Well, there was an album I was going to buy, but I borrowed it from a friend and listened to it until I was sick of it, then gave it back. That deprived the record company of money. Am I a thief?
Only in the minds of RIAA execs, where they feel sales and profits are guranteed to them by law. I am sure they would love to implant chips into everyone's brains where you can only hear their music if you pay a fee. On second thought, that might not be so bad - it'll prevent us from hearing oh-so-much-crap.
In the real world, however, you neither deprived anyone of their property (without their consent) nor made a copy of material without being the copyright holder.
Ah, here you need to think, "out-side-the-box," as my dear managing friends with their minds stuck in dreams of the '90s would say.
You see, during his trip, he is surely to begin to drown. At this point, a beautiful mermaid will rescue him, and take him to a wonderous city under the sea. Here, not only will he learn true love and the meaning of Christmas, but he will also learn the secret to world peace.
Having also learned the secret ways of the merfolk mystics, he will emerge from the depths and proceed to bring a wave of peace and prosperity to the entire world. The fact that he brings this about through a massive invading merfolk army is a minor detail, one that will surely be forgotten in the history books, where children of the future shall learn how wonderous it is to be alive in a world of peace.
Your post has me thinking about innovative and fun games for the consoles. I own all three consoles as well. As it turns out, I have about the same number of games for the Ps2 and GC. I have far fewer for the XBox.
I am not into Sports games, or FPSs... I am not into the type of games that appeal to the mass market of 16 year old boys. (Nothing wrong with liking these games, just not my thing).
Because of this, it turns out that GC, while having the smallest library, has the highest ration of fun/crap games. PS2 has such a massive library that while there are tons of games I have no interest in, it still has ones that interest me - ICO, Katamari Damacy, Disgaea, etc.
XBox, however, is very lacking in the types of games I like. And ones it has like KOTOR I can get for cheaper (and more feature-rich) on the PC by just waiting...
This is why I laugh at the doom-n-gloom predictions people have for Nintendo. The fact is, they fill a niche remarkably well that a) won't be going away and b) is not serviced very well by the other two. The XBox and Ps2 compete directly for that 16 year old male market. It is certainly the larger market, and thus Nintendo won't ever be number 1. But, there are still enough people out there that a) don't try to project an image through the games they play (look at me, I can play games with blood, wheee!), b) don't buy a new game every week, c) are concerned with entertainment from their games above all else.
Nintendo can be, and has been, profitable by catering to this market.
As successful as Naruto is as a kids show in Japan (not quite Pokemon levels, but on the level of Inu Yasha), I'd say that the makers would be quite motivated to license it in North America.
In fact, having had an opportunity to speak with a manager for overseas liscensing at Studio Pierrot (the studio that creates Naruto), one of the major reasons for the long wait is Naruto is such a hot property they wanted to make sure they got as good a deal as they could, for as much money as they could, including TV airing in addition to DVD release. Naruto is, and has been for a while, a given for release over here.
Now, I do believe there are shows, one can still argue, where fansubs help with demand. But these are primarily magical girl or adult dramas, not shows that appeal to the 12 - 16 year old boy crowd ^_^
Yep, it is the literal translation, from English straight to English, of an English title for an English book by an English speaking author. Those wacky Japanese.
You will have a tough time getting an unbiased view of one or the other. It is amazing how rabid MMORPG fanbois are. The mentality of "if you don't like/hate what I like/hate, then you are stoopid!" is just silly.
All that said, I can say I've played both (WoW for 2 months in beta EQ2 for 3 weeks live). Both are very good games, and I don't really think you can go wrong with either. Honestly, I can't really say that one is better than the other.
Both have very robust and intriguing quests systems. They are in worlds with detailed histories and stories you can get involved in (assuming you actually read the quests). You can spend your whole time doing quests and never have to look at the xp bar, feeling the grind (unless your only concern is levelling, in which case any RPG will be a grind).
My impression is that EQ2 has more complicated gameplay. So, it has a steeper learning curve, but more depth. This can be good or bad, depending on what you like.
Graphics on both are great, and still look great with settings turned way down for old systems. Some people like one style vs another, but they both work for me.
EQ2 is more group oriented than WoW, so if you want to play solo, WoW would be a better choice.
WoW has PvP, EQ2 does not. Personally, I do not like MMORPG PvP and like to see no development effort wasted on it, but if it is important to you, that could push you to WoW.
I chose EQ2 because: I know several people playing it and I am more familiar with the Norrath world so it is more immersive for me. If this weren't the case, I'd probably have tossed a coin to decide which to play ^_^
Actually, EQ2 is not intended to appeal to the EQ addict. It is meant to appeal to people who have left EQ because it did not appeal to them.
Whether it succeeds at appealing to these people or not remains to be seen, but so far people who have gone into EQ2 thinking it is a shiny new version of EQ have been throughouly surprised (and either please or disappointed, depending on what they wre hoping for).
My particular dislike is this nasty half-and-half measure we've been seeing more of recetly, with cell-shaded games. I'm thinking of Zelda: Wind Walker, Mario Kart 64, Auto Modellista etc. The screenshots on the box look great, but I find that the games look pretty hideous most of the time while you're playing, except from a few select angles.
And here we get to the subjectiveness of what art is "better." See, I would use a game like Wind Waker as an example of how 3D is getting better, and capturing a lot of the expression and artistic display lost in the transition from 2D to 3D. Despite what angle I choose, that game always looked gorgeous, and the characters were full of life, expression and, well, character.
I don't know if this is any indication of how hard it will be to find, but this weekend I hunted down La Pucelle Tactics with the following results:
No copies at Media Play, Best Buy, and an EB Games. I finally found a single copy at another EB Games.
So, I highly recommend getting this game sooner rather than later if it is a title you are interested in...
The light is situated at the top of a hill in a very Irish section of the city. Apparently, kids in the area weren't too happy about green being on bottom, and used to throw rocks at the light, requiring frequent replacement. So, the city finally decided to place a light with green on top.
I think if you replace "difficult" with "Time-consuming" you hit the nail on the head for SOE. The rewards in their games don't go to the most skilled, but rather those that spend the most time seeking them. Which certainly makes sense for their business model.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, there was an album I was going to buy, but I borrowed it from a friend and listened to it until I was sick of it, then gave it back. That deprived the record company of money. Am I a thief? Only in the minds of RIAA execs, where they feel sales and profits are guranteed to them by law. I am sure they would love to implant chips into everyone's brains where you can only hear their music if you pay a fee. On second thought, that might not be so bad - it'll prevent us from hearing oh-so-much-crap. In the real world, however, you neither deprived anyone of their property (without their consent) nor made a copy of material without being the copyright holder.
>Will it create world peace?
Ah, here you need to think, "out-side-the-box," as my dear managing friends with their minds stuck in dreams of the '90s would say.
You see, during his trip, he is surely to begin to drown. At this point, a beautiful mermaid will rescue him, and take him to a wonderous city under the sea. Here, not only will he learn true love and the meaning of Christmas, but he will also learn the secret to world peace.
Having also learned the secret ways of the merfolk mystics, he will emerge from the depths and proceed to bring a wave of peace and prosperity to the entire world. The fact that he brings this about through a massive invading merfolk army is a minor detail, one that will surely be forgotten in the history books, where children of the future shall learn how wonderous it is to be alive in a world of peace.
Your post has me thinking about innovative and fun games for the consoles. I own all three consoles as well. As it turns out, I have about the same number of games for the Ps2 and GC. I have far fewer for the XBox. I am not into Sports games, or FPSs ... I am not into the type of games that appeal to the mass market of 16 year old boys. (Nothing wrong with liking these games, just not my thing).
...
Because of this, it turns out that GC, while having the smallest library, has the highest ration of fun/crap games. PS2 has such a massive library that while there are tons of games I have no interest in, it still has ones that interest me - ICO, Katamari Damacy, Disgaea, etc.
XBox, however, is very lacking in the types of games I like. And ones it has like KOTOR I can get for cheaper (and more feature-rich) on the PC by just waiting
This is why I laugh at the doom-n-gloom predictions people have for Nintendo. The fact is, they fill a niche remarkably well that a) won't be going away and b) is not serviced very well by the other two. The XBox and Ps2 compete directly for that 16 year old male market. It is certainly the larger market, and thus Nintendo won't ever be number 1. But, there are still enough people out there that a) don't try to project an image through the games they play (look at me, I can play games with blood, wheee!), b) don't buy a new game every week, c) are concerned with entertainment from their games above all else.
Nintendo can be, and has been, profitable by catering to this market.
Actually, better player=higher difficulty=more exercise. Try any song on Heavy. Trust me, you will mover more than you ever did on light ^_^
As successful as Naruto is as a kids show in Japan (not quite Pokemon levels, but on the level of Inu Yasha), I'd say that the makers would be quite motivated to license it in North America.
In fact, having had an opportunity to speak with a manager for overseas liscensing at Studio Pierrot (the studio that creates Naruto), one of the major reasons for the long wait is Naruto is such a hot property they wanted to make sure they got as good a deal as they could, for as much money as they could, including TV airing in addition to DVD release. Naruto is, and has been for a while, a given for release over here.
Now, I do believe there are shows, one can still argue, where fansubs help with demand. But these are primarily magical girl or adult dramas, not shows that appeal to the 12 - 16 year old boy crowd ^_^
Yep, it is the literal translation, from English straight to English, of an English title for an English book by an English speaking author. Those wacky Japanese.
You will have a tough time getting an unbiased view of one or the other. It is amazing how rabid MMORPG fanbois are. The mentality of "if you don't like/hate what I like/hate, then you are stoopid!" is just silly.
All that said, I can say I've played both (WoW for 2 months in beta EQ2 for 3 weeks live). Both are very good games, and I don't really think you can go wrong with either. Honestly, I can't really say that one is better than the other.
Both have very robust and intriguing quests systems. They are in worlds with detailed histories and stories you can get involved in (assuming you actually read the quests). You can spend your whole time doing quests and never have to look at the xp bar, feeling the grind (unless your only concern is levelling, in which case any RPG will be a grind).
My impression is that EQ2 has more complicated gameplay. So, it has a steeper learning curve, but more depth. This can be good or bad, depending on what you like.
Graphics on both are great, and still look great with settings turned way down for old systems. Some people like one style vs another, but they both work for me.
EQ2 is more group oriented than WoW, so if you want to play solo, WoW would be a better choice.
WoW has PvP, EQ2 does not. Personally, I do not like MMORPG PvP and like to see no development effort wasted on it, but if it is important to you, that could push you to WoW.
I chose EQ2 because: I know several people playing it and I am more familiar with the Norrath world so it is more immersive for me. If this weren't the case, I'd probably have tossed a coin to decide which to play ^_^
Actually, EQ2 is not intended to appeal to the EQ addict. It is meant to appeal to people who have left EQ because it did not appeal to them. Whether it succeeds at appealing to these people or not remains to be seen, but so far people who have gone into EQ2 thinking it is a shiny new version of EQ have been throughouly surprised (and either please or disappointed, depending on what they wre hoping for).
I don't know if this is any indication of how hard it will be to find, but this weekend I hunted down La Pucelle Tactics with the following results: No copies at Media Play, Best Buy, and an EB Games. I finally found a single copy at another EB Games. So, I highly recommend getting this game sooner rather than later if it is a title you are interested in ...
Syracuse, in fact, is where this is.
The legend behind the light is:
The light is situated at the top of a hill in a very Irish section of the city. Apparently, kids in the area weren't too happy about green being on bottom, and used to throw rocks at the light, requiring frequent replacement. So, the city finally decided to place a light with green on top.
The real reason for this light? Who knows *shrug*
I think if you replace "difficult" with "Time-consuming" you hit the nail on the head for SOE. The rewards in their games don't go to the most skilled, but rather those that spend the most time seeking them. Which certainly makes sense for their business model.