Also of note is that the development was done at Namco. Not like it's some crazy independent house that threw it together after a night of drug-fueled insight and pitched it to the big 3 and was only picked up by wise and benevolent little-guy-nurturing Sony.
On control scheme, the only thing the Gamecube controller is physically lacking is that the analog sticks don't also act as buttons, but I rarely if ever used the quick-reverse move on the PS2 version.
As for DS control, I'd like to see a top-down view on the bottom screen and use the stylus like you're pushing it across the top of the ball, and have the top screen displaying the standard view from the PS2 version. The only other workable scheme I can think of is to simplify it to a single-stick type scheme and use the thumbstrap as an analog stick like in Mario 64.
Thank you, sir. I didn't realize that a jab at the trend of hilariously re-imagined sequels would be so violently opposed.
I do have to say that Metal Gear Acid so far is surprisingly successful at distilling core MGS gameplay elements down to a turn-based strategy format. The cards aren't just used in battles. They're used for everything, even moving, so the card-based aspect of it is completely integrated into the game. So with pretty much everything you do, you're weighing the options of turn delay (every card has an associated delay, which contributes to how long you have to wait until your next turn and thus how many enemies get to take turns in the meantime), card economy (most cards, in addition to their specific purpose, can be used for movement), and potential luck of the draw. Stealth is still hugely important, and you can still check line-of-sight of enemies and plan your route accordingly. You can even knock on walls (one of like two moves that doesn't require a card, but to knock you have to flatten against the wall after a card-based move--the other non-card move is a punch that has a chance of knocking an enemy unconscious, usable only once per turn) to attract enemy attention and set up an ambush or so you can sneak around by another route without detection while the enemy is distracted.
While I admit that I'm amused and annoyed that just about everyone advocates it like it's some unknown underground treasure that no one has ever heard of (though I also recognize that its current success comes at least in part from word-of-mouth... though Penny Arcade's coverage of it certainly couldn't have hurt), you give the game a bit too little credit. Even if you strip away the potentially off-putting style that everyone so loves to claim to love, the game is still fairly unique, I think mostly because of the "rolling stuff up" part that allows for interesting changes of scale and perspective as a level progresses instead of maze-running/solving like Marble Madness or Monkey Ball. As for the control scheme, I'm not sure whether I would prefer a single stick or not. I don't have any problem with the dual stick control, though.
And yeah, I don't think there's any way that the game could have succeeded at $50. It's like a novel toy with some guided play and objectives, and I don't think many would see justification in paying $50 for that.
Well, quite a bit of effort went into ironing out the mechanics of the new card-based rolling system. I mean, is 6 cards in a hand enough? What level of deck customization should be allowed? What about resources? I think the ~$50 price is justified.
I think I remember that, too! Seeing the textures and models without all the effects added was pretty interesting. The colors and textures reminded me a lot of the original Jedi Knight game.
I'm of two minds now. On one hand (mind? crazy metaphors), I want to find that old PC and be reminded of how older accelerated games looked. On the other, I want to build a new one and revel in the progress of consumer technology.
It was obviously a laughable rule, but it was well known, and I'm sure most teachers let first time offenders off with a warning. The simple fact was that the kids weren't supposed to have them in class, regardles of reason or classification. Those that were dumb or bold or forgetful enough not to silence the devices were caught. It didn't help that the only real way it was enforced was when the device started making noises in the middle of class. Also, I don't remember any instances where the student didn't get them back.
Anyway, I assume that the rule has either been removed or is ignored these days since the devices are now so completely ubiquitous.
Voodoo 2 came in 8MB and 12MB versions, the latter having an extra 4MB of texture memory. They were pass-through cards, requiring a separate, primary video card for non-3D stuff. They could be connected to do SLI (which at that time I think was Scan-Line Interleaving, the cards handling alternate lines of monitor resolution). I think with SLI, you could play your games at an astonishing 1024x768 in glorious 16-bit color. Single cards were limited to 800x600.
I had a single 12MB one that I bought used on eBay. It wasn't much in 2000, but boy did Unreal Tournament and Counter-Strike play smooth as butter on that and a 450MHz K6-2. I didn't get back to that level of performance on a 32MB GeForce2 MX until I upgraded to a 1GHz Athlon Thunderbird. Wow. I have no idea where that K6-2 box is. I guess the Voodoo 2 is probably still in it, too.
My best card at the moment is a 128MB GeForce 3 Ti200. I'm so behind the times.
There was a 6MB 2D/3D combo variant of the original Voodoo called Voodoo Rush. I recall various claims that it wasn't very good. The original Voodoo cards had 4MB of memory.
I guess there was a time when the equipment had the reputation of being used either by businesspeople or drug dealers. Since it was unlikely that there were any high schoolers who were also successful businesspeople, there was a blanket classification of the devices as drug-related. I imagine the rule had been put in place a few years before when the devices were even more rare and expensive, but I don't know. It was laughable even in 1996. High school was also, I think, the last time I ever used a pay phone. After that cell phones became pretty much ubiquitous, though I didn't end up with one of my own for a year or so after high school.
I guess I haven't found much utility yet in subscribing to a data service. Which is probably why I find Bluetooth more useful than you do as a data transmission method. I don't travel a lot, so I'm generally somewhere near a PC with an Internet connection, or will be within a few hours and probably don't have much use for one at that time. If I find myself traveling much, I'll probably pay the extra for data service. As is now, a cell phone interface, even with the most elegantly designed of applications and the 176x208 pixel resolution that seems to be the maximum of non-PDAs at the moment, is still fairly cumbersome and doesn't yet provide me enough incentive to use it as an Internet device.
Also, as I don't at the moment pay extra for a specific number of text or picture messages per month, text is 10 cents a message and picture is more.
And I fully agree with you that bluetooth accessories are far too expensive. I don't know if it's that the implentation is inherently expensive, or if there are licensing fees involved, or if manufacturers know that at the moment Bluetooth is a limited market used primarily by those who spring for higher-end phones who don't mind paying a large-ish amount for small convenience increases. For my purposes, though (data transmission), I'm really enjoying the Bluetooth. And I think I would enjoy it even if I had an unlimited data plan with my phone, as sending applications over Bluetooth to my phone will I assume be faster than finding and downloading them over GPRS.
I find it interesting how much regulation of wireless communications in schools has changed since I was in high school (1996-2000), when pagers and cell phones were officially considered "drug paraphernalia" and thus subject to confiscation if discovered (no active searches were performed, but there were morons who didn't turn theirs off during the day). Obviously most teachers enforcing it didn't actually assume that they were drug paraphernalia, but I witnessed several confiscations, mostly pagers at that point. Most teachers, I think, returned them at the end of the day.
I recall my family having a cell phone sometime in that period that was gigantic by today's standards, analog-only, and the display was a row of 7-segment characters and maybe 3 more LEDs to indicate service, roaming, etc.
Your point about Bluetooth's continued rarity in the US is valid and, to me, disappointing. It allows the service providers to be the ultimate arbiters of how data is transmitted to and from the phones. I'm one of few people I know that have Bluetooth (or even Infrared) enabled phone. Everyone else is apparently fine paying the disproportionately large transmission fees for picture and text messages. Just yesterday I purchased a USB Bluetooth dongle for my computer (Belkin 10-meter one on sale this week at CompUSA for $10 after some mail-in, $30 before that). What I've tried with it so far is much, much easier than the shaky and slow IR that I'd been using (infrequently because of the inconvenience) previously.
Re:Go Taco, Go Taco, Go Taco!
on
USB Fundue Set
·
· Score: 1
Well, it helps that Think Geek has all of the April Fool's products on their front page today.
Also, I don't think people are giving this newspost enough credit. Not only is it a "dupe" gag, but if you look at the banners at the top of the/. page, you'll realize that it's, I hope intentionally, also a "paid advertising in newspost" gag.
What does a year's supply of a single DVD title mean? One a day? A new one every time you shatter your current one upon trying to endure it? Would you also receive a replacement player if the movie renders your current one useless?
It's taken me all morning, but I think I've managed to reverse engineer Opera's implementation using common room-temperature air at approximately 1 atmosphere.
I'll release it under the GPL. And I'll call it something catchy and commercially respectable, like Gnuvoc. Nah, that'll never work. Maybe Goice or Galk. Businesses everywhere will be Galking it up by year's end.
Nintendo fan here, too. I made it a point not to buy into the hype, and repeatedly cited the overhyped flaws and high price as reasons I'd wait a while before thinking about buying one, but a friend convinced me to buy one, and I'm very impressed with it. Square button feels fine, UMDs stay where they should, and I have just one stuck subpixel. It's easily worth my $250. While I wouldn't have paid more than that for it, it feels like a much more expensive piece of equipment, and I wouldn't argue with all the people claiming that Sony is taking pretty big losses on each unit.
I think word of mouth and impressed friends of owners will continue to increase sales numbers for a while before any price drop happens.
I could say the same of modern currency. The limits on supply are artificial, dependent only on willingness to produce, not ability. And with so many transactions being electronic these days, the difference between "real" and "perceived" value breaks down further. Regardless of the game designer's capabilities, they chose to make the item "rare," which thus increased its perceived value at the moment.
My friend and I must have been lucky, or your wife's experience at least slightly atypical.
Friend got his PSP at a Virginia Wal-Mart around midnight on the release day. He says it has just one faulty pixel (probably a stuck subpixel since he says it's green) and it doesn't bother him. Everything else apparently works on his. I stopped by a Nashville Best Buy after work on release day after hearing friend's opinion of his PSP, and mine is similarly acceptable. Mine has what I assume to be a stuck subpixel or two, since I'm pretty sure the faulty area is smaller than a full pixel. It doesn't bother me at all. Aside from that and an annoying-to-attach battery cover, mine's working fine. It's a really impressive piece of hardware, especially for $250.
I think Sony ran into the problem of the reality that they have to take a significant loss of some sort if they want to sell many units. I'd guess that the LCD is possibly half of the manufacturing costs, so more lax QC could have resulted in substantial savings per unit. It's a VERY impressive screen and has smaller pixels than I've seen in any other LCD display with the possible exception of my 15" 1600x1200 laptop screen, which has no defects, but came attached to a $2800 computer instead of a $250 handheld. I have to wonder how many people will demand replacement of their units and how much this will cost Sony as opposed to sticking to higher quality standards in the first place. Or maybe it was a time issue and they couldn't wait for sufficient amounts of perfect screens, or couldn't wait for thorough inspection of millions of them in time for launch.
(quick calculations: laptop screen is 3:4 display ratio, so diagonal measure is hypoteneuse of a 3:4:5 right triangle, so width is (4/5)*15 = 12 inches. 12/1600 = 0.0075 inches/pixel. PSP is 4.3-inch 16:9, 480x272. Width is ~3.74777 inches. ~3.74777/480 ~= 0.00781 inches/pixel. So my extraordinary and expensive laptop screen just barely edges out the PSP screen for pixel size.)
Good answers on all sides there. I've apparently not played it enough to realize the full extent of the gender inequality in the game, or maybe just not played it in a matter that would expose any hard-coded gender inequalities (most of my playing has been mission-based or stunt driving for fun). Your point of the inability to play a female character, thus rendering the female non-player characters de facto sexual objects is a pretty good one. It does ignore that not all female characters are able to be solicited as such, though (they're not, are they? If all the female characters in the game are functionally prostitutes, then I'll gladly cede your points).
Oh, and with the anti-feminist thing, I wasn't accusing you of such. It was just something that popped into my head. Not realizing the apparently large gender inequality in the game, I was wondering about the extent to which your distaste with the game was justified by a potentially misogynistic tendency in the game, or a potentially skewed view of the gender divide itself from an equality point of view.
Also, I'm enjoying this discussion. I'm looking at the potential issues in the game a bit more deeply than I would be in a standard "Parents should listen to the ESRB" discussion. Though I do support the ESRB and feel that if it's understood by all that video games aren't just for children, then some of the controversy might subside.
While I definitely see your point, and agree that the game probably wouldn't suffer much or at all if they excised all female characters from it, I wonder to what degree your feelings could be construed as anti-feminist. Obviously there's the argument of factual differences in physical fortitude, but in the game, all of the male characters walking the streets are just as vulnerable to the player's unprovoked attacks and "die" just as easily, and they all represent people of varying sorts, regardless of model and voice. The various reactions and criticisms and acclaim I see of these freeform games is pretty interesting, and I'd look deeper if I had the background or patience to do so.
Parting question: what's your take on the Amazonian-type character models available in many online multiplayer fragfests like UT2004? Are you less likely to lob a frag cluster at someone using a female player model? Or is your unease mostly with the "killing" of AI-controlled female characters in games? And if so, I again wonder at the roots of the objection. Is it a perceived difference in defense ability, or maybe a perceived difference in level of innocence? I'm genuinely curious, actually, because the few times I've played GTA3, I myself have been less reluctant to assault the male characters than the female.
To be fair, aren't you able to mercilessly beat pretty much anyone in the GTA games? That players are targeting a particular group and deriving enjoyment from it might be more telling of their own prejudices (or maybe other influences on their outlook) than the game designers'.
I'm no big GTA advocate, and haven't really played much of it since the original one on my PC back in high school ("Look at the smooth textures my Voodoo card is producing... in DOS!"), but the game designers' intent, from what I've seen, is not completely malicious. They've created an impressively freeform game engine that, while admittedly leaning toward violence in general, does not advocate the targeting of specific groups in the freeform play. I know a part of the appeal is the odd amoral presentation of the game, though. All that said, even though I've been graphically killing in video games since Wolfenstein 3D, I've not been able to take much pleasure in wanton destruction of virtual innocents. I also think it's at least partially that destructive acts are simpler to implement in video games than constructive. The point and click nature of video game firearms and the lack of finesse needed to break stuff I'd think is much, much easier to simulate in a game than anything constructive, so the GTA video game world would inherently slide toward destruction in an effort to provide a seemingly open play style.
Might the fact that many do find entertainment value in flagrant depictions of immorality just point to some inherent desire to rebel? Kind of a "Look what I'm able to get away with!"
All kinds of rambling there. My point, I think, though, was that I don't think the game designers made the game and said "Man, I hope some 12-to-18-year-olds beat up hookers for fun in this game. This storyline, which is styled after popular movies that can also be interpreted as glamorizing pointless violence, is just window dressing for out hooker-killing simulator. If even a single high-schooler brings his friends over to laugh at the brutal slaying of a woman in this game, then our work is done. Huzzah!"
I knew an Arwen in high school. She was popular and well-adjusted. Probably because Arwen isn't that bad of a name in the first place and there wasn't likely a stigma of any sort attached to it while growing up in the 80s and 90s. Any Arwens that are children now, though, are likely to have a rougher time of it.
Slashdot Mirror
Notable: first smiley/emoticon I've used in quite some time. Didn't know how else to convey my tone this time.
On control scheme, the only thing the Gamecube controller is physically lacking is that the analog sticks don't also act as buttons, but I rarely if ever used the quick-reverse move on the PS2 version.
As for DS control, I'd like to see a top-down view on the bottom screen and use the stylus like you're pushing it across the top of the ball, and have the top screen displaying the standard view from the PS2 version. The only other workable scheme I can think of is to simplify it to a single-stick type scheme and use the thumbstrap as an analog stick like in Mario 64.
I do have to say that Metal Gear Acid so far is surprisingly successful at distilling core MGS gameplay elements down to a turn-based strategy format. The cards aren't just used in battles. They're used for everything, even moving, so the card-based aspect of it is completely integrated into the game. So with pretty much everything you do, you're weighing the options of turn delay (every card has an associated delay, which contributes to how long you have to wait until your next turn and thus how many enemies get to take turns in the meantime), card economy (most cards, in addition to their specific purpose, can be used for movement), and potential luck of the draw. Stealth is still hugely important, and you can still check line-of-sight of enemies and plan your route accordingly. You can even knock on walls (one of like two moves that doesn't require a card, but to knock you have to flatten against the wall after a card-based move--the other non-card move is a punch that has a chance of knocking an enemy unconscious, usable only once per turn) to attract enemy attention and set up an ambush or so you can sneak around by another route without detection while the enemy is distracted.
And yeah, I don't think there's any way that the game could have succeeded at $50. It's like a novel toy with some guided play and objectives, and I don't think many would see justification in paying $50 for that.
Well, quite a bit of effort went into ironing out the mechanics of the new card-based rolling system. I mean, is 6 cards in a hand enough? What level of deck customization should be allowed? What about resources? I think the ~$50 price is justified.
I'm of two minds now. On one hand (mind? crazy metaphors), I want to find that old PC and be reminded of how older accelerated games looked. On the other, I want to build a new one and revel in the progress of consumer technology.
Anyway, I assume that the rule has either been removed or is ignored these days since the devices are now so completely ubiquitous.
I had a single 12MB one that I bought used on eBay. It wasn't much in 2000, but boy did Unreal Tournament and Counter-Strike play smooth as butter on that and a 450MHz K6-2. I didn't get back to that level of performance on a 32MB GeForce2 MX until I upgraded to a 1GHz Athlon Thunderbird. Wow. I have no idea where that K6-2 box is. I guess the Voodoo 2 is probably still in it, too.
My best card at the moment is a 128MB GeForce 3 Ti200. I'm so behind the times.
There was a 6MB 2D/3D combo variant of the original Voodoo called Voodoo Rush. I recall various claims that it wasn't very good. The original Voodoo cards had 4MB of memory.
I guess there was a time when the equipment had the reputation of being used either by businesspeople or drug dealers. Since it was unlikely that there were any high schoolers who were also successful businesspeople, there was a blanket classification of the devices as drug-related. I imagine the rule had been put in place a few years before when the devices were even more rare and expensive, but I don't know. It was laughable even in 1996. High school was also, I think, the last time I ever used a pay phone. After that cell phones became pretty much ubiquitous, though I didn't end up with one of my own for a year or so after high school.
Also, as I don't at the moment pay extra for a specific number of text or picture messages per month, text is 10 cents a message and picture is more.
And I fully agree with you that bluetooth accessories are far too expensive. I don't know if it's that the implentation is inherently expensive, or if there are licensing fees involved, or if manufacturers know that at the moment Bluetooth is a limited market used primarily by those who spring for higher-end phones who don't mind paying a large-ish amount for small convenience increases. For my purposes, though (data transmission), I'm really enjoying the Bluetooth. And I think I would enjoy it even if I had an unlimited data plan with my phone, as sending applications over Bluetooth to my phone will I assume be faster than finding and downloading them over GPRS.
I recall my family having a cell phone sometime in that period that was gigantic by today's standards, analog-only, and the display was a row of 7-segment characters and maybe 3 more LEDs to indicate service, roaming, etc.
Your point about Bluetooth's continued rarity in the US is valid and, to me, disappointing. It allows the service providers to be the ultimate arbiters of how data is transmitted to and from the phones. I'm one of few people I know that have Bluetooth (or even Infrared) enabled phone. Everyone else is apparently fine paying the disproportionately large transmission fees for picture and text messages. Just yesterday I purchased a USB Bluetooth dongle for my computer (Belkin 10-meter one on sale this week at CompUSA for $10 after some mail-in, $30 before that). What I've tried with it so far is much, much easier than the shaky and slow IR that I'd been using (infrequently because of the inconvenience) previously.
Also, I don't think people are giving this newspost enough credit. Not only is it a "dupe" gag, but if you look at the banners at the top of the /. page, you'll realize that it's, I hope intentionally, also a "paid advertising in newspost" gag.
Whoa. I thought this post was just a dupe gag. I now realize that it's at once a dupe gag and a paid advertisement gag. Greatness.
What does a year's supply of a single DVD title mean? One a day? A new one every time you shatter your current one upon trying to endure it? Would you also receive a replacement player if the movie renders your current one useless?
I'll release it under the GPL. And I'll call it something catchy and commercially respectable, like Gnuvoc. Nah, that'll never work. Maybe Goice or Galk. Businesses everywhere will be Galking it up by year's end.
I think word of mouth and impressed friends of owners will continue to increase sales numbers for a while before any price drop happens.
I could say the same of modern currency. The limits on supply are artificial, dependent only on willingness to produce, not ability. And with so many transactions being electronic these days, the difference between "real" and "perceived" value breaks down further. Regardless of the game designer's capabilities, they chose to make the item "rare," which thus increased its perceived value at the moment.
Friend got his PSP at a Virginia Wal-Mart around midnight on the release day. He says it has just one faulty pixel (probably a stuck subpixel since he says it's green) and it doesn't bother him. Everything else apparently works on his. I stopped by a Nashville Best Buy after work on release day after hearing friend's opinion of his PSP, and mine is similarly acceptable. Mine has what I assume to be a stuck subpixel or two, since I'm pretty sure the faulty area is smaller than a full pixel. It doesn't bother me at all. Aside from that and an annoying-to-attach battery cover, mine's working fine. It's a really impressive piece of hardware, especially for $250.
I think Sony ran into the problem of the reality that they have to take a significant loss of some sort if they want to sell many units. I'd guess that the LCD is possibly half of the manufacturing costs, so more lax QC could have resulted in substantial savings per unit. It's a VERY impressive screen and has smaller pixels than I've seen in any other LCD display with the possible exception of my 15" 1600x1200 laptop screen, which has no defects, but came attached to a $2800 computer instead of a $250 handheld. I have to wonder how many people will demand replacement of their units and how much this will cost Sony as opposed to sticking to higher quality standards in the first place. Or maybe it was a time issue and they couldn't wait for sufficient amounts of perfect screens, or couldn't wait for thorough inspection of millions of them in time for launch.
(quick calculations: laptop screen is 3:4 display ratio, so diagonal measure is hypoteneuse of a 3:4:5 right triangle, so width is (4/5)*15 = 12 inches. 12/1600 = 0.0075 inches/pixel. PSP is 4.3-inch 16:9, 480x272. Width is ~3.74777 inches. ~3.74777/480 ~= 0.00781 inches/pixel. So my extraordinary and expensive laptop screen just barely edges out the PSP screen for pixel size.)
Meteos is a DS game not out in the US yet. From what I hear, it's a bit faster-paced than Lumines.
Oh, and with the anti-feminist thing, I wasn't accusing you of such. It was just something that popped into my head. Not realizing the apparently large gender inequality in the game, I was wondering about the extent to which your distaste with the game was justified by a potentially misogynistic tendency in the game, or a potentially skewed view of the gender divide itself from an equality point of view.
Also, I'm enjoying this discussion. I'm looking at the potential issues in the game a bit more deeply than I would be in a standard "Parents should listen to the ESRB" discussion. Though I do support the ESRB and feel that if it's understood by all that video games aren't just for children, then some of the controversy might subside.
Parting question: what's your take on the Amazonian-type character models available in many online multiplayer fragfests like UT2004? Are you less likely to lob a frag cluster at someone using a female player model? Or is your unease mostly with the "killing" of AI-controlled female characters in games? And if so, I again wonder at the roots of the objection. Is it a perceived difference in defense ability, or maybe a perceived difference in level of innocence? I'm genuinely curious, actually, because the few times I've played GTA3, I myself have been less reluctant to assault the male characters than the female.
I'm no big GTA advocate, and haven't really played much of it since the original one on my PC back in high school ("Look at the smooth textures my Voodoo card is producing... in DOS!"), but the game designers' intent, from what I've seen, is not completely malicious. They've created an impressively freeform game engine that, while admittedly leaning toward violence in general, does not advocate the targeting of specific groups in the freeform play. I know a part of the appeal is the odd amoral presentation of the game, though. All that said, even though I've been graphically killing in video games since Wolfenstein 3D, I've not been able to take much pleasure in wanton destruction of virtual innocents. I also think it's at least partially that destructive acts are simpler to implement in video games than constructive. The point and click nature of video game firearms and the lack of finesse needed to break stuff I'd think is much, much easier to simulate in a game than anything constructive, so the GTA video game world would inherently slide toward destruction in an effort to provide a seemingly open play style.
Might the fact that many do find entertainment value in flagrant depictions of immorality just point to some inherent desire to rebel? Kind of a "Look what I'm able to get away with!"
All kinds of rambling there. My point, I think, though, was that I don't think the game designers made the game and said "Man, I hope some 12-to-18-year-olds beat up hookers for fun in this game. This storyline, which is styled after popular movies that can also be interpreted as glamorizing pointless violence, is just window dressing for out hooker-killing simulator. If even a single high-schooler brings his friends over to laugh at the brutal slaying of a woman in this game, then our work is done. Huzzah!"
Just for clarity, I think Phantom Dust is being released in the US at a budget price ($20-ish) now.
Happened to me last two times I've flown, and my name is as English as you can get. As far as I could tell, everything was still there.
I knew an Arwen in high school. She was popular and well-adjusted. Probably because Arwen isn't that bad of a name in the first place and there wasn't likely a stigma of any sort attached to it while growing up in the 80s and 90s. Any Arwens that are children now, though, are likely to have a rougher time of it.