On the other hand, you can't get turn based strategy games on the PC anymore. I much preferred those over their Real Time cousins.
They exist, every time I pick up a gaming mag somewhere in the back near the "earn $$$$ at home!!!" ads there's usually a space reserved for turn based strategy, sims and all other sorts of niche pc gaming goodness. Personally Civ4 + expansions has satisfied me on the turn based front for a couple years now.
What other features would you suggest to Microsoft if they are to have a hope for recovery?
What is the one thing MS can do that no one else (realistically) can do these days? Games. They need to start thinking Windows needs not be a one size fits all approach. Why can I not install the most basic framework of the OS and DX in order to utilize all available resources of my rig?
I'm sure I'm not the only one at their without any choice in OS simply because my computer is most often used for games. Which if it's going to be that way, don't make a guy who tunes every bus speed and multiplier he access too use the same OS install his grandma would use to check her e-mails.
Why? The x1800xt will play any game on the market.
Yeah, I know:) That's why I said my next gaming purchase. I still have easily another year out of this one, and the old Geforce 6600 it replaced is still, 3 years later chugging along quite nicely in my girlfriends rig. Once she gets some new kit with PCIE she'll probably get this radeon, as I'm sick of looking at an SLI motherboard with one (1) ATI card in it, lol.
No one is forced to use it, but things like genetic screening will be used by parents who must protect their little snowflakes at all costs. Which is sad because what may cause you to abort today might be easily treatable tomorrow. Just check out the strides we're making with autism.
which could be used in the future to detect genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome.
But doesn't that in turn just open up a whole 'nother can of worms? There are people out there opposed to such screening, especially parents of children with downs syndrome... This article seems to put it in a good perspective.
I'm all for using the tools we have created to better our lot but at some point we might be screening for gentic markers that effect personality and help to create the individual. Just as no one is wise enough (IMHO) to take another's life for any reason, I don't think we are wise enough to be scanning our dna for anything but the most flagrant of errors. The kind of problems that wouldn't allow such a person to live a normal and fufilling life... Instead we move one step closer to designer children.
Today it's Downs Syndrome free, tomarrow it's, "Can I get a medium #1 with blond hair blue eyes, here's 1 egg and a table spoon of semen" "Thank you, your order number is 42".
Yeah after regulations were relaxed the exact opposite of what I'm advocating for the telcos and cable companies. Hey I'm not saying it's perfect or that I am an expert. But from years of consumerism I have learned the least troublesome companies are the utility companies. Hell I'd love to be bitching about them, but instead we have little things like warrantless wiretaps, throttling of bandwidth after passing invisible caps, and the thirst for ever more control over ones "customers" and the ads they see. Yeah from over here that grass is looking pretty fucking green over by the power company.
I have a first gen unit... That produces insane amounts of heat but no RROD, there is also abnormal wear on the top sides of discs inserted into it, and a crazy grinding sound phone reps keep telling me is due to expansion from the DVD drive heating up. Hah, I'll take my next big ticket gaming purchase straight to newegg.com and replace my aging Radeon x1800 xt video card. The right video card for the right person can easily be in use as long as a good console would. Aside from a fan there are no moving parts to break and if it's going to overheat at least I can check it's temperature. Something I thought should of been added to the 360 dashboard at launch.
Obviously, you don't pay for electricity in Houston, Texas.
No sir I live in the Treasure Valley here in south western Idaho. Where we primarily rely on hydro (with some coal), which depending on what side of the salmon debate your on has been pretty good to us. Some of the lowest per capita carbon emissions of the top 100 metro areas in the states and fairly cheap power to boot. And every year when they request a rate adjustment is splashed all over the front pages and up for discussion. Exactly the kind of thing needed for services such as communications and internet. Seeing as how our whole economy is getting wrapped up and around such services it isn't prudent to let private corporations have such leverage...
Huh, I must be the only one online?.. There is a lot of unrest out there, whether or not that equates to people actually taking fucking action for once is besides the point. People are not fans of the telcos, nor are they fans of the cable company. I don't think the climate is ripe for the kind of demonstrations outside there brick and mortar locations I would like to see. But I do believe US citizens are at the point where they would allow such companies to be subject to much stricter government controls. That is if the FUD and propaganda machines didn't put everyone in line and up in arms first. As one mention of the world communism or socialism is enough to sway our ill informed citizens.
Jesus was a communist, Jesus was a pacifist, Jesus was a communist, Jesus didn't like the rich - Reagan Youth
Back to the topic at hand, I firmly believe these industries need to be nationalized. Or at least something along the line of utility companies. The fact of the matter is they exist to serve the citizens (or at least should due to public easements and what have you), but their commitment is to making that dollar... I don't see how that is ever going to change. But I do see how I never have to worry about gas or electric company trying to pull some underhanded move or using my payments to fund lobbyists to further their agenda. Nah when the power company wants to raise rates it's done in a public forum and it has to be okay'd by whatever governmental committee is in charge of that. Which obviously isn't a perfect system but it works and you don't see massive consumer unrest towards entities with such oversight.
Not really. It's not like you'll get sued for leaving
I think that needs to be put to the test. Sue your guild leader for failed BT runs. I mean you have to repair, and repairing takes gold and gold takes time so you would be out of something tangible. You could claim mental angiush and suffering, hell sue that brat who called ya a nub in trade for libel... Just a coffee over dose induced thought.
but a flat rate unlimited internet plan will cut it????
As features and use rise do you expect unlimited internet to stick around in it's current form? Nah it was just way to help stoke flames of the iphone's success.
That was my first thought, then I realized SMS is a quaint and antiquated tech. Which I do use nearly everyday, but our fairly modest plan has sufficed and I've never had to pay for overages... So, from my point of view, it's not as if this is going to jeopardize any tremendous revenue stream as most txt is covered by the plan anyways. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to do away with SMS all together and get ya sending via the interweb (emails, IM, etc) so you're more inclined use more data. After all e-mails and IM's facilitate the sending of files, uploading of pics (if only for your avatar), and on and on I can go. AT&T just wants you to consume ever more, and a flat rate system like SMS just isn't going to cut it... Not when it comes to padding the bottom line. Just my.02USD
My cable modem, a Motorola SB5101 only gets cycled when I need to clean behind the bookcase it's on... And I got a Linksys BEFSX41 firewall router. Runs great, never needs cycling. Until I enable uPNP, then if I still have a connection it drops it for 2 mins ever 55-60mins.
So much talk about wireless devices tho, I swear... Give me wires or give me death.
Just wait till something like this happens with Microsoft's upcoming subscription model for Office, and you get locked out of your documents. Fun times ahead. Be sure to save in ODF...
This has actually already happened at least twice. I was going over some old PC Gamers while on the jon and sure enough there was an article about a subscription based gaming company. More akin to Steam then to Gametap. Anyways they went under, but the CEO or what not had a backup plan and simply released some code that would allow the games to be patched to run without a central sever... Ya know I'm sure that could get you into a legal mess with the wrong developers, I never heard more on that ill-fated company... But Microsoft I'm sure will have a backup plan. Probably akin to the Canadian Invasion US military planners thought up. Never gonna need it, but just in case....
Now everyone who bought the game can not play multi-player (the only reason most people buy games now days)
Granted I play MMO's which is decidedly multiplayer. Any other game, console or PC I generally stick to single player or multiplayer over the LAN. It didn't have to be this way, I had a blast playing on Xbox Live! The first 6 months... Then the players got younger... They got much better... and they got much, much, much more obscene, vulgar and racist. Nowadays if I do any online multiplayer it's generally late at night or earlier in the day when I can play with the brits or aussies. Much nicer crowd.
So they sell you the game, then charge you extra for add ons... In a subscription based format. Wow. Did someone tell them the PC market doesn't work that way? And where on earth did these guys get the idea we needed another Diablo clone?.. Oh my bad, I meant to say another "spiritual successor".
Hah, good riddance is all I can say, may be the Blizzard North guys can get on with the next 18 Wheels of Steel game.
Slashdot Mirror
On the other hand, you can't get turn based strategy games on the PC anymore. I much preferred those over their Real Time cousins.
They exist, every time I pick up a gaming mag somewhere in the back near the "earn $$$$ at home!!!" ads there's usually a space reserved for turn based strategy, sims and all other sorts of niche pc gaming goodness. Personally Civ4 + expansions has satisfied me on the turn based front for a couple years now.
What you are reffering to is called an Xbox 360. I'm not saying that it's right, but it seems like that is the direction MS is taking games in.
Yes that is the direction they are taking console games in. North American PC gaming is a different beast, always has been and always will be.
Speaking of which - how would WinFS and ZFS compare?
To me at least, they appear to be two vastly different beasts... WinFS / ZFS
What other features would you suggest to Microsoft if they are to have a hope for recovery?
What is the one thing MS can do that no one else (realistically) can do these days? Games. They need to start thinking Windows needs not be a one size fits all approach. Why can I not install the most basic framework of the OS and DX in order to utilize all available resources of my rig?
I'm sure I'm not the only one at their without any choice in OS simply because my computer is most often used for games. Which if it's going to be that way, don't make a guy who tunes every bus speed and multiplier he access too use the same OS install his grandma would use to check her e-mails.
Why? The x1800xt will play any game on the market.
Yeah, I know :) That's why I said my next gaming purchase. I still have easily another year out of this one, and the old Geforce 6600 it replaced is still, 3 years later chugging along quite nicely in my girlfriends rig. Once she gets some new kit with PCIE she'll probably get this radeon, as I'm sick of looking at an SLI motherboard with one (1) ATI card in it, lol.
No one is forced to use it, but things like genetic screening will be used by parents who must protect their little snowflakes at all costs. Which is sad because what may cause you to abort today might be easily treatable tomorrow. Just check out the strides we're making with autism.
Check Scientific American, May 2006 page 45. More To Explore: www.weizmann.ac.il/udi/press
which could be used in the future to detect genetic disorders such as Down's syndrome.
But doesn't that in turn just open up a whole 'nother can of worms? There are people out there opposed to such screening, especially parents of children with downs syndrome... This article seems to put it in a good perspective.
I'm all for using the tools we have created to better our lot but at some point we might be screening for gentic markers that effect personality and help to create the individual. Just as no one is wise enough (IMHO) to take another's life for any reason, I don't think we are wise enough to be scanning our dna for anything but the most flagrant of errors. The kind of problems that wouldn't allow such a person to live a normal and fufilling life... Instead we move one step closer to designer children.
Today it's Downs Syndrome free, tomarrow it's, "Can I get a medium #1 with blond hair blue eyes, here's 1 egg and a table spoon of semen" "Thank you, your order number is 42".
Yeah after regulations were relaxed the exact opposite of what I'm advocating for the telcos and cable companies. Hey I'm not saying it's perfect or that I am an expert. But from years of consumerism I have learned the least troublesome companies are the utility companies. Hell I'd love to be bitching about them, but instead we have little things like warrantless wiretaps, throttling of bandwidth after passing invisible caps, and the thirst for ever more control over ones "customers" and the ads they see. Yeah from over here that grass is looking pretty fucking green over by the power company.
I have a first gen unit... That produces insane amounts of heat but no RROD, there is also abnormal wear on the top sides of discs inserted into it, and a crazy grinding sound phone reps keep telling me is due to expansion from the DVD drive heating up. Hah, I'll take my next big ticket gaming purchase straight to newegg.com and replace my aging Radeon x1800 xt video card. The right video card for the right person can easily be in use as long as a good console would. Aside from a fan there are no moving parts to break and if it's going to overheat at least I can check it's temperature. Something I thought should of been added to the 360 dashboard at launch.
Obviously, you don't pay for electricity in Houston, Texas.
No sir I live in the Treasure Valley here in south western Idaho. Where we primarily rely on hydro (with some coal), which depending on what side of the salmon debate your on has been pretty good to us. Some of the lowest per capita carbon emissions of the top 100 metro areas in the states and fairly cheap power to boot. And every year when they request a rate adjustment is splashed all over the front pages and up for discussion. Exactly the kind of thing needed for services such as communications and internet. Seeing as how our whole economy is getting wrapped up and around such services it isn't prudent to let private corporations have such leverage...
Huh, I must be the only one online?.. There is a lot of unrest out there, whether or not that equates to people actually taking fucking action for once is besides the point. People are not fans of the telcos, nor are they fans of the cable company. I don't think the climate is ripe for the kind of demonstrations outside there brick and mortar locations I would like to see. But I do believe US citizens are at the point where they would allow such companies to be subject to much stricter government controls. That is if the FUD and propaganda machines didn't put everyone in line and up in arms first. As one mention of the world communism or socialism is enough to sway our ill informed citizens.
Jesus was a communist, Jesus was a pacifist, Jesus was a communist, Jesus didn't like the rich - Reagan Youth
Back to the topic at hand, I firmly believe these industries need to be nationalized. Or at least something along the line of utility companies. The fact of the matter is they exist to serve the citizens (or at least should due to public easements and what have you), but their commitment is to making that dollar... I don't see how that is ever going to change. But I do see how I never have to worry about gas or electric company trying to pull some underhanded move or using my payments to fund lobbyists to further their agenda. Nah when the power company wants to raise rates it's done in a public forum and it has to be okay'd by whatever governmental committee is in charge of that. Which obviously isn't a perfect system but it works and you don't see massive consumer unrest towards entities with such oversight.
Not really. It's not like you'll get sued for leaving
I think that needs to be put to the test. Sue your guild leader for failed BT runs. I mean you have to repair, and repairing takes gold and gold takes time so you would be out of something tangible. You could claim mental angiush and suffering, hell sue that brat who called ya a nub in trade for libel... Just a coffee over dose induced thought.
Let me clarify I should of said the North American PC market doesn't work that way.
but a flat rate unlimited internet plan will cut it????
As features and use rise do you expect unlimited internet to stick around in it's current form? Nah it was just way to help stoke flames of the iphone's success.
That was my first thought, then I realized SMS is a quaint and antiquated tech. Which I do use nearly everyday, but our fairly modest plan has sufficed and I've never had to pay for overages... So, from my point of view, it's not as if this is going to jeopardize any tremendous revenue stream as most txt is covered by the plan anyways. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to do away with SMS all together and get ya sending via the interweb (emails, IM, etc) so you're more inclined use more data. After all e-mails and IM's facilitate the sending of files, uploading of pics (if only for your avatar), and on and on I can go. AT&T just wants you to consume ever more, and a flat rate system like SMS just isn't going to cut it... Not when it comes to padding the bottom line. Just my .02USD
My cable modem, a Motorola SB5101 only gets cycled when I need to clean behind the bookcase it's on... And I got a Linksys BEFSX41 firewall router. Runs great, never needs cycling. Until I enable uPNP, then if I still have a connection it drops it for 2 mins ever 55-60mins.
So much talk about wireless devices tho, I swear... Give me wires or give me death.
Someone figures out to chat instead of text and it makes front page...
Just wait till something like this happens with Microsoft's upcoming subscription model for Office, and you get locked out of your documents. Fun times ahead. Be sure to save in ODF...
This has actually already happened at least twice. I was going over some old PC Gamers while on the jon and sure enough there was an article about a subscription based gaming company. More akin to Steam then to Gametap. Anyways they went under, but the CEO or what not had a backup plan and simply released some code that would allow the games to be patched to run without a central sever... Ya know I'm sure that could get you into a legal mess with the wrong developers, I never heard more on that ill-fated company... But Microsoft I'm sure will have a backup plan. Probably akin to the Canadian Invasion US military planners thought up. Never gonna need it, but just in case....
Now everyone who bought the game can not play multi-player (the only reason most people buy games now days)
Granted I play MMO's which is decidedly multiplayer. Any other game, console or PC I generally stick to single player or multiplayer over the LAN. It didn't have to be this way, I had a blast playing on Xbox Live! The first 6 months... Then the players got younger... They got much better... and they got much, much, much more obscene, vulgar and racist. Nowadays if I do any online multiplayer it's generally late at night or earlier in the day when I can play with the brits or aussies. Much nicer crowd.
Daikatana HAD multiplayer.
Don't tell me you were one of the 200,000 that bought that coaster? :(
Und dats why its da top dogg :)
So they sell you the game, then charge you extra for add ons... In a subscription based format. Wow. Did someone tell them the PC market doesn't work that way? And where on earth did these guys get the idea we needed another Diablo clone?.. Oh my bad, I meant to say another "spiritual successor".
Hah, good riddance is all I can say, may be the Blizzard North guys can get on with the next 18 Wheels of Steel game.
I'm failing to see what one would subscribe to in a game such as that?