" > What does it do that I can't do with SVG, canvas, and other existing standards?
Run on 95% of personal computers?"
That's funny since it currently runs on around 0% of personal computers? Or are you just ASSUMING that everyone will automatically switch to Vista when it comes out? Good luck with that...
I could write pages, on this but I'll try to keep it brief...
Cinematics are killing gameplay in many games... not all, something like an RPG, or a graphic adventure should have gobs of them, but I shouldn't have to sit through 5 minutes of cinematics before I start running and jumping in a Sonic or Mario type game... Cinematics and story in general are great, but they should be used in moderation when the story is not the main focus of the game.
Another issue is that cinematics can take gamers out of the game, and kill that adrenaline rush they had going. Making them short and sweet, and always using in-game graphics whenever possible is the best way to remedy this. Sure, those hyper-realistic pre-rendered cinematics are pretty and all, but it reminds you subconciously that this is seperate from the rest of the game.
Another big gripe I have for cinematics is that developers want you to watch these movies, but they don't give you a decent control mechanism like you have for DVDs and such. Whenever you're watching a cinematic you should always be able to hit start/pause and be able to replay or skip them.
It's kind of sad people think of "cost savings" as one of the biggest benefits... Freedom to use your software they way you want, the ability to fix things if you need to, the ability to make sure there's nothing hidden in the code that you may not want... These are things that should be topping that list, but I guess for a business where "the bottom line" is the most important thing for you, that's all we can really hope for:/
It's kinda funny that Vivendi-Universal is doing so poorly with that kind of userbase on one of the products they publish...perhaps they aren't getting a very big cut of the service profits or maybe none at all? If so...good for you Blizzard;D
5.5 million users * between 12.99-14.99 per month * 12 months = A shit-ton of money! And that's not even counting the box cost... sure there are development and maintenance costs...but I'm sure they don't even compare... WOW indeed.
Hmm...that's funny I was always pretty sure that word existed long before the "blogosphere"...and look even Mirriam Webster lists it: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/meme
As while I agree that a monopoly with any group is bad, I don't think that the municipal wireless is going to cause monopolies... some people (like businesses and gamers) will always want a dedicated hardline even if they can get "pretty good" wireless access for free. So all this means is that landline ISPs will have to start being a little more competitive with their speeds and rates...
Sorry to be the pessimist once again, but it's more like we the sheeple these days... When the majority of the voting public doesn't know what it wants, and just follows what it is told democracy falls apart.
As with pretty much any prediction, it's just a guess;) Nintendo generally saves it's top releases for right around June and October/November though...so, it's not a hard one to make.
Last time I checked, IP stands for internet protocol...lol. Although I assume you were talking about "Intellectual Property", which doesn't really exist because you can't own ideas like you would physical property, even though this is what it implies... You can copyright a story/universe/characters... you can trademark a title, name or likeness... but there's not a single law that ever once mentions the world "Intellectual Property"... We have to stop this meme!
Do remember you're talking about the same FCC who's probably gonna side with all these big ISPs against municipal wirless access... Don't you know all our politicians swing in the direction of the highest dollar these days?
Still it's ridiculous for the ISPs to think they can get even more money this way... If they all start going through with this horrible idea, then they better drop my connection fees down to like $20 a month or something. I could see maybe a double tiered service perhaps this way... like $20/month for the craptacular we charge your webservices too version and then the usual $50-60/month we all pay now for "unlimited" access. I mean, I'm with Comcast myself...but I'm sure they'll be following in the same steps as Bellsouth pretty soon too...all of them will. God I hate corporate America:(
Revolution will come out within a month of Thanksgiving weekend (aka black friday), and it will launch for $250 or less... probably right at 200 I'm thinking... It will sell fairly well, but people will be confused by it at first... They will probably just sell around a million units in the US at first to the few people who get it... of course, overtime I think it will explode, but the kind of people who spend "$800" on an Xbox 360...ie...the first wave buyers will be too obsessed with their PS3s and the Xbox360's second gen of titles.
As for the PS3 it may or may not go so well... There are 3 factors, cost, quantity and the quality of launch titles as comparable to the 360's games that are already out before launch... I can see it going for as high as $499.99, but if they go any higher it'll probably flop. If they can't get at least a million units to the US before Christmas that could be another major stumbling block (they couldn't handle the PS2 launch). And launch titles almost always suck, so they better be working their asses off to get some sort of must have title at launch. Another problem is that by the time PS3 comes out developers should finally be figuring out how to write a little parallel code for the 360, taking advantage of all 3 cores, and start really exploiting the power of the system, so PS3's graphical prowess may not be as apparent as people think it will be.
A few more here... Halo 3 probably won't be out by the launch of the PS3, but I can almost guarentee we'll see a few trailers, if not a demo even by then... Zelda: Twighlight Princess will probably be released around June and won't take advantage of the Revolution anymore than any other Gamecube games will...and the redesigned DS will probably come out right around the same time too.
# maybe the software is made on an academic institution and it wouldn't be fair to restrict it (as the GPL does)
Why wouldn't it be fair? If any companies wanted to use the code in a closed soure/proprietary application they could always pay the "academic institution" for a license to do so...
# maybe the author writes the software for fame not for fortune (mostly closely tied with previous point - academics tend to make software that will increase their academic status [hint: BSD unix] and maybe land them consultant jobs)
The GPL has nothing to do with fortune...lol. It's about making the software valuable to it's users and contributors by giving them freedom, not money. If they want money they can grab one of those "consultant jobs" you reffered too;)
# maybe the author is a really good guy
And releasing his code under the GPL makes him not?
# maybe the author is really optimistic and thinks that if the companies can use quality BSD-licensed code they wouldn't have to develop their own crappy versions (hint: MS)
As I recall it was never even released...so we don't know if it would have really failed or not. And also, I don't believe the indrema had a digital distribution service either;)
I seriously don't see why sex in games is such a big deal for everyone. I'd much rather have a kid see a couple nipples or something than learning the fine art of decapitation or headshots;)
Sex is a pretty ridiculous rating issue for all forms of media it would seem though. Whether it be games, movies, music or magazines... anything crossing the slightest line of sexuality is going to get a harder rating/restriction than something with all sorts of death and violence...it just doesn't make sense.
The idea was pretty simple... build a console with off the shelf PC parts (much like the Xbox) and then offer games through a download store...Why it's taken them this many years and still not have a mahcine for sale is beyond me.
Perhaps if someone came up with a little more open version of it, that ran Linux and let people create homebrews and sell them cheaply through the service it could actually do pretty well?
Seriously... when is Infinium gonna just give it up on the whole Phantom thing? It was cute for a while...but it's not even funny anymore. It really wasn't that bad an idea but perhaps actually releasing something would have been a better one;P
I worked at EB from 2000-2002 and learned quite a few things. Yes, the reselling of used games is there bread and butter, but it's not everything. The markup on accessories and guide books is ridiculous. Magazines are almost pure profit for them...and ESAs (extended warrenties) bring in a buttload too. Back when the PS2 launched I found out EB was only making around a dollar or two off each system they sold, so selling those warrenties with them was a huge deal. You could get written up for not selling enough of them, even though most customers didn't want them...
As digital distribution advances these kind of businesses don't stand to last much longer....well, I guess EB/Gamestop is the only major game focused retailer left now. Good riddance:P
That's an interesting point and all, but I could just as easily say would you rather sell 100 copies at $60 or 300 copies at $30;)
Generally in just about any given market you will almost always make more money selling for lower costs. Look at the film industry, they charge an average of $20 per DVD or $10 or less for theatre tickets, but it costs them much much more money to produce their films than it does to create a game.
With all the big industry people saying we need to expand the industry, this is one of the best ways I could see it happening.
Sadly the automakers are trying to dissuade people from buying used cars too... Haven't you seen all the ads in recent years for licensed/certified resellers?
Slashdot Mirror
Hmm... I won't be going to Texas any time soon I guess...
I wonder what "violent" video game developers based out of that state, like Id, think?
" > What does it do that I can't do with SVG, canvas, and other existing standards?
Run on 95% of personal computers?"
That's funny since it currently runs on around 0% of personal computers? Or are you just ASSUMING that everyone will automatically switch to Vista when it comes out? Good luck with that...
I could write pages, on this but I'll try to keep it brief...
Cinematics are killing gameplay in many games... not all, something like an RPG, or a graphic adventure should have gobs of them, but I shouldn't have to sit through 5 minutes of cinematics before I start running and jumping in a Sonic or Mario type game... Cinematics and story in general are great, but they should be used in moderation when the story is not the main focus of the game.
Another issue is that cinematics can take gamers out of the game, and kill that adrenaline rush they had going. Making them short and sweet, and always using in-game graphics whenever possible is the best way to remedy this. Sure, those hyper-realistic pre-rendered cinematics are pretty and all, but it reminds you subconciously that this is seperate from the rest of the game.
Another big gripe I have for cinematics is that developers want you to watch these movies, but they don't give you a decent control mechanism like you have for DVDs and such. Whenever you're watching a cinematic you should always be able to hit start/pause and be able to replay or skip them.
It's kind of sad people think of "cost savings" as one of the biggest benefits... Freedom to use your software they way you want, the ability to fix things if you need to, the ability to make sure there's nothing hidden in the code that you may not want... These are things that should be topping that list, but I guess for a business where "the bottom line" is the most important thing for you, that's all we can really hope for :/
It's kinda funny that Vivendi-Universal is doing so poorly with that kind of userbase on one of the products they publish...perhaps they aren't getting a very big cut of the service profits or maybe none at all? If so...good for you Blizzard ;D
5.5 million users * between 12.99-14.99 per month * 12 months = A shit-ton of money! And that's not even counting the box cost... sure there are development and maintenance costs...but I'm sure they don't even compare... WOW indeed.
Hmm...that's funny I was always pretty sure that word existed long before the "blogosphere"...and look even Mirriam Webster lists it: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/meme
As while I agree that a monopoly with any group is bad, I don't think that the municipal wireless is going to cause monopolies... some people (like businesses and gamers) will always want a dedicated hardline even if they can get "pretty good" wireless access for free. So all this means is that landline ISPs will have to start being a little more competitive with their speeds and rates...
Sorry to be the pessimist once again, but it's more like we the sheeple these days... When the majority of the voting public doesn't know what it wants, and just follows what it is told democracy falls apart.
So you think VOIP is the real reason behind all of this? That's an interesting thought... that's very possible now that I think about it.
As with pretty much any prediction, it's just a guess ;) Nintendo generally saves it's top releases for right around June and October/November though...so, it's not a hard one to make.
Just 'cause I could see them doing it, doesn't mean I agree with it either ;)
I think the original topic implied that the first, or at least one itteration of the series, was actually good though ;)
Last time I checked, IP stands for internet protocol...lol. Although I assume you were talking about "Intellectual Property", which doesn't really exist because you can't own ideas like you would physical property, even though this is what it implies... You can copyright a story/universe/characters... you can trademark a title, name or likeness... but there's not a single law that ever once mentions the world "Intellectual Property"... We have to stop this meme!
Do remember you're talking about the same FCC who's probably gonna side with all these big ISPs against municipal wirless access... Don't you know all our politicians swing in the direction of the highest dollar these days?
One Google to index them all...
Still it's ridiculous for the ISPs to think they can get even more money this way... If they all start going through with this horrible idea, then they better drop my connection fees down to like $20 a month or something. I could see maybe a double tiered service perhaps this way... like $20/month for the craptacular we charge your webservices too version and then the usual $50-60/month we all pay now for "unlimited" access. I mean, I'm with Comcast myself...but I'm sure they'll be following in the same steps as Bellsouth pretty soon too...all of them will. God I hate corporate America :(
Revolution will come out within a month of Thanksgiving weekend (aka black friday), and it will launch for $250 or less... probably right at 200 I'm thinking... It will sell fairly well, but people will be confused by it at first... They will probably just sell around a million units in the US at first to the few people who get it... of course, overtime I think it will explode, but the kind of people who spend "$800" on an Xbox 360...ie...the first wave buyers will be too obsessed with their PS3s and the Xbox360's second gen of titles.
As for the PS3 it may or may not go so well... There are 3 factors, cost, quantity and the quality of launch titles as comparable to the 360's games that are already out before launch... I can see it going for as high as $499.99, but if they go any higher it'll probably flop. If they can't get at least a million units to the US before Christmas that could be another major stumbling block (they couldn't handle the PS2 launch). And launch titles almost always suck, so they better be working their asses off to get some sort of must have title at launch. Another problem is that by the time PS3 comes out developers should finally be figuring out how to write a little parallel code for the 360, taking advantage of all 3 cores, and start really exploiting the power of the system, so PS3's graphical prowess may not be as apparent as people think it will be.
A few more here... Halo 3 probably won't be out by the launch of the PS3, but I can almost guarentee we'll see a few trailers, if not a demo even by then... Zelda: Twighlight Princess will probably be released around June and won't take advantage of the Revolution anymore than any other Gamecube games will...and the redesigned DS will probably come out right around the same time too.
Has everyone already forgotten how horribly the PS2 launch went??? lol
# maybe the software is made on an academic institution and it wouldn't be fair to restrict it (as the GPL does)
;)
Why wouldn't it be fair? If any companies wanted to use the code in a closed soure/proprietary application they could always pay the "academic institution" for a license to do so...
# maybe the author writes the software for fame not for fortune (mostly closely tied with previous point - academics tend to make software that will increase their academic status [hint: BSD unix] and maybe land them consultant jobs)
The GPL has nothing to do with fortune...lol. It's about making the software valuable to it's users and contributors by giving them freedom, not money. If they want money they can grab one of those "consultant jobs" you reffered too
# maybe the author is a really good guy
And releasing his code under the GPL makes him not?
# maybe the author is really optimistic and thinks that if the companies can use quality BSD-licensed code they wouldn't have to develop their own crappy versions (hint: MS)
This is the same reason we also have the LGPL
As I recall it was never even released...so we don't know if it would have really failed or not. And also, I don't believe the indrema had a digital distribution service either ;)
I seriously don't see why sex in games is such a big deal for everyone. I'd much rather have a kid see a couple nipples or something than learning the fine art of decapitation or headshots ;)
Sex is a pretty ridiculous rating issue for all forms of media it would seem though. Whether it be games, movies, music or magazines... anything crossing the slightest line of sexuality is going to get a harder rating/restriction than something with all sorts of death and violence...it just doesn't make sense.
The idea was pretty simple... build a console with off the shelf PC parts (much like the Xbox) and then offer games through a download store...Why it's taken them this many years and still not have a mahcine for sale is beyond me.
Perhaps if someone came up with a little more open version of it, that ran Linux and let people create homebrews and sell them cheaply through the service it could actually do pretty well?
Seriously... when is Infinium gonna just give it up on the whole Phantom thing? It was cute for a while...but it's not even funny anymore. It really wasn't that bad an idea but perhaps actually releasing something would have been a better one ;P
I worked at EB from 2000-2002 and learned quite a few things. Yes, the reselling of used games is there bread and butter, but it's not everything. The markup on accessories and guide books is ridiculous. Magazines are almost pure profit for them...and ESAs (extended warrenties) bring in a buttload too. Back when the PS2 launched I found out EB was only making around a dollar or two off each system they sold, so selling those warrenties with them was a huge deal. You could get written up for not selling enough of them, even though most customers didn't want them...
:P
As digital distribution advances these kind of businesses don't stand to last much longer....well, I guess EB/Gamestop is the only major game focused retailer left now. Good riddance
That's an interesting point and all, but I could just as easily say would you rather sell 100 copies at $60 or 300 copies at $30 ;)
Generally in just about any given market you will almost always make more money selling for lower costs. Look at the film industry, they charge an average of $20 per DVD or $10 or less for theatre tickets, but it costs them much much more money to produce their films than it does to create a game.
With all the big industry people saying we need to expand the industry, this is one of the best ways I could see it happening.
Sadly the automakers are trying to dissuade people from buying used cars too... Haven't you seen all the ads in recent years for licensed/certified resellers?