Presumably, this 35% figure is so high because it does count as "pirated" all software packages that co-opted GPL code and distribute it under another license. That and all the copies of WinZip that continue to exceed the 30-day trial period.
Hopefully it isn't long before we see ads urging us to sponsor a third-world software pirate for the cost of a "just a coupl'a Venti Iced Frapps."
I think that second point is key. Every major label artist, by that I mean one signed directly to an international major label, featuring international mass distribution, has either remained silent about this issue or has been so outspoken against downloading in particular that they've greatly damaged their fanbase ([cough]Metallica[/cough].)
It depends what you mean by `remained silent'. The various members (and mangagement) of U2 have been widely quoted for 15+ years (and particularly in the past five) that they are anti-piracy, but are not concerned about circulation of their music (either album material or live recordings). In the end, they see it as increasing the number of people interested in their music (and, ultimately, revenues). Bottom line: if money is being made on the trafficking of their material, they are the ones to make it. If no money is involved, they're fine with it.
This philosophy of "Our lives our more than comfortable; we're not going to worry about getting all possible compensation for our wor" is refreshing when compared to Metallica, who wants every last penny and is understandably concerned about being stuck in the upper-middle-upper-upper-upper class instead of moving on up to upper-upper-middle-upper-upper. Fscking fans -- who needs 'em.
Now as far as the new item: what I'd like to know is whether Sarah has changed her anti-concert-recording stance in the past nine years. When you have to buy the live album to get a sense of how she sounds live, chances are you only consider buying it if you (A) have all her other albums (B) saw the tour or (C) torrented a preview copy, liked it, and are ethical.
You nailed several of my primary beefs with B3...Aftertouch camera woes topping the list. If I had to summarize my other complaints into one, though, I'd say "Lack of Consistency in the Rules." (Don't get me wrong, though: I love this game.)
You mentioned lack of after-crash immunity...but sometimes it is there -- your car moves laterally to avoid trucks, cars, walls, etc. But then sometimes you just smash right into one of those objects -- or one that wasn't even visible when the game went into autopilot mode. (After a couple hours, the takedown photo op is just a distraction that often causes you to crash for reasons beyond your control -- just give us the option to turn it off -- like the damn DJ.)
The amount of time alotted for crashes varies without clear rules, too -- sometimes you're back on the road immediately; other times you crash and stop...wait a second...a truck hits you...more waiting...then a car...then you restart only to find yourself gone from 1st to 10 seconds behind 3rd. But I've lost track of the number of times a CPU racer has been barreling directly toward my car -- too close to steer away -- only for me to be teleported at the last instant to my restart, simply to watch through my windshield as the CPU player blazes on at top speed.
Takedowns are scored very poorly at times, especially if multiple vehicles are involved: forcing one vehicle into another often results in no takedown for me. I'd advocate some kind of system where A hits B which runs into C and both crash scores two takedowns for A. (Sometimes I get credit, but as often as not I don't. Especially if walls are involved.) On the other hand, if B crashed after being hit by A -- and would have missed C entirely but steered toward C, hit it, and caused it to crash -- then A and B ought to get a takedown each. The worst (and most common) event along these lines is trying to ram a racer only to have them crash a split-second before you hit them -- because it means you crash (and probably lose boost) vs. score a takedown (and refill your boost meter).
One last gripe:
- Why do I consistently get the "You are five seconds ahead" message just half a second before the "He's right on your tail!" message?! And if I'm 10 seconds ahead, how can a five-second accident result in me not only losing two positions but being so far behind I can't even see the other players? A Mario-Kart-style map w/ position indicators would do wonders here vs. the inconsistent (and irregularly timed) updates written on the screen. Or maybe the DJ could be put to good use and announce relative positions of players...
Don't forget the Strider[0] sequel for Playstation.[1] The levels are rendered in 3D, but the gameplay is entirely 2D. The 2.5D style nicely complements the game, which is absolutely great -- and a considerable challenge if you don't make use of the infinite continues. (The game actually comes with two CDs, one of which contains the original Strider game, but they mislabelled them, so the S2 disc contains the original and vice versa.)
Last post in this thread, I swear.
[0] Remember Strider? The first console game so colossally huge they needed a *whole megabyte* to fit it in?:)
[1] Don't confuse this with Strider 2 for Genesis/MegaDrive, which is doubleplustripe.
The one that strikes me as the most obvious coding error was in the end-of-game encounter with Bowser/King Koopa. For those in the know, depending on which route you took through his castle, Bowser had a different difficulty. There were either three or four layers of blocks for him to punch through, depending on how you reached him. In reality, however, there were two Bowsers in the game, one for each location. Here's the trick, though. The two areas they fought in (one with three layers of blocks and one with four layers of blocks) were connected. If you could fly, you could travel back and forth between the two, and have both alive at the same time. If both of them were alive, neither one could shoot fire!
Heh. So Bowser would eventually fall through the floor -- and there was a very long silence -- and then a very crash while the screen jittered a la Enterprise. So I decided to see if I could see Bowser the Unconscious/Dead. Maybe there's actually a hidden room there, since he hit bottom? WRONG-O! Time to run through the castle and fight him again...:-)
Don't Forget SMB All-Stars; SMBA ~ but != SMB2
on
NES PC
·
· Score: 1
Several people have mentioned other games/rereleases in the series, but: SMB All-Stars, released for SNES, is really *the* version to get if you like any of: SMB, SMB: LL, SMB2, and SMB3. Unlike, say, the Ninja Gaiden trilogy re-release, Nintendo actually redid all the graphics in 256-color (vs. 16 IIRC on NES) and sound, so the games look gorgeous and sounds great. (They also fixed the bugs, too -- so no world -1.)
I played SMB Advance for GBA recently and was sorely disappointed: it is *not* merely a port of the version released on SMB All-Stars. You now have a score, and they've modified some of the enemies, if not the levels. For instance, in the second room of 1-1, you're running along only to encounter a huge shyguy (pink things w/ the white masks) -- about 1/3 each height and width of the screen. (SMB Advance also includes a port of the original Mario Brothers game.)
Thankfully, the GBA has a fair number of other decent platformers, etc.: Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (and a couple others I don't care for, but I think I'm the only one), a Klonoa game. Haven't tried Kirby but IIRC it's actually a new game rather than a re-release or port. And of course don't forget that there's no region-lockout crap on GBA, so US systems can play Euro and Japanese games and vice versa. I've had good experiences with NCSX.com and VideoGameDepot.com (the latter now owned by CartMart, IIRC).
Yes, the Saturn has a complicated architecture, but then so does the PS2 and it doesn't seem to have mattered in its case. Developers will develop for a system no matter how hard it is if they believe it's viable. In fact, the Saturn was viable for a while, and was actually quite successful in Japan (like the TG-16) - which is why it doesn't belong on this list. Sega and other developers continued supporting the Saturn in Japan until after the Dreamcast's release.
Saturn -- Arguably one of the three best systems ever for shmups -- did indeed get some excellent releases in Japan. Of the seven games I have for my (modded) Saturn, only one is from the U.S. Of the 10 other games I still want to acquire, none were released domestically.
As others have pointed out, coke has multiple meanings that no one owns a trademark on (and, of course, can't). A trademark on 'Coke' (as in the soft drink) is only valid in the context of soft drinks. If a farmer's market that sold all sorts of fruits (perhaps they're in Washington state and specialize in apples) and veggies had beat the software company to the apple.com domain, the computer company would have had to do something drastic like (gasp!) register applecomputers.com, instead. If coke.ch was being legitimately used for a purpose (i.e. the owner is not a cybersquatter), it's Coke's problem for (A) not registering the domain a long time ago or (B) not putting their efforts in the right place -- like lobbying for more-specific top-level domains.
That said, I am curious if the owner can present any evidence of intent to use coke.ch as part of a campaign to help cocaine addicts. This was the key issue in a (U.S. District Court) case last year in which a local reporter was busted for trading kiddie porn, which he claimed he was using in a freelance undercover story. Based on stories at the time, the judge hinted that he would have taken that defense seriously had the reporter given evidence that editors were aware of the story, the author had a contract, etc. A number of organizations (1)(2) contested the ruling on other grounds, but I can see the same logic being applied in potential cases of cybersquatting: "Can you give me evidence that you really planned -- to any degree -- to use the microsoft.net domain as a hyperlinked glossary to terms used in William Gibson's books?" I'm not saying it'll always happen like this, but it would seem like you'd at least share your great idea w/ someone in a manner more permanant than a verbal chat. I think that would go a long way in helping your argument.
I am, of course, not a lawyer, and my limited understanding of law is essentially zilch outside the US.
I can see why Sony wouldn't want to walk all over US/Euro publishers who translate a game and release it. However, many -- if not most -- Japanese games NEVER get released outside of Nippon.
For example: a survey of the Shmups! Xenocide Files/Review Archive shows that the percentage of 2D shooters on 32-bit consoles that made it out of Japan is small. There are some exceptions (R-Type Delta, Thunderforce V Perfect System), but they are the exceptions. And it's not like there's a lot to translate...
If all we had to do was wait 3 months for a publisher to translate a game, that would be one thing. But when no publisher is willing or interested in releasing a game unless it is 3D polygonal eye-candy, the market becomes derivative, and the players suffer.
Jeff - I'm not a lawyer, but... Based on the information you supplied, it is not clear whether or not you've been libeled. AntiOnline's search engine didn't help me find the story you were referring to. According to about.com, libel requires five things: 1)Negligence on the part of the writer 2)The material must be a) false and b) damage your reputation. 3)The material must be published (NOTE: this is the principle difference between libel and slander: slander is spoken, libel is written/published) 4)The material must be unprivileged communication 5)The reader must be able to identify you. You imply that all of those are true; however, more information is needed. * You claim JP's source was unreliable. Do you know who the source was? Did JP have reason to be suspicious of that source? If JP relied on a source he knew to be somewhat questionable, negligence should be easy to prove. * AntiOnline defines hacker widely (i.e. Eric Raymond and Bruce Schneier are listed as hackers). Any falsity would have to involve JP's allegation that you were a member of gh, rather than that you were a hacker (or that labelling you as part of gh also labelled you as a "bad" hacker). * If you actually made the illegal conference calls (as opposed to merely being a participant -- your wording isn't clear), you could be considered a phreaker, and since phreaking is a form of "bad" hacking, the fact that you are phreaking would likely null any damage done to your reputation by JP calling you a member of gh. * On the other hand (and like nano-second), I find it hard to believe that you were fired as a result of this incident. I would not be surprised if some legal action can be taken in that arena. While I'm not clear on the details, what you have said makes me agree with the previous posters: get some legal advice. (I *think* that you'd have to prove negligence to actually win any damages, though, if that's a concern.) Joel
Slashdot Mirror
Presumably, this 35% figure is so high because it does count as "pirated" all software packages that co-opted GPL code and distribute it under another license. That and all the copies of WinZip that continue to exceed the 30-day trial period. Hopefully it isn't long before we see ads urging us to sponsor a third-world software pirate for the cost of a "just a coupl'a Venti Iced Frapps."
It depends what you mean by `remained silent'. The various members (and mangagement) of U2 have been widely quoted for 15+ years (and particularly in the past five) that they are anti-piracy, but are not concerned about circulation of their music (either album material or live recordings). In the end, they see it as increasing the number of people interested in their music (and, ultimately, revenues). Bottom line: if money is being made on the trafficking of their material, they are the ones to make it. If no money is involved, they're fine with it.
This philosophy of "Our lives our more than comfortable; we're not going to worry about getting all possible compensation for our wor" is refreshing when compared to Metallica, who wants every last penny and is understandably concerned about being stuck in the upper-middle-upper-upper-upper class instead of moving on up to upper-upper-middle-upper-upper. Fscking fans -- who needs 'em.
Now as far as the new item: what I'd like to know is whether Sarah has changed her anti-concert-recording stance in the past nine years. When you have to buy the live album to get a sense of how she sounds live, chances are you only consider buying it if you (A) have all her other albums (B) saw the tour or (C) torrented a preview copy, liked it, and are ethical.
You nailed several of my primary beefs with B3...Aftertouch camera woes topping the list. If I had to summarize my other complaints into one, though, I'd say "Lack of Consistency in the Rules." (Don't get me wrong, though: I love this game.)
You mentioned lack of after-crash immunity...but sometimes it is there -- your car moves laterally to avoid trucks, cars, walls, etc. But then sometimes you just smash right into one of those objects -- or one that wasn't even visible when the game went into autopilot mode. (After a couple hours, the takedown photo op is just a distraction that often causes you to crash for reasons beyond your control -- just give us the option to turn it off -- like the damn DJ.)
The amount of time alotted for crashes varies without clear rules, too -- sometimes you're back on the road immediately; other times you crash and stop...wait a second...a truck hits you...more waiting...then a car...then you restart only to find yourself gone from 1st to 10 seconds behind 3rd. But I've lost track of the number of times a CPU racer has been barreling directly toward my car -- too close to steer away -- only for me to be teleported at the last instant to my restart, simply to watch through my windshield as the CPU player blazes on at top speed.
Takedowns are scored very poorly at times, especially if multiple vehicles are involved: forcing one vehicle into another often results in no takedown for me. I'd advocate some kind of system where A hits B which runs into C and both crash scores two takedowns for A. (Sometimes I get credit, but as often as not I don't. Especially if walls are involved.) On the other hand, if B crashed after being hit by A -- and would have missed C entirely but steered toward C, hit it, and caused it to crash -- then A and B ought to get a takedown each. The worst (and most common) event along these lines is trying to ram a racer only to have them crash a split-second before you hit them -- because it means you crash (and probably lose boost) vs. score a takedown (and refill your boost meter).
One last gripe: - Why do I consistently get the "You are five seconds ahead" message just half a second before the "He's right on your tail!" message?! And if I'm 10 seconds ahead, how can a five-second accident result in me not only losing two positions but being so far behind I can't even see the other players? A Mario-Kart-style map w/ position indicators would do wonders here vs. the inconsistent (and irregularly timed) updates written on the screen. Or maybe the DJ could be put to good use and announce relative positions of players...
Don't forget the Strider[0] sequel for Playstation.[1] The levels are rendered in 3D, but the gameplay is entirely 2D. The 2.5D style nicely complements the game, which is absolutely great -- and a considerable challenge if you don't make use of the infinite continues. (The game actually comes with two CDs, one of which contains the original Strider game, but they mislabelled them, so the S2 disc contains the original and vice versa.)
:)
Last post in this thread, I swear.
[0] Remember Strider? The first console game so colossally huge they needed a *whole megabyte* to fit it in?
[1] Don't confuse this with Strider 2 for Genesis/MegaDrive, which is doubleplustripe.
Heh. So Bowser would eventually fall through the floor -- and there was a very long silence -- and then a very crash while the screen jittered a la Enterprise. So I decided to see if I could see Bowser the Unconscious/Dead. Maybe there's actually a hidden room there, since he hit bottom? WRONG-O! Time to run through the castle and fight him again...
Several people have mentioned other games/rereleases in the series, but:
SMB All-Stars, released for SNES, is really *the* version to get if you like any of: SMB, SMB: LL, SMB2, and SMB3. Unlike, say, the Ninja Gaiden trilogy re-release, Nintendo actually redid all the graphics in 256-color (vs. 16 IIRC on NES) and sound, so the games look gorgeous and sounds great. (They also fixed the bugs, too -- so no world -1.)
I played SMB Advance for GBA recently and was sorely disappointed: it is *not* merely a port of the version released on SMB All-Stars. You now have a score, and they've modified some of the enemies, if not the levels. For instance, in the second room of 1-1, you're running along only to encounter a huge shyguy (pink things w/ the white masks) -- about 1/3 each height and width of the screen. (SMB Advance also includes a port of the original Mario Brothers game.)
Thankfully, the GBA has a fair number of other decent platformers, etc.: Metroid Fusion, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (and a couple others I don't care for, but I think I'm the only one), a Klonoa game. Haven't tried Kirby but IIRC it's actually a new game rather than a re-release or port. And of course don't forget that there's no region-lockout crap on GBA, so US systems can play Euro and Japanese games and vice versa. I've had good experiences with NCSX.com and VideoGameDepot.com (the latter now owned by CartMart, IIRC).
- As others have pointed out, coke has multiple meanings that no one owns a trademark on (and, of course, can't).
- That said, I am curious if the owner can present any evidence of intent to use coke.ch as part of a campaign to help cocaine addicts. This was the key issue in a (U.S. District Court) case last year in which a local reporter was busted for trading kiddie porn, which he claimed he was using in a freelance undercover story. Based on stories at the time, the judge hinted that he would have taken that defense seriously had the reporter given evidence that editors were aware of the story, the author had a contract, etc. A number of organizations (1) (2) contested the ruling on other grounds, but I can see the same logic being applied in potential cases of cybersquatting: "Can you give me evidence that you really planned -- to any degree -- to use the microsoft.net domain as a hyperlinked glossary to terms used in William Gibson's books?"
I am, of course, not a lawyer, and my limited understanding of law is essentially zilch outside the US.A trademark on 'Coke' (as in the soft drink) is only valid in the context of soft drinks. If a farmer's market that sold all sorts of fruits (perhaps they're in Washington state and specialize in apples) and veggies had beat the software company to the apple.com domain, the computer company would have had to do something drastic like (gasp!) register applecomputers.com, instead.
If coke.ch was being legitimately used for a purpose (i.e. the owner is not a cybersquatter), it's Coke's problem for (A) not registering the domain a long time ago or (B) not putting their efforts in the right place -- like lobbying for more-specific top-level domains.
I'm not saying it'll always happen like this, but it would seem like you'd at least share your great idea w/ someone in a manner more permanant than a verbal chat. I think that would go a long way in helping your argument.
I can see why Sony wouldn't want to walk all over US/Euro publishers who translate a game and release it. However, many -- if not most -- Japanese games NEVER get released outside of Nippon.
For example: a survey of the Shmups! Xenocide Files/Review Archive shows that the percentage of 2D shooters on 32-bit consoles that made it out of Japan is small. There are some exceptions (R-Type Delta, Thunderforce V Perfect System), but they are the exceptions. And it's not like there's a lot to translate...
If all we had to do was wait 3 months for a publisher to translate a game, that would be one thing. But when no publisher is willing or interested in releasing a game unless it is 3D polygonal eye-candy, the market becomes derivative, and the players suffer.
Jeff - I'm not a lawyer, but... Based on the information you supplied, it is not clear whether or not you've been libeled. AntiOnline's search engine didn't help me find the story you were referring to. According to about.com, libel requires five things: 1)Negligence on the part of the writer 2)The material must be a) false and b) damage your reputation. 3)The material must be published (NOTE: this is the principle difference between libel and slander: slander is spoken, libel is written/published) 4)The material must be unprivileged communication 5)The reader must be able to identify you. You imply that all of those are true; however, more information is needed. * You claim JP's source was unreliable. Do you know who the source was? Did JP have reason to be suspicious of that source? If JP relied on a source he knew to be somewhat questionable, negligence should be easy to prove. * AntiOnline defines hacker widely (i.e. Eric Raymond and Bruce Schneier are listed as hackers). Any falsity would have to involve JP's allegation that you were a member of gh, rather than that you were a hacker (or that labelling you as part of gh also labelled you as a "bad" hacker). * If you actually made the illegal conference calls (as opposed to merely being a participant -- your wording isn't clear), you could be considered a phreaker, and since phreaking is a form of "bad" hacking, the fact that you are phreaking would likely null any damage done to your reputation by JP calling you a member of gh. * On the other hand (and like nano-second), I find it hard to believe that you were fired as a result of this incident. I would not be surprised if some legal action can be taken in that arena. While I'm not clear on the details, what you have said makes me agree with the previous posters: get some legal advice. (I *think* that you'd have to prove negligence to actually win any damages, though, if that's a concern.) Joel