As the Japanese mobile market has accellerated ahead of most other countries, its a good idea to look to them to see whats to come.
I was over on a trip there recently: Clamshell phones with 1 to 2 mega pixel cameras, 10000 channel polyphonic melodies, large full colour tft screens - and even tv tuners, are quite the norm. Oh and as for games, you can play games as complex as Ridge Racer, Metal Slug or Strider on them, i even saw some guy playing what looked similar to Ogre Tactics.
However there IS still a market for the plain jane vanilla phone. However they tend to be very avant garde minimalist design, and advertised in Art and Desginer magazines... targeting the creative crowd i think. But this is a very small market.
Personally I would go for the simple phones, without the bells and whistles, that looks stylish, and can take a beating.
As a graphic artist, I have a plethora of stock photo CD's (which retartedly) have the images packed into some large files, requiring you to run the program on the CD to access them.
Retarted, yes.
However its not a problem when using Virtual Drives through Alchohol 120%
I have everything set up the way I like it, and I am not going to uninstall the software as I need the fast access to do my work.
Does the game box actaully state that you cannot have the game run, when so called 'offending' software is installed?
Its Like having a stereo not playing your disc because you have the SPDIF out plugged into your PC.
This is WRONG. Does anyone possible see the ramifications of this? Games wont running because competitor games are installed? Window's not booting because Linux is detected on another partition??
More and more causal gamers have moved off the PC to consoles. Soon all that remains of PC game players will be the hardcore. Offending hardcore pc gamers will really lead to the demise of PC gaming.
*sigh*
I dont know if fellow Aussie slashdotters have realised, but they are advertising the crap out of this gamer already. Full page ad's in PC Magazines to Game Magazines to Street Fashion Magazines. Billboards, posters and stencils all over the place.
If the OFLC hasnt got banning Manhunt yet, I'm unsure of whats going on.
This game really deserves a R18+ rating by all means, but since there STILL IS NOT R RATING for games, it looks like a cut down MA15 version or banning altogether.
On another note, I think most here are quick to judge a game before playing it. Come on all that controvertial 'features' of the game is just to stir up exactly this. The hype this game is getting is ridiculous, considering very little has been mentioned about the how the game plays.
The game will probably make about as much social impact as BMX XXX.
You seem to have quite a interesting range of ratings in the states.
In Australia, we have a standardized rating system (sorry its called a classification system here) for Games, Music, Movies and most of tv.
It goes like this:
G - General Exhibition PG - Parental Guidance for those under 15 M15+ - Recommended for Mature Audiences 15 and over MA15+ - Restricted to audienced 15 and over R18+ - Restricted to adults 18+ X - Hard core porn
This is used across the board, however it is enforced unfairly. I can't get my friends 17 year old girlfriend into Kill Bill, however she can buy it when it comes out on DVD.
What is funny here is the R18+ category doesnt exist for games. Basically if the game is too violent and/or too much sex - it gets banned (ie GTA3, Postal).
The ratings system here has always been under controversy by one group or another. And the moment some other game gets banned (possibly Manhunt) there will be another gamer's uproar.
I agree with restricted classification for children (but not overkill), but I do not believe anyone has the right to BAN films or games and the such.
I dont think many people realise, but a lot of people around the world are not as 'flamboyantly' patriotic as the Americans (the US is the only place in the world perhaps that wears its national flag as part of popular fashion).
I'm not saying that this is bad, but a lot of people are not as 'touchy' about their culture's history as you might think. I'm part Japanese, British, American and Polish and to top it off my surname is originally German. I've spent a fair few years in all of these countries (except germany). So really I should have massive
personal conflicts playing as any of these races in WW2 games.
The Japanese in particular really dont relate to their historical counterparts. The young japanese have so little in common with their grandaddy's, its a huge cultural rift. People in Japan back in the 30's were so PROUD to have kids in the military. These days, joining the JSDF (Self Defence Forces) is seen as a 'droupout' kind of thing. People really look down on soldiers in Japan. The mentality is so different now, towards the military, history and cultural identity.
i dont think any of my Japanese friends would give a shit playing as Americans killing Japanese.
This is a 'game' and the Japanese of all people, know that the best.
Oh and guy's this is Slashdot, bringing up who was more evil than who in WW2 is
really childish. This is really starting to get off topic.
The whitewashing of WW2 history in Japan is a fact though, I spend three years in Japanese high school and was shocked at the lack of information. But this is a problem all around the world, I now live in Australia and in school that barely teach about how the Aboriginals were massacred. And when I was in junior high in Philadelphia, the complete dribble they taught us about the south east asian conflicts (Korea and Vietnam) was so pathetic. I learned more from TV for christs sake.
Wow what a change, we are actually getting games before Europe.
Not just that, I was lucky enough to play F-Zero AX which is now in Sydney in the main arcade 'Galaxy' in the city. (and yes its fantastic).
Has anyone in europe managed to get their hands on one?
This is a good point.
I own a iBook and all the nintendo consoles.
I have pc's and macs at home, but i always feel more akin to buying macs.
And come to think of it - all my friends who are mac users - are also nintendo fans.
How many others out there are nintendo/mac fans?
I dunno.
I was always under the impression that most girls dont play games as much as guys. Then I took a look around my social circle (the females).
My girlfriend: Has a SNES and a GBA. Loves 2D platformers, racing games and weird games. Likes: Burnout 2, Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure DX, Wario Ware. Dislikes: Quake, Street Fighter, Ikaruga.
Female Friend #1: Has a GC and a NES. Likes plaformers and puzzle games. Likes: Super Monkey Ball 2, Mario Sunshine, Zelda. Dislikes: F1 2002, Grand Prix Legends, All Sports titles.
Female Friend #2: Has a PC and a PS2. Likes strategy and RPGs. Likes: Morrowind, Civ 3, Diablo 2, Age of Empires. Dislikes: The Sims, Armoured Core 3.
Female Friend #3: Has a Mac, PC and a PS1 and PS2. Likes: FPSs, Shoot-em-ups. Likes: Q3A, UT2K3, TFC, Tribes 2. Dislikes: Puzzle Games, Racers and RPGs.
Looking at my gf and friends, i dont really see a pattern in types of games they play, or the way they play. Oh and all of these people are damn good at the games that they like. #3 ranks well amongst the better UT2K3 and Q3A players.
I dont know if its just me, but nowadays I see a lot of girls in the arcades, and a fair few of them in the LAN outfits as well.
I think these analysis' of female game players are more or less looking and segregating the opposite sex too objectively. Is is that there are just as many female gamefans, that just dont want to openly admit it as much as males?
All of my female friends pretty much play games of one sort of another - they just dont get as fanatical discussing it over coffee as i do with my male friends.
Is is just me?
Did Australia miss the technology completely?
I have yet to see a single DVR, TiVo or anything similar available on the market here. I want one - cause I just dont want to use the VHS anymore. My JVC VHS deck cost me more than my DVD Player... i bought it at the same time... something is wrong here.
Even Russia has units like this available.
Anyone know about the situation here? Shed any light? Is it a conspiracy by Sony to keep us buying VHSs?
As a kid I was always fascinated by vertical and horizontal shooters. Being stuck with no console at home and only an Amiga and a 286 gave me not too many choices.
I ended up playing Buck Rodgers on Amiga a lot, that was a lot of fun. And some weird Galaga clone on the PC. A while after that I got a copy of Raptor for PC... anyone remember that one? That was a fantastic vertical shooter for the PC.
More recently Ikaruga on Dreamcast and Gamecube (yeah for some reason I have both versions). Which is a painfully hard game to master.
Whats everyones favourite PC and Console vertical shooters?
I kinda grew up playing western rpgs.
i didnt have any consoles when i was young, but we had the family computer.
i was addicted to the (now boring) Wizardry dungeon crawler games, various D&D games andbest of all the Ultima Series.
In fact I LOVED the Ultima series. I own original copies of 4, 5, 6, 7 (and the expansion packs) and 8. I loved the Brittania world, I loved the storyline ansd grew attatched to the characters.
Even though I enjoyed playing the more non linear D&D style create-your-character games - they just couldnt pull me with the kind of storyline that games like Ultima had. Nothing can really beat a well written and delievered storyline.
Not long after Ultima V or VI came out, I got a SNES, and played Secret of Mana. Again I was hooked. Then Chrono Trigger ( i needednt say anything for this one ). I played the FF games but didnt enjoy them nearly as much
My point is that its not really a JRPG vs WRPG arguement here. Yes both cultures have certain gaming trends. But most here are arguing the Pre-Defined-Storyline RPG vs Non-Linear-RPG archetypes.
The Ultima games, in my opinion (and some of the most fondly remembered WRPGS) have more in common with games like Chrono Trigger or Seiken Densetsu series - than with the traditional western D&D style RPG.
Thats my 2 cents anyway
i still dont understand why Rockstar didnt implement some kind of multiplayer mode in Vice City.
The multiplayer in GTA and GTA London was by far some of the most fun (and ridiculous) LAN gaming experience I have ever had.
Theres only so much fun you can have fragging - but once you start playing silly mini games like (kill as many pedestrians as possible in 2 mins) and (hunt each other down with only the rocket launcher) it showed the actual completely silly fun you could have with the game.
I do enjoy Vice City, it is a good (however a little overrated) game. But it would have benefited tenfold from a proper built-in multiplayer mode.
Slashdot Mirror
As the Japanese mobile market has accellerated ahead of most other countries, its a good idea to look to them to see whats to come.
I was over on a trip there recently: Clamshell phones with 1 to 2 mega pixel cameras, 10000 channel polyphonic melodies, large full colour tft screens - and even tv tuners, are quite the norm. Oh and as for games, you can play games as complex as Ridge Racer, Metal Slug or Strider on them, i even saw some guy playing what looked similar to Ogre Tactics.
However there IS still a market for the plain jane vanilla phone. However they tend to be very avant garde minimalist design, and advertised in Art and Desginer magazines... targeting the creative crowd i think. But this is a very small market.
Personally I would go for the simple phones, without the bells and whistles, that looks stylish, and can take a beating.
Retarted, yes.
However its not a problem when using Virtual Drives through Alchohol 120%
I have everything set up the way I like it, and I am not going to uninstall the software as I need the fast access to do my work.
Does the game box actaully state that you cannot have the game run, when so called 'offending' software is installed?
Its Like having a stereo not playing your disc because you have the SPDIF out plugged into your PC.
This is WRONG. Does anyone possible see the ramifications of this? Games wont running because competitor games are installed? Window's not booting because Linux is detected on another partition??
More and more causal gamers have moved off the PC to consoles. Soon all that remains of PC game players will be the hardcore. Offending hardcore pc gamers will really lead to the demise of PC gaming. *sigh*
I dont know if fellow Aussie slashdotters have realised, but they are advertising the crap out of this gamer already. Full page ad's in PC Magazines to Game Magazines to Street Fashion Magazines. Billboards, posters and stencils all over the place. If the OFLC hasnt got banning Manhunt yet, I'm unsure of whats going on. This game really deserves a R18+ rating by all means, but since there STILL IS NOT R RATING for games, it looks like a cut down MA15 version or banning altogether. On another note, I think most here are quick to judge a game before playing it. Come on all that controvertial 'features' of the game is just to stir up exactly this. The hype this game is getting is ridiculous, considering very little has been mentioned about the how the game plays. The game will probably make about as much social impact as BMX XXX.
You seem to have quite a interesting range of ratings in the states.
In Australia, we have a standardized rating system (sorry its called a classification system here) for Games, Music, Movies and most of tv.
It goes like this:
G - General Exhibition
PG - Parental Guidance for those under 15
M15+ - Recommended for Mature Audiences 15 and over
MA15+ - Restricted to audienced 15 and over
R18+ - Restricted to adults 18+
X - Hard core porn
This is used across the board, however it is enforced unfairly. I can't get my friends 17 year old girlfriend into Kill Bill, however she can buy it when it comes out on DVD.
What is funny here is the R18+ category doesnt exist for games. Basically if the game is too violent and/or too much sex - it gets banned (ie GTA3, Postal).
The ratings system here has always been under controversy by one group or another. And the moment some other game gets banned (possibly Manhunt) there will be another gamer's uproar.
I agree with restricted classification for children (but not overkill), but I do not believe anyone has the right to BAN films or games and the such.
I dont think many people realise, but a lot of people around the world are not as 'flamboyantly' patriotic as the Americans (the US is the only place in the world perhaps that wears its national flag as part of popular fashion). I'm not saying that this is bad, but a lot of people are not as 'touchy' about their culture's history as you might think. I'm part Japanese, British, American and Polish and to top it off my surname is originally German. I've spent a fair few years in all of these countries (except germany). So really I should have massive personal conflicts playing as any of these races in WW2 games. The Japanese in particular really dont relate to their historical counterparts. The young japanese have so little in common with their grandaddy's, its a huge cultural rift. People in Japan back in the 30's were so PROUD to have kids in the military. These days, joining the JSDF (Self Defence Forces) is seen as a 'droupout' kind of thing. People really look down on soldiers in Japan. The mentality is so different now, towards the military, history and cultural identity. i dont think any of my Japanese friends would give a shit playing as Americans killing Japanese. This is a 'game' and the Japanese of all people, know that the best. Oh and guy's this is Slashdot, bringing up who was more evil than who in WW2 is really childish. This is really starting to get off topic. The whitewashing of WW2 history in Japan is a fact though, I spend three years in Japanese high school and was shocked at the lack of information. But this is a problem all around the world, I now live in Australia and in school that barely teach about how the Aboriginals were massacred. And when I was in junior high in Philadelphia, the complete dribble they taught us about the south east asian conflicts (Korea and Vietnam) was so pathetic. I learned more from TV for christs sake.
Wow what a change, we are actually getting games before Europe. Not just that, I was lucky enough to play F-Zero AX which is now in Sydney in the main arcade 'Galaxy' in the city. (and yes its fantastic). Has anyone in europe managed to get their hands on one?
This is a good point. I own a iBook and all the nintendo consoles. I have pc's and macs at home, but i always feel more akin to buying macs. And come to think of it - all my friends who are mac users - are also nintendo fans. How many others out there are nintendo/mac fans?
My girlfriend: Has a SNES and a GBA. Loves 2D platformers, racing games and weird games. Likes: Burnout 2, Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure DX, Wario Ware. Dislikes: Quake, Street Fighter, Ikaruga.
Female Friend #1: Has a GC and a NES. Likes plaformers and puzzle games. Likes: Super Monkey Ball 2, Mario Sunshine, Zelda. Dislikes: F1 2002, Grand Prix Legends, All Sports titles.
Female Friend #2: Has a PC and a PS2. Likes strategy and RPGs. Likes: Morrowind, Civ 3, Diablo 2, Age of Empires. Dislikes: The Sims, Armoured Core 3.
Female Friend #3: Has a Mac, PC and a PS1 and PS2. Likes: FPSs, Shoot-em-ups. Likes: Q3A, UT2K3, TFC, Tribes 2. Dislikes: Puzzle Games, Racers and RPGs.
Looking at my gf and friends, i dont really see a pattern in types of games they play, or the way they play. Oh and all of these people are damn good at the games that they like. #3 ranks well amongst the better UT2K3 and Q3A players.
I dont know if its just me, but nowadays I see a lot of girls in the arcades, and a fair few of them in the LAN outfits as well.
I think these analysis' of female game players are more or less looking and segregating the opposite sex too objectively. Is is that there are just as many female gamefans, that just dont want to openly admit it as much as males?
All of my female friends pretty much play games of one sort of another - they just dont get as fanatical discussing it over coffee as i do with my male friends.
I have yet to see a single DVR, TiVo or anything similar available on the market here. I want one - cause I just dont want to use the VHS anymore. My JVC VHS deck cost me more than my DVD Player... i bought it at the same time... something is wrong here.
Even Russia has units like this available.
Anyone know about the situation here? Shed any light? Is it a conspiracy by Sony to keep us buying VHSs?
I ended up playing Buck Rodgers on Amiga a lot, that was a lot of fun. And some weird Galaga clone on the PC. A while after that I got a copy of Raptor for PC... anyone remember that one? That was a fantastic vertical shooter for the PC.
More recently Ikaruga on Dreamcast and Gamecube (yeah for some reason I have both versions). Which is a painfully hard game to master.
Whats everyones favourite PC and Console vertical shooters?
I kinda grew up playing western rpgs. i didnt have any consoles when i was young, but we had the family computer. i was addicted to the (now boring) Wizardry dungeon crawler games, various D&D games andbest of all the Ultima Series. In fact I LOVED the Ultima series. I own original copies of 4, 5, 6, 7 (and the expansion packs) and 8. I loved the Brittania world, I loved the storyline ansd grew attatched to the characters. Even though I enjoyed playing the more non linear D&D style create-your-character games - they just couldnt pull me with the kind of storyline that games like Ultima had. Nothing can really beat a well written and delievered storyline. Not long after Ultima V or VI came out, I got a SNES, and played Secret of Mana. Again I was hooked. Then Chrono Trigger ( i needednt say anything for this one ). I played the FF games but didnt enjoy them nearly as much My point is that its not really a JRPG vs WRPG arguement here. Yes both cultures have certain gaming trends. But most here are arguing the Pre-Defined-Storyline RPG vs Non-Linear-RPG archetypes. The Ultima games, in my opinion (and some of the most fondly remembered WRPGS) have more in common with games like Chrono Trigger or Seiken Densetsu series - than with the traditional western D&D style RPG. Thats my 2 cents anyway
i still dont understand why Rockstar didnt implement some kind of multiplayer mode in Vice City. The multiplayer in GTA and GTA London was by far some of the most fun (and ridiculous) LAN gaming experience I have ever had. Theres only so much fun you can have fragging - but once you start playing silly mini games like (kill as many pedestrians as possible in 2 mins) and (hunt each other down with only the rocket launcher) it showed the actual completely silly fun you could have with the game. I do enjoy Vice City, it is a good (however a little overrated) game. But it would have benefited tenfold from a proper built-in multiplayer mode.