I was under the impression that highjackers didn't land the planes in US airports for fingerprinting, rather landed them inside US buildings for terrorism purposes.
What is this fingerprinting intended to achieve again?
True, but game developing companies are made famous by a combination of very similar attributes!
1. Sufficient handling/tilt/gameplay consistency (many console games lack this)
2. Good/Unique A/V features demonstrated(graphics and soundtrack)
3. Charming characteristics (Rockstar Games produces a game - expectations of its characteristics?)
4. Exposure in media and of course word of mouth
Actually, RPG's have had a lot of innovation recently, mostly stemming from the rise of the D20 system. Look at the big new games in RPG's recently, Temple of Elemental Evil and Knights of the Old Republic. Both D20, both introducing new and very promising engines. Admittedly, KoTOR was held back a bit by it's console origins, but a game using that engine developed for state of the art PC hardware would be excellent, indeed.
5-7GHz, eh? What about IPC?.002 of an instruction each clock cycle? That seems to be intels method. Make the CPU faster at any cost, including actual performance.
So, given that we now have "indy" game producers, does that mean that an RIAA style conglomerate for the gaming industry will soon arise and oligopolise the market? So games will cost $150 and developers will get maybe $1 from each game sold, after they are signed onto prohibitively oppressive exclusionary contracts?
Then the new GIAA will sue grannies for downloading ISOs off Kazaa. Or am I too late in noticing this is already in place?
No, Quake symbolises man's need to use force and power to elevate ourselves into the stars. Using the metaphor of power, indeed, the very "rockets" we use to get to the moon, one can then use a "rocket" on one's feet, and leap towards the sky!
>Pleae provide a specific example Starcraft:Ghost if you must have an example >with reasons, so that I can better understand your point of view. Why? Better control schemes. Better resolution. Better audio. More customisability. More functionality.
Basic comprehension is not always a talent for every person, I suppose. I'll type this slowly for you, as you don't seem to be a fast reader.
If Starcraft Ghost was developed and optimised for the superior capabilities of the PC, all other aspects remaining the same, it would have had better graphics, better sound, the same gameplay, and a better control scheme.
What about this don't you understand exactly? Or are you just pulling my leg?
Every game. Why? Better control schemes. Better resolution. Better audio. More customisability. More functionality. These are all aspects of the game quality. Starcraft:Ghost if you must have an example, although an example is not necessary for you to understand.
The console cannot provide the same quality as a PC. You have the same gameplay, but with better visual, auditory and tactile attributes. This is why the PC can provide a higher quality than a console game.
Ok, how about you name a console game that you think would have made a better PC game IF it had some things that the console version could not possibly provide.
Any console game not optimised for the latest and greatest rendering API's (DX9 or the latest OpenGL features). Reason? It would essentially be the same game but with better graphics. I understand this is a real cop-out answer, so I'll embellish a little. A few people have already mentioned that consoles desperately need a newer interface. Controllers are simplistic and clumsy. I know, I've used a controller, and it doesn't compare to the analog precision of a mouse. First person shooters, an entire genre of games, are therefore better on PC's, where they can take advantage of higher resoltions, more detailed models (due to the polygon counts). A P3/733, no matter how optimised, can only handle a finite number of polygons. Your average PC today has a lot more than that.
"Ahh," you say, "but my console is always good and I don't need to upgrade it every two years like you do with your PC!" You bought an X-Box, why? What was wrong with your NES? Not fast enough? So you upgraded to a newer console? How often do they make you buy a new console? Do old games always work on your new console? I know most old games work fine on new PC's.
I understand that graphics quality alone may not be enough for most people, and that's a valid point. But when I see the ugly, chunky graphics on a blurry television pimped out by the X-Box, I really feel like slapping the guy who's telling me how great those graphics are. I think they've never seen the crisp image of a well rendered scene on a properly equipped PC. Take some time out and look at the quality, it is, as an american once said, a self evident truth.
Yes, some games are compatible with TNT2 settings. Great! But I choose not to lower the settings on my games to that level. I turn up the detail. I know you console guys don't get a setup screen, so you probably didn't know to look for one.
It's always been that way, though. I can never find online servers for Maxis Massively Multiplayer Sim-Brick Online 2004.
The other secret, hidden hope for PC gaming is the open source world. Americas Army, although not free as people might like it to be, is quite a good game, and it would be impossible to achieve on a console. I can't see any open source console games surviving very long, either. Linux and OpenGL, and the power of the open source community could well create a utopia of inexpensive online gaming unreachable by the console market. Just an idea.
The whole reason console gaming is killing off decent gaming as we used to know it (high resolution, brilliant shading and shadow effects, high polygon counts, all leading towards ultra realistic games) is because of the price. If consoles were as expensive as PC's (in terms of entry level), consoles would have died so very long ago.
The low quality of console games is holding back the entire industry. Console games that are released on the PC are very often exactly the same as the original console version, with no enhancements to take advantage of the sheer power of a real computer.
So now you want the low quality of a console game, but you're happy to buy a 40" HDTV monitor, so that you've also paid around the same as a decent PC rig for the privelege?
I'm curious. Please name a console game that wouldn't be better if developed to take advantage of the superior capabilities of a properly equipped PC. (Even one that has a bunch of little USB controllers plugged in for those who don't understand mouse and keyboard).
Maybe the reason it failed was more simple than we think.
"Okay, get the beagle ready for launch and fire it off."
"But sir..."
"Don't ask questions! This is a great day for mars exploration, old chap! I'm off for tea and crumpets."
"Okay sir. Here boy! Walkies!"
Maybe they were afraid it would land on the beagle? Or any of those other countless, expensive probes that failed? There must be a pretty big pile there now.
The expeditions all have very similar purposes, scientific analysis, usually analysing chemicals in the atmosphere and soil/rocks, searching for water, or life.
It would be really neat if they did find life. That would increase a lot of the space exploration budget, I think.
It's interesting that Sony is working on a series of "convergence" devices like the "multipurpose" PSX. That would be the caused by the many sales of xboxes related to people wanting to use it as a multifunction entertainment device.
Of course, people who use the xbox as a multifunction device tend to hack it and use linux or whatever to drive it. Not Microsoft's intention I'm sure!
So will Sony release an equally "hackable" playstation, or have they missed the point?
Okay so Bioware has just announced they're making sequel games to KOTOR and NWN, though I understand that KOTOR is built from a lot of the same code base that NWN used (certainly some elements of the look and feel for the games are the same).
This really doesn't seem like news, "Games company making sequels based on reasonably popular games".
At least they're making some nice roleplaying games, unlike Interplay who are too busy knifing some of their best development studios.
And the Intel fanboys make fun of the AMD fanboys? Very mature.
Intel and AMD both have a variety of technologies available to them, sometimes uniquely, sometimes shared or licensed.
Currently AMD holds the speed crown with the hammer series of chips. Before that, intel held the speed crown when the P4 series ramped up to the very high clockspeeds it was capable of. Before that, AMD held the speed crown when it beat intel soundly to 1GHz. Before that, intel was everything.
When you consider that now, AMD seems to be a low-end commodity CPU technology leader (first to get 64bit on the desktop and all), and intel have changed their plans by announcing work on an x86-64 CPU, but intel by far has a huge installed base and the same entrenched loyalty in consumers that Bill Gates enjoys (They are the biggest, most expensive company so their product is more reliable FUD).
I'm interested in seeing who will win out - the larger company with the market share (but less innovative product), or the innovator with a cheaper, more powerful product. I think intel will win, after observing the linux/windows market competition.
So long as we can use the fully 3d engine to zoom in on the sims as we make them repeatedly use the oven without any cooking skill whatsoever!
I bet the programmers will still let us build them a house, let them step in and check it all out, then build away all the doors, windows and furniture to see what happens.
You can use RUNAS in a batch file to launch the game executable, I think there is a way to cache the credentials when you use runas.exe.
There must be because I'm running it at home for advert destruction purposes (If the ad-ridden app can't read or write from it's advert caching directory, is that my fault? Too bad!).
Also, at http://www.loa.espci.fr/winnt/sud/sud.htm there is a utility you can use to run things with different credentials.
BIS made some really excellent games, games that are remembered long after their day. Much like the old gold box games that were released way back when by TSR.
I lost many hours of my life playing through Planescape:Torment and all the other games delivered to us from Black Isle.
One wonders if Interplay have decided that money is no longer a desireable outcome of the game production money? Have they lost all inclination to produce new classics, as I'm sure Fallout 3 would have become?
Perhaps Interplay simply doesn't percieve a value in role-playing games like Fallout and Baldurs Gate and the likes on the consoles of the future. Games with writing are to be frowned upon in console-land, as you can't read text quite as nicely on a TV set. This falls nicely into my growing theory that consoles are causing the end of the brain era of gaming, and sending us back into pac-man twitch land.
Playing DirectX games as efficiently as Windows does? Playing DX9 games? I know I'll get modded as troll or flamebait here, but if you look at this on a basic level, MS has established a very strong base of code that Linux doesn't seem to be able to get near. I understand and appreciate the tremendous technical complexities involved, but if Linux wants to be king, there can be no sympathy.
We allready produce more food than the world needs. The problem isn't in crop planning, it's in distribution. Why would a farmer want to *spend* money transporting grain to starving people who can't afford to even pay for it? It's cheaper for farmers to store/destroy excess crops.
The world isn't a united place. In genereal, it's every man for himself.
That's why genetically engineered animals and crops exist in the first place. There's a financial driver. The convenience of gennies outweighs the risk to the financial dead-space that is nature.
I'm not saying it's right. It just happens to be the way things work.
The really funny part is, I'm Aussie. I should have started my post with "g'day". Is there a law in the US patriot act that forces non-americans to identify themselves yet?
Slashdot Mirror
I was under the impression that highjackers didn't land the planes in US airports for fingerprinting, rather landed them inside US buildings for terrorism purposes.
What is this fingerprinting intended to achieve again?
True, but game developing companies are made famous by a combination of very similar attributes!
1. Sufficient handling/tilt/gameplay consistency (many console games lack this)
2. Good/Unique A/V features demonstrated(graphics and soundtrack)
3. Charming characteristics (Rockstar Games produces a game - expectations of its characteristics?)
4. Exposure in media and of course word of mouth
Actually, RPG's have had a lot of innovation recently, mostly stemming from the rise of the D20 system. Look at the big new games in RPG's recently, Temple of Elemental Evil and Knights of the Old Republic. Both D20, both introducing new and very promising engines. Admittedly, KoTOR was held back a bit by it's console origins, but a game using that engine developed for state of the art PC hardware would be excellent, indeed.
The "Beagle" memorial perhaps?
What about the Challenger?
5-7GHz, eh? What about IPC? .002 of an instruction each clock cycle? That seems to be intels method. Make the CPU faster at any cost, including actual performance.
So, given that we now have "indy" game producers, does that mean that an RIAA style conglomerate for the gaming industry will soon arise and oligopolise the market? So games will cost $150 and developers will get maybe $1 from each game sold, after they are signed onto prohibitively oppressive exclusionary contracts?
Then the new GIAA will sue grannies for downloading ISOs off Kazaa. Or am I too late in noticing this is already in place?
No, Quake symbolises man's need to use force and power to elevate ourselves into the stars. Using the metaphor of power, indeed, the very "rockets" we use to get to the moon, one can then use a "rocket" on one's feet, and leap towards the sky!
Here goes!
>Pleae provide a specific example
Starcraft:Ghost if you must have an example
>with reasons, so that I can better understand your point of view.
Why? Better control schemes. Better resolution. Better audio. More customisability. More functionality.
Basic comprehension is not always a talent for every person, I suppose.
I'll type this slowly for you, as you don't seem to be a fast reader.
If Starcraft Ghost was developed and optimised for the superior capabilities of the PC, all other aspects remaining the same, it would have had better graphics, better sound, the same gameplay, and a better control scheme.
What about this don't you understand exactly? Or are you just pulling my leg?
Every game. Why? Better control schemes. Better resolution. Better audio. More customisability. More functionality. These are all aspects of the game quality. Starcraft:Ghost if you must have an example, although an example is not necessary for you to understand.
The console cannot provide the same quality as a PC. You have the same gameplay, but with better visual, auditory and tactile attributes. This is why the PC can provide a higher quality than a console game.
Well this is easy. Let me explain.
Ok, how about you name a console game that you think would have made a better PC game IF it had some things that the console version could not possibly provide.
Any console game not optimised for the latest and greatest rendering API's (DX9 or the latest OpenGL features). Reason? It would essentially be the same game but with better graphics. I understand this is a real cop-out answer, so I'll embellish a little. A few people have already mentioned that consoles desperately need a newer interface. Controllers are simplistic and clumsy. I know, I've used a controller, and it doesn't compare to the analog precision of a mouse. First person shooters, an entire genre of games, are therefore better on PC's, where they can take advantage of higher resoltions, more detailed models (due to the polygon counts). A P3/733, no matter how optimised, can only handle a finite number of polygons. Your average PC today has a lot more than that.
"Ahh," you say, "but my console is always good and I don't need to upgrade it every two years like you do with your PC!" You bought an X-Box, why? What was wrong with your NES? Not fast enough? So you upgraded to a newer console? How often do they make you buy a new console? Do old games always work on your new console? I know most old games work fine on new PC's.
I understand that graphics quality alone may not be enough for most people, and that's a valid point. But when I see the ugly, chunky graphics on a blurry television pimped out by the X-Box, I really feel like slapping the guy who's telling me how great those graphics are. I think they've never seen the crisp image of a well rendered scene on a properly equipped PC. Take some time out and look at the quality, it is, as an american once said, a self evident truth.
Yes, some games are compatible with TNT2 settings. Great! But I choose not to lower the settings on my games to that level. I turn up the detail. I know you console guys don't get a setup screen, so you probably didn't know to look for one.
It's always been that way, though. I can never find online servers for Maxis Massively Multiplayer Sim-Brick Online 2004.
The other secret, hidden hope for PC gaming is the open source world. Americas Army, although not free as people might like it to be, is quite a good game, and it would be impossible to achieve on a console. I can't see any open source console games surviving very long, either. Linux and OpenGL, and the power of the open source community could well create a utopia of inexpensive online gaming unreachable by the console market. Just an idea.
The whole reason console gaming is killing off decent gaming as we used to know it (high resolution, brilliant shading and shadow effects, high polygon counts, all leading towards ultra realistic games) is because of the price. If consoles were as expensive as PC's (in terms of entry level), consoles would have died so very long ago.
The low quality of console games is holding back the entire industry. Console games that are released on the PC are very often exactly the same as the original console version, with no enhancements to take advantage of the sheer power of a real computer.
So now you want the low quality of a console game, but you're happy to buy a 40" HDTV monitor, so that you've also paid around the same as a decent PC rig for the privelege?
I'm curious. Please name a console game that wouldn't be better if developed to take advantage of the superior capabilities of a properly equipped PC. (Even one that has a bunch of little USB controllers plugged in for those who don't understand mouse and keyboard).
Maybe the reason it failed was more simple than we think.
"Okay, get the beagle ready for launch and fire it off."
"But sir..."
"Don't ask questions! This is a great day for mars exploration, old chap! I'm off for tea and crumpets."
"Okay sir. Here boy! Walkies!"
Maybe they were afraid it would land on the beagle? Or any of those other countless, expensive probes that failed? There must be a pretty big pile there now.
The expeditions all have very similar purposes, scientific analysis, usually analysing chemicals in the atmosphere and soil/rocks, searching for water, or life.
It would be really neat if they did find life. That would increase a lot of the space exploration budget, I think.
It's interesting that Sony is working on a series of "convergence" devices like the "multipurpose" PSX. That would be the caused by the many sales of xboxes related to people wanting to use it as a multifunction entertainment device.
Of course, people who use the xbox as a multifunction device tend to hack it and use linux or whatever to drive it. Not Microsoft's intention I'm sure!
So will Sony release an equally "hackable" playstation, or have they missed the point?
Okay so Bioware has just announced they're making sequel games to KOTOR and NWN, though I understand that KOTOR is built from a lot of the same code base that NWN used (certainly some elements of the look and feel for the games are the same).
This really doesn't seem like news, "Games company making sequels based on reasonably popular games".
At least they're making some nice roleplaying games, unlike Interplay who are too busy knifing some of their best development studios.
And the Intel fanboys make fun of the AMD fanboys? Very mature.
Intel and AMD both have a variety of technologies available to them, sometimes uniquely, sometimes shared or licensed.
Currently AMD holds the speed crown with the hammer series of chips. Before that, intel held the speed crown when the P4 series ramped up to the very high clockspeeds it was capable of. Before that, AMD held the speed crown when it beat intel soundly to 1GHz. Before that, intel was everything.
When you consider that now, AMD seems to be a low-end commodity CPU technology leader (first to get 64bit on the desktop and all), and intel have changed their plans by announcing work on an x86-64 CPU, but intel by far has a huge installed base and the same entrenched loyalty in consumers that Bill Gates enjoys (They are the biggest, most expensive company so their product is more reliable FUD).
I'm interested in seeing who will win out - the larger company with the market share (but less innovative product), or the innovator with a cheaper, more powerful product. I think intel will win, after observing the linux/windows market competition.
So long as we can use the fully 3d engine to zoom in on the sims as we make them repeatedly use the oven without any cooking skill whatsoever!
I bet the programmers will still let us build them a house, let them step in and check it all out, then build away all the doors, windows and furniture to see what happens.
Actually, given the amount of litigation the MPAA/RIAA/DMCA producers of these films is involved in, I'd say LAWful evil.
You can use RUNAS in a batch file to launch the game executable, I think there is a way to cache the credentials when you use runas.exe.
There must be because I'm running it at home for advert destruction purposes (If the ad-ridden app can't read or write from it's advert caching directory, is that my fault? Too bad!).
Also, at http://www.loa.espci.fr/winnt/sud/sud.htm there is a utility you can use to run things with different credentials.
BIS made some really excellent games, games that are remembered long after their day. Much like the old gold box games that were released way back when by TSR.
I lost many hours of my life playing through Planescape:Torment and all the other games delivered to us from Black Isle.
One wonders if Interplay have decided that money is no longer a desireable outcome of the game production money? Have they lost all inclination to produce new classics, as I'm sure Fallout 3 would have become?
Perhaps Interplay simply doesn't percieve a value in role-playing games like Fallout and Baldurs Gate and the likes on the consoles of the future. Games with writing are to be frowned upon in console-land, as you can't read text quite as nicely on a TV set. This falls nicely into my growing theory that consoles are causing the end of the brain era of gaming, and sending us back into pac-man twitch land.
Playing DirectX games as efficiently as Windows does? Playing DX9 games? I know I'll get modded as troll or flamebait here, but if you look at this on a basic level, MS has established a very strong base of code that Linux doesn't seem to be able to get near. I understand and appreciate the tremendous technical complexities involved, but if Linux wants to be king, there can be no sympathy.
We allready produce more food than the world needs. The problem isn't in crop planning, it's in distribution. Why would a farmer want to *spend* money transporting grain to starving people who can't afford to even pay for it? It's cheaper for farmers to store/destroy excess crops.
The world isn't a united place. In genereal, it's every man for himself.
That's why genetically engineered animals and crops exist in the first place. There's a financial driver. The convenience of gennies outweighs the risk to the financial dead-space that is nature.
I'm not saying it's right. It just happens to be the way things work.
The really funny part is, I'm Aussie. I should have started my post with "g'day". Is there a law in the US patriot act that forces non-americans to identify themselves yet?
Couch Potato needs food badly!