks the level 2 sword.
Uses the time portal mechanic instead of the Dark World mechanic of Zelda 3, but it works out much the same.
Has a few new items to the series, but most are shared with Oracles of Seasons.
Makes one continuous story with Oracle of Seasons.
--
Oracle of Seasons - Game Boy Color - Same engine as Oracle of Ages, but the game isn't as good. Instead of the previously mentioned time portal mechanic, it instead allows you to change the season for the current area; there are four versions of every outside area.
The two Oracles games form one single storyline with two final bosses after each game's respective boss, but you will only encounter said bosses if you finished one game and used the code it gave you when starting a new game on the other.
-- Link's Awakening (DX) - Game Boy (Color) - DX version is in color. Graphics are somewhat more primitive than Zelda 3.
Uses a lot of the same of the same items as Zelda 3.
Engine features (these are also found in the Oracles games): Has two item slots instead of one, but the Sword is now an item you have to equip. Shields are no longer automatic.
Rooms do not scroll, each room on a map is exactly one game screen wide and one game screen tall.
Item Trading sequence, which in this game is required in order to locate the last boss in the final dungeon.
Link does not start with the sword. It must be found first.
Some dungeons require keys before you can enter.
If you have a dungeon's compass, the game will play a tone if you enter a room that has a key in it.
Every dungeon has a mini-boss. Beating the mini-boss unlocks a portal to the dungeon entrance.
-- The Legend of Zelda - NES - Fairly good, but very unintuitive in places. Badly in need of a remake.
Most items from the NES Zelda went on to appear in the same or upgraded form in Zelda 3. Best example: The Red Candle was upgraded to the Lantern in Zelda 3.
------
And the other 2D Zelda games that you may or may not want to avoid:
The Adventure of Link - NES - Exchanges top-down view for side-scrolling view. Black sheep of the family. OK, but doesn't feel like a Zelda game.
Phantom Hourglass - DS - Sorta fun, but the touch-screen controls means you may have a bad case of handinthewayitis. Areas are separated on the world map, and you must navigate by boat, but it doesn't suck like Wind Waker's boat did.
Has one really irritating, timed dungeon that you need to visit repeatedly.
Spirit Tracks - DS - Somewhat fun. Same as previous entry, but without the tedious dungeon, plus your main mode of transportation around the world map has changed from a ship to a... train. Also involves teaming controlling a second character at certain points using the touchscreen.
if last.fm is making it on $3, they can raise their price to $4 and more than cover the 30%.
To restate what you said: Conjecture: Last.FM is making it on $3. Assumption: Last.FM needs to make $3 to break even. Hypothesis: Raising the price to $4 will more than cover the 30% Apple fee.
So, here's the math: $4.00 * 30% (or 0.3) = $1.20
$4.00 - $1.20 = $2.80 $2.80 $3.00
So, it looks like your hypothesis was wrong.
This is intentionally ignoring that not all Last.FM customers will be using iOS devices... but unless you what percentage are, any other data is useless.
According to new stories I've read from other sites on the same subject, Apple forbids them from charging more to iOS users than they do through their own web storefront.
Yup... charge them all the same for the iSubscriptions/eSubscriptions, just price your product so it is profitable. If you don't then you won't be producing anything before too long. If your product ends up too expensive (eg, you'll need to charge more than the market feels it's worth) then your business plan needs some work.
It's not the same price, though. Last.FM would make 30% less from iOS customers, as Apple takes a 30% cut. And, as you mentioned before:
Then price your products accordingly. People are willing to pay for iPads because of the convenience - they will pay for iSubscriptions for exactly the same reason.
If iOS customers are willing to pay more, why would Last.FM intentionally make a deal where they make less?
Jones argues that music service subscriptions don't operate at margins "anywhere near 30%," and that the dramatic loss in revenue will be tough to survive.
Then price your products accordingly. People are willing to pay for iPads because of the convenience - they will pay for iSubscriptions for exactly the same reason.
According to new stories I've read from other sites on the same subject, Apple forbids them from charging more to iOS users than they do through their own web storefront.
...because if any of the patents are found to be unenforceable, because of either prior art or obviousness, then Oracle's suit falls apart. Take a look at RE38,104. This appears to be prior art.
Interesting times lie ahead.
How did this get modded "Insightful?"
Here's a quote from the original lawsuit filing from August last year:
Android (including without limitation the Dalvik VM and the Android software development kit) and devices that operate Android infringe one or more claims of each of United States Patents Nos. 6,125,447; 6,192,476; 5,966,702; 7,426,720; RE38,104; 6,910,205; and 6,061,520."
(emphasis added)
In other words, this "prior art" you posted is one of the patents that Oracle is suing Google over, that Oracle acquired when they bought Sun Microsystems, Inc.
I think Chrome is doing well because it ships with its own PDF viewer, thus eliminating the big vector of Adobe's insecure PDF viewer.
Chrome also integrates Adobe Flash... but unless Google is updating Flash whenever Adobe issues an update, it's less secure than the versions that use a standalone plugin.
I'm one of those who doesn't do updates. Mainly because I've read too many horror stories of updates making computers unbootable, or breaking the software, or whatever.
Instead I wait a month-or-so until I'm sure there's no negative outcomes being reported by the press.
I just had to reject some 3rd party tools because it was GPL. Because by using it would force us to make our program GPL, and oddly enough we want to get paychecks and our business model is creating new software and selling it.
You just showed us, that you did not unterstand the GPL. Usage of a GPLed tool doesn't make the result being under GPL. Using GPLed code, copying it and modifying it does. So either you were looking for code you could compile into your program, or you were looking for code you could modify to be part of your program, or you were looking for a library you could link your program to.
Those are the only cases where the resulting program has to be under GPL too.
It really depends on if, by tools, he just meant tools, or if he also included libraries to interface with said tools... or just meant libraries to begin with.
If what he meant includes libraries at all, the GP would be correct, unless said libraries were LGPL.
I'm a big fan of steam but it's not the future. My gaming computer's power supply just died. I haven't been playing nearly so many games these days. My wife and I are thinking about options. One of the thoughts is... if we get a cheap notebook but some day I want to play one of those shiny new games.. what will I do? Well the answer is onlive. I don't need to buy the games when I can pay them for a month and play whatever I want on whatever computer I want. If they ever come out with a linux client then linux gaming will no longer be a joke.
OnLive sounded like an interesting concept, but from what I've read, there's just enough input latency between your computer and their servers to mess things up... and it can get worse depending on the game.
However you should consider that both Postal 1 and Postal 2 (which ran on Unreal Tech) have been released with native linux support (client + server side), so have a little faith:)
Postal 1 and Postal 2 were also on platforms where Epic actually did release a Linux port, though... so it's a case where someone else already did the majority of the work.
Do we really need an entirely new one? If none of those are sufficient, why not build on top of and improve an existing project? Starting over is not always a good thing...
Have you tried reading the links in the summary?
Contracts for Java is based on Modern Jass by Johannes Rieken.
-- Google's announcement article, which was the second link in the summary
Didn't DN3D have true stacked rooms? The theater room above the lobby in the first level is one example. If I had access to the game files, I could load it up on my N900 to double check, but the CD's in a drawer at home:P
Yes, it did, but there was a limitation in the game engine: you couldn't see both rooms at the same time or the game's graphics would bug out.
Some elevators in the game, on the other hand, were a teleporter trick.
But really my favorite part was the pipe-bombs and trip mines. No other game since Duke has done booby trapping nearly as well as Duke, which gave you the option to either trigger a trap yourself (pipe bomb) or have an unwitting enemy set it off themselves (trip mine). Best of all, you could combine both for the ultimate trap of doom.
Except, apparently, Half-Life Deathmatch, which has both of those traps and iirc they will blow each other up.
I don't follow browser development very closely but IE9 seems to be getting pretty nice reviews. Figured I would give it a whirl and....
"To install Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate (RC), you need to upgrade to a more recent version of Windows."
So this is going to be a DX11 type excuse I am guessing? Oh well, would have been nice to play with but given the choice between having to upgrade my OS for a new browser and having to have chrome transparently upgrade in the background..
It requires a version of Windows with DirectWrite and Direct2D support... which would be Windows Vista SP2 (or possibly SP1) and Windows 7.
Given that IE9 doesn't work on XP because it uses hardware acceleration APIs that don't exist in anything below Vista SP2, I doubt they'll release a VM image of Windows with IE9.
Slashdot Mirror
Any SATA drive with the Sandy Bridge SATA-2 controller?
I can tell I'm tired... I apparently read "on the console" as "on a console."
If I recall correctly, FF14 and DCUO are both being released on PS3 sometime in the future, and will be the first two attempts at an MMO on the console.
FF11 for the PS2/Xbox 360 didn't count?
Happened a lot in Team Fortress. So much so that Team Fortress 2 had all its grenades removed in response to it (because that's usually what did it in TF/TFC).
The Ravenholm level in HL2 was pretty scary to me. The rotten zombies are insanely agile and they really hurt. The venomous headcrabs really hurt. The sequence also starves you for ammo and health, so you're forced to throw sawblades with the gravity gun, and if you throw a sawblade and miss, you have to resort to whatever bits of ammo you have left to kill the rotten zombie that's zipping towards you at 50mph before it takes off your last bit of health. The scariest parts though have to be sneaking around when you can hear things moving nearby. The place is infested with zombies and headcrabs and you're poorly armed and low on health so you try to avoid them. But you can hear something big moving upstairs, something crawling outside the building and some venomous headcrabs that could be just about anywhere.
If you go into Ravenholm well-stocked (somehow) I could see how it could be a lot less scary. It relies on resource starvation and an overwhelming number of especially dangerous bad guys to create fear. If you have lots of resources, then you don't have to worry about running out and the number of bad guys isn't so overwhelming.
There's an achievement now for playing through Ravenholm and the mines after it with just the gravity gun.
Took me a while to do that one.
Are the other 2D variants (which I haven't tried) not as good ad Zelda 3 on the SNES? Any idea why?
As good? No. Zelda 3 is still the best 2D Zelda.
That doesn't mean there are no good ones, though.
Of the 2D Zelda games, the one other that is closest to Zelda 3 is likely:
Minish Cap - Game Boy Advance - The art is nice, the music is a throwback to earlier Zelda games, and it uses abilities to lock off areas of the world map until you have the equipment to deal with it.
The transport bird from Zelda 3 makes a reappearance, although you have to unlock its target locations by finding specific stones on the overworld.
One of the dungeons is actually a throwback to Zelda 1, right up to the music and sound effects in it.
It also uses a number of new items rather than just rehashing the same items from every other Zelda game.
------
Other good 2D Zelda games are.
Oracle of Ages - Game Boy Color - Upgraded version of the Link's Awakening DX engine. Graphics are still somewhat more primitive than Zelda 3.
The item trading sequence unlocks the level 2 sword.
Uses the time portal mechanic instead of the Dark World mechanic of Zelda 3, but it works out much the same.
Has a few new items to the series, but most are shared with Oracles of Seasons.
Makes one continuous story with Oracle of Seasons.
--
Oracle of Seasons - Game Boy Color - Same engine as Oracle of Ages, but the game isn't as good. Instead of the previously mentioned time portal mechanic, it instead allows you to change the season for the current area; there are four versions of every outside area.
The two Oracles games form one single storyline with two final bosses after each game's respective boss, but you will only encounter said bosses if you finished one game and used the code it gave you when starting a new game on the other.
--
Link's Awakening (DX) - Game Boy (Color) - DX version is in color. Graphics are somewhat more primitive than Zelda 3.
Uses a lot of the same of the same items as Zelda 3.
Engine features (these are also found in the Oracles games):
Has two item slots instead of one, but the Sword is now an item you have to equip. Shields are no longer automatic.
Rooms do not scroll, each room on a map is exactly one game screen wide and one game screen tall.
Item Trading sequence, which in this game is required in order to locate the last boss in the final dungeon.
Link does not start with the sword. It must be found first.
Some dungeons require keys before you can enter.
If you have a dungeon's compass, the game will play a tone if you enter a room that has a key in it.
Every dungeon has a mini-boss. Beating the mini-boss unlocks a portal to the dungeon entrance.
--
The Legend of Zelda - NES - Fairly good, but very unintuitive in places. Badly in need of a remake.
Most items from the NES Zelda went on to appear in the same or upgraded form in Zelda 3. Best example: The Red Candle was upgraded to the Lantern in Zelda 3.
------
And the other 2D Zelda games that you may or may not want to avoid:
The Adventure of Link - NES - Exchanges top-down view for side-scrolling view. Black sheep of the family. OK, but doesn't feel like a Zelda game.
Phantom Hourglass - DS - Sorta fun, but the touch-screen controls means you may have a bad case of handinthewayitis. Areas are separated on the world map, and you must navigate by boat, but it doesn't suck like Wind Waker's boat did.
Has one really irritating, timed dungeon that you need to visit repeatedly.
Spirit Tracks - DS - Somewhat fun. Same as previous entry, but without the tedious dungeon, plus your main mode of transportation around the world map has changed from a ship to a... train. Also involves teaming controlling a second character at certain points using the touchscreen.
01189998819991197253
To restate what you said:
Conjecture: Last.FM is making it on $3.
Assumption: Last.FM needs to make $3 to break even.
Hypothesis: Raising the price to $4 will more than cover the 30% Apple fee.
So, here's the math:
$4.00 * 30% (or 0.3) = $1.20
$4.00 - $1.20 = $2.80
$2.80 $3.00
So, it looks like your hypothesis was wrong.
This is intentionally ignoring that not all Last.FM customers will be using iOS devices... but unless you what percentage are, any other data is useless.
It's not the same price, though. Last.FM would make 30% less from iOS customers, as Apple takes a 30% cut. And, as you mentioned before:
If iOS customers are willing to pay more, why would Last.FM intentionally make a deal where they make less?
According to new stories I've read from other sites on the same subject, Apple forbids them from charging more to iOS users than they do through their own web storefront.
How did this get modded "Insightful?"
Here's a quote from the original lawsuit filing from August last year:
(emphasis added)
In other words, this "prior art" you posted is one of the patents that Oracle is suing Google over, that Oracle acquired when they bought Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Chrome also integrates Adobe Flash... but unless Google is updating Flash whenever Adobe issues an update, it's less secure than the versions that use a standalone plugin.
I wasn't aware that the Commodore 64 had updates.
It really depends on if, by tools, he just meant tools, or if he also included libraries to interface with said tools... or just meant libraries to begin with.
If what he meant includes libraries at all, the GP would be correct, unless said libraries were LGPL.
OnLive sounded like an interesting concept, but from what I've read, there's just enough input latency between your computer and their servers to mess things up... and it can get worse depending on the game.
Postal 1 and Postal 2 were also on platforms where Epic actually did release a Linux port, though... so it's a case where someone else already did the majority of the work.
OK, so I'm sure everyone knows VP8 is the video codec for WebM.
So, this is essentially a step in killing WebM's major advantage over H.264? That advantage being a royalty-free codec...
Have you tried reading the links in the summary?
-- Google's announcement article, which was the second link in the summary
Yup, because Java didn't have assert before!
Yes, I still find it humorous that the gibs and blood in Team Fortress 2 were replaced with clockwork and oil.
Yes, it did, but there was a limitation in the game engine: you couldn't see both rooms at the same time or the game's graphics would bug out.
Some elevators in the game, on the other hand, were a teleporter trick.
Except, apparently, Half-Life Deathmatch, which has both of those traps and iirc they will blow each other up.
It's interesting how those numbers change when you remove "Working Draft" and "Other" from the criteria:
IE 9.0: 75%
Firefox 4.0: 93%
Safari 5.0: 89%
Chrome 10.0: 96%
Opera 11.1: 99%
IE's still in last place, but it does considerably better when you stop including specifications that aren't yet finished.
It requires a version of Windows with DirectWrite and Direct2D support... which would be Windows Vista SP2 (or possibly SP1) and Windows 7.
Given that IE9 doesn't work on XP because it uses hardware acceleration APIs that don't exist in anything below Vista SP2, I doubt they'll release a VM image of Windows with IE9.