-Keep sonic badass. Sonic has always been badass, but not OVERDONE. He always looked badass just by looking mean and shaking his finger. Tails should serve as a foil to his badassness. Shadow makes me cringe as a one-time sonic/sega fan -- way too overdone.
-Keep the former cast of Sonic. There was no need to create a slew of new characters, IMHO. With the comic book series from a few years back, plus minor characters from other games, was there a need for new characters? Guess the old ones weren't cool enough for 'next-gen.' Familiar characters would have kept old fans coming back. Sonic has even had love interests in the past! Don't tell me you can't work that into a game.
Sega is stuck between giving their characters no personality (like Mario) and giving their characters the kinds of adversity that develop true character. Sega wants squeaky-clean characters for the younger gamers, but they want a manner of sophistication for older gamers (the "badass" you refer to), and they end up with neither---and with something that really puts off non-fanboys.
As for the addition of new characters, when one is unwilling to develop existing characters, often one resorts to adding new characters. I have no problem with all the characters, but I want to see substantially more existing character development, something it seems as if they haven't even tried to do since SA1 (the development of Tails' self-esteem).
-Most importantly -- KEEP the feel of GAMEPLAY. The old Sonic games were easy to pick up and play. You couldn't really get lost, and there wasn't a myriad of moves to learn just to understand the game. Mario made the transition well into 3D; Sonic didn't. I saw another/.er's video of the Wii Sonic to come out, and I must say it looks closer to what a 3D Sonic should look like. Fast paced gameplay, ring collection, but in a 3D environment. Sonic should feel faster than Mario and other platformers.
Mario 64 itself is a counter-example to all points but the speed point. Mario can perform a number of moves, and most (if not all) are needed to beat the game, yet for some levels (and some stars) only a few need be known to play. The same is true (to a slightly more limited extent) in both SA games.
I'd love to be able to write an opinion to a few papers in the state, reminding everyone to thank our legislature for the unanimous (wasn't it?) approval of this clear violation of the Constitution that will cost the state to spend money when we can least afford frivolous expenditures, and mocking the "Think of the children!" crowd.
An installation of a pirated copy of Windows is substantially better for Microsoft than one of Linux or Mac OS X because of the network effect, which is the major barrier to entry for other OSes.
in every single aspect of life you can imagination, moderation always wins. balance always wins. complexity always trumps simplicity. life is nuanced. it is made of balancing multiple complicated concerns.
Moderation usually wins. Balance usually wins. But complexity is preferrential to simplicity only when the simplicity cannot suffice. Complexity for complexity's sake is a complete mess. Had problems with any bureaucracies lately?
you can not bludgeon life with an idealistic platitude and expect to make sense or be wise
Right back at you. How can you say that your absolutes do not represent a bludgeoning of life, do make sense, or are wise?
well, how about if you live in a poor crime-ridden neighborhood and you can't even leave your house without being threatend with rape, mugging, and general loutish violent behavior on a daily basis? and guess what? if you lived in such an environment, you would LOVE these cameras
and in fact, that is the case: ask residents of housing projects what they think of these camera systems: they LOVE them. they get a life again. they can go outside again. the thugs get chased out of the public areas
Actually, I will agree with you here. Cameras cannot be intimidated by lowly thugs into not giving testimony.
can you imagine that the people installing these systems are actually well-meaning people?
Doesn't matter. Authority must be challenged/questioned, even if it is being complied with. My norms are not the same ones coded for by the law. And a bunch of other statements I'd like to make, but I (apparently) need sleep.:(
Nobody's saying that a system like this has no utility---or at least I'm not saying that. I just want to make sure that transparency is in place to lessen the likelyhood that some bad apple abuses the system and gets away with it. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
I think I was thinking that the companies attracted by the critical mass would be put off if they still had to put up with too many APIs (GTK+ and QT and Cocoa (or whatever the hell the primary OS X libraries are)). So I chose the one I use, on the assumption that people wouldn't want to have to buy a new computer just to use OS X, and the assumption that most people won't go for a BSD, for whatever reason (right or wrong).
I think I was thinking this, but I'm not sure anymore.
It takes years in the IT field to finally realize that smart ideas and good products don't sell. What sells? Entirely random stuff. Some of it turns out to be not bad, but most of it is crap. Why does it sell? Because people running Microsoft and such know just a bit more about selling stuff than an entire army of twenty-year-old comp sci graduates. Reading all this excited chatter about how badly Windows suck make me feel like I am in a twilight zone. C'mon people, pull your heads out of your asses and try to understand that Windows is not a computer operating system. It IS the computer, as far as the vast majority of PC users understand it.
You are correct in that most users know jackshit about the different components of the machine they're using (and that's the way they like it), and that MS would more likely partially compromise its DRM as a concession to their users than lose many of them. However, having Linux on client-side business machines is the next step to widespread acceptance.
But I digress. The point is not to convert the unwashed masses; the point is to get a critical mass of the technically competent users and the enthusiasts to leave Windows (mostly, if not fully) for Linux. Get the vocal crowd, the more savvy crowd, the ones who will get behind a good* product and ignore or pan a bad* one, the ones that will speak to other users with their words and to companies with their wallet, but carefully*. Supremacy is not a necessity; equality is. When companies with quality products see that some of their user base is shifting, they will take more interest in cross-platform programming.
* When I say "good/bad", I really mean "above/below average"; and when I say "carefully", I really mean "with at least a minimal measure of thought".
Actually, it's still not as straightforward as that. All of this overoptimism may make your head spin, but it is indicative of our greatest strength as a community: unlike the agents of most large corporations, who must first answer to the interests of the stockholders, we are fundamentally stubborn; and that is why, as long as we are able to keep each other stubborn enough (stubbornness stresses the psyche, sometimes to the point of exhaustion) without being too stubborn as to be inflexible to the point of putting off others or not accepting new ideas where they make sense, we will succeed (foul play notwithstanding) in having equal opportunity to take advantage of whatever technologies others are able to.
Either that, or I'm a raving lunatic going mad.
Or... are you the one going mad?---this just might be the Twilight Zone for all I know.
Hell, the whole world is going mad! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! >;P
The effect of having law enforcement show up at Blizzard to collect on a summary judgment is still probably worth the price. Especially if many people do it.
I think it would be hilarious if somebody posed as a pedophile simply to get this guy to show up.
Maybe a "Surprise, douchebag!", maybe even a camera crew too.
Seriously, stigmatizing people with such deviant behavior does not make the behavior go away; it simply drives them farther to the margin. If you're going to single out individuals, you're an ass for not giving them an option to seek help in place of humiliating them---yes, that's blackmail, but if you insist on fighting what you perceive as a wrong with another wrong...
Would you consider it hypocrisy that your own sig is a minor modification on an old and stale joke? Or is there something special about the average person's ignorance displayed in the "10 kinds of people" joke over the politician's ignorance in the "tubes" gag that I don't know about?
Then again, it is in your sig, and anything goes in sigs.
How about telling WIPO to go shove it and reducing copyright terms so that people might see the elements of their culture enter the public domain during their lifetimes?
Hey, some of us are reclusive geeks who do bathe, who do know what we're missing, and who are all the more miserable and self-deprecating because of it, you insensitive clod!
(I can't help it: I know I'm going to write angsty posts like this every time the subject comes up, and you're the unlucky sonuvabitch who gets it this time. Sorry.)
The power running out on my laptop! And recovery not being compiled in!
Luckily, I decided to do the taboo thing and savescum some time before, just this once, just in case something catastrophically bad happened outside of the game, like this.
I wasn't going to use it if I died legit. Honest. Maybe I'd keep it for posterity. I mean, it was the first time I made it past the Big Room (cone of cold FTW)! I wanted a keepsake, damnit!
And then I was able to get the save off my laptop's hard drive before it died in turn.
When people have had major disagreements with the culture and laws under which they live, finding continued inhabitation unacceptable, and they know of no other acceptable sovereign nation in which to live, they usually go somewhere where nobody else can bother them: the frontier.
However, there is no more frontier on land on Earth! All ground is claimed by some sovereign nation, who would be not very happy if some large band of American squatters showed up and claimed independence, even if the land were purchased beforehand (see Israel); and Antarctica is practically uninhabitable.
There are two solutions: international waters, either on or under the surface; or space, whether on a satellite or a planetary body. On a large enough scale, and with enough probability of safety, that isn't happening for quite some time.
Unless some country out there is willing to cater to the politics of this vocal crowd, for a long time, there is nowhere to go. Our best shot still rests in educing slow, gradual change by convincing the people of this country and of the world (including the politicians---yes, they're people too, though it's hard to tell sometimes) that our arguments are valid and worth pursuing. So stop complaining and start working to effect change. Even if it's just small things (e.g., politely, concisely explaining to an unaware but open-minded individual the concept of the public domain and why it's important), do something to bring about what you feel is right.
When users are not responsible for administration of the system, the right distro becomes just another operating environment, which can be taught without significant difficulty to the vast majority of students: the look-and-feel is just a little bit different from what they are used to, the names of programs are different (though if a distro is smart, it will list the function of each program in its label, e.g. "Firefox (web browser)", so don't give me any of that crap about letting programmers name stuff being bad), and there are no drive letters, and some things out there just don't work because they cater only to Windows (which is a benefit, because much of that is non-academic), but other than that, I can't think of significant differences in paradigm or presentation that can't be overcome. So feel free to list more.
But will IBM ever pursue track 3, work to end the stupidity that is the software patent? If the patent portfolio is only for defense, freezing the practice will not put IBM at a disadvantage.
A nice cosy little world we live in. I had thought that Wikpedia was for the world's use, but i see now that I am wrong. By the flavour of the posts above, it is very much an American resource.
If by "above" you are referring to posts on Slashdot, then your criticism ought to be directed towards Slashdot, not Wikipedia.
Slashdot Mirror
Want some help?
One of the different things about the drivers for newer Ralink hardware is that they require firmware files. Did you know about this?
It also rhymes with "DMCA".
s/MS/industry/
The more money you have, the less money is worth to you.
As for the addition of new characters, when one is unwilling to develop existing characters, often one resorts to adding new characters. I have no problem with all the characters, but I want to see substantially more existing character development, something it seems as if they haven't even tried to do since SA1 (the development of Tails' self-esteem).
Mario 64 itself is a counter-example to all points but the speed point. Mario can perform a number of moves, and most (if not all) are needed to beat the game, yet for some levels (and some stars) only a few need be known to play. The same is true (to a slightly more limited extent) in both SA games.
I'd love to be able to write an opinion to a few papers in the state, reminding everyone to thank our legislature for the unanimous (wasn't it?) approval of this clear violation of the Constitution that will cost the state to spend money when we can least afford frivolous expenditures, and mocking the "Think of the children!" crowd.
Five bucks^Wrubles says they cook the books.
An installation of a pirated copy of Windows is substantially better for Microsoft than one of Linux or Mac OS X because of the network effect, which is the major barrier to entry for other OSes.
And the term we all should be throwing around is monopolistic competition.
At least they didn't decide to kill anybody (this time).
Right back at you. How can you say that your absolutes do not represent a bludgeoning of life, do make sense, or are wise?
Actually, I will agree with you here. Cameras cannot be intimidated by lowly thugs into not giving testimony.
Doesn't matter. Authority must be challenged/questioned, even if it is being complied with. My norms are not the same ones coded for by the law. And a bunch of other statements I'd like to make, but I (apparently) need sleep.
Nobody's saying that a system like this has no utility---or at least I'm not saying that. I just want to make sure that transparency is in place to lessen the likelyhood that some bad apple abuses the system and gets away with it. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Yeah... the "off" button for the containment field.
I think I was thinking that the companies attracted by the critical mass would be put off if they still had to put up with too many APIs (GTK+ and QT and Cocoa (or whatever the hell the primary OS X libraries are)). So I chose the one I use, on the assumption that people wouldn't want to have to buy a new computer just to use OS X, and the assumption that most people won't go for a BSD, for whatever reason (right or wrong).
I think I was thinking this, but I'm not sure anymore.
I can't say I'm in a position to properly evaluate this, but I wouldn't exactly consider the Thai government very trustworthy right now.
It takes years in the IT field to finally realize that smart ideas and good products don't sell. What sells? Entirely random stuff. Some of it turns out to be not bad, but most of it is crap. Why does it sell? Because people running Microsoft and such know just a bit more about selling stuff than an entire army of twenty-year-old comp sci graduates. Reading all this excited chatter about how badly Windows suck make me feel like I am in a twilight zone. C'mon people, pull your heads out of your asses and try to understand that Windows is not a computer operating system. It IS the computer, as far as the vast majority of PC users understand it.
You are correct in that most users know jackshit about the different components of the machine they're using (and that's the way they like it), and that MS would more likely partially compromise its DRM as a concession to their users than lose many of them. However, having Linux on client-side business machines is the next step to widespread acceptance.
But I digress. The point is not to convert the unwashed masses; the point is to get a critical mass of the technically competent users and the enthusiasts to leave Windows (mostly, if not fully) for Linux. Get the vocal crowd, the more savvy crowd, the ones who will get behind a good* product and ignore or pan a bad* one, the ones that will speak to other users with their words and to companies with their wallet, but carefully*. Supremacy is not a necessity; equality is. When companies with quality products see that some of their user base is shifting, they will take more interest in cross-platform programming.
* When I say "good/bad", I really mean "above/below average"; and when I say "carefully", I really mean "with at least a minimal measure of thought".
Actually, it's still not as straightforward as that. All of this overoptimism may make your head spin, but it is indicative of our greatest strength as a community: unlike the agents of most large corporations, who must first answer to the interests of the stockholders, we are fundamentally stubborn; and that is why, as long as we are able to keep each other stubborn enough (stubbornness stresses the psyche, sometimes to the point of exhaustion) without being too stubborn as to be inflexible to the point of putting off others or not accepting new ideas where they make sense, we will succeed (foul play notwithstanding) in having equal opportunity to take advantage of whatever technologies others are able to.
Either that, or I'm a raving lunatic going mad.
Or... are you the one going mad?---this just might be the Twilight Zone for all I know.
Hell, the whole world is going mad! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! >;P
Just tell them that OpenGL will let customers running XP be able to take advantage of features in D3D10.
The effect of having law enforcement show up at Blizzard to collect on a summary judgment is still probably worth the price. Especially if many people do it.
I think it would be hilarious if somebody posed as a pedophile simply to get this guy to show up.
Maybe a "Surprise, douchebag!", maybe even a camera crew too.
Seriously, stigmatizing people with such deviant behavior does not make the behavior go away; it simply drives them farther to the margin. If you're going to single out individuals, you're an ass for not giving them an option to seek help in place of humiliating them---yes, that's blackmail, but if you insist on fighting what you perceive as a wrong with another wrong...
(No, I DWTFS.)
Would you consider it hypocrisy that your own sig is a minor modification on an old and stale joke? Or is there something special about the average person's ignorance displayed in the "10 kinds of people" joke over the politician's ignorance in the "tubes" gag that I don't know about?
Then again, it is in your sig, and anything goes in sigs.
How about telling WIPO to go shove it and reducing copyright terms so that people might see the elements of their culture enter the public domain during their lifetimes?
Hey, some of us are reclusive geeks who do bathe, who do know what we're missing, and who are all the more miserable and self-deprecating because of it, you insensitive clod!
(I can't help it: I know I'm going to write angsty posts like this every time the subject comes up, and you're the unlucky sonuvabitch who gets it this time. Sorry.)
The power running out on my laptop! And recovery not being compiled in!
Luckily, I decided to do the taboo thing and savescum some time before, just this once, just in case something catastrophically bad happened outside of the game, like this.
I wasn't going to use it if I died legit. Honest. Maybe I'd keep it for posterity. I mean, it was the first time I made it past the Big Room (cone of cold FTW)! I wanted a keepsake, damnit!
And then I was able to get the save off my laptop's hard drive before it died in turn.
When people have had major disagreements with the culture and laws under which they live, finding continued inhabitation unacceptable, and they know of no other acceptable sovereign nation in which to live, they usually go somewhere where nobody else can bother them: the frontier.
However, there is no more frontier on land on Earth! All ground is claimed by some sovereign nation, who would be not very happy if some large band of American squatters showed up and claimed independence, even if the land were purchased beforehand (see Israel); and Antarctica is practically uninhabitable.
There are two solutions: international waters, either on or under the surface; or space, whether on a satellite or a planetary body. On a large enough scale, and with enough probability of safety, that isn't happening for quite some time.
Unless some country out there is willing to cater to the politics of this vocal crowd, for a long time, there is nowhere to go. Our best shot still rests in educing slow, gradual change by convincing the people of this country and of the world (including the politicians---yes, they're people too, though it's hard to tell sometimes) that our arguments are valid and worth pursuing. So stop complaining and start working to effect change. Even if it's just small things (e.g., politely, concisely explaining to an unaware but open-minded individual the concept of the public domain and why it's important), do something to bring about what you feel is right.
When users are not responsible for administration of the system, the right distro becomes just another operating environment, which can be taught without significant difficulty to the vast majority of students: the look-and-feel is just a little bit different from what they are used to, the names of programs are different (though if a distro is smart, it will list the function of each program in its label, e.g. "Firefox (web browser)", so don't give me any of that crap about letting programmers name stuff being bad), and there are no drive letters, and some things out there just don't work because they cater only to Windows (which is a benefit, because much of that is non-academic), but other than that, I can't think of significant differences in paradigm or presentation that can't be overcome. So feel free to list more.
But will IBM ever pursue track 3, work to end the stupidity that is the software patent? If the patent portfolio is only for defense, freezing the practice will not put IBM at a disadvantage.
A nice cosy little world we live in. I had thought that Wikpedia was for the world's use, but i see now that I am wrong. By the flavour of the posts above, it is very much an American resource.
If by "above" you are referring to posts on Slashdot, then your criticism ought to be directed towards Slashdot, not Wikipedia.