I actually looked briefly into trying to emulate one of those systems - it is basically a standard X86-based PC, IIRC. So it is potentially really easy to emulate, though I am pretty sure stuff like MAME is actually very poorly equipped to do just that (though it is probably getting better). Might have some very tricky protection, however - other PC-based games (like Raiden Fighters series) certainly do, probably because the hardware is so easy to get.
I never played the quiz game, but the various Playboy games were pretty fun. My gf and I would play a few rounds every time we drove to and from college - a nice break for a 4 hour drive.:D
That's a strange claim - I was able to download DRMed Liquid Audio music files prior to Napster being around. I am sure there are plenty of other examples, even ignoring the fact that stuff like Macrovision for VHS (a crude form of DRM) was around before Napster as well...
That's OK. I eat animals, too. There's nothing inherently safe about plants or plant genes.
You are being pretty naive about the complexities of genetically modifying things like plants. You can't just assume because things are fine when separate and 'natural' (bah, hate that term myself) that they will feature the same properties when combined together in a laboratory (or more likely, some distant field that no one is monitoring).
(And breeding plants is a very different process, and also features various built-in safeguards. Though we can't do things as powerful with it, we are far better at creating hybrids the old fashioned way. The more dangerous a tool, the more experience you need in it to use it safely. It could be decades before we can use genetic engineering safely.)
The original was mind-blowing, but it was too short because it was limited by the Dreamcast's disc space.
Umm, nothing could be further from the truth. Rez used well under half of the max space a Dreamcast disc has. An interesting theory, but there are two far more obvious/likely/possible reasons:
1. The game is meant to be played all in one sitting. Otherwise the intention of creating the stated goal of synaesthesia simply wouldn't work - you can't space something like that out. It also fits into the well-established rail-shooter genre, which are generally pretty short, like their shmup ancestors. Some newer games like Panzer Dragoon Orta are admittedly getting longer, but that game is well-suited to multiple sittings (the story fits it - there are several natural stopping points).
2. The game was made by a relatively small group of people. Look at how few names are in the credits sometime - IIRC, I would wager the international creation of the music ultimately involved more people than the rest of the game.:D Big, long games need big budgets and big teams, especially when the graphics are as amazing as a game like Rez (yes, I know the stylized look helped alleviate this - you still have a lot of unique, complicated environments and enemies). I am quite alright with this, since I don't think Rez would have turned out half as good with a larger team - unique artistic visions just come out better by smaller, tighter teams.
What would have helped Rez's length would me a real remixed mode - not just different colors and filters, though those are cool. Just change the enemy patterns around, maybe add some minor new attacks, etc. This would be harder in Rez than in something like Mars Matrix, partially because of the whole synaesthesia thing - but it gets past much of the problem of additional content creation = lots of money.
Well, let's cross our fingers for a Rez2, though I honestly hope I don't need to buy a new system to play it. And as a further aside, if this is on the Sony PSP like I expect it to be (as Nintendo hasn't cared at all about providing decent sound quality since the SNES - every newer Nintendo system goes for as cheap audio as possible), its discs hold the same amount, roughly, as Dreamcast discs do.:p
(And the music takes up very little space, like all games. Look at how much music a game like Jet Set Radio contained on a single DC disc, along with more levels than Rez and more art and voices. I certainly wouldn't begrudge a DTS 5.1 version of Rez, though! Likewise, the Dreamcast had pretty servicible audio compression capabilities - pretty equal to what you find in all current systems excepting the Xbox, which just blows away everything else audio-wise.)
Still, paper mario was unique in that it didn't run from its 2dness but actually made it part of its style.
And that is exactly what Parappa did, too, way back in 1997. That is nearly three years before Paper Mario came out, which means it undoubtedly started development after Parappa had already popularized the paper look.
And which earlier Capcom games used that kind of visual style? I am completely drawing a blank. I know newer games like Capcom vs. SNK 2 or Marvel vs. Capcom 2 do it, but I can't think of any pre-Naomi/Dreamcast Capcom games that did back in 1996 or so.
Doom looked nothing like Parappa, of course - have you even played the latter?:D
But Parappa did most of that, too. Whenever he would spin, it would be like a piece of paper stylishly twisting around, etc. Maybe Paper Mario took the concept further, but Parappa characters certainly behaved like they were paper too - it wasn't just a shortcut.
* joysticks with trackballs instead of stupid analog sticks, with support for optional mice you can buy separately.
Oh that would be great, so the consoles can become the home of more FPS and RTS games like the PC, and no other types of games because EVERY OTHER GAME GENRE PLAYS BETTER WITH ANALOG STICKS THAN A TRACKBALL/MOUSE.
And the PS2 has supported an optional mice, using standard USB, practically since its creation - of course you can only use mice in a few games, because the vast majority of PS2 games would play terrible with them.
And your comments on textures on Xbox (and especially how useful 128 megs of video RAM is nowadays - maybe four PC games can actually take serious advantage of that) is hilariously misinformed. Play some more Xbox games, please, and preferably not multiplatform ones. No argument on the PS2's terrible texture limitations, however.
Just wanted to point out that the newest Prince of Persia sold really well. It just took a while to build sales momentum. Its 'sales death' has been greatly exaggerated.
(And in my opinion, Beyond Good and Evil didn't deserve to sell all much more than it did. I want the other half, or more, of the storyline that for some reason wasn't in the game. Hell, I would just be happy if I could get a good story period, like most reviewers claimed it had.)
But you don't buy a console to rebuy games, you buy it because it has games you can't get on your current system. It isn't like all games are the same - if you want a fighting game (just one example), you need a console of some sort.
Sure, if all you want to play is FPS and RTS games a PC will probably be fine. But the PC simply misses out on a huge (and growing) number of other genres.
You do realize Animal Crossing is a sequel, right?
Maybe that is the trick developers need to try - release a sequel in a country that didn't get to buy the originator, and they will once again be hailed for their originality!:P
(compare the GBA's strategy titles to those on the PS2).
I don't even own a PS2, but still I know how nonsensical that statement is. The PS2 has a large number of deep strategy games, far more than the GBA does. Disagaea, Front Mission 4 (hell, and all of the previous PSX ones playable on PS2), etc.
A new console is roughly the cost of 3 new games or less...it isn't that expensive compared to the rest of the gaming costs involved in what is a luxury hobby.
However, an agnostic will make an exception in the case of God, and say it is irrational to say he does not exist. Some religious people will say you may face damnation, so better safe than sorry.
The nice thing about backwards compatibility is it makes your machine 'usable' if the launch titles suck, and generally they do.
Eh, the only recent systems I can think of where this was true is the PS2 and the GC (which did get Smash Brothers pretty quickly at least, IIRC). Dreamcast, Playstation1, Xbox, Nintendo64 (to a lesser extent) all had pretty good collections of launch titles. The first three especially had a great variety of quality titles in many genres.
Basicly I see consoles as a type of gaming system for those who don't really know enough about computers to understand how to make one a true gaming system, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Or perhaps consoles are just for people who want some variety in their gaming hobby. FPS and RTS games are fun to a point, but there is so much more out there, including many consoles games that simply destroy PC equivalents in the area of gameplay depth. This 'console game = must be shallow' nonsense hasn't been true for a very, very long time, and only the most ignorant PC gamers still parrot it like it was some holy law.
(And various consoles have had internet play for well more than 3+ years, so please spare us that complaint until PC games start reliably also supporting 2-4 players on the same system.)
Get a good system and you won't have any problems. Then why are so many patches released for PC games, even the ones that have a reputation for being programmed well? These patches aren't getting created because the games work perfectly upon release.
And this whole "good system" stuff is pretty much nonsense. It doesn't make a difference in most cases when a game won't work. So since purely circumstantial evidence is apparently now worthy of mod points, my younger brother couldn't install (a legally purchased) UT2K3 on his PC. He had a very high quality CD-R burner as his only disc drive, and UT2K3 (specifically its copy-protection, AFAIK) decided it didn't like it. The quality of his hardware was not a problem, unless you have a very bizarre or circular definition of "good". I had to install it via our network, running the CDs from a different computer's drive, and then crack the protection on his installation. I am in the PC minority that can plan and do things like that pretty easily, but that is still freaking ridiculous, and is only one example of so many out there.
Sure, you might get lucky with a string of games you purchase and install, but PC's ultimately are a pain in the ass for games, period. The only possible reasonable argument in their defense is that the games are potentially worth the trouble.
(Personally, no exclusive PC game that has been released recently or will in the near future seems to make that argument to me. Oooh, yet another twitchy FPS game, more shallow than console fighting games like Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram back from 1999 (and which was online playable, too)! Bleh. Maybe when PC devs start releasing more games as deep and artistic as classics like Alpha Centauri or Planescape Torment, PCs will become more relevant again. Right now the devs are just catering to their niche audience, and many of us have been losing interest...)
Valve isn't a good example - they were founded by a bunch of rich guys, so of course they were able to maintain enough control, etc. to be profitable. Most new developer groups don't have that kind of luxury.
Slashdotisms aside, the age profile of gamers is heavily slanted in towards youth and lack of income.
Please, offer some kind of evidence for this. All studies I have seen suggest that the average age of a gamer is in the mid to late 20s - a prime disposable income market. There are certainly a lot of gamers who are young and lack income, but they are simply not remotely a majority.
The point of a "remake" should be fairly simple: update the graphics, maybe some new features that the developers would have done if they had the technology, and update that don't impact the original game's flow or storyline (such as Chrono Triggers monster gallery and multiple ending viewer in the PS One remake of the game), and that should be it.
But what about a remake fixing the predecessor's obvious and glaring flaws? MGS1 has/had plenty of them (far too short, very few areas, no real playability outside the VR missions add-on disc, poor pacing, poorly written and heavy-handed script, getting shot by off-screen enemies too much, some lame voice acting, terrible Track & Field sequence in the middle, etc.) and this was an ideal time to fix them. AFAIK, the only fix is the addition of first-person shooting. Reviewers are right to complain about these things (and most of them seem to do just that - I see lots of mentions of the poor script and short length).
Slashdot Mirror
I actually looked briefly into trying to emulate one of those systems - it is basically a standard X86-based PC, IIRC. So it is potentially really easy to emulate, though I am pretty sure stuff like MAME is actually very poorly equipped to do just that (though it is probably getting better). Might have some very tricky protection, however - other PC-based games (like Raiden Fighters series) certainly do, probably because the hardware is so easy to get.
:D
I never played the quiz game, but the various Playboy games were pretty fun. My gf and I would play a few rounds every time we drove to and from college - a nice break for a 4 hour drive.
Was there DRM before Napster? Nope.
That's a strange claim - I was able to download DRMed Liquid Audio music files prior to Napster being around. I am sure there are plenty of other examples, even ignoring the fact that stuff like Macrovision for VHS (a crude form of DRM) was around before Napster as well...
That's OK. I eat animals, too. There's nothing inherently safe about plants or plant genes.
You are being pretty naive about the complexities of genetically modifying things like plants. You can't just assume because things are fine when separate and 'natural' (bah, hate that term myself) that they will feature the same properties when combined together in a laboratory (or more likely, some distant field that no one is monitoring).
(And breeding plants is a very different process, and also features various built-in safeguards. Though we can't do things as powerful with it, we are far better at creating hybrids the old fashioned way. The more dangerous a tool, the more experience you need in it to use it safely. It could be decades before we can use genetic engineering safely.)
The original was mind-blowing, but it was too short because it was limited by the Dreamcast's disc space.
:D Big, long games need big budgets and big teams, especially when the graphics are as amazing as a game like Rez (yes, I know the stylized look helped alleviate this - you still have a lot of unique, complicated environments and enemies). I am quite alright with this, since I don't think Rez would have turned out half as good with a larger team - unique artistic visions just come out better by smaller, tighter teams.
:p
Umm, nothing could be further from the truth. Rez used well under half of the max space a Dreamcast disc has. An interesting theory, but there are two far more obvious/likely/possible reasons:
1. The game is meant to be played all in one sitting. Otherwise the intention of creating the stated goal of synaesthesia simply wouldn't work - you can't space something like that out. It also fits into the well-established rail-shooter genre, which are generally pretty short, like their shmup ancestors. Some newer games like Panzer Dragoon Orta are admittedly getting longer, but that game is well-suited to multiple sittings (the story fits it - there are several natural stopping points).
2. The game was made by a relatively small group of people. Look at how few names are in the credits sometime - IIRC, I would wager the international creation of the music ultimately involved more people than the rest of the game.
What would have helped Rez's length would me a real remixed mode - not just different colors and filters, though those are cool. Just change the enemy patterns around, maybe add some minor new attacks, etc. This would be harder in Rez than in something like Mars Matrix, partially because of the whole synaesthesia thing - but it gets past much of the problem of additional content creation = lots of money.
Well, let's cross our fingers for a Rez2, though I honestly hope I don't need to buy a new system to play it. And as a further aside, if this is on the Sony PSP like I expect it to be (as Nintendo hasn't cared at all about providing decent sound quality since the SNES - every newer Nintendo system goes for as cheap audio as possible), its discs hold the same amount, roughly, as Dreamcast discs do.
(And the music takes up very little space, like all games. Look at how much music a game like Jet Set Radio contained on a single DC disc, along with more levels than Rez and more art and voices. I certainly wouldn't begrudge a DTS 5.1 version of Rez, though! Likewise, the Dreamcast had pretty servicible audio compression capabilities - pretty equal to what you find in all current systems excepting the Xbox, which just blows away everything else audio-wise.)
Still, paper mario was unique in that it didn't run from its 2dness but actually made it part of its style.
:D
And that is exactly what Parappa did, too, way back in 1997. That is nearly three years before Paper Mario came out, which means it undoubtedly started development after Parappa had already popularized the paper look.
And which earlier Capcom games used that kind of visual style? I am completely drawing a blank. I know newer games like Capcom vs. SNK 2 or Marvel vs. Capcom 2 do it, but I can't think of any pre-Naomi/Dreamcast Capcom games that did back in 1996 or so.
Doom looked nothing like Parappa, of course - have you even played the latter?
But Parappa did most of that, too. Whenever he would spin, it would be like a piece of paper stylishly twisting around, etc. Maybe Paper Mario took the concept further, but Parappa characters certainly behaved like they were paper too - it wasn't just a shortcut.
* joysticks with trackballs instead of stupid analog sticks, with support for optional mice you can buy separately.
Oh that would be great, so the consoles can become the home of more FPS and RTS games like the PC, and no other types of games because EVERY OTHER GAME GENRE PLAYS BETTER WITH ANALOG STICKS THAN A TRACKBALL/MOUSE.
And the PS2 has supported an optional mice, using standard USB, practically since its creation - of course you can only use mice in a few games, because the vast majority of PS2 games would play terrible with them.
And your comments on textures on Xbox (and especially how useful 128 megs of video RAM is nowadays - maybe four PC games can actually take serious advantage of that) is hilariously misinformed. Play some more Xbox games, please, and preferably not multiplatform ones. No argument on the PS2's terrible texture limitations, however.
Just wanted to point out that the newest Prince of Persia sold really well. It just took a while to build sales momentum. Its 'sales death' has been greatly exaggerated.
(And in my opinion, Beyond Good and Evil didn't deserve to sell all much more than it did. I want the other half, or more, of the storyline that for some reason wasn't in the game. Hell, I would just be happy if I could get a good story period, like most reviewers claimed it had.)
But you don't buy a console to rebuy games, you buy it because it has games you can't get on your current system. It isn't like all games are the same - if you want a fighting game (just one example), you need a console of some sort.
Sure, if all you want to play is FPS and RTS games a PC will probably be fine. But the PC simply misses out on a huge (and growing) number of other genres.
You do realize Animal Crossing is a sequel, right?
:P
Maybe that is the trick developers need to try - release a sequel in a country that didn't get to buy the originator, and they will once again be hailed for their originality!
There is no way you are lower class. Middle class is commonly referring to making $25k or more a year.
And honestly, I don't see how most lower class people would have the money to invest in companies enough to get a significant profit.
(compare the GBA's strategy titles to those on the PS2).
I don't even own a PS2, but still I know how nonsensical that statement is. The PS2 has a large number of deep strategy games, far more than the GBA does. Disagaea, Front Mission 4 (hell, and all of the previous PSX ones playable on PS2), etc.
Huh?
A new console is roughly the cost of 3 new games or less...it isn't that expensive compared to the rest of the gaming costs involved in what is a luxury hobby.
However, an agnostic will make an exception in the case of God, and say it is irrational to say he does not exist. Some religious people will say you may face damnation, so better safe than sorry.
Sorry to put it so bluntly, but you have to be pretty... well, let's say 'easily satisfied' to accept that kind of advice. It has been nonsense pretty much since its inception.
Just recently, Sega's Sonic Team used it for a high-profile cross-platform project you might have heard about, it's called Sonic Heroes
:D
Another semi-popular game that uses Renderware is GTA3. I think at least a few people have played that.
The nice thing about backwards compatibility is it makes your machine 'usable' if the launch titles suck, and generally they do.
Eh, the only recent systems I can think of where this was true is the PS2 and the GC (which did get Smash Brothers pretty quickly at least, IIRC). Dreamcast, Playstation1, Xbox, Nintendo64 (to a lesser extent) all had pretty good collections of launch titles. The first three especially had a great variety of quality titles in many genres.
Why didn't you plug one in then? The PS2 can use USB controllers like mice.
Basicly I see consoles as a type of gaming system for those who don't really know enough about computers to understand how to make one a true gaming system, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Or perhaps consoles are just for people who want some variety in their gaming hobby. FPS and RTS games are fun to a point, but there is so much more out there, including many consoles games that simply destroy PC equivalents in the area of gameplay depth. This 'console game = must be shallow' nonsense hasn't been true for a very, very long time, and only the most ignorant PC gamers still parrot it like it was some holy law.
(And various consoles have had internet play for well more than 3+ years, so please spare us that complaint until PC games start reliably also supporting 2-4 players on the same system.)
Get a good system and you won't have any problems.
Then why are so many patches released for PC games, even the ones that have a reputation for being programmed well? These patches aren't getting created because the games work perfectly upon release.
And this whole "good system" stuff is pretty much nonsense. It doesn't make a difference in most cases when a game won't work. So since purely circumstantial evidence is apparently now worthy of mod points, my younger brother couldn't install (a legally purchased) UT2K3 on his PC. He had a very high quality CD-R burner as his only disc drive, and UT2K3 (specifically its copy-protection, AFAIK) decided it didn't like it. The quality of his hardware was not a problem, unless you have a very bizarre or circular definition of "good". I had to install it via our network, running the CDs from a different computer's drive, and then crack the protection on his installation. I am in the PC minority that can plan and do things like that pretty easily, but that is still freaking ridiculous, and is only one example of so many out there.
Sure, you might get lucky with a string of games you purchase and install, but PC's ultimately are a pain in the ass for games, period. The only possible reasonable argument in their defense is that the games are potentially worth the trouble.
(Personally, no exclusive PC game that has been released recently or will in the near future seems to make that argument to me. Oooh, yet another twitchy FPS game, more shallow than console fighting games like Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram back from 1999 (and which was online playable, too)! Bleh. Maybe when PC devs start releasing more games as deep and artistic as classics like Alpha Centauri or Planescape Torment, PCs will become more relevant again. Right now the devs are just catering to their niche audience, and many of us have been losing interest...)
Valve isn't a good example - they were founded by a bunch of rich guys, so of course they were able to maintain enough control, etc. to be profitable. Most new developer groups don't have that kind of luxury.
Ummm, since the ESRB was established in 1994.
"conceivable that games would reap greater societal acceptance and more legitimacy as a medium for presenting important concerns of our times"
Yes, but we also risk getting more preachy, shallow, melodramatic screeds like the Metal Gear Solid series.
(I agree with the basic idea that games should try to do this more, but it is apparently far too big a hurdle for many developers to even attempt.)
Slashdotisms aside, the age profile of gamers is heavily slanted in towards youth and lack of income.
Please, offer some kind of evidence for this. All studies I have seen suggest that the average age of a gamer is in the mid to late 20s - a prime disposable income market. There are certainly a lot of gamers who are young and lack income, but they are simply not remotely a majority.
And you can even set the game to play with 4 buttons in the options, if I recall correctly...
And I agree completely with your opinion of the game.
The point of a "remake" should be fairly simple: update the graphics, maybe some new features that the developers would have done if they had the technology, and update that don't impact the original game's flow or storyline (such as Chrono Triggers monster gallery and multiple ending viewer in the PS One remake of the game), and that should be it.
But what about a remake fixing the predecessor's obvious and glaring flaws? MGS1 has/had plenty of them (far too short, very few areas, no real playability outside the VR missions add-on disc, poor pacing, poorly written and heavy-handed script, getting shot by off-screen enemies too much, some lame voice acting, terrible Track & Field sequence in the middle, etc.) and this was an ideal time to fix them. AFAIK, the only fix is the addition of first-person shooting. Reviewers are right to complain about these things (and most of them seem to do just that - I see lots of mentions of the poor script and short length).