I took that to mean make sure the child wasn't being affected by the material. I would agree with not giving younger children such exposure, and they'd probably have just as much fun playing with Ninja Turtles.
Even if the violence levels in today's games are worse, it takes more than a single factor to warp a child's mind. If anyone wants to dispute that, read "Youth Violence: A Report by the Surgeon General" for free online (and then talk to the dozens of doctors involved - what can I say about it without my PhD, other than cite their authority).
If a parent is otherwise good, but doesn't check their child's games, the kid will be fine. My parents had no idea I played Doom, Wolfenstein, Grand Theft Auto 1, etc (I guess my dad had little time to search my harddrive when he was so tired from taking me to the zoo, camping, fishing, etc - and besides, restricting your child too much is going to make them feel bad). A lot of good the ratings would have done them. But I was a kind, timid, and intelligent kid. If a parent knows their child is more prone to being influenced by things like games, they will probably need to be more proactive.
I would think so. The EULA says you cannot modify the game at all, and I can't think of any valid (legal) reason you would need to. The game is compiled with all sorts of security and communications things too, and you cannot legally modify them.
It depends; was Mech Assault a good enough game that you wouldn't mind paying for more content? If, for 50 dollars, they released dozens of maps, a diverse set of game types, and a good environment for multiplayer, then additional content might be worth paying for. If the original felt incomplete, it might be a rip-off. But as others have pointed out, now the game is $25USD or so, and another $5 to complete the game is nothing.
I don't understand what you meant, but Administrator does not have kernel level access, like your parent said. This is obvious when you try to kill certain processes as Administrator, but are not allowed. Of course, Administrator access is enough to still do anything you want on the computer, so the distinction is almost moot.
This is what I like about most other genres: there are extremely difficult but unnecessary quests (characters to collect, items to get, etc), so once you have completed the game, you still have something to look forward to (replay value!). Strategy games and first person shooters don't seem to do that, because they are mostly about multiplayer (however, there are the times when people try to beat each other's times in single player). I can't think of how simulations or puzzle games could implement it well.
I don't know about EQ, but muds generally have monster states. EQ probably has them too, for poisoning, death, paralyzation, etc. If so, it would be much simpler to just add a status for invincibility than hack all the math references. Then they just need to add code to functions that check status and act appropriately (at least in the implementation in my head, that is a decent way of doing it).
Wow, I never even thought about content creation for console games on computers. It certainly does make more sense for the tools to be on the computer, though. Hopefully one day I'll have a ultrathin laptop and a console.
I think developers will really want to get MMORPGs for the consoles soon. Popular, internet-able consoles are becoming a reality; and MMORPGs generate $20*400,000*12 per year, potentially. I should be able to cite FF11 on the PS2 here, but I don't have the info.
Re:And a third-party iPod battery costs... $50.
on
"iPod's Dirty Secret"
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· Score: 1
Given that most people would have replaced batteries in numerous devices by the time the iPod even came out, I don't think it's an entirely accurate comparison to VCR heads (nor the other examples). From a review I read, the process seems basic: "crack open" the case, replace the battery, pop the case on again.
I would think that is expected, but for other reasons. Say you want to design your own car. Despite many design differences you have, it will very likely look like a car, and contain basically the same parts. The same goes for here. But that's what happens when you design something unnecessarily.
I can't vouch for their credibility. But they didn't do the stats themselves, those were collected by the NPD Group (who works for over a thousand companies finding out information). The ESA (apparantly the IDSA is now the ESA, which I didn't know when I wrote my original post) has members which include Microsoft and Nintendo, and it hosts E^3 every year. What do they have to gain from dishonest numbers? Sure, take some of the stats for what they're worth - parents might be inclinded to lie on a couple of questions - but they've only got something to lose when they start messing with gamer preference and gamer population stats. This is a six billion dollar industry.
I found this interesting while I was working on a research project for school. According to the Interactive Digital Software Association, only 3.1% of those who buy computer games are under 18 years old, or 8.4% for video games. Most parents - 65% - think that these games are a positive part of their children's lives. And the most stunning stat is 96% of parents sometimes pay attention to the content of their child's games. These stats come from a pdf hosted by the Entertainment Software Association, but there is probably a similar version of the IDSA's site.
The situtation sounds generally positive to me, despite how many "kids" can supposedly buy violent games.
The CD-R spindles are excellent! I have about 100 discs stored in two 50 CD spindles, when in the past I had a couple bulky fabric cases that didn't stack well. How often do people access discs nowadays; spindles are great!
Knowledge of the alternatives or not, most people barely care about their operating system, so whatever is installed when they buy it is what they stick to.
Vocals aside, there are a couple options that composers can use to produce nice sounding mp3s of their songs. Finale lets you compose on a staff very easily, and it can make midis that sound much better than any that I've heard before. Then there are the trackers, for example Modplug tracker, which can use any samples you wish, and are generally more quick to compose with.
Yeah the P2P analogy is interesting, but it isn't entirely the same. P2P's prime purpose is to share files, whereas wifi's purpose is to allow someone a connection without wires. Maybe that distinction is arbitrary, though. It is simple to add a password...
I realize that the wifi signal pervades property around it, but that only complicates the matter somewhat. Given that these people don't seem to be protecting access, it *could* be comparable to TV/radio signals. But these people have bandwidth and usage limits, which you would be using, still probably without their knowledge (all these networks are put up by default without passwords, so there will be many more that are meant to be private than public). So I would default to saying, "Nope, you can't use it."
I wouldn't have an opinion either way if bandwidth and usage weren't an issue.
I'm getting an portable cd player that plays MP3s and CD-R/CD-RWs for $59CAD in a week or two. That gives me as many hours of music as my battery allows, and more on a single RW disc that I can reuse. Much better than the $440CAD 10GIG iPod, IMO.
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but look at him the first times he plays it...
I took that to mean make sure the child wasn't being affected by the material. I would agree with not giving younger children such exposure, and they'd probably have just as much fun playing with Ninja Turtles.
Even if the violence levels in today's games are worse, it takes more than a single factor to warp a child's mind. If anyone wants to dispute that, read "Youth Violence: A Report by the Surgeon General" for free online (and then talk to the dozens of doctors involved - what can I say about it without my PhD, other than cite their authority).
If a parent is otherwise good, but doesn't check their child's games, the kid will be fine. My parents had no idea I played Doom, Wolfenstein, Grand Theft Auto 1, etc (I guess my dad had little time to search my harddrive when he was so tired from taking me to the zoo, camping, fishing, etc - and besides, restricting your child too much is going to make them feel bad). A lot of good the ratings would have done them. But I was a kind, timid, and intelligent kid. If a parent knows their child is more prone to being influenced by things like games, they will probably need to be more proactive.
I would think so. The EULA says you cannot modify the game at all, and I can't think of any valid (legal) reason you would need to. The game is compiled with all sorts of security and communications things too, and you cannot legally modify them.
It depends; was Mech Assault a good enough game that you wouldn't mind paying for more content? If, for 50 dollars, they released dozens of maps, a diverse set of game types, and a good environment for multiplayer, then additional content might be worth paying for. If the original felt incomplete, it might be a rip-off. But as others have pointed out, now the game is $25USD or so, and another $5 to complete the game is nothing.
I don't understand what you meant, but Administrator does not have kernel level access, like your parent said. This is obvious when you try to kill certain processes as Administrator, but are not allowed. Of course, Administrator access is enough to still do anything you want on the computer, so the distinction is almost moot.
This is what I like about most other genres: there are extremely difficult but unnecessary quests (characters to collect, items to get, etc), so once you have completed the game, you still have something to look forward to (replay value!). Strategy games and first person shooters don't seem to do that, because they are mostly about multiplayer (however, there are the times when people try to beat each other's times in single player). I can't think of how simulations or puzzle games could implement it well.
I don't know about EQ, but muds generally have monster states. EQ probably has them too, for poisoning, death, paralyzation, etc. If so, it would be much simpler to just add a status for invincibility than hack all the math references. Then they just need to add code to functions that check status and act appropriately (at least in the implementation in my head, that is a decent way of doing it).
Remember how important audience is. While you and many other slashdotters might not care about test releases, still more probably do.
I meant content creation for games already built, from a modders point of view.
Wow, I never even thought about content creation for console games on computers. It certainly does make more sense for the tools to be on the computer, though. Hopefully one day I'll have a ultrathin laptop and a console.
I think developers will really want to get MMORPGs for the consoles soon. Popular, internet-able consoles are becoming a reality; and MMORPGs generate $20*400,000*12 per year, potentially. I should be able to cite FF11 on the PS2 here, but I don't have the info.
Would you care to prove that, Doctor?
Given that most people would have replaced batteries in numerous devices by the time the iPod even came out, I don't think it's an entirely accurate comparison to VCR heads (nor the other examples). From a review I read, the process seems basic: "crack open" the case, replace the battery, pop the case on again.
I would think that is expected, but for other reasons. Say you want to design your own car. Despite many design differences you have, it will very likely look like a car, and contain basically the same parts. The same goes for here. But that's what happens when you design something unnecessarily.
I can't vouch for their credibility. But they didn't do the stats themselves, those were collected by the NPD Group (who works for over a thousand companies finding out information). The ESA (apparantly the IDSA is now the ESA, which I didn't know when I wrote my original post) has members which include Microsoft and Nintendo, and it hosts E^3 every year. What do they have to gain from dishonest numbers? Sure, take some of the stats for what they're worth - parents might be inclinded to lie on a couple of questions - but they've only got something to lose when they start messing with gamer preference and gamer population stats. This is a six billion dollar industry.
I found this interesting while I was working on a research project for school. According to the Interactive Digital Software Association, only 3.1% of those who buy computer games are under 18 years old, or 8.4% for video games. Most parents - 65% - think that these games are a positive part of their children's lives. And the most stunning stat is 96% of parents sometimes pay attention to the content of their child's games. These stats come from a pdf hosted by the Entertainment Software Association, but there is probably a similar version of the IDSA's site.
The situtation sounds generally positive to me, despite how many "kids" can supposedly buy violent games.
The CD-R spindles are excellent! I have about 100 discs stored in two 50 CD spindles, when in the past I had a couple bulky fabric cases that didn't stack well. How often do people access discs nowadays; spindles are great!
Knowledge of the alternatives or not, most people barely care about their operating system, so whatever is installed when they buy it is what they stick to.
I think the air being compressed is worse than the friction (unless you consider them to be the same).
Vocals aside, there are a couple options that composers can use to produce nice sounding mp3s of their songs. Finale lets you compose on a staff very easily, and it can make midis that sound much better than any that I've heard before. Then there are the trackers, for example Modplug tracker, which can use any samples you wish, and are generally more quick to compose with.
Yeah the P2P analogy is interesting, but it isn't entirely the same. P2P's prime purpose is to share files, whereas wifi's purpose is to allow someone a connection without wires. Maybe that distinction is arbitrary, though. It is simple to add a password...
I realize that the wifi signal pervades property around it, but that only complicates the matter somewhat. Given that these people don't seem to be protecting access, it *could* be comparable to TV/radio signals. But these people have bandwidth and usage limits, which you would be using, still probably without their knowledge (all these networks are put up by default without passwords, so there will be many more that are meant to be private than public). So I would default to saying, "Nope, you can't use it."
I wouldn't have an opinion either way if bandwidth and usage weren't an issue.
Bah. Doesn't Opera still have a huge, bulky toolbar? And the free version still has ads in it? No thanks.
Or get an equally unobtrusive and effective plug-in for IE. Like this one.
I'm getting an portable cd player that plays MP3s and CD-R/CD-RWs for $59CAD in a week or two. That gives me as many hours of music as my battery allows, and more on a single RW disc that I can reuse. Much better than the $440CAD 10GIG iPod, IMO.