You have to buy it if you want an NFL licensed game, just like you have to watch ABC if you want to see an NFL licensed football game on monday night. It's so unfair Lifetime can't show an NFL football game on monday night, because I'm sure it would raise the bar on presentation because of competition
The exemption originally stated that congress did not have interstate commerce rights to regulate it (so the anti-trust laws did not apply). This was primarily a tool for owners to control players by not allowing free agency so players were obligated to their teams. However, after the free agency ruling it is being used mostly to control how teams could move between cities. There are actually many pro/semi-pro leagues around the country.
Hats off to EA, they made a nice business maneuver out of nowhere. Does it mean any other football game is dead? No, you could see a small studio come out with a football game that makes use of connected technology to let people create and download their own rosters. Many independent baseball sims release their game without a licensed roster, but allow people to download 3rd party rosters where people add actual player/team names and stats. There's always the possibility that it leads to the first baby steps of console game modding. Where there are roadblocks and money to made there is also innovation.
The NFL does not have anti-trust exemption like Baseball. From ESPN.COM article Q: Why don't other sports have the antitrust exemption?
A: For 18 years after Toolson, in case after case, judges admitted that the baseball exemption was flawed, but it was never overruled. Exemptions for boxing, football and basketball were denied in the higher courts, while hockey and golf antitrust exemptions were also denied in the lower courts In fact baseball's anti trust exemption keeps being dwindled away by congress In 1972, Curt Flood's case -- which also challenged baseball's reserve system -- reached the Supreme Court and although it was again acknowledged that baseball's antitrust exemption was "an anomaly," the Court ruled that it is up to Congress to change baseball's antitrust exemption. Further reduction of the anti-trust exemption could be coming up soon with the issue of steroids becoming an item on political agendas. Congress will look to pass regulations and possibly remove the exemption if baseball does not police itself steroid use.
We do not have "isolationist policies." We have unilateral, interventionist policies, not isolationist policies You are correct I couldn't think of the exact term. I was thinking more along the lines of isolating us from our allies (though the goverments support us there is a vocal minority against the US that has gained influence, see Spain) because we didn't get the rubber stamp from the ineffective UN. I don't think we differ through the rest, as I said in another post, most of the world doesn't truly hate us, most of the percieved "hate" in traditionally friendly countries is just typical squabbling and disagreements that have gone on for years, which is now magnified by the current war situation.
If you go back into the past, the U.S. has been one of the most annoying countries in history for third world countries I would argue historically European countries had far more impact on third world countries. Between the 16th-19th centuries colonization basically tried to divide the world between the European powers. The impact of that time has lasted through even recent times, apartheid in S. Africa, French involvement in Vietnam(French Indochina War), Falkland islands, are all examples. The anger towards the US from the 3rd world in general isn't directed just to the US but more towards western society overall. Though the US being considered a leader is the main target Theres always parts of Africa who blaim the U.S. for the U.N.'s lack of activity And other parts who want the US to stay out of their business, its a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. the Middle East has always hated us for some reason Primarily the difference comes from the US policies supporting Israel (politically and supplying weapons). Therefore there is the appearance of a Judeo-Christian alliance against Islam (embodied by Palestine). the Cold War is still burning treasury coffers across the world Once again this is a difference between Communist countries and Western society, though the US takes the brunt because it is viewed as the leader Europe hasn't liked us since the end of WWII The squabbles are more differences in cultural views. The US laughs at europe's tastes (Germany loves Hasselhoff, France loves Jerry Lewis) and Europe scoffs at the US arrogance as an example. Not really deep rooted hatred, more along the lines of how "country folk" hate the "city folk" in the US. somethings always going on in South America with the U.S. getting blaimed for This is more along the lines of economic differences, and impact of the drug war. Mexico just has economic issues with the U.S And the US has immigration and drug trafficing issues with Mexico. Once again these are minor squabbles that happen between countries with differences. Native Americans haven't liked us since we first came here. It's much more complicated than that. Native americans have not so completely assimilated into US society as other cultures, as well as socio-economic issues. To say that Native Americans haven't liked us, you might as well say latinos or african americans haven't liked us.
Remember in all societies there are vocal groups that hate the US, WTO, Nato, the members of the G7, or any group they see that has power. This doesn't necessarily represent an overwhelming hatred or distrust throughout the society. Even in Puerto Rico there are those who hate the ties to the US as a commonwealth (some small groups advocating revolution), though most of the population supports status quo.
The problem is it sends them down a dark legal road where they admit items in game = real money. Server goes down and characters are reset - somebody then sues Blizzard because they lost their possessions worth $4000; they also become responsible for losses due to scams, bugs, nerfs (hey my $2000 ubersword got nerfed and is now only worth $5), etc. It also changes the dynamic of the game from entertainment to profit.
How does somebody else paying for items hurt your enjoyment of the game beyond jealousy? There are things you can do in game to prevent spawn pharmers or 'boters, why do you need to have it translate to real world crackdown on item sales?
There's a huge difference between disagreement/displeasure and enough anger to go to war.
Africa - Displeasure about the US not doing enough to fight disease/hunger/internal wars Middle East - Righteous anger about the US alignment with Israel and US foreign policies in the middle east, which has continued to increase and spiral into religious hatred towards the US itself Cuba/Russia/China/N.Korea/Vietnam - hostilitiy of Communism vs Capitalism Europe/Canada - displeasure with the current US administration, and differences in culture. South America - displeasure with economic aid & drug war Mexico - squabbles about the border and economics Native Americans - this is an internal socio-economic/racial issue Right now most of the world is displeased with the US because of the isolationist policies of the current administration. But I wouldn't expect Canada or Europe to declare war on the US, in fact their hatred is directed more at Bush himself than at the US citizens. For things to reach the level of war it takes many years of animosity. Currently that level exists in the Middle East and communist countries.
Level based systems do nothing but make people antisocial treadmillers As opposed to those very social 1337 skill FPS & RTSers. Player skill based systems don't make socialization any easier, if you're focusing on the game you are either practicing or levelling. In game socialization is more a matter of the actual gameplay mechanics, and the "clockwork" system of RPGs makes socialization far easier. You can actually hold multiple conversations in game in EQ during even a difficult fight, you can't even talk to somebody in person during a tough Quake fragfest. Class based systems lock people into a pattern of behaviour they are bored with and make them ignorant of other gameplay styles. And skill based systems leads to game imbalances and munchkinism, where people discover the best combination of skills. Skill systems are very difficult to balance because of all the combinations possible; and unless you give people the option to give up skills, you end up with disgruntled self nerfed players. The ability to teleport from anywhere to anywhere removes any sense of scale and destroys the economy Sense of scale is a difficult thing to pull off in any game because you want to maintain some degree of content density. You want people to feel they are in a huge universe, but OTOH you don't want them bored. Spending an hour travelling somewhere to do something isn't my idea of fun (though it would give me a sense of scale). Developers use features like teleportation or vehicles as a compromise. A stong emphesis on quests makes players dependant on artist created content, removing valuable funds for customer service and maintenance of the software You have to balance both, artist created content is important because it keeps the world fresh. These are subscription services, and the important thing is customer retention. People will tolerate bugs to a degree if they keep getting new content. If an MMO is stagnant, it is dead, because the players will have seen everything there is and won't need to keep coming back.
In AZ at least several years ago you were allowed to choose your SSN number as your license number. That way if there were any forms you had to fill out that asked for your license number you had it memorized. Of course back then (90's) identity theft wasn't really common.
Who's to say they wouldn't eventually ask to put my SSN number on there too? Unfortunately, many people have chosen their license number to be their SSN.
I've worked constuction and I've been the coder before. The reason that this resentment exists is twofold. 1) The coder/construction worker has to go though hoops and various BS because the engineer/designer/manager usually have no clue as to what is really required to make something happen. Trust me, looking at blueprints sometimes, we would look at each other and question what in the world the engineer was thinking I feel that you have to sweat alongside the workers for a fair amount of time to really be a good engineer. When I started as an engineer the first year I spent every chance I could out on the assembly line learning what really goes on. I fixed machines, I saw how things actually work. On a personal level I gained respect for the technicians and they gained respect for me. They knew when I said something, I knew what I was talking about. Just as importantly when they said something I knew what they were talking about. My group is comprised exclusively of engineers with graduate degrees and you can clearly see the difference between the "thoery" engineers, and the ones who don't mind getting their hands dirty. The "theory" engineers are valuable for their input, but when it comes down to getting something done or coming up with a decision management turns to those who have a balance of actual experience and theory. 2) They work "harder" with less pay and all of thier work only makes the upper guys look good. I wouldn't say they are "working harder" They work different. The worker/coder may be doing more quantitatively, but in management/supervisory positions the stress and hours are very much there. Putting your job and reputation on the line making a decision is a very hard thing. In project management the stress will drive you to work 12-16 hour days gathering information and researching. Ultimately you have to stand up and make the decision and everybody knows if the project sinks it was your decision. You then spend 12-16 hours ensuring every detail is done right, because if the rivet guy messes up its still your fault. "Why didn't you have a system in place to prevent them from making that mistake?" For me that was the most stressful part, trusting people to execute what I designed. But once again when you spend time out doing the grunt work you'll know what areas may cause problems so you aren't blindly trusting people. You also know who the good workers are, and who are the slackers. Ask an engineer and a construction worker about their experience on something like a bridge. The engineer says "Look at what I designed, and had built." The construction worker says "I put rivets on that bridge". There is a big cognative difference between the two. When I had a successful project, I took out the workers who helped to beers n wings; since I wasn't able to create actual awards because of bureaucratic BS. For me I "designed the bridge", the workers "built the bridge". I think the divide comes from management praising each other and not giving any credit to those who do the ultimate execution. Too often it seems each level of management praises the level below, but then the praise stops at the level right above the workers. The CEO thanks the regional manager, who thanks the factory manager, who thanks the engineer, who doesn't give credit to the workers because they are "just doing their job".
This whole culture of official lies is how we can simultaneously have among the worst education and medical systems in the industrialized world and yet have a consistent majority of our population believe we are among the best. I would say we are among the best in capability, but last in effective distribution. If you are rich you can get one of the best educations and medical services in the world, if you are poor, well good luck.
American ideology is basically "we expect stuff because we deserve it." I despise that self-righteous attitude, but its very common. I don't really see it that way, I see American society focused more on work than education. Although those in the US expect more, they also work more hours than other countries. There is a glamorization of the blue collar worker putting in a hard 12 hour day. The construction worker looks down on the engineer because they don't know "hard work." It extends even to intellectual professions, the coder who believes they are doing all the "hard work" looks down upon the designer/manager. I've done none of those things, and I don't make millions. I went to college and was good at math. And you get to sit in your air conditioned office for 8 hours a day. Then when you are hungry you go to have meals prepared by the guy sweating over a hot stove for 10 hours a day before he works his other part time job delivering papers, yet he only makes 20k. Some people are naturally smart, some people are naturally beautiful, its just luck of genetics. The problem with American education is that it doesn't take into account genetic differences. It tries to keep everybody at the same level, thus slowing down the progress of those who could learn more.
How many were bigtime sellers? From what I've seen most adventure games with good sales had some sort of franchise tie in (ie CSI); and the quality of those games isn't that great. Meanwhile many unique and well produced games didn't have good sales numbers, making companies shy away from the genre.
Call me cynical but I forsee a new corporate driven internet structure, same as other conversions to the internet. When everybody is given the same voice, some good, most bad, it becomes problematic to wade through. You will see a rise in genre specific websites that wade through the garbage to give the fans the "best" of the music. Of course a whole payment structure will form, advertisement, and a pay for play structure like google now has. Pay extra the "Rocker search engine" will move you higher on the page to get more downloads. Of course certain recording labels will ensure your song gets more hits if you sign with them and thus more likely to get iTunes downloads and money generated for your band (and the label). The internet was supposed to make everybody able to report the news, increase balance, and give everybody equal voice; but where do most people get their news, still CNN, MSNBC, or other corporate affiliated sites
But the majority of game players don't really mind because they don't know what they're missing. Unless a large outcry is raised nobody will ever really know. Why do you think you got "screwed" because the version in a different country has different features? Nintendo didn't advertise the feature and not deliver it. When you buy a product you decide if it has enough features to warrant the price you pay. If you decide yes you buy it, if you decide no you don't. This is like the kid whining after he gets a new bike, because the neighbor got a better one.
That style of adventure game has been dying. The last really good adventure game I can remember playing was Grim Fandango. The key elements of the genre seem to have been absorbed by other genres (adventure like puzzles in RPGs, FPS) or morphed into survival horror type games. I really do want to see Sam & Max make a comeback!
Re:Outsourcing isn't new at all
on
Offshoring IT
·
· Score: 1
The same could well be said for a wide variety of low skill jobs, which have been both outsourced (foreign manufacturing) There are in fact a lot of manufacturing jobs that are high skill. Sure the actual person working the assembly line is low(er) skill, but there are a variety of engineers, technicians, and business educated people who support that. Look at electronics manufacturing most of which has moved to Asia for cheap labor, the people running the machines could be considered low skill. However, for electronics manufacturing you need mechanical engineers to select and qualify new machines, chemical engineers to oversee water and chemical facilities, process engineers to troubleshoot and develop improved processing, business educated people to negotiate supplies, and various levels of managers and supervisors. We have outsourced high skill jobs along with low skill jobs for decades, the key is to be adaptable. Coming out of school in 2000 as a non-IT engineer choices were limited (unlike for IT oriented studies), but available if you were flexible. A ChemE friend of mine became a database administrator, because that was what was available. I graduated with a MatSci degree but did programming for 4 months before I got a job in my specialty Outsourcing is nothing new, and historically it has helped our economy & standard of living in the long run by providing cheaper products, and freeing up labor to pursue more value added products/services utilizing the cheaper products. It is important to be flexible not only with what jobs you consider, but also with your education. If you are programmer only, your choices will be limited, if you are a programmer with biology knowledge there are a lot more opportunities, and it also makes you a more attractive to certain companies compared with other programmers.
60% Experience (this is what gets you in the door)
There are alot of ways to get you in the door, and paper is probably the easiest of them. The most important thing is getting your resume read by the hiring manager. Your resume can go through HR, which typically requires a degree. It can also get to them through networking/contacts (either they personally know you, or you share a common contact), which is more the experience route. 90% of applicants probably go through HR, though probably 50% of hires end up through the personal contact route. Which is more important is really a toss-up, if you have a diploma it widens the possible opportunities; if you have personal contacts it increases your chances for specific opportunities. The best of both worlds is building your network and experience while in school. Classmates who are a year or two ahead of you, are great for building your network, so are internships and co-ops because those let you directly work with potential hiring managers. While studying for a BS degree you can easily end up with 2 years industry experience
Slashdot Mirror
You have to buy it if you want an NFL licensed game, just like you have to watch ABC if you want to see an NFL licensed football game on monday night.
It's so unfair Lifetime can't show an NFL football game on monday night, because I'm sure it would raise the bar on presentation because of competition
The exemption originally stated that congress did not have interstate commerce rights to regulate it (so the anti-trust laws did not apply). This was primarily a tool for owners to control players by not allowing free agency so players were obligated to their teams. However, after the free agency ruling it is being used mostly to control how teams could move between cities.
There are actually many pro/semi-pro leagues around the country.
Hats off to EA, they made a nice business maneuver out of nowhere.
Does it mean any other football game is dead? No, you could see a small studio come out with a football game that makes use of connected technology to let people create and download their own rosters.
Many independent baseball sims release their game without a licensed roster, but allow people to download 3rd party rosters where people add actual player/team names and stats.
There's always the possibility that it leads to the first baby steps of console game modding. Where there are roadblocks and money to made there is also innovation.
It's not like the $19.99 price tag was going to last
The NFL does not have anti-trust exemption like Baseball. From ESPN.COM article
Q: Why don't other sports have the antitrust exemption?
A: For 18 years after Toolson, in case after case, judges admitted that the baseball exemption was flawed, but it was never overruled. Exemptions for boxing, football and basketball were denied in the higher courts, while hockey and golf antitrust exemptions were also denied in the lower courts
In fact baseball's anti trust exemption keeps being dwindled away by congress
In 1972, Curt Flood's case -- which also challenged baseball's reserve system -- reached the Supreme Court and although it was again acknowledged that baseball's antitrust exemption was "an anomaly," the Court ruled that it is up to Congress to change baseball's antitrust exemption.
Further reduction of the anti-trust exemption could be coming up soon with the issue of steroids becoming an item on political agendas. Congress will look to pass regulations and possibly remove the exemption if baseball does not police itself steroid use.
We do not have "isolationist policies." We have unilateral, interventionist policies, not isolationist policies
You are correct I couldn't think of the exact term. I was thinking more along the lines of isolating us from our allies (though the goverments support us there is a vocal minority against the US that has gained influence, see Spain) because we didn't get the rubber stamp from the ineffective UN.
I don't think we differ through the rest, as I said in another post, most of the world doesn't truly hate us, most of the percieved "hate" in traditionally friendly countries is just typical squabbling and disagreements that have gone on for years, which is now magnified by the current war situation.
If you go back into the past, the U.S. has been one of the most annoying countries in history for third world countries
I would argue historically European countries had far more impact on third world countries. Between the 16th-19th centuries colonization basically tried to divide the world between the European powers. The impact of that time has lasted through even recent times, apartheid in S. Africa, French involvement in Vietnam(French Indochina War), Falkland islands, are all examples.
The anger towards the US from the 3rd world in general isn't directed just to the US but more towards western society overall. Though the US being considered a leader is the main target
Theres always parts of Africa who blaim the U.S. for the U.N.'s lack of activity
And other parts who want the US to stay out of their business, its a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.
the Middle East has always hated us for some reason
Primarily the difference comes from the US policies supporting Israel (politically and supplying weapons). Therefore there is the appearance of a Judeo-Christian alliance against Islam (embodied by Palestine).
the Cold War is still burning treasury coffers across the world
Once again this is a difference between Communist countries and Western society, though the US takes the brunt because it is viewed as the leader
Europe hasn't liked us since the end of WWII
The squabbles are more differences in cultural views. The US laughs at europe's tastes (Germany loves Hasselhoff, France loves Jerry Lewis) and Europe scoffs at the US arrogance as an example. Not really deep rooted hatred, more along the lines of how "country folk" hate the "city folk" in the US.
somethings always going on in South America with the U.S. getting blaimed for
This is more along the lines of economic differences, and impact of the drug war.
Mexico just has economic issues with the U.S
And the US has immigration and drug trafficing issues with Mexico. Once again these are minor squabbles that happen between countries with differences.
Native Americans haven't liked us since we first came here.
It's much more complicated than that. Native americans have not so completely assimilated into US society as other cultures, as well as socio-economic issues. To say that Native Americans haven't liked us, you might as well say latinos or african americans haven't liked us.
Remember in all societies there are vocal groups that hate the US, WTO, Nato, the members of the G7, or any group they see that has power. This doesn't necessarily represent an overwhelming hatred or distrust throughout the society. Even in Puerto Rico there are those who hate the ties to the US as a commonwealth (some small groups advocating revolution), though most of the population supports status quo.
The problem is it sends them down a dark legal road where they admit items in game = real money.
Server goes down and characters are reset - somebody then sues Blizzard because they lost their possessions worth $4000; they also become responsible for losses due to scams, bugs, nerfs (hey my $2000 ubersword got nerfed and is now only worth $5), etc. It also changes the dynamic of the game from entertainment to profit.
How does somebody else paying for items hurt your enjoyment of the game beyond jealousy?
There are things you can do in game to prevent spawn pharmers or 'boters, why do you need to have it translate to real world crackdown on item sales?
There's a huge difference between disagreement/displeasure and enough anger to go to war.
Africa - Displeasure about the US not doing enough to fight disease/hunger/internal wars
Middle East - Righteous anger about the US alignment with Israel and US foreign policies in the middle east, which has continued to increase and spiral into religious hatred towards the US itself
Cuba/Russia/China/N.Korea/Vietnam - hostilitiy of Communism vs Capitalism
Europe/Canada - displeasure with the current US administration, and differences in culture.
South America - displeasure with economic aid & drug war
Mexico - squabbles about the border and economics
Native Americans - this is an internal socio-economic/racial issue
Right now most of the world is displeased with the US because of the isolationist policies of the current administration. But I wouldn't expect Canada or Europe to declare war on the US, in fact their hatred is directed more at Bush himself than at the US citizens. For things to reach the level of war it takes many years of animosity. Currently that level exists in the Middle East and communist countries.
Level based systems do nothing but make people antisocial treadmillers
As opposed to those very social 1337 skill FPS & RTSers. Player skill based systems don't make socialization any easier, if you're focusing on the game you are either practicing or levelling.
In game socialization is more a matter of the actual gameplay mechanics, and the "clockwork" system of RPGs makes socialization far easier. You can actually hold multiple conversations in game in EQ during even a difficult fight, you can't even talk to somebody in person during a tough Quake fragfest.
Class based systems lock people into a pattern of behaviour they are bored with and make them ignorant of other gameplay styles.
And skill based systems leads to game imbalances and munchkinism, where people discover the best combination of skills. Skill systems are very difficult to balance because of all the combinations possible; and unless you give people the option to give up skills, you end up with disgruntled self nerfed players.
The ability to teleport from anywhere to anywhere removes any sense of scale and destroys the economy
Sense of scale is a difficult thing to pull off in any game because you want to maintain some degree of content density. You want people to feel they are in a huge universe, but OTOH you don't want them bored. Spending an hour travelling somewhere to do something isn't my idea of fun (though it would give me a sense of scale). Developers use features like teleportation or vehicles as a compromise.
A stong emphesis on quests makes players dependant on artist created content, removing valuable funds for customer service and maintenance of the software
You have to balance both, artist created content is important because it keeps the world fresh. These are subscription services, and the important thing is customer retention. People will tolerate bugs to a degree if they keep getting new content. If an MMO is stagnant, it is dead, because the players will have seen everything there is and won't need to keep coming back.
In AZ at least several years ago you were allowed to choose your SSN number as your license number. That way if there were any forms you had to fill out that asked for your license number you had it memorized. Of course back then (90's) identity theft wasn't really common.
It makes their 120hp civic go faster, duh!
Who's to say they wouldn't eventually ask to put my SSN number on there too?
Unfortunately, many people have chosen their license number to be their SSN.
I've worked constuction and I've been the coder before. The reason that this resentment exists is twofold. 1) The coder/construction worker has to go though hoops and various BS because the engineer/designer/manager usually have no clue as to what is really required to make something happen. Trust me, looking at blueprints sometimes, we would look at each other and question what in the world the engineer was thinking
I feel that you have to sweat alongside the workers for a fair amount of time to really be a good engineer. When I started as an engineer the first year I spent every chance I could out on the assembly line learning what really goes on. I fixed machines, I saw how things actually work.
On a personal level I gained respect for the technicians and they gained respect for me. They knew when I said something, I knew what I was talking about. Just as importantly when they said something I knew what they were talking about.
My group is comprised exclusively of engineers with graduate degrees and you can clearly see the difference between the "thoery" engineers, and the ones who don't mind getting their hands dirty. The "theory" engineers are valuable for their input, but when it comes down to getting something done or coming up with a decision management turns to those who have a balance of actual experience and theory.
2) They work "harder" with less pay and all of thier work only makes the upper guys look good.
I wouldn't say they are "working harder" They work different. The worker/coder may be doing more quantitatively, but in management/supervisory positions the stress and hours are very much there. Putting your job and reputation on the line making a decision is a very hard thing. In project management the stress will drive you to work 12-16 hour days gathering information and researching. Ultimately you have to stand up and make the decision and everybody knows if the project sinks it was your decision. You then spend 12-16 hours ensuring every detail is done right, because if the rivet guy messes up its still your fault. "Why didn't you have a system in place to prevent them from making that mistake?"
For me that was the most stressful part, trusting people to execute what I designed. But once again when you spend time out doing the grunt work you'll know what areas may cause problems so you aren't blindly trusting people. You also know who the good workers are, and who are the slackers.
Ask an engineer and a construction worker about their experience on something like a bridge. The engineer says "Look at what I designed, and had built." The construction worker says "I put rivets on that bridge". There is a big cognative difference between the two.
When I had a successful project, I took out the workers who helped to beers n wings; since I wasn't able to create actual awards because of bureaucratic BS. For me I "designed the bridge", the workers "built the bridge".
I think the divide comes from management praising each other and not giving any credit to those who do the ultimate execution. Too often it seems each level of management praises the level below, but then the praise stops at the level right above the workers. The CEO thanks the regional manager, who thanks the factory manager, who thanks the engineer, who doesn't give credit to the workers because they are "just doing their job".
This whole culture of official lies is how we can simultaneously have among the worst education and medical systems in the industrialized world and yet have a consistent majority of our population believe we are among the best.
I would say we are among the best in capability, but last in effective distribution. If you are rich you can get one of the best educations and medical services in the world, if you are poor, well good luck.
American ideology is basically "we expect stuff because we deserve it." I despise that self-righteous attitude, but its very common.
I don't really see it that way, I see American society focused more on work than education. Although those in the US expect more, they also work more hours than other countries. There is a glamorization of the blue collar worker putting in a hard 12 hour day.
The construction worker looks down on the engineer because they don't know "hard work." It extends even to intellectual professions, the coder who believes they are doing all the "hard work" looks down upon the designer/manager.
I've done none of those things, and I don't make millions. I went to college and was good at math.
And you get to sit in your air conditioned office for 8 hours a day. Then when you are hungry you go to have meals prepared by the guy sweating over a hot stove for 10 hours a day before he works his other part time job delivering papers, yet he only makes 20k. Some people are naturally smart, some people are naturally beautiful, its just luck of genetics.
The problem with American education is that it doesn't take into account genetic differences. It tries to keep everybody at the same level, thus slowing down the progress of those who could learn more.
How many were bigtime sellers?
From what I've seen most adventure games with good sales had some sort of franchise tie in (ie CSI); and the quality of those games isn't that great. Meanwhile many unique and well produced games didn't have good sales numbers, making companies shy away from the genre.
he gained his C-level fame for winning at a difficult quiz show.
Unlike others who got their fame from losing 500lbs eating mediocre hoagies, singing so horribly everybody couldn't help but laugh, or crashing at the guest house of a murderous football player
Call me cynical but I forsee a new corporate driven internet structure, same as other conversions to the internet.
When everybody is given the same voice, some good, most bad, it becomes problematic to wade through. You will see a rise in genre specific websites that wade through the garbage to give the fans the "best" of the music. Of course a whole payment structure will form, advertisement, and a pay for play structure like google now has. Pay extra the "Rocker search engine" will move you higher on the page to get more downloads. Of course certain recording labels will ensure your song gets more hits if you sign with them and thus more likely to get iTunes downloads and money generated for your band (and the label).
The internet was supposed to make everybody able to report the news, increase balance, and give everybody equal voice; but where do most people get their news, still CNN, MSNBC, or other corporate affiliated sites
But the majority of game players don't really mind because they don't know what they're missing. Unless a large outcry is raised nobody will ever really know.
Why do you think you got "screwed" because the version in a different country has different features? Nintendo didn't advertise the feature and not deliver it. When you buy a product you decide if it has enough features to warrant the price you pay. If you decide yes you buy it, if you decide no you don't.
This is like the kid whining after he gets a new bike, because the neighbor got a better one.
That style of adventure game has been dying. The last really good adventure game I can remember playing was Grim Fandango.
The key elements of the genre seem to have been absorbed by other genres (adventure like puzzles in RPGs, FPS) or morphed into survival horror type games.
I really do want to see Sam & Max make a comeback!
The same could well be said for a wide variety of low skill jobs, which have been both outsourced (foreign manufacturing)
There are in fact a lot of manufacturing jobs that are high skill. Sure the actual person working the assembly line is low(er) skill, but there are a variety of engineers, technicians, and business educated people who support that.
Look at electronics manufacturing most of which has moved to Asia for cheap labor, the people running the machines could be considered low skill. However, for electronics manufacturing you need mechanical engineers to select and qualify new machines, chemical engineers to oversee water and chemical facilities, process engineers to troubleshoot and develop improved processing, business educated people to negotiate supplies, and various levels of managers and supervisors.
We have outsourced high skill jobs along with low skill jobs for decades, the key is to be adaptable. Coming out of school in 2000 as a non-IT engineer choices were limited (unlike for IT oriented studies), but available if you were flexible. A ChemE friend of mine became a database administrator, because that was what was available. I graduated with a MatSci degree but did programming for 4 months before I got a job in my specialty
Outsourcing is nothing new, and historically it has helped our economy & standard of living in the long run by providing cheaper products, and freeing up labor to pursue more value added products/services utilizing the cheaper products. It is important to be flexible not only with what jobs you consider, but also with your education. If you are programmer only, your choices will be limited, if you are a programmer with biology knowledge there are a lot more opportunities, and it also makes you a more attractive to certain companies compared with other programmers.
But wouldn't you then worry about the consequences of your inaction?
60% Experience (this is what gets you in the door)
There are alot of ways to get you in the door, and paper is probably the easiest of them. The most important thing is getting your resume read by the hiring manager.
Your resume can go through HR, which typically requires a degree. It can also get to them through networking/contacts (either they personally know you, or you share a common contact), which is more the experience route. 90% of applicants probably go through HR, though probably 50% of hires end up through the personal contact route.
Which is more important is really a toss-up, if you have a diploma it widens the possible opportunities; if you have personal contacts it increases your chances for specific opportunities. The best of both worlds is building your network and experience while in school. Classmates who are a year or two ahead of you, are great for building your network, so are internships and co-ops because those let you directly work with potential hiring managers. While studying for a BS degree you can easily end up with 2 years industry experience