So if I make a giant scrotum monster with a phallus beak, and upload it to EA's servers, can I sue them for offering sexually explicit material in an all-ages game?
ah, ahHA HA HA HAAAA!! Woooohoohoohooo! Ho ho ho ho ho, hee hee ha, hooooooo hoooo hoooooooooo...
*wipes a tear from his eye, pauses*....arrrrr har har har haaaarrrhhhhheeeheheheeeehaaaahahahaaaheheheeee!
*snicker* *chuckle*
*clutches stomach*
Oh.... ooooohhhooo hooo... oh, my stomach, it hurts, haahahahahaaa... heh... heh heh...
*gasps for air*
Oh man... that killed me, almost! FINAL fantasy! I've never heard that pun before! OH MY GOD, THAT WAS HILARIOUS! HAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA HEEEEHEHEHE HOO hooo hoooo.... oh man... stop it, you're gonna kill me here....
oh... ohh... oh.... oh man that was priceless. I can't believe no one's ever come up with that pun, especially with that perfectly timed bold text! holy shit... oh man.... *wipes more tears from his face*
This and the pedestrian incidents are just another example vindicating my argument that we as a civilization still haven't progressed beyond our stone age mentalities. Heck, back then, human communities actually took BETTER care of each other than we do now.
Ripley said it best in "Aliens": "I don't know which species is worse. You don't see THEM fucking each other over for a percentage!"
Does the UK have a similar basic right analogous to the US 1st amendment? If so, I'd think that banning the game would be both wrong and against the intent of the law, but providing that it is not sold to minors would probably still be legal.
I personally find the game ridiculous and tasteless, but in the US at least, I'd still fight for Rockstar's right to be able to publish it (and for stores to have to decide whether they wish to carry it).
My caveat is that while the concept of the "Bully" game strikes a little too close to home for me to enjoy, I do actually like the GTA series.
I know. I have weird double-standards in my tastes sometimes.;)
Gaming Horizon seems rather hypocritical on several counts here:
* "I say the ESA needs to take a butcher's knife to the attendance requirements. Unless somebody's occupation deals directly with the videogaming industry (assistant manager at a local GameStop deals indirectly with the industry), you shouldn't get through the doors."
Ironically, I'd venture to guess that most of Gaming Horizon's "staffers" are probably not working for the site as their primary occupation. I'm too lazy to check, given all the other holes in their complaints.
* "No love for the small Press"
Ah, here's the crux of the previous argument; they just want to whine about how IGN, Gamespot, and the other major media sites get preferential treatment over them. Well, I may agree with them, but they should at least title the article "why we hate IGN/Gamespot/Etc.'s special treatment"
* Sexploitation
Oh, sorry GH, I saw the "special event" graphic at the top of your page with the "sexy gaming heroine" pin-up before the text even loaded on your article. So much for the integrity of your complaint on this count, eh?
The rest of the article was ok, but that first page was a little hypocritical, particularly for my taste.;)
You do realize that your response here is every bit as trollish as the one you're responding to? More, actually, as the original actually had content relevant to the article.
Both games are great in different ways; both have outstanding merits on a technical and game design/philosophy level. They are vastly different in style and in their mission: WoW is focused on providing a world for players to play in however they wish, with an emphasis on allowing people to solo up to 60 if they wish, whereas EQ2 continues Sony's tradition of encouraging grouping as people grow in level by making it more and more difficult to solo.
There's nothing wrong with either approach, they're just different philosophies. And no, WoW is not a "kid's" game, unless you are so insecure in your "coolness" that you can't handle something that looks in any way unrealistic or fails to sprout fountains of blood in combat.
Seriously, the times that my work life have been best have been when my personal life is at its most satisfying. Makes work stress easy to deal with because, well, it doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things anymore.
Had a fairly recent breakup due to unfortunate circumstances, and since then, work stress has been getting worse and worse because I don't have a satisfying home life to go home to.
Just because I'm old and embittered compared to the young punks that are now playing video games doesn't mean that I can't appreciate progress.
What's interesting is that I, at 26, usually think of the guys in their low 20's as the "young punks" while *I'm* the old embittered one.;) And many of my friends, in their mid-30's, consider me a young punk gamer.
Perception is everything, eh? =)
Besides, if you're familiar with the GameFAQs audience, you'll know that the largest gamer contingent there is the population of Square fanboys (and girls), with the Nintendo (Zelda in particular) fanboys running a close second.
Based on the GameFAQs demographics as evidenced by their character battles of previous years, I expect to see FF7 make it to the final rounds, and quite possibly grab the victory. Either that or a Zelda game.
You know, while this may seem like a troll comment, I have to admit that with enough wanking, you probably would develop carpal tunnel. Hmmm... guess I need to test that theory out!
"Ack, this isn't a troll. I just don't get what most people see in these movies. I attempted to watch them but unfortunately couldn't make it past the first 20 or 30 minutes of any of them."
"I'm probably not the person to be replying here as my movie tastes typically stray far away from my geek buddies. I'm more of a "Run Lola Run", "Interstate 60", "Natural Born Killers", and anything Tarentino kinda' guy."
I think you answered your own question here.:) You're more of a non-traditional, in-your-face, gritty side of life guy, and the Lord of the Rings films are more traditional, conservative, and romantic (in the literary sense, not the Valentine's Day sense). They're basically an orgy of classical/fantasy fanboyism. Hence why I love them.
You're absolutely right. In fact, it's a horrific failure that their QA testing methods didn't include the following tests:
* Use a time advance function to test every game function for every minute of the next fifteen years * Test every possible button combination on every possible tile location for the player to have their character standing on * Create a character for every possible alphanumericsymbol name combination and play through the entire game with each of them with the aforementioned testing methods to ensure no possible character could become corrupt due to unexpected naming * Hire a man named Mike Hawk to propose a reasonable budget for implementing this QA testing plan, as it is a one hundred percent failure of QA if they cannot test every single possible bug that could theoretically exist in this game.
Yes, we need true visionaries like you running QA departments. I don't know how they get by without you. What possible job are you working where your grand intellect is being wasted?
Indeed. In fact, if Simpsons Road Rage is a ripoff of anything, its gameplay is a blatant ripoff of GTA3. However, most everybody sees it for what it is: a "me too" game that uses the Simpsons license in lieu of the gritty underworld-y feel of GTA3.
If Road Rage were a game strictly consisting of taxi missions where you earned extra money for showing up early and performing crazy stunts, maybe they'd have a case.
But wait, why stop with Simpsons Road Rage? Burnout 2 blatantly copies Crazy Taxi's revolutionary "close call" gameplay system! In Crazy Taxi, you earned extra money by having close shaves with other cars without hitting them, or making big jumps, and so forth. Well, in Burnout 2, your turbo gauge fills up when you perform the exact same moves!
I'm sorry, but even though I had fun with Crazy Taxi, the gameplay system wasn't all that mind-blowingly inventive. I don't think their case has enough basis to be won; at least, I hope it doesn't turn out that they win! This could set an unfortunate precedent; imagine if every game developer can sue another one for making a game that "copies" some element of their game system. We'd never see evolutionary game ideas, since that would be similar enough to warrant a lawsuit.
Games are like movies. Pretty much every original story/idea has been conceived, and anymore it's pretty much just a matter of finding ways to blend old ideas into new mixtures.
Nope, the Grey Havens are definitely in, and are in fact one of PJ's favorite moments in the trilogy (mine too). Gandalf and Bilbo leaving is tough, but when the hobbits realize that Frodo is leaving, that's the killer part.
I expect I probably will cry at that part; stupid as it sounds, I cried at Gandalf's death scene in the first film (knowing he wasn't really dead) and at Boromir's death (I never cared for him in the books, but I loved his character in the film).
First of all, as has been said in every possible opportunity for well-on 3 years now, the scouring was never even filmed. So no, it won't be on the DVD's (I'm not sure where all these people keep coming from that seem to not know this, since it's brought up *every* time an LOTR movie debate gets rolling).
That said, I agree that the Scouring is a very essential part of the story, and it's definitely a disappointment that it will be left out. I just reread the trilogy last month and was reminded how critical the Scouring truly is for the characters and message of the books.
Fortunately though, the last chapter of the story (The Grey Havens) is definitely in, and is allegedly the crux of the trilogy's emotional impact, along with the Crack of Doom.
I personally hope they keep in the part where Frodo and Sam are brought before the king without even having had a chance to change out of their filthy, ragged clothes. That part's always been a favorite of mine since it really hammers home how unreal it is for the two hobbits after their ordeal.
Basically, SWG has to conform to Lucas's vision, and based on what we've seen in the movies, that means that the odds are more likely that once there are "enough" jedis, people will start unlocking Ewok slots instead of Force-sensitive slots.
And who's going to pay for an Ewok character auction on Ebay?;)
We've had one game similar to this released in the US: Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast. It was the one that was best played with the maracas that could be purchased as an accessory instead of the standard DC controller.
Samba de Amigo was a blast, and it says something that it is well-night impossible to find the maracas for purchase anywhere.
Sure, the game may not have sold as much as many others, but having what must be relatively near a 100% sales rate on the maracas should give pause to the nay-sayers.
Even better; I guess being "flamebait" was overrated. =D I can see my karma now, being flushed down the tubes like an unwanted human battery in the matrix.
Well, I can't believe I'm going to bite, but I'll do it anyway.;)
See, Tolkien's wizards were probably loosely based upon the mythical wizards from his time: Merlin and others of his ilk.
Back in the myths, wizards were defined more by their long age, wisdom, and foresight.
Modern fantasy literature defines wizards as those who wield flashy special effects and blow shit up. Not that I mind flashy methods of blowing up stuff.;)
Basically, modern fantasy has done to wizards what Star Wars has done to space movies: more flashiness, less subtlety.
Again, I'm not ripping on the wizards of Raistlin's ilk, just pointing out how Lord of the Rings is more of a classical fantasy (if such a thing exists). I love it and am absolutely pleased with how the books have translated to film.
That said, I'd love to see a well-done film adaptation of the Dragonlance stories as well!
Slashdot Mirror
So if I make a giant scrotum monster with a phallus beak, and upload it to EA's servers, can I sue them for offering sexually explicit material in an all-ages game?
heh... heh heh...
....arrrrr har har har haaaarrrhhhhheeeheheheeeehaaaahahahaaaheheheeee!
/sarcasm
ah, ahHA HA HA HAAAA!! Woooohoohoohooo! Ho ho ho ho ho, hee hee ha, hooooooo hoooo hoooooooooo...
*wipes a tear from his eye, pauses*
*snicker* *chuckle*
*clutches stomach*
Oh.... ooooohhhooo hooo... oh, my stomach, it hurts, haahahahahaaa... heh... heh heh...
*gasps for air*
Oh man... that killed me, almost! FINAL fantasy! I've never heard that pun before! OH MY GOD, THAT WAS HILARIOUS! HAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA HEEEEHEHEHE HOO hooo hoooo.... oh man... stop it, you're gonna kill me here....
oh... ohh... oh.... oh man that was priceless. I can't believe no one's ever come up with that pun, especially with that perfectly timed bold text! holy shit... oh man.... *wipes more tears from his face*
Oh, wait...
This and the pedestrian incidents are just another example vindicating my argument that we as a civilization still haven't progressed beyond our stone age mentalities. Heck, back then, human communities actually took BETTER care of each other than we do now.
Ripley said it best in "Aliens": "I don't know which species is worse. You don't see THEM fucking each other over for a percentage!"
Does the UK have a similar basic right analogous to the US 1st amendment? If so, I'd think that banning the game would be both wrong and against the intent of the law, but providing that it is not sold to minors would probably still be legal.
;)
I personally find the game ridiculous and tasteless, but in the US at least, I'd still fight for Rockstar's right to be able to publish it (and for stores to have to decide whether they wish to carry it).
My caveat is that while the concept of the "Bully" game strikes a little too close to home for me to enjoy, I do actually like the GTA series.
I know. I have weird double-standards in my tastes sometimes.
Gaming Horizon seems rather hypocritical on several counts here:
;)
* "I say the ESA needs to take a butcher's knife to the attendance requirements. Unless somebody's occupation deals directly with the videogaming industry (assistant manager at a local GameStop deals indirectly with the industry), you shouldn't get through the doors."
Ironically, I'd venture to guess that most of Gaming Horizon's "staffers" are probably not working for the site as their primary occupation. I'm too lazy to check, given all the other holes in their complaints.
* "No love for the small Press"
Ah, here's the crux of the previous argument; they just want to whine about how IGN, Gamespot, and the other major media sites get preferential treatment over them. Well, I may agree with them, but they should at least title the article "why we hate IGN/Gamespot/Etc.'s special treatment"
* Sexploitation
Oh, sorry GH, I saw the "special event" graphic at the top of your page with the "sexy gaming heroine" pin-up before the text even loaded on your article. So much for the integrity of your complaint on this count, eh?
The rest of the article was ok, but that first page was a little hypocritical, particularly for my taste.
You do realize that your response here is every bit as trollish as the one you're responding to? More, actually, as the original actually had content relevant to the article.
Both games are great in different ways; both have outstanding merits on a technical and game design/philosophy level. They are vastly different in style and in their mission: WoW is focused on providing a world for players to play in however they wish, with an emphasis on allowing people to solo up to 60 if they wish, whereas EQ2 continues Sony's tradition of encouraging grouping as people grow in level by making it more and more difficult to solo.
There's nothing wrong with either approach, they're just different philosophies. And no, WoW is not a "kid's" game, unless you are so insecure in your "coolness" that you can't handle something that looks in any way unrealistic or fails to sprout fountains of blood in combat.
Preach it, yo!
Seriously, the times that my work life have been best have been when my personal life is at its most satisfying. Makes work stress easy to deal with because, well, it doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things anymore.
Had a fairly recent breakup due to unfortunate circumstances, and since then, work stress has been getting worse and worse because I don't have a satisfying home life to go home to.
Just because I'm old and embittered compared to the young punks that are now playing video games doesn't mean that I can't appreciate progress.
What's interesting is that I, at 26, usually think of the guys in their low 20's as the "young punks" while *I'm* the old embittered one. ;) And many of my friends, in their mid-30's, consider me a young punk gamer.
Perception is everything, eh? =)
Besides, if you're familiar with the GameFAQs audience, you'll know that the largest gamer contingent there is the population of Square fanboys (and girls), with the Nintendo (Zelda in particular) fanboys running a close second.
Based on the GameFAQs demographics as evidenced by their character battles of previous years, I expect to see FF7 make it to the final rounds, and quite possibly grab the victory. Either that or a Zelda game.
Indeed, but Ice Age was done by Blue Sky Studios and Fox Animation Studios, not Pixar/Disney.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is for wankers
You know, while this may seem like a troll comment, I have to admit that with enough wanking, you probably would develop carpal tunnel. Hmmm... guess I need to test that theory out!
"Ack, this isn't a troll. I just don't get what most people see in these movies. I attempted to watch them but unfortunately couldn't make it past the first 20 or 30 minutes of any of them."
"I'm probably not the person to be replying here as my movie tastes typically stray far away from my geek buddies. I'm more of a "Run Lola Run", "Interstate 60", "Natural Born Killers", and anything Tarentino kinda' guy."
I think you answered your own question here. :) You're more of a non-traditional, in-your-face, gritty side of life guy, and the Lord of the Rings films are more traditional, conservative, and romantic (in the literary sense, not the Valentine's Day sense). They're basically an orgy of classical/fantasy fanboyism. Hence why I love them.
You're absolutely right. In fact, it's a horrific failure that their QA testing methods didn't include the following tests:
* Use a time advance function to test every game function for every minute of the next fifteen years
* Test every possible button combination on every possible tile location for the player to have their character standing on
* Create a character for every possible alphanumericsymbol name combination and play through the entire game with each of them with the aforementioned testing methods to ensure no possible character could become corrupt due to unexpected naming
* Hire a man named Mike Hawk to propose a reasonable budget for implementing this QA testing plan, as it is a one hundred percent failure of QA if they cannot test every single possible bug that could theoretically exist in this game.
Yes, we need true visionaries like you running QA departments. I don't know how they get by without you. What possible job are you working where your grand intellect is being wasted?
Well, I certainly feel sheepish now. You are correct, I got the Simpsons games mixed up. ;)
Indeed. In fact, if Simpsons Road Rage is a ripoff of anything, its gameplay is a blatant ripoff of GTA3. However, most everybody sees it for what it is: a "me too" game that uses the Simpsons license in lieu of the gritty underworld-y feel of GTA3.
If Road Rage were a game strictly consisting of taxi missions where you earned extra money for showing up early and performing crazy stunts, maybe they'd have a case.
But wait, why stop with Simpsons Road Rage? Burnout 2 blatantly copies Crazy Taxi's revolutionary "close call" gameplay system! In Crazy Taxi, you earned extra money by having close shaves with other cars without hitting them, or making big jumps, and so forth. Well, in Burnout 2, your turbo gauge fills up when you perform the exact same moves!
I'm sorry, but even though I had fun with Crazy Taxi, the gameplay system wasn't all that mind-blowingly inventive. I don't think their case has enough basis to be won; at least, I hope it doesn't turn out that they win! This could set an unfortunate precedent; imagine if every game developer can sue another one for making a game that "copies" some element of their game system. We'd never see evolutionary game ideas, since that would be similar enough to warrant a lawsuit.
Games are like movies. Pretty much every original story/idea has been conceived, and anymore it's pretty much just a matter of finding ways to blend old ideas into new mixtures.
Actually, there IS a Lord of the Rings miniatures collectible, just came out recently.
Hideous minis on these absurdly large bases, too. Blech.
Nope, the Grey Havens are definitely in, and are in fact one of PJ's favorite moments in the trilogy (mine too). Gandalf and Bilbo leaving is tough, but when the hobbits realize that Frodo is leaving, that's the killer part.
I expect I probably will cry at that part; stupid as it sounds, I cried at Gandalf's death scene in the first film (knowing he wasn't really dead) and at Boromir's death (I never cared for him in the books, but I loved his character in the film).
First of all, as has been said in every possible opportunity for well-on 3 years now, the scouring was never even filmed. So no, it won't be on the DVD's (I'm not sure where all these people keep coming from that seem to not know this, since it's brought up *every* time an LOTR movie debate gets rolling).
That said, I agree that the Scouring is a very essential part of the story, and it's definitely a disappointment that it will be left out. I just reread the trilogy last month and was reminded how critical the Scouring truly is for the characters and message of the books.
Fortunately though, the last chapter of the story (The Grey Havens) is definitely in, and is allegedly the crux of the trilogy's emotional impact, along with the Crack of Doom.
I personally hope they keep in the part where Frodo and Sam are brought before the king without even having had a chance to change out of their filthy, ragged clothes. That part's always been a favorite of mine since it really hammers home how unreal it is for the two hobbits after their ordeal.
In the interview with one of the producers on IGN, they stated that before making announcements, they had to get approval from Lucasarts.
Basically, SWG has to conform to Lucas's vision, and based on what we've seen in the movies, that means that the odds are more likely that once there are "enough" jedis, people will start unlocking Ewok slots instead of Force-sensitive slots.
And who's going to pay for an Ewok character auction on Ebay? ;)
We've had one game similar to this released in the US: Samba de Amigo for the Dreamcast. It was the one that was best played with the maracas that could be purchased as an accessory instead of the standard DC controller.
Samba de Amigo was a blast, and it says something that it is well-night impossible to find the maracas for purchase anywhere.
Sure, the game may not have sold as much as many others, but having what must be relatively near a 100% sales rate on the maracas should give pause to the nay-sayers.
Just a note to consider: They banned 400k _accounts_. However, for Battle.net, accounts != users.
I know many people who have multiple accounts. Heck, there's been times I forgot what my old account was and simply made a new one.
It's likely that far, far fewer than 400k users were affected by this.
Even better; I guess being "flamebait" was overrated. =D I can see my karma now, being flushed down the tubes like an unwanted human battery in the matrix.
Well, I can't believe I'm going to bite, but I'll do it anyway. ;)
;)
See, Tolkien's wizards were probably loosely based upon the mythical wizards from his time: Merlin and others of his ilk.
Back in the myths, wizards were defined more by their long age, wisdom, and foresight.
Modern fantasy literature defines wizards as those who wield flashy special effects and blow shit up. Not that I mind flashy methods of blowing up stuff.
Basically, modern fantasy has done to wizards what Star Wars has done to space movies: more flashiness, less subtlety.
Again, I'm not ripping on the wizards of Raistlin's ilk, just pointing out how Lord of the Rings is more of a classical fantasy (if such a thing exists). I love it and am absolutely pleased with how the books have translated to film.
That said, I'd love to see a well-done film adaptation of the Dragonlance stories as well!
You know, first I wondered why I was modded down.
;)
Then, after reading your reply, I realized that someone probably figured they'd prove me right.
Now THAT's funny!
Or, as the modding on my post turned out, you could get labelled as "flamebait" for making fun of yourself.
Yeesh. Flamebait? How the heck did being silly and making fun of myself get rated as flamebait?!
Actually, Quicktime starts playing the movie before it's fully downloaded... on my Windows machine.
;)
Not a Mac-exclusive feature.