I must say that I haven't seen this because I've actually stayed away from EA sports games because I couldn't play them online on XBox. Well and the fact that I'm not that interested in EA's titles, except for NASCAR Thunder now that Papyrus is out of the picture.
But if their online system on the PS2 really is less than it should be, then I think getting connected with XBox Live will be a plus for them (and us) too. I know, I'll be getting NASCAR 2005 if I can play it on Live. I wonder if developer headaches with supporting their own online system may have helped drive them to settle their differences with Microsoft, and all of the money they were leaving on the table. In fact, it is likely that they had already saturated the available market with the online PS2 offerings, so going to XBox Live was the only way to further grow the market. Money talks very loudly!
Why not just make the movies directly from the game using the cut scenes and footage of expert player gameplay. Sega did something like this with the first Shenmue game for Dreamcast. It's actually rather interesting to watch.
Heck, it might even sell more games. Though I would go for a direct to DVD release rather than a theatre release since to market may not be very big.
Maybe there's an opportunity here to get our lives in order. As some have already posted, if you don't get overtime pay for overtime work, then don't do it. Well, let's ask ourselves why there was a need to work overtime in the first place. Maybe it's time to slow things down to a pace where all of this overtime in not needed in the first place.
The bosses in the corporate offices cannot have it both ways. If they want insanely high productivity, they are going to have to pay for it. Even workers in India will eventually cost as much as here for the same work output. So let's stop this madness and live our lives like human beings instead of 24/7 machines. Let's spend more time with our friends and family. Or perhaps more time actually getting friends and family!;-) We may not get richer, but we will be happier. And if the boss man don't like it, screw him! He's gonna lay you off eventually anyway, so why sacrifice your life for him?
Well actually, if you count the cost of continually upgrading your PC in order to play the latest PC games, then the cost advantage shifts over to the consoles again. If you're hardcore, then the upgrade cost is on the order of $200/year if you always buy the latest graphics card and do a mobo cpu swap every other year.
That alone would not be so bad except for the fact that many of the multiplatform games are developed for a specific console first and then ported to PC. The results are not always pretty even when paired with godlike hardware.
And of course, consoles win the ease of use hands down, which, if your time is worth a lot to you, is important. Besides, if you wait a few months, the most popular console games end up being $19.95 greatest hits.
In the end, you just have to choose the version that gives you the most bang for your buck.
While many here are counting Nokia out, they actually have a good chance of success. First, by coming out with a redesigned console so quickly, they show that they are serious about making it in the gaming market. This is not good news for Nintendo or Sony at all.
It is no surprise either that the redesign came out so fast. Nokia makes cel phones! Cel phone designs and features seem to change on almost a weekly basis. So it is likely that Nokia is accustomed to working on short design and manufacturing cycles. Indeed, this may be why they felt they could release the first N-Gage with all of the design errors. Again, this is not good news for Sony or Nintendo who are accustomed to longer cycles.
In the end, it will be the games that decide who makes real money in the portable space. If Nokia gets traction, we'll see a real fight. I would guess that Nintendo is most at risk because they haven't had a real fight in the portable space in yea...like ever. Sony I think will recognize the threat and use their muscle and money to get exclusives for the PSP early. But the PSP had better not be too late to market, or they'll be looking at the 3rd or 4th iteration of N-Gage by then. Finally, one wildcard here is Microsoft. MS has said they're not interested in the portable market. That said, MS makes the best development tools in the business, if it suddenly becomes easy to develop for Nokia using Visual Studio.Net (which it is not right now) and XNA suddenly is part of the mix, then things could get interesting.
I'm guessing that the previous poster was referring to the success of the original Sims games and expansions. It is true that those games have been wildly successful. However the MMO incarnation, The Sims Online, has been a disaster. Ironically, even without PvP and PK, a number of players in the Sims Online have managed to come up with myriad seedy ways of harassing other players.
What? Iomega is still in business? I like the idea of an alternative to tape, but I just can't get past how unreliable Iomega's products have been in the past. That click of death thing really clinched it for me. If we didn't still have so much on Zip disks yet to be archived, I'd never touch another Iomega product again.
Now in all fairness, perhaps they've gotten past the problems at last. Still, they'll have to prove it to a skeptical public.
This may be too late to market to be successful without some real (ie costly) work. I still think that the MMORPG market is too crowded at this point. And since True Fantasy is coming out well after FFXI made its US PS2 debut the console market may not be there at all.
Not that FFXI is all that (it is very good though), but this type of game takes two things that are in limited supply, time and money. Time is generally not negotiable in this universe, but money... Given that XBox live requires a fee already, if MS is serious, they'll either waive a monthly fee altogether, or maybe waive it for the first year. Getting the first month free is standard for these games, so MS is going to have to go one better to get any attention. Another tactic would be a lower than usual retail price.
I agree, but I don't think we'll be running spreadsheets or Quicken on the PS5 or XBox XX in the future. Game consoles will probably become the centers of home entertainment with a few everyday features like email, chat/IM, and shopping functions thrown in.
It'll be really interesting to see how Nintendo fares in all of this. They've steadfastly refused to build anything more than game machines. This isn't all bad, but it does make them look a bit behind the times.
One of the best things to come out of all of this will be easier to use devices. Games are supposed to be fun. So ease of use must be a main focus, which has not always been the case for the PC. So with multipurpose consoles developing, we should also see better and easier to use interfaces.
I can see that the old PC vs console debate rages on. Right now, I would say if you have both you're in the best of both worlds!
I just got my copy of Final Fantasy XI Online for PS2 and I'm just amazed at all of the progress that has been made in console gaming. But I would say that a lot of this is owed to gaming on the PC. In particular, if the pundits are to be believed and MMO games are the future, then the PC has had a big hand in driving consoles to the next level. This is especially true of the XBox which in turn spurred the continued evolution of the PS2.
One of the things that struck me last night playing FFXI was how easy it was to go from playing MMORPGs on the PC to the PS2. If you've played EverQuest or SWG many of the common keyboard macros are the same. The only thing to really get used to is using the gamepad which I'm liking more and more. In particular, just being able to simply walk instead of running everywhere is soooo easy to do in FFXI with the gamepad. And it feels more natural too. Also the performance was pretty good, even in crowds of players. The only downside so far is that now I need to get a comfy chair for the living room!
Best of all though was just how easy it was to get into the game and start playing. It always takes ages for EQ or SWG to start up and load on my PC. Admittedly, my PC is not the fastest around, but after seeing the PS2 perform, over the same broadband connection, it's not just my PC. I thought about the PC version of FFXI, but the upgrades to play it well on my box would cost more than the PS2 version. And none of my other PC work requires so much horsepower.
Anyway, PC gaming won't die off. The numbers may decline or level off, but I think the PC still has a lot to teach. Consoles are really great at refining gaming for the masses, but are too risky to really innovate on. So don't throw out your PC yet. Heck, I may yet do those upgrades!:-)
I don't really want to start another "is PC gaming dying" thread, but I think that probably has something to do with the cancellation. Even though the game may have made a nice profit, on a gaming landscape where console games sell millions of copies, greed takes over and good titles get canned.
It would make more sense for Lucas Arts to publish Sam and Max 2 on a console and the PC. I still have very fond memories of the graphic adventure and think there's a whole generation of gamers who are missing out on this genre. Unfortunately, I doubt if any of the heavy weights really have the guts to risk bringing it to consoles. Funny thing is that adventure games might actually do pretty well in Japan on the PS 2. The so called dating sims that sell reasonably well there are not all that different, but home PCs are not as common there as in the U.S., so you really have to publish on a console.
Given the news we've all heard of the Apple based dev kits and now the lack of a hard drive, it seems pretty clear to me that Microsoft has decided to start over again on the XBox.
This can be a good thing of course, because in some sense it means that they are serious about making a real games console this time. Not that the first attempt was so bad, but they have learned from their first foray into the console business.
One thing they have learned is that they need to keep costs low and make things small and cute (kawaii..;-)). Dumping the hard drive is one way to do this. The hd wasn't being used for much anyway, not enough to make it standard issue. On the other hand, the broadband connectivity has been a big hit.
My guess is that the flash memory storage will be at least 128MB standard. They will also, as others have speculated here, likely provide online storage. Having dumped Asheron's Call duties, they may have additional capacity for simple storage. Another benefit for MS is of course making more bucks selling memory cards. See, they've learned!
Finally, I would speculate that they are getting some design help from Apple, or the Apple connected. If this is true, expect one very sexy little console late next year in time for XMas (especially if you see a price drop to $99 late this year). A sleek little machine will help them in Japan too, where the XBox's large size was another strike against it. If my wildest speculations are right, the devil better'd bundle up because we could see Gates _and_ Jobs unveil the new machine together!
Sorry, had to do that! Seriously, if Nokia is serious and has some guts, they should be able to have a redesigned N-Gage out in time to compete with the Sony PSP. That's when the real fun begins.
They really only need to
1) Get better games.
2) Design a sane way to install and remove game cartridges. Just copy from Nintendo and everyone else who ever manufactured a portable gaming system...duh!
3) Design and pack in a cool headset that can be used for both playing games and making phone calls without looking like an idiot. Maybe the ear buds or the cord could have pressure sensitive control buds on them along with voice control of course.
Great article! This is just the sort of thing that has always impressed me about NASA and the JPL. Just when mere mortals might give it up and walk away, they figure out the problem. I can only imagine how wild the party must have been after they fixed Spirit, the scientists and engineers I've worked with in the pass could really put away the booze.
Seriously though, the key lessons to take away from this are.
1) Gather all of the clues you can.
2) Take those clues and build a model.
With luck and care, the model should get you closer to what may have gone wrong. And in this case it apparently did just that. Now that's geek cool!
BTW, I know that generally you want to prevent this sort of thing from happening. But in reality most software ships with bugs and launch windows to Mars are non-negotiable.
The article makes very good points. For the most part I actually like C# and it would be nice to be able to take projects I build with Microsoft tools and easily port to Linux or FreeBSD. But that was never my goal. MS makes great tools for supporting Windows Windows Windows, and the developers that use these tools know that. So while I'm sure projects like Mono are great fun (and I love fun), anyone looking to break the MS monopoly with it is just dreaming.
BTW, my main reason for using C# is to write funky little games with managed Direct X. Everyone and his brother uses C++ with all of the inherent disadvantages, but I think C# may have a bright future on the Windows platform.
I'd like to know how long it will be before Indian tech professionals start forming startup companies to compete directly with their American corporate masters using what they have learned from them.
The Indians are not stupid. They know that it's just a matter of time before the tech jobs go to the next lowest bidder. And just as British imperial domination was thrown off, so will American corporate domination. The American companies that have rushed to offshore outsourcing would be wise not to underestimate the power of nationalism.
Bugs and delays aside, let's give Bungie a little credit. Afterall, when Microsoft bought them and announced Halo for XBox, I was sure that PC or Mac Halo would never see the light of day. And I'm sure that the suits were all against anything but an XBox only title. Doing it on Mac and PC simply doesn't make economic sense given the numbers they have sold on the XBox. With that in mind, the only reason Bungie would release Mac and PC versions would be to keep their word to their customers. That's an honorable thing in these days of the bottom line rules everything.
Unfortunately this piracy problem is a double edged knife in the back. Bungie developers are rightly pissed off, and now the suits will make sure that Halo 2 never sees anything but the XBox. Any experienced developer will tell you that supporting more than one platform is a lot of work which publishers are less and less willing to pay for. So we won't be seeing any more multiplatform Halo.
I hear you on the hassle of upgrading! I think it is great that the Mac is getting some games, but when running on a console is just so easy, it is hard to justify the time and money spent getting set up.
Right now, I'm trying to decide whether to upgrade my box to run Final Fantasy XI online or what and buy the PS2 version bundled with the hard drive for $99 (+ $39 for network adapter + $? for USB keyboard). On the one hand, going with the PS2 version means waiting and the likelihood that no other titles will use the hard drive ever.
On the other hand, upgrading my PC would cost at least $450, but the other programs I run would likely benefit. Still, my PC is just fine for now and the game was made for the PS2, so I'd expect it to play better there... The debate goes on.
Actually, I think the cool (or is it c001, or k3w1 these days...) thing is being able to carry my entire music collection in one little package. For me, the iPod solved the problem of having music at work without carting around a bunch of CDs or having music files on a work machine. And well, if walking down the street with my iPod makes me look cool too, then so be it!
I'm with you. It's been a long time since most groups were making cohesive albums of music. So who wants to buy a whole album for just a couple of songs you like and a price that hasn't changed since CDs first came out.
Once iTunes for Windows came out I quickly followed up with an iPod (so yes, I am officially Steve Jobs' biatch...) The bottom line is that now I can get most of what I want at a good price with reasonable terms. Eventually, even Best Buy and Walmart are going to have to come to terms with the way the market has changed.
I'd like to see a distribution of the amount of time the machine was kept on pause during that event. That would yield another interesting statistic.;-)
In Microsoft's position, backwards compatibility for the Next XBox is essential! Their hold on the number 2 spot is tenuous at best because they simply have not been able to attract enough 3rd party development of must have exclusive titles. I think they've done a pretty good job in their rookie years, but they are not ready to take on Sony yet. So they need that library of current games to make the transition. Sony did this with the PS2 and I think it helped more than hurt. Yeah yeah, I know the compromises that backwards compatibility brings, but in the market place, it makes it easier for Joe consumer to buy the next box.
What's in the box simply doesn't matter to most of the people buying it (who do not read/.). It's all about the games and always has been. So while I don't like the idea of not having a hard drive, the hd simply has not been a great selling point. And let's face it, they would probably make more more selling the memory cards anyway. Not having a built-in hd has not hurt the PS2. And while they're at it, they need to buy up some Japanese development houses and make a real effort to be a presence in that market the next time around.
Finally, as long as they seem to have Apple on board, why not tap some of their talent to make sure that a) the box is small and pretty and b) it works with my iPod too! That could be sw33t!
I was a bit disappointed that Koster didn't get into more details about what he thinks needs to be done. Granted, he shouldn't give away any trade secrets, but saying more might assure the reader that he really understands the problems. For example, as others have said here already, RPGs are also about telling a story. What I've been looking for is a story that totally engulfs you and permeates everything. Having played EverQuest and SWG, I can say that they've got the massive world to explore thing down pretty well, but I never felt a part of any larger story that I cared about. Yeah, the socializing is okay, but that's not really why I play, I want a story that blurs the line between fact and fiction, something I'll waste time thinking about at work...
One thing I think Mr. Koster needs to do at all costs is to get into the games. Get in there and play, so that he has a really good feeling of what the players are experiencing and sometime griping about. I know that MMORPGs are very complex beasts where there is no escape from paying the beta test. There's just no way to get it all right on day one (though FF XI is doing a good job I hear). Given that, maybe the best way to evolve and move the game on is from the inside. Live it, breathe it, eat it! Grok it!
Slashdot Mirror
I must say that I haven't seen this because I've actually stayed away from EA sports games because I couldn't play them online on XBox. Well and the fact that I'm not that interested in EA's titles, except for NASCAR Thunder now that Papyrus is out of the picture.
But if their online system on the PS2 really is less than it should be, then I think getting connected with XBox Live will be a plus for them (and us) too. I know, I'll be getting NASCAR 2005 if I can play it on Live. I wonder if developer headaches with supporting their own online system may have helped drive them to settle their differences with Microsoft, and all of the money they were leaving on the table. In fact, it is likely that they had already saturated the available market with the online PS2 offerings, so going to XBox Live was the only way to further grow the market. Money talks very loudly!
Why not just make the movies directly from the game using the cut scenes and footage of expert player gameplay. Sega did something like this with the first Shenmue game for Dreamcast. It's actually rather interesting to watch.
Heck, it might even sell more games. Though I would go for a direct to DVD release rather than a theatre release since to market may not be very big.
Maybe there's an opportunity here to get our lives in order. As some have already posted, if you don't get overtime pay for overtime work, then don't do it. Well, let's ask ourselves why there was a need to work overtime in the first place. Maybe it's time to slow things down to a pace where all of this overtime in not needed in the first place.
;-) We may not get richer, but we will be happier. And if the boss man don't like it, screw him! He's gonna lay you off eventually anyway, so why sacrifice your life for him?
The bosses in the corporate offices cannot have it both ways. If they want insanely high productivity, they are going to have to pay for it. Even workers in India will eventually cost as much as here for the same work output. So let's stop this madness and live our lives like human beings instead of 24/7 machines. Let's spend more time with our friends and family. Or perhaps more time actually getting friends and family!
Well actually, if you count the cost of continually upgrading your PC in order to play the latest PC games, then the cost advantage shifts over to the consoles again. If you're hardcore, then the upgrade cost is on the order of $200/year if you always buy the latest graphics card and do a mobo cpu swap every other year.
That alone would not be so bad except for the fact that many of the multiplatform games are developed for a specific console first and then ported to PC. The results are not always pretty even when paired with godlike hardware.
And of course, consoles win the ease of use hands down, which, if your time is worth a lot to you, is important. Besides, if you wait a few months, the most popular console games end up being $19.95 greatest hits.
In the end, you just have to choose the version that gives you the most bang for your buck.
While many here are counting Nokia out, they actually have a good chance of success. First, by coming out with a redesigned console so quickly, they show that they are serious about making it in the gaming market. This is not good news for Nintendo or Sony at all.
.Net (which it is not right now) and XNA suddenly is part of the mix, then things could get interesting.
It is no surprise either that the redesign came out so fast. Nokia makes cel phones! Cel phone designs and features seem to change on almost a weekly basis. So it is likely that Nokia is accustomed to working on short design and manufacturing cycles. Indeed, this may be why they felt they could release the first N-Gage with all of the design errors. Again, this is not good news for Sony or Nintendo who are accustomed to longer cycles.
In the end, it will be the games that decide who makes real money in the portable space. If Nokia gets traction, we'll see a real fight. I would guess that Nintendo is most at risk because they haven't had a real fight in the portable space in yea...like ever. Sony I think will recognize the threat and use their muscle and money to get exclusives for the PSP early. But the PSP had better not be too late to market, or they'll be looking at the 3rd or 4th iteration of N-Gage by then. Finally, one wildcard here is Microsoft. MS has said they're not interested in the portable market. That said, MS makes the best development tools in the business, if it suddenly becomes easy to develop for Nokia using Visual Studio
I'm guessing that the previous poster was referring to the success of the original Sims games and expansions. It is true that those games have been wildly successful. However the MMO incarnation, The Sims Online, has been a disaster. Ironically, even without PvP and PK, a number of players in the Sims Online have managed to come up with myriad seedy ways of harassing other players.
What? Iomega is still in business? I like the idea of an alternative to tape, but I just can't get past how unreliable Iomega's products have been in the past. That click of death thing really clinched it for me. If we didn't still have so much on Zip disks yet to be archived, I'd never touch another Iomega product again.
Now in all fairness, perhaps they've gotten past the problems at last. Still, they'll have to prove it to a skeptical public.
This may be too late to market to be successful without some real (ie costly) work. I still think that the MMORPG market is too crowded at this point. And since True Fantasy is coming out well after FFXI made its US PS2 debut the console market may not be there at all.
Not that FFXI is all that (it is very good though), but this type of game takes two things that are in limited supply, time and money. Time is generally not negotiable in this universe, but money... Given that XBox live requires a fee already, if MS is serious, they'll either waive a monthly fee altogether, or maybe waive it for the first year. Getting the first month free is standard for these games, so MS is going to have to go one better to get any attention. Another tactic would be a lower than usual retail price.
I agree, but I don't think we'll be running spreadsheets or Quicken on the PS5 or XBox XX in the future. Game consoles will probably become the centers of home entertainment with a few everyday features like email, chat/IM, and shopping functions thrown in.
It'll be really interesting to see how Nintendo fares in all of this. They've steadfastly refused to build anything more than game machines. This isn't all bad, but it does make them look a bit behind the times.
One of the best things to come out of all of this will be easier to use devices. Games are supposed to be fun. So ease of use must be a main focus, which has not always been the case for the PC. So with multipurpose consoles developing, we should also see better and easier to use interfaces.
That's an interesting take on this. Given Apple's rumored involvement with the next XBox (G5 Dev Stations), perhaps that is their long term goal.
I can see that the old PC vs console debate rages on. Right now, I would say if you have both you're in the best of both worlds!
:-)
I just got my copy of Final Fantasy XI Online for PS2 and I'm just amazed at all of the progress that has been made in console gaming. But I would say that a lot of this is owed to gaming on the PC. In particular, if the pundits are to be believed and MMO games are the future, then the PC has had a big hand in driving consoles to the next level. This is especially true of the XBox which in turn spurred the continued evolution of the PS2.
One of the things that struck me last night playing FFXI was how easy it was to go from playing MMORPGs on the PC to the PS2. If you've played EverQuest or SWG many of the common keyboard macros are the same. The only thing to really get used to is using the gamepad which I'm liking more and more. In particular, just being able to simply walk instead of running everywhere is soooo easy to do in FFXI with the gamepad. And it feels more natural too. Also the performance was pretty good, even in crowds of players. The only downside so far is that now I need to get a comfy chair for the living room!
Best of all though was just how easy it was to get into the game and start playing. It always takes ages for EQ or SWG to start up and load on my PC. Admittedly, my PC is not the fastest around, but after seeing the PS2 perform, over the same broadband connection, it's not just my PC. I thought about the PC version of FFXI, but the upgrades to play it well on my box would cost more than the PS2 version. And none of my other PC work requires so much horsepower.
Anyway, PC gaming won't die off. The numbers may decline or level off, but I think the PC still has a lot to teach. Consoles are really great at refining gaming for the masses, but are too risky to really innovate on. So don't throw out your PC yet. Heck, I may yet do those upgrades!
I don't really want to start another "is PC gaming dying" thread, but I think that probably has something to do with the cancellation. Even though the game may have made a nice profit, on a gaming landscape where console games sell millions of copies, greed takes over and good titles get canned.
It would make more sense for Lucas Arts to publish Sam and Max 2 on a console and the PC. I still have very fond memories of the graphic adventure and think there's a whole generation of gamers who are missing out on this genre. Unfortunately, I doubt if any of the heavy weights really have the guts to risk bringing it to consoles. Funny thing is that adventure games might actually do pretty well in Japan on the PS 2. The so called dating sims that sell reasonably well there are not all that different, but home PCs are not as common there as in the U.S., so you really have to publish on a console.
Given the news we've all heard of the Apple based dev kits and now the lack of a hard drive, it seems pretty clear to me that Microsoft has decided to start over again on the XBox.
This can be a good thing of course, because in some sense it means that they are serious about making a real games console this time. Not that the first attempt was so bad, but they have learned from their first foray into the console business.
One thing they have learned is that they need to keep costs low and make things small and cute (kawaii..;-)). Dumping the hard drive is one way to do this. The hd wasn't being used for much anyway, not enough to make it standard issue. On the other hand, the broadband connectivity has been a big hit.
My guess is that the flash memory storage will be at least 128MB standard. They will also, as others have speculated here, likely provide online storage. Having dumped Asheron's Call duties, they may have additional capacity for simple storage. Another benefit for MS is of course making more bucks selling memory cards. See, they've learned!
Finally, I would speculate that they are getting some design help from Apple, or the Apple connected. If this is true, expect one very sexy little console late next year in time for XMas (especially if you see a price drop to $99 late this year). A sleek little machine will help them in Japan too, where the XBox's large size was another strike against it. If my wildest speculations are right, the devil better'd bundle up because we could see Gates _and_ Jobs unveil the new machine together!
Pot: Hello Kettle.
Kettle: Wzup!
Pot: You're black!
Kettle: [dial tone]
Sorry, had to do that! Seriously, if Nokia is serious and has some guts, they should be able to have a redesigned N-Gage out in time to compete with the Sony PSP. That's when the real fun begins.
They really only need to
1) Get better games.
2) Design a sane way to install and remove game cartridges. Just copy from Nintendo and everyone else who ever manufactured a portable gaming system...duh!
3) Design and pack in a cool headset that can be used for both playing games and making phone calls without looking like an idiot. Maybe the ear buds or the cord could have pressure sensitive control buds on them along with voice control of course.
Great article! This is just the sort of thing that has always impressed me about NASA and the JPL. Just when mere mortals might give it up and walk away, they figure out the problem. I can only imagine how wild the party must have been after they fixed Spirit, the scientists and engineers I've worked with in the pass could really put away the booze.
Seriously though, the key lessons to take away from this are.
1) Gather all of the clues you can.
2) Take those clues and build a model.
With luck and care, the model should get you closer to what may have gone wrong. And in this case it apparently did just that. Now that's geek cool!
BTW, I know that generally you want to prevent this sort of thing from happening. But in reality most software ships with bugs and launch windows to Mars are non-negotiable.
The article makes very good points. For the most part I actually like C# and it would be nice to be able to take projects I build with Microsoft tools and easily port to Linux or FreeBSD. But that was never my goal. MS makes great tools for supporting Windows Windows Windows, and the developers that use these tools know that. So while I'm sure projects like Mono are great fun (and I love fun), anyone looking to break the MS monopoly with it is just dreaming.
BTW, my main reason for using C# is to write funky little games with managed Direct X. Everyone and his brother uses C++ with all of the inherent disadvantages, but I think C# may have a bright future on the Windows platform.
I'd like to know how long it will be before Indian tech professionals start forming startup companies to compete directly with their American corporate masters using what they have learned from them.
The Indians are not stupid. They know that it's just a matter of time before the tech jobs go to the next lowest bidder. And just as British imperial domination was thrown off, so will American corporate domination. The American companies that have rushed to offshore outsourcing would be wise not to underestimate the power of nationalism.
Bugs and delays aside, let's give Bungie a little credit. Afterall, when Microsoft bought them and announced Halo for XBox, I was sure that PC or Mac Halo would never see the light of day. And I'm sure that the suits were all against anything but an XBox only title. Doing it on Mac and PC simply doesn't make economic sense given the numbers they have sold on the XBox. With that in mind, the only reason Bungie would release Mac and PC versions would be to keep their word to their customers. That's an honorable thing in these days of the bottom line rules everything.
Unfortunately this piracy problem is a double edged knife in the back. Bungie developers are rightly pissed off, and now the suits will make sure that Halo 2 never sees anything but the XBox. Any experienced developer will tell you that supporting more than one platform is a lot of work which publishers are less and less willing to pay for. So we won't be seeing any more multiplatform Halo.
I hear you on the hassle of upgrading! I think it is great that the Mac is getting some games, but when running on a console is just so easy, it is hard to justify the time and money spent getting set up.
Right now, I'm trying to decide whether to upgrade my box to run Final Fantasy XI online or what and buy the PS2 version bundled with the hard drive for $99 (+ $39 for network adapter + $? for USB keyboard). On the one hand, going with the PS2 version means waiting and the likelihood that no other titles will use the hard drive ever.
On the other hand, upgrading my PC would cost at least $450, but the other programs I run would likely benefit. Still, my PC is just fine for now and the game was made for the PS2, so I'd expect it to play better there... The debate goes on.
Actually, I think the cool (or is it c001, or k3w1 these days...) thing is being able to carry my entire music collection in one little package. For me, the iPod solved the problem of having music at work without carting around a bunch of CDs or having music files on a work machine. And well, if walking down the street with my iPod makes me look cool too, then so be it!
I'm with you. It's been a long time since most groups were making cohesive albums of music. So who wants to buy a whole album for just a couple of songs you like and a price that hasn't changed since CDs first came out.
Once iTunes for Windows came out I quickly followed up with an iPod (so yes, I am officially Steve Jobs' biatch...) The bottom line is that now I can get most of what I want at a good price with reasonable terms. Eventually, even Best Buy and Walmart are going to have to come to terms with the way the market has changed.
...military intelligence is not an oxymoron!
I'd like to see a distribution of the amount of time the machine was kept on pause during that event. That would yield another interesting statistic. ;-)
In Microsoft's position, backwards compatibility for the Next XBox is essential! Their hold on the number 2 spot is tenuous at best because they simply have not been able to attract enough 3rd party development of must have exclusive titles. I think they've done a pretty good job in their rookie years, but they are not ready to take on Sony yet. So they need that library of current games to make the transition. Sony did this with the PS2 and I think it helped more than hurt. Yeah yeah, I know the compromises that backwards compatibility brings, but in the market place, it makes it easier for Joe consumer to buy the next box.
/.). It's all about the games and always has been. So while I don't like the idea of not having a hard drive, the hd simply has not been a great selling point. And let's face it, they would probably make more more selling the memory cards anyway. Not having a built-in hd has not hurt the PS2. And while they're at it, they need to buy up some Japanese development houses and make a real effort to be a presence in that market the next time around.
What's in the box simply doesn't matter to most of the people buying it (who do not read
Finally, as long as they seem to have Apple on board, why not tap some of their talent to make sure that a) the box is small and pretty and b) it works with my iPod too! That could be sw33t!
I was a bit disappointed that Koster didn't get into more details about what he thinks needs to be done. Granted, he shouldn't give away any trade secrets, but saying more might assure the reader that he really understands the problems. For example, as others have said here already, RPGs are also about telling a story. What I've been looking for is a story that totally engulfs you and permeates everything. Having played EverQuest and SWG, I can say that they've got the massive world to explore thing down pretty well, but I never felt a part of any larger story that I cared about. Yeah, the socializing is okay, but that's not really why I play, I want a story that blurs the line between fact and fiction, something I'll waste time thinking about at work...
One thing I think Mr. Koster needs to do at all costs is to get into the games. Get in there and play, so that he has a really good feeling of what the players are experiencing and sometime griping about. I know that MMORPGs are very complex beasts where there is no escape from paying the beta test. There's just no way to get it all right on day one (though FF XI is doing a good job I hear). Given that, maybe the best way to evolve and move the game on is from the inside. Live it, breathe it, eat it! Grok it!