The best racer of all time is without a doubt Stunts. Where else can you choose from a large array of real sports cars, design your own tracks, and perform stunts like jumps and corkscrews? Long live Stunts!
The game "Don't Pull" on the Three Wonders cab is one of the best time-wasters I've ever played. We used to have it at a pizza place I worked at. I spent just about every break playing it. It's like Pengo but better IMHO. I'd pay $20 just to have that game on a portable system.
"Rent it first!" - Once upona time I'd wholeheartedly agree with you. Nowadays, I don't think that's such good advice. Where I live, it costs $7 - $10 to rent. Granted, that's for a whole week, but my rental store options don't offer weekend rentals anymore. That's about 1/5 the cost fo a game. When games were $4 rentals and $40 purchases rent-before-you-buy made a whole lot more sense. Now when I look at a title, I rent the ones that I'll only play for a week or two at most. For example, X-Men Legends 2 is an incredible game, but after two weeks I was ok with taking it back. I'll play Madden 06 weekly until 07 comes out so that's a good purchase for me. Some games like Zelda: Windwalker and Metroid Prime are cheap enough now that I don't see why the rental stores still bother to stock the game.
You'll start to see scholarships when you see the single trend that all forms of money-making entertainment (including sports) share: Get a very large number of people to pay to watch a very small number of people perform. "Pro gamer" will be a legitimate career option when you can get people to pay to watch others game.
I believe the GP here. All he was said was that he saw it crash a few times. That's entirely believable. This is the first run of a complex computer system. There will be some problems with a few units. It's also possible that CoD2 was a poor port. He didn't even condemn the system as a whole. He just pointed out that he wasn't interested after he saw the display. I don't blame him. I have a habit of not buying items I see broken in the store. If for no other reason, you should belive him so you make sure to thoroughly test the system before purchase (or at least buy it somewhere with a decent return policy). I know if after hearing that I see the same thing happening, I'd wait a bit before purchase.
I wrote about this a few days ago, but I am skeptical that Madden 06 will sell well on the 360. It's halfway throught the NFL season. Madden 06 is already available on every other current console out there. Most people who wanted Madden 06 already bought it. They're going to be hesitant to buy an only slightly-better-looking-with-no-change-in-gameplay Madden 06 on the 360. The ones who haven't bought it but still want it are ususally waiting for the price to drop. They're not going to shell out $60 on a copy.
I too was a 2k gamer since the Dreamcast. In fact I bought a Dreamcast at launch and NFL2K was the first game I rented two weeks later. I've always loved the 2K/ESPN line. I've just felt that gaming was more fast-paced and more fun in general. I haven't bought a Madden since Madden 98 on the Saturn.
However, I've acutally taken a liking to Madden 2006. I played 2005 and thought they had improved some things since 2003 but still wasn't overly impressed. This year, I think Madden 2006 came a long way in what I miss from ESPN. 2006 just seems faster to me. QB Vision is an interesting idea. I've grown to like it. If not, you can always disable it (at least I can on the GC). I also like the new control set that favors a QB running the ball some. Even Mark Brunell has to tuck and run on occasion. It's nice that you can actually do that in Madden now without some infernal toggle system. It also seems to me that the defense doesn't fall for some of the same plays over and over again like they used to.
Overall, if there were an ESPN2K6 I'd probably buy it instead but I'm certainly not crying myself to sleep over Madden 2006. They paid the NFL a LOT of money to be the only game in town. They're not going to rest too softly on their laurels or they'll be out of business.
More like Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD Hasn't Started Yet. I have yet to see a single Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player for sale. How can a format war be over before it starts?
While most people were clamoring over Doom, Rise of the Triad was quietly released. ROTT was an extremely fun game with all sorts of humor built-in but it still managed to be a pretty intense game. It was also the BEST multiplayer of its day. Where else can you get Shroom power-ups, people begging not to be shot, God AND Dog Modes, the creepiest hidden level I've ever seen (You Do Not Belong Here), a character named Ian Paul Freely, and all the Ludicrous Gibs you can handle?
Can you not turn off QB Vision in some versions of Madden 06? I have the option to turn it off on the GC version. Personally, I keep it on because it's the first "innovation" I've seen Madden come up with in a long time that makes the game both more realistic and more fun. If you want to see something interesting, play with your favorite team for a while and then switch to one of Don Meredith's Cowboys teams (most of the 60's teams). His QB Vision is enormous.
I'd have to wager that you're in the minority on when you play NFL games. It seems to me that there's a big rush to play during the beginning of the season and then a somewhat lesser rush to play during mid-summer. I tend to play the games all year round myself, but I know a lot of friends (especially just after the end of the season) who want nothing to do with Madden. I guess they're just tired of football at that point.
The point I was making isn't that they are bad players. I was merely saying they came out of nowhere (like the Pats just found them in the park or something). RS, in particular, has the highest college pedigree of the ones I've looked up but even he came from a perinneal 3 or 4 loss Georgia team. Last year, he anchored the AFC defensive line in the Pro Bowl. I blame the 3-loss seasons on Georgia's former coach Jim Donnan more than anything else since at least 2 of his classmates were lined up with him on the starting AFC defensive roster (Champ Bailey and Marcus Stroud) but that's beside the point. Looking at where this defense came from, they should be mediocre at best. Now they're actually playing mediocre football.
"Also the Pats defense has been updated to be Tedy Bruschi and 10 guys they found playing touch football in the park."
That's all they ever were. They're just starting to play like it now.
It's halfway through the regular season! Madden 06 is dropping in price for the other consoles. Do they really expect to sell a lot of copies for the 360? I imagine anyone who really wanted Madden 06 already bought it for their current system. Generally, the only potential purchasers who don't buy it by the beginning of the season are waiting because they expect to pick it up cheap later on. I could understand the decision to put out Madden 64 midseason because there was no current year (98?) for the SNES and Madden 64 did legitimately add something the other systems (Saturn and Playstation) didn't have (3D instead of sprite-based). I don't see the 360 version of Madden 06 to be so far above the previous generation's version to merit the purchase.
Those Romans might just be related. In my family, we don't get cavities. I've never heard of genetic dispoition to cavities but I would find it odd that nobody on my dad's side of the family has ever had a cavity if there wasn't such a thing. Crooked teeth on the other hand is pretty common in my family.
Yeah, I was expecting him to throw out something like a Tempest 2000. Instead, he's laking about "old-school" FPSes? He's not even talking about ray-cast FPSes like Wolf3d or Rise of the Triad!
Some OSes don't require a complete reboot when you do an update. Also, some don't require a reboot but recommend one (Solaris comes to mind). In most of the *NIX world, you can just restart a few services instead of rebooting. Personally, I've never been in a situation where I can't take the server down at non-peak times for routine maintenance so it really doesn't matter to me. In fact, a lot of times rebooting is easier than finding which services were patched and restarting them.
I don't understand. Is it a bad thing that I replaced my Datsun engine with one that's actually reliable or that I'm still driving around a Datsun to begin with?
Anyways, the answer you're looking for is "This is interesting because I can forsee "Apple Approved" being a quality standard for x86 hardware. That could potentially be a very good thing regardless of your OS or computer manufacturer." It would be nice to have some sort of label on the box letting me know that I'm not getting crappy hardware. Unfortunately, there is just as much expensive crappy hardware as cheap crappy hardware out there today. Apple would probably be somewhat rigorous in doing quality control on "Apple Approved" hardware. It would almost make it a symbol of trust.
Everyone else seems to be harping over how Apple will lock out unapporved hardware. I'm interested in the opposite. Will Apple companies to make hardware that Apple has approved but also works for other x86 platforms? This is interesting because I can forsee "Apple Approved" being a quality standard for x86 hardware. That could potentially be a very good thing regardless of your OS or computer manufacturer.
"*horrible* on an HD set"
I've come to the opionion that HDTV makers intentionally botch their NTSC display so the user demands more HD-related games and shows. I was at Sam's Club the other day and they had the HD and non-HD TVs displaying the same video feed (Star Wars III DVD). The HDTV's looked noticably worse than their non-HDTV counterparts.
This reminds me of the RF converters a lot of comanies were selling when DVD players were first popular. I had an RF converter from about four years before DVD players came about. It's output quality is ten times better than the one my Dad has for his DVD player. I really think those converters existed to get people to buy new TVs with RCA jacks built-in.
"But, they are turning away the people that grew up with the NES, in exchange for the non-techie gaming newcomer."
I hate to tell you this but most people who owned an NES were "non-techie." The NES had over 90% market penetration in the US at one point. 90% of American households didn't turn out "techies."
"When you look at the specs of the PS3 or Xbox 360, it appears to me that your money is getting you a better system."
What's funny is that I remember two of my friends using the same argument to buy a Saturn over the Playstation at launch time. Better hardware != better system. (Personally, I think the Saturn was a better system but I'm obviously in the minority.)
Also, while HD sounds nice, the majority of Americans aren't onboard yet. Nintendo is merely betting that HD won't become a big factor over the course of this console's lifespan (which will probably be 4-6 based on typcial console lifespans). I don't think that's a terrible bet given HD's slow adoption rate thus far.
Slashdot Mirror
The best racer of all time is without a doubt Stunts. Where else can you choose from a large array of real sports cars, design your own tracks, and perform stunts like jumps and corkscrews? Long live Stunts!
The game "Don't Pull" on the Three Wonders cab is one of the best time-wasters I've ever played. We used to have it at a pizza place I worked at. I spent just about every break playing it. It's like Pengo but better IMHO. I'd pay $20 just to have that game on a portable system.
I certainly don't rent often enough to justify a montly fee. The service sounds nice but until there's a one-game $10/month deal, I'm not interested.
"Rent it first!" - Once upona time I'd wholeheartedly agree with you. Nowadays, I don't think that's such good advice. Where I live, it costs $7 - $10 to rent. Granted, that's for a whole week, but my rental store options don't offer weekend rentals anymore. That's about 1/5 the cost fo a game. When games were $4 rentals and $40 purchases rent-before-you-buy made a whole lot more sense. Now when I look at a title, I rent the ones that I'll only play for a week or two at most. For example, X-Men Legends 2 is an incredible game, but after two weeks I was ok with taking it back. I'll play Madden 06 weekly until 07 comes out so that's a good purchase for me. Some games like Zelda: Windwalker and Metroid Prime are cheap enough now that I don't see why the rental stores still bother to stock the game.
You'll start to see scholarships when you see the single trend that all forms of money-making entertainment (including sports) share: Get a very large number of people to pay to watch a very small number of people perform. "Pro gamer" will be a legitimate career option when you can get people to pay to watch others game.
I would've bought one of those but my Master System never died on me so I just couldn't justify the purchase.
I believe the GP here. All he was said was that he saw it crash a few times. That's entirely believable. This is the first run of a complex computer system. There will be some problems with a few units. It's also possible that CoD2 was a poor port. He didn't even condemn the system as a whole. He just pointed out that he wasn't interested after he saw the display. I don't blame him. I have a habit of not buying items I see broken in the store. If for no other reason, you should belive him so you make sure to thoroughly test the system before purchase (or at least buy it somewhere with a decent return policy). I know if after hearing that I see the same thing happening, I'd wait a bit before purchase.
I wrote about this a few days ago, but I am skeptical that Madden 06 will sell well on the 360. It's halfway throught the NFL season. Madden 06 is already available on every other current console out there. Most people who wanted Madden 06 already bought it. They're going to be hesitant to buy an only slightly-better-looking-with-no-change-in-gameplay Madden 06 on the 360. The ones who haven't bought it but still want it are ususally waiting for the price to drop. They're not going to shell out $60 on a copy.
I too was a 2k gamer since the Dreamcast. In fact I bought a Dreamcast at launch and NFL2K was the first game I rented two weeks later. I've always loved the 2K/ESPN line. I've just felt that gaming was more fast-paced and more fun in general. I haven't bought a Madden since Madden 98 on the Saturn.
However, I've acutally taken a liking to Madden 2006. I played 2005 and thought they had improved some things since 2003 but still wasn't overly impressed. This year, I think Madden 2006 came a long way in what I miss from ESPN. 2006 just seems faster to me. QB Vision is an interesting idea. I've grown to like it. If not, you can always disable it (at least I can on the GC). I also like the new control set that favors a QB running the ball some. Even Mark Brunell has to tuck and run on occasion. It's nice that you can actually do that in Madden now without some infernal toggle system. It also seems to me that the defense doesn't fall for some of the same plays over and over again like they used to.
Overall, if there were an ESPN2K6 I'd probably buy it instead but I'm certainly not crying myself to sleep over Madden 2006. They paid the NFL a LOT of money to be the only game in town. They're not going to rest too softly on their laurels or they'll be out of business.
More like Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD Hasn't Started Yet. I have yet to see a single Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player for sale. How can a format war be over before it starts?
While most people were clamoring over Doom, Rise of the Triad was quietly released. ROTT was an extremely fun game with all sorts of humor built-in but it still managed to be a pretty intense game. It was also the BEST multiplayer of its day. Where else can you get Shroom power-ups, people begging not to be shot, God AND Dog Modes, the creepiest hidden level I've ever seen (You Do Not Belong Here), a character named Ian Paul Freely, and all the Ludicrous Gibs you can handle?
Can you not turn off QB Vision in some versions of Madden 06? I have the option to turn it off on the GC version. Personally, I keep it on because it's the first "innovation" I've seen Madden come up with in a long time that makes the game both more realistic and more fun. If you want to see something interesting, play with your favorite team for a while and then switch to one of Don Meredith's Cowboys teams (most of the 60's teams). His QB Vision is enormous.
I'd have to wager that you're in the minority on when you play NFL games. It seems to me that there's a big rush to play during the beginning of the season and then a somewhat lesser rush to play during mid-summer. I tend to play the games all year round myself, but I know a lot of friends (especially just after the end of the season) who want nothing to do with Madden. I guess they're just tired of football at that point.
The point I was making isn't that they are bad players. I was merely saying they came out of nowhere (like the Pats just found them in the park or something). RS, in particular, has the highest college pedigree of the ones I've looked up but even he came from a perinneal 3 or 4 loss Georgia team. Last year, he anchored the AFC defensive line in the Pro Bowl. I blame the 3-loss seasons on Georgia's former coach Jim Donnan more than anything else since at least 2 of his classmates were lined up with him on the starting AFC defensive roster (Champ Bailey and Marcus Stroud) but that's beside the point. Looking at where this defense came from, they should be mediocre at best. Now they're actually playing mediocre football.
"Also the Pats defense has been updated to be Tedy Bruschi and 10 guys they found playing touch football in the park." That's all they ever were. They're just starting to play like it now.
It's halfway through the regular season! Madden 06 is dropping in price for the other consoles. Do they really expect to sell a lot of copies for the 360? I imagine anyone who really wanted Madden 06 already bought it for their current system. Generally, the only potential purchasers who don't buy it by the beginning of the season are waiting because they expect to pick it up cheap later on. I could understand the decision to put out Madden 64 midseason because there was no current year (98?) for the SNES and Madden 64 did legitimately add something the other systems (Saturn and Playstation) didn't have (3D instead of sprite-based). I don't see the 360 version of Madden 06 to be so far above the previous generation's version to merit the purchase.
Those Romans might just be related. In my family, we don't get cavities. I've never heard of genetic dispoition to cavities but I would find it odd that nobody on my dad's side of the family has ever had a cavity if there wasn't such a thing. Crooked teeth on the other hand is pretty common in my family.
Yeah, I was expecting him to throw out something like a Tempest 2000. Instead, he's laking about "old-school" FPSes? He's not even talking about ray-cast FPSes like Wolf3d or Rise of the Triad!
Some OSes don't require a complete reboot when you do an update. Also, some don't require a reboot but recommend one (Solaris comes to mind). In most of the *NIX world, you can just restart a few services instead of rebooting. Personally, I've never been in a situation where I can't take the server down at non-peak times for routine maintenance so it really doesn't matter to me. In fact, a lot of times rebooting is easier than finding which services were patched and restarting them.
I don't understand. Is it a bad thing that I replaced my Datsun engine with one that's actually reliable or that I'm still driving around a Datsun to begin with?
Anyways, the answer you're looking for is "This is interesting because I can forsee "Apple Approved" being a quality standard for x86 hardware. That could potentially be a very good thing regardless of your OS or computer manufacturer." It would be nice to have some sort of label on the box letting me know that I'm not getting crappy hardware. Unfortunately, there is just as much expensive crappy hardware as cheap crappy hardware out there today. Apple would probably be somewhat rigorous in doing quality control on "Apple Approved" hardware. It would almost make it a symbol of trust.
Everyone else seems to be harping over how Apple will lock out unapporved hardware. I'm interested in the opposite. Will Apple companies to make hardware that Apple has approved but also works for other x86 platforms? This is interesting because I can forsee "Apple Approved" being a quality standard for x86 hardware. That could potentially be a very good thing regardless of your OS or computer manufacturer.
"*horrible* on an HD set" I've come to the opionion that HDTV makers intentionally botch their NTSC display so the user demands more HD-related games and shows. I was at Sam's Club the other day and they had the HD and non-HD TVs displaying the same video feed (Star Wars III DVD). The HDTV's looked noticably worse than their non-HDTV counterparts. This reminds me of the RF converters a lot of comanies were selling when DVD players were first popular. I had an RF converter from about four years before DVD players came about. It's output quality is ten times better than the one my Dad has for his DVD player. I really think those converters existed to get people to buy new TVs with RCA jacks built-in. "But, they are turning away the people that grew up with the NES, in exchange for the non-techie gaming newcomer." I hate to tell you this but most people who owned an NES were "non-techie." The NES had over 90% market penetration in the US at one point. 90% of American households didn't turn out "techies."
"I got my GC for Monkey Ball!"
Glad I'm not the only one.
"When you look at the specs of the PS3 or Xbox 360, it appears to me that your money is getting you a better system."
What's funny is that I remember two of my friends using the same argument to buy a Saturn over the Playstation at launch time. Better hardware != better system. (Personally, I think the Saturn was a better system but I'm obviously in the minority.)
Also, while HD sounds nice, the majority of Americans aren't onboard yet. Nintendo is merely betting that HD won't become a big factor over the course of this console's lifespan (which will probably be 4-6 based on typcial console lifespans). I don't think that's a terrible bet given HD's slow adoption rate thus far.
Exactly. We need a better engine.
Now if we can just keep AJAX and ditch Javascript.