Xbox appears to be doing the one thing that has kept me going back to Playstation systems. I bought a Playstation for Final Fantasy VII, and I bought a PS2 for Final Fantasy X (and Timesplitters 2). I like in-depth RPG's and now with KOTOR, along with the up-and-coming Fable, it appears the Xbox is starting to release games that are designed with nice RPG gameplay, along with some new features as well. This game, and IGN's review only give me another good reason to purchase an Xbox somewhere down the road. Not to mention Halo, and Halo 2. IGN reviewed Galaxies in a somewhat negative fashion and did not beat around the bush when revealing that Galaxies has been somewhat disappointing after expectations. I've trusted most of their reviews up to this point so I definitely take notice when they give a game a 10 in any category and a 9.5 overall.
Given my lack of insight into the general opinion of women on just about anything, I want to avoid making statements about what I think most girls want to see in video games. I'll just speak from what I have seen in my own experience. When I was younger the girls I grew up around seemed to like playing games like Super Mario Brothers, and some of the earlier Nintendo titles, though they still didn't like to play them as much as most of the guys I knew. As video games progressed, I think somewhere around the time of the Genesis, Playstation, and the Nintendo 64 I noticed a sharp decline in interest among the girls I knew. Now, however, I'm beginning to see even more interest among the girls I know than ever before. Just last weekend I played a 8 person round of Halo, and two of the players were female. I also know a few girls who seem to enjoy Diablo 2 very much. So although I think the popularity of video games among females in the past has been rather low, I would dare say that the popularity among women is growing everyday. I agree with some of the previous postings also in that, if we want to see more female game players, we need to see more female game designers.
A few things I'd be curious to know is how a girl's attitude towards video games is affected based on how her boyfriend (past or present) treats his video game playing compared to how he treats her. I think it's fairly obvious that different (possibly on a more personal level) things discourage a girl from playing video games than those that would discourage a guy from playing it. Again, I don't want to get too far into making broad statements like that.
Anyway, I think the question itself is very interesting and would love to see some female slashers post their opinions.
Doesn't appear to be that obvious to me. You're assuming that its obvious to me that that was supposed to be a joke. It's not like people don't say those kinds of things seriously around this place.
All in all I'm pretty interested to hear about the results of this experiment. I believe there is a strong need to analyze the effect some games of today have on children.
One thing I'd like looked at is the effect video games have on pre-existing characteristic flaws. I don't think that a video game can create a characteristic that doesn't already exist in some form or another. A bad or violent temper, for example, is a fault that many of us have and something as non-violent as MLB 2003 could bring that out. If we're not taught to control our temper then it won't matter what game we're playing.
It's fairly safe to say that video games don't cause negative behavior but some certainly don't help. Just like a lot of other things people can grow up around. The question I have is whether or not game developers want to be part of the solution or part of the problem. I also would like to see just how active parents are in observing the kinds of games their kids are playing. Parents have the responsibility to filter the content their children are exposed to as best they can. I wonder if that will be factored into the experiment as well.
Heh, a coworker once called me a socialist for saying that Reagan wasn't the greatest president that ever lived. So I guess if you don't like Reagan, you must be a socialist! I love the logic of Republicans.
You just made a massive assumption about Republicans based on one person's statement. Who's the one with the funny logic?
In my experience, the options are to either wait a couple weeks for the "newness" to die down and then try and grab a copy at ebay. When a game is as fresh and as popular as Frozen Throne is though, you'll probably be best off picking it up from a local shop or, as you mentioned grabbing it from ebgames.com. I mean if you're going to have to pay $35 for it anyway, might as well get whatever else extra that you can.
I've posted this link before, but just to second the comment. In May, 44,300 units of the PS2 were sold. At $179 a pop, that would mean a cool $7.9 million in revenue for May alone. Granted, the revamped PS2 has sparked a new interest in the machine but still, if that's poor sales numbers, I can't imagine what good numbers would be. If you ask me I think Sony has milked everything they could and more out of a technically inferior console. The Asian video-game market may be many things, but it certainly isn't in its early stages.
I'll have to agree. It just doesn't seem like FPS games are going to cut it in Japan. Sales numbers seem to indicate they love in-depth plots and customizable features that come along with the RPG genre. One game that may garner popularity is Fable. This game is supposed to be very RPG user friendly and may provide a needed boost to a weak genre in the Xbox game lineup. It may also benefit Microsoft to attempt to get games like Soul Calibur 2, and Virtua Fighter 4, which are both again plot driven, and highly customizable fighting games.
Regardless it remains true that lowering the console price will likely not increase Xbox sales. They can't make Japan accept the Microsoft way, they're going to have to adapt to the Japanese way. Fortunately for Microsoft, they're the only console that could afford the type of trial and error phases that the Xbox is going through. The only question is, how much longer can they do it?
Being a Christian, I'm not necessarily offended (IMHO), however I don't really think it would be very beneficial. Reading Scripture has taught me that God is never someone I could emulate so a game which allows me to exact judgement ("unleash the twelve plagues on Egypt") wouldn't really be edifying nor would it teach me how I am to live as a Christian. I have no governmental or divine authority to pass judgement of any sort, so practicing it on a video game probably wouldn't be beneficial. I understand that video games are all about pretending to be someone you aren't, but for my own personal life, I'd rather not pretend to be God. Philippians 2 teaches that even though Christ was in His very nature, God, He didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped but rather humbled himself as a servant. As a Christian I desire to emulate Christ, and if Christ didn't consider equality with God something to be attained, then neither will I.
Scripture does teach us to be Christ-like, so I suppose from that point of view, the aspect of performing the miracles He performed is not completely far fetched. The book of Acts portrayed disciples such as Paul performing miracles, but Scripture also reveals that it wasn't Paul himself, but the Holy Spirit through Paul. Paul was just a willing servant to what God was doing through him.
Basically, though I do appreciate the effort to introduce a Biblical game to the market, I don't think the game would be edifying for a Christian for the reasons above and many others. The final decision is between the gamer and God. I just thought I'd offer a Christian's perspective.
...can be seen at IGN's monthly article "Gaming Life In Japan". Every month they release hardware and software sales for what are considered the major gaming consoles in Japan. Take a look at what was presented in June's article. The numbers are quite disturbing for Microsoft, though I'm sure that disappoints all the Open Source fans out there.;)
Hardware Sales in Japan:
PS2: 44,300 (1,397,700)
Game Boy Advance SP: 31,800 (1,116,900 this year)
Game Boy Advance: 6,900 (890,800)
GameCube: 1,900 (284,800)
PSOne: 910 (42,800)
Xbox: 770 (58,00)
Swan Crystal: 320 (23,200)
I don't know which is funnier:
The fact that the PSOne outsold the Xbox during May, or the fact that this isn't the first time it has happened.
Now that is uncalled for. His ramblings are petty to say the least, but to turn this racial, and start attacking him personally is completely unnecessary. I understand that in a general way he has attacked you just by the community you are associated with, but he has not attacked you personally, and certainly with nothing as invading as finding your personal information, or displaying humiliating remarks about your wife...assuming you have one. Completely unnecessary post. Not to mention the fact that you're hiding behind an anonymous posting. Just plain cowardly post all around.
Just because a company is defending its intellectual property doesn't always mean it is being cynical, greedy, or petty. Granted, it is usually a safe assumption. But considering the almost identical similarities between FreeCraft and WC2, Blizzard's actions are understandable. Doesn't necessarily make them a greedy corporation.
You are coming from a point of view which you truly believe in. I am coming from a rather point of view based in FACT.
If you want someone to speak about FACT:
FACT, I got WC3 the day it came out.I registered on Battle.net the day it came out with an alias and a junk email account which I use to register at websites. (Which, by the way, is a highly recommend course of action these days if you read many spam prevention tips, so it's not like that particular tactic is farfetched or unheard of.)
FACT I have played WC3 on battle.net to this day without problems or bugs that have degraded my gameplay experience or forced me to put the game on the shelf.
FACT The cost of WC3 is comparable to that of Neverwinter Nights, or Everquest, which charge you a montly fee to play online, while Battle.net charges you know such fee.
FACT Neither me nor the other people I know who HAVE gone through this experience, have the problems you are describing. So this isn't just a statement of belief on my part but it is also a statement of FACT.
WC3 was a piece of bloated buggy crap. (wouldn't even install correctly on two different boxes) And that was $50.00 a pop at COSTCO! The support was crap, and then battle.net won't let you logon (even with the right password.) They have too god damn much personal information about those using Bnet.
I've seen WC3 successfully and painlessly installed under three different operating systems on my own computer and my friends computers who have their own copy. Battle.net registration only requested an email address, a name, a userid and a password. The name can be an alias such as the one I used the email address is a spam account I keep. I've logged onto battle.net plenty of times successfully and have set up games with friends all over the US. I think we're having a difference in experiences here, but as far as I'm concerned WC3 was a great game, and for a free gaming server, battle.net is great.
Though, me and a few others have wondered how exactly can they afford it. Well, they've done it so far, and I'd rather not look this particular gift horse in the mouth.
We may see a change come World of Warcraft. Perhaps that game like many other MMORPG's will have a monthly fee to play online. Only time will tell.
If anyone wants a one stop place to go and read various reviews and comments about the beta test. Head over to IGN's Star Wars Vault. This place is loaded with reviews, screenshots...and so forth.
Again, this isn't about right or wrong. It's about something I've seen that I don't like. It's an observation, a trend that I don't like. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I just don't like it. Some people like squash, I don't. Are they wrong for liking squash, no. Some corporations consider return on investment before everything, I'd like it if that weren't the case. Call me an idealist, a dreamer, whatever. I was simply pointing out something that I see that I don't like and if I had the opportunity to run a corporation I hope I'd run it differently.
Again, you mention freshman economics courses. I've had the economics course and a few other economics courses. All they've shown me is that a company needs a profit to exist, not that they exist to make a profit. Profit can be a means to an end, not just an end. And as you've stated, many corporations have shown that. I'm not going to argue with you on what your economics classes taught you, but that's not what they taught me.
Why do you keep saying stuff like but if they don't want to spend their hard earned money that way that's their right. I completely agree. I didn't say it wasn't their right. I know what their rights are here, I'm not trying to take them away. I just don't like the idea of putting return on investment before everything. I like to see people (and corporations) give simply for the sake of giving. That's just my opinion, an observation. I'm not being judgemental, just stating how I see things differently. If it appears that I am being judgemental then that is a miscommunication due to the sometimes fraudulent portrayal of emotion by typed text.
I have this problem, but not just because of gaming. Doing anything on a computer into late hours can give me sleeping problems. If I'm coding then I'll go to bed thinking about the functions that I wrote that evening and how to tweak them the next day... and so forth.
I've found that the easiest way for me to relax is to read a book. Even if it's a book on coding, reading puts me to sleep quick. So, I don't know if it'll work for anyone else, but I would encourage that you give reading a try before you go to bed. Trying to get to bed a little earlier than usual wouldn't hurt either.:)
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Xbox appears to be doing the one thing that has kept me going back to Playstation systems. I bought a Playstation for Final Fantasy VII, and I bought a PS2 for Final Fantasy X (and Timesplitters 2). I like in-depth RPG's and now with KOTOR, along with the up-and-coming Fable, it appears the Xbox is starting to release games that are designed with nice RPG gameplay, along with some new features as well. This game, and IGN's review only give me another good reason to purchase an Xbox somewhere down the road. Not to mention Halo, and Halo 2. IGN reviewed Galaxies in a somewhat negative fashion and did not beat around the bush when revealing that Galaxies has been somewhat disappointing after expectations. I've trusted most of their reviews up to this point so I definitely take notice when they give a game a 10 in any category and a 9.5 overall.
Given my lack of insight into the general opinion of women on just about anything, I want to avoid making statements about what I think most girls want to see in video games. I'll just speak from what I have seen in my own experience. When I was younger the girls I grew up around seemed to like playing games like Super Mario Brothers, and some of the earlier Nintendo titles, though they still didn't like to play them as much as most of the guys I knew. As video games progressed, I think somewhere around the time of the Genesis, Playstation, and the Nintendo 64 I noticed a sharp decline in interest among the girls I knew. Now, however, I'm beginning to see even more interest among the girls I know than ever before. Just last weekend I played a 8 person round of Halo, and two of the players were female. I also know a few girls who seem to enjoy Diablo 2 very much. So although I think the popularity of video games among females in the past has been rather low, I would dare say that the popularity among women is growing everyday. I agree with some of the previous postings also in that, if we want to see more female game players, we need to see more female game designers.
A few things I'd be curious to know is how a girl's attitude towards video games is affected based on how her boyfriend (past or present) treats his video game playing compared to how he treats her. I think it's fairly obvious that different (possibly on a more personal level) things discourage a girl from playing video games than those that would discourage a guy from playing it. Again, I don't want to get too far into making broad statements like that.
Anyway, I think the question itself is very interesting and would love to see some female slashers post their opinions.
who said this world was governed by logic?
Doesn't appear to be that obvious to me. You're assuming that its obvious to me that that was supposed to be a joke. It's not like people don't say those kinds of things seriously around this place.
All in all I'm pretty interested to hear about the results of this experiment. I believe there is a strong need to analyze the effect some games of today have on children.
One thing I'd like looked at is the effect video games have on pre-existing characteristic flaws. I don't think that a video game can create a characteristic that doesn't already exist in some form or another. A bad or violent temper, for example, is a fault that many of us have and something as non-violent as MLB 2003 could bring that out. If we're not taught to control our temper then it won't matter what game we're playing.
It's fairly safe to say that video games don't cause negative behavior but some certainly don't help. Just like a lot of other things people can grow up around. The question I have is whether or not game developers want to be part of the solution or part of the problem. I also would like to see just how active parents are in observing the kinds of games their kids are playing. Parents have the responsibility to filter the content their children are exposed to as best they can. I wonder if that will be factored into the experiment as well.
Heh, a coworker once called me a socialist for saying that Reagan wasn't the greatest president that ever lived. So I guess if you don't like Reagan, you must be a socialist! I love the logic of Republicans.
You just made a massive assumption about Republicans based on one person's statement. Who's the one with the funny logic?
In my experience, the options are to either wait a couple weeks for the "newness" to die down and then try and grab a copy at ebay. When a game is as fresh and as popular as Frozen Throne is though, you'll probably be best off picking it up from a local shop or, as you mentioned grabbing it from ebgames.com. I mean if you're going to have to pay $35 for it anyway, might as well get whatever else extra that you can.
but notes the $35 price as "..a bit steep for an expansion pack."
I don't know, considering the amount of content they have introduced into this expansion pack, I don't see the price as being too steep at all, IMHO.
None of his friends used OS/2 so nobody used it. I guess nobody uses mainframes either, and the Internet was invented 10 years ago...by Al Gore.
I've posted this link before, but just to second the comment. In May, 44,300 units of the PS2 were sold. At $179 a pop, that would mean a cool $7.9 million in revenue for May alone. Granted, the revamped PS2 has sparked a new interest in the machine but still, if that's poor sales numbers, I can't imagine what good numbers would be. If you ask me I think Sony has milked everything they could and more out of a technically inferior console. The Asian video-game market may be many things, but it certainly isn't in its early stages.
I'll have to agree. It just doesn't seem like FPS games are going to cut it in Japan. Sales numbers seem to indicate they love in-depth plots and customizable features that come along with the RPG genre. One game that may garner popularity is Fable. This game is supposed to be very RPG user friendly and may provide a needed boost to a weak genre in the Xbox game lineup. It may also benefit Microsoft to attempt to get games like Soul Calibur 2, and Virtua Fighter 4, which are both again plot driven, and highly customizable fighting games.
Regardless it remains true that lowering the console price will likely not increase Xbox sales. They can't make Japan accept the Microsoft way, they're going to have to adapt to the Japanese way. Fortunately for Microsoft, they're the only console that could afford the type of trial and error phases that the Xbox is going through. The only question is, how much longer can they do it?
Being a Christian, I'm not necessarily offended (IMHO), however I don't really think it would be very beneficial. Reading Scripture has taught me that God is never someone I could emulate so a game which allows me to exact judgement ("unleash the twelve plagues on Egypt") wouldn't really be edifying nor would it teach me how I am to live as a Christian. I have no governmental or divine authority to pass judgement of any sort, so practicing it on a video game probably wouldn't be beneficial. I understand that video games are all about pretending to be someone you aren't, but for my own personal life, I'd rather not pretend to be God. Philippians 2 teaches that even though Christ was in His very nature, God, He didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped but rather humbled himself as a servant. As a Christian I desire to emulate Christ, and if Christ didn't consider equality with God something to be attained, then neither will I.
Scripture does teach us to be Christ-like, so I suppose from that point of view, the aspect of performing the miracles He performed is not completely far fetched. The book of Acts portrayed disciples such as Paul performing miracles, but Scripture also reveals that it wasn't Paul himself, but the Holy Spirit through Paul. Paul was just a willing servant to what God was doing through him.
Basically, though I do appreciate the effort to introduce a Biblical game to the market, I don't think the game would be edifying for a Christian for the reasons above and many others. The final decision is between the gamer and God. I just thought I'd offer a Christian's perspective.
Not that the government couldn't get any info they wanted on us right now as it is.
Microsoft Exec: "Sabotage our system...HA...to do that they'd have to exploit some security flaw in our softwa....oh, wait.
...can be seen at IGN's monthly article "Gaming Life In Japan". Every month they release hardware and software sales for what are considered the major gaming consoles in Japan. Take a look at what was presented in June's article. The numbers are quite disturbing for Microsoft, though I'm sure that disappoints all the Open Source fans out there. ;)
Hardware Sales in Japan:
PS2: 44,300 (1,397,700)
Game Boy Advance SP: 31,800 (1,116,900 this year)
Game Boy Advance: 6,900 (890,800)
GameCube: 1,900 (284,800)
PSOne: 910 (42,800)
Xbox: 770 (58,00)
Swan Crystal: 320 (23,200)
I don't know which is funnier:
The fact that the PSOne outsold the Xbox during May, or the fact that this isn't the first time it has happened.
Here's a link to the actual article, but to give a fair warning, you have to be an IGN Insider to read it.
Thanks for that completely tasteless post.
My mistake. I humbly apologize. Hopefully that doesn't detract too much from the point I was trying to make.
Now that is uncalled for. His ramblings are petty to say the least, but to turn this racial, and start attacking him personally is completely unnecessary. I understand that in a general way he has attacked you just by the community you are associated with, but he has not attacked you personally, and certainly with nothing as invading as finding your personal information, or displaying humiliating remarks about your wife...assuming you have one. Completely unnecessary post. Not to mention the fact that you're hiding behind an anonymous posting. Just plain cowardly post all around.
Just because a company is defending its intellectual property doesn't always mean it is being cynical, greedy, or petty. Granted, it is usually a safe assumption. But considering the almost identical similarities between FreeCraft and WC2, Blizzard's actions are understandable. Doesn't necessarily make them a greedy corporation.
You are coming from a point of view which you truly believe in. I am coming from a rather point of view based in FACT. If you want someone to speak about FACT:
FACT, I got WC3 the day it came out.I registered on Battle.net the day it came out with an alias and a junk email account which I use to register at websites. (Which, by the way, is a highly recommend course of action these days if you read many spam prevention tips, so it's not like that particular tactic is farfetched or unheard of.)
FACT I have played WC3 on battle.net to this day without problems or bugs that have degraded my gameplay experience or forced me to put the game on the shelf.
FACT The cost of WC3 is comparable to that of Neverwinter Nights, or Everquest, which charge you a montly fee to play online, while Battle.net charges you know such fee.
FACT Neither me nor the other people I know who HAVE gone through this experience, have the problems you are describing. So this isn't just a statement of belief on my part but it is also a statement of FACT.
WC3 was a piece of bloated buggy crap. (wouldn't even install correctly on two different boxes) And that was $50.00 a pop at COSTCO! The support was crap, and then battle.net won't let you logon (even with the right password.) They have too god damn much personal information about those using Bnet. I've seen WC3 successfully and painlessly installed under three different operating systems on my own computer and my friends computers who have their own copy. Battle.net registration only requested an email address, a name, a userid and a password. The name can be an alias such as the one I used the email address is a spam account I keep. I've logged onto battle.net plenty of times successfully and have set up games with friends all over the US. I think we're having a difference in experiences here, but as far as I'm concerned WC3 was a great game, and for a free gaming server, battle.net is great.
Though, me and a few others have wondered how exactly can they afford it. Well, they've done it so far, and I'd rather not look this particular gift horse in the mouth.
We may see a change come World of Warcraft. Perhaps that game like many other MMORPG's will have a monthly fee to play online. Only time will tell.
If anyone wants a one stop place to go and read various reviews and comments about the beta test. Head over to IGN's Star Wars Vault. This place is loaded with reviews, screenshots...and so forth.
With all of the naysayers that come out a scrutinize every idea to the 't', it's a wonder we ever get anything done at all.
Again, this isn't about right or wrong. It's about something I've seen that I don't like. It's an observation, a trend that I don't like. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I just don't like it. Some people like squash, I don't. Are they wrong for liking squash, no. Some corporations consider return on investment before everything, I'd like it if that weren't the case. Call me an idealist, a dreamer, whatever. I was simply pointing out something that I see that I don't like and if I had the opportunity to run a corporation I hope I'd run it differently.
Again, you mention freshman economics courses. I've had the economics course and a few other economics courses. All they've shown me is that a company needs a profit to exist, not that they exist to make a profit. Profit can be a means to an end, not just an end. And as you've stated, many corporations have shown that. I'm not going to argue with you on what your economics classes taught you, but that's not what they taught me.
Why do you keep saying stuff like but if they don't want to spend their hard earned money that way that's their right. I completely agree. I didn't say it wasn't their right. I know what their rights are here, I'm not trying to take them away. I just don't like the idea of putting return on investment before everything. I like to see people (and corporations) give simply for the sake of giving. That's just my opinion, an observation. I'm not being judgemental, just stating how I see things differently. If it appears that I am being judgemental then that is a miscommunication due to the sometimes fraudulent portrayal of emotion by typed text.
I have this problem, but not just because of gaming. Doing anything on a computer into late hours can give me sleeping problems. If I'm coding then I'll go to bed thinking about the functions that I wrote that evening and how to tweak them the next day... and so forth. :)
I've found that the easiest way for me to relax is to read a book. Even if it's a book on coding, reading puts me to sleep quick. So, I don't know if it'll work for anyone else, but I would encourage that you give reading a try before you go to bed. Trying to get to bed a little earlier than usual wouldn't hurt either.