Having worked for a gaming company and in the game industry for over ten years, gameplay and graphics go hand in hand. Yes, good graphics will improve sales but it will not make the game. I think most of us are smart enough to know that while eye candy is dandy, being real is the deal. But there is a lot more to developing a decent product.
There are four important factors in a games success: 1: open sourced/editable for improvements and new version (i.e. battlefield1942 morphing into desertcombat or starwars's galactic conquest, nethack) 2: gameplay that can extend beyond the original campaign(dynamic campaigns, add-ons) 3: good customer interaction and support for the game community (ie.combat mission, halflife, quake) 4: product that does something new or is not scared of rattling the conservative right (Grand Theft Auto).
The fourth will garner attention as free marketing. Rockstar used it for GTA:Vice and it worked brilliant. Put those into a game, you've got a home run every time.
I hate sounding like a troll...
I didn't mind this article until I tried to find out who finished first. Second and Third were US teams, first was Canadian. Was it that hard to mention that a Canadian team won this event instead of just linking to the US team's press release? Give credit where credit is due please.
Hey Bob... what does the average game programmer cost? 50-80k? Hmmm... our shareholders aren't going to like this quarterss numbers. WAIT, I HAVE A BRILLIANT IDEA. Dump a few folks and then remove their salaries from the bottom line. Hey, look Bob, we've got huge profit this quarter! Woo Hoo!
BTW Bob, after the report, hire them back as contractors so we can finish that Barbie game they were working on...
Wait a minute - a way to spoof Google to get your page ranked better through WiKi? OMFG! Call the internet police, call Dr. Eric E. Schmidt, call out the Google Gorilla goons! I'm sure the good Dr. has a fix like the ones he used at Novell...
The problem with the whole Google model is that it's biased to begin with. If I'm looking for granny-smith apples, chances are an internet chimp they've bought the space with banana's to Google's goons. It becomes obvious when you see a chimp site that is near the top that has no business at the top. To the experienced googler, it's just an annoying fly on the screen and you just move further down.
I'm hoping that Google doesn't get too bogged down in becoming that big Ape like Micro$oft and be a little more proactive in protecting their business property. It's bad enough that they're selling top space to companies willing to pay, but here's hoping they don't slip on their own banana peels.
The sad reality is that those who do live paycheck to paycheck (the poor), are hardest hit by this snafu.
The banks position is "if you're hurt, let us know by bringing in proof."
How about the RBC chair bend over so I can shove my foot up his arse and tickle his tonsils with my toes - "Does that hurt Mr. Guy Saint-Pierre? Cause that's how most of your customers feel right now..."
RBC should stand for Rude Bank C**ts - yes, it is the C word Virginia.
Part of my comments about Canada's problem with the Canadian version of RIAA going after home users, here's direct proof that:
a - there is stronger proof that music sharing increases public interest.
b - there is very weak correlation that music swapping is robbing sales from RIAA.
I am wondering if RIAA really has done their homework on the impact of music sharing?
If your subscribed to one of Western Canada's largest Internet service subscribers (Telus), you've already lost your 'anonymous' status. Telus sells your info to marketing companies - you got to opt out manually by calling thier privacy line.
Don't worry, it's just your mailing address, name, and your phone number. Telus swears they're not selling your email address but I wonder how much longer before they start to use that as a cashable asset?
At issue here is whether or not the music industry is allowed to snoop on your home PC's. Where's the search warrant I ask?
Point 1. Canada's law on privacy (FOIP) may protect us from RIAA anyways. New rules and guidelines came in effect on January 1st. It basically allows us to operate with business without reprocussions of invasion of privacy.
Point 2. Canada is already collecting a tarrif on CD's sold in Canada to go towards musicians from sales lost from online music sharing(even though most have never seen a red cent). If I'm already paying tarrifs on CD's to protect the music industry, do I not have a legal right to copy and download music I want?
Point 3. CD's were suppose to promise cheaper albums when first introducts in the 80's. Cost of production of an LP vs a CD is around 95% less. Where's my savings RIAA? Most albums still go for $15-20 dollars. Where's my promised $7 new albums?
Last Point. The last time the music industry shut down Napster, music sales plumeted 10%. Does file and music sharing spawn interest in CD's? What about albums or CD's I can no longer buy but the music is available P2P? Doesn't RIAA realise that they should be embracing this as an opportunity to change how music is sold? I mean, it's not like artists make money on albums anyways. Who's really behind this push?
The Privacy Commission slaps a big bank around
on
Canadian Privacy Act
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
Being a Canadian, and being an advocate for privacy, I've always been fighting Banks and other companies about how they collect and 'store' my information without impacting my service. X Bank recently sent me a letter stating that if I didn't approve of their using my personal information, it could impact their ability to provide me services. (x = big non-customer focused bank).
I promptly forward this to the Privacy office who responded back in just a week to both me and the X Privacy Department that:
a) The Privacy Commission's opinion was that letter X sent to me implies that if I don't agree to let them collect information, I loose services. It then scolded X for forcing clients to agree to the new policy. Fork 1, X 0.
b) X was warned to revise the letter to adhere to the new policy. Fork 2, X 0.
c) X was to clarify their communications to the customers on what they mean by 'reduced services.' Fork 3, X 0
d) X was to inform their clients of this new policy ASAP and apologize to me. Fork 4, X 0.
X Bank has not contacted me to date (it's been four weeks). I closed my account with them today and informed the PC of the fact. When X bank asked why I was closing:
"Sir, before I close this account may I ask why you're closing it?"
"You don't know how to play the customer service game. The score is 4 to nothing."
"Excuse me sir? I don't understand the answer and I need to put in something"
To complain that MMORPG'a or even MMOG's in general are too complex is like complaining that your new car has too many buttons.
Yeah, sure there are a couple of fantasy online games out there that can be complex, but it's like anything else, if you find it too hard, don't play it. I'm sure you can play chess or checkers online.
I was managing editor for an online magazine once (combatsim.com) and I found it hard to balance the free-gift syndrome most of the review staff had when getting products to review.
Prior, stuff I sent them was kept for them to use. We later developed a policy to ship everything back to keep unless it was inexpensive (such as software or small devices).
How corrupt are manufacturers and product retailers? Would they send an enhanced product to get a bias review and then manufacture a sub-standard product? You betcha!
To avoid this issue, we often went out AFTER a product was released and reviewed it on our own dime to remain objective. That way we experienced what the average joe would go through...manuals, product information, packaging, etc.
Most companies would just send us stuff without us asking and the result was that we often had to deal with products that were prototypes vs products that were finished.
The general rule is look who's doing the review. Tom's testing standard are pretty rigid and established. I'm hoping Tom's got common sense to purchase the real product than rely on possibly 'enhansed' demos.
Correct me if I'm wrong, the purpose of SETI is to take advantage of unused cycles on computers that would normally sit idle correct?
If your computer is caching to the hard drive to use SETI, then as Forest Gump once said, 'STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES." Add more ram or change how your machines uses virtual memory.
If your computer is ALREADY ON, your computer doesn't doesn't consume a great deal more power because your CPU is working harder. Stupid NEON lights in computer cases burns more in an hour than running SETI has on your CPU for a week.
I question the ethic and technical knowledge of ialbert.com has with respect to computer power consumption. If you want to save voltage on DCC, turn the stupid monitor and flashy lights off.
Lets look at all the comments we've seen here the past while as to possible causes:
- fuel lines
- tiles
- control surfaces
- doors and windows
- terrorist sabatage (nahhh)
Perhaps it hit someone on the way down? Small meteorite, piece of space debris, anything. The fact that they let the shuttle enter our atmosphere at Mach 18 is a bit insane to begin with. Part of the design to get it down quickly.
I think that we may never know the true cause because space travel itself is a very dangerous job. A paint fleck travelling at 26000mph in orbit can demolish the space shuttle. Something like that could of hit the xcraft on the way down.
But I do know that NASA's been under budget stress for years with their "Faster-better-cheaper" missions that generally fail. The space shuttle is also under this guise.
My point is this - an accident of this nature doesn't just have a single cause. It has multiple causes that result in a chain reaction. Looking for the single source is like blaming a car accident on bad tire when it's usually a combination of faults dating back to the shop and owner abuse.
I used to work with Macterra. There was also an option to include a password bypass.
Your bounced return email would have a password to include in the subject. Ie. your friend emails you - Bouncer sent it back with instructions on how to get past.
When you got the email back from your friend, you simply add them to your 'allow' list.
Considering most spam emails don't include real reply addies, this worked like a charm.
Slashdot Mirror
Having worked for a gaming company and in the game industry for over ten years, gameplay and graphics go hand in hand. Yes, good graphics will improve sales but it will not make the game. I think most of us are smart enough to know that while eye candy is dandy, being real is the deal. But there is a lot more to developing a decent product.
There are four important factors in a games success:
1: open sourced/editable for improvements and new version (i.e. battlefield1942 morphing into desertcombat or starwars's galactic conquest, nethack)
2: gameplay that can extend beyond the original campaign(dynamic campaigns, add-ons)
3: good customer interaction and support for the game community (ie.combat mission, halflife, quake)
4: product that does something new or is not scared of rattling the conservative right (Grand Theft Auto).
The fourth will garner attention as free marketing. Rockstar used it for GTA:Vice and it worked brilliant.
Put those into a game, you've got a home run every time.
I hate sounding like a troll...
I didn't mind this article until I tried to find out who finished first. Second and Third were US teams, first was Canadian. Was it that hard to mention that a Canadian team won this event instead of just linking to the US team's press release? Give credit where credit is due please.
Hey Bob... what does the average game programmer cost? 50-80k? Hmmm... our shareholders aren't going to like this quarterss numbers. WAIT, I HAVE A BRILLIANT IDEA. Dump a few folks and then remove their salaries from the bottom line. Hey, look Bob, we've got huge profit this quarter! Woo Hoo! BTW Bob, after the report, hire them back as contractors so we can finish that Barbie game they were working on...
Wait a minute - a way to spoof Google to get your page ranked better through WiKi? OMFG! Call the internet police, call Dr. Eric E. Schmidt, call out the Google Gorilla goons! I'm sure the good Dr. has a fix like the ones he used at Novell...
The problem with the whole Google model is that it's biased to begin with. If I'm looking for granny-smith apples, chances are an internet chimp they've bought the space with banana's to Google's goons. It becomes obvious when you see a chimp site that is near the top that has no business at the top. To the experienced googler, it's just an annoying fly on the screen and you just move further down.
I'm hoping that Google doesn't get too bogged down in becoming that big Ape like Micro$oft and be a little more proactive in protecting their business property. It's bad enough that they're selling top space to companies willing to pay, but here's hoping they don't slip on their own banana peels.
The sad reality is that those who do live paycheck to paycheck (the poor), are hardest hit by this snafu.
The banks position is "if you're hurt, let us know by bringing in proof."
How about the RBC chair bend over so I can shove my foot up his arse and tickle his tonsils with my toes - "Does that hurt Mr. Guy Saint-Pierre? Cause that's how most of your customers feel right now..."
RBC should stand for Rude Bank C**ts - yes, it is the C word Virginia.
Part of my comments about Canada's problem with the Canadian version of RIAA going after home users, here's direct proof that:
a - there is stronger proof that music sharing increases public interest.
b - there is very weak correlation that music swapping is robbing sales from RIAA.
I am wondering if RIAA really has done their homework on the impact of music sharing?
If your subscribed to one of Western Canada's largest Internet service subscribers (Telus), you've already lost your 'anonymous' status. Telus sells your info to marketing companies - you got to opt out manually by calling thier privacy line.
Don't worry, it's just your mailing address, name, and your phone number. Telus swears they're not selling your email address but I wonder how much longer before they start to use that as a cashable asset?
At issue here is whether or not the music industry is allowed to snoop on your home PC's. Where's the search warrant I ask?
Point 1. Canada's law on privacy (FOIP) may protect us from RIAA anyways. New rules and guidelines came in effect on January 1st. It basically allows us to operate with business without reprocussions of invasion of privacy.
Point 2. Canada is already collecting a tarrif on CD's sold in Canada to go towards musicians from sales lost from online music sharing(even though most have never seen a red cent). If I'm already paying tarrifs on CD's to protect the music industry, do I not have a legal right to copy and download music I want?
Point 3. CD's were suppose to promise cheaper albums when first introducts in the 80's. Cost of production of an LP vs a CD is around 95% less. Where's my savings RIAA? Most albums still go for $15-20 dollars. Where's my promised $7 new albums?
Last Point. The last time the music industry shut down Napster, music sales plumeted 10%. Does file and music sharing spawn interest in CD's? What about albums or CD's I can no longer buy but the music is available P2P? Doesn't RIAA realise that they should be embracing this as an opportunity to change how music is sold? I mean, it's not like artists make money on albums anyways. Who's really behind this push?
Being a Canadian, and being an advocate for privacy, I've always been fighting Banks and other companies about how they collect and 'store' my information without impacting my service. X Bank recently sent me a letter stating that if I didn't approve of their using my personal information, it could impact their ability to provide me services. (x = big non-customer focused bank).
I promptly forward this to the Privacy office who responded back in just a week to both me and the X Privacy Department that:
a) The Privacy Commission's opinion was that letter X sent to me implies that if I don't agree to let them collect information, I loose services. It then scolded X for forcing clients to agree to the new policy. Fork 1, X 0.
b) X was warned to revise the letter to adhere to the new policy. Fork 2, X 0.
c) X was to clarify their communications to the customers on what they mean by 'reduced services.' Fork 3, X 0
d) X was to inform their clients of this new policy ASAP and apologize to me. Fork 4, X 0.
X Bank has not contacted me to date (it's been four weeks). I closed my account with them today and informed the PC of the fact. When X bank asked why I was closing:
"Sir, before I close this account may I ask why you're closing it?"
"You don't know how to play the customer service game. The score is 4 to nothing."
"Excuse me sir? I don't understand the answer and I need to put in something"
"Fork 4, X 0 - put that in there"
Why did simoniker think that this is a new concept? It's not. Game makers and movie companies have been doing this for years.
As long as they don't take the Matrix route, using a game to bridge a movie, then I'm fine with it. (BTW - the Matrix game sucks bad. Real bad).
I enjoy the fact that games sometimes spawn movies or that are spawned AFTER movies (i.e. Star Wars series) but not as a link between movies.
To complain that MMORPG'a or even MMOG's in general are too complex is like complaining that your new car has too many buttons.
Yeah, sure there are a couple of fantasy online games out there that can be complex, but it's like anything else, if you find it too hard, don't play it. I'm sure you can play chess or checkers online.
I was managing editor for an online magazine once (combatsim.com) and I found it hard to balance the free-gift syndrome most of the review staff had when getting products to review.
Prior, stuff I sent them was kept for them to use. We later developed a policy to ship everything back to keep unless it was inexpensive (such as software or small devices).
How corrupt are manufacturers and product retailers? Would they send an enhanced product to get a bias review and then manufacture a sub-standard product? You betcha!
To avoid this issue, we often went out AFTER a product was released and reviewed it on our own dime to remain objective. That way we experienced what the average joe would go through...manuals, product information, packaging, etc.
Most companies would just send us stuff without us asking and the result was that we often had to deal with products that were prototypes vs products that were finished.
The general rule is look who's doing the review. Tom's testing standard are pretty rigid and established. I'm hoping Tom's got common sense to purchase the real product than rely on possibly 'enhansed' demos.
Correct me if I'm wrong, the purpose of SETI is to take advantage of unused cycles on computers that would normally sit idle correct? If your computer is caching to the hard drive to use SETI, then as Forest Gump once said, 'STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES." Add more ram or change how your machines uses virtual memory. If your computer is ALREADY ON, your computer doesn't doesn't consume a great deal more power because your CPU is working harder. Stupid NEON lights in computer cases burns more in an hour than running SETI has on your CPU for a week. I question the ethic and technical knowledge of ialbert.com has with respect to computer power consumption. If you want to save voltage on DCC, turn the stupid monitor and flashy lights off.
I think that we may never know the true cause because space travel itself is a very dangerous job. A paint fleck travelling at 26000mph in orbit can demolish the space shuttle. Something like that could of hit the xcraft on the way down.
But I do know that NASA's been under budget stress for years with their "Faster-better-cheaper" missions that generally fail. The space shuttle is also under this guise.
My point is this - an accident of this nature doesn't just have a single cause. It has multiple causes that result in a chain reaction. Looking for the single source is like blaming a car accident on bad tire when it's usually a combination of faults dating back to the shop and owner abuse.
I used to work with Macterra. There was also an option to include a password bypass. Your bounced return email would have a password to include in the subject. Ie. your friend emails you - Bouncer sent it back with instructions on how to get past. When you got the email back from your friend, you simply add them to your 'allow' list. Considering most spam emails don't include real reply addies, this worked like a charm.