The mainstream media that is driven by commercial pressures and has a reputation for disgusting misrepresentation of reality.
Or on the other hand I could trust a private individual who just doesn't wan't to be thrown to the lions.
Honestly, in my opinion the people who come away from this looking the worst are slashdot posters. They believed what they read in that article, and with no reflection or pause judged the guy with a series of wafer thin prejudices. More people need to read 1984 and the Principia Discordia and stuff.
The only thing that surprises me about Jayson Blair is that anyone was surprised by it.
Nintendo only took off in America because the failure of American consoles, like atari, left a gap in the market.
You also can't expect them to buy games that they don't want to play. Japanese companies look at what is popular in the west and take it into consideration when making games.
Microsoft released a console with an FPS game. Only a minority of japanese gamers are interested in FPS games. I live in the UK and don't own an XBox, because I'm not a fan of that genre.
I don't think that Japanese people are that Xenophobic, but you can't always predict what they will like.
They love David Beckham. More of them went to see Harry Potter than Lord of the Rings. Tomb Raider was the film that knocked Spirited Away off the top of the charts.
Will it be smaller and quieter? Just a personal bugbear, I find all of the current generation of consoles too loud.
Interesting figures on console sales. How many games do each of the platforms sell per console?
We can assume that the sequel to XBox will have new anti piracy and region locking. It will be interesting to see if microsoft try to sell it as a feature.
I have to say, by the time NWN came out I was pretty much sick of the forgotten realms. The fact that Baldurs Gate 2 makes NWN look like a bad joke as a single player game didn't help it as well.
Bionic Commando: Only if they do a quality remake of the original music to go with it. In 3d would have to get around the minor problem that you can't look up to fire a grappling hook and aim forward with a gun at the same time.
Out of this World: Its funny, I was just playing Ico, and got a very strong flashback to this amazing game. No pun intended.
Don't think a remake would work though. The scenarios wouldn't really work in 3d, and a 2d version wouldn't be interesting enough nowadays.
If they have played Rez and want a remake of Space Harrier.. Well, gah. It takes all sorts I suppose.
I bet that they are working on adding regional protection to games now that freeloader can't get past. I don't know if this is possible with the gamecube, but its the next logical step.
I thought that it shipped on the BeBox and was heavily influenced by Amiga.
Oh well.. Its not like Gasse was an Amiga fan, or that the BeBox was originally designed using hardware that is completely different to Apple Mac (680x0 or PPC).
American gamers arn't sophisticated enough for a game like this. It would take a while for them to change the Llamas to Deer and repackage it as "Deer Hunter: Unity". <gd&r>
It was one of the good ones, but its more evolutionary than revolutionary.
You can trace it back to the 2d prequels and Syndicate by Bullfrog in the early nineties.
I remember reading an interview by Peter Molyneux talking about Syndicate. He decided to give the player the option to kill civilians and steal cars, but decided that letting them waste Prams and dogs was in bad taste.
I'm not the only one who thinks that Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel looks dissapointing.
Take a look at the promo movie on the site. The game could end up being good in many ways, but it just looks "wrong" to a fallout fan. Irrational, but you could say the same about Jar Jar Binks.
Fallout Tactics I can't really comment on. Played the demo and the gameplay didn't really grab me. Maybe I was spoilt by games like Jagged Alliance 2 and UFO Enemy Unknown. (think americans call it XCom)
I have worked on a similar system about 5 years ago.
I was more worried about bugs in the app, 4gl on Solaris, than server uptime. Saying that, when those solaris boxes went wrong they went wrong in a big way. Seemed to me that they caused more stress than Windows 2000, even though they had more uptime.
Guess the same would be true with Visual Basic and Microsoft SQL server, but the complexity and chances to mess up would be worse. I would be even more worried writing an X app in java with an open source RDMS..
Don't know why they didn't update it for the gamecube and ps2 as well. Its weird in a way, it looks like XBox got JSR, ps2 got Rez and GCN got Skies of Arcadia.
If they could quit making Mario 64 over and over and come up with some original games in new product lines, perhaps they'll attract my interest again.
There are some non nintendo games. I enjoyed Super Monkey Ball and Lost Kingdoms.
They only made one Mario 64 sequel as well, and when you make what some consider to be the Best Game Ever, a sequel that isn't quite as good as the original ain't necessarily a bad thing.
I think that the whole industry has a problem with releasing original games that are really popular. Singling out Nintendo is a bit anti-fanbi or fanboi for another system, as they seem to be doing better in this regard than some others.
I think that on average a console is doing pretty well if each owner buys 4 games a year. Many people can afford to own more than one console as well, and if a gamer decides that they "must have" Metroid or Zelda they buy the console for that game.
The cube is managing to keep me happy at the moment.
I look at PS2 and it has a lot of titles that I'm not interested in or can get on GCN, PC, or even DC. Might buy one for Ico and Frequency, but both seem to be out of print.. This tells me that I can't expect my gaming needs to be met on PS2.
XBox has more intersting stuff that may get me to buy one in the future. Psyconauts, Fable and smaller XBox could get me to part with my hard earned in 2004.
But this may be because you are bringing more experience and knowledge of games to Mario Sunshine than most people might.
In a side scrolling someone might have to learn how to move left and right and jump.
In a 3d game you have to learn how to move forwards and backwards, strafe, turn by rotation or by a combination of camera angle and stick direction. You also need some way of manipulating the camera angle, something that is completely unnatural to a non gamer.
If you don't believe that there is any truth in this, do your own market research. Find someone who doesn't really play games, try to get them to play a game on a mobile phone, a mario game on the GBA advance and Mario Sunshine. See which one they have the most fun with in a short amount of time.
I guess that you would have to be one of thousands asking for a linux version.
Couple of options:
Buy lucasarts games and fill in the survey card if it comes with one. Probably wouldn't have an option for Linux though.
Wait until they put an online survey up and fill that in. I filled in on those myself a month or so ago.
My opinion on your chances.. Poor to nonexistant. After all, lucasarts were one of the first companies to drop the Amiga. The SCUMM engine already ran very well on Amiga, they had a userbase of people who would buy the games, and user support was easy compared to PC.
Sure, user feedback and involvement is great. It can also lead to products that are dumbed down to get rid of anything that doesn't instantly appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Sometimes a software house doesn't have the time to get everything perfect as well. You have to publish and be damned.
Are Lionhead willfully ignoring users anyway? It seems to me that they are making a big point of taking on critisism of the first game and making the second better.
If consumers bash every game that tries new things, just because it doesn't do everything perfectly first time, what hope is there for the Command and Conquers and Dooms of the future.
Wolf 3d didn't interest me at all when I first tried it on the PC. I thought it looked like a very crude game with one interesting new trick. Many people disagreed with me though.
Dune 2.. I enjoyed that one more, but thought that it was really flawed compared to other strategy games of its time like the Settlers and Civilisation.
Slashdot Mirror
Most games are crap, most novels are crap, most of everything is crap.
That doesn't mean that there are no good games or novels.
Hmm, who should I trust?
The mainstream media that is driven by commercial pressures and has a reputation for disgusting misrepresentation of reality.
Or on the other hand I could trust a private individual who just doesn't wan't to be thrown to the lions.
Honestly, in my opinion the people who come away from this looking the worst are slashdot posters. They believed what they read in that article, and with no reflection or pause judged the guy with a series of wafer thin prejudices. More people need to read 1984 and the Principia Discordia and stuff.
The only thing that surprises me about Jayson Blair is that anyone was surprised by it.
Nintendo only took off in America because the failure of American consoles, like atari, left a gap in the market.
You also can't expect them to buy games that they don't want to play. Japanese companies look at what is popular in the west and take it into consideration when making games.
Microsoft released a console with an FPS game. Only a minority of japanese gamers are interested in FPS games. I live in the UK and don't own an XBox, because I'm not a fan of that genre.
I don't think that Japanese people are that Xenophobic, but you can't always predict what they will like.
They love David Beckham. More of them went to see Harry Potter than Lord of the Rings. Tomb Raider was the film that knocked Spirited Away off the top of the charts.
You have to wonder why nobody pointed this out.
Because it was so obvious. Either they already knew it or were clinically deranged beyond the point of help.
This game was a corporate bread heads dream game. What are the big cash cows on the PC at the momement? The Sims, Everquest..
Will it be smaller and quieter? Just a personal bugbear, I find all of the current generation of consoles too loud.
Interesting figures on console sales. How many games do each of the platforms sell per console?
We can assume that the sequel to XBox will have new anti piracy and region locking. It will be interesting to see if microsoft try to sell it as a feature.
I have to say, by the time NWN came out I was pretty much sick of the forgotten realms. The fact that Baldurs Gate 2 makes NWN look like a bad joke as a single player game didn't help it as well.
I pretty much agree with you.
Bionic Commando: Only if they do a quality remake of the original music to go with it. In 3d would have to get around the minor problem that you can't look up to fire a grappling hook and aim forward with a gun at the same time.
Out of this World: Its funny, I was just playing Ico, and got a very strong flashback to this amazing game. No pun intended.
Don't think a remake would work though. The scenarios wouldn't really work in 3d, and a 2d version wouldn't be interesting enough nowadays.
If they have played Rez and want a remake of Space Harrier.. Well, gah. It takes all sorts I suppose.
Thats why I own a US and PAL gamecube.
I bet that they are working on adding regional protection to games now that freeloader can't get past. I don't know if this is possible with the gamecube, but its the next logical step.
"More" normal gamers, as in they arn't as quick to spot the fnords and they don't know as much about technology.
I use normal derogatively.
Sony seem to be trying the same strategy that worked last time.
Leave the current console on the shelves long enough to get insane levels of market penetration.
Hype up the capabilities of the coming real soon now next console in a way that geeks find ridiculous, but makes more normal gamers salivate.
I thought that it shipped on the BeBox and was heavily influenced by Amiga.
Oh well.. Its not like Gasse was an Amiga fan, or that the BeBox was originally designed using hardware that is completely different to Apple Mac (680x0 or PPC).
They should release it in the PAL market first.
American gamers arn't sophisticated enough for a game like this. It would take a while for them to change the Llamas to Deer and repackage it as "Deer Hunter: Unity". <gd&r>
In an earlier interview with Edge magazine, Minter called Rez "Panzer Dragoon wearing Trance Trousers" or something similar.
I think that he is aiming for something different to Rez but not a million miles away.
I think that the reality could be even more absurd.
To get around it criminals would have to clone the number plate of another car of the same make. Preferably one that hasn't been reported stolen.
If this becomes popular, people accross the UK could start covering their number plates when parked to avoid car identity theft.
Here you go.
It was one of the good ones, but its more evolutionary than revolutionary.
You can trace it back to the 2d prequels and Syndicate by Bullfrog in the early nineties.
I remember reading an interview by Peter Molyneux talking about Syndicate. He decided to give the player the option to kill civilians and steal cars, but decided that letting them waste Prams and dogs was in bad taste.
I'm not the only one who thinks that Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel looks dissapointing.
Take a look at the promo movie on the site. The game could end up being good in many ways, but it just looks "wrong" to a fallout fan. Irrational, but you could say the same about Jar Jar Binks.
Fallout Tactics I can't really comment on. Played the demo and the gameplay didn't really grab me. Maybe I was spoilt by games like Jagged Alliance 2 and UFO Enemy Unknown. (think americans call it XCom)
I have worked on a similar system about 5 years ago.
I was more worried about bugs in the app, 4gl on Solaris, than server uptime. Saying that, when those solaris boxes went wrong they went wrong in a big way. Seemed to me that they caused more stress than Windows 2000, even though they had more uptime.
Guess the same would be true with Visual Basic and Microsoft SQL server, but the complexity and chances to mess up would be worse. I would be even more worried writing an X app in java with an open source RDMS..
I loved that game.
Don't know why they didn't update it for the gamecube and ps2 as well. Its weird in a way, it looks like XBox got JSR, ps2 got Rez and GCN got Skies of Arcadia.
If they could quit making Mario 64 over and over and come up with some original games in new product lines, perhaps they'll attract my interest again.
There are some non nintendo games. I enjoyed Super Monkey Ball and Lost Kingdoms.
They only made one Mario 64 sequel as well, and when you make what some consider to be the Best Game Ever, a sequel that isn't quite as good as the original ain't necessarily a bad thing.
I think that the whole industry has a problem with releasing original games that are really popular. Singling out Nintendo is a bit anti-fanbi or fanboi for another system, as they seem to be doing better in this regard than some others.
I'm not so sure.
I think that on average a console is doing pretty well if each owner buys 4 games a year. Many people can afford to own more than one console as well, and if a gamer decides that they "must have" Metroid or Zelda they buy the console for that game.
The cube is managing to keep me happy at the moment.
I look at PS2 and it has a lot of titles that I'm not interested in or can get on GCN, PC, or even DC. Might buy one for Ico and Frequency, but both seem to be out of print.. This tells me that I can't expect my gaming needs to be met on PS2.
XBox has more intersting stuff that may get me to buy one in the future. Psyconauts, Fable and smaller XBox could get me to part with my hard earned in 2004.
But this may be because you are bringing more experience and knowledge of games to Mario Sunshine than most people might.
In a side scrolling someone might have to learn how to move left and right and jump.
In a 3d game you have to learn how to move forwards and backwards, strafe, turn by rotation or by a combination of camera angle and stick direction. You also need some way of manipulating the camera angle, something that is completely unnatural to a non gamer.
If you don't believe that there is any truth in this, do your own market research. Find someone who doesn't really play games, try to get them to play a game on a mobile phone, a mario game on the GBA advance and Mario Sunshine. See which one they have the most fun with in a short amount of time.
I guess that you would have to be one of thousands asking for a linux version. Couple of options: Buy lucasarts games and fill in the survey card if it comes with one. Probably wouldn't have an option for Linux though. Wait until they put an online survey up and fill that in. I filled in on those myself a month or so ago. My opinion on your chances.. Poor to nonexistant. After all, lucasarts were one of the first companies to drop the Amiga. The SCUMM engine already ran very well on Amiga, they had a userbase of people who would buy the games, and user support was easy compared to PC.
Sure, user feedback and involvement is great. It can also lead to products that are dumbed down to get rid of anything that doesn't instantly appeal to the lowest common denominator.
Sometimes a software house doesn't have the time to get everything perfect as well. You have to publish and be damned.
Are Lionhead willfully ignoring users anyway? It seems to me that they are making a big point of taking on critisism of the first game and making the second better.
If consumers bash every game that tries new things, just because it doesn't do everything perfectly first time, what hope is there for the Command and Conquers and Dooms of the future.
Wolf 3d didn't interest me at all when I first tried it on the PC. I thought it looked like a very crude game with one interesting new trick. Many people disagreed with me though.
Dune 2.. I enjoyed that one more, but thought that it was really flawed compared to other strategy games of its time like the Settlers and Civilisation.