Yeah, I guess they forgot to play the game. Whoops. In case anybody was wondering, the source of the mistake is that the demons were going to constitute a 'race' at one point. As it is, they ended up just being a small handful of unbuildable units.
Beyond Good and Evil and Prince of Persia are undoubtedly excellent games, but neither is a revolutionary game--PoP is a sequel to what was once a famous franchise, and BGaE sounds like just another Zelda-type of game.
While I don't really disagree with your statement, I have a bit of a problem with your reasoning. Super Mario 64 was revolutionary, and Mario was an old franchise. PoP is to the older incarnations as Mario 64 is to the original.
BG&E is...fairly similar to Zelda, in the sense that it's a 3rd person action/adventure, but it's different in a lot of ways. Some interesting things that come to mind include the use of a companion's special abilities, stealth sections that really started to remind me of Splinter Cell, and maybe even the use of a camera as one of your most vital items. I love that camera. It adds a weird, 'everyday life' element to the game, I think.
Anyway, no, I don't think they're revolutionary, either. But that's not at all because they have similarities to other games in name and general play style (the artistic style of BG&E is very fresh, by the way). These games are evolutions, at least, just not enough to be 'revolutionary.'
Actually, in Brood Wars, I loved playing against people who went straight for Carriers or Battlecruisers. With some good scouting (easy to do against said players) it's obvious what they're doing. And an army of Dark Archons prepped for Mind Control is all it takes to win the game. And, sometimes (this is the part I love) making the other guy cry.
I did this against one player four times in a row.
I consider it the best single player, straight FPS of all time. I say 'stright' FPS because I prefer Deus Ex. I could list tons of RPG's I like better. And please, let's not forget the still-played WarCraft II, and StarCraft. Of course, as others have mentioned, there are also games that are much older than those and still have a significant number of players.
You might accuse me of saying it's not the best game overall just because I'm not a huge FPS fan. But then I'd accuse you of the opposite.
If you ask me, of all MS products, the Sidewinder series is the stuff you can feel most justified in using. Comfort (for right-handers) and function. Heaven.
People need to move away, not only from the idea that "Good Graphics = Good Game", but that "Innovation = Good Game", or "Realism = Good Game", or "Good Storyline = Good Game", and remember that the key is "Fun = Good Game".
Pretty much true, but I think it's a bad idea to downplay the importance of innovation. Innovation doesn't really make a game better, I realize that. I even realize that it makes it worse, at times. I think it gives a game more potential to be great (as well as more potential to be terrible!), and with no innovation we'd all start to get bored.
Then again, I said I agreed with you...What game company routinely sets sales records and recieves the best game reviews? Blizzard does. Does Blizzard innovate, ever? No, not really. They make your standard games, usually just picking a trendy genre, and then develop based on fun. If you read any interviews with WoW developers, during the Alpha the prime question that testers are supposed to be concerned with is not, "Is the battle system good" or "Is the UI easy to maneuver," it's "Am I having fun right now." That viewpoint, along with meticulous attention to detail, is what makes their games so successful. And that's the reason I think I'll love WoW though I've never played a MMORPG that I didn't hate.
It WAS done for X-Com. I got both the first two running real well on XP with no hassle to run it, though there were some hacks I put in it to make it that way...
I've love to see an updated Descent, though 3 isn't bad at all, IMO. Mechwarrior 2: Mercs used to be a favorite.
But I would lick somebody's shoes clean if they could even replicate the quality of TIE Fighter. X-Wing was very good, it really was. TIE Fighter was just an improved version. Then XWVTF loses a lot with it's deviation from the established structure...it's not that it's a bad game, and the selection of ships is quite nice...but the XWA just sucked, okay? Most. Boring. Missions. Ever. Do you ever get to pilot a real fighter? I don't even know. I never made it too far. Couldn't go on.
But TIE Fighter...well, let's put it this way: It's the only space sim I liked more than Freespace 2. (Barely.)
Funny thing is the early problems were all the same. Didn't notice the differences till halfway through. Blah.
As for getting the problems from somebody else, my laziness overcomes my desire to get an extra 5% or so. Yeah, I could do it, but the assignments are short term and I'm occasionally busy. Also, I never follow good advice. Book companies are still evil and that's all that counts!
Granted, I still could have saved a hell of a lot of money by going to a SUNY school (negative cost was a possibility....standardized test scores can be decieving.) But at least here the book situation is better than most places. Bookstore sells books new for list price (better than at least some of the SUNY's do), used for 75%, and does buyback for 50% (of list price, not price paid).
Plus a professor here gets his book sold to kids at a little cheaper than list price.
And even with all that, it's STILL a huge pain in the ass.
God dammit. I knew somebody was going to mention my fucking team. Even though it has nothing to do with anything. I looked at your post, too, before I read it, and thought, 'that's the one.'
Of course I also suspect they'll implode. Since I think I've just proven myself to be psychic, shit.
Okay. "Meant to be read" was terrible phrasing. I still say it's BEST read, though -- at least the stuff he put in regular old books. It's just that pretty much every sentence is full of wit and intelligence, and it's not ossible to capture it all without simply reading it out loud. I think the description of Arthur's work as Sandwich Maker is a great example of that, and it doesn't lend too well to narration, either. That's not to say, of course, that any adaptations of any of his works are a bad thing, it's just that he could write in a way that was better than can be captured in other mediums (Including a simple book-on-tape, in my opinion...there are some things you need to go back and read again.)
Hell, I'm reading a damn funny British book at the moment...It's in my hands, I'm holding my page. I like British humo(u)r above all. Bridget Jones' Diary was immensely popular in the states (I mean the book, by the way) and I doubt I know a person who can't describe scnes from at least three Monty Python films. British jokes are funnier than ours. We know it. It's wittier. It's funny and not just obscene. And in nearly every case, it's performed better, too.
Though considering that it's shitty, it'll still be hugely outsold by the gems in that year's holiday crown, largely ignorant consumers or not. My prime complaint with the game industry is the increased pushing of shitty titles anyway...
My solution with a shitty game set to release at Xmas would usually be to put a bit more effort and try to get it released in the midst of the inevitable early year dry spell. If it's unsalvagable, I would have had it shot long ago.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, I guess they forgot to play the game. Whoops. In case anybody was wondering, the source of the mistake is that the demons were going to constitute a 'race' at one point. As it is, they ended up just being a small handful of unbuildable units.
Beyond Good and Evil and Prince of Persia are undoubtedly excellent games, but neither is a revolutionary game--PoP is a sequel to what was once a famous franchise, and BGaE sounds like just another Zelda-type of game.
While I don't really disagree with your statement, I have a bit of a problem with your reasoning. Super Mario 64 was revolutionary, and Mario was an old franchise. PoP is to the older incarnations as Mario 64 is to the original.
BG&E is...fairly similar to Zelda, in the sense that it's a 3rd person action/adventure, but it's different in a lot of ways. Some interesting things that come to mind include the use of a companion's special abilities, stealth sections that really started to remind me of Splinter Cell, and maybe even the use of a camera as one of your most vital items. I love that camera. It adds a weird, 'everyday life' element to the game, I think.
Anyway, no, I don't think they're revolutionary, either. But that's not at all because they have similarities to other games in name and general play style (the artistic style of BG&E is very fresh, by the way). These games are evolutions, at least, just not enough to be 'revolutionary.'
Can't buy it. Have a GeForce4 MX. I have $50 disposable cash at the moment and no ready way to get more.
Bastards.
Actually, in Brood Wars, I loved playing against people who went straight for Carriers or Battlecruisers. With some good scouting (easy to do against said players) it's obvious what they're doing. And an army of Dark Archons prepped for Mind Control is all it takes to win the game. And, sometimes (this is the part I love) making the other guy cry.
I did this against one player four times in a row.
I consider it the best single player, straight FPS of all time. I say 'stright' FPS because I prefer Deus Ex. I could list tons of RPG's I like better. And please, let's not forget the still-played WarCraft II, and StarCraft. Of course, as others have mentioned, there are also games that are much older than those and still have a significant number of players.
You might accuse me of saying it's not the best game overall just because I'm not a huge FPS fan. But then I'd accuse you of the opposite.
If you ask me, of all MS products, the Sidewinder series is the stuff you can feel most justified in using. Comfort (for right-handers) and function. Heaven.
And then they made the XBox controller.
He just wants to be loved!
Still. Look at Google.
Switching their title graphic constitutes a complete redesign.
Imagine a game that looked like Final Flight of the Osiris.
Including the half-nekkid women!
People need to move away, not only from the idea that "Good Graphics = Good Game", but that "Innovation = Good Game", or "Realism = Good Game", or "Good Storyline = Good Game", and remember that the key is "Fun = Good Game".
Pretty much true, but I think it's a bad idea to downplay the importance of innovation. Innovation doesn't really make a game better, I realize that. I even realize that it makes it worse, at times. I think it gives a game more potential to be great (as well as more potential to be terrible!), and with no innovation we'd all start to get bored.
Then again, I said I agreed with you...What game company routinely sets sales records and recieves the best game reviews? Blizzard does. Does Blizzard innovate, ever? No, not really. They make your standard games, usually just picking a trendy genre, and then develop based on fun. If you read any interviews with WoW developers, during the Alpha the prime question that testers are supposed to be concerned with is not, "Is the battle system good" or "Is the UI easy to maneuver," it's "Am I having fun right now." That viewpoint, along with meticulous attention to detail, is what makes their games so successful. And that's the reason I think I'll love WoW though I've never played a MMORPG that I didn't hate.
Hooray! Fun!
Not really, since the only reason the HOTU CD-rip is online at all is because the game is no longer available at any retail outlets.
It WAS done for X-Com. I got both the first two running real well on XP with no hassle to run it, though there were some hacks I put in it to make it that way...
I've love to see an updated Descent, though 3 isn't bad at all, IMO. Mechwarrior 2: Mercs used to be a favorite.
But I would lick somebody's shoes clean if they could even replicate the quality of TIE Fighter. X-Wing was very good, it really was. TIE Fighter was just an improved version. Then XWVTF loses a lot with it's deviation from the established structure...it's not that it's a bad game, and the selection of ships is quite nice...but the XWA just sucked, okay? Most. Boring. Missions. Ever. Do you ever get to pilot a real fighter? I don't even know. I never made it too far. Couldn't go on.
But TIE Fighter...well, let's put it this way: It's the only space sim I liked more than Freespace 2. (Barely.)
Funny thing is the early problems were all the same. Didn't notice the differences till halfway through. Blah.
As for getting the problems from somebody else, my laziness overcomes my desire to get an extra 5% or so. Yeah, I could do it, but the assignments are short term and I'm occasionally busy. Also, I never follow good advice. Book companies are still evil and that's all that counts!
Mmm, yes. Halo PC was pretty bad.
But I liked it more than the X-Box version, at least.
Blech.
Ah, and now the tuition goes up as well! Hooray!
Granted, I still could have saved a hell of a lot of money by going to a SUNY school (negative cost was a possibility....standardized test scores can be decieving.) But at least here the book situation is better than most places. Bookstore sells books new for list price (better than at least some of the SUNY's do), used for 75%, and does buyback for 50% (of list price, not price paid).
Plus a professor here gets his book sold to kids at a little cheaper than list price.
And even with all that, it's STILL a huge pain in the ass.
Tried it...editions are the same content-wise, throughout, to the letter.
But they changed the problems a little.
Basically, I just don't do the assigned homework. Eh. I'm only shooting for a 3.0 anyhow.
God dammit. I knew somebody was going to mention my fucking team. Even though it has nothing to do with anything. I looked at your post, too, before I read it, and thought, 'that's the one.'
Of course I also suspect they'll implode. Since I think I've just proven myself to be psychic, shit.
My father works closely with OSHA.
I'll mention it.
Mario Party's stick-spinning on the N64 is rough enough to involve special protective equipment!
Ohhh. I was confused, there, until I realized you weren't a huge Trekkie.
Right. It's an attempt to use Windows' popularity by having a similar name. Which you can't do.
Okay. "Meant to be read" was terrible phrasing. I still say it's BEST read, though -- at least the stuff he put in regular old books. It's just that pretty much every sentence is full of wit and intelligence, and it's not ossible to capture it all without simply reading it out loud. I think the description of Arthur's work as Sandwich Maker is a great example of that, and it doesn't lend too well to narration, either. That's not to say, of course, that any adaptations of any of his works are a bad thing, it's just that he could write in a way that was better than can be captured in other mediums (Including a simple book-on-tape, in my opinion...there are some things you need to go back and read again.)
Hell, I'm reading a damn funny British book at the moment...It's in my hands, I'm holding my page. I like British humo(u)r above all. Bridget Jones' Diary was immensely popular in the states (I mean the book, by the way) and I doubt I know a person who can't describe scnes from at least three Monty Python films. British jokes are funnier than ours. We know it. It's wittier. It's funny and not just obscene. And in nearly every case, it's performed better, too.
Kill Bill is also ultimately a Disney movie...you know they own half the world, right?
Though considering that it's shitty, it'll still be hugely outsold by the gems in that year's holiday crown, largely ignorant consumers or not. My prime complaint with the game industry is the increased pushing of shitty titles anyway...
My solution with a shitty game set to release at Xmas would usually be to put a bit more effort and try to get it released in the midst of the inevitable early year dry spell. If it's unsalvagable, I would have had it shot long ago.