Turn to insults for a spelling error, it's all you have. But after all that we still are left with your terrible idea. You're a moron who doesn't understand responsibility and likes to blame others for their problems when really, the problem is you.
Perhaps you are a lost sheep who needs the great guidance of the government and their political programs to get through the day, but people like me are sick of spending our money on things as stupid as your idea. I don't mind paying taxes, but I do have a problem trying to make stupid people, like yourself, less stupid through terrible programs that uncaring parents wouldn't use in the first place.
As a side note, I am happy to see you recognize my superior intellect but hailing me is not required. I am not a god as you suggest but rather a great mind you should look to for guidance the next time you are confused. I would only appreciate it if you could just try a little harder.
"It's called giving them the tools to make the right decision for them, whatever that decision is."
Shut up. You have no idea what you are saying and sound like a ridicules politician. What "tools" can we give them? You understand, if these parents actually cared about their kids and what they were doing, instead of caring only about themselves and their careers, then these kids wouldn't get these games. It's pathetic parents don't have a clue what their kids are doing.
I'll be damned if I waste more tax money and giving parents "tools" to understand the fucking kids. Pay attention to them! Talk to them! Find out their interests! If they want something, investigate it! It's called the Internet, magazines....calling a store to see what they say! And I don't even have a rug rat!
Morons like you are the types that propose "plans" and giving people "tools". It's garbage.
The only problem is parents who don't give a shit about what their kids do. People that *think* they are good parents but haven't a clue.
When I worked at a game store, parents would call and ask about a game, or come in, or ask to see a magazine...or say they looked this game up on the net and are not sure about it. We would ask them their kids age, let them know what 'M' meant and usually recommend a game with similar style, but for kids.
Go take your plans and tools and piss off. I, and many others, are sick of paying for dip-shit people that don't care about anyone but themselves. Lets maybe spend those tax dollars on people that need it, like the working poor people who would never be able to afford a game in the first place, much less health care for their kids. I'm sick of giving money to fuck heads and their causes because they are too lazy and self centered to do what they should; pay attention to your fucking goddamn, worthless piece of shit, spoiled kids. Excuse my French.
Then where the hell are people priorities? Keeping a vegetable alive or maybe sending this money to the working poor families and children that need it.
Yes I have logged thousands of hours on video games over 20+ years from the 2600 to PS2 to even the PSP. Yeah, I've played many a game for less than a min and knew they would be great. I looked at and read about many games and knew they would be great. I have also played games and felt they were great and really wanted to buy them....right now! And then found out later they maybe were not so great and I bought it on IMPULSE.
I'm sure Lumines is great, my roommate bought it and I'm sure to play it this week, but as the root post said, he played this game for a min., is addicted and NEEDS the PSP now...for this one game!?..and had no feeling to buy a PSP and this game and drop $300.00 + dollars...right now....that s/he doesn't have! That's called impulse.
When I worked at a video game store, we had a phrase for this. We would pop in a game for someone that usually wouldn't maybe play this type of game or really have a desire to play buy it right now, and we would play it and hype it and make it look all bright, new and shinny. They would just have to have it...now...without any real research, etc. Our phrase was: "Another day, another sucker." Then they would sell it back a week later for a fraction of the price and we could more easily sell it used, over and over again. Not because it was a bad game, in fact it usually was pretty good, but not in that MUST HAVE IT way that something like Super Metroid is. They would get it on IMPULSE and find a week later maybe it's not their game. But it sure did feel new and bright and shinny at the store. This is a common sales technique I suggest you get wise to. Your defense is called "being prudent". It's not hard to deceive someones intuitions for only a moment to get their money.
Exhibit A: Man, how many copies of South Park on N64 did we sell this way, heh. Looked great and was kind of fun at first. Funny, etc. But in the end it was for hardcore SP fans only.
Exhibit B: Turok 2 on N64 was great at first. But then you actually tried playing through the log, boring levels and well...we must have sold this game 5 times for each original we had. That's well over $200.00 profit/copy at like at least 20 copies over the course of a few months.
Exhibit C: The Play Station Pocket. Heh, these little devils were crap but once someone played with one for a min. they wanted it, and in a real bad way. The markup was huge and they were rare but boy were they easy to sell to people who just wandered in to browse the used games. Because it was both rare and surprising to see and *different*, they needed it like they always wanted it. I don't remember how many people said, after signing the credit card slip, "I never thought I would actually own one of these!" Our response was usually something like "Oh, we did.". It's what a salesman does.
"A family is dealing with the certain death of their daughter."
So are millions of people worldwide. Death is a perfectly natural part of life...and apparently synthetic life. I mean really, she's been dead for all intents and purposes and I'm sure the people footing the bill for this worthless experiment are sick of paying for nothing, and they should be. She has no chance to live, it's a waste of money and time and her parents must be nuts if they haven't waited for this day the last 10 years!
I think the only thing sad about this is she's become some kind of martyr for some cause and she is made to die through dehydration and starvation because no one has the balls to blow her head off.
"Until I played Lumines for one minute on a PSP at my local gaming store. The sheer (sic)addictivness of this game alone makes me (sic)desperatly want a PSP..."
Your feelings are confused right now. You're not addicted to a game after playing it for 1 min. The feeling you have is called *impulse* and is the worst feeling a consumer can succumb to.
"Then again, it may have something to do with the fact that the town where the walmart is in ain't that rich... borderline redneck and college students."
When describing the area a Wal-Mart is in, it is implied the general population there is not all too rich and/or consists mainly of rednecks.
I'm not sure I'll ever buy either system. Portable gaming isn't something I must have really. But, on the unlikely chance I do, I think a DS is more innovative. The PSP has a boatload of cool gimmicks (and trust me, my roommate is trying to take advantage of all of them..he doesn't know how he lived without portable anime 2 days ago, heh) but the DS has the 2 screens which can lead to really neat ideas in games, plus the one screen is a touch screen. Also, I've always been about a system that does one thing and tries to do it well. The PSP might really play games well eventually but it's not worth the price. It's substandard as a movie player, MP3 player, etc so I would only buy it for games. It lacks here right now too and even if it didn't, the price is too high I think.
In the end, I think a DS will offer more innovation for game play.
Right on brother. I often find it interesting that the people who handle the most important things (like cash, personal info, etc) are also the lowest paid in just about every company. Amazing this world is.
I worked with a man who was a Marine and had a couple years in the Airforce. He wasn't the "brightest" guy in the world but had a lot of military experience and could talk about it all day. He didn't like UNIX much in the service because he said their equipment didn't work well often. But with the Windows based systems, things worked a lot better and were much easier for soldiers to use. I'm not sure what this has to do with this article but I assume we should listen to these kinds of statements to see how we can make Linux based systems more reliable and easy to use for people that depend on a system they can use under extreme stress and fatigue.
But doesn't this data eventually end up in a database somewhere that is globally accessible? I mean, I worked at a drugstore at one point and kind of peeked at our network setup and it's all TCP/IP with globally available IP's. I'm not sure what happens to the data when it arrives...
OK, your analogy has *some* validity to it, but it's getting way off to the point of nonsense.
My whole point was, and is, if you have a problem with someones process it's because their product is not good. Look at open source code, use it, etc and it works well in many instances. This validates the process is good I think.
And BTW, many mechanics are not idiots. They can drive a car a couple blocks and diagnose a problem quickly and correctly with a transmission. They can then open the tranny and clean it, bore it, or replace the parts they need. They know how to use computers to aid in diagnosis. Good mechanics are not idiots just because they work with their hands.
"I do, however, try to be careful about not letting anyone get information about me they shouldn't and I rarely, if ever, use a credit card online."
If you go to any store or use your credit card just about anywhere, it's on the Internet regardless of if you actually go to a Website to buy something.
When you swipe your card to get groceries, where is that data sent? How does it get there? Through the Internet. It stays on a company database like anywhere else.
I don't use my credit card on "shady" Websites, but I do realize when I use my card just about anywhere, that data is sent over the Internet and into a database somewhere where someone savvy enough could get access to it.
It's for this reason I try and not use my debit card often as if someone takes my credit info and buys things, I'm not responsible for it. they haven't taken any money form me. However, if I use a debit and they take money, then that is money I have lost and it is much harder to get back.
Is that if you have a problem with it, look under the hood. The keys are right there. Stop spewing stupid "theory" and have a look. Show us what's wrong. It's all there, look! Found anything? Keep looking. In fact, look until you find something...keep looking. Go for it! Found anything yet? No? Hmmm, I would suggest to keep looking actually. What's that, you're tired of looking? You would rather write an aricle about how you bet if you looked hard you would find something? Ok, the look! Show us what's wrong. It's all there, look! Found anything? Keep looking. In fact, look until you find something...keep looking. Go for it! Found anything yet? No? Hmmm, I would suggest to keep looking actually. What's that, you're tired of looking? You would rather write an aricle about how you bet if you looked hard you would find something? Ok, the look! Show us what's wrong. It's all there, look! Found anything? Keep looking. In fact, look until you find something...keep looking. Go for it! Found anything yet? No? Hmmm, I would suggest to keep looking actually. What's that, you're tired of looking? You would rather write an aricle about how you bet if you looked hard you would find something? Ok, the look!
The fact that you and a couple other people sent in some change to keep it on air (and failed) is further proof NO ONE CARES.
The show blows and I speculate the few that like it only like it because they are sickly obsessed with anything Star Trek like a crack fiend obsessing over low grade crack. Not because it's good, but because it's all they have in that regard. It doesn't take away form the fact it is low grade crack.
the problem with music by steve albini excerpted from Baffler No. 5
Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end, holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed.
Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says, "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim it again, please. Backstroke."
And he does, of course.
I. A&R Scouts
Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an "A&R" rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for "Artist and Repertoire," because historically, the A&R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly.
These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave. Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well.
There are several reasons A&R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be "hip" to the current musical "scene." A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences.
The A&R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than an idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company. Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it.
When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him and he's on their side. Remember that great, gig I saw you at in '85? Didn't we have a blast.
By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody "baby." After meeting "their" A&R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, "He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us." And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired.
These A&R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or "deal memo," which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on.
The best part is the record label actually doesn't pay for that video. In the end, they are like a bank taking a risk on an artist. If the artist doesn't make any money for them, then the artist gets nothing and the label takes a loss. On the other hand, if the artist makes money, they only make it after their label debt is repaid, generally in full and sometimes with interest.
In short, the artist you just mentioned is going to have to make back 150,000 instead of 20,000 before they start to make money, + the cost to engineer the album and market it, etc.
It's a really bad deal. Read this for more info:
http://www.arancidamoeba.com/mrr/problemwithmusi c. html
Enough of this crap. Sure, this is "News for nerds..." but this show is for complete nerds. Damn it, quit posting about this show that anyone that actually cares about knows every bit about when its last episode is and has plenty of forums to post on elsewhere. Enough already, it's being cancelled because NO ONE CARES!.
Oddly, those are the exact 3 games my roommate picked up today.
Ridge Racer looks great but it's nothing like GT and a GT game will be out eventually. It's classic for Namco to put out a Ridge Racer upon a system launch. They are usually simple and they demo the systems capability...as if the programmers are making it to learn about the technology.
The puzzle game I haven't played but heard it's supposed to be good. Looked like another Tetris hack and honestly, if I wanted this I would whip out the old b&w gameboy.
MG-Acid is another game that seems to be demoing the system. Nothing new in terms of strategy. Although it may be interesting it is not a must have and will be forgotten within a few months when hopefully a must have game comes out.
My point, the system has promise but I won't be convinced until they really make me run to the store and buy it. It is, after all, a handheld and offers nothing new in terms of technology. Remember that.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm waiting for this guy to throw this in a bag and bring it back to the store and claim it came like this. HAHAHAHA.
I would think "shocking" would be more appropriate. :P
Turn to insults for a spelling error, it's all you have. But after all that we still are left with your terrible idea. You're a moron who doesn't understand responsibility and likes to blame others for their problems when really, the problem is you.
Perhaps you are a lost sheep who needs the great guidance of the government and their political programs to get through the day, but people like me are sick of spending our money on things as stupid as your idea. I don't mind paying taxes, but I do have a problem trying to make stupid people, like yourself, less stupid through terrible programs that uncaring parents wouldn't use in the first place.
As a side note, I am happy to see you recognize my superior intellect but hailing me is not required. I am not a god as you suggest but rather a great mind you should look to for guidance the next time you are confused. I would only appreciate it if you could just try a little harder.
"It's called giving them the tools to make the right decision for them, whatever that decision is."
Shut up. You have no idea what you are saying and sound like a ridicules politician. What "tools" can we give them? You understand, if these parents actually cared about their kids and what they were doing, instead of caring only about themselves and their careers, then these kids wouldn't get these games. It's pathetic parents don't have a clue what their kids are doing.
I'll be damned if I waste more tax money and giving parents "tools" to understand the fucking kids. Pay attention to them! Talk to them! Find out their interests! If they want something, investigate it! It's called the Internet, magazines....calling a store to see what they say! And I don't even have a rug rat!
Morons like you are the types that propose "plans" and giving people "tools". It's garbage.
The only problem is parents who don't give a shit about what their kids do. People that *think* they are good parents but haven't a clue.
When I worked at a game store, parents would call and ask about a game, or come in, or ask to see a magazine...or say they looked this game up on the net and are not sure about it. We would ask them their kids age, let them know what 'M' meant and usually recommend a game with similar style, but for kids.
Go take your plans and tools and piss off. I, and many others, are sick of paying for dip-shit people that don't care about anyone but themselves. Lets maybe spend those tax dollars on people that need it, like the working poor people who would never be able to afford a game in the first place, much less health care for their kids. I'm sick of giving money to fuck heads and their causes because they are too lazy and self centered to do what they should; pay attention to your fucking goddamn, worthless piece of shit, spoiled kids. Excuse my French.
You misread. The "sic" comes before the misspelled word, not after. sheer is indeed a word and spelled correctly. He spelled Addictively wrong, etc.
Citing the theory of relativity, couldn't someone with Parkinsons disease cite prior art, considering they have played a video game?
Then where the hell are people priorities? Keeping a vegetable alive or maybe sending this money to the working poor families and children that need it.
Yes I have logged thousands of hours on video games over 20+ years from the 2600 to PS2 to even the PSP. Yeah, I've played many a game for less than a min and knew they would be great. I looked at and read about many games and knew they would be great. I have also played games and felt they were great and really wanted to buy them....right now! And then found out later they maybe were not so great and I bought it on IMPULSE.
I'm sure Lumines is great, my roommate bought it and I'm sure to play it this week, but as the root post said, he played this game for a min., is addicted and NEEDS the PSP now...for this one game!?..and had no feeling to buy a PSP and this game and drop $300.00 + dollars...right now....that s/he doesn't have! That's called impulse.
When I worked at a video game store, we had a phrase for this. We would pop in a game for someone that usually wouldn't maybe play this type of game or really have a desire to play buy it right now, and we would play it and hype it and make it look all bright, new and shinny. They would just have to have it...now...without any real research, etc. Our phrase was: "Another day, another sucker." Then they would sell it back a week later for a fraction of the price and we could more easily sell it used, over and over again. Not because it was a bad game, in fact it usually was pretty good, but not in that MUST HAVE IT way that something like Super Metroid is. They would get it on IMPULSE and find a week later maybe it's not their game. But it sure did feel new and bright and shinny at the store. This is a common sales technique I suggest you get wise to. Your defense is called "being prudent". It's not hard to deceive someones intuitions for only a moment to get their money.
Exhibit A:
Man, how many copies of South Park on N64 did we sell this way, heh. Looked great and was kind of fun at first. Funny, etc. But in the end it was for hardcore SP fans only.
Exhibit B:
Turok 2 on N64 was great at first. But then you actually tried playing through the log, boring levels and well...we must have sold this game 5 times for each original we had. That's well over $200.00 profit/copy at like at least 20 copies over the course of a few months.
Exhibit C:
The Play Station Pocket. Heh, these little devils were crap but once someone played with one for a min. they wanted it, and in a real bad way. The markup was huge and they were rare but boy were they easy to sell to people who just wandered in to browse the used games. Because it was both rare and surprising to see and *different*, they needed it like they always wanted it. I don't remember how many people said, after signing the credit card slip, "I never thought I would actually own one of these!" Our response was usually something like "Oh, we did.". It's what a salesman does.
"A family is dealing with the certain death of their daughter."
So are millions of people worldwide. Death is a perfectly natural part of life...and apparently synthetic life. I mean really, she's been dead for all intents and purposes and I'm sure the people footing the bill for this worthless experiment are sick of paying for nothing, and they should be. She has no chance to live, it's a waste of money and time and her parents must be nuts if they haven't waited for this day the last 10 years!
I think the only thing sad about this is she's become some kind of martyr for some cause and she is made to die through dehydration and starvation because no one has the balls to blow her head off.
"Until I played Lumines for one minute on a PSP at my local gaming store. The sheer (sic)addictivness of this game alone makes me (sic)desperatly want a PSP..."
Your feelings are confused right now. You're not addicted to a game after playing it for 1 min. The feeling you have is called *impulse* and is the worst feeling a consumer can succumb to.
"Then again, it may have something to do with the fact that the town where the walmart is in ain't that rich... borderline redneck and college students."
When describing the area a Wal-Mart is in, it is implied the general population there is not all too rich and/or consists mainly of rednecks.
I'm not sure I'll ever buy either system. Portable gaming isn't something I must have really. But, on the unlikely chance I do, I think a DS is more innovative. The PSP has a boatload of cool gimmicks (and trust me, my roommate is trying to take advantage of all of them..he doesn't know how he lived without portable anime 2 days ago, heh) but the DS has the 2 screens which can lead to really neat ideas in games, plus the one screen is a touch screen. Also, I've always been about a system that does one thing and tries to do it well. The PSP might really play games well eventually but it's not worth the price. It's substandard as a movie player, MP3 player, etc so I would only buy it for games. It lacks here right now too and even if it didn't, the price is too high I think.
In the end, I think a DS will offer more innovation for game play.
I'm happy to waste your time, loser.
Right on brother. I often find it interesting that the people who handle the most important things (like cash, personal info, etc) are also the lowest paid in just about every company. Amazing this world is.
I worked with a man who was a Marine and had a couple years in the Airforce. He wasn't the "brightest" guy in the world but had a lot of military experience and could talk about it all day. He didn't like UNIX much in the service because he said their equipment didn't work well often. But with the Windows based systems, things worked a lot better and were much easier for soldiers to use. I'm not sure what this has to do with this article but I assume we should listen to these kinds of statements to see how we can make Linux based systems more reliable and easy to use for people that depend on a system they can use under extreme stress and fatigue.
But doesn't this data eventually end up in a database somewhere that is globally accessible? I mean, I worked at a drugstore at one point and kind of peeked at our network setup and it's all TCP/IP with globally available IP's. I'm not sure what happens to the data when it arrives...
OK, your analogy has *some* validity to it, but it's getting way off to the point of nonsense.
My whole point was, and is, if you have a problem with someones process it's because their product is not good. Look at open source code, use it, etc and it works well in many instances. This validates the process is good I think.
And BTW, many mechanics are not idiots. They can drive a car a couple blocks and diagnose a problem quickly and correctly with a transmission. They can then open the tranny and clean it, bore it, or replace the parts they need. They know how to use computers to aid in diagnosis. Good mechanics are not idiots just because they work with their hands.
"I do, however, try to be careful about not letting anyone get information about me they shouldn't and I rarely, if ever, use a credit card online."
If you go to any store or use your credit card just about anywhere, it's on the Internet regardless of if you actually go to a Website to buy something.
When you swipe your card to get groceries, where is that data sent? How does it get there? Through the Internet. It stays on a company database like anywhere else.
I don't use my credit card on "shady" Websites, but I do realize when I use my card just about anywhere, that data is sent over the Internet and into a database somewhere where someone savvy enough could get access to it.
It's for this reason I try and not use my debit card often as if someone takes my credit info and buys things, I'm not responsible for it. they haven't taken any money form me. However, if I use a debit and they take money, then that is money I have lost and it is much harder to get back.
Criticize the process all you want but it works and works well. Look how much great OSS there is. Looking under the hood is the proof it works.
An your analogy is poor as it shadow better if you said:
"That's a little bit like telling a mechanic:"
Is that if you have a problem with it, look under the hood. The keys are right there. Stop spewing stupid "theory" and have a look. Show us what's wrong. It's all there, look! Found anything? Keep looking. In fact, look until you find something...keep looking. Go for it! Found anything yet? No? Hmmm, I would suggest to keep looking actually. What's that, you're tired of looking? You would rather write an aricle about how you bet if you looked hard you would find something? Ok, the look!
Show us what's wrong. It's all there, look! Found anything? Keep looking. In fact, look until you find something...keep looking. Go for it! Found anything yet? No? Hmmm, I would suggest to keep looking actually. What's that, you're tired of looking? You would rather write an aricle about how you bet if you looked hard you would find something? Ok, the look!
Show us what's wrong. It's all there, look! Found anything? Keep looking. In fact, look until you find something...keep looking. Go for it! Found anything yet? No? Hmmm, I would suggest to keep looking actually. What's that, you're tired of looking? You would rather write an aricle about how you bet if you looked hard you would find something? Ok, the look!
The fact that you and a couple other people sent in some change to keep it on air (and failed) is further proof NO ONE CARES.
The show blows and I speculate the few that like it only like it because they are sickly obsessed with anything Star Trek like a crack fiend obsessing over low grade crack. Not because it's good, but because it's all they have in that regard. It doesn't take away form the fact it is low grade crack.
the problem with music
by steve albini
excerpted from Baffler No. 5
Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end, holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed.
Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says, "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim it again, please. Backstroke."
And he does, of course.
I. A&R Scouts
Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an "A&R" rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for "Artist and Repertoire," because historically, the A&R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly.
These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave. Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well.
There are several reasons A&R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be "hip" to the current musical "scene." A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences.
The A&R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than an idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company. Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it.
When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him and he's on their side. Remember that great, gig I saw you at in '85? Didn't we have a blast.
By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody "baby." After meeting "their" A&R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, "He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us." And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired.
These A&R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or "deal memo," which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on.
The best part is the record label actually doesn't pay for that video. In the end, they are like a bank taking a risk on an artist. If the artist doesn't make any money for them, then the artist gets nothing and the label takes a loss. On the other hand, if the artist makes money, they only make it after their label debt is repaid, generally in full and sometimes with interest.
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In short, the artist you just mentioned is going to have to make back 150,000 instead of 20,000 before they start to make money, + the cost to engineer the album and market it, etc.
It's a really bad deal. Read this for more info:
http://www.arancidamoeba.com/mrr/problemwithmus
Enough of this crap. Sure, this is "News for nerds..." but this show is for complete nerds. Damn it, quit posting about this show that anyone that actually cares about knows every bit about when its last episode is and has plenty of forums to post on elsewhere. Enough already, it's being cancelled because NO ONE CARES!.
OK, mods, light me up.
Oddly, those are the exact 3 games my roommate picked up today.
Ridge Racer looks great but it's nothing like GT and a GT game will be out eventually. It's classic for Namco to put out a Ridge Racer upon a system launch. They are usually simple and they demo the systems capability...as if the programmers are making it to learn about the technology.
The puzzle game I haven't played but heard it's supposed to be good. Looked like another Tetris hack and honestly, if I wanted this I would whip out the old b&w gameboy.
MG-Acid is another game that seems to be demoing the system. Nothing new in terms of strategy. Although it may be interesting it is not a must have and will be forgotten within a few months when hopefully a must have game comes out.
My point, the system has promise but I won't be convinced until they really make me run to the store and buy it. It is, after all, a handheld and offers nothing new in terms of technology. Remember that.