One of the Computer Architecture projects I did for college consisted of using a programmable Xylinx board (~$1000), hooking it up to a monitor and then hooking two orginal NES controllers and playing pong on it. It was one of the most incredible learning experiences I ever encountered. We wrote our own processor, uploaded it to the board, wrote our own compiler and assembler and then wrote our own version of pong. We also had to program a chip for our video controller and NES controllers. Needless to say, it was a very expensive game of pong.
If the XGameStation is coming out for somewhere around $200 and allows users to manipulate hardware as well as software, I say that's a great deal. Granted, I'm sure that it won't be as robust as a Xylinx board but the educational benefits are still excellent, even if you're not going into games.
George W. Bush has declared war on the sun. When asked for the reasoning behind this declaration, Georg W. Bush stated:
"It is clear that the Sun is harbouring Weapons of Mass Destruction (tm). It continually attemps to disrupt our comminnniitcations with it's solar flare attacks. We also believe that the Sun possesses radioactive material which could be used for the development of nuclear weapons. The Sun is not just a problem for the United States but the Free World. I have only one more thing to say... Don't Mess With Texas!!!"
1. Still doesn't eliminate the use of your hand (obviously). So if you are driving (which you shouldn't be anyway), or cooking or whatever, you're SOL.
2. It's hard to pass the phone around. If you are with a friend and another friend calls and wants to speak to your friend, what do you do? Stick your finger in their ear? You better be really good friends.
Anyways, the novelty of the idea is interesting but the practicality seems to be almost nonexistent.
How could they possibly skip the best game in the series?!?!?!?!?!? A Link to the Past was the finest Zelda game ever. They skipped right over the SNES. Anyone know why or have any ideas? I guess they could probably rerelease it on its own to make more money but why jump from Zelda II to Ocarina? (What about the awful Philips CDi versions too? Not that I want those attrocities to be rereleased.)
Some games I think would make decent movies are Parasite Eve and Vagrant Story. Especially Vagrant Story. The camera work in the game itself is top notch.
The problem being is that hollywood and the producers will be like, "Hmmm... this plot is too complex, let's make it as deep as a 1/2 inch pool of water".
Then of course the director will get his hand in it and say, "Wow, that's awesome camera work, let's see if I can pretend I care and just produce crap instead".
Then the casting director will be like, "Wow, the lead characters are pretty strong, deep and multifaceted. Let's secretly switch the lead with a pretty-boy popstar that can't act his way out of a paper bag and see how everyone reacts."
In the end you get movies like Wing Commander, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and Tomb Raider (replace pretty-boy with babe).
Actually, in Counter-Strike (and various half-life mods) it's better to have your settings at the lowest possible than it is to have them higher. Your aim is incredibly more accurate at 640x480 than at 1024x768. Also, with all the antialiasing and anistropic filtering off, smoke grenades and various other "card killer" features have no effect.
You know, I waited around for the price of Suikoden II to drop from $45 when it first came out. Now you can get it on Ebay for the low, low price of $105.
Ahhh.. but in a way, you do pay for incoming calls on a land line. You pay a monthly fee for your phone. Granted it doesn't cost "extra" for an incoming call, but you're still paying.
Hmmm... Interesting argument but you pay for a land line as well and yet they call and we cannot sue. There must be some clause there that I'm unaware of that protects them.
What about Rand and Robyn Miller? Creators of Myst and it's various sequels. They're set to release an MMOG that doesn't involve killing stuff over and over again. I think that's something to watch out for. Besides Myst set various records and helped put cdrom pc games on the map (although, it was inevitable).
Actually, the idea of Aliens vs. Predator began before the comics and occured within the second movie. If you look at the "trophy" wall, you will see the skeletal remains of an Alien.
I'm considering buying a GC just for that game. I've been an avid fan of the 2D side scroller for as long as I can remember. The last good ones I saw get released was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night along with the GBA variants.
Of course, there are other games that I would be interested in on the GC. Zelda, Metroid, Smash Bros, F-Zero, Mario Kart and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
Those numbers look very good for Nintendo. Just the fact that the console is selling well even before we get to the holiday season is a good sign.
The money console manufacturers make are all off software so if Nintendo can greatly increase their user base before the holiday season, they'll make a killing in software sales.
Well, if you look at what SquareEnix has done, that might tell you why not many developers have included prior games in sequels.
Square rereleased many of their NES/SNES Final Fantasy games as PSX titles and made quite a bit of money in the process. Granted, they included new CG cutscenes, rescored music and some upgraded graphics (not much more than adding more colors).
It's the same with DVDs. Why have one DVD with every extra on it when you can release it 4 different times, each with different content (a la LOTR) so that getting all the content is impossible unless you get all the DVDs. It's all about the money.
Valve's original Half-Life was an incredible game although very buggy (but fixed with patches). I have no doubt they can release a similarly excellent game. Just because it's delayed doesn't mean it will be infinitely delayed.
Blizzard for example is notorious for delays in releasing their games. But when they do, they are, in a word, spectacular.
As far as Steam goes, yes it's having major issues at the moment. But you have to give Valve credit for trying something different (I'm not saying new because I know that someone has probably done it before). If they can get it to work properly, more power to them.
It would be great to see developers released from using publishers. It means lower prices for us and more creative freedom for the developers.
This is right out of.Hack where players in beginner areas are confronted with high-level creatures that shouldn't be there.
I wonder if there is someone who isn't "bound" by the game rules, is not sitting in front of a pc while playing, and is currently in a comatose state.
Of course, that last part could apply to a lot of people I know who play video games...
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One of the Computer Architecture projects I did for college consisted of using a programmable Xylinx board (~$1000), hooking it up to a monitor and then hooking two orginal NES controllers and playing pong on it. It was one of the most incredible learning experiences I ever encountered. We wrote our own processor, uploaded it to the board, wrote our own compiler and assembler and then wrote our own version of pong. We also had to program a chip for our video controller and NES controllers. Needless to say, it was a very expensive game of pong.
If the XGameStation is coming out for somewhere around $200 and allows users to manipulate hardware as well as software, I say that's a great deal. Granted, I'm sure that it won't be as robust as a Xylinx board but the educational benefits are still excellent, even if you're not going into games.
It's about frickin' time they added "Pirate" to the set of job classes. I can't wait to play him. Arggggggg maties... chocobo dead ahead.
George W. Bush has declared war on the sun. When asked for the reasoning behind this declaration, Georg W. Bush stated:
"It is clear that the Sun is harbouring Weapons of Mass Destruction (tm). It continually attemps to disrupt our comminnniitcations with it's solar flare attacks. We also believe that the Sun possesses radioactive material which could be used for the development of nuclear weapons. The Sun is not just a problem for the United States but the Free World. I have only one more thing to say... Don't Mess With Texas!!!"
1. Still doesn't eliminate the use of your hand (obviously). So if you are driving (which you shouldn't be anyway), or cooking or whatever, you're SOL.
2. It's hard to pass the phone around. If you are with a friend and another friend calls and wants to speak to your friend, what do you do? Stick your finger in their ear? You better be really good friends.
Anyways, the novelty of the idea is interesting but the practicality seems to be almost nonexistent.
Yeah, I hate it when my silicon breaks and creates leakage.
How could they possibly skip the best game in the series?!?!?!?!?!? A Link to the Past was the finest Zelda game ever. They skipped right over the SNES. Anyone know why or have any ideas? I guess they could probably rerelease it on its own to make more money but why jump from Zelda II to Ocarina? (What about the awful Philips CDi versions too? Not that I want those attrocities to be rereleased.)
I hear Umbrella Corporation is making great strides towards reversing the effects of aging (With some side effects).
Crap, I didn't know. Thanks. Is it any good?
Some games I think would make decent movies are Parasite Eve and Vagrant Story. Especially Vagrant Story. The camera work in the game itself is top notch.
The problem being is that hollywood and the producers will be like, "Hmmm... this plot is too complex, let's make it as deep as a 1/2 inch pool of water".
Then of course the director will get his hand in it and say, "Wow, that's awesome camera work, let's see if I can pretend I care and just produce crap instead".
Then the casting director will be like, "Wow, the lead characters are pretty strong, deep and multifaceted. Let's secretly switch the lead with a pretty-boy popstar that can't act his way out of a paper bag and see how everyone reacts."
In the end you get movies like Wing Commander, Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, and Tomb Raider (replace pretty-boy with babe).
The next questions is how did they get those guns? Someone is definitely at fault for that one.
<sarcasm>I think the game companies gave the guns to them.</sarcasm>
Actually, in Counter-Strike (and various half-life mods) it's better to have your settings at the lowest possible than it is to have them higher. Your aim is incredibly more accurate at 640x480 than at 1024x768. Also, with all the antialiasing and anistropic filtering off, smoke grenades and various other "card killer" features have no effect.
You know, I waited around for the price of Suikoden II to drop from $45 when it first came out. Now you can get it on Ebay for the low, low price of $105.
Really? I didn't know that. Thanks. I stand corrected ;-)
Ahhh.. but in a way, you do pay for incoming calls on a land line. You pay a monthly fee for your phone. Granted it doesn't cost "extra" for an incoming call, but you're still paying.
Hmmm... Interesting argument but you pay for a land line as well and yet they call and we cannot sue. There must be some clause there that I'm unaware of that protects them.
What about Rand and Robyn Miller? Creators of Myst and it's various sequels. They're set to release an MMOG that doesn't involve killing stuff over and over again. I think that's something to watch out for. Besides Myst set various records and helped put cdrom pc games on the map (although, it was inevitable).
Actually, the idea of Aliens vs. Predator began before the comics and occured within the second movie. If you look at the "trophy" wall, you will see the skeletal remains of an Alien.
I'm considering buying a GC just for that game. I've been an avid fan of the 2D side scroller for as long as I can remember. The last good ones I saw get released was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night along with the GBA variants.
Of course, there are other games that I would be interested in on the GC. Zelda, Metroid, Smash Bros, F-Zero, Mario Kart and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
Those numbers look very good for Nintendo. Just the fact that the console is selling well even before we get to the holiday season is a good sign.
The money console manufacturers make are all off software so if Nintendo can greatly increase their user base before the holiday season, they'll make a killing in software sales.
"Shall We Play A Game?"
"Dunno about you, but all the real women I know can carry nine and a half pound weapons without any problem."
Yeah, it's called a purse and its deadly.
(no offense to the ladies out there)
Well, if you look at what SquareEnix has done, that might tell you why not many developers have included prior games in sequels. Square rereleased many of their NES/SNES Final Fantasy games as PSX titles and made quite a bit of money in the process. Granted, they included new CG cutscenes, rescored music and some upgraded graphics (not much more than adding more colors). It's the same with DVDs. Why have one DVD with every extra on it when you can release it 4 different times, each with different content (a la LOTR) so that getting all the content is impossible unless you get all the DVDs. It's all about the money.
Valve's original Half-Life was an incredible game although very buggy (but fixed with patches). I have no doubt they can release a similarly excellent game. Just because it's delayed doesn't mean it will be infinitely delayed.
Blizzard for example is notorious for delays in releasing their games. But when they do, they are, in a word, spectacular.
As far as Steam goes, yes it's having major issues at the moment. But you have to give Valve credit for trying something different (I'm not saying new because I know that someone has probably done it before). If they can get it to work properly, more power to them.
It would be great to see developers released from using publishers. It means lower prices for us and more creative freedom for the developers.
Considering that Sony put out the linux kit for PS2, I believe it's highly likely that they will produce one for the ps3 as well.
This is right out of .Hack where players in beginner areas are confronted with high-level creatures that shouldn't be there.
I wonder if there is someone who isn't "bound" by the game rules, is not sitting in front of a pc while playing, and is currently in a comatose state.
Of course, that last part could apply to a lot of people I know who play video games...