It *might* have had more to do with the fact that the GC has less RAM (24M) and less to do with the slower RAM (which I honestly don't know whether it does or doesn't)
But I could see that if they could store less level data at a time, they would need to load more often (and hence have slower cars)... but of course the general solution for that sort of thing is just to lower texture res. or something for GC, not to ditch the whole project!
Yeah, that's a damn good point... unfortunately I'm just a lowly programmer and insanely far removed from the PR process that creates the website:) (I believe the whole thing was farmed out to somebody, anyway).
There are quite a few previews out there, but all of them are based off of some old build, or the demo (which is quite old- 'round January). You might as well just spend the $4 on the demo and play it yourself, it seems silly to read a review based on a demo to me...
But anyway, I think the original point was that Psi-Ops hasn't been getting any E3 mentions at all (and I agree with it wholeheartedly- I probably search harder than anyone, and I've yet to turn up any actual show floor impressions in my searching). I'm not sure why that is.
Perhaps, as AltaMannen pointed out, it's part of the Midway curse- until this year, I would agree that besides MK:DA (which I loved) Midway has not put out a good game in years. But, if you bother to look at anything at all recent, you'd see we are on track to turn that completely around. We've released 2 games this year, and both (IMHO) are fantastic. I'm not personally a huge fan of The Suffering, just not my genre... but neither is basketball, however Ballers has become one of favorite games- particularly in a party-type situation. Both games are very different from anything Midway's put out recently... and, I daresay, anything anybody's put out, for that matter.
Psi-Ops is going to be hugely different- it provides a style of gameplay that is completely new. Telekenisis as a weapon has not been done like this before- I don't care if you played Legacy of Kain or Gallerians or whatever else you think has "done it before", you haven't experienced a play mechanic like this, period. That should at least count for something- either way, it's totally ignorant to discount a game and/or an entire company forever because they had a down period, no matter how long. Things change, companies change... particularly when they get a new CEO!
Anyway, I'm not really sure where I'm going with all of this anymore... so... yeah, sorry the website is flash-only =D
We've had to fight like hell (and spend a lot of money) to get that coverage- it's nearly impossible to put out new IP these days without getting drowned in "killer sequels".
And the game has earned the praise it's gotten, thank you very much.
Hell yeah! I'm a programmer on the Psi-Ops team, and I have been a bit bummed about the lack of coverage- particularly since everyone, press or otherwise, who saw the game at E3 seemed blown away!:/
<Plug>Well, like he said, get the demo and try for yourself:D</Plug>
This is not 100% true. Midway's trying to break away from the mold this year- check out their upcoming titles. The Suffering just came out- yes, the survival horror genre is a bit tired, but this one is at least trying to differentiate itself by being more action-oriented, having a branching plotline, other characters to interact with, meaningful decisions to make, etc.
Ballers is coming up soon- I've played it, and I can say it's like no other game I've really played before- like the previews keep saying, it plays like a fighting game/basketball hybrid of some sort.
And, last but certainly not least- coming up later in the year is Psi-Ops, which (ahem) is going to be fantastic:). But, seriously, it is a new IP with a completely new idea and (especially) a completely new play mechanic. There is no other game out there that plays like Telekenisis (the primary weapon in this game) plays. The closest thing I've seen is HL2's "magnet gun", but that is more of an engine show-off gimmick than an actual gameplay element.
Anyway, point being it makes me sad to see this constant claim of no innovation in the industry when I feel like there are people out there trying to innovate. It's not their faul that, at the end of the day, innovation may not actually be what the public wants!
You only think you can tell... [blahblahblah]...
People who know what they are doing don't look down on others and say things like "they don't know as much as they think they do."
Hm. I can't help but notice the humor here. And by humor I mean "the fact that you are a complete and total hypocritical asshole"
Honestly, how can you smack this guy down for claiming he knows something about what other people do right after you've presumed to know all about his job and what he knows or doesn't know?
You are a tool, my friend, in every sense of the word. And your attitude completely betrays the truth of this statement... you're very bitter about your tool status. Sorry. Maybe next life!
This one, however, is not. You can't even read the things at all without a special drive, so I don't really see how this will be that useful for pirating games...
Actually, to get down and technical about it, the guy was her boyfriend and (I believe) it wasn't actually implied that he was the father of the child. If he was, I'm guessing he would be on trial as well.
That being said, I totally agree with PK_ERTW- either you're ready or you're not, regardless of age. She was obviously not, it's sad her child had to pay the price.
I never said this game had any sort of religious experience or deeper meaning. "Synesthesia" isn't some wacked out new age BS, it's simply a combination of one or more senses. This game will do that, whether or not you beleive it.
At any rate, there is something special about Rez. The designers sought to create a game that wasn't about getting from one end to the other or shooting everything in sight.
You may be an experienced gamer, you may have bought this and many other games and played them to death. Enjoyed it, I'm sure. But that doesn't mean you got out of them what the designer intended, nor does it mean you are any kind of expert on them or know everything there is to know about them. The fact that you think you do makes you more of a destructive force for these games than someone who outright hated them.
LOL. I managed to play the game and get the hardest ending... yet I missed the point entirely? Erm, no.
Right, because the point to a game is always beating it. I'm sure you're the Rez Master, pal.
And how on earth does the music tie up to the visuals? The only way it changes is when you shoot those square blocks - the background changes and the music speeds up a bit. How does that tie in with anything?
Everything in this game is tied to the music- that's one of the main concepts of the game. Every moving element in the environment has rhythms and patterns associated with it, both aurally and visually. For instance, each enemy class has unique sounds for each of their actions (such as shooting, approaching, evading, death) and the player has unique sounds depending on form (exp. level, basically). The enemies appear in sets that correspond with an overall rhythm that fits in with the rest of the environment. There is no music in this game- the "music" is just the multiplexed stream of sounds generated by the actions of elements in the game (including the player) and a simple ambient background track. If you play the game such that you are in sync with the beat of the level, and with the overall harmony of the area you are in, your actions will produce much more pleasant music. If you just shoot everything you see like you were playing Space Harrier, you get a collection of beeps and boops each time you hit X. But you can still beat the game that way, so what's the point, right?
Oh good God. Please, that is such bullshit.
Or unmitigated ignorance on your part, whichever makes you feel better.
At what point did I say that it was nothing special?
Perhaps not in so many words, but you'll forgive me if I interpreted "it isn't original at all" or "It's a very basic game" as being roughly equivalent to "nothing special". Or "[it's] merely... an on-rails shooter", for that matter. Of course, you've already established that we have very different opinions about the meaning of "special", so maybe this is a silly argument.
Eh? I have already said that I think it is a great game, so what are babbling on about?
I'm "babbling on" about the point of this entire discussion. Most people are like you- they play games, they beat them, they see no further value. This is why games are completely uncreative and why producers keep churning out sequels: it's all people care about. Anything above and beyond that is lost on the unappreciative masses.
Or, I'm just stomping my feet in a tantrum, whatever. We can have a little flame war if you really want, but I've played this game and I feel there's more to it than you're giving it credit for. You're not about to change my mind on this- I was only offering a differing opinion in case there are others out there who aren't so close-minded as you.
BS! You may have played the game til the end, but you missed the point entirely. As did nearly everyone, probably including Sega themselves. Or, at least, their American arm. This game received zero marketing and publicity in the U.S. (I don't know about Japan)
This game is an interactive work of art- I can't think of another game that even attempted this, let alone pulled it off as well as Rez.
The graphics in the game are simply amazing. Based (loosly- think art + Tron) on the abstractstylings of Kandisky, the game manages to translate art into a simplified digital form in a way that is, at times, breathtaking. And then, having the music (and, to a lesser degree, the vibration) tied into the visuals, all of which are hooked up to a feedback loop through you, the player... well, it all adds up to what they call it: synestaesia. If you haven't experienced this while playing Rez, then you haven't experienced the game at all.
Anyway, it's the totally ignorant view of the majority that Rez is "just another rail shooter" and that there's "nothing special" about it. If that's all you want to put into it, that's all you're going to get out of it. If you're open to it, it can be an experience like no other game you've played.
If not, go back to playing Tux Racer or whatever it is that you consider original and STFU!
I know you were joking (the metamod told me!) but seriously, this is the exact kind of crap that would make this book a good read for an introvert. At the very least, we need some reconciliation for all the years of these kinds of BS statements we've been subjected to.
In other words, the only problem with being an introvert is that you have to live your life being told (by extroverts) that there's something wrong with you and you need to change!
Fully agree! Best Star Wars game ever. It certainly addresses all of the complaints in the review (since it's, you know, a real game and not MO, it's all about the content.)
And, yes, you do get party members to control, despite what the poster below says.
I've played the game for about 12 hours now, and I'm looking very much forward to the next 50 or so I'm sure I'll put into it. I don't have to deal with idiot duelists, spamming l33t speakers, down servers, or monthly fees. If only they could churn out games of this quality as fast as I can play them...
Not to sound harsh on Galaxies- if there was no monthly fee and it was a console game (yeah, I know i'm dreaming) I'd be all over it. I played it a bit, it seems incredibly cool, but it's just not worth paying a monthly fee when I can enjoy my couch and my big-ass TV and a much more entertaining (IMO) game for a flat fee.
I happen to not be a zealot, as I imagine you can tell:) I like Windows only for the application support, and because I used to be a Windows developer, so I can quickly whip up apps when I need to. Really, I'd love to leave it behind. But, if I were to, I'd leave it being for a Mac, to be honest.
But, even still, I think I have the same utopian ideas that most Linuxheads do- in a perfect world, I'd love to see a standardized, open-source operating system that is simply the system. It runs identically on any number of processors (though ideally that would be standardized as well) and all software is written for that OS. Today, when you decide on a computer to buy, your first decision is not really the computer- it's the OS. This is totally backwards! We should be able to purchase a computer without having to investigate and purchase software that makes that computer actually useful. It should be part of the system, free, and ready to go.
But, unfortunately, that's not the world we live in. But, like you said, people are evolving. I just hope they evolve quickly enough to push this movement forward before it gets killed by capitalism and a psychotically out-of-control legal system...
why? windows isn't any easier to use than linux, so how exactly is this a factor? Easier for the ignorant to setup and administer
Well, first off, you'd have to ask "why" of the companies in question. But, if you really want me to take a guess, here goes. Joe artist's team of designers can order 4 G5's from Apple or PCs from Dell, they will arrive ready to use. They could probably pop in a Photoshop disc and be up and running, all of them, in day. Without a single one of them needing to be experts, or even non-ignorant, of the operating system. Why? Because those OS's are designed for those kinds of people- the ignorant kind, as you put it.
While the same may apply to purchasing and setting up a group of pcs with some distro of Linux on it (and I'm sure you will argue this to be true), I don't believe it, neither does your average computer user, and especially neither does your average artist. It's too intimidating right now, mostly thanks to the very same zealots that are now pushing for it to be "the" desktop platform.
And, no, I'm not saying that Linux's relative unpopularity is the reason it's not popular, though you could read it that way. Even if there is a distro of Linux out there right now that is 100% as usable as Windows, it will take a long time for the general public, particularly the non tech-heads, to buy that. The term "Linux" is too closely bound to computer geeks and techies. It will need to shake that unfortunate stigmata before it gains any kind of acceptance. Just my 2c.
On linux you can actually lock down the machine so that users cannot install apps
Do you think there are any Linux users out there that would actually pay for Photoshop?
My guess is the number of pirated copies of a Linux-ported PS would far outweigh the number of copies actually purchased. I mean how many people, really, would say "Hmmmm... I could use the GIMP for free, but I'd rather pay hundreds of dollars for Photoshop!" And, as for corporate use- I don't think Photoshop is keeping anybody tied to Windows. If they were going to go anywhere else for their Photoshop needs, it would be a Mac, and not to Linux. Linux is way not ready for your average artist. If companies are using Photoshop on Windows, there's probably a good (or not so good) reason for it, and it certainly has nothing to do with the unavailability of Photoshop on Linux!
Maybe I'm wrong, but this is exactly the kind of thing Adobe would consider before porting it. They're in business to make money, after all...
Re:Why not just buy an Ipaq
on
Garmin iQue 3600
·
· Score: 2, Informative
This is pretty accurate:) I did this with my iPaq + the dual slot PC card backback. One card was for a 5GB hard drive (for the maps- well, the maps and 4.5G of MP3s) the other was for the GPS. It was wholly unweilding and not really good for anything but in-card navigation.
Also, in case anyone was wondering, PocketPC WMP sucks for playing large amounts of music. By "Large" I mean "more than 10 tracks".
It's called firmware Kyle. It's a chip that'll only let you take the set ammount of pics before disabling itself.
Yeah, but you can delete pictures, Stan! I was thinking the exact same thing- $10 for a 2 megapixel digital camera, even without an LCD that's a damn bargain!
Slashdot Mirror
It *might* have had more to do with the fact that the GC has less RAM (24M) and less to do with the slower RAM (which I honestly don't know whether it does or doesn't)
But I could see that if they could store less level data at a time, they would need to load more often (and hence have slower cars)... but of course the general solution for that sort of thing is just to lower texture res. or something for GC, not to ditch the whole project!
My 2c/random guessing.
Yeah, that's a damn good point... unfortunately I'm just a lowly programmer and insanely far removed from the PR process that creates the website :) (I believe the whole thing was farmed out to somebody, anyway).
There are quite a few previews out there, but all of them are based off of some old build, or the demo (which is quite old- 'round January). You might as well just spend the $4 on the demo and play it yourself, it seems silly to read a review based on a demo to me...
But anyway, I think the original point was that Psi-Ops hasn't been getting any E3 mentions at all (and I agree with it wholeheartedly- I probably search harder than anyone, and I've yet to turn up any actual show floor impressions in my searching). I'm not sure why that is.
Perhaps, as AltaMannen pointed out, it's part of the Midway curse- until this year, I would agree that besides MK:DA (which I loved) Midway has not put out a good game in years. But, if you bother to look at anything at all recent, you'd see we are on track to turn that completely around. We've released 2 games this year, and both (IMHO) are fantastic. I'm not personally a huge fan of The Suffering, just not my genre... but neither is basketball, however Ballers has become one of favorite games- particularly in a party-type situation. Both games are very different from anything Midway's put out recently... and, I daresay, anything anybody's put out, for that matter.
Psi-Ops is going to be hugely different- it provides a style of gameplay that is completely new. Telekenisis as a weapon has not been done like this before- I don't care if you played Legacy of Kain or Gallerians or whatever else you think has "done it before", you haven't experienced a play mechanic like this, period. That should at least count for something- either way, it's totally ignorant to discount a game and/or an entire company forever because they had a down period, no matter how long. Things change, companies change... particularly when they get a new CEO!
Anyway, I'm not really sure where I'm going with all of this anymore... so... yeah, sorry the website is flash-only =D
We've had to fight like hell (and spend a lot of money) to get that coverage- it's nearly impossible to put out new IP these days without getting drowned in "killer sequels".
And the game has earned the praise it's gotten, thank you very much.
Hell yeah! I'm a programmer on the Psi-Ops team, and I have been a bit bummed about the lack of coverage- particularly since everyone, press or otherwise, who saw the game at E3 seemed blown away! :/
:D</Plug>
<Plug>Well, like he said, get the demo and try for yourself
This is not 100% true. Midway's trying to break away from the mold this year- check out their upcoming titles. The Suffering just came out- yes, the survival horror genre is a bit tired, but this one is at least trying to differentiate itself by being more action-oriented, having a branching plotline, other characters to interact with, meaningful decisions to make, etc.
:). But, seriously, it is a new IP with a completely new idea and (especially) a completely new play mechanic. There is no other game out there that plays like Telekenisis (the primary weapon in this game) plays. The closest thing I've seen is HL2's "magnet gun", but that is more of an engine show-off gimmick than an actual gameplay element.
Ballers is coming up soon- I've played it, and I can say it's like no other game I've really played before- like the previews keep saying, it plays like a fighting game/basketball hybrid of some sort.
And, last but certainly not least- coming up later in the year is Psi-Ops, which (ahem) is going to be fantastic
Anyway, point being it makes me sad to see this constant claim of no innovation in the industry when I feel like there are people out there trying to innovate. It's not their faul that, at the end of the day, innovation may not actually be what the public wants!
A funny bone?
Hm. I can't help but notice the humor here. And by humor I mean "the fact that you are a complete and total hypocritical asshole"
Honestly, how can you smack this guy down for claiming he knows something about what other people do right after you've presumed to know all about his job and what he knows or doesn't know?
You are a tool, my friend, in every sense of the word. And your attitude completely betrays the truth of this statement... you're very bitter about your tool status. Sorry. Maybe next life!
Blah blah blah I have nothing useful to say.
Can the M$-bashing idiots stay on topic for a change?
(/offtopic)
This one, however, is not. You can't even read the things at all without a special drive, so I don't really see how this will be that useful for pirating games...
But what if his supermodel wife does? Lord knows she's got nothing better to do all day... well, except for the pool boy, of course.
Actually, to get down and technical about it, the guy was her boyfriend and (I believe) it wasn't actually implied that he was the father of the child. If he was, I'm guessing he would be on trial as well.
That being said, I totally agree with PK_ERTW- either you're ready or you're not, regardless of age. She was obviously not, it's sad her child had to pay the price.
I was going to try to respond to this, but I think I like "assface" better.
Assface.
I never said this game had any sort of religious experience or deeper meaning. "Synesthesia" isn't some wacked out new age BS, it's simply a combination of one or more senses. This game will do that, whether or not you beleive it.
At any rate, there is something special about Rez. The designers sought to create a game that wasn't about getting from one end to the other or shooting everything in sight.
You may be an experienced gamer, you may have bought this and many other games and played them to death. Enjoyed it, I'm sure. But that doesn't mean you got out of them what the designer intended, nor does it mean you are any kind of expert on them or know everything there is to know about them. The fact that you think you do makes you more of a destructive force for these games than someone who outright hated them.
Right, because the point to a game is always beating it. I'm sure you're the Rez Master, pal.
Everything in this game is tied to the music- that's one of the main concepts of the game. Every moving element in the environment has rhythms and patterns associated with it, both aurally and visually. For instance, each enemy class has unique sounds for each of their actions (such as shooting, approaching, evading, death) and the player has unique sounds depending on form (exp. level, basically). The enemies appear in sets that correspond with an overall rhythm that fits in with the rest of the environment. There is no music in this game- the "music" is just the multiplexed stream of sounds generated by the actions of elements in the game (including the player) and a simple ambient background track. If you play the game such that you are in sync with the beat of the level, and with the overall harmony of the area you are in, your actions will produce much more pleasant music. If you just shoot everything you see like you were playing Space Harrier, you get a collection of beeps and boops each time you hit X. But you can still beat the game that way, so what's the point, right?
Or unmitigated ignorance on your part, whichever makes you feel better.
Perhaps not in so many words, but you'll forgive me if I interpreted "it isn't original at all" or "It's a very basic game" as being roughly equivalent to "nothing special". Or "[it's] merely
I'm "babbling on" about the point of this entire discussion. Most people are like you- they play games, they beat them, they see no further value. This is why games are completely uncreative and why producers keep churning out sequels: it's all people care about. Anything above and beyond that is lost on the unappreciative masses.
Or, I'm just stomping my feet in a tantrum, whatever. We can have a little flame war if you really want, but I've played this game and I feel there's more to it than you're giving it credit for. You're not about to change my mind on this- I was only offering a differing opinion in case there are others out there who aren't so close-minded as you.
BS! You may have played the game til the end, but you missed the point entirely. As did nearly everyone, probably including Sega themselves. Or, at least, their American arm. This game received zero marketing and publicity in the U.S. (I don't know about Japan)
This game is an interactive work of art- I can't think of another game that even attempted this, let alone pulled it off as well as Rez.
The graphics in the game are simply amazing. Based (loosly- think art + Tron) on the abstract stylings of Kandisky, the game manages to translate art into a simplified digital form in a way that is, at times, breathtaking. And then, having the music (and, to a lesser degree, the vibration) tied into the visuals, all of which are hooked up to a feedback loop through you, the player... well, it all adds up to what they call it: synestaesia. If you haven't experienced this while playing Rez, then you haven't experienced the game at all.
Anyway, it's the totally ignorant view of the majority that Rez is "just another rail shooter" and that there's "nothing special" about it. If that's all you want to put into it, that's all you're going to get out of it. If you're open to it, it can be an experience like no other game you've played.
If not, go back to playing Tux Racer or whatever it is that you consider original and STFU!
Yes, let's hope they learned from that mistake!
Though my eyes are in need of a good bleeding...
I'll take that bet!
Seriously, the last thing Nintendo's going to do right now is take a gamble on some insane new technology.
But I could be wrong(tm)
(Offtopic)
I know you were joking (the metamod told me!) but seriously, this is the exact kind of crap that would make this book a good read for an introvert. At the very least, we need some reconciliation for all the years of these kinds of BS statements we've been subjected to.
In other words, the only problem with being an introvert is that you have to live your life being told (by extroverts) that there's something wrong with you and you need to change!
Fully agree! Best Star Wars game ever. It certainly addresses all of the complaints in the review (since it's, you know, a real game and not MO, it's all about the content.)
And, yes, you do get party members to control, despite what the poster below says.
I've played the game for about 12 hours now, and I'm looking very much forward to the next 50 or so I'm sure I'll put into it. I don't have to deal with idiot duelists, spamming l33t speakers, down servers, or monthly fees. If only they could churn out games of this quality as fast as I can play them...
Not to sound harsh on Galaxies- if there was no monthly fee and it was a console game (yeah, I know i'm dreaming) I'd be all over it. I played it a bit, it seems incredibly cool, but it's just not worth paying a monthly fee when I can enjoy my couch and my big-ass TV and a much more entertaining (IMO) game for a flat fee.
True, true.
:) I like Windows only for the application support, and because I used to be a Windows developer, so I can quickly whip up apps when I need to. Really, I'd love to leave it behind. But, if I were to, I'd leave it being for a Mac, to be honest.
I happen to not be a zealot, as I imagine you can tell
But, even still, I think I have the same utopian ideas that most Linuxheads do- in a perfect world, I'd love to see a standardized, open-source operating system that is simply the system. It runs identically on any number of processors (though ideally that would be standardized as well) and all software is written for that OS. Today, when you decide on a computer to buy, your first decision is not really the computer- it's the OS. This is totally backwards! We should be able to purchase a computer without having to investigate and purchase software that makes that computer actually useful. It should be part of the system, free, and ready to go.
But, unfortunately, that's not the world we live in. But, like you said, people are evolving. I just hope they evolve quickly enough to push this movement forward before it gets killed by capitalism and a psychotically out-of-control legal system...
Well, first off, you'd have to ask "why" of the companies in question. But, if you really want me to take a guess, here goes. Joe artist's team of designers can order 4 G5's from Apple or PCs from Dell, they will arrive ready to use. They could probably pop in a Photoshop disc and be up and running, all of them, in day. Without a single one of them needing to be experts, or even non-ignorant, of the operating system. Why? Because those OS's are designed for those kinds of people- the ignorant kind, as you put it.
While the same may apply to purchasing and setting up a group of pcs with some distro of Linux on it (and I'm sure you will argue this to be true), I don't believe it, neither does your average computer user, and especially neither does your average artist. It's too intimidating right now, mostly thanks to the very same zealots that are now pushing for it to be "the" desktop platform.
And, no, I'm not saying that Linux's relative unpopularity is the reason it's not popular, though you could read it that way. Even if there is a distro of Linux out there right now that is 100% as usable as Windows, it will take a long time for the general public, particularly the non tech-heads, to buy that. The term "Linux" is too closely bound to computer geeks and techies. It will need to shake that unfortunate stigmata before it gains any kind of acceptance. Just my 2c.
You can do that on Windows, too, by the way.
Do you think there are any Linux users out there that would actually pay for Photoshop?
My guess is the number of pirated copies of a Linux-ported PS would far outweigh the number of copies actually purchased. I mean how many people, really, would say "Hmmmm... I could use the GIMP for free, but I'd rather pay hundreds of dollars for Photoshop!" And, as for corporate use- I don't think Photoshop is keeping anybody tied to Windows. If they were going to go anywhere else for their Photoshop needs, it would be a Mac, and not to Linux. Linux is way not ready for your average artist. If companies are using Photoshop on Windows, there's probably a good (or not so good) reason for it, and it certainly has nothing to do with the unavailability of Photoshop on Linux!
Maybe I'm wrong, but this is exactly the kind of thing Adobe would consider before porting it. They're in business to make money, after all...
This is pretty accurate :) I did this with my iPaq + the dual slot PC card backback. One card was for a 5GB hard drive (for the maps- well, the maps and 4.5G of MP3s) the other was for the GPS. It was wholly unweilding and not really good for anything but in-card navigation.
Also, in case anyone was wondering, PocketPC WMP sucks for playing large amounts of music. By "Large" I mean "more than 10 tracks".