(hmmm...something weird with the posting...if this is posted twice, sorry)
If the rumours hold true, the next Xbox will come out in 2005. That will be a biggie.
I for one, would be very happy to stand in line for a few hours, and come home with the next generation console under my arm. Halo 2 launch proves that there are at least 5 million other Xbox 'enthusiasts' out there who would no doubt do the same thing.
No, it did have a direct corelation to the initial event.
See..anytime white police officers 'get off' (escape justice) after beating a black man, it is customary to go into liquor stores owned by anyone different than you (in this case Koreans), to steal whatever they have, and threaten the owners.
Unfortunately, the Koreans were not aware of this custom, so we ended up with the hijinks we saw on television.
It is also customary, after the festivities have ended- to complain that no businesses are willing to serve your neighborhood. Then get city, state, and federal dollars to create a 'thriving business community'- as long as it doesn't include any of those pesky Koreans.
So how many gamers out there do not enjoy sophomoric humor, do not say things like "that's gay" or "Fag!", and don't cuss up a storm when they get sniped just after a spawn?
Really...we're gamers, so evidently something stunted our emotional growth..and I am a happier (36 year old) man for it.
I couldn't imagine life without idiotic humor, homosexual humor or swearing...if I got rid of all that, I'd be a butt-fuckin'-fag.
(Of course, I need to add the standard Seinfeldian 'but there is nothing wrong with that' disclaimer here...while I have never tasted the savory juices of another man, I'm not really concerned whether you have, or not. On the other hand, just about every boy in America was raised with an over-abundance of gay jokes and innuendo, which for most of us has carried on into adulthood. Just yesterday, the power went out at work...and of course in a room full of guys, we all started to say things like "geez Dave, get your lips off my balls"...as far as I can tell, this type of thing is absolutely normal for every guy I have met (straight, or gay) who doesn't have some severe hangups about sex, homosexuality, or seeing his father in the shower.)
There's a reason for that. The XBox just isn't cutting it. People buy XBoxes, and then leave them in cupboards and drawers. They're a chore to set up, a chore to put away, and the games just aren't any good.
Obviously you associate with idiots.
How many people actually put their game console in 'cupboards and drawers'. It's not a fricking piece of silverware, it is a piece of electronic equipment, similar to a DVD player, or even a cable TV converter. I don't put any of those things in a drawer when they are not in use.
(1) I've heard about this, but never experienced it first hand. Bungie had a big story on Bungie.net about how they were attempting to correct this problem.
(2) (Your first '3')I would much rather have the system determine which server is best, rather than some stupid kid who thinks that his awesome cable connection is the best thing going. While you might have a good idea of how your connection rates, many other people don't. I probably get the 'server dropped' screen in 1 in every 20 or so games...and the fact that it just means you have to wait 10-20 seconds to continue the game isn't too bad. Better than the game going away.
(3) I initially thought the whole matchmaking thing sucked. I hated it...but then after playing it for a few hours, I started to think of it the same way that they described it on PennyArcade...'organic'. You can just brainlessly waft from game to game, with good competition every time. And since nobody 'owns' the game, there are no idiotic rules...Rainbow Six 3 was a pain in the ass, because it was 'pistols only', but if you didn't get the message people thought you were an idiot.
The place I DON'T like their matchmaking system though, is the large team battles. You can't really take the time to come up with a good strategy when only playing one game. Of course as you mentioned, the party system fills this gap.
I agree wholeheartedly with your final paragraph...
Xbox Live servers don't host any of the games I play...
Just about everything is hosted on one of the 'clients'. (Crimson Skies, Rainbow Six, etc) and it actually works out well.
As far as whether or not Halo 2 network code works....yes, it works very well. The number of people I have seen lagging has been very, very low. The number of times I could blame a death, or a missed kill, on lag is maybe 2 or 3. And that is after many hundreds of games, and thousands of kills (and millions of deaths).
I will go on record as saying this next story is absolutely true...
I was playing Halo 2 the other night, and my wife was looking for some attention. I kept giving her the "1 one more game" excuse for about 45 minutes.
She proceeded to take my pants off, get me good and hard (you imagine how), and then have sex with me while I played the game.
I 'finished up' (had to take a few seconds away from Halo)...and she got up, and went into the kitchen. (Sad to say, the whole thing transpired during just one Team Slayer match)
Then, after the game was over, I said "Umm...hey, how ya doin? Do you want to do anything now?"
She said "No..I'm fine now, you can play some more"
Really...and no, she wasn't mad, disappointed, or anything.
Then again, she really wants to get pregnant...so my video gaming days could be numbered...maybe about 265 left...
Of course you are just a troll (or just totally un-informed), but I gotta respond anyway.
Xbox is actually the console that has shown the most GROWTH over the past year.
For the 13th consecutive month, Xbox grew its share of year-over-year monthly console sales -- climbing an additional 19 percent compared to last year -- and hitting a 41 percent share in November.
Market share on a year-to-date basis for Xbox increased from 24 percent in 2003 to 37 percent in 2004. During the same time, PS2 share dropped from 51 percent to 45 percent.
Xbox year-over-year console sales for November increased a staggering 61 percent, while PS2 decreased 17 percent.
Xbox console sales year-to-date for 2004 jumped 48 percent from 2003, while sales for PS2 were down 18 percent.
Overall Xbox year-over-year software unit sales increased 77 percent. During the same time period, PS2 software sales increased only 1 percent.
Year-to-date software sales for Xbox have improved by 66 percent compared to 2003, tripling the industry's overall software growth of 22 percent. Meanwhile, PS2 year-to-date software sales saw just an 8 percent increase over last year."
I buy football games ones every 2-3 years. And when I did (in the past) I always bought Madden. Because if I was going to pay $50, I wanted it to be something I knew would be good.
This year I spent the $20 for NFL2K5- and I found out that I like this game a LOT more than I like Madden.
So, next time I buy a football game (probably next gen Xbox) I will buy the Sega product- even if it is the same price.
They have a good product, and they just needed people to try it out. Once I tried it, I found I liked it, and now I consider myself an ESPN fan, rather than a Madden fan.
Now go out and tell that to the thousands of HR departments that require a degree for higher level jobs.
And my point was that I want to move UP- into management. Most places that are going to pay well, are going to require that someone new coming into management (from the outside) have a degree.
I'm just trying to fit in as best I can into a system that is already set up, and in use by most of the higher-paying companies near me. If you want to move up beyond 'techie' and beyond the management level that is just 'head techie', you need a degree.
On a side note...just last Friday I was told that I will be moving up into the 'head techie' position. I still don't have a degree, so does this prove the "you don't need a degree as long as you have experience and skills" theory?
No...not really. Because I know that eventually I need to move OUT of a role that requires me to do coding. Into a role that manages different disciplines...where I work now, we have techies, but we also have authors, clerical staff, a distribution center, etc etc. They will not put me in charge of the whole thing because of my CODING skills.
If you want to just be the uber-coder...then fine, don't get a degree. But I aspire to be more than that.
Judging from your spelling of urbanization, I'm going to assume you are from some place other than the USofA...
In the U.S. "urban" is the code-word for 'black'. Or 'black-related'. Black as in 'African-American'. This replaces the previously popular 'ghetto'.
My guess is that the original poster is talking about any game that 'celebrates our rich urban heritage', like "Def-Jam: Vendetta" where a bunch of rappers fight each other, and take home their choice of women based on their performance. This is meant to accurately portray the lifestyle by our most 'urban' citizens.
Then you have "GTA:San Andreas" which features some voiceovers by people with things like 'DJ' or 'MC' in their name. That's always a clue that you are playing something 'urban'- some of the obvious clues are when you see words like:
DJ
MC
Ice-*
Any word replacing 'er' with 'q': Playa, Masta
Someone named 'Young- **'
Another genre going 'urban' is the American sports games. Games like 'NBA Street', 'NFL Street', 'NBA Ballers' feature some of our traditional sports, with an 'urban flair'. Soon we may get to enjoy games like 'Detroit Arena Ruckus', or maybe include some of our sports stars in the next GTA game- out trying to score some dope, and some bitches without losing a prestigous endorsement contract.
Many who who enjoy games that feature our blue-haired and buggy-eyed friends from the Far East, have a hard time understanding this new urban theme that has been popping up in games. Why would someone want to beat down all contenders with a baseball bat, and then use our ill-gotten gains to purchase a garish mansion...when we could be saving a princess?
Obviously there is truth to this 'urban market' out there. Burger King has been chasing this richness for many years. Or, as my diminutive friend Too Short likes to say "There's Money in the Ghetto".
I have 'trained' a fair number of people to play Halo. And anytime someone was completely lost, and couldn't control it at all, the problem was usually solved by inverting (or normalizing) the control scheme.
I play 'inverted' and whenever I am stuck playing 'normal', I get that lost feeling you mentioned, and I can't do anything. It is disorienting, and frustrating.
Switch to inverted, and it all suddenly makes sense to me.
The same happens with other people that come over- they may play two games using one setting, but if I see they are not doing too well (staring into the sky a lot is common) I switch them over, and 90% of the time the are instantly re-oriented, and ready to go.
I will say that there was ONE guy who I tried to teach how to play Halo, who just could NOT figure it out. It was quite laughable...then we switched to his other game- NFL2K5...and it took me 10 minutes to convince him that there ARE plays other than a quarter-back sneak. So quite possibly, he was just game challenged.
See- that's the problem with this whole outsourcing thing.
Some prison official got the idea to outsource, (or send 'overseas') the task of determining if the prisoners purchases were appropriate or not.
I can't expect someone in India, making only a few Rupees a day, to understand, or care, what prisoners in the US should be doing with their free time.
Once again- outsourcing is the cause of our troubles.
Yes, absolutely- you can move up through the ranks without a degree.
My concern is how well I would be able to jump companies without a degree. It would be easier, with a degree.
Here is some info, cut and pasted from The Mint a site to help kids with their economic education.
So will you make more money by going to college? YES!
The average earnings of college graduates in 1996 were 55% higher than those of high school graduates.
The average income for a family headed by a high school graduate declined 4.5% between 1973 and 1996.
During that same time (1973-1996), the income of families headed by college graduates grew 13.8%.
During that same time, the earnings of families headed by a parent who went to school beyond a college degree rose 38.8%.
Of course this does not mean that a college degree is necessary. Like I said earlier, I do fairly well without one. But there is a glass ceiling, where every promotion or transfer requires a degree.
I can point to a dozen good projects I have completed, and a lot of people I work with (way up to the top) know me where I work. But if I went to a different company- nobody knows me, or the work I've done. I would have to 'prove myself' all over again. Having a degree won't do the entire job for me- but it would HELP. And in a competitive job environment, you need all the help you can get.
My grandfather gave me tons of advice as a kid, and most of it was very good. The worst advice he gave me of all though, was that I didn't need a college degree. He worked with his hands all his life and was very happy. I'm 36 now, and I have hit that glass ceiling- everyone above me has a degree. I've seen 28 year olds pass me by, because they do have the degree, and I don't. A degree is not an automatic money maker- but it will open some doors for you that otherwise would be difficult to get your foot in.
Your post describes EXACTLY why I am in school right now to get my degree.
I currently have a pretty decent job- without a degree, but with about 7 years of solid experience.
But I know if I want to move into management (which I do) or if I need to change out of my 'specialty', my chances without a degree are very slim. But, with a degree, and my experience, I can move around a lot more.
Since I am only going at night, I still have quite a few more years to go. But I'm hoping that I finally finish my degree the day before my head explodes because I am sick and tired of writing code. Then it will be my chance to be the clueless boss who assigns impossible projects without any clear objective, reasonable timeline, or decent support.
Whoops...I didn't meant to imply that Burnout 3 was better...I meant to imply that Burnout 3 was the FORMER best on-line game, and Halo 2 has now taken that title.
Of course, my one and only story submission to Slashdot was a story talking about how crappy Burnout 3's on-line functionality was- but that was before EA fixed it.
Halo 2's system of "you don't find servers, they find you" is what people where complaining about when Halo 2 first came out (earlier this month).
But that system is what makes Halo 2 the best on-line game out there right now. I just go onto Live, and it finds people who suck just as much as I do. And as I get better, the opponents get better.
I've played over 150 Halo 2 games on Live so far, and I've only run across a few jerks. I was purposely TK'd ONCE, and I got into one game where it seemed like a bunch of drunk 12 year olds were my opponents. The other 148+ games went just fine.
Never had a game 'drop' due to the server-finder system (if the host does drop- it switches over to a different host, and the game continues).
And the stats at Bungie.net are incredible. Much better than XSN Sports- and better than any other on-line game that I know of (PC or Xbox (or even the Gamecube!))
This is the best on-line game since Burnout 3...of course Burnout 3 was only a few months ago, but it was the best on-line game for a long, long, long time.
Slashdot Mirror
Houses cost about $300,000, and can-openers are about $4. More can-openers are sold than houses.
But the real estate market is still bigger than the can-opener market.
(hmmm...something weird with the posting...if this is posted twice, sorry)
If the rumours hold true, the next Xbox will come out in 2005. That will be a biggie.
I for one, would be very happy to stand in line for a few hours, and come home with the next generation console under my arm. Halo 2 launch proves that there are at least 5 million other Xbox 'enthusiasts' out there who would no doubt do the same thing.
No, it did have a direct corelation to the initial event.
See..anytime white police officers 'get off' (escape justice) after beating a black man, it is customary to go into liquor stores owned by anyone different than you (in this case Koreans), to steal whatever they have, and threaten the owners.
Unfortunately, the Koreans were not aware of this custom, so we ended up with the hijinks we saw on television.
It is also customary, after the festivities have ended- to complain that no businesses are willing to serve your neighborhood. Then get city, state, and federal dollars to create a 'thriving business community'- as long as it doesn't include any of those pesky Koreans.
So how many gamers out there do not enjoy sophomoric humor, do not say things like "that's gay" or "Fag!", and don't cuss up a storm when they get sniped just after a spawn?
Really...we're gamers, so evidently something stunted our emotional growth..and I am a happier (36 year old) man for it.
I couldn't imagine life without idiotic humor, homosexual humor or swearing...if I got rid of all that, I'd be a butt-fuckin'-fag.
(Of course, I need to add the standard Seinfeldian 'but there is nothing wrong with that' disclaimer here...while I have never tasted the savory juices of another man, I'm not really concerned whether you have, or not. On the other hand, just about every boy in America was raised with an over-abundance of gay jokes and innuendo, which for most of us has carried on into adulthood. Just yesterday, the power went out at work...and of course in a room full of guys, we all started to say things like "geez Dave, get your lips off my balls"...as far as I can tell, this type of thing is absolutely normal for every guy I have met (straight, or gay) who doesn't have some severe hangups about sex, homosexuality, or seeing his father in the shower.)
There's a reason for that. The XBox just isn't cutting it. People buy XBoxes, and then leave them in cupboards and drawers. They're a chore to set up, a chore to put away, and the games just aren't any good.
Obviously you associate with idiots.
How many people actually put their game console in 'cupboards and drawers'. It's not a fricking piece of silverware, it is a piece of electronic equipment, similar to a DVD player, or even a cable TV converter. I don't put any of those things in a drawer when they are not in use.
Good post responding to your points:
(1) I've heard about this, but never experienced it first hand. Bungie had a big story on Bungie.net about how they were attempting to correct this problem.
(2) (Your first '3')I would much rather have the system determine which server is best, rather than some stupid kid who thinks that his awesome cable connection is the best thing going. While you might have a good idea of how your connection rates, many other people don't. I probably get the 'server dropped' screen in 1 in every 20 or so games...and the fact that it just means you have to wait 10-20 seconds to continue the game isn't too bad. Better than the game going away.
(3) I initially thought the whole matchmaking thing sucked. I hated it...but then after playing it for a few hours, I started to think of it the same way that they described it on PennyArcade...'organic'. You can just brainlessly waft from game to game, with good competition every time. And since nobody 'owns' the game, there are no idiotic rules...Rainbow Six 3 was a pain in the ass, because it was 'pistols only', but if you didn't get the message people thought you were an idiot.
The place I DON'T like their matchmaking system though, is the large team battles. You can't really take the time to come up with a good strategy when only playing one game. Of course as you mentioned, the party system fills this gap.
I agree wholeheartedly with your final paragraph...
Xbox Live servers don't host any of the games I play...
Just about everything is hosted on one of the 'clients'. (Crimson Skies, Rainbow Six, etc) and it actually works out well.
As far as whether or not Halo 2 network code works....yes, it works very well. The number of people I have seen lagging has been very, very low. The number of times I could blame a death, or a missed kill, on lag is maybe 2 or 3. And that is after many hundreds of games, and thousands of kills (and millions of deaths).
Actually, it did.
Have you ever been with a woman who is trying to get pregnant?
You'd be amazed at what they are willing to do just to get ahold of some of your sperm.
I will go on record as saying this next story is absolutely true...
I was playing Halo 2 the other night, and my wife was looking for some attention. I kept giving her the "1 one more game" excuse for about 45 minutes.
She proceeded to take my pants off, get me good and hard (you imagine how), and then have sex with me while I played the game.
I 'finished up' (had to take a few seconds away from Halo)...and she got up, and went into the kitchen. (Sad to say, the whole thing transpired during just one Team Slayer match)
Then, after the game was over, I said "Umm...hey, how ya doin? Do you want to do anything now?"
She said "No..I'm fine now, you can play some more"
Really...and no, she wasn't mad, disappointed, or anything.
Then again, she really wants to get pregnant...so my video gaming days could be numbered...maybe about 265 left...
Of course you are just a troll (or just totally un-informed), but I gotta respond anyway.
Xbox is actually the console that has shown the most GROWTH over the past year.
For the 13th consecutive month, Xbox grew its share of year-over-year monthly console sales -- climbing an additional 19 percent compared to last year -- and hitting a 41 percent share in November.
Market share on a year-to-date basis for Xbox increased from 24 percent in 2003 to 37 percent in 2004. During the same time, PS2 share dropped from 51 percent to 45 percent.
Xbox year-over-year console sales for November increased a staggering 61 percent, while PS2 decreased 17 percent.
Xbox console sales year-to-date for 2004 jumped 48 percent from 2003, while sales for PS2 were down 18 percent.
Overall Xbox year-over-year software unit sales increased 77 percent. During the same time period, PS2 software sales increased only 1 percent.
Year-to-date software sales for Xbox have improved by 66 percent compared to 2003, tripling the industry's overall software growth of 22 percent. Meanwhile, PS2 year-to-date software sales saw just an 8 percent increase over last year."
You can see this information from a different source here: http://xbox.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=3835
Yep- I use a Pocket PC for exactly what the original submitter is trying to do. Slap files on it, move them around, etc.
I also use it as my music player, and surf the web with it.
Now if only I can convince my boss that we need an access point that would cover the bathroom....
Yes- the world should switch browsers right away!
The guy who submitted the article said that Firefox has been working flawlessly all day!
Time to celebrate!
I use Firefox about 50% of the time, and I think it is just fine. But the original post seemed like a horrible backhanded compliment.
"Dude, your mom isn't nearly as ugly as she used to be!"
Happiness isn't getting what you want...
Happiness is wanting what you've got.
I disagree...
I buy football games ones every 2-3 years. And when I did (in the past) I always bought Madden. Because if I was going to pay $50, I wanted it to be something I knew would be good.
This year I spent the $20 for NFL2K5- and I found out that I like this game a LOT more than I like Madden.
So, next time I buy a football game (probably next gen Xbox) I will buy the Sega product- even if it is the same price.
They have a good product, and they just needed people to try it out. Once I tried it, I found I liked it, and now I consider myself an ESPN fan, rather than a Madden fan.
(Why do the players 'glide' so much in Madden?)
You're right.
Now go out and tell that to the thousands of HR departments that require a degree for higher level jobs.
And my point was that I want to move UP- into management. Most places that are going to pay well, are going to require that someone new coming into management (from the outside) have a degree.
I'm just trying to fit in as best I can into a system that is already set up, and in use by most of the higher-paying companies near me. If you want to move up beyond 'techie' and beyond the management level that is just 'head techie', you need a degree.
On a side note...just last Friday I was told that I will be moving up into the 'head techie' position. I still don't have a degree, so does this prove the "you don't need a degree as long as you have experience and skills" theory?
No...not really. Because I know that eventually I need to move OUT of a role that requires me to do coding. Into a role that manages different disciplines...where I work now, we have techies, but we also have authors, clerical staff, a distribution center, etc etc. They will not put me in charge of the whole thing because of my CODING skills.
If you want to just be the uber-coder...then fine, don't get a degree. But I aspire to be more than that.
In the U.S. "urban" is the code-word for 'black'. Or 'black-related'. Black as in 'African-American'. This replaces the previously popular 'ghetto'.
My guess is that the original poster is talking about any game that 'celebrates our rich urban heritage', like "Def-Jam: Vendetta" where a bunch of rappers fight each other, and take home their choice of women based on their performance. This is meant to accurately portray the lifestyle by our most 'urban' citizens.
Then you have "GTA:San Andreas" which features some voiceovers by people with things like 'DJ' or 'MC' in their name. That's always a clue that you are playing something 'urban'- some of the obvious clues are when you see words like:
Another genre going 'urban' is the American sports games. Games like 'NBA Street', 'NFL Street', 'NBA Ballers' feature some of our traditional sports, with an 'urban flair'. Soon we may get to enjoy games like 'Detroit Arena Ruckus', or maybe include some of our sports stars in the next GTA game- out trying to score some dope, and some bitches without losing a prestigous endorsement contract.
Many who who enjoy games that feature our blue-haired and buggy-eyed friends from the Far East, have a hard time understanding this new urban theme that has been popping up in games. Why would someone want to beat down all contenders with a baseball bat, and then use our ill-gotten gains to purchase a garish mansion...when we could be saving a princess?
Obviously there is truth to this 'urban market' out there. Burger King has been chasing this richness for many years. Or, as my diminutive friend Too Short likes to say "There's Money in the Ghetto".
I don't know about the other million+ people on Live...but I just set up my Live account one time, about two years ago.
Now, anytime I buy a Live-enabled game, I can throw it in my Xbox, and my account is already set up. The system knows who I am...etc. etc. etc.
I have 'trained' a fair number of people to play Halo. And anytime someone was completely lost, and couldn't control it at all, the problem was usually solved by inverting (or normalizing) the control scheme.
I play 'inverted' and whenever I am stuck playing 'normal', I get that lost feeling you mentioned, and I can't do anything. It is disorienting, and frustrating.
Switch to inverted, and it all suddenly makes sense to me.
The same happens with other people that come over- they may play two games using one setting, but if I see they are not doing too well (staring into the sky a lot is common) I switch them over, and 90% of the time the are instantly re-oriented, and ready to go.
I will say that there was ONE guy who I tried to teach how to play Halo, who just could NOT figure it out. It was quite laughable...then we switched to his other game- NFL2K5...and it took me 10 minutes to convince him that there ARE plays other than a quarter-back sneak. So quite possibly, he was just game challenged.
Yeah...what's the worst thing that can happen to you in a Canadian prison...getting picked last for softball?
I wonder if they get to play Riddick - Escape from Butcher Bay.
That would make me nervous as a guard...
See- that's the problem with this whole outsourcing thing.
Some prison official got the idea to outsource, (or send 'overseas') the task of determining if the prisoners purchases were appropriate or not.
I can't expect someone in India, making only a few Rupees a day, to understand, or care, what prisoners in the US should be doing with their free time.
Once again- outsourcing is the cause of our troubles.
My concern is how well I would be able to jump companies without a degree. It would be easier, with a degree.
Here is some info, cut and pasted from The Mint a site to help kids with their economic education.
So will you make more money by going to college? YES!
Of course this does not mean that a college degree is necessary. Like I said earlier, I do fairly well without one. But there is a glass ceiling, where every promotion or transfer requires a degree.
I can point to a dozen good projects I have completed, and a lot of people I work with (way up to the top) know me where I work. But if I went to a different company- nobody knows me, or the work I've done. I would have to 'prove myself' all over again. Having a degree won't do the entire job for me- but it would HELP. And in a competitive job environment, you need all the help you can get.
My grandfather gave me tons of advice as a kid, and most of it was very good. The worst advice he gave me of all though, was that I didn't need a college degree. He worked with his hands all his life and was very happy. I'm 36 now, and I have hit that glass ceiling- everyone above me has a degree. I've seen 28 year olds pass me by, because they do have the degree, and I don't. A degree is not an automatic money maker- but it will open some doors for you that otherwise would be difficult to get your foot in.
Your post describes EXACTLY why I am in school right now to get my degree.
I currently have a pretty decent job- without a degree, but with about 7 years of solid experience.
But I know if I want to move into management (which I do) or if I need to change out of my 'specialty', my chances without a degree are very slim. But, with a degree, and my experience, I can move around a lot more.
Since I am only going at night, I still have quite a few more years to go. But I'm hoping that I finally finish my degree the day before my head explodes because I am sick and tired of writing code. Then it will be my chance to be the clueless boss who assigns impossible projects without any clear objective, reasonable timeline, or decent support.
Whoops...I didn't meant to imply that Burnout 3 was better...I meant to imply that Burnout 3 was the FORMER best on-line game, and Halo 2 has now taken that title.
Of course, my one and only story submission to Slashdot was a story talking about how crappy Burnout 3's on-line functionality was- but that was before EA fixed it.
Yes- absolutely.
Halo 2's system of "you don't find servers, they find you" is what people where complaining about when Halo 2 first came out (earlier this month).
But that system is what makes Halo 2 the best on-line game out there right now. I just go onto Live, and it finds people who suck just as much as I do. And as I get better, the opponents get better.
I've played over 150 Halo 2 games on Live so far, and I've only run across a few jerks. I was purposely TK'd ONCE, and I got into one game where it seemed like a bunch of drunk 12 year olds were my opponents. The other 148+ games went just fine.
Never had a game 'drop' due to the server-finder system (if the host does drop- it switches over to a different host, and the game continues).
And the stats at Bungie.net are incredible. Much better than XSN Sports- and better than any other on-line game that I know of (PC or Xbox (or even the Gamecube!))
This is the best on-line game since Burnout 3...of course Burnout 3 was only a few months ago, but it was the best on-line game for a long, long, long time.