There are still instances of actors signing multi-movie deals. The bulk of the cast for the first X-Men were signed for two sequals. Studios can still get away with this for little known actors trying to break into the industry.
It's not the same thing though. In this case, the actors are free to work on other projects of their choice for whatever studio they want in between doing the movies involved in these multi-movie deals. Under the studio system in the early days of film, actors could only work for the studio they signed a contract with at that time (a la present day recording artists), and they pretty much had to do whatever movies the studio wanted.
Plus, I'm not exactly shedding a tear for those unknown actors signing multi-movie deals with the big studios.:-)
But what I had in mind was an actor having his face and voice scanned for one movie, with a provision in the contract that doing so entitles the movie studio to use those recorded images at their convenience for X more movies or for X years. Just as a music contract can take away an artist's right to sing his own songs or be recorded by any other label, an acting contract could claim an actor's virtual image for as long as the studio wants.
60 years ago the studios may have gotten away with this. That was back when an actor signed with a studio for X number of years and basically was at their mercy to do whatever films the studio wanted.
All of that, however, changed in the early 60's. Now actor's are contracted on a per-movie basis and are free to work for whatever studio they want. The SAG is quite powerful and I'm sure they wouldn't allow this system of free agency to go away.
I haven't heard it mentioned here, but Midnight Club II for ps2 is a great driving game. It may not have the realism of GT3, but there's nothing like driving through the streets (and parks) of cities like Paris and LA at 150 mph! That, and it's a little more realistic to finish in a month than GT3 (especially if you're gonna play other games as well).
As far as other games go, everyone's already mentioned the obvious choices, Splinter Cell, Final Fantasy X, etc. You can't go wrong with them.:-)
"For all we know - and this might be 10-15 years from now - we might not be sitting in front of a TV, but just pop a pair of glasses on and play the game."
Actually, it was 6 or 7 years ago, IIRC, when Nintendo rolled out the Virtual Boy. I remember it had a Mario title and a tennis game and not much else, unless you count that terrible red and black color of the graphics.
Dark Ages? Instead, this is a good thing. No one will mind much playing a game featuring the Dolphins or the Raiders in another ten years, but imagine playing a game fraturing the likes (pardon the pun) of Fran Tarkenton, Joe Namath, or O.J. Simpson?
The fact is developers of games like Madden 2003 and FIFA couldn't care less about the gamer 10 years for now. After all, in 2013 we'll all be playing Madden 2014 (funny how they are always ahead a year to make the game look "newer").
The designers only care about who's going to play the game this year, and one of the most important aspects of a sports game to those gamers is realism. That goes for both gameplay and graphics. It's hard to imagine a serious sports game that doesn't also have your favorite teams and players in it.
The "dark age" game the link in the post refers to is NHLPA 93, which has (had?) real player names and numbers but not the actual team names, just the city. Hence the name "NHLPA", as in the NHL Players Association.
How ironic.
You think "YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK IT!" is bad? Try fixing a computer in the middle of a cramped, dungy basement office with little light and even less breathable air while your clueless family member gives you "advice" and takes the opportunity to "clean" the case by sucking up the dust, along with some transistors and jumpers, in his industrial strength Handivac.
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No, it just makes for very boring tv.
Plus, I'm not exactly shedding a tear for those unknown actors signing multi-movie deals with the big studios.
All of that, however, changed in the early 60's. Now actor's are contracted on a per-movie basis and are free to work for whatever studio they want. The SAG is quite powerful and I'm sure they wouldn't allow this system of free agency to go away.
I haven't heard it mentioned here, but Midnight Club II for ps2 is a great driving game. It may not have the realism of GT3, but there's nothing like driving through the streets (and parks) of cities like Paris and LA at 150 mph! That, and it's a little more realistic to finish in a month than GT3 (especially if you're gonna play other games as well). :-)
As far as other games go, everyone's already mentioned the obvious choices, Splinter Cell, Final Fantasy X, etc. You can't go wrong with them.
The designers only care about who's going to play the game this year, and one of the most important aspects of a sports game to those gamers is realism. That goes for both gameplay and graphics. It's hard to imagine a serious sports game that doesn't also have your favorite teams and players in it.
The "dark age" game the link in the post refers to is NHLPA 93, which has (had?) real player names and numbers but not the actual team names, just the city. Hence the name "NHLPA", as in the NHL Players Association. How ironic.
You think "YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK IT!" is bad? Try fixing a computer in the middle of a cramped, dungy basement office with little light and even less breathable air while your clueless family member gives you "advice" and takes the opportunity to "clean" the case by sucking up the dust, along with some transistors and jumpers, in his industrial strength Handivac.