Indeed, what the other reply said is the reason. Gaim allows you to connect to many IM services at once, including ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and others as well.
The two other Windows programs I know of that let you do this are Trillian and Miranda IM.
For a very long time, I had used Trillian without hassles. But ever since the freeware version 0.74, they've put in this irritating nag screen that kicks in after about 800 hours of usage and seems to complain everyday thereafter. Needless to say, that was no fun. I would never pay $20 for Trillian for Trillian Pro because I see no advantage to it, and plus I fail to see what Trillian's expenses would be when they merely mooch off of everyone else's network. It seemed morally wrong, you know?
Miranda IM was a decent client and extremely bare bones and resource efficient compared to Trillian. It also supported a fair amount of Trillian functionality. However, the method it used to log communications was sorely archaic. Not only did it log everything, but you also couldn't easily prune the logs or tell it to not log.
I was really happy with Gaim in Linux and, on a whim, searched for it and found a Windows port. The Windows port has the same functionality as the Linux one and it's open-source and completely free, unlike Trillian. And what's more, I think Gaim is better than Trillian in all aspects. It's a shame more people haven't heard about Gaim for Windows. In my opinion, it's really the best multiprotocol client there is.
And let's not forget Yasunori Mitsuda either, the composer for the Chrono series, Xenogears, and Xenosaga. I swear, you listen to the tracks in Chrono Cross and you'd be hard-pressed to believe it's MIDI-based.
Yeesh, no kidding. I haven't heard someone kick and scream so loudly about ctrl-c and ctrl-v before. At least Windows has this support consistent across programs - I've had more than a few weird idiosyncracies between differing Linux programs and cutting/pasting to and from them, though it's much improved with today's distributions than before.
It's hardly an objective review for several reasons. One, a lot of major programs available for Linux are likewise available for Windows. Even though I run Windows XP most of the time, most of the applications are free, open-source alternatives like Gaim, Mozilla, and OpenOffice. These are all nearly effortless to install under Windows. Unless they come as a package or has a nice install script, it's not as quick or easy to install most programs under Linux. But really, he can't complain about Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, or any of those. He has just as much choice as on a Linux system to pick a different program to suit his needs.
He couldn't figure out how to add things to the taskbar. Click and drag. You might have heard of this amazing technique before. Now, admittedly, I think taskbar optimization is a bit easier under Linux (especially under KDE), but let's not kid ourselves - it's not horrendously difficult under Windows.
He complains about forced downloading of patches, which is something you can disable. But let's be honest - critics of Microsoft can't have this both ways. They complain when it pesters the user about updating, and then they complain when people don't update because of the bugs that proliferate. It's circular damned-if-I-do-damned-if-I-don't logic. Dare I say, to fully update a distribution like Red Hat 9.0 takes little over 300 megs worth of downloads. Thankfully, you can save the patches off in both OSes for a later point in time and burn them to CD.
Lastly, he doesn't play computer games, which is perhaps the single greatest reason why people would choose a Windows desktop over a Linux desktop. There just aren't many professional games being written around Linux. Linux mainly gets ports or has to run them through Wine or WineX. Epic Games, at least for UT2003, made the smart move of bundling the Linux version on the Windows CDs (albeit it only worked for NVidia cards and had a clunky install procedure). As time passes, we'll definitely see this trend change, but for now most games are very Windows-centric. There aren't enough Linux users to warrant a store carrying a seperate boxed edition, so what Epic did was the best solution.
For what the writer of the article needs his PC for, Linux is certainly more than enough. It is superb for day-to-day office work, e-mail, and Internet browsing. It is superb as, in general, a desktop operating system. But for the gamer like me, it's hard to switch away from Windows since most games are written for Windows.
I had actually been holding off, waiting for them to announce the details of the PSX. Three weeks ago, I found a coupon and bought a PS2 for $159, which in this price-fixed industry seemed relatively good compared to the $179 MSRP. It's about what a used PS2 cost after all, and yet this was brand-new.
Now that the massive $700-$900 price tag for the PSX has been announced, I'm very happy with my decision. No way in hell I'd pay that much for a console, even if it was a DVD recorder and had a hard drive.
Wel, no doubt Nokia probably did participate in a little payola scheme.
I too am just completely surprised at how the media outlets have taken the N-Gage so seriously. Even GameSpot elevated it to the same level as the other game systems. These people, one would think, should know better. The N-Gage is hopelessly flawed and the butt end of constant jokes. The treatment of the N-Gage as the Second Coming is such a joke.
If anything, Running With Scissors is the kind of group that gives video gaming in general a bad reputation. They can deny that "responsibility" all they want, but they make the software that the politicians point to and complain about. And, one day, the video game industry as a whole will pay for it, just as the comic book industry did decades ago with the "Comics Code Authority."
As you said, there is little substance to the Postal series. It's third-rate at best. It's raison d'etre is purely violence and shock value. There are other violent games to be sure - Doom, Grand Theft Auto 3, take your pick. But those games, dare I say classic games, had good gameplay and a lot of substance. Postal has neither and like Night Trap and other "shock games," it will just fade into obscurity.
I treat this interview as a path into the mindset of a particularly outspoken game designer who creates such third-rate games and tries to defend them the only way he apparently knows how - through shock value.
I don't think two years isn't a particularly short life cycle for a game - particularly a sequel. Final Fantasy VII was made in a matter of months, granted they had a veritable army of people working on it.
Speaking on behalf of Planet Mega Man, yesterday was our grand unveiling of the new site layout. We brought all of the major content back on-line yesterday and, as a result, we experienced "server shock" as it raced to keep up and reallocate its resources. It's fine as of this morning though. We went from having a couple weeks of 100 hits to having just under 4,000 yesterday, so coupled with the Slashdot news matters were complicated for a bit.
I think people sincerely underestimate the power of the Paint Shop Pro series and I was surprised to not see it mentioned on this list of alternatives. Granted, it may be due to the fact that PSP doesn't work under Linux even with Wine.
Sure, I've known many "graphics professionals" who insist on spending $600 for Photoshop, $400 for Illustrator, a grand for the suite. There has always been an irony to me about things such as this - so many starving artists in the world and yet you walk into an art store and everything costs an arm and a leg. Coincidence? Not likely.
To me in art, beign frugal is a virtue.
The professionals can say what they want. But I wield nearly equal power from this $15-on-sale copy of Paint Shop Pro 7. After all, it has the vector editing built right in, so there's no need to run out and buy a second program like Illustrator. And even not on sale, PSP is only $100, which is more than worth it for an app I find myself using everyday.
So the "professionals" can scoff and laugh like they do. They can point out trivial "features" that make Photoshop so superior. They can only save face. After all, it's rather humorous to pay $1,000 to do something a $15 program can do. And even if Paint Shop Pro 7 is missing some oh-so-vital element from Photoshop, it seems comical for someone to use this excuse to justify paying $985 more. I've used both extensively and can't justify it myself.
I couldn't have said it better. Just because an engine is open source does not instantly make it more viable or "better" than a commercial engine you can look at.
What open source needs is not new engines - it needs entire games using those engines with built-in editing and mod features. Show us what can be done. Crystal Space is a few pretty pictures and relies on non-open source software for the most part to build things with it. Cube has no overarching theme that structures it. Show me a comprehensive game with all of the trimmings as a commercial one, and then I will share the parent's sentiment.
I think you'll find that almost all PC games that have lived well beyond their shelf lives have that one crucial element in common - tools for gamers to make their own levels, mods, and so forth. Aside from quality in general, this appears to be essential in distinguishing a game that lives to a ripe old age from one that gets shipped off to the bargain bin in a couple months.
One example I like to point to is Red Faction. Red Faction is not the greatest FPS of all time and its Geo-Mod is gimmicky at best. But, the original Red Faction shipped with a rather comprehensive game editor and, as a result, still has a small but dedicated following. When Red Faction II released, it came with no editor and no multiplayer to speak of. That small community construed this as the metaphorical "slap in the face" and are somewhat venomous towards this new title as a result.
Not surprisingly, Red Faction II is almost at a bargain bin price these days and received little praise from reviewers.
This seems like a stupid question because you're asking us to compare apples to oranges. Not all RPGs are created equal, just as with RTS, FPS, and all of the other genres. Does there even exist a popular game whose Japanese version was produced entirely in Japan and the US version entirely in the US?
When someone speaks of a game genre where length matters, RPGs are the classic example. The US just isn't exactly known for producing the best RPG titles. But likewise, the US has produced many titles that offer greater length in terms of replayability. No one honestly expects a person to play through a Final Fantasy game ten times - but titles like Unreal Tournament and most PC games can be played again and again thanks to robust multiplayer components.
But is that "length"? Again, you are faced with the original dilemma - you're comparing apples to oranges. Specifically, comparing a designer-created "length" to a player-created "length." I would assert this isn't a meaningful comparison.
Oregon in particular does a horrendous job with finances and passes the taxes right down to us. A record-breaking legislative session this year and what do they have to show for it? A sneakily worded tax increase that passes the unsuspecting voters and another tax hike planned for later this year.
Oregon is one example of why voting is a joke. On a regular basis, the state elects to overturn what the voters tell it to do. There is no responsibility these people have to answer to. If you ever watch the proceedings on the local government channel, you'll see that no one cares - $50 million here, $60 million here, oh wait? We have a deficit? Heavens, no! Must work on a new tax! Where's that loophole again?
I can only hope ICANN is smart/brave enough to do this; that VeriSign's days are numbered. VeriSign has been given unbridled power over the DNS system and has thoroughly abused it. They need to go out with the rest of the trash and be replaced by either a new representative or a consortium of users.
What makes VeriSign's scheme so brilliant is that there's really no one we can appeal to. ICANN is just about the only organization that wield some degree of authority over VeriSign. But the average Joe Public can't do anything about it. There's no government official to write, no real way of shutting it off, no one to hear our complaints and take action. VeriSign is in a wonderful position for a fiendish moneymongering company to be in - complete and total control without any supervision.
Someone needs to take them down for the count, and I hope it's not pretty.
Who should I write in the government to complain about Verisign's abuse of power? If I recall correctly, the US government had granted Network Solutions the power to directly control the DNS servers, but NetSol was later bought out by Verisign who has done nothing but abuse its monopoly. Is there some government agency in charge of watching over Verisign; a government computer agency? I feel the need to write someone in power about this. We can patch the problem all we want - the only true solution is to end Verisign's power over the DNS outright.
With the track record most Simpsons games ahve, 8.3 is legendary. The only really good Simpsons game, IMHO, was that "generic" beat-em-up Konami produced for the arcades. Sure, they probably cloned the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles engine and replaced the sprites, but it was a fun game, which is far more than I can say about any of Acclaim's butcherings of the franchise.
I have a gut feeling that the people who are in charge of Simpsons licensing as it applies to video games are out of touch with how well the games do in the market. When the producers of TMNT wanted a new video game to commemorate their resurrection of the series, they faithfully returned to Konami and commissioned them to do it. Why the producers of the Simpsons games continually allowed Acclaim to tarnish their reputation, instead of going back to the only publisher that actually made a good game, is mysterious to me.
The really goofy part about the whole thing is that, as we saw with the Mega Man games in particular, Capcom can count beyond 2. At this point, I have to suspect they realize it's silly to keep it at 2 and do it as an ongoing joke. ^_^
The original poster made it synonymous. I am merely pointing out the fundamental error in that logic. For someone who has worked with peer-to-peer programming like me, it makes me cringe to see people link peer-to-peer to piracy as if the two have an odd, symbiotic relationship. So, you can imagine how I feel about the RIAA's campaign of peer-to-peer = child pornography which threatens to corrode the reputation of peer-to-peer on incorrect basis.
Between that logic and this thread, I am only pointing out a dangerously incorrect assumption.
I would have to disagree. While Final Fantasy VII was not the greatest RPG ever, it created the fanboys we know and loathe. In short, it brought the RPG genre popular acclaim and acceptance. That certainly makes a game influential.
I couldn't have put it any better. The original news post seems to assume that peer-to-peer is synonymous with piracy. As far as that aspect goes, I don't really know the answer. As far as P2P in general goes, we're seeing many widespread uses of the technology. Peer-to-peer allows a user to divide work across several machines rather than concentrating on a powerful, base machine. Such a solution is easily scalable - we can merely add more machines to the network instead of trying to upgrade a central machine to increasingly expensive bleeding-edge technology to keep up. Countless scientific surveys tout the benefits of a peer-to-peer approach compared to a centralized
approach in various applications. In every application? Of course we cannot make such a generalization, but that doesn't make the concept any less valid.
The original asker of the question is short-sighted to assume that the RIAA will end peer-to-peer as a concept. Bottom line: Peer-to-peer is just a method for dividing a workload amongst several machines, not a gateway to piracy. Please don't let the RIAA or anyone clueless argue that peer-to-peer is anything more than what is clearly is.
Strictly speaking, you can find the Power Battles arcade machine in the US, though it is very rare. A MAME-compatible ROM file also shows that the game had full English translation. I've heard reports that you could find this machine at one of the Disney theme parks.
In any case, this is really awesome and unexpected news coming from Capcom. My guess is that this will be a compilation of the Rockman Complete Works that was released in Japan originally for the Playstation. Those versions, which actually released seperately, were exact ports of the original NES Mega Man games with enhanced music. Starting with Mega Man 4, all of the music in a game was remixed. Clearly, this collection will also include Mega Man 7 (SNES) and 8 (PSX/Saturn), so it will be interesting to see what Capcom does with these. In any case, I wouldn't expect to see a substantial graphical enhancement. Capcom had previous tried to make a "Mega Man All-Stars" in the form of their only Sega Genesis offering, and the balancing was entirely off. >_>
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The two other Windows programs I know of that let you do this are Trillian and Miranda IM.
For a very long time, I had used Trillian without hassles. But ever since the freeware version 0.74, they've put in this irritating nag screen that kicks in after about 800 hours of usage and seems to complain everyday thereafter. Needless to say, that was no fun. I would never pay $20 for Trillian for Trillian Pro because I see no advantage to it, and plus I fail to see what Trillian's expenses would be when they merely mooch off of everyone else's network. It seemed morally wrong, you know?
Miranda IM was a decent client and extremely bare bones and resource efficient compared to Trillian. It also supported a fair amount of Trillian functionality. However, the method it used to log communications was sorely archaic. Not only did it log everything, but you also couldn't easily prune the logs or tell it to not log.
I was really happy with Gaim in Linux and, on a whim, searched for it and found a Windows port. The Windows port has the same functionality as the Linux one and it's open-source and completely free, unlike Trillian. And what's more, I think Gaim is better than Trillian in all aspects. It's a shame more people haven't heard about Gaim for Windows. In my opinion, it's really the best multiprotocol client there is.
I don't know how true that is, if he intended to be satirical or not. Certainly, it could be satirical, but I didn't read into it that way.
And let's not forget Yasunori Mitsuda either, the composer for the Chrono series, Xenogears, and Xenosaga. I swear, you listen to the tracks in Chrono Cross and you'd be hard-pressed to believe it's MIDI-based.
It's hardly an objective review for several reasons. One, a lot of major programs available for Linux are likewise available for Windows. Even though I run Windows XP most of the time, most of the applications are free, open-source alternatives like Gaim, Mozilla, and OpenOffice. These are all nearly effortless to install under Windows. Unless they come as a package or has a nice install script, it's not as quick or easy to install most programs under Linux. But really, he can't complain about Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, or any of those. He has just as much choice as on a Linux system to pick a different program to suit his needs.
He couldn't figure out how to add things to the taskbar. Click and drag. You might have heard of this amazing technique before. Now, admittedly, I think taskbar optimization is a bit easier under Linux (especially under KDE), but let's not kid ourselves - it's not horrendously difficult under Windows.
He complains about forced downloading of patches, which is something you can disable. But let's be honest - critics of Microsoft can't have this both ways. They complain when it pesters the user about updating, and then they complain when people don't update because of the bugs that proliferate. It's circular damned-if-I-do-damned-if-I-don't logic. Dare I say, to fully update a distribution like Red Hat 9.0 takes little over 300 megs worth of downloads. Thankfully, you can save the patches off in both OSes for a later point in time and burn them to CD.
Lastly, he doesn't play computer games, which is perhaps the single greatest reason why people would choose a Windows desktop over a Linux desktop. There just aren't many professional games being written around Linux. Linux mainly gets ports or has to run them through Wine or WineX. Epic Games, at least for UT2003, made the smart move of bundling the Linux version on the Windows CDs (albeit it only worked for NVidia cards and had a clunky install procedure). As time passes, we'll definitely see this trend change, but for now most games are very Windows-centric. There aren't enough Linux users to warrant a store carrying a seperate boxed edition, so what Epic did was the best solution.
For what the writer of the article needs his PC for, Linux is certainly more than enough. It is superb for day-to-day office work, e-mail, and Internet browsing. It is superb as, in general, a desktop operating system. But for the gamer like me, it's hard to switch away from Windows since most games are written for Windows.
I had actually been holding off, waiting for them to announce the details of the PSX. Three weeks ago, I found a coupon and bought a PS2 for $159, which in this price-fixed industry seemed relatively good compared to the $179 MSRP. It's about what a used PS2 cost after all, and yet this was brand-new.
Now that the massive $700-$900 price tag for the PSX has been announced, I'm very happy with my decision. No way in hell I'd pay that much for a console, even if it was a DVD recorder and had a hard drive.
I too am just completely surprised at how the media outlets have taken the N-Gage so seriously. Even GameSpot elevated it to the same level as the other game systems. These people, one would think, should know better. The N-Gage is hopelessly flawed and the butt end of constant jokes. The treatment of the N-Gage as the Second Coming is such a joke.
As you said, there is little substance to the Postal series. It's third-rate at best. It's raison d'etre is purely violence and shock value. There are other violent games to be sure - Doom, Grand Theft Auto 3, take your pick. But those games, dare I say classic games, had good gameplay and a lot of substance. Postal has neither and like Night Trap and other "shock games," it will just fade into obscurity.
I treat this interview as a path into the mindset of a particularly outspoken game designer who creates such third-rate games and tries to defend them the only way he apparently knows how - through shock value.
I don't think two years isn't a particularly short life cycle for a game - particularly a sequel. Final Fantasy VII was made in a matter of months, granted they had a veritable army of people working on it.
Speaking on behalf of Planet Mega Man, yesterday was our grand unveiling of the new site layout. We brought all of the major content back on-line yesterday and, as a result, we experienced "server shock" as it raced to keep up and reallocate its resources. It's fine as of this morning though. We went from having a couple weeks of 100 hits to having just under 4,000 yesterday, so coupled with the Slashdot news matters were complicated for a bit.
Sure, I've known many "graphics professionals" who insist on spending $600 for Photoshop, $400 for Illustrator, a grand for the suite. There has always been an irony to me about things such as this - so many starving artists in the world and yet you walk into an art store and everything costs an arm and a leg. Coincidence? Not likely.
To me in art, beign frugal is a virtue.
The professionals can say what they want. But I wield nearly equal power from this $15-on-sale copy of Paint Shop Pro 7. After all, it has the vector editing built right in, so there's no need to run out and buy a second program like Illustrator. And even not on sale, PSP is only $100, which is more than worth it for an app I find myself using everyday.
So the "professionals" can scoff and laugh like they do. They can point out trivial "features" that make Photoshop so superior. They can only save face. After all, it's rather humorous to pay $1,000 to do something a $15 program can do. And even if Paint Shop Pro 7 is missing some oh-so-vital element from Photoshop, it seems comical for someone to use this excuse to justify paying $985 more. I've used both extensively and can't justify it myself.
Not that I'm a "professional" or anything. >_>
Both Adobe Photoshop and a few of Macromedia's products such as Dreamweaver are documented to work via Wine.
Yes, I speak of Console RPGs.
What open source needs is not new engines - it needs entire games using those engines with built-in editing and mod features. Show us what can be done. Crystal Space is a few pretty pictures and relies on non-open source software for the most part to build things with it. Cube has no overarching theme that structures it. Show me a comprehensive game with all of the trimmings as a commercial one, and then I will share the parent's sentiment.
One example I like to point to is Red Faction. Red Faction is not the greatest FPS of all time and its Geo-Mod is gimmicky at best. But, the original Red Faction shipped with a rather comprehensive game editor and, as a result, still has a small but dedicated following. When Red Faction II released, it came with no editor and no multiplayer to speak of. That small community construed this as the metaphorical "slap in the face" and are somewhat venomous towards this new title as a result.
Not surprisingly, Red Faction II is almost at a bargain bin price these days and received little praise from reviewers.
When someone speaks of a game genre where length matters, RPGs are the classic example. The US just isn't exactly known for producing the best RPG titles. But likewise, the US has produced many titles that offer greater length in terms of replayability. No one honestly expects a person to play through a Final Fantasy game ten times - but titles like Unreal Tournament and most PC games can be played again and again thanks to robust multiplayer components.
But is that "length"? Again, you are faced with the original dilemma - you're comparing apples to oranges. Specifically, comparing a designer-created "length" to a player-created "length." I would assert this isn't a meaningful comparison.
Oregon is one example of why voting is a joke. On a regular basis, the state elects to overturn what the voters tell it to do. There is no responsibility these people have to answer to. If you ever watch the proceedings on the local government channel, you'll see that no one cares - $50 million here, $60 million here, oh wait? We have a deficit? Heavens, no! Must work on a new tax! Where's that loophole again?
What makes VeriSign's scheme so brilliant is that there's really no one we can appeal to. ICANN is just about the only organization that wield some degree of authority over VeriSign. But the average Joe Public can't do anything about it. There's no government official to write, no real way of shutting it off, no one to hear our complaints and take action. VeriSign is in a wonderful position for a fiendish moneymongering company to be in - complete and total control without any supervision.
Someone needs to take them down for the count, and I hope it's not pretty.
Who should I write in the government to complain about Verisign's abuse of power? If I recall correctly, the US government had granted Network Solutions the power to directly control the DNS servers, but NetSol was later bought out by Verisign who has done nothing but abuse its monopoly. Is there some government agency in charge of watching over Verisign; a government computer agency? I feel the need to write someone in power about this. We can patch the problem all we want - the only true solution is to end Verisign's power over the DNS outright.
Yeah, I happened to enjoy that one as well. The whole composition of that particular ad really worked, with the little headsets and everything. :)
I have a gut feeling that the people who are in charge of Simpsons licensing as it applies to video games are out of touch with how well the games do in the market. When the producers of TMNT wanted a new video game to commemorate their resurrection of the series, they faithfully returned to Konami and commissioned them to do it. Why the producers of the Simpsons games continually allowed Acclaim to tarnish their reputation, instead of going back to the only publisher that actually made a good game, is mysterious to me.
The really goofy part about the whole thing is that, as we saw with the Mega Man games in particular, Capcom can count beyond 2. At this point, I have to suspect they realize it's silly to keep it at 2 and do it as an ongoing joke. ^_^
Between that logic and this thread, I am only pointing out a dangerously incorrect assumption.
I would have to disagree. While Final Fantasy VII was not the greatest RPG ever, it created the fanboys we know and loathe. In short, it brought the RPG genre popular acclaim and acceptance. That certainly makes a game influential.
The original asker of the question is short-sighted to assume that the RIAA will end peer-to-peer as a concept. Bottom line: Peer-to-peer is just a method for dividing a workload amongst several machines, not a gateway to piracy. Please don't let the RIAA or anyone clueless argue that peer-to-peer is anything more than what is clearly is.
In any case, this is really awesome and unexpected news coming from Capcom. My guess is that this will be a compilation of the Rockman Complete Works that was released in Japan originally for the Playstation. Those versions, which actually released seperately, were exact ports of the original NES Mega Man games with enhanced music. Starting with Mega Man 4, all of the music in a game was remixed. Clearly, this collection will also include Mega Man 7 (SNES) and 8 (PSX/Saturn), so it will be interesting to see what Capcom does with these. In any case, I wouldn't expect to see a substantial graphical enhancement. Capcom had previous tried to make a "Mega Man All-Stars" in the form of their only Sega Genesis offering, and the balancing was entirely off. >_>