I found the controls of the first Evil Dead game to be very difficult to get used to. I'm not a big fan of the "Alone in the Dark"-"Resident Evil" type controls. I'm a bigger fan of controls that are relative to the screen instead of the player.
If they're not going to do another Evil Dead movie, then how about an Ash vs. B.J. Blazkowicz vs. HUNT crossover video game? Ludicrous Gibs!
...our government is screwing publishers out of billions of dollars each year by buying books for libraries. Funny how book publishers don't seem to mind too much.
We still have a dollar theater. Sure the movies on it are a couple of months old, but saving $5 - $10 on a ticket is worth the wait to me. My family can go see a movie in the theaters for less than the price of renting. Besides, you can see the latest and greatest films in Dolby Stereo:)
(To be fair, they did update their sound system a few months ago to some sort of surround setup, but it's still of lower quality than the full price theater.)
Infogrames is betting the farm on a type of game that has probably already peaked in popularity. They are being reactive here instead of proactive. They need to break new ground instead of trying to go with the flow. They also need to not put all of their eggs in one basket. I see this as an unwise move that might lead to Infogrames demise. Even if this game is popular, I don't see it making the kind of money they need to make in order to qualify it as a success.
I have to agree. I remember when I was little my dad listened to contemporary music of the time like Johnny Cougar (not Mellencamp yet), Journey, and Dire Straits. I just recently had a daughter. I'm about 3 or 4 years younger than my dad was when my parents had me. I don't listen to contemporary music. Occasionaly there might be a good song that I like that's new, but half of those are cover songs.
I think it's sad that the music industry either can't or won't make music that appeals to my age group just so they can appeal to younger listeners who take soon-to-be-my-money (in the form of allowances, etc) and use that money to buy this stuff.
Another point I would make is that the concept of the album is dead. That is part of the greatness of bands like Zepplin and the Beatles. Now mainstream music seems to be centered around singles and an album worth of filler.
Bad example. Butane lighters are not exposed to a constant electrical current the whole time you have them. A cell phone generally is. I was being a little melodramatic about the "man dies in explosion" bit but these fuel cells CAN explode (albiet a small explosion) if the fuel cell is in use while it is dropped. I imagine a fuel cell large enough to really cause death would be a little cumbersome, but I imagine it wouldn't take much to cause a fuel-cell-injury related lawsuit.
I think you're missing my point. It is important to view history as more than a collection of facts, but it's also important to not stray too far from what actually happened and I think this simulator might do that.
For example, suppose your simulator starts you off deciding as British PM whether or not to accept Hitler's treaty. You decide not to accept the treaty. Now how are you going to teach the user why Hitler invading Poland was a big event when it's not what starts the war in your simulation? Also how are you going to teach how Churchill became such a popular wartime PM when his actions are not so opposite of the simulated Chamberlain's actions? Churchill might not even become PM in this scenario.
It looks to me like the game is merely setting up a historical event like "you're the British prime minister in 1938. Diplomats in Munich have reached a deal: Germany will be allowed to annex the Sudetenland if it promises that its expansion will go no further." and then you're off to do whatever you want in that context. That's not really teaching history. What if simulated Chamberlain has some balls and doesn't sign the peace treaty with Germany or simulated Hitler keeps his treaty with Russia or soembody playing Roosevelt doesn't get involved in WWII? That's not what happened. That's really no different than C&C: Red Alert.
I just think that the amount of actual history picked up through this will be minimal to the time spent on it. Also, it might actually confuse students learning history because they might not differentiate the historical verion of what happened and the simulated version of what happened. Of course, that's just what I pick up from the article. The actual software might have already addressed these issues.
The TG-16 was already failing to capture the market before this whole not-really-16-bit argument starting gaining momentum in the video game community. It was late 1990 before EGM mentioned it. My Wal-Mart had already stopped carrying the system at this point and Toys R Us already severly limited shelf space for it.
The system has a 16-bit graphics processor. It's not unfair to call it a 16-bit system since the 8-bit CPU passed most work along to other processors, but they probably should have been more upfront since bits back then are pretty much the equivalent of MHz today. Neither are a good indicator of how good the hardware architecture is, but that's what everybody pointed to when arguing over which system was better.
I was leaning towards getting a TG-16 when it came out and the author pretty much pointed out all of the reasons why I didn't get one until they were dirt cheap (in the Atlanta Advertiser for $40 w/5 games): poor title selection, expensive CD unit, short controller cords, mediocre pack-in game (should've included China Warrior or Alien Crush instead). I love Hudson for making my favorite multiplayer game franchise (Bomberman), but this system didn't live up to its potential.
The TG-16 only has itself to blame for its demise in the US. It had a wide distribution (even had them at Wal-Mart), it was heavily advertised, and there were demo units everywhere (even at the Festival of Trees in Atlanta on its release year).
Instructional and fitness-based games have been proven time and again to be unpopular. Why would this be any different? Who remembers the "Dance Aerobics" for the Power Pad? I remember there being a ton of instuctional-type games on the CD-I and look how popular that system turned out to be (and this is from a CD-I owner)! People use video game systems to play games. Any derivation from that purpose will lead to failure.
It's hard enough to solve issues regarding parallel processing of images in a clustered environment they can control. Why put that process in an environment they can't control? It's not like movie studios can't afford a computer cluster. That's a small cost compared to the cost of hiring someone to write the distributed software they use.
From what I've read, Seti@Home works well because users heavily process a small amount of data and return a small solution. If we were processing frames, it would require the user to take in large amounts of data and return even larger results.
Fuel cells? I can see the headline now: "Man drops his cell phone and dies in explosion."
I took a class on ubiquitous comuting last year and what we studied about battery power suggested that the technology existed for more powerful batteries, but the current technology was entirely too dangerous to use with portable devices since they get beat up considerably. We don't have this danger level for the rest of the tech industry. If we did, I imagine that computers in general would be far less advanced.
I'm glad to see that Sega, Namco, and Stern (yes, i'm a fan of pinball) are still out there giving us new arcade hardware. I was sad to see Midway bow out back in 2000. It seems like there's quite a few more titles coming out now than there have been for a few years. They still need to work on prices ($2 games are now commonplace), but I'm glad that everyone isn't giving up just yet.
Now that Sammy owns them, they could slap the Sammy name on a console if they decided to put one out. Alternatively, they could either come up with a new company label or get another company (like Nintendo) to put out their hardware without a Sega label on it. I do agree that Sega shouldn't return to the console market, but they do have reentry options if this hardware platform really takes off.
Who can forget the insanely high review that Gamepro gave to "Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition" for the Genesis? I remember that sparking a whole slew of conspiracy theories that Gamepro was paid off by Capcom. Can you imagine the reprecussions of a reviewer who happens to disagree with most reviewers on a game now that future royalties are on the line? It would give the payoff conspiracy theories a lot more credibility since there would be a concrete link between the review and the revenue the game generates.
NOTE: I really don't want to start a flamewar over a 10-12 year old topic so if you think that SFII:SCE was the cat's meow then I apologize for making your blood boil, but there were many SF2 fans who owned a Genesis (including me) who feel that we were given an inferior product compared to the SNES version which scored lower.
One of our computer systems requires changing passwords regularly. The people at our office have tendency to write down a list of as few unique passwords as they must provide and "hide" this list either under their mouse pad and taped to their monitor. Some even have an arrow pointing to the current password. I feel much safer about the security of our other system that doesn't enforce changing passwords. At least then the hacker must look at a family album to determine the password instead of just looking under the mouse pad.
I would like to see a KOF 3-D game. At worst case, Maximum Impact will be bad or forgettable. This would go a long way in convincing SNK that 3-D is not for them. At best case, Maximum impact will be a fun game that could lead to some better 3-D games from SNK.
If SNK doesn't overhaul the KOF control system, I will be a little disappointed. Taking a 2-D game and shoehorning it into a 3-D environment is what I didn't like about SF EX or EX2. There will be something lost in a 3-D sequel to a 2-D game. It is inevitable, but SNK can make up for that by giving us a good product that makes what is lost by what is gained.
X-Arcade is about $150 and I-Pac is about $40 or $42 with USB last I looked. With the I-Pac you still need to buy your own wire, arcade components, and connectors. Instead of buying an I-Pac, just buy two cheapo USB digital joypads, and solder the connections. I did that and here is the pricelist for my arcade-quality USB joystick.
$20 - 2 x 8-button USB joypads $20 - 2 x 8-way joysticks from Happ Controls (on sale) $16 - 16 x pushbuttons bought off the RGVAC newsgroup (I actually bought 20 for $20 but I used the other four on something else) $2 - 14 gauge stranded wire $2 - 16 x.188 crimp-on female flag connectors (for easy microswitch replacement on buttons and joystick) $15 - 4'x8'x3/4" MDF plywood for base $1.50 - 1 1/4" drill bit $? - screws of nails to assemble base (I already had some)
Grand Total $76.50
That's all the parts you need to build your own. I needed a circular saw, a boxcutter, a drill, and a soldering iron for tools. YMMV. All you need to do is wire the positives to their respective place on the joypad circuit board and wire the grounds to a common ground on the joypad circuit board. Then you'll have to build a box for it all. I made a prototype out of some scrap 1/4" particle board before cutting on the MDF. I use the standard SF2 layout with two extra buttons on each player for coin and start. It took me 4 hours to wire the joypad and build a suitable box the first time I did it. Last time I did it in an hour, but I had a drill press at my disposal.
I'm one of those who didn't watch Ep2 in theaters. I wasn't gung-ho-not-gonna-see-it. I just didn't place it high enough in my priorities to see it before it left theaters. I WAS one of the people who saw Ep1 on opening day. I finally saw Ep2 on tape when my brother rented it. It was OK, but I'm glad I didn't pay movie theater prices for it.
It seems to me like Lucas wouldn't have to do a whole lot to keep OT fans happy and still appeal to fans who are not so hard core that they are going to see it anyways. I think injecting the so-so script with some good one-liners and maybe a nod or two to the OT would have at least pacified everyone.
It seems to me that Lucas' legacy will be building the biggest fanbase of any movie ever and then doing his best to destroy it.
If the OT:Special Edition is an upgrade, then I guess I'll take my chances with my current version.
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I found the controls of the first Evil Dead game to be very difficult to get used to. I'm not a big fan of the "Alone in the Dark"-"Resident Evil" type controls. I'm a bigger fan of controls that are relative to the screen instead of the player.
If they're not going to do another Evil Dead movie, then how about an Ash vs. B.J. Blazkowicz vs. HUNT crossover video game? Ludicrous Gibs!
...our government is screwing publishers out of billions of dollars each year by buying books for libraries. Funny how book publishers don't seem to mind too much.
We still have a dollar theater. Sure the movies on it are a couple of months old, but saving $5 - $10 on a ticket is worth the wait to me. My family can go see a movie in the theaters for less than the price of renting. Besides, you can see the latest and greatest films in Dolby Stereo :)
(To be fair, they did update their sound system a few months ago to some sort of surround setup, but it's still of lower quality than the full price theater.)
Infogrames is betting the farm on a type of game that has probably already peaked in popularity. They are being reactive here instead of proactive. They need to break new ground instead of trying to go with the flow. They also need to not put all of their eggs in one basket. I see this as an unwise move that might lead to Infogrames demise. Even if this game is popular, I don't see it making the kind of money they need to make in order to qualify it as a success.
I have to agree. I remember when I was little my dad listened to contemporary music of the time like Johnny Cougar (not Mellencamp yet), Journey, and Dire Straits. I just recently had a daughter. I'm about 3 or 4 years younger than my dad was when my parents had me. I don't listen to contemporary music. Occasionaly there might be a good song that I like that's new, but half of those are cover songs.
I think it's sad that the music industry either can't or won't make music that appeals to my age group just so they can appeal to younger listeners who take soon-to-be-my-money (in the form of allowances, etc) and use that money to buy this stuff.
Another point I would make is that the concept of the album is dead. That is part of the greatness of bands like Zepplin and the Beatles. Now mainstream music seems to be centered around singles and an album worth of filler.
Bad example. Butane lighters are not exposed to a constant electrical current the whole time you have them. A cell phone generally is. I was being a little melodramatic about the "man dies in explosion" bit but these fuel cells CAN explode (albiet a small explosion) if the fuel cell is in use while it is dropped. I imagine a fuel cell large enough to really cause death would be a little cumbersome, but I imagine it wouldn't take much to cause a fuel-cell-injury related lawsuit.
I think you're missing my point. It is important to view history as more than a collection of facts, but it's also important to not stray too far from what actually happened and I think this simulator might do that. For example, suppose your simulator starts you off deciding as British PM whether or not to accept Hitler's treaty. You decide not to accept the treaty. Now how are you going to teach the user why Hitler invading Poland was a big event when it's not what starts the war in your simulation? Also how are you going to teach how Churchill became such a popular wartime PM when his actions are not so opposite of the simulated Chamberlain's actions? Churchill might not even become PM in this scenario.
It looks to me like the game is merely setting up a historical event like "you're the British prime minister in 1938. Diplomats in Munich have reached a deal: Germany will be allowed to annex the Sudetenland if it promises that its expansion will go no further." and then you're off to do whatever you want in that context. That's not really teaching history. What if simulated Chamberlain has some balls and doesn't sign the peace treaty with Germany or simulated Hitler keeps his treaty with Russia or soembody playing Roosevelt doesn't get involved in WWII? That's not what happened. That's really no different than C&C: Red Alert.
I just think that the amount of actual history picked up through this will be minimal to the time spent on it. Also, it might actually confuse students learning history because they might not differentiate the historical verion of what happened and the simulated version of what happened. Of course, that's just what I pick up from the article. The actual software might have already addressed these issues.
The TG-16 was already failing to capture the market before this whole not-really-16-bit argument starting gaining momentum in the video game community. It was late 1990 before EGM mentioned it. My Wal-Mart had already stopped carrying the system at this point and Toys R Us already severly limited shelf space for it.
The system has a 16-bit graphics processor. It's not unfair to call it a 16-bit system since the 8-bit CPU passed most work along to other processors, but they probably should have been more upfront since bits back then are pretty much the equivalent of MHz today. Neither are a good indicator of how good the hardware architecture is, but that's what everybody pointed to when arguing over which system was better.
I was leaning towards getting a TG-16 when it came out and the author pretty much pointed out all of the reasons why I didn't get one until they were dirt cheap (in the Atlanta Advertiser for $40 w/5 games): poor title selection, expensive CD unit, short controller cords, mediocre pack-in game (should've included China Warrior or Alien Crush instead). I love Hudson for making my favorite multiplayer game franchise (Bomberman), but this system didn't live up to its potential.
The TG-16 only has itself to blame for its demise in the US. It had a wide distribution (even had them at Wal-Mart), it was heavily advertised, and there were demo units everywhere (even at the Festival of Trees in Atlanta on its release year).
I don't know. There's some pretty stiff comptetion to be one of the worst games of all time.
Instructional and fitness-based games have been proven time and again to be unpopular. Why would this be any different? Who remembers the "Dance Aerobics" for the Power Pad? I remember there being a ton of instuctional-type games on the CD-I and look how popular that system turned out to be (and this is from a CD-I owner)! People use video game systems to play games. Any derivation from that purpose will lead to failure.
Yeah, but you didn't have an active electrical charge running through your Everclear when you dropped it.
It's hard enough to solve issues regarding parallel processing of images in a clustered environment they can control. Why put that process in an environment they can't control? It's not like movie studios can't afford a computer cluster. That's a small cost compared to the cost of hiring someone to write the distributed software they use.
From what I've read, Seti@Home works well because users heavily process a small amount of data and return a small solution. If we were processing frames, it would require the user to take in large amounts of data and return even larger results.
Yes, but operators set prices based on the what the machine cost them and they might add a little extra if it's a popular game.
Fuel cells? I can see the headline now:
"Man drops his cell phone and dies in explosion."
I took a class on ubiquitous comuting last year and what we studied about battery power suggested that the technology existed for more powerful batteries, but the current technology was entirely too dangerous to use with portable devices since they get beat up considerably. We don't have this danger level for the rest of the tech industry. If we did, I imagine that computers in general would be far less advanced.
I'm glad to see that Sega, Namco, and Stern (yes, i'm a fan of pinball) are still out there giving us new arcade hardware. I was sad to see Midway bow out back in 2000. It seems like there's quite a few more titles coming out now than there have been for a few years. They still need to work on prices ($2 games are now commonplace), but I'm glad that everyone isn't giving up just yet.
Now that Sammy owns them, they could slap the Sammy name on a console if they decided to put one out. Alternatively, they could either come up with a new company label or get another company (like Nintendo) to put out their hardware without a Sega label on it. I do agree that Sega shouldn't return to the console market, but they do have reentry options if this hardware platform really takes off.
Who can forget the insanely high review that Gamepro gave to "Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition" for the Genesis? I remember that sparking a whole slew of conspiracy theories that Gamepro was paid off by Capcom. Can you imagine the reprecussions of a reviewer who happens to disagree with most reviewers on a game now that future royalties are on the line? It would give the payoff conspiracy theories a lot more credibility since there would be a concrete link between the review and the revenue the game generates.
NOTE: I really don't want to start a flamewar over a 10-12 year old topic so if you think that SFII:SCE was the cat's meow then I apologize for making your blood boil, but there were many SF2 fans who owned a Genesis (including me) who feel that we were given an inferior product compared to the SNES version which scored lower.
12M$ is probably enough for the people running Opera to get out of the browser business and retire.
Does Mame even support 49 inputs for a directional pad? If it does, I've got some spare Arch Rivals 49-ways that would be SWEET for Sinistar on MAME.
One of our computer systems requires changing passwords regularly. The people at our office have tendency to write down a list of as few unique passwords as they must provide and "hide" this list either under their mouse pad and taped to their monitor. Some even have an arrow pointing to the current password. I feel much safer about the security of our other system that doesn't enforce changing passwords. At least then the hacker must look at a family album to determine the password instead of just looking under the mouse pad.
I would like to see a KOF 3-D game. At worst case, Maximum Impact will be bad or forgettable. This would go a long way in convincing SNK that 3-D is not for them. At best case, Maximum impact will be a fun game that could lead to some better 3-D games from SNK.
If SNK doesn't overhaul the KOF control system, I will be a little disappointed. Taking a 2-D game and shoehorning it into a 3-D environment is what I didn't like about SF EX or EX2. There will be something lost in a 3-D sequel to a 2-D game. It is inevitable, but SNK can make up for that by giving us a good product that makes what is lost by what is gained.
X-Arcade is about $150 and I-Pac is about $40 or $42 with USB last I looked. With the I-Pac you still need to buy your own wire, arcade components, and connectors. Instead of buying an I-Pac, just buy two cheapo USB digital joypads, and solder the connections. I did that and here is the pricelist for my arcade-quality USB joystick.
.188 crimp-on female flag connectors (for easy microswitch replacement on buttons and joystick)
$20 - 2 x 8-button USB joypads
$20 - 2 x 8-way joysticks from Happ Controls (on sale)
$16 - 16 x pushbuttons bought off the RGVAC newsgroup (I actually bought 20 for $20 but I used the other four on something else)
$2 - 14 gauge stranded wire
$2 - 16 x
$15 - 4'x8'x3/4" MDF plywood for base
$1.50 - 1 1/4" drill bit
$? - screws of nails to assemble base (I already had some)
Grand Total $76.50
That's all the parts you need to build your own. I needed a circular saw, a boxcutter, a drill, and a soldering iron for tools. YMMV. All you need to do is wire the positives to their respective place on the joypad circuit board and wire the grounds to a common ground on the joypad circuit board. Then you'll have to build a box for it all. I made a prototype out of some scrap 1/4" particle board before cutting on the MDF. I use the standard SF2 layout with two extra buttons on each player for coin and start. It took me 4 hours to wire the joypad and build a suitable box the first time I did it. Last time I did it in an hour, but I had a drill press at my disposal.
I'm one of those who didn't watch Ep2 in theaters. I wasn't gung-ho-not-gonna-see-it. I just didn't place it high enough in my priorities to see it before it left theaters. I WAS one of the people who saw Ep1 on opening day. I finally saw Ep2 on tape when my brother rented it. It was OK, but I'm glad I didn't pay movie theater prices for it.
It seems to me like Lucas wouldn't have to do a whole lot to keep OT fans happy and still appeal to fans who are not so hard core that they are going to see it anyways. I think injecting the so-so script with some good one-liners and maybe a nod or two to the OT would have at least pacified everyone.
It seems to me that Lucas' legacy will be building the biggest fanbase of any movie ever and then doing his best to destroy it.
If the OT:Special Edition is an upgrade, then I guess I'll take my chances with my current version.