I think you bring up a good point. I have never really cared about graphics, only whether a game is fun. As far as Zelda, while it is generally agreed by long-term Zelda fans (which I suspect you aren't given that you just purchased your GCN, but I could be wrong) that Ocarina of Time is the best in the series, Wind Waker is not a bad game. I say this even though I really don't like the cel-shading graphical approach.
Anyway, now that you have a GameCube, you should look into some of the other high quality exclusive titles that are available. Metroid Prime is among the best titles of any game this generation, and there's also the likes of Eternal Darkness, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and many others.
And don't forget Beyond Good and Evil. This underappreciated game is available for all 3 consoles, and is only $20. I highly recommend it to anyone that plays video games, and even people that don't.
Being good at a FPS doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be good at firing a real firearm.
With the caveat that I have very limited experience with real firearms, I would tend to agree. FPSers don't really address the specific skills involved in using a real firearm. That is a different skillset. But they do assist in other areas that are related. If you are good at FPSers, then you are more likely to be able to think tactically in a combat situation, be it in actual warfare or a simulated variety (paintball or laser tag). The skills learned in FPSers regarding anticipating an enemy's actions and using the appropriate counter may well keep a soldier alive. Though how to apply this in a useful fashion outside the military I'm not sure.
I work for a laser tag arena as a marshal, so I play RL laser tag fairly regularily. I also enjoy FPS games like Quake 3 and UT 2004. I have noticed a definate correlation for the kinds of skills I use in both.
As I watch people play while I am on the job, I marvel at how some people are basicly clueless as to how to effectively use the cover that is provided in the arena. I doubt such people play FPS games on a regular basis, if at all. OTOH, there are people that instinctively use the cover effectively, and in many cases it's people that had never played before. I wouldn't be surprised if they do play FPS games, or perhaps have military training.
How this translates to useful real life skills I don't know, but there is something to be said for being good at on-the-spot tactical thinking.
What can people on the moon or Mars do that a robot can't?
Robots are, by their very nature, very limited. They can only perform as directed by the mission controllers back on Earth. The communication lag, and other factors, puts a serious hamper on how much actual science they can perform.
A human field geologist would be able to accomplish more in 2 days than Spirit or Opportunity will accomplish in their entire mission.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned WarCraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. It was to be Blizzard's first adventure game, but was cancelled as a nearly complete game. Oh well, at least the story is now available as a novel. And it is part of WarCraft official cannon, as it plays into the setup of WarCraft III.
For Beyond Good and Evil, it is really sad that it hasn't performed very well. I have the GameCube version, and despite it being shorter than many games, I feel that it is the best game of 2003. Yes, it is better than Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Kart: Double Dash. (I have both)
I think the root cause for poor sales is two-fold:
1> They should not have released around Christmas.
2> It needed better marketing. Not more marketing, mind you, but better. I saw plenty of ads for it, but none of them really explained what type of game it really is. It is a story-driven adventure/action game.
Beyond Good and Evil is an excellent game. I highly recommend it to everyone. It's more than just a game, it is essentially an interactive movie. For most games, the story is nothing more than an excuse for the action. For BG&E, the story is the focus, which allows you, the player, to be a part of it. It would actually make a pretty good stand-alone movie. But this doesn't detract from the gameplay, as the game itself plays really well. I've seen games that have an intriquing story, but the gameplay is lacking (Eternal Darkness comes to mind). This is not a problem in BG&E.
As a side note, I'll be very disappointed if they don't produce a sequel. For those of you that have finished the game, you know that there is a nice little teaser scene after the credits that directly open it for a sequel. But even without that scene, there are so many unanswered questions at the end that a sequel is badly needed. I liken it unto the original Star Wars (the 1977 movie). It was fairly clear that that movie was the middle part of a much larger story. I see the same type of situation here. There's lots of material that could be covered both before and after the game we now have. I'm not going to go into any details because I don't want to give spoilers, but if you finish this game you'll see what I mean.
So, anyone out there reading this, do yourself a favor and get BG&E. At $20, it's a steal.
I say include a broadband/modem option(or sell them seperately) and let the 3rd parties forge the online services. Even if Nintendo themselves don't want to make online games they are going to regret it if they castrate the online possiblity entirely.
They already do this. The Broadband Adaptor, which does nothing but add a standard 10baseT network port, is available to those that want it (required to use Warp Pipe), and it allows interested developers to develop online games for the Cube. Phantasy Star Online is an example of this (so far the only one). Some games (Kirby Air Ride and Mario Kart: Double Dash) allow use of the Broadband adaptor to play the games over a LAN connection. All Warp Pipe does is tunnel the communication over the Internet.
Quite honestly, I don't see how people can trash Double Dash but give Wind Waker high scores. Wind Waker was a step backwards compared to the previous game (lots of flaws in the game compared to past Zeldas...), but Double Dash doesn't seem to have any steps backward, unless you're mad that they've taken away the ability for experts to totally destroy newbies.
I agree with this statement. Wind Waker was (is) a disappointment, and I play OoT much more often. Also, I never really liked MK64, but thouroughly enjoyed SMK (for the SNES). MK:DD seems to combine the best of both games. My only complaint about it is that the battle arenas are not as good as those in SMK. The ones in MK:DD are too small. Other than that, DD is an improvement in virtually every respect.
I know I want to get the Zelda disc, but the question is which of the 3 methods should I go for? Buying a 2nd Gamecube has never been an option for me, so that's out. That leaves the other 2.
I already have Mario Kart: Double Dash on preorder, so to get it using the register 2 games method is a possibility. I'll only need 1 more game. However, of the other 3 listed, I'm only remotely interested in Mario Party 5. Would this game be worth it?
The other option is what I'm leaning towards, if for no other reason than it's the cheapest. I've never had a subscription to Nintendo Power (always seemed like a waste of money to me), but since it's cheaper than what I would be willing to pay on the Zelda disc anyway, it might be the way to go.
So what do other Slashdotters think? Keep in mind that I don't know a whole lot of people that would play MP5 with me (I understand MP5's strength is in its multi-player). Is Nintendo Power or Mario Party 5 a better deal?
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I really hope that they release this as a stand-alone product. There are lots of Zelda fans, myself included, that already have a GameCube. I went so far as to pre-order Wind Waker so I could have the OoT Master Quest. Heck, that's the main reason I got a GameCube: so I could have that preorder disc.
Nintendo, keep this in mind, there will be a lot of angry Zelda fans if you don't release this as a standalone product. If you don't... well, hopefully I'll be able to find it on ebay.
I always thought she said "Oni", japanese for "brother"
You might be right. Though Tetra says it as well when you first reach the Forsaken Fortress. I forget what the captions actually say, but the sound coming out the speakers is very similiar, and it wouldn't make sense for her to be saying "brother" in any language. Then again I could be wrong, I'll have to go listen to it again.
When you jump in Super Mario Brothers. That sound is permanent in my memory. (it's an octave higher when you are small) Doing!
For more recent games, I think of Navi going "Hey! Listen!" in Zelda: Ocarina of time. That one is actually more annoying then good, though. Also there's Aryll going "Oy!" in Zelda: Wind Waker at the beginning when the captions say "Big Brother!"
For Computer games, there are 2 in StarCraft that stick out: one is when the siege tanks go into siege mode (someone else also mentioned that one), and also when the computer reports "Nuclear Launch Detected", sending you into a frantic search for the blinking red dot. In Warcraft 3, it's the sound of Starfall being cast that is most memorable. I love it when it's me (which is more often than not), but it freaks me out if it's not me.
I'll probably think of others right after I post this, too.
"What is your major malfunction?" --Siege Tank in StarCraft.
I agree that the theatrical version was a bit lacking. Many things were missing, others were just glossed over (Lorien comes to mind). I would even go so far as to say that yes, it was boring. I, for one, will never watch the original theatrical version of Fellowship ever again.
The extended edition, OTOH, has pretty much everthing the original release was missing. The story is much more fleshed out and real, instead of just glossed over. The characters have more depth. It's amazing what a few extra seconds here and there did for it. (in many cases that's all it amounted to)
My mom, (not a fantasy fan by any stretch of the imagination) fell asleep while watching FotR in the theater. She didn't like it. But when I got the extended edition and saw how much better it was, I convinced her to give it a try. She agrees with me that the extended edition is a far better movie, and she actually enjoyed it!
So John, do yourself a favor and give the extended edition a try. If you still don't like it, then that's your perogative, but at least you gave it a shot.
All I'll say is this: I will be very hesitant before I ever pay for online content in a console game. I, for example, am considering getting Phantasy Star Online for the GameCube, but I doubt I'll ever subscribe to the actual online features if I do decide to get this game. There have been enough examples of fairly high-quality online games that are free to play that I don't really see how anyone can charge for anything but specialized situations (such as MMO's).
2 examples come to mind. First is Blizzard's Battle.net. Granted, it's not without problems, but by and large it's a pretty good service, and it has helped Blizzard sell literally millions of copies of their games. The second is what we see with FPS games like Quake 3 and Half-life. The end-users can host their own servers (assuming they have access to sufficient computing and bandwidth resources), and it doesn't cost the developers anything. That was a really smart marketing move on their part, and I'm surprised it hasn't become the standard. Full-featured online play that costs the developers very little, if anything.
Now the battle.net model might be tough for a console company to maintain (battle.net is paid for by ads, which would be tough to implement in a console game), but the FPS model where anyone can host a server would be easy. Maybe the developers could release a dedicated server app on their website that interested people could run on their computer to host games for the console. That's the direction I'd like to see online console games go.
How your post managed to get moderated -1, Insightful (a negative score with a positive descriptor!) is beyond me.
I'm seeing several odd moderations in this story. It seems that this story is so out of the blue that nobody quite knows what to make of it. In order to see the whole view behind this thing, I actually clicked to see the replies beyond my threshold (which I've never done before except when I wanted to see exactly what it did). My conclusion is that some of the posts were rightfully modded down, but others should have been modded up. And others that were modded up should be modded down!
Moderators, if you mod me down you'll just be proving my point.
Grrrr, where's my mod points when I need them? I would be able to fix at least some of it.
To make this post somewhat on-topic, I was disappointed by the site that the story linked to. There was no information about exactly what it was or any "getting started" type of info. How is someone new to this soccer thing supposed to get into it? It just assumed that you knew what it was talking about, which I think most of us that visit from Slashdot only have a vague idea. Poor web design, if you ask me. But then, I doubt they were expecting to get linked to from Slashdot.
I have to admit that the case your hypothetical situation is a grey area. I'm undecided on this particular case. You're probably right that the RIAA couldn't build a copyright infringement case against Joe User, unless he does enable sharing of those songs. This falls under public performance. But in all honesty, I think this situation occurs a lot less often than many would admit, and those that cite it (I'm not pointing any fingers) are usually just fishing for legitimacy in their actions.
It would be better for Joe User to learn to rip the CD's himself. He learns more about how his computer works, and at the same time protects himself from possible lawsuits.
If going after the individuals that share illegal files succeeds in completely shutting down P2P, then it just means that RIAA was right that the primary purpose of P2P is to transfer copyrighted files. If that is true, then P2P shouldn't exist.
I don't believe this is the case. I think P2P would continue to thrive even if every copyrighted file could be removed from it. Sure, some people will completely shut down their sharing, but there will be enough left to keep it going. People that already only share legitimate files, if nothing else.
This is a legitimate thing for the RIAA to be doing. Going after the file-sharing networks is one thing, and a judge (rightfully) ruled that they can't be shut down because of the actions of individual users. Strict enforcement against guilty individual users is the right way to enforce copyright law.
It is not right and rightfully illegal to acquire copyrighted material without paying for it. The direction that the RIAA is taking now is where they should have gone from the get-go. I cannot, and will not, support people who illegally trade copyrighted files.
Don't get me wrong. I am against DRM, the DMCA, and other such things that erode our fair-use rights, but we, the end users, need to show some responsibility and accountability. The whole reason the RIAA and MPAA (and whatever other *AA exists) want strict DRM controls is because of the rampant illegal transfering of files. And nobody can claim that it's not wide-spread.
Please, people, don't embark in sharing copyrighted files. Whenever you do, you only make the situation worse.
How many are purchased on a whim, or by parents who figure if the kids like superman they gotta like the game
I have played Nintendo games since the original NES. I was 10 years old when I got that system. My parents have never bought a game for me, except for cases where I requested a specific game for Christmas. (a game that I probably would have gotten anyway)
So the games I have are the ones that I wanted and were willing to pay for. (for somone that had to save up allowance to get a game, that's saying a lot) And so far, I have all 4 major Nintendo systems (NES, SNES, N64, GC), but I don't have a single Acclaim game for any of them.
FreeCraft used the data from a Warcraft 2 CD. If you wanted it to look like War2, you had to have access to a copy of War2. In other words, you needed to buy the game for Freecraft to work.
To me, this qualifies as a fair use of copyrighted material. Yes, those data files are copywrited, but once you buy the game, you should be able to do what you want for your own personal use. And that includes using the files in a different setting, as long as it isn't commercial.
There might be some substance to the trademark claim (the use of "Craft"), but even that is thin ground. "Craft," after all, is a standard English word. But if that's all they can claim, then a simple name change is all that is needed. They could call it "FreeRTS" instead.
The thing I don't get is that the beta is still in progress. Or perhaps I should rephrase that... I get the reasoning, I just don't like it. I feel that it is irresponsible to release a game with the plan of having a patch right on release day. That's what they are going to do, though.:-(
Good question.
It actually is white light, just not very much of it. That is, the proportions of Red/Green/Blue are pretty close to equal, but the brighness tab is turned down, so to speak.
If you see pictures of moon rock that were returned by the Apollo astronauts, (which, naturally, are the same color as the moon itself), you can see that they are, in fact, fairly dark. Maybe not as dark as asphalt like I said in my original message, but pretty close.
Do a google image search for "Moon Rock" and you'll see what I mean.
Sadly, you're probably right. Fortunately, they explained exactly how it was "processed" and why, as well as provided links to the original, unprocessed images.
The simple fact is that it is virtually impossible to get a good, unprocessed image of this type because of how much of a difference in brightness there is between the Earth and the Moon. I once read somewhere that the moon only reflects about 10% of the light that hits it. It's dark grey, essentially the color of asphalt, but it looks white in the sky because you see it against the pitch black background. The Earth, OTOH, reflects about 45% of the light that strikes it, which makes it's apparent magnitude (brightness) much higher when seen from afar. This is why they had to process it the image.
When I got a GameCube, there were 2 games I had in mind: Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker. I got Metroid with the system, but I had to wait a few months for Zelda's release. I'm also considering getting Starcraft Ghost when it comes out, (because I'm a Blizzard fan) but I'm as-yet undecided.
When it comes to Mario Kart, I still have a blast with the original SNES game. I got so good at it that nobody was willing to play with me because I always won! I have the standing record on my copy for all 20 courses for time trial (using Yoshi), even though several people have tried to take some of them over the years.
I never really got into the N64 Mario Kart. Then again, I was unimpressed with the N64 as a whole (despite being a life-long Nintendo fan). The only N64 game I really enjoy is Zelda: Ocarina of Time. (of which I'm currently working on the Master Quest for GC)
This game, Mario Kart Double Dash, looks really cool, though. I'm especially looking forward to being able to play with 8 players, something I really wanted in the original. It gives me an excuse to get the broadband adaptor, too.:-) I hope it supports online play, so that if it gets to the point that nobody is willing to play with me at home, I could at least still find opponents online. I wish I could go to E3 to see what they have there on it.
Slashdot Mirror
I think you bring up a good point. I have never really cared about graphics, only whether a game is fun. As far as Zelda, while it is generally agreed by long-term Zelda fans (which I suspect you aren't given that you just purchased your GCN, but I could be wrong) that Ocarina of Time is the best in the series, Wind Waker is not a bad game. I say this even though I really don't like the cel-shading graphical approach.
Anyway, now that you have a GameCube, you should look into some of the other high quality exclusive titles that are available. Metroid Prime is among the best titles of any game this generation, and there's also the likes of Eternal Darkness, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and many others.
And don't forget Beyond Good and Evil. This underappreciated game is available for all 3 consoles, and is only $20. I highly recommend it to anyone that plays video games, and even people that don't.
Being good at a FPS doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be good at firing a real firearm.
With the caveat that I have very limited experience with real firearms, I would tend to agree. FPSers don't really address the specific skills involved in using a real firearm. That is a different skillset. But they do assist in other areas that are related. If you are good at FPSers, then you are more likely to be able to think tactically in a combat situation, be it in actual warfare or a simulated variety (paintball or laser tag). The skills learned in FPSers regarding anticipating an enemy's actions and using the appropriate counter may well keep a soldier alive. Though how to apply this in a useful fashion outside the military I'm not sure.
I work for a laser tag arena as a marshal, so I play RL laser tag fairly regularily. I also enjoy FPS games like Quake 3 and UT 2004. I have noticed a definate correlation for the kinds of skills I use in both.
As I watch people play while I am on the job, I marvel at how some people are basicly clueless as to how to effectively use the cover that is provided in the arena. I doubt such people play FPS games on a regular basis, if at all. OTOH, there are people that instinctively use the cover effectively, and in many cases it's people that had never played before. I wouldn't be surprised if they do play FPS games, or perhaps have military training.
How this translates to useful real life skills I don't know, but there is something to be said for being good at on-the-spot tactical thinking.
What can people on the moon or Mars do that a robot can't?
Robots are, by their very nature, very limited. They can only perform as directed by the mission controllers back on Earth. The communication lag, and other factors, puts a serious hamper on how much actual science they can perform.
A human field geologist would be able to accomplish more in 2 days than Spirit or Opportunity will accomplish in their entire mission.
I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned WarCraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. It was to be Blizzard's first adventure game, but was cancelled as a nearly complete game. Oh well, at least the story is now available as a novel. And it is part of WarCraft official cannon, as it plays into the setup of WarCraft III.
For Beyond Good and Evil, it is really sad that it hasn't performed very well. I have the GameCube version, and despite it being shorter than many games, I feel that it is the best game of 2003. Yes, it is better than Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Kart: Double Dash. (I have both)
I think the root cause for poor sales is two-fold: 1> They should not have released around Christmas. 2> It needed better marketing. Not more marketing, mind you, but better. I saw plenty of ads for it, but none of them really explained what type of game it really is. It is a story-driven adventure/action game.
Beyond Good and Evil is an excellent game. I highly recommend it to everyone. It's more than just a game, it is essentially an interactive movie. For most games, the story is nothing more than an excuse for the action. For BG&E, the story is the focus, which allows you, the player, to be a part of it. It would actually make a pretty good stand-alone movie. But this doesn't detract from the gameplay, as the game itself plays really well. I've seen games that have an intriquing story, but the gameplay is lacking (Eternal Darkness comes to mind). This is not a problem in BG&E.
As a side note, I'll be very disappointed if they don't produce a sequel. For those of you that have finished the game, you know that there is a nice little teaser scene after the credits that directly open it for a sequel. But even without that scene, there are so many unanswered questions at the end that a sequel is badly needed. I liken it unto the original Star Wars (the 1977 movie). It was fairly clear that that movie was the middle part of a much larger story. I see the same type of situation here. There's lots of material that could be covered both before and after the game we now have. I'm not going to go into any details because I don't want to give spoilers, but if you finish this game you'll see what I mean.
So, anyone out there reading this, do yourself a favor and get BG&E. At $20, it's a steal.
They already do this. The Broadband Adaptor, which does nothing but add a standard 10baseT network port, is available to those that want it (required to use Warp Pipe), and it allows interested developers to develop online games for the Cube. Phantasy Star Online is an example of this (so far the only one). Some games (Kirby Air Ride and Mario Kart: Double Dash) allow use of the Broadband adaptor to play the games over a LAN connection. All Warp Pipe does is tunnel the communication over the Internet.
I agree with this statement. Wind Waker was (is) a disappointment, and I play OoT much more often. Also, I never really liked MK64, but thouroughly enjoyed SMK (for the SNES). MK:DD seems to combine the best of both games. My only complaint about it is that the battle arenas are not as good as those in SMK. The ones in MK:DD are too small. Other than that, DD is an improvement in virtually every respect.
I know I want to get the Zelda disc, but the question is which of the 3 methods should I go for? Buying a 2nd Gamecube has never been an option for me, so that's out. That leaves the other 2.
I already have Mario Kart: Double Dash on preorder, so to get it using the register 2 games method is a possibility. I'll only need 1 more game. However, of the other 3 listed, I'm only remotely interested in Mario Party 5. Would this game be worth it?
The other option is what I'm leaning towards, if for no other reason than it's the cheapest. I've never had a subscription to Nintendo Power (always seemed like a waste of money to me), but since it's cheaper than what I would be willing to pay on the Zelda disc anyway, it might be the way to go.
So what do other Slashdotters think? Keep in mind that I don't know a whole lot of people that would play MP5 with me (I understand MP5's strength is in its multi-player). Is Nintendo Power or Mario Party 5 a better deal?
I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that I really hope that they release this as a stand-alone product. There are lots of Zelda fans, myself included, that already have a GameCube. I went so far as to pre-order Wind Waker so I could have the OoT Master Quest. Heck, that's the main reason I got a GameCube: so I could have that preorder disc.
Nintendo, keep this in mind, there will be a lot of angry Zelda fans if you don't release this as a standalone product. If you don't... well, hopefully I'll be able to find it on ebay.
I always thought she said "Oni", japanese for "brother"
You might be right. Though Tetra says it as well when you first reach the Forsaken Fortress. I forget what the captions actually say, but the sound coming out the speakers is very similiar, and it wouldn't make sense for her to be saying "brother" in any language. Then again I could be wrong, I'll have to go listen to it again.
When you jump in Super Mario Brothers. That sound is permanent in my memory. (it's an octave higher when you are small) Doing!
For more recent games, I think of Navi going "Hey! Listen!" in Zelda: Ocarina of time. That one is actually more annoying then good, though. Also there's Aryll going "Oy!" in Zelda: Wind Waker at the beginning when the captions say "Big Brother!"
For Computer games, there are 2 in StarCraft that stick out: one is when the siege tanks go into siege mode (someone else also mentioned that one), and also when the computer reports "Nuclear Launch Detected", sending you into a frantic search for the blinking red dot. In Warcraft 3, it's the sound of Starfall being cast that is most memorable. I love it when it's me (which is more often than not), but it freaks me out if it's not me.
I'll probably think of others right after I post this, too.
"What is your major malfunction?" --Siege Tank in StarCraft.
I agree that the theatrical version was a bit lacking. Many things were missing, others were just glossed over (Lorien comes to mind). I would even go so far as to say that yes, it was boring. I, for one, will never watch the original theatrical version of Fellowship ever again.
The extended edition, OTOH, has pretty much everthing the original release was missing. The story is much more fleshed out and real, instead of just glossed over. The characters have more depth. It's amazing what a few extra seconds here and there did for it. (in many cases that's all it amounted to)
My mom, (not a fantasy fan by any stretch of the imagination) fell asleep while watching FotR in the theater. She didn't like it. But when I got the extended edition and saw how much better it was, I convinced her to give it a try. She agrees with me that the extended edition is a far better movie, and she actually enjoyed it!
So John, do yourself a favor and give the extended edition a try. If you still don't like it, then that's your perogative, but at least you gave it a shot.
All I'll say is this: I will be very hesitant before I ever pay for online content in a console game. I, for example, am considering getting Phantasy Star Online for the GameCube, but I doubt I'll ever subscribe to the actual online features if I do decide to get this game. There have been enough examples of fairly high-quality online games that are free to play that I don't really see how anyone can charge for anything but specialized situations (such as MMO's).
2 examples come to mind. First is Blizzard's Battle.net. Granted, it's not without problems, but by and large it's a pretty good service, and it has helped Blizzard sell literally millions of copies of their games. The second is what we see with FPS games like Quake 3 and Half-life. The end-users can host their own servers (assuming they have access to sufficient computing and bandwidth resources), and it doesn't cost the developers anything. That was a really smart marketing move on their part, and I'm surprised it hasn't become the standard. Full-featured online play that costs the developers very little, if anything.
Now the battle.net model might be tough for a console company to maintain (battle.net is paid for by ads, which would be tough to implement in a console game), but the FPS model where anyone can host a server would be easy. Maybe the developers could release a dedicated server app on their website that interested people could run on their computer to host games for the console. That's the direction I'd like to see online console games go.
How your post managed to get moderated -1, Insightful (a negative score with a positive descriptor!) is beyond me.
I'm seeing several odd moderations in this story. It seems that this story is so out of the blue that nobody quite knows what to make of it. In order to see the whole view behind this thing, I actually clicked to see the replies beyond my threshold (which I've never done before except when I wanted to see exactly what it did). My conclusion is that some of the posts were rightfully modded down, but others should have been modded up. And others that were modded up should be modded down!
Moderators, if you mod me down you'll just be proving my point.
Grrrr, where's my mod points when I need them? I would be able to fix at least some of it.
To make this post somewhat on-topic, I was disappointed by the site that the story linked to. There was no information about exactly what it was or any "getting started" type of info. How is someone new to this soccer thing supposed to get into it? It just assumed that you knew what it was talking about, which I think most of us that visit from Slashdot only have a vague idea. Poor web design, if you ask me. But then, I doubt they were expecting to get linked to from Slashdot.
I have to admit that the case your hypothetical situation is a grey area. I'm undecided on this particular case. You're probably right that the RIAA couldn't build a copyright infringement case against Joe User, unless he does enable sharing of those songs. This falls under public performance. But in all honesty, I think this situation occurs a lot less often than many would admit, and those that cite it (I'm not pointing any fingers) are usually just fishing for legitimacy in their actions.
It would be better for Joe User to learn to rip the CD's himself. He learns more about how his computer works, and at the same time protects himself from possible lawsuits.
I meant what I said.
If going after the individuals that share illegal files succeeds in completely shutting down P2P, then it just means that RIAA was right that the primary purpose of P2P is to transfer copyrighted files. If that is true, then P2P shouldn't exist.
I don't believe this is the case. I think P2P would continue to thrive even if every copyrighted file could be removed from it. Sure, some people will completely shut down their sharing, but there will be enough left to keep it going. People that already only share legitimate files, if nothing else.
This is a legitimate thing for the RIAA to be doing. Going after the file-sharing networks is one thing, and a judge (rightfully) ruled that they can't be shut down because of the actions of individual users. Strict enforcement against guilty individual users is the right way to enforce copyright law.
It is not right and rightfully illegal to acquire copyrighted material without paying for it. The direction that the RIAA is taking now is where they should have gone from the get-go. I cannot, and will not, support people who illegally trade copyrighted files.
Don't get me wrong. I am against DRM, the DMCA, and other such things that erode our fair-use rights, but we, the end users, need to show some responsibility and accountability. The whole reason the RIAA and MPAA (and whatever other *AA exists) want strict DRM controls is because of the rampant illegal transfering of files. And nobody can claim that it's not wide-spread.
Please, people, don't embark in sharing copyrighted files. Whenever you do, you only make the situation worse.
How many are purchased on a whim, or by parents who figure if the kids like superman they gotta like the game
I have played Nintendo games since the original NES. I was 10 years old when I got that system. My parents have never bought a game for me, except for cases where I requested a specific game for Christmas. (a game that I probably would have gotten anyway)
So the games I have are the ones that I wanted and were willing to pay for. (for somone that had to save up allowance to get a game, that's saying a lot) And so far, I have all 4 major Nintendo systems (NES, SNES, N64, GC), but I don't have a single Acclaim game for any of them.
FreeCraft used the data from a Warcraft 2 CD. If you wanted it to look like War2, you had to have access to a copy of War2. In other words, you needed to buy the game for Freecraft to work.
To me, this qualifies as a fair use of copyrighted material. Yes, those data files are copywrited, but once you buy the game, you should be able to do what you want for your own personal use. And that includes using the files in a different setting, as long as it isn't commercial.
There might be some substance to the trademark claim (the use of "Craft"), but even that is thin ground. "Craft," after all, is a standard English word. But if that's all they can claim, then a simple name change is all that is needed. They could call it "FreeRTS" instead.
The thing I don't get is that the beta is still in progress. Or perhaps I should rephrase that... I get the reasoning, I just don't like it. I feel that it is irresponsible to release a game with the plan of having a patch right on release day. That's what they are going to do, though. :-(
Good question. It actually is white light, just not very much of it. That is, the proportions of Red/Green/Blue are pretty close to equal, but the brighness tab is turned down, so to speak. If you see pictures of moon rock that were returned by the Apollo astronauts, (which, naturally, are the same color as the moon itself), you can see that they are, in fact, fairly dark. Maybe not as dark as asphalt like I said in my original message, but pretty close. Do a google image search for "Moon Rock" and you'll see what I mean.
Sadly, you're probably right. Fortunately, they explained exactly how it was "processed" and why, as well as provided links to the original, unprocessed images.
The simple fact is that it is virtually impossible to get a good, unprocessed image of this type because of how much of a difference in brightness there is between the Earth and the Moon. I once read somewhere that the moon only reflects about 10% of the light that hits it. It's dark grey, essentially the color of asphalt, but it looks white in the sky because you see it against the pitch black background. The Earth, OTOH, reflects about 45% of the light that strikes it, which makes it's apparent magnitude (brightness) much higher when seen from afar. This is why they had to process it the image.
When I got a GameCube, there were 2 games I had in mind: Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker. I got Metroid with the system, but I had to wait a few months for Zelda's release. I'm also considering getting Starcraft Ghost when it comes out, (because I'm a Blizzard fan) but I'm as-yet undecided.
When it comes to Mario Kart, I still have a blast with the original SNES game. I got so good at it that nobody was willing to play with me because I always won! I have the standing record on my copy for all 20 courses for time trial (using Yoshi), even though several people have tried to take some of them over the years.
I never really got into the N64 Mario Kart. Then again, I was unimpressed with the N64 as a whole (despite being a life-long Nintendo fan). The only N64 game I really enjoy is Zelda: Ocarina of Time. (of which I'm currently working on the Master Quest for GC)
This game, Mario Kart Double Dash, looks really cool, though. I'm especially looking forward to being able to play with 8 players, something I really wanted in the original. It gives me an excuse to get the broadband adaptor, too. :-) I hope it supports online play, so that if it gets to the point that nobody is willing to play with me at home, I could at least still find opponents online. I wish I could go to E3 to see what they have there on it.