There's also the general PR role - promote general interest and awareness of the army, especially amongst politicians and decision makers who have never did any service.
Politicians and decision makers who have never did any service AND play PC games...?
Long post. But itgets around the fact that am trying to point out that Ms did not PAY $50 for each harddrive.
And I think you can guarantee a supply for much less if you guarantee a large purchase. Every component of the Xbox was supplied with some kind of pre-determined volume and cost structure. They squeezed NV so badly NV wanted to get out of it. NV wouldn't have complained if they were making phat loots off of MS.
If it was not a recruitment tool, it would be a waste of taxpayer's money. And there is nothing to be ashamed of. It isn't as though they are trying to deceive you about what really goes on if you do join - within the context of a video game.
This is probably the best recruiting tool out there not because it turns otherwise peaceful people into warmongers but because it both attracts and repels individuals based on their response to the game. It's plausible that an intendant infantryman might play this and decide he's better off in Dad's used car lot. This is far more instructive to a potential recruit than a propagandistic poster or a bribe-wielding recruiting officer.
And for those who do decide to go into the service, it gives them a chance to at least be somewhat familiar with terminology they will encounter and have some context for integrating their new environment.
Maybe playing this should be mandatory for a prospective recruit?
I don't think the editors at/. should have bothered posting this. The typical/. poster could probably have written a better and more accurate 'speculation' piece off the top of his head.
The big clue here is suggesting that the HD costs $50 each. That is an 8gig hd inside (some are actually 10, but they probably cost MS the same).
A 9.1 gig hard drive - just one - costs $10 shipped from a reputable seller. Another vendor is selling them for $5.99. How much do you think MS would pay for a few million?
Additionally, even if this is correct, the XB2 will still have *storage*, it will just be in the form of flash rather than an HD. Other than the CD ripping option, my three years of Xbox ownership and 40+ game playing have never caused me to show even 1% usage of the hard drive (despite having ripped 4 CDs to it!)
I think the reason he is asking for a GAMe is because he likes to do stuff with her, not just talk. Also, games where you cooperate and/or compete with your prospective wife are a good avenue to learn more about the person and to learn how to better work with that person.
I will presume three criteria in my answer you your questions:
1) Ease of use on both ends. You don't want to have to even think about technical issues, and she may not be able to deal with them as well as you.
2) Low cost. University students are often not flushed with cash and you may not be either.
3) Games that you can both enjoy together and TALK to each other in. You seem to have made clear that verbal communication is desiruous in any gaming environment you and your girl participate in.
So the answer? System-wise, given the above priorities, go with Xbox and Xbox live. No hassles at all. I got my brother one for Christmas last year so we could compete together. Game-wise, there are some fantasy-world roleplaying games coming for XBL (True Fantasy Live). She might liked more thoughtful and fun games than the usual shoot-em-ups, so some alternatives that are out now are Links 2004 (golf), Magic: The gathering - battlegrounds, Amped 2, or DDR Ultramix. Of course, women *can* come to enjoy Halo 2 or Ghost Recon.
In determining the quality of Halo 2, Exhibit A is the original Halo. However, just playing the game for most people can only give a partial picture about the production values of the game.
The official Xbox magazine has a demo disc and, for several months, this featured a series of discussions with the Bungie development team discussing in detail various aspects of what they went through in making Halo, giving a far greater appreciation for there work and revealig production values that I had not noticed, despite beating the game on highest difficulty.
They go into great detail about things I never would have noticed - like the way a wall and floor looks with the player's headlight turned on versus off and how ther are three layers of passthrough transparency.
I'm not sure how long we are going to have to wait, but the example Bungie set with Halo makes me anticipate another 'game of the year.'
I think top ten lists are written by lazy authors because they are easy to do.
But getting to my point, ALL handhelds failed except those with the name 'game boy' in them (excluding the 'super game boy'). There has essentially be ONE sucessful handheld. What's the point of saying the others are 'failed' because it is so obvious.
I have no idea why the parent was modded so far down. I mean, maybe leave it alone, but down?
Look, clowns, this has happened before. Right now you can witness it happening in Asheron's Call. The value of high level characters is going to go through the roof because they are nerfing the tidal wave of exp in the game that will henceforth render those high level characters impossible to achieve.
Vivendi is a media company. When they buy something/start something, what they see is a 'franchise' or a 'brand' which commands loyalty from customers.
With a software company, even one with three outstanding franchises, however, the real assets are the leadership and the creative individual ('people'). Game consumers are very weary compared to other media consumers - you can get $8 for a lousy Spiderman 2, but you won't get $50 for a lousy Warcraft 4.
I wonder what Vivendi sees when they look at Blizzard. In their annual reports, do they discuss the awesome franchises of Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft? Or do they talk about the brilliant employees whom have a curiculum vitae (sp?) that includes making those franchises?
Not the kind most people participate in. They are really advanced demos, meant to lock interest in for purchase among those who participate and to generate pre-launch buzz.
The poster says: 'Their conclusion: 77 percent of the films came from insider sources, either motion picture companies or theater employees taping from the projection booth.'
So it's pointless to do something about the other 23%?
This thing also has really quiet buttons. Great for lans where you don't want the opponent to hear what you are doing. Again - only of use to those who are extremely competitive and will listen to mouse clicks across the room to gain an advantage.
This is not for the typical/. crowd (I guess that's why it's just on the games sub-page). But for a select few, this is big news.
The Razor Boomslang Mice (I have a 2000 DPI one) were a big deal for first person shooters with a very noticable difference for intermediate to advanced skilled players. Additionally, the shape of the mouse was very unique in that it allowed greater precision control. True, it wasn't for everyone, but speaking for myself, it was a big improvement once you got over the week it took to become accustomed to it. It was also manufactured with very high quality parts, was shipped in a very cool 'cookie tin,' and introduced a brand new mouse technology that I am surprised has not been copied.
This was the 'sensitivity on the fly' adjustment, where you could hold down the side button and use the mouse wheel to adjust sensitivity, and a green meter would super impose on the screen to show you how high you had set it. Very useful for going from apps to games, and for going from standard to sniper-style weapons within games.
It was endoresed by the top ranked FPS player of the time (Thresh). Unfortunatly it went bankrupt, then was again able to sell some mice, and is apparently re-constituted.
I used both this mouse and the MS Intellimouse Explorer Optical Wireless. I would say the wireless was better because it was wireless, but the Boomslang was great because it was more precise (in my hands).
Anyway, if you are not an intense FPS player, yes, this looks like advertisements for garbage. If you are an intense FPS player, this will be a must-have.
Heheheheh. Well there was that incident in the parking lot of the CS tourny, but a knifing does not a war make....
But I can see it now, the Chicoms withdraw their diplomats after a glitch kill in the US Unreal 2044 Tourny costs them the win... US Sends 7th fleet to the Tiawan Straight... UK Prime minister urges rematch.... France wets pants....
But newspapers have, namely the Spanish American War, and namely the newspaper for which the NY Post is present day incarnation - William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. See more here.
Man made diamonds have much less problems handling heat and Intel is ignoring this while their competitors are on the fast track.
Still, Butler is frustrated with what he thinks of as myopia in the US computer business. "Europe and Japan have been investing in diamond semiconductor research," he says, citing the Japanese government's announcement in December that it would begin allocating $6 million a year to build a first-generation diamond chip. "Bob Linares has given the US the advantage, but nobody's paying any attention," he says. "If we're not careful, the Japanese or the Europeans are going to claim the diamond niche."
Indeed, Intel's top materials executives weren't aware of the latest research breakthroughs when I spoke to them in June, although they certainly understood the potential for diamonds in computing. "Diamonds represent a seismic change in semiconductors," says Krishnamurthy Soumyanath, Intel's director of communications circuits research. "It takes us about 10 years to evaluate a new material. We have a lot of investment in silicon. We're not about to abandon that."
Intel potentially uses a new technology that AMD doesn't have, and fan boy talks about how much better AMD will be than Intel when AMD implements said technology. ROFL.
Ballywood movies that you can rent that are pirated or download that are pirated have a constant and ugly stream of advertisements floating along the bottom of the screen. I've seen many of them (painfully stupid movies) and they all have.... animated cigrattes and such.
No one works for free. If you don't pay at the box office or to rent a legit copy, you pay in advertising. Not to mention how lousy the film quality is.
Slashdot Mirror
There's also the general PR role - promote general interest and awareness of the army, especially amongst politicians and decision makers who have never did any service.
Politicians and decision makers who have never did any service AND play PC games...?
Sure you can. If you agree to buy millions of them. MS did exactly that.
And I think you can guarantee a supply for much less if you guarantee a large purchase. Every component of the Xbox was supplied with some kind of pre-determined volume and cost structure. They squeezed NV so badly NV wanted to get out of it. NV wouldn't have complained if they were making phat loots off of MS.
This is probably the best recruiting tool out there not because it turns otherwise peaceful people into warmongers but because it both attracts and repels individuals based on their response to the game. It's plausible that an intendant infantryman might play this and decide he's better off in Dad's used car lot. This is far more instructive to a potential recruit than a propagandistic poster or a bribe-wielding recruiting officer.
And for those who do decide to go into the service, it gives them a chance to at least be somewhat familiar with terminology they will encounter and have some context for integrating their new environment.
Maybe playing this should be mandatory for a prospective recruit?
The big clue here is suggesting that the HD costs $50 each. That is an 8gig hd inside (some are actually 10, but they probably cost MS the same).
A 9.1 gig hard drive - just one - costs $10 shipped from a reputable seller. Another vendor is selling them for $5.99. How much do you think MS would pay for a few million?
Additionally, even if this is correct, the XB2 will still have *storage*, it will just be in the form of flash rather than an HD. Other than the CD ripping option, my three years of Xbox ownership and 40+ game playing have never caused me to show even 1% usage of the hard drive (despite having ripped 4 CDs to it!)
I think the reason he is asking for a GAMe is because he likes to do stuff with her, not just talk. Also, games where you cooperate and/or compete with your prospective wife are a good avenue to learn more about the person and to learn how to better work with that person.
I will presume three criteria in my answer you your questions:
So the answer? System-wise, given the above priorities, go with Xbox and Xbox live. No hassles at all. I got my brother one for Christmas last year so we could compete together. Game-wise, there are some fantasy-world roleplaying games coming for XBL (True Fantasy Live). She might liked more thoughtful and fun games than the usual shoot-em-ups, so some alternatives that are out now are Links 2004 (golf), Magic: The gathering - battlegrounds, Amped 2, or DDR Ultramix. Of course, women *can* come to enjoy Halo 2 or Ghost Recon.
The official Xbox magazine has a demo disc and, for several months, this featured a series of discussions with the Bungie development team discussing in detail various aspects of what they went through in making Halo, giving a far greater appreciation for there work and revealig production values that I had not noticed, despite beating the game on highest difficulty.
They go into great detail about things I never would have noticed - like the way a wall and floor looks with the player's headlight turned on versus off and how ther are three layers of passthrough transparency.
I'm not sure how long we are going to have to wait, but the example Bungie set with Halo makes me anticipate another 'game of the year.'
But getting to my point, ALL handhelds failed except those with the name 'game boy' in them (excluding the 'super game boy'). There has essentially be ONE sucessful handheld. What's the point of saying the others are 'failed' because it is so obvious.
Look, clowns, this has happened before. Right now you can witness it happening in Asheron's Call. The value of high level characters is going to go through the roof because they are nerfing the tidal wave of exp in the game that will henceforth render those high level characters impossible to achieve.
Heheheheh.
With a software company, even one with three outstanding franchises, however, the real assets are the leadership and the creative individual ('people'). Game consumers are very weary compared to other media consumers - you can get $8 for a lousy Spiderman 2, but you won't get $50 for a lousy Warcraft 4.
I wonder what Vivendi sees when they look at Blizzard. In their annual reports, do they discuss the awesome franchises of Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft? Or do they talk about the brilliant employees whom have a curiculum vitae (sp?) that includes making those franchises?
And this is fine, especially for MMORPG games.
So it's pointless to do something about the other 23%?
This thing also has really quiet buttons. Great for lans where you don't want the opponent to hear what you are doing. Again - only of use to those who are extremely competitive and will listen to mouse clicks across the room to gain an advantage.
They are on the sides. I own one, trust me, they are there.
The Razor Boomslang Mice (I have a 2000 DPI one) were a big deal for first person shooters with a very noticable difference for intermediate to advanced skilled players. Additionally, the shape of the mouse was very unique in that it allowed greater precision control. True, it wasn't for everyone, but speaking for myself, it was a big improvement once you got over the week it took to become accustomed to it. It was also manufactured with very high quality parts, was shipped in a very cool 'cookie tin,' and introduced a brand new mouse technology that I am surprised has not been copied.
This was the 'sensitivity on the fly' adjustment, where you could hold down the side button and use the mouse wheel to adjust sensitivity, and a green meter would super impose on the screen to show you how high you had set it. Very useful for going from apps to games, and for going from standard to sniper-style weapons within games.
It was endoresed by the top ranked FPS player of the time (Thresh). Unfortunatly it went bankrupt, then was again able to sell some mice, and is apparently re-constituted.
I used both this mouse and the MS Intellimouse Explorer Optical Wireless. I would say the wireless was better because it was wireless, but the Boomslang was great because it was more precise (in my hands).
Anyway, if you are not an intense FPS player, yes, this looks like advertisements for garbage. If you are an intense FPS player, this will be a must-have.
But I can see it now, the Chicoms withdraw their diplomats after a glitch kill in the US Unreal 2044 Tourny costs them the win... US Sends 7th fleet to the Tiawan Straight... UK Prime minister urges rematch.... France wets pants....
Perhaps newspapers should also be banned?
BTW - I have built 5 PCs now and all of them had AMD chips. Only the office desktop and laptop (Dell) have Intel.
I canceled too because it got stale, and people stopped playing it. Low populations are the bain of this game. They had to consolidate servers.
Agreed! Those laptop purses are pretty fem.
Still, Butler is frustrated with what he thinks of as myopia in the US computer business. "Europe and Japan have been investing in diamond semiconductor research," he says, citing the Japanese government's announcement in December that it would begin allocating $6 million a year to build a first-generation diamond chip. "Bob Linares has given the US the advantage, but nobody's paying any attention," he says. "If we're not careful, the Japanese or the Europeans are going to claim the diamond niche."
Indeed, Intel's top materials executives weren't aware of the latest research breakthroughs when I spoke to them in June, although they certainly understood the potential for diamonds in computing. "Diamonds represent a seismic change in semiconductors," says Krishnamurthy Soumyanath, Intel's director of communications circuits research. "It takes us about 10 years to evaluate a new material. We have a lot of investment in silicon. We're not about to abandon that."
Click here for full article.
Intel potentially uses a new technology that AMD doesn't have, and fan boy talks about how much better AMD will be than Intel when AMD implements said technology. ROFL.
No one works for free. If you don't pay at the box office or to rent a legit copy, you pay in advertising. Not to mention how lousy the film quality is.
So I guess now you will be able to have Goatse on your playstation. Hurrah!