It's also possible to click a box that excludes all places in a Mature region; theoretically, the remaining areas will be PG. Clothing styles can be a little wild, but -really- graphic stuff sticks to mature areas or skyboxes.
Now, if she hates casinos and giant billboards, she might be in a bit more trouble...
(I kid. Second Life is awesome. It's creative potential is truly amazing.)
14-15 is where the final year of junior high school becomes 'exam study crazy time', really. It's less about anime/games becoming frowned upon than it is the kids just don't have time for them anymore.
What usually happens about that time is that kids convert over from more private comic book reading/game playing to more social game playing, as they start to have more freedom from their parents as soon as they hit high school. So it's less about the latest Final Fantasy and more about taiko games and print club at the local amusement plex. There are varying degrees of manga, though, and those -do- continue to be acceptable through all ages, more or less; but you're expected to have a book cover on your manga so nobody knows what you're reading. (Then again, this is the country where it's entirely fine for a middle-aged guy to be reading porn mags on the train. Happens all the time.)
In the last decade or so there was a big shift in Japanese educational attitudes, largely due to kids dropping dead from stress in their schooling years. Believe it or not, it's a lot more relaxed than it used to be, and I know plenty of 20-something Japanese people who sort of float along at part time jobs and spend most of their time on their art/band/hobbies. Some are supported by their parents, but some live in tiny little apartments on their own, since property prices have taken a dive from the all-time highs of the late 80s-early 90s. It happens.
Some guides are worth it not necessarily for having the information a player needs (which can usually be found in FAQs or other online resources) but for the sheer fun of reading them. Morrowind GOTY's strategy is both _really_ useful and frickin' hilarious. It's fun to read. I finished the book before I had even hit level 3, just reading it for fun.
Just like regular publishing, if game guides want to keep up with demand and reach their markets, they have to do more than just diagram quests -- they have to make it entertaining.
The Selbina subjob quest is typically acknowledged to be easier, as Ghouls are more common -- _but_ there's the added problem that it's the more popular of the two quests to do. So the Dunes are usually pretty heavily camped (or was while I was playing) and the other places to run into ghouls tend to be pretty brutal for your average level ~20.
Mirror of Her Dreams would make an excellent movie, actually.
It's just about as complicated as you want it to be, it has plenty of great visual hooks, and the characterizations would be simple enough to adapt into portrayable film versions.
Hmm. Wonder if anyone's got the rights to it.
I beta tested the PS2 version of FFO, and I have to say -- there's nothing nicer than sitting in a comfy chair with a simple USB keyboard and a PS2 controller, whomping monsters. It was great fun. Having played Everquest and DAoC on the PC, I can relate that it was a lot more uncomfortable to do an 8 hour stretch at the keys than 8 hours in my living room.
It's accessible for beginners, and fun. Not to mention the fact that my 2 year old PC can't even break double digits on the FFO benchmark. So yeah, maybe if I shelled out $800 to build a brand new state of the art machine...The graphics would be a little sharper. But who cares? I can have just as much fun with my cheap PS2 and my IKEA armchair with the extra comfy footrest.
...or they might not be interested because skating games are boring as shite.:)
Seriously, though, girls are just people. They all have different tastes. Some people like story games. Some people like sports games. Some people are shooter addicts. Getting girls to play games is really the first step, and once they try one they like, they'll keep buying them. It's not nearly as complicated as most people make it sound.
Uh. The Eastern Pacific Ocean is California. And saying 'darker skin than Americans' is really about as stupid as you can get, since we're a polyglot country filled with people of all varying skintones, including black. (Well, really really dark brown)
And George Hamilton, but he's weird.
Admittedly, I stopped playing UO years ago, but when I was still playing Lord British was still around. It was indeed a celebrity sighting to be running around and suddenly walk right into the -real- Lord British. It was highly cool.
On the Lake Superior server, a bunch of us staged a RP event that lasted for like months, 'The Rebellion of Trinsic'. The city of Trinsic basically seceded from Lord British's realm, citing poor government as the reason. We had rebels in one color, loyalists in another, and we'd run around having engagements and battles and spying on each other and stuff. And big philosophical debates about the nature of kingship and the obligations of rule. It rocked hardcore.
At my uni a few years back, to get on the network required a software installation. (Or so they told every single student coming in.) The ones who were clever enough to realize you didn't actually need it were usually the ones who could figure out how to patch their machines.
Everyone else bought the software kit, which included SSH clients and a nice antivirus kit, which auto-runs the first time it's installed. It seemed to work okay for us.:)
Oddly enough, Final Fantasy XI has exactly that sort of warning on it's opening screen.
Something to the effect 'While we want you to have fun in our world, please remember that spending too much time gaming can be a detriment to your social life of family and friends...' etc.
A little cheesy, but well-meant.:) Ragnorak Online has similar messages on it's loading screens.
Hello. I am female. I play video games.
Both of my sisters play video games. One of them is entrenched in Vice City; the other is replaying Final Fantasy X yet again, mixing it up with some Dark Cloud 2 and Kingdom Hearts. They also share a Civ III addiction that won't be denied.
My roommate not only plays video games, she used to work for a video game company. (Monolith Games, makes of 'Shogo', 'Get Medieval', and 'No One Lives Forever')
Most of my female friends play or have played a video game, whether it be The Sims or Dance Dance Revolution, Quake or Everquest.
So for god's sake, please. Get rid of this idea that only creatures with penises play video games.
Thank you.
The Two Towers was one of the finer action games I played last year; difficult enough that I had to work at it for a while, but quite entertaining.
Personally, I really liked the way they integrated the story of the movies into the game via flashbacks and cut-scenes, and some of the transitions between rendered motion and film was really beautifully done. Not to mention the voice talent was extremely good. And the fact that your prize for completing levels was bonus footage and documentaries from the movie...Count me in for Return of the King.:)
Being a girl gamer, with mostly girl gamer friends, I have to say -- pretty much everyone I know, save for my mom, plays video games.
My 10 and 12 year old girl cousins? Play video games whenever they get the chance. My 16 year old sister? Routinely plays through all of the Final Fantasy games over and over, and has beat Kingdom Hearts three times. My 22 year old sister is a Civ III addict.
Of the six girls in my dorm room cluster, 2 of us were gamers. I'd say a 30% average wasn't too bad.
Though it would be nice if game companies would make games that were a little more interesting, from time to time.:)
It also probably has something to do with the fact that fixing a computer and helping a customer are completely different skill sets.
For one, to help a customer, and do it right, you have to possess some basic social skills. You have to be able to listen, to follow a person's train of thought, to understand what they mean even when they don't know how to say it. Frankly, these are skills most of my extremely geeky friends don't have.
There are two kinds of customer service people out there. The ones that are doing it because they can't find any other jobs, and the ones who do it because they actually kind of like helping people. Guess which ones get more repeat business?
If you look at the course of technological history, when was the last time a -government- came up with a significant advance that pushed us into the future?
Science is pushed by people, not governments; it's made by sleepless cracked engineers in labs at universities or in garages; it's made by the Wright Brothers and Edison and Tesla and Einstein, patent clerks and hackers.
Technology becomes pervasive when Money picks it up and runs with it, to whatever end they might imagine -- and in pursuing their profit, the everyday guy on the street gets ahold of a gizmo and finds a hundred new uses for it.
So yeah. I don't think our next big space jump is going to come from NASA, much as I like them. I think it's going to come from other people, and it'll get big when some businessman or corporation figures out a reason to get involved.
What we do with it after that remains entirely up to us.:)
Not when I was playing, though that was in the beta and it may have changed. The worst they might be able to do is invade en masse and break stuff through overuse, but the lot owner always has the right to boot them off the property and ban them.
So really, it's a threat without any teeth.
This thing's been in development in Japan for quite some time. It was originally supposed to be one of the flagship launches for Xbox LIVE -- a true MMORPG, unlike Phantasy Star Online, which limits you to gaming with a smaller group through established levels.
TFLO is bloody gorgeous, too; it uses a rather sleek cell-shaded design reminiscent of Dark Cloud 2, Level 5's most recent US release. Playing this one with LIVE's voice communication ought to be a lot of fun.
Slashdot Mirror
It's also possible to click a box that excludes all places in a Mature region; theoretically, the remaining areas will be PG. Clothing styles can be a little wild, but -really- graphic stuff sticks to mature areas or skyboxes.
Now, if she hates casinos and giant billboards, she might be in a bit more trouble...
(I kid. Second Life is awesome. It's creative potential is truly amazing.)
14-15 is where the final year of junior high school becomes 'exam study crazy time', really. It's less about anime/games becoming frowned upon than it is the kids just don't have time for them anymore.
What usually happens about that time is that kids convert over from more private comic book reading/game playing to more social game playing, as they start to have more freedom from their parents as soon as they hit high school. So it's less about the latest Final Fantasy and more about taiko games and print club at the local amusement plex. There are varying degrees of manga, though, and those -do- continue to be acceptable through all ages, more or less; but you're expected to have a book cover on your manga so nobody knows what you're reading. (Then again, this is the country where it's entirely fine for a middle-aged guy to be reading porn mags on the train. Happens all the time.)
In the last decade or so there was a big shift in Japanese educational attitudes, largely due to kids dropping dead from stress in their schooling years. Believe it or not, it's a lot more relaxed than it used to be, and I know plenty of 20-something Japanese people who sort of float along at part time jobs and spend most of their time on their art/band/hobbies. Some are supported by their parents, but some live in tiny little apartments on their own, since property prices have taken a dive from the all-time highs of the late 80s-early 90s. It happens.
Man, Princess Maker was the BEST game. I wish they had translated the rest of them into English...
Some guides are worth it not necessarily for having the information a player needs (which can usually be found in FAQs or other online resources) but for the sheer fun of reading them. Morrowind GOTY's strategy is both _really_ useful and frickin' hilarious. It's fun to read. I finished the book before I had even hit level 3, just reading it for fun.
Just like regular publishing, if game guides want to keep up with demand and reach their markets, they have to do more than just diagram quests -- they have to make it entertaining.
The Selbina subjob quest is typically acknowledged to be easier, as Ghouls are more common -- _but_ there's the added problem that it's the more popular of the two quests to do. So the Dunes are usually pretty heavily camped (or was while I was playing) and the other places to run into ghouls tend to be pretty brutal for your average level ~20.
Mirror of Her Dreams would make an excellent movie, actually. It's just about as complicated as you want it to be, it has plenty of great visual hooks, and the characterizations would be simple enough to adapt into portrayable film versions. Hmm. Wonder if anyone's got the rights to it.
I beta tested the PS2 version of FFO, and I have to say -- there's nothing nicer than sitting in a comfy chair with a simple USB keyboard and a PS2 controller, whomping monsters. It was great fun. Having played Everquest and DAoC on the PC, I can relate that it was a lot more uncomfortable to do an 8 hour stretch at the keys than 8 hours in my living room.
It's accessible for beginners, and fun. Not to mention the fact that my 2 year old PC can't even break double digits on the FFO benchmark. So yeah, maybe if I shelled out $800 to build a brand new state of the art machine...The graphics would be a little sharper. But who cares? I can have just as much fun with my cheap PS2 and my IKEA armchair with the extra comfy footrest.
...or they might not be interested because skating games are boring as shite. :)
Seriously, though, girls are just people. They all have different tastes. Some people like story games. Some people like sports games. Some people are shooter addicts. Getting girls to play games is really the first step, and once they try one they like, they'll keep buying them. It's not nearly as complicated as most people make it sound.
Uh. The Eastern Pacific Ocean is California. And saying 'darker skin than Americans' is really about as stupid as you can get, since we're a polyglot country filled with people of all varying skintones, including black. (Well, really really dark brown) And George Hamilton, but he's weird.
Admittedly, I stopped playing UO years ago, but when I was still playing Lord British was still around. It was indeed a celebrity sighting to be running around and suddenly walk right into the -real- Lord British. It was highly cool.
On the Lake Superior server, a bunch of us staged a RP event that lasted for like months, 'The Rebellion of Trinsic'. The city of Trinsic basically seceded from Lord British's realm, citing poor government as the reason. We had rebels in one color, loyalists in another, and we'd run around having engagements and battles and spying on each other and stuff. And big philosophical debates about the nature of kingship and the obligations of rule. It rocked hardcore.
Ah, for the good ol' days.
At my uni a few years back, to get on the network required a software installation. (Or so they told every single student coming in.) The ones who were clever enough to realize you didn't actually need it were usually the ones who could figure out how to patch their machines.
:)
Everyone else bought the software kit, which included SSH clients and a nice antivirus kit, which auto-runs the first time it's installed. It seemed to work okay for us.
Oddly enough, Final Fantasy XI has exactly that sort of warning on it's opening screen. Something to the effect 'While we want you to have fun in our world, please remember that spending too much time gaming can be a detriment to your social life of family and friends...' etc. A little cheesy, but well-meant. :) Ragnorak Online has similar messages on it's loading screens.
Hello. I am female. I play video games. Both of my sisters play video games. One of them is entrenched in Vice City; the other is replaying Final Fantasy X yet again, mixing it up with some Dark Cloud 2 and Kingdom Hearts. They also share a Civ III addiction that won't be denied. My roommate not only plays video games, she used to work for a video game company. (Monolith Games, makes of 'Shogo', 'Get Medieval', and 'No One Lives Forever') Most of my female friends play or have played a video game, whether it be The Sims or Dance Dance Revolution, Quake or Everquest. So for god's sake, please. Get rid of this idea that only creatures with penises play video games. Thank you.
Yeah. That $*#*@&$*# bunny cheats every $&#*&* time.
The Two Towers was one of the finer action games I played last year; difficult enough that I had to work at it for a while, but quite entertaining. Personally, I really liked the way they integrated the story of the movies into the game via flashbacks and cut-scenes, and some of the transitions between rendered motion and film was really beautifully done. Not to mention the voice talent was extremely good. And the fact that your prize for completing levels was bonus footage and documentaries from the movie...Count me in for Return of the King. :)
Being a girl gamer, with mostly girl gamer friends, I have to say -- pretty much everyone I know, save for my mom, plays video games. My 10 and 12 year old girl cousins? Play video games whenever they get the chance. My 16 year old sister? Routinely plays through all of the Final Fantasy games over and over, and has beat Kingdom Hearts three times. My 22 year old sister is a Civ III addict. Of the six girls in my dorm room cluster, 2 of us were gamers. I'd say a 30% average wasn't too bad. Though it would be nice if game companies would make games that were a little more interesting, from time to time. :)
It also probably has something to do with the fact that fixing a computer and helping a customer are completely different skill sets. For one, to help a customer, and do it right, you have to possess some basic social skills. You have to be able to listen, to follow a person's train of thought, to understand what they mean even when they don't know how to say it. Frankly, these are skills most of my extremely geeky friends don't have. There are two kinds of customer service people out there. The ones that are doing it because they can't find any other jobs, and the ones who do it because they actually kind of like helping people. Guess which ones get more repeat business?
According to the recent IGN review, KOTOR kicks supreme ass. Almost enough to make me pick up an Xbox. :)
If you look at the course of technological history, when was the last time a -government- came up with a significant advance that pushed us into the future? Science is pushed by people, not governments; it's made by sleepless cracked engineers in labs at universities or in garages; it's made by the Wright Brothers and Edison and Tesla and Einstein, patent clerks and hackers. Technology becomes pervasive when Money picks it up and runs with it, to whatever end they might imagine -- and in pursuing their profit, the everyday guy on the street gets ahold of a gizmo and finds a hundred new uses for it. So yeah. I don't think our next big space jump is going to come from NASA, much as I like them. I think it's going to come from other people, and it'll get big when some businessman or corporation figures out a reason to get involved. What we do with it after that remains entirely up to us. :)
Not when I was playing, though that was in the beta and it may have changed. The worst they might be able to do is invade en masse and break stuff through overuse, but the lot owner always has the right to boot them off the property and ban them. So really, it's a threat without any teeth.
This thing's been in development in Japan for quite some time. It was originally supposed to be one of the flagship launches for Xbox LIVE -- a true MMORPG, unlike Phantasy Star Online, which limits you to gaming with a smaller group through established levels.
TFLO is bloody gorgeous, too; it uses a rather sleek cell-shaded design reminiscent of Dark Cloud 2, Level 5's most recent US release. Playing this one with LIVE's voice communication ought to be a lot of fun.