Ummm, neither? Nothing more physical than bits is being described here. People are/were copying files. You are perfectly welcome to call it 'unauthorized copying' or whatever, but 'stealing' is nearly as bad as calling it 'piracy'. These latter words have histories, and the use of them to describe very new information age procedures is a bad idea. The traditional usage of 'steal' exists in a context of scarcity. Copying files exists in a context where this scarcity essentially is gone. Big difference.
Let's call it what it is ('copying', 'unauthorized copying', hell, maybe even 'probably illegal copying'), not what the RIAA wants us to mistakenly call it because it suits their political and economic aims.
Where I begin having a problem is when that process starts treading on the grounds of creativity and originality... You've probably read that Funcom is shunning the point-and-click roots of The Longest Journey in favor of a developing 3D action-adventure sequel. This news wouldn't be so disappointing if the original game wasn't a minor classic - and if store shelves weren't already saturated with third-person romps manufactured in the same mold.
Pop quiz: which is a more creative/innovative genre choice? A. The point-and-click adventure game. B. The third-person action-adventure game.
The correct answer is, of course: C. Both of these genres have seen dozens of successful, well-known games. Their mechanics are well developed, and they have plenty of respective fans.
I always hear a lot of gamers complaining that they want more creative/innovative games. I don't buy it. I think in a lot of cases it is really a cover for a hidden agenda ("I want more old fashioned 2D point and clicky adventure games!"), or just an attempt to get some gaming cred. Or maybe just confusion. Because gamers don't buy games based on how innovative they are. They just don't.
What gamers really want is simple: variety. You can see how this can be confused with words like "innovation" or "creativity". Every single console war was 'won' by the side with the biggest variety. Atari dominated because of this. NES dominated because of this. Genesis managed to kick the NES* and Turbografix16 around because it offered more variety. SNES and Genesis both did very well because they had huge game libraries filled with variety in every genre. In America the PSX wasted the N64 and Saturn. In Japan, Saturn did much better against the PSX (though eventually lost) and managed to even crush the N64. All because it had so much game variety, even compared to its Western version. PS2 is following the same path - it just has more games, in more genres, than any other current console (especially because it can also play PSX games).
Look at failed consoles like 3DO or Jaguar: not enough game variety.
What the author of the editoral is really trying to say is that he wants more variety. He is sick of the two modern dominant genres (CS-on-steroids and Everquest clones), but he would be perfectly happy with a game in a truly ancient genre like point-and-click adventure gaming.
As gamers, let's not continue to hide behind this claim that what we really want is just more innovative games. We just want more options when we decide to buy a new game. And as the gaming market continues to expand, the variety of games will continue to skyrocket. If one of your favorite genres becomes less popular, just don't get all pissed and write silly editorials ending with alarmist BS like this: Let creativity and originality thrive before the path less traveled becomes so overgrown from neglect that we no longer have the option of going down it.
The path less traveled may be forgotten, but game developers can always create new paths. Isn't that what you said you actually wanted?
*Better controls and better graphics allowed a greater variety of games on the Genesis than the aging NES did, even though the NES technically did have more games.
AFAIK, no major movie studio funded the lastest Star Wars films. Independently produced films (even cheap ones like Blair Witch Project) have managed to pull in large profits from time to time.
What's more, if by some chance the MPAA did die (I find that unlikely, but the parent poster did suggest it), there are very good chances that another organization would rise up to take its place. That organization could even be better than the MPAA. Could also be worse, but hey...:P
The MPAA and its current member organizations are not indispensible. They just want us to think that. Films will always be created. Nature abhors a vaccuum. etc. etc.
Finally, evening is when I use the network from home, via the wifi antenna mounted in a 4th floor window from my apartment 2 blocks away.
I don't mean to be presumptuous, but might that not also be an abuse of priviliges? Or do you just use the network in the evenings for work, and work alone?
I do agree that your basic problem is a real problem. But it seems to me that you have at least a hint of an "I am god" complex making your decisions for you. The parent's suggestion of bandwidth throttling isn't a bad one...
Huh? That link is a matter of historical information. How many conflicts it listed didn't happen? Even if 90% were false (I think 0% are, but for the sake of argument), that still blows away the idea that America is internationally only interested in countries that have attacked us. Can you show me how many of those listed conflicts didn't occur?
The politics of the website are not the point. Google a goddamn list yourself - there are plenty of other sites that show similar historical information.
And you have a fascinating view of politics. Adbusters is Marxist? They try so hard to improve America out of deep-seated Anti-Americanism? Do you even know what the words you are using mean?
Cydoor and BDE could soon announce that they are still beating Kazaa for the title of "Most-Downloaded Program", since they are also installed with many non-Kazaa programs as well.
(Memory a little hazy here! Fact nazis, prepare your guns!) Kind of like how Doom was the most downloaded program ever durings its era...except for the unzip program that they distributed with the installer.
Anyways: Over 200 million spyware installations just from one program. That is a pretty scary thought, isn't it?
I am not sure if it has to do anything with the black CD surface (likewise, I thought it being 'copy protection' was just a myth), but PSXs in general are known to be shoddily constructed. (Imagine, a Sony product being cheap hardware designed to break frequently!) They have a tendency to just die sometimes. Sounds in particular like that unit's CD laser is dying.
PSX emulation is pretty good on the PC, you might want to try that out too.
Not that I particularly want to defend MS, but it is common for beta software to not ship with a final 'paintjob'. It was well known from the start that the consumer-focused XP would ship with a tweaked interface, if nothing else to differentiate it from the more business-orientated 2K. Not saying the look wasn't inspired by OS X (remember when inspiration was seen as a good thing?), but it isn't like they changed the interface simply because of OS X.
Infogrames/Atari stripped out much of the storyline in Ikaruga for its North American release. During each level's opening (when it lists the name of the Chapter), there was in the Dreamcast and Arcade versions a relatively short transcript of part of a dialogue between Shinra (the main character) and a leader of the village Ikaruga. This is gone in the American release. The gallery mode in the Dreamcast version had descriptions of the characters - also removed.
These are minor changes compared to what occurred with the Mobile Light Force 'series'. But they are edits, and reduce the impact that Ikaruga originally had. The creators of the game, Treasure, obviously felt these parts were important, or they would not have included them to begin with.
I am happy that Atari chose not to edit the gameplay of Ikaruga. But that does not compensate, IMO, for their needless editing of Ikaruga's content.
The people wanted to buy a translated version of Treasure's Ikaruga, Atari, not some sliced-up version that your producers felt was better!
Re:1 accident in 62.5 flights IS acceptable
on
Shuttle Politics
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· Score: 1
I am not sure if we should be looking for ethical advice from someone who would say statements like this: He should look at the history of the state he represents, it was not a bunch of sissy frontiersmen who wanted to stable the exploration and charting of Texas.
What, like there was no one living in Texas already at that point? Should NASA start promoting murderous greedy thugs to leadership positions? Is that the 'lesson' of Texas' history?
You can burn them to CD in straight audio format (aiff), no DRM included. After that you can do what you want, straight to mp3...
Straight to terrible sounding music files, you mean. You do not want to ever transcode a file from lossy format to lossy format. It makes it sound really bad.
What about people like myself, who want higher audio quality?
What about people with existing music hardware (portable MP3 players, car MP3 players, etc.) who want their (expensive) purchases to not be made obsolete?
(And don't give me the 'burn a CD, rip it to MP3' nonsense. That leads to crap music compression.)
Overrated? Some mods apparenty have their sense of humor in the shop today.
I especially enjoyed the first paragraph:
Jim-Jammity Jesus Krispy Kreme Christ on a twat-rocket, this movie blew me apart and put me back together only after I'd got put back I felt like I had thirteen dicks and they'd all gotten blown by a surfer chick with 26 heads (2 mouths on each cock). I will see it ten times and if I see Star Wars George or that gay Batman director butt-hole any time during the ten screenings here comes Mr. Punch.
I can't imagine the horror of this nightmarish future world you speak of, where Keanu's 'performance' in the Matrix is considered 'acting'. Far scarier than anything actually presented in the film.:P
That's funny, I also live by Chicago. The local music pretty much sucks.
Maybe people have different standards for what they like in music? Nah. It must be that modern non-local music just completely sucks, or modern music period depending on which post of yours we are reading, right?
I think, rather, its because NO GOOD MUSIC is being put out these days. You have to go back to the 70's to find most of the good stuff. Today's music is shallow and lyrics are entirely thoughtless.
Listen to any of the crap that is being put out these days- it all sounds the same.
You were arguing that ALL current music being 'put out' these days is crap. Were you just trolling, then?
And what an amazing area you must live in, with apparently the only musical talent left in the world being located near you.
Eh, my girlfriend actually prefers stuff like Gunbuster or Evangelion (if you know your anime, you will see a pattern there, probably a few). Loves all of the various Gundam shows, too (Gundam Wing, dubbed no less, was what got her hooked on anime. No joke.). Sure, she enjoys stuff like Revolutionary Girl Utena, but what kind of freak doesn't like that show?:)
Well done shonen is usually just as enjoyable as well done shoujo to a viewer with a variety of taste. I think the fact that in Japan, traditional Western 'chick stuff' like credible romances, melodrama, lots of character development, etc. are all very common even in art directed mainly at boys.
"Americans have farked up attitudes about their bodies."
That's so true. I can't understand why my fellow Americans go along with this shitty attitudes. Who can it possibly benefit? I know the American 'culture of fear' benefits many companies (buy stuff to be safe), but I just can't see how shit like this connects to that. I need to get the hell out of this country!
And I know certain clothing was probably considered immoral in the past, pre-60's era feminism, but was it also considered 'degrading'? Or is that just a more modern euphenism for immoral? Something I need to find out about.
I know some of this might come across as rude, but we have obviously crossed the boundaries of normal conversation etiquette...
Please man, get some sex or relationship counseling with your wife or something! You two obviously have problems, and they need to be addressed. I understand you would probably end things if it was easier (no kids, etc.), but at least try and make it better if you have decided to stick with it. You shouldn't have to suffer so much!
And I am not trying to brag at all, because I really do feel for you, but I have escaped at least some of those problems because I am polymorous... I don't think you could swing that now, but for any people just starting out in relationships, I really recommend it. Though who knows - if you wife really doesn't want sex, maybe she would at least be adult enough to let you discreetely 'cheat'. Amazing how nice it feels to remove 90+% of the jealosy in a relationship! My primary right now was a hard-core monogamist "must get married NOW" person when I first met her...7 years ago. Things have been great, and it only took her a few months before she got comfortable with the idea of being poly - and of course, she loves it now (she dates other people far more than I ever have, actually).
And not that I am convinced it is a problem, but the other poster who suggested something like jelq really is right - it does work. Might at least be something to try.
Slashdot Mirror
Ummm, neither? Nothing more physical than bits is being described here. People are/were copying files. You are perfectly welcome to call it 'unauthorized copying' or whatever, but 'stealing' is nearly as bad as calling it 'piracy'. These latter words have histories, and the use of them to describe very new information age procedures is a bad idea. The traditional usage of 'steal' exists in a context of scarcity. Copying files exists in a context where this scarcity essentially is gone. Big difference.
Let's call it what it is ('copying', 'unauthorized copying', hell, maybe even 'probably illegal copying'), not what the RIAA wants us to mistakenly call it because it suits their political and economic aims.
Don't Steal Music
Okay, fair enough. But what about copying, which is all these people are/were doing?
Overloading words like "stealing" at the request of nasty anti-freedom companies is just a tool for them to screw us over even more.
Language is power.
Where I begin having a problem is when that process starts treading on the grounds of creativity and originality... You've probably read that Funcom is shunning the point-and-click roots of The Longest Journey in favor of a developing 3D action-adventure sequel. This news wouldn't be so disappointing if the original game wasn't a minor classic - and if store shelves weren't already saturated with third-person romps manufactured in the same mold.
Pop quiz: which is a more creative/innovative genre choice?
A. The point-and-click adventure game.
B. The third-person action-adventure game.
The correct answer is, of course:
C. Both of these genres have seen dozens of successful, well-known games. Their mechanics are well developed, and they have plenty of respective fans.
I always hear a lot of gamers complaining that they want more creative/innovative games. I don't buy it. I think in a lot of cases it is really a cover for a hidden agenda ("I want more old fashioned 2D point and clicky adventure games!"), or just an attempt to get some gaming cred. Or maybe just confusion. Because gamers don't buy games based on how innovative they are. They just don't.
What gamers really want is simple: variety. You can see how this can be confused with words like "innovation" or "creativity". Every single console war was 'won' by the side with the biggest variety. Atari dominated because of this. NES dominated because of this. Genesis managed to kick the NES* and Turbografix16 around because it offered more variety. SNES and Genesis both did very well because they had huge game libraries filled with variety in every genre. In America the PSX wasted the N64 and Saturn. In Japan, Saturn did much better against the PSX (though eventually lost) and managed to even crush the N64. All because it had so much game variety, even compared to its Western version. PS2 is following the same path - it just has more games, in more genres, than any other current console (especially because it can also play PSX games).
Look at failed consoles like 3DO or Jaguar: not enough game variety.
What the author of the editoral is really trying to say is that he wants more variety. He is sick of the two modern dominant genres (CS-on-steroids and Everquest clones), but he would be perfectly happy with a game in a truly ancient genre like point-and-click adventure gaming.
As gamers, let's not continue to hide behind this claim that what we really want is just more innovative games. We just want more options when we decide to buy a new game. And as the gaming market continues to expand, the variety of games will continue to skyrocket. If one of your favorite genres becomes less popular, just don't get all pissed and write silly editorials ending with alarmist BS like this:
Let creativity and originality thrive before the path less traveled becomes so overgrown from neglect that we no longer have the option of going down it.
The path less traveled may be forgotten, but game developers can always create new paths. Isn't that what you said you actually wanted?
*Better controls and better graphics allowed a greater variety of games on the Genesis than the aging NES did, even though the NES technically did have more games.
AFAIK, no major movie studio funded the lastest Star Wars films. Independently produced films (even cheap ones like Blair Witch Project) have managed to pull in large profits from time to time.
:P
What's more, if by some chance the MPAA did die (I find that unlikely, but the parent poster did suggest it), there are very good chances that another organization would rise up to take its place. That organization could even be better than the MPAA. Could also be worse, but hey...
The MPAA and its current member organizations are not indispensible. They just want us to think that. Films will always be created. Nature abhors a vaccuum. etc. etc.
Finally, evening is when I use the network from home, via the wifi antenna mounted in a 4th floor window from my apartment 2 blocks away.
I don't mean to be presumptuous, but might that not also be an abuse of priviliges? Or do you just use the network in the evenings for work, and work alone?
I do agree that your basic problem is a real problem. But it seems to me that you have at least a hint of an "I am god" complex making your decisions for you. The parent's suggestion of bandwidth throttling isn't a bad one...
Huh? That link is a matter of historical information. How many conflicts it listed didn't happen? Even if 90% were false (I think 0% are, but for the sake of argument), that still blows away the idea that America is internationally only interested in countries that have attacked us. Can you show me how many of those listed conflicts didn't occur?
The politics of the website are not the point. Google a goddamn list yourself - there are plenty of other sites that show similar historical information.
And you have a fascinating view of politics. Adbusters is Marxist? They try so hard to improve America out of deep-seated Anti-Americanism? Do you even know what the words you are using mean?
Cydoor and BDE could soon announce that they are still beating Kazaa for the title of "Most-Downloaded Program", since they are also installed with many non-Kazaa programs as well.
(Memory a little hazy here! Fact nazis, prepare your guns!)
Kind of like how Doom was the most downloaded program ever durings its era...except for the unzip program that they distributed with the installer.
Anyways: Over 200 million spyware installations just from one program. That is a pretty scary thought, isn't it?
The U.S. doesn't really give a damn about the rest of the world, just that part of it which crashes airplanes into our skyscrapers.
Not to be too flippant, but since when?
Also, I don't see us invading (or even threatening to invade) Saudi Arabia. Maybe our leaders just have a very poor grasp of geography.
Nice work. :)
I saw the original Metal Gear on the 8-bit NES.
:P
How did you manage that feat? Someone create an MSX emulator for NES?! The original Metal Gear was a MSX game before it was ported to the NES.
I am not sure if it has to do anything with the black CD surface (likewise, I thought it being 'copy protection' was just a myth), but PSXs in general are known to be shoddily constructed. (Imagine, a Sony product being cheap hardware designed to break frequently!) They have a tendency to just die sometimes. Sounds in particular like that unit's CD laser is dying.
PSX emulation is pretty good on the PC, you might want to try that out too.
Not that I particularly want to defend MS, but it is common for beta software to not ship with a final 'paintjob'. It was well known from the start that the consumer-focused XP would ship with a tweaked interface, if nothing else to differentiate it from the more business-orientated 2K. Not saying the look wasn't inspired by OS X (remember when inspiration was seen as a good thing?), but it isn't like they changed the interface simply because of OS X.
Should have included this as well, but it seemed like I couldn't find it. I was wrong, obviously. :P
Here is a translation of Ikaruga's stage titles that were removed by Atari.
Infogrames/Atari stripped out much of the storyline in Ikaruga for its North American release. During each level's opening (when it lists the name of the Chapter), there was in the Dreamcast and Arcade versions a relatively short transcript of part of a dialogue between Shinra (the main character) and a leader of the village Ikaruga. This is gone in the American release. The gallery mode in the Dreamcast version had descriptions of the characters - also removed.
These are minor changes compared to what occurred with the Mobile Light Force 'series'. But they are edits, and reduce the impact that Ikaruga originally had. The creators of the game, Treasure, obviously felt these parts were important, or they would not have included them to begin with.
I am happy that Atari chose not to edit the gameplay of Ikaruga. But that does not compensate, IMO, for their needless editing of Ikaruga's content.
The people wanted to buy a translated version of Treasure's Ikaruga, Atari, not some sliced-up version that your producers felt was better!
I am not sure if we should be looking for ethical advice from someone who would say statements like this:
He should look at the history of the state he represents, it was not a bunch of sissy frontiersmen who wanted to stable the exploration and charting of Texas.
What, like there was no one living in Texas already at that point? Should NASA start promoting murderous greedy thugs to leadership positions? Is that the 'lesson' of Texas' history?
You can burn them to CD in straight audio format (aiff), no DRM included. After that you can do what you want, straight to mp3...
Straight to terrible sounding music files, you mean. You do not want to ever transcode a file from lossy format to lossy format. It makes it sound really bad.
What about people like myself, who want higher audio quality?
What about people with existing music hardware (portable MP3 players, car MP3 players, etc.) who want their (expensive) purchases to not be made obsolete?
(And don't give me the 'burn a CD, rip it to MP3' nonsense. That leads to crap music compression.)
You are simplifying things far too much.
I especially enjoyed the first paragraph:
I can't imagine the horror of this nightmarish future world you speak of, where Keanu's 'performance' in the Matrix is considered 'acting'. Far scarier than anything actually presented in the film. :P
That's funny, I also live by Chicago. The local music pretty much sucks.
Maybe people have different standards for what they like in music? Nah. It must be that modern non-local music just completely sucks, or modern music period depending on which post of yours we are reading, right?
I think, rather, its because NO GOOD MUSIC is being put out these days. You have to go back to the 70's to find most of the good stuff. Today's music is shallow and lyrics are entirely thoughtless.
Listen to any of the crap that is being put out these days- it all sounds the same.
You were arguing that ALL current music being 'put out' these days is crap. Were you just trolling, then?
And what an amazing area you must live in, with apparently the only musical talent left in the world being located near you.
You are wrong. Listen to some current music, please. The whole sum of recent music is not Eminem and his like.
Eh, my girlfriend actually prefers stuff like Gunbuster or Evangelion (if you know your anime, you will see a pattern there, probably a few). Loves all of the various Gundam shows, too (Gundam Wing, dubbed no less, was what got her hooked on anime. No joke.). Sure, she enjoys stuff like Revolutionary Girl Utena, but what kind of freak doesn't like that show? :)
Well done shonen is usually just as enjoyable as well done shoujo to a viewer with a variety of taste. I think the fact that in Japan, traditional Western 'chick stuff' like credible romances, melodrama, lots of character development, etc. are all very common even in art directed mainly at boys.
"Americans have farked up attitudes about their bodies."
That's so true. I can't understand why my fellow Americans go along with this shitty attitudes. Who can it possibly benefit? I know the American 'culture of fear' benefits many companies (buy stuff to be safe), but I just can't see how shit like this connects to that. I need to get the hell out of this country!
And I know certain clothing was probably considered immoral in the past, pre-60's era feminism, but was it also considered 'degrading'? Or is that just a more modern euphenism for immoral? Something I need to find out about.
I know some of this might come across as rude, but we have obviously crossed the boundaries of normal conversation etiquette...
Please man, get some sex or relationship counseling with your wife or something! You two obviously have problems, and they need to be addressed. I understand you would probably end things if it was easier (no kids, etc.), but at least try and make it better if you have decided to stick with it. You shouldn't have to suffer so much!
And I am not trying to brag at all, because I really do feel for you, but I have escaped at least some of those problems because I am polymorous... I don't think you could swing that now, but for any people just starting out in relationships, I really recommend it. Though who knows - if you wife really doesn't want sex, maybe she would at least be adult enough to let you discreetely 'cheat'. Amazing how nice it feels to remove 90+% of the jealosy in a relationship! My primary right now was a hard-core monogamist "must get married NOW" person when I first met her...7 years ago. Things have been great, and it only took her a few months before she got comfortable with the idea of being poly - and of course, she loves it now (she dates other people far more than I ever have, actually).
And not that I am convinced it is a problem, but the other poster who suggested something like jelq really is right - it does work. Might at least be something to try.
Good luck, anonymous sir.