Ahmighad! A company, made up of people with families, is trying to *make* *money*?!!?
There's a difference between trying to make money by making new, interesting products and trying to make money by doing nothing but selling old products and making crappy MMORPGs.
Thanks again, Square, for not including FF3 in your compilation in order to make even more money when you put it in another compilation somewhere down the road.
I'm sure that's what it's intended to do, but it still looks really stupid. That's not even mentioning the fact that it would also exclude all sorts of other games, including frigging Mortal Kombat, which was the target of a censorship jihad a decade ago and would definitely run afoul of the whole "human victim of a heinous attack" thing that this law is against.
I'm not going to bother explaining why this legislation is stupid because it's already been done before. I just noticed this, though:
The bill would exclude from this definition any game in which the visual depiction of violence occurs as the result of simultaneous competition between 2 or more players.
So beating up the representation of a real person that you know is better than beating up a completely fictional being?
Well, yeah. But other people seem to be completely ignoring the piracy issue and think that emulation is always better for console makers than no emulation. I'm just pointing out that even without piracy, that's not necessarily the case.
Whining about getting caught breaking a law is not the same as complaining about the law being unjust. One is fine, the other is immature and almost chickenhawkish.
Now that I've rethought it, I see your point. However, this isn't necessarily a good thing for MS. We have two possibilities at the end of the XBox's lifespan:
1. MS produces fewer XBoxes than it would've if the emulator didn't exist, and has the same number or fewer of unsold XBoxes (i.e. MS is able to anticipate the lowered XBox sales in time). This would be a good thing.
2. MS produces fewer XBoxes than it would've if the emulator didn't exist, but the number of unsold XBoxes is higher than it would've been (i.e. MS is unable to anticipate the lowered XBox sales in time). This would make it a zero-sum effect, or possibly even a greater loss.
Which of the two things will occur? It's hard to say. The XBox is roughly in the middle of its effective lifespan, so the emulator won't do as much damage as it would've done late in the XBox's life, but at the same time it won't have an obviously beneficial effect as it would've earlier on. Basically, the emulator is a wrench in the system; its unpredictability causes MS more problems even if it saves money on XBox production.
Then game developers notice how many XBoxes are being sold, which makes them want to produce more games for it. More games = more licensing fees for Microsoft. They'll make that $200 per unit you're "stealing" from them back easily, with change.
Yes, but they save that money on the Xbox they don't produce.
This doesn't make any sense. What XBox wouldn't they produce?
If you're trying to say that MS would slow down production as a result of this emulator, I should point out that it takes a while for this to happen. By the time production is cut, they would likely have a higher surplus of unsold XBoxes than they would've if the emulator didn't exist. Emulation certainly doesn't do console makers any favors, even if they're losing money on the consoles.
Fact is, without selling a single Xbox, MS is better off since they sell at a loss.
No, they're not. They lose more money without selling an XBox that has already been produced.
Producing, distributing, etc. an XBox and not selling it = -$175 (hypothetical number) Producing, distributing, etc. an XBox and selling it for $150 = -$25
-$25 > -$175
And don't say that they should just produce XBoxes only when they're being sold, as that would be highly impractical.
You're forgetting one important thing M$ would lose on: revenue from games because they can now be pirated and played... without a modchipped console.
You don't need a modchip to play XBox backups anyway. With the AUF/MechAssault/Splinter-Cell exploit combined with the Phoenix BIOS Loader, it's almost as easy to pirate XBox games as it is to pirate Dreamcast games.
However, I agree that this emulator would make it even easier; just download the game and play.
There are three ways to put retail XBox games on your PC:
1. Connect a modded XBox to your PC. 2. Hack your DVD-ROM so it can read XBox discs. 3. Download the games.
Note that one of these three options makes the emulator mostly pointless, and both of the first two require technical skill and might void your warranty on your XBox or DVD-ROM. That leaves a large chunk of the emulator's audience with Option #3, which is more-or-less illegal.
Microsoft would have a similar case as to what the RIAA had with Napster. Combining that with the fact that Microsoft could probably win a court case against God and it doesn't look too good for the Cxbx developers.
I had a problem or two while playing Halo PC, but that was caused by another program I was running at the time. Besides that, the game ran quite smoothly. Therefore, I have to agree with parent.
Training to be the best at a video game, or win a competition, could easily take as many hours as a player puts in to win a sporting event.
It also takes a lot of time to become a soldier, or attain an MD. However, being a soldier or doctor isn't a sport.
Just look at Poker. A few years ago I don't remember seeing anything about poker in the media. Its gotten so famous, ESPN, ESPN2, the Travel Channel, and i'm sure plenty more television shows play "Texas Hold'em" at least once a day, including a celebrity poker show on Bravo. Now, playing poker may not be a sport, but they sure market it like a sporting event.
IIRC, no one ever tried to call poker a sport, either. (And the fact that it's on ESPN means nothing. How much music is on MTV now-a-days?)
why not? Say for example you have someone that has a Jedi Account in SWG that took them 200 hours of gameplay to get. (I'm just making these figures up...) if I turn around and buy that account from them for $400 I'm buying their time in place of taking my own time to grind stuff out.
I thought the entire point of playing a game was to have fun actually playing it. If you think that an integral part of a game is a waste of time, then why are you playing it?
I can't understand why anyone would say that the GameCube controller is the best at anything. After you get used to it, it's playable, but you could say the same thing about the N64 controller, and that was one of the worst controllers ever designed.
Rob (Currently has a sore left index finger due to the springy shoulder buttons)
Note that your definition is the last on the list, while mine is the first. Definitions are always listed in order of usage, which suggests that your definition is used by a small number of people compared to my definition, or even that my definition is more of a formal convention while yours is more colloquial.
I'm not trying to sound all "tyranny of the majority" about this, but if video gaming really wants to be a popular spectator event, it would probably help if it doesn't antagonize people who enjoy "real" sports. I mean heck, even fishing and hunting have a lot more physical activity involved in them than video gaming does.
BTW, what dictionary did you get that definition from? If the second definition is any judge, it's highly redundant.
Rob (People consider darts to be a sport? What the hell?)
Stop calling it a sport. A sport requires athletic exertion by definition. This is also a problem with non-video games; some people love to call chess a sport even though it's not (assuming that that chess boxing thing never takes off).
Instead, just take pride in what your game is--a fun, challenging game.
Slashdot Mirror
Ahmighad! A company, made up of people with families, is trying to *make* *money*?!!?
There's a difference between trying to make money by making new, interesting products and trying to make money by doing nothing but selling old products and making crappy MMORPGs.
Rob (Nice try at being clever, though)
Thanks again, Square, for not including FF3 in your compilation in order to make even more money when you put it in another compilation somewhere down the road.
Rob
I'm sure that's what it's intended to do, but it still looks really stupid. That's not even mentioning the fact that it would also exclude all sorts of other games, including frigging Mortal Kombat, which was the target of a censorship jihad a decade ago and would definitely run afoul of the whole "human victim of a heinous attack" thing that this law is against.
Goddamn, legislators are dumb.
Rob
I'm not going to bother explaining why this legislation is stupid because it's already been done before. I just noticed this, though:
The bill would exclude from this definition any game in which the visual depiction of violence occurs as the result of simultaneous competition between 2 or more players.
So beating up the representation of a real person that you know is better than beating up a completely fictional being?
Rob
Well, yeah. But other people seem to be completely ignoring the piracy issue and think that emulation is always better for console makers than no emulation. I'm just pointing out that even without piracy, that's not necessarily the case.
Rob
It's called "balancing" the game. Barriers like these are necessary to keep a game fun
Not exactly. A lot of people think that it would be more fun to allow some classes to be harder to play than others. You know, kind of like real life.
Rob
Whining about getting caught breaking a law is not the same as complaining about the law being unjust. One is fine, the other is immature and almost chickenhawkish.
Rob
Now that I've rethought it, I see your point. However, this isn't necessarily a good thing for MS. We have two possibilities at the end of the XBox's lifespan:
1. MS produces fewer XBoxes than it would've if the emulator didn't exist, and has the same number or fewer of unsold XBoxes (i.e. MS is able to anticipate the lowered XBox sales in time). This would be a good thing.
2. MS produces fewer XBoxes than it would've if the emulator didn't exist, but the number of unsold XBoxes is higher than it would've been (i.e. MS is unable to anticipate the lowered XBox sales in time). This would make it a zero-sum effect, or possibly even a greater loss.
Which of the two things will occur? It's hard to say. The XBox is roughly in the middle of its effective lifespan, so the emulator won't do as much damage as it would've done late in the XBox's life, but at the same time it won't have an obviously beneficial effect as it would've earlier on. Basically, the emulator is a wrench in the system; its unpredictability causes MS more problems even if it saves money on XBox production.
Rob
Then game developers notice how many XBoxes are being sold, which makes them want to produce more games for it. More games = more licensing fees for Microsoft. They'll make that $200 per unit you're "stealing" from them back easily, with change.
Way to stick it to The Man, indeed.
Rob
I always thought that that applied to Democrats.
Oh, wait. Those are the same thing!
Rob
Yes, but they save that money on the Xbox they don't produce.
This doesn't make any sense. What XBox wouldn't they produce?
If you're trying to say that MS would slow down production as a result of this emulator, I should point out that it takes a while for this to happen. By the time production is cut, they would likely have a higher surplus of unsold XBoxes than they would've if the emulator didn't exist. Emulation certainly doesn't do console makers any favors, even if they're losing money on the consoles.
Rob
Fact is, without selling a single Xbox, MS is better off since they sell at a loss.
No, they're not. They lose more money without selling an XBox that has already been produced.
Producing, distributing, etc. an XBox and not selling it = -$175 (hypothetical number)
Producing, distributing, etc. an XBox and selling it for $150 = -$25
-$25 > -$175
And don't say that they should just produce XBoxes only when they're being sold, as that would be highly impractical.
Rob
a > a + b when b is NEGATIVE.
And since it's manifestly impossible for XBox sales to be negative, the statement doesn't make any sense.
Rob (Hint: XBox sales != XBox profits)
as long as the law stands...THAT is the rule, and we are morally obliged to adhere.
And Thoreau rolls in his grave.
Rob
You're forgetting one important thing M$ would lose on: revenue from games because they can now be pirated and played... without a modchipped console.
You don't need a modchip to play XBox backups anyway. With the AUF/MechAssault/Splinter-Cell exploit combined with the Phoenix BIOS Loader, it's almost as easy to pirate XBox games as it is to pirate Dreamcast games.
However, I agree that this emulator would make it even easier; just download the game and play.
Rob
There are three ways to put retail XBox games on your PC:
1. Connect a modded XBox to your PC.
2. Hack your DVD-ROM so it can read XBox discs.
3. Download the games.
Note that one of these three options makes the emulator mostly pointless, and both of the first two require technical skill and might void your warranty on your XBox or DVD-ROM. That leaves a large chunk of the emulator's audience with Option #3, which is more-or-less illegal.
Microsoft would have a similar case as to what the RIAA had with Napster. Combining that with the fact that Microsoft could probably win a court case against God and it doesn't look too good for the Cxbx developers.
Rpb
I had a problem or two while playing Halo PC, but that was caused by another program I was running at the time. Besides that, the game ran quite smoothly. Therefore, I have to agree with parent.
Rob
Training to be the best at a video game, or win a competition, could easily take as many hours as a player puts in to win a sporting event.
It also takes a lot of time to become a soldier, or attain an MD. However, being a soldier or doctor isn't a sport.
Just look at Poker. A few years ago I don't remember seeing anything about poker in the media. Its gotten so famous, ESPN, ESPN2, the Travel Channel, and i'm sure plenty more television shows play "Texas Hold'em" at least once a day, including a celebrity poker show on Bravo. Now, playing poker may not be a sport, but they sure market it like a sporting event.
IIRC, no one ever tried to call poker a sport, either. (And the fact that it's on ESPN means nothing. How much music is on MTV now-a-days?)
Rob
why not? Say for example you have someone that has a Jedi Account in SWG that took them 200 hours of gameplay to get. (I'm just making these figures up...) if I turn around and buy that account from them for $400 I'm buying their time in place of taking my own time to grind stuff out.
I thought the entire point of playing a game was to have fun actually playing it. If you think that an integral part of a game is a waste of time, then why are you playing it?
Rob
I can't understand why anyone would say that the GameCube controller is the best at anything. After you get used to it, it's playable, but you could say the same thing about the N64 controller, and that was one of the worst controllers ever designed.
Rob (Currently has a sore left index finger due to the springy shoulder buttons)
I'll be buying one when my next paycheck arrives. I've been waiting until this month's price drop to get one.
Rob
I'm not a racing fan but the possibility of crash, fire, and death qualifies it as a sport.
Actually, that qualifies it as "dangerous." War definitely carries a risk of death with it, but I don't think any sane person would call it a sport.
Even so, though, it's probably true that auto racing requires somewhat more physical exertion than video gaming does.
Rob
Note that your definition is the last on the list, while mine is the first. Definitions are always listed in order of usage, which suggests that your definition is used by a small number of people compared to my definition, or even that my definition is more of a formal convention while yours is more colloquial.
I'm not trying to sound all "tyranny of the majority" about this, but if video gaming really wants to be a popular spectator event, it would probably help if it doesn't antagonize people who enjoy "real" sports. I mean heck, even fishing and hunting have a lot more physical activity involved in them than video gaming does.
BTW, what dictionary did you get that definition from? If the second definition is any judge, it's highly redundant.
Rob (People consider darts to be a sport? What the hell?)
Stop calling it a sport. A sport requires athletic exertion by definition. This is also a problem with non-video games; some people love to call chess a sport even though it's not (assuming that that chess boxing thing never takes off).
Instead, just take pride in what your game is--a fun, challenging game.
Rob
Why won't they port to the PC? That's easy: because Nintendo doesn't make a dime on PC sales.
OK, so what does this have to do with the companies that aren't Nintendo?
Rob