I pegged anime for a fad in the late 90's. There was some incredible stuff coming out, but there was a TON material dating back to the 1970's that still had not been shown to outside [of Japan] audiences. Most people outside of Japan didn't watch Akira or Vampire Hunter D until they were 5 - 10 years old. I figured the well of good old material would dry up and there wouldn't be enough new material to keep interest going. Looks like I was wrong.
There will probably only be the typical HDTV flag issues (if they support HiDef). Apple doesn't typically add DRM to content they did not provide themselves. Now I hope this box will be snappy enough to play the TV shows off of iTunes. My current box can't. Right now I pay $2 per episode of Housewives and Lost but still have to find a torrent because DIVX plays better than QuickTime (mp4?) + DRM on my machine.
"No FPS maker is going to support sony or ms's add-on motion sensitive controller because not everyone will have it."
If the Revolution controller is so popular that MS and Sony copy it for their own systems, most software developers will at least add support for it (though I doubt they'd ever require it).
I didn't intend the fanboy explanation to be condescending or anything. I just wanted to be clear on why I labeled you as such.
Personally, I think that Superman works just as hard at being a hero as Batman. Superman can do pretty much what he pleases. It has to be tempting to toss morality to the wind and just worry about himself. The biggest problem with Superman is the best comic book stories play on the hero's weaknesses. Superman just doesn't have that many weaknesses.
Leave it to a Batman fanboy* to do his best to belittle Superman. Don't forget that Batman spends just as much time gallavanting around in blue tights (or black depending on DC's mood at the time). If movie producers can make a good story out of man whose parents are killed as a child so he decides to dress like a bat and run around at night as a vigilante, then surely they can sqeak out something decent about an alien who grows up on earth and decides to use the advantages he has over others to fight crime. It doesnn't have to be campy and there doesn't have to be any "by golly" about it.
FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of either. Make mine Marvel.
*You get the label as a Batman fanboy because of how often you mention Batman. You mention that you like Superman better in the Justice League but then only because of his contrast to Batman. And then in the discussion of a Superman movie you mention you would most like to see a Batman movie (though the source material you mention is one of the best Batman stories).
Superman V? But there was never a Superman IV. I saw a movie once called Supermaniv that looked like a Superman film at first, but it obviously was not a Superman movie.
I don't know everyone else is doing with Madden, but I'm using it to play football. Last time I checked, it still does that. The actual football engine has improved even if some bells and whistles that don't involve the engine were cut. The reviews are looking at what all "features" Madden packed into the game. I'm looking at how well Madden does the one thing it was specifically designed to do. It plays football and it plays it better than Madden 2005.
Also, at least the GC version CAN Challenge plays. The AI doesn't do it as often as in 2005, but the user can challenge a play any time except for the final two minutes of each half (in accordance with NFL rules). So either Madden left a fundamental feature of recent football out of one version of the game but left it in others or the reviewer does not know the basic rules of NFL football.
You see, I've got to disagree with most of what you have to say. The only EA game I play regularly is Madden. Madden has done a decent job of adding features without screwing too much with the formula since about Madden 2003 (where 2003 is actually the year 2002 here). I like QB Vision. (I also like that you can turn it off.) I like the truck stick to an extent. I am also of the opinion that the 2006 computer AI is a bit smarter. I can't get away with one-trick-pony schemes too often anymore like I could in almost any previous Madden game. Madden also fixed QB Spy packages to actually spy the QB instead of just playing a soft zone up front. What it really comes down to is that I'd rather play Madden 06 than Madden 2005 with updated rosters.
Now the newer 2D Metroid GB games are great in my opinion, but I'm not overly impressed with their 3D offerings. I think they strayed too far from the formula there. Prime is an OK game, but I wouldn't have been happy spending more than $15 for it. Zelda did a good job of changing with the times IMHO and I enjoy each new game (even WindWalker). Personally, I thought Final Fantasy's jump to an MMO was an outright abomination.
Innovative gamplay is a double-edged sword. Straying too far will alientate some people, but staying too close to the formula not entice people to buy the newer product.
Q-Bert had the Mellow Yellow version of the game. Half the Atari 2600 lineup was a movie/TV show/etc. name pasted onto a game that had nothing to do with it. MASH as a helicopter shooting game? I'd consider that an ad more than a tie-in. There was an entire NES game devoted to the Noid from Dominos. Sports titles have had ads in them going back at least 8 or 9 years, probably further than that for some racing titles. Ads in games aren't exactly new.
"If you don't think most heterosexual males would be interested in a game where the main character is a homosexual, no matter how good the game may be, then don't be surprised why women arn't into most of the computer games out there."
Hey, if they made a video game based on the upcoming BBC series Torchwood, I'd be all for it. Gay or not, Captain Jack rules!
"replay ability is in some ways actually hurting their bottom line"
No, replay ability helps a specific company's bottom line. I will buy games from company X because company X makes good enough games that I will play them often. How often can a company realisticly release top-shelf games? Probably not as long as it takes me to get through a reasonably lengthy game.
Scientists have let evolution become synonymous with the idea that life has only ever come from other life via evolution (biogenesis?). Evolution DOES happen. That doesn't mean that evolution is the only way in which life has ever been created. The religious folks in this country are claiming an apple (God created the universe) and the response is an orange (species change over time given factors in their environment). Until this gets sorted out evolution == biogenesis will be what the public sees and people like Darwin who have come up with very useful observations in the scientific field will be villified.
Not being interested in it and not wanting one are two different things. I for one have no interest in a 360 but if I had a good way to get my hands on one, I would. The resale value of the 360 is very high right now. If I had one, it would sit new in its box until I sold it. I imagine the GP's dad was thinking the same thing if he bothered to ask about buying one in the first place.
Your dad either doesn't want it bad enough or doesn't know the right people at his Wal-Mart. I have a buddy who's a Wal-Mart employee and mananged to pick up 2 of the XBox 360. He had to pay full price instead of getting his discount to keep it as hush-hush as possible but he'll still get his money's worth on EBay.
Our company moved from metro Atlanta to the Athens, GA area many moons ago. The reason was that we could get the unskilled workers we need very cheaply and they were happy to get the money we were paying. Keeping skilled workers is a constant battle since many of our staff live between Athens and Atlanta and often eventually defect to a job in Atlanta that pays a bit better.
Personally, I enjoy living in a $120000 3500 sq ft home on 1.2 acres of land so I actually live a 20 minute commute from Athens in the other (non-Atlanta) direction. I also get spend my summer weekends on beautiful Lake Hartwell instead of the massively overcrowded Lake Lanier since Hartwell is now only a 20 minute drive (24 miles to the boat ramp I use).
Slashdot Mirror
I pegged anime for a fad in the late 90's. There was some incredible stuff coming out, but there was a TON material dating back to the 1970's that still had not been shown to outside [of Japan] audiences. Most people outside of Japan didn't watch Akira or Vampire Hunter D until they were 5 - 10 years old. I figured the well of good old material would dry up and there wouldn't be enough new material to keep interest going. Looks like I was wrong.
Why would you pay for cable or a TV antennae and then not own a TV?
GP: "I don't have or want a TV."
P: "you'll be able to have a DVR that can record TV shows in a format that you will be able to watch on your PowerBook"
Record from what exactly?
There will probably only be the typical HDTV flag issues (if they support HiDef). Apple doesn't typically add DRM to content they did not provide themselves. Now I hope this box will be snappy enough to play the TV shows off of iTunes. My current box can't. Right now I pay $2 per episode of Housewives and Lost but still have to find a torrent because DIVX plays better than QuickTime (mp4?) + DRM on my machine.
"No FPS maker is going to support sony or ms's add-on motion sensitive controller because not everyone will have it."
If the Revolution controller is so popular that MS and Sony copy it for their own systems, most software developers will at least add support for it (though I doubt they'd ever require it).
Cool, a bashfest.
Here's my list:
Xbox vs Nintendo vs Sony: Nintendo
Atari vs Intellivision vs Coleco: Coleco, but only because of the abysmal 5200 controller.
Atari vs Commodore vs Apple: Commodore
Apple vs Windows: Apple if you have the cash.
NES vs Sega: NES
Dreamcast vs PS vs N64: Saturn
PS2 vs Xbox vs GC: GC
I didn't intend the fanboy explanation to be condescending or anything. I just wanted to be clear on why I labeled you as such.
Personally, I think that Superman works just as hard at being a hero as Batman. Superman can do pretty much what he pleases. It has to be tempting to toss morality to the wind and just worry about himself. The biggest problem with Superman is the best comic book stories play on the hero's weaknesses. Superman just doesn't have that many weaknesses.
Leave it to a Batman fanboy* to do his best to belittle Superman. Don't forget that Batman spends just as much time gallavanting around in blue tights (or black depending on DC's mood at the time). If movie producers can make a good story out of man whose parents are killed as a child so he decides to dress like a bat and run around at night as a vigilante, then surely they can sqeak out something decent about an alien who grows up on earth and decides to use the advantages he has over others to fight crime. It doesnn't have to be campy and there doesn't have to be any "by golly" about it.
FWIW, I'm not a huge fan of either. Make mine Marvel.
*You get the label as a Batman fanboy because of how often you mention Batman. You mention that you like Superman better in the Justice League but then only because of his contrast to Batman. And then in the discussion of a Superman movie you mention you would most like to see a Batman movie (though the source material you mention is one of the best Batman stories).
Superman V? But there was never a Superman IV. I saw a movie once called Supermaniv that looked like a Superman film at first, but it obviously was not a Superman movie.
I'll take 6 months of good lake weather every year over respect from the rest of the world any day.
I don't know everyone else is doing with Madden, but I'm using it to play football. Last time I checked, it still does that. The actual football engine has improved even if some bells and whistles that don't involve the engine were cut. The reviews are looking at what all "features" Madden packed into the game. I'm looking at how well Madden does the one thing it was specifically designed to do. It plays football and it plays it better than Madden 2005.
Also, at least the GC version CAN Challenge plays. The AI doesn't do it as often as in 2005, but the user can challenge a play any time except for the final two minutes of each half (in accordance with NFL rules). So either Madden left a fundamental feature of recent football out of one version of the game but left it in others or the reviewer does not know the basic rules of NFL football.
I thought there was a fully functional hard drive made of LEGO! Instead it's just a hard drive that looks like a LEGO piece. What a bummer.
You see, I've got to disagree with most of what you have to say. The only EA game I play regularly is Madden. Madden has done a decent job of adding features without screwing too much with the formula since about Madden 2003 (where 2003 is actually the year 2002 here). I like QB Vision. (I also like that you can turn it off.) I like the truck stick to an extent. I am also of the opinion that the 2006 computer AI is a bit smarter. I can't get away with one-trick-pony schemes too often anymore like I could in almost any previous Madden game. Madden also fixed QB Spy packages to actually spy the QB instead of just playing a soft zone up front. What it really comes down to is that I'd rather play Madden 06 than Madden 2005 with updated rosters.
Now the newer 2D Metroid GB games are great in my opinion, but I'm not overly impressed with their 3D offerings. I think they strayed too far from the formula there. Prime is an OK game, but I wouldn't have been happy spending more than $15 for it. Zelda did a good job of changing with the times IMHO and I enjoy each new game (even WindWalker). Personally, I thought Final Fantasy's jump to an MMO was an outright abomination.
Innovative gamplay is a double-edged sword. Straying too far will alientate some people, but staying too close to the formula not entice people to buy the newer product.
The almighty Jet Moto was exactly the game I was thinking of when I threw out the 7 to 8 years figure.
Q-Bert had the Mellow Yellow version of the game. Half the Atari 2600 lineup was a movie/TV show/etc. name pasted onto a game that had nothing to do with it. MASH as a helicopter shooting game? I'd consider that an ad more than a tie-in. There was an entire NES game devoted to the Noid from Dominos. Sports titles have had ads in them going back at least 8 or 9 years, probably further than that for some racing titles. Ads in games aren't exactly new.
"If you don't think most heterosexual males would be interested in a game where the main character is a homosexual, no matter how good the game may be, then don't be surprised why women arn't into most of the computer games out there."
Hey, if they made a video game based on the upcoming BBC series Torchwood, I'd be all for it. Gay or not, Captain Jack rules!
"replay ability is in some ways actually hurting their bottom line"
No, replay ability helps a specific company's bottom line. I will buy games from company X because company X makes good enough games that I will play them often. How often can a company realisticly release top-shelf games? Probably not as long as it takes me to get through a reasonably lengthy game.
Scientists have let evolution become synonymous with the idea that life has only ever come from other life via evolution (biogenesis?). Evolution DOES happen. That doesn't mean that evolution is the only way in which life has ever been created. The religious folks in this country are claiming an apple (God created the universe) and the response is an orange (species change over time given factors in their environment). Until this gets sorted out evolution == biogenesis will be what the public sees and people like Darwin who have come up with very useful observations in the scientific field will be villified.
They might not be Catholic. The Pope believes a lot of things that non-Catholics disagree with.
Not being interested in it and not wanting one are two different things. I for one have no interest in a 360 but if I had a good way to get my hands on one, I would. The resale value of the 360 is very high right now. If I had one, it would sit new in its box until I sold it. I imagine the GP's dad was thinking the same thing if he bothered to ask about buying one in the first place.
Moron.
Great link. Thanks.
"Need a UNIX guru?"
Nope.
Your dad either doesn't want it bad enough or doesn't know the right people at his Wal-Mart. I have a buddy who's a Wal-Mart employee and mananged to pick up 2 of the XBox 360. He had to pay full price instead of getting his discount to keep it as hush-hush as possible but he'll still get his money's worth on EBay.
Did you guys come up with the idea for the show or was it presented to you? If you came up with it yourself, how?
Our company moved from metro Atlanta to the Athens, GA area many moons ago. The reason was that we could get the unskilled workers we need very cheaply and they were happy to get the money we were paying. Keeping skilled workers is a constant battle since many of our staff live between Athens and Atlanta and often eventually defect to a job in Atlanta that pays a bit better.
Personally, I enjoy living in a $120000 3500 sq ft home on 1.2 acres of land so I actually live a 20 minute commute from Athens in the other (non-Atlanta) direction. I also get spend my summer weekends on beautiful Lake Hartwell instead of the massively overcrowded Lake Lanier since Hartwell is now only a 20 minute drive (24 miles to the boat ramp I use).