Out of curiosity, what was wrong with the PC port of MGS2? Obviously there were the technical issues (DVD only, 7GB HDD space for full install, nVidia-only compatibility initially...), but were there other problems that connecting a PSX-to-USB adapter woudn't mostly remedy? How extensive is the reliance on the analog buttons in the PS2 version? The tiny amount of movement on the PS2's buttons makes the analog aspect seem pretty much useless to me, anyway.
On a related note, I need to get a Bluetooth USB dongle for my computer. Transferring things to my laptop over IR is so slow and always feels needlessly precarious.
Embedded MS crap... I guess this is a troll. Regardless, Series 60 phones don't have any "MS crap" to my knowledge. The OS is Symbian, which has been putting out a good mobile OS for years (I had a Diamond Mako--rebranded Psion Revo Plus--PDA thing that I loved until the nonreplaceable battery crapped out far sooner than it should have). Sun's Java is also installed on Series 60 phones. Unless Bluetooth is somehow MS-related, you're either completely misinformed or trolling. The AC status of the post indicates the latter, I guess.
If tinfoil around the phone reduces its Bluetooth sensitivity, then yeah, a tinfoil hat just might help. And here I am with a 3660. Bluetooth and Symbian!
As I've not used the BT capabilities at all, does anyone know if I have to activate the BT on the phone, or is it in some sort of listen mode by default? And if so, is there a way to disable it until I actually need to use it?
From a 2002 interview with Roger Ebert (emphasis mine):
When I went to talk with Miyazaki, who is 62, I reminded him that in 1999 he said he was going to retire. Now here was another film.
"I wanted to retire," he said, "but life isn't that easy. I wanted to make a movie especially for the daughters of my friends. I opened all the drawers in my head they were all empty.
So I realized I had to make a movie just for 10 year olds, and 'Spirited Away' is my answer."
Disney has exclusive US distribution rights to all Ghibli work (note that the Miramax label, under which Princess Mononoke was released, is owned by Disney), so there shouldn't be a problem with signing. I think Spirited Away was in US theaters within a year of its Japanese release, wasn't it? I hope this sees a similarly speedy release. Spirited Away's critical success bodes well for a fairly wide release.
I applaud your mastery of sarcasm. I wanted badly to post a similar reply, but could not muster the requisite composure to move beyond my open-mouthed amazement at such unabashed and completely laughable pretension. Its complete perfection (note the "or as I like to call it") makes it seem like an intentional troll, but the lack of AC status makes me fear that the comment is indeed genuine.
That reminded me of the slogan of Smucker's jellies, jams, and such:
"With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."
Re:Gaming versus sitting on your butt watching TV
on
Gaming Does Good
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· Score: 1
The standard US broadcast availability in most regions is ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS (public broadcasting), and FOX. Some markets (mine included) also get UPN, WB, and/or PAX. The regional affiliates of the national networks air the shows provided by their national affiliations, but a fair amount of the schedule is determined by the local broadcasters. ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates tend to broadcast locally produced news shows several times a day, and FOX affiliates have fairly recently begun to have nightly locally produced news. The remaining free time is generally filled with packages of syndicated shows, generally either cheesy action shows or reruns of sitcoms, and sometimes movies from the 80s and now 90s.
Most people who watch much TV, though, tend to pay extra to get cable or satellite service, not only for increased, nationally standard channel variety, but also for better reception. Most of those services do bundle in all the local broadcasters, too, and I know at least cable channels insert region-specific (and sometimes even town-specific) commercials.
Out of curiosity, do the 5 major networks in the UK air the same stuff all over the UK, or is there some regional programming in time slots that aren't network-mandated? I know it's probably a stupid question, but I wasn't sure if the networks there took advantage of the smaller land mass to exert more control over programming schedules or not.
If you've read much of Tycho's writing, you'll realize that the only reason English grammar is compromised in the strip is for the sake of rhyme. And just in case you're also a Composition Nazi, I apologize (Or would you prefer I use "apologise," as you tend to hold Americans' collective grasp of English in such contempt?) for using the passive "is compromised."
I suppose so, but how much of that do the official publishers get? I note that each game has a developer and publisher listed (most are Atari, Ubisoft, and Eidos, with a Sony and Vivendi-Universal thrown in). This seems only to be an alternate distributor at the moment. I didn't see any licensing mentions in the "About" page. Hopefully services like this can become the first--and maybe primary--avenue of sale for some games rather than a relatively small venue for low-risk (most of those games seem to be sub-$20 bargain or no-longer-new titles, with the most expensive being $34.95, and a couple of them at $29.95) purchases.
While I admire Valve's independence, it's notable that the original Half-Life was at least partially funded by the founders' Microsoft-derived semi-fortunes, and the sequel by the sizable profits from the original. Also, I think the sequel's team was 80-plus members.
Again, while it's a step in the right direction, it would be hard for most idealistic, small developers to undertake a similar development. The most promising aspect of Valve's presence now is, I think, as you mentioned, the apparently successful (even if annoying to many) online distribution model. A Steam-like service might not be ideal for small developers, though, as it would take a sizable investment in bandwidth. What might happen is a new trend in smaller online publishers that take a significantly smaller portion of profits for the service of providing the bandwidth and trusted client through which to distribute games.
You've a good point there. Critics and high-prestige awards go very far to raise awareness about more obscure great movies. It's also a more mature industry with its own problems, and it still suffers from the multimillion-dollar blockbuster syndrome. It's amazing when a movie can be made for under $10 million, and that usually involves the actors working pro bono or at least at very reduced pay. Only the very fringe of independent films are made for less than $1 million, and hey, those aren't even guaranteed great (see: Blair Witch Project), though some do stand out, like this year's Primer, a very confusing sci-fi movie shot for $7000, which I assume means that it was a done-in-one's-spare-time type of deal, as equipment alone would have approached that price.
And being more well-established, movies get much more airtime (as you mentioned) and artistic acceptance. You don't see a Roger Ebert analog every weekend reviewing games on ABC. Instead, we have... G4/TechTV, where the only reasonably palatable game coverage is X-Play. Sure, there are myriad web sites dedicated to gaming, but that's still a small subset of gamers that utilize such sites for recommendations. And as for televised gaming awards? Apparently that thing on SpikeTV is all we can expect for now.
I forgot to mention: Katamari Damacy's retail price is $20. Any game with its singular design focus and simplicity and purity of gameplay, which for you or me might be its biggest draw, would in the eyes of most people not be worth the standard $50 initial retail price of most games. I really doubt that even I would have bought it if it was $50, though I don't buy many other games at $50, either.
Until you have a good way to distribute console games from small developers (including the licensing fees involved for consoles), I think the unfortunate side effect is that better-selling lowest-common-denominator games are needed to support the publishers and keep game sections viable in larger chain stores.
The problem I see continually lamented, though, is how royally the big publishers, especially US ones, apparently, do exploit the small development teams.
Also notable is that Katamari Damacy's development, whch involved I think around 20 people (there's a postmortem feature in the current issue of Game Developer written mostly by the lead designer), was funded and supported the whole way through by Namco.
Keep in mind that Gigabyte is just a company licensed to use nVidia's chipsets in their cards. From what I can tell, it's Gigabyte taking advantage of the SLI capabilities and putting two cards' worth of hardware on a single PCI-Express board. This isn't nVidia trying to squeeze the last bit of power for lack of something better. I'm sure they're hard at work on the GeForce 7x00 chipsets.
I thought "GPU" wasn't widely used until nVidia introduced their GeForce cards, which, with the inclusion of transform and lighting processing on the graphics processor, they claimed to be the "first true GPU" or something like that. Apparently those bits had previously been handled by the CPU. Did 3Dfx ever make cards with T&L handled on-card? Seriously asking, as I don't recall. I remember 3Dfx in their final generation or two (wasn't Voodoo5 released before Voodoo4?) boasting about their new cinematic features like motion blurring but recall no mention of T&L on their cards.
The archive search functionality on the site uses the alternate text of the embedded strip images for the search keywords. Those are just the keywords they chose for that strip. Recent strips haven't had keywords and are thus currently unsearchable (only accessible by the drop-down menu with ALL strips listed and by navigating through chronologically). I'm not sure why they haven't been keeping up with that.
I'm not sure that the cutoff for a passing grade is a good metric by which to judge educational effectiveness. Plus, you don't account for the Canadian-US exchange rate... what?
Anyway, I went to a public high school in middle Tennessee. Anything below a 70 was failing (A = 93-100, B = 85-93, C = 75-85, D = 70-75). Though I didn't have to deal with it (Valedictorian, whee!), I seem to recall that people had to repeat a class if they had a D average or below in that class. My only problem was that the school wasn't all that big, so the variety of classes--especially tech-related classes--was pretty small. There was a Graphic Arts class added my Junior year, and an AutoCAD class added Senior year in addition to the already existing Programming I (QBASIC) and II (C++) and basic computer use classes (though those three classes were administered by a largely uninformed teacher). And the only Calculus class was for the AB AP test (not BC).
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Interesting. I've always heard "gasoline" instead of "Listerine." And I can't decide whether I've heard "tastes" instead of "smells" or not.
Out of curiosity, what was wrong with the PC port of MGS2? Obviously there were the technical issues (DVD only, 7GB HDD space for full install, nVidia-only compatibility initially...), but were there other problems that connecting a PSX-to-USB adapter woudn't mostly remedy? How extensive is the reliance on the analog buttons in the PS2 version? The tiny amount of movement on the PS2's buttons makes the analog aspect seem pretty much useless to me, anyway.
Thats assuming you would need to actually carry around that much junk all the time...
Who the hell needs a swiss army knife of all that junk anyways...
Isn't that kind of like asking who needs a Swiss Army knife?
Ah, much obliged for the info.
On a related note, I need to get a Bluetooth USB dongle for my computer. Transferring things to my laptop over IR is so slow and always feels needlessly precarious.
Embedded MS crap... I guess this is a troll. Regardless, Series 60 phones don't have any "MS crap" to my knowledge. The OS is Symbian, which has been putting out a good mobile OS for years (I had a Diamond Mako--rebranded Psion Revo Plus--PDA thing that I loved until the nonreplaceable battery crapped out far sooner than it should have). Sun's Java is also installed on Series 60 phones. Unless Bluetooth is somehow MS-related, you're either completely misinformed or trolling. The AC status of the post indicates the latter, I guess.
If tinfoil around the phone reduces its Bluetooth sensitivity, then yeah, a tinfoil hat just might help. And here I am with a 3660. Bluetooth and Symbian!
As I've not used the BT capabilities at all, does anyone know if I have to activate the BT on the phone, or is it in some sort of listen mode by default? And if so, is there a way to disable it until I actually need to use it?
Disney has exclusive US distribution rights to all Ghibli work (note that the Miramax label, under which Princess Mononoke was released, is owned by Disney), so there shouldn't be a problem with signing. I think Spirited Away was in US theaters within a year of its Japanese release, wasn't it? I hope this sees a similarly speedy release. Spirited Away's critical success bodes well for a fairly wide release.
I applaud your mastery of sarcasm. I wanted badly to post a similar reply, but could not muster the requisite composure to move beyond my open-mouthed amazement at such unabashed and completely laughable pretension. Its complete perfection (note the "or as I like to call it") makes it seem like an intentional troll, but the lack of AC status makes me fear that the comment is indeed genuine.
It's worth noting that Pixar similarly idolizes Ghibli films. Didn't Pixar's John Lasseter do the voice directing for Spirited Away's English dub?
It's by Miyazaki. It has to be good.
That reminded me of the slogan of Smucker's jellies, jams, and such:
"With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good."
The standard US broadcast availability in most regions is ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS (public broadcasting), and FOX. Some markets (mine included) also get UPN, WB, and/or PAX. The regional affiliates of the national networks air the shows provided by their national affiliations, but a fair amount of the schedule is determined by the local broadcasters. ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates tend to broadcast locally produced news shows several times a day, and FOX affiliates have fairly recently begun to have nightly locally produced news. The remaining free time is generally filled with packages of syndicated shows, generally either cheesy action shows or reruns of sitcoms, and sometimes movies from the 80s and now 90s.
Most people who watch much TV, though, tend to pay extra to get cable or satellite service, not only for increased, nationally standard channel variety, but also for better reception. Most of those services do bundle in all the local broadcasters, too, and I know at least cable channels insert region-specific (and sometimes even town-specific) commercials.
Out of curiosity, do the 5 major networks in the UK air the same stuff all over the UK, or is there some regional programming in time slots that aren't network-mandated? I know it's probably a stupid question, but I wasn't sure if the networks there took advantage of the smaller land mass to exert more control over programming schedules or not.
If you've read much of Tycho's writing, you'll realize that the only reason English grammar is compromised in the strip is for the sake of rhyme. And just in case you're also a Composition Nazi, I apologize (Or would you prefer I use "apologise," as you tend to hold Americans' collective grasp of English in such contempt?) for using the passive "is compromised."
I suppose so, but how much of that do the official publishers get? I note that each game has a developer and publisher listed (most are Atari, Ubisoft, and Eidos, with a Sony and Vivendi-Universal thrown in). This seems only to be an alternate distributor at the moment. I didn't see any licensing mentions in the "About" page. Hopefully services like this can become the first--and maybe primary--avenue of sale for some games rather than a relatively small venue for low-risk (most of those games seem to be sub-$20 bargain or no-longer-new titles, with the most expensive being $34.95, and a couple of them at $29.95) purchases.
While I admire Valve's independence, it's notable that the original Half-Life was at least partially funded by the founders' Microsoft-derived semi-fortunes, and the sequel by the sizable profits from the original. Also, I think the sequel's team was 80-plus members.
Again, while it's a step in the right direction, it would be hard for most idealistic, small developers to undertake a similar development. The most promising aspect of Valve's presence now is, I think, as you mentioned, the apparently successful (even if annoying to many) online distribution model. A Steam-like service might not be ideal for small developers, though, as it would take a sizable investment in bandwidth. What might happen is a new trend in smaller online publishers that take a significantly smaller portion of profits for the service of providing the bandwidth and trusted client through which to distribute games.
I can go on all day...
You can go on all day, but you can't buy one in the US yet. It's not gonna be out here until March or thereabout.
I guess the next page will be on Monday, assuming PA sticks to their normal schedule (Monday-Wednesday-Friday).
You've a good point there. Critics and high-prestige awards go very far to raise awareness about more obscure great movies. It's also a more mature industry with its own problems, and it still suffers from the multimillion-dollar blockbuster syndrome. It's amazing when a movie can be made for under $10 million, and that usually involves the actors working pro bono or at least at very reduced pay. Only the very fringe of independent films are made for less than $1 million, and hey, those aren't even guaranteed great (see: Blair Witch Project), though some do stand out, like this year's Primer, a very confusing sci-fi movie shot for $7000, which I assume means that it was a done-in-one's-spare-time type of deal, as equipment alone would have approached that price.
And being more well-established, movies get much more airtime (as you mentioned) and artistic acceptance. You don't see a Roger Ebert analog every weekend reviewing games on ABC. Instead, we have... G4/TechTV, where the only reasonably palatable game coverage is X-Play. Sure, there are myriad web sites dedicated to gaming, but that's still a small subset of gamers that utilize such sites for recommendations. And as for televised gaming awards? Apparently that thing on SpikeTV is all we can expect for now.
I forgot to mention: Katamari Damacy's retail price is $20. Any game with its singular design focus and simplicity and purity of gameplay, which for you or me might be its biggest draw, would in the eyes of most people not be worth the standard $50 initial retail price of most games. I really doubt that even I would have bought it if it was $50, though I don't buy many other games at $50, either.
Until you have a good way to distribute console games from small developers (including the licensing fees involved for consoles), I think the unfortunate side effect is that better-selling lowest-common-denominator games are needed to support the publishers and keep game sections viable in larger chain stores.
The problem I see continually lamented, though, is how royally the big publishers, especially US ones, apparently, do exploit the small development teams.
Also notable is that Katamari Damacy's development, whch involved I think around 20 people (there's a postmortem feature in the current issue of Game Developer written mostly by the lead designer), was funded and supported the whole way through by Namco.
Keep in mind that Gigabyte is just a company licensed to use nVidia's chipsets in their cards. From what I can tell, it's Gigabyte taking advantage of the SLI capabilities and putting two cards' worth of hardware on a single PCI-Express board. This isn't nVidia trying to squeeze the last bit of power for lack of something better. I'm sure they're hard at work on the GeForce 7x00 chipsets.
I thought "GPU" wasn't widely used until nVidia introduced their GeForce cards, which, with the inclusion of transform and lighting processing on the graphics processor, they claimed to be the "first true GPU" or something like that. Apparently those bits had previously been handled by the CPU. Did 3Dfx ever make cards with T&L handled on-card? Seriously asking, as I don't recall. I remember 3Dfx in their final generation or two (wasn't Voodoo5 released before Voodoo4?) boasting about their new cinematic features like motion blurring but recall no mention of T&L on their cards.
Probably so it could, you know, survive with the ever-increasing production costs of a single game.
The archive search functionality on the site uses the alternate text of the embedded strip images for the search keywords. Those are just the keywords they chose for that strip. Recent strips haven't had keywords and are thus currently unsearchable (only accessible by the drop-down menu with ALL strips listed and by navigating through chronologically). I'm not sure why they haven't been keeping up with that.
Tycho does love tending his bees, though.
I'm not sure that the cutoff for a passing grade is a good metric by which to judge educational effectiveness. Plus, you don't account for the Canadian-US exchange rate... what?
Anyway, I went to a public high school in middle Tennessee. Anything below a 70 was failing (A = 93-100, B = 85-93, C = 75-85, D = 70-75). Though I didn't have to deal with it (Valedictorian, whee!), I seem to recall that people had to repeat a class if they had a D average or below in that class. My only problem was that the school wasn't all that big, so the variety of classes--especially tech-related classes--was pretty small. There was a Graphic Arts class added my Junior year, and an AutoCAD class added Senior year in addition to the already existing Programming I (QBASIC) and II (C++) and basic computer use classes (though those three classes were administered by a largely uninformed teacher). And the only Calculus class was for the AB AP test (not BC).