When I was a sophmore in college I sent out resumes to some local companies and got a few interviews. I showed up with some demo stuff I had worked on in my spare time, spoke with everyone there about why I wanted the job, and they gave me a job offer. I worked there all through school and got hired immediately after my graduation.
There's no real secret to it - Be smart, work hard, apply yourself, and I'm sure it'll all work out.
There was a/. story a while back requesting comments to answer the question: "Why do you still use Windows?". I posted that I still use Windows because Visual Studio is the best IDE I have ever worked with, and since a huge amount of my time is spent programming, then Windows is the best platform for me.
The damn thing got modded +5 Funny. Some people just refuse to believe that Microsoft makes good products I guess.
Marge: You know, Homey, the E doesn't work on that typewriter.
Homer: We don't need no stinkin' E! "Restaurant Review". No. "Eatery Evaluation". No. Ah! "Food Box"! "Go or no go, by Homer...". No. "Earl...". No. "Bill Simpson"!
I'm not sure why this discussion is laptop specific - It seems as if the real question is asking when we should buy our kids computers. The excuse mentioned in the article (not practical to share a desktop with the family) is not relevant in 90% of cases.
My parents bought me a computer when I asked for one so that I could learn how to program. Worked out well in the long run.
Working in game development can be frusterating this way. The limiting factor for EVERY game is ALWAYS time. Unless you're id Software and can say "It's done when it's done", time is your #1 enemy. It's possible that Zelda is/was in a situation comparable to Id, but I think they really needed to get that game done when they did in order to try to move some Gamecubes.
In the past there have been countless things that I would have loved to have coded into game X but just didn't have time. From the publisher's point of view: Adding this neat little feature isn't going to sell any more copies, so just fix these crash bugs and let's ship it. The bigger the publisher the worse you see this. Sad but true.
Also I agree that Windwaker was boring. It got cut a lot of slack just because it was a Zelda game. Anytime I actually put down the controller to wait for my guy to get where he's going in a game is a bad sign. The dungeons were cool in Windwaker, but the rest of the game was dull.
All the little sidequests I found resulted in more and more rupees. My bag was always maxed out and I had no idea what to spend them on anyways. Wow a 500 rupee reward! Sounds great right? Well I get 0 of those because my bag is already full.
The actual dungeons were fun enough, I really wish there were more of them. The sailing was incredibly tedious and the triforce quest was the most tedious task I've had in a game for quite some while.
Hopefully Twilight Princess is more focused than Windwaker was.
How could Napster not make the top 10? I realize that it's still around and providing some sort of service, but Napster was HUGE for a while.
I was in high school when it hit big time (before the hammer came down when you could get any song you wanted in like 30 seconds) and it got EVERYONE using their computer: jocks, cheerleaders, etc.
One of my favorite things that they changed from BF1942 is that after being killed you no longer get a view of where the fatal bullet came from.
It's much more satifying to play as a sniper now that the game doesn't give away your hiding spot everytime you successfully take someone down.
Also the spawn times of the vehicles should scale based on how many players are on the map. On maps with fewer players there are far too many vehicles to go around.
However, if the program detects an "Authentic AMD" microprocessor, it executes a different code path that will degrade the program's performance or cause it to crash.
If that statement is true, wouldn't there be programs all over that ran fine on Intel but crashed on AMD? Maybe there are and I haven't noticed? Maybe not many people use Intel compilers?
That's a really good question. We know enough about gravity to be able to write equations that predict how it behaves in most situations, but we still don't really have any clue what it is.
Google's Site Ranking algorithms reveal how hard they are making it for spam sites to get listed (on Google). This information will also make it easier for you to make sure that you get listed well in Google.
Won't this information now make it easier for spam sites to get listed?
I was faced with this choice recently. After my sophmore year of college I landed pretty much my dream job as a summer internship. Apparently I impressed them enough so that at the end of the summer they asked if I wanted to stay.
Pretty much the whole reason I went to college was in order to get a job like this, so it seemed as if I had what I wanted and it was time to quit school. Usually when I don't know what to do I ask the advice of people I respect. I asked my parents, some professors, and people at work. Almost every single one of them advised that I finish my degree first. Note that I did ask many people who were successfull despite not having a degree themselves. In fact, one of the best programmers I have ever met didn't even finish high school.
So I worked out a compromise where I worked two or three or four days a week in the office, working from home whenever else I could. It was a ridiculously busy two years for me, but in the end I walked away with not only a degree but also two years of real experience. Also, not every job will be nice enough to offer this type of flexibility.
Sometimes I look back and wish that I had dropped out when I had the chance, but most of the time I think that I made the right move.
They don't want to make YOU excited about a console - They wanted to make the millions of MTV babies with all of their disposible income excited. These execs are just saying exactly what they need to say to make a gazillion dollars for their respective companies. This happens in every industry, I'm not sure why it's a surprise that it's happening to video games.
Here's a cool webpage of a group that did something similar. Their baloon made it up to about 94,000 ft. The site has a cool writeup with pictures and such of their project.
So then go play Dragon Warrior 7 or Morrowind or a game that let's you mess around for 100 hours.
I guess I don't see your point. If you're disappointed that the game isn't long enough, there are plenty of games that are longer. Personally I think that games becoming shorter is a blessing. Thinking back about the games I've played in the past few years, one thing that most of them have in common is that they are too long-winded. It's a good thing for games to be tighter and more 'efficient'.
Also, I spent roughly the same amount of time playing through Xenosaga as I did FFX.
Slashdot Mirror
There's no real secret to it - Be smart, work hard, apply yourself, and I'm sure it'll all work out.
The damn thing got modded +5 Funny. Some people just refuse to believe that Microsoft makes good products I guess.
Marge: You know, Homey, the E doesn't work on that typewriter.
Homer: We don't need no stinkin' E! "Restaurant Review". No. "Eatery Evaluation". No. Ah! "Food Box"! "Go or no go, by Homer...". No. "Earl...". No. "Bill Simpson"!
Even after reading the article I have absolutely no idea why they are objecting to this - It makes no sense at all to me. What's the problem here?
My parents bought me a computer when I asked for one so that I could learn how to program. Worked out well in the long run.
In the past there have been countless things that I would have loved to have coded into game X but just didn't have time. From the publisher's point of view: Adding this neat little feature isn't going to sell any more copies, so just fix these crash bugs and let's ship it. The bigger the publisher the worse you see this. Sad but true.
Also I agree that Windwaker was boring. It got cut a lot of slack just because it was a Zelda game. Anytime I actually put down the controller to wait for my guy to get where he's going in a game is a bad sign. The dungeons were cool in Windwaker, but the rest of the game was dull.
All the little sidequests I found resulted in more and more rupees. My bag was always maxed out and I had no idea what to spend them on anyways. Wow a 500 rupee reward! Sounds great right? Well I get 0 of those because my bag is already full.
The actual dungeons were fun enough, I really wish there were more of them. The sailing was incredibly tedious and the triforce quest was the most tedious task I've had in a game for quite some while.
Hopefully Twilight Princess is more focused than Windwaker was.
5% of one year is about 438 hours of downtime/year or 18.25 days. That seems like WAY too much downtime.
I was in high school when it hit big time (before the hammer came down when you could get any song you wanted in like 30 seconds) and it got EVERYONE using their computer: jocks, cheerleaders, etc.
It's much more satifying to play as a sniper now that the game doesn't give away your hiding spot everytime you successfully take someone down.
Also the spawn times of the vehicles should scale based on how many players are on the map. On maps with fewer players there are far too many vehicles to go around.
If that statement is true, wouldn't there be programs all over that ran fine on Intel but crashed on AMD? Maybe there are and I haven't noticed? Maybe not many people use Intel compilers?
a few reasons.
You don't, but 'real world game developers who have had first hand experience writing code for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hardware' might.
That's a really good question. We know enough about gravity to be able to write equations that predict how it behaves in most situations, but we still don't really have any clue what it is.
Offtopic I know..
Imagine the awesome bombs and stuff we could build.
Won't this information now make it easier for spam sites to get listed?
Pretty much the whole reason I went to college was in order to get a job like this, so it seemed as if I had what I wanted and it was time to quit school. Usually when I don't know what to do I ask the advice of people I respect. I asked my parents, some professors, and people at work. Almost every single one of them advised that I finish my degree first. Note that I did ask many people who were successfull despite not having a degree themselves. In fact, one of the best programmers I have ever met didn't even finish high school.
So I worked out a compromise where I worked two or three or four days a week in the office, working from home whenever else I could. It was a ridiculously busy two years for me, but in the end I walked away with not only a degree but also two years of real experience. Also, not every job will be nice enough to offer this type of flexibility.
Sometimes I look back and wish that I had dropped out when I had the chance, but most of the time I think that I made the right move.
Amy: Yes. STOP asking!
They don't want to make YOU excited about a console - They wanted to make the millions of MTV babies with all of their disposible income excited. These execs are just saying exactly what they need to say to make a gazillion dollars for their respective companies. This happens in every industry, I'm not sure why it's a surprise that it's happening to video games.
Here's a cool webpage of a group that did something similar. Their baloon made it up to about 94,000 ft. The site has a cool writeup with pictures and such of their project.
If people would just run a secure OS like Linux or Windows, they wouldn't be hit with attacks like this. When will people learn?
Maybe I should have known that but I didn't..
It's actually more like: "I know you are, but what am I?"
We need a moderation for "no basis in reality".
I guess I don't see your point. If you're disappointed that the game isn't long enough, there are plenty of games that are longer. Personally I think that games becoming shorter is a blessing. Thinking back about the games I've played in the past few years, one thing that most of them have in common is that they are too long-winded. It's a good thing for games to be tighter and more 'efficient'.
Also, I spent roughly the same amount of time playing through Xenosaga as I did FFX.
He just needs to digitally remaster himself, that's the key to the future right there