The Lord of the Rings board game that came out a while back was fairly decent. I played it with four players and it was very fun. Everyone plays as one of five Hobbits, and your goal (of course) is to throw the ring into Mt. Doom. It's a cooperative game that is actually fun. You all have to work together and actually play as a team, often giving up some of your valuable swag for the good of the team. There is a secondary board which shows how close Sauron is to you. When certain things happen in the game he moves a bit closer. If he touches you it's lights out.
Graphically, the game is gorgeous. The boards, cards, etc. are all extremely well done.
The rumor for the iPod mini was that it was going to hold fewer songs, be smaller, and be less expensive.
It certainly held fewer songs, and definitely was smaller, but it was still pretty expensive. Hopefully this one actually does have a lower price point.
I work as a programmer for a video game company. We don't work suicide hours unless it's a crunch period, we deathmatch after work a few times a week, and I completely love doing my job. I have fun just about every day I come into work. Top it all off with the fact that I get to do for a living what I've dreamed of doing since I was five years old and life is pretty good right about now.
I know this isn't how it is everywhere in the game industry. I've read the EA stuff and heard the horror stories. Our management takes quality of life issues extremely seriously, which probably makes us the exception rather than the rule, but with all of this recent coverage it seems as if people are finally stepping back to take a look at what is really happening in this industry. This business evolved very quickly, with lots of passionate people involved who were willing (and happy) to work suicide hours in order to get the game out of the door. The days of a couple of guys making Doom in their basement and pulling in millions is long gone.
Of course, coverage focuses on the negative and larely ignores the positive. I doubt there will ever be a slashdot story about how employees at game company X are working 40 hour/weeks and loving life. I just Hope that the lessons EA employees seem to be learning will be taken to heart by more than those people directly affected by it.
Of course, having a title that sells a ton of copies makes all of this stuff easier. Someone should tell that to the EA execs.
Id Software does this. Unfortunately, the sales have been dismal on Linux/Mac. There is very little incentive for companies to do this at this point in time.
... some people (mainly my parents) thought I spent too much time playing video games. Now I have a job as a video game programmer. Ha! Showed you Mom and Dad!
... the legendary game designer suggests that the future of learning is through playing. This is an exerpt from his game development "retirement" speach, and I think he makes a good point:
"If you really want to understand this concept, just watch two kittens at play. One kitten wanders off, following a bug. The other crouches low and folds his ears back, and creeps up on the other kitten until he's close enough, then he pounces on the kitten. The two kittens bite and claw and kick, and they roll around on the floor. We all laugh and say that kittens are so much fun, that they have nothing better to do all day than play - but we would be wrong.
These kittens are not wasting their time in idle entertainment. They are engaged in serious business. They are learning the skills of adult cathood. They are learning how to hunt. For what does an adult cat do when he sees prey? He crouches low, folds his ears back, and creeps up on the prey until he's close enough, then he pounces on the prey and bites and claws and kicks.
We don't see kittens lined up in neat rows as an old geezer of a cat stands a chalkboard lecturing about mouse anatomy and approach angles and attack vectors. That's not how they do it! They learn by doing, by playing."
Database problem! Vi beklager meget, men lige nu kæmper vores server med at følge med de mange forspørgsler. Tak for opmærksomheden. Vi håber at du vil besøge siden senere.
Gish is excellent. It's very fun, addictive, and quirky. You play as a ball of tar out to save your girlfriend.
It plays like your typical platform-puzzle game with two major things that stand out. The first is the excellent physics incorporated into the gameplay. The second is the fact that you are playing as a ball of tar. You can make yourself sticky, slippery, heavy, and any combination of these things in order to navigate the cleverly designed levels.
There is a demo available here. If you like it, definitely buy the full version and it will be well worth your $20.
... avoids all personal contact. Doesn't have a phone, whenever someone comes to the door he gets pissed at them and makes them leave. He spends all day sleeping and reading books in his basement. All night, every night, he looks through his telescope. One night he actually got abducted by aliens! How cool is that?
I should find a girl and have a child. I wonder if the alien abduction messed with his DNA.
Id decided to go ahead and take care of the fans who have waited years for this game and get the full thing out there as quickly as possible. The people who aren't sure if they want to buy it or not can wait, I guess.
When I put it like that it sounds like bad business.
Ico is one of the few third-person games that I've ever played where the camera is actually an asset and not a liability. The way the camera panned and zoomed as you ran around the map was totally cinematic.
I also completely agree with the praise this game recieves. For me it ranks up there with Valkyrie Profile as one of the most underrated games I've played.
Slashdot Mirror
As far as I can tell from the original article, the numbers generated for video game revenue do not include rentals either.
I hope this movie has Hellspawn and a Space Marine..
I agree that it was an amazing feat, but SpaceshipOne wasn't really a "breakthrough". It's something we've already done several times before.
Graphically, the game is gorgeous. The boards, cards, etc. are all extremely well done.
It certainly held fewer songs, and definitely was smaller, but it was still pretty expensive. Hopefully this one actually does have a lower price point.
What do you mean? We're exploring Iraq.
If you're going to put a FPS in there it MUST be Doom. There is no question about it.
I know this isn't how it is everywhere in the game industry. I've read the EA stuff and heard the horror stories. Our management takes quality of life issues extremely seriously, which probably makes us the exception rather than the rule, but with all of this recent coverage it seems as if people are finally stepping back to take a look at what is really happening in this industry. This business evolved very quickly, with lots of passionate people involved who were willing (and happy) to work suicide hours in order to get the game out of the door. The days of a couple of guys making Doom in their basement and pulling in millions is long gone.
Of course, coverage focuses on the negative and larely ignores the positive. I doubt there will ever be a slashdot story about how employees at game company X are working 40 hour/weeks and loving life. I just Hope that the lessons EA employees seem to be learning will be taken to heart by more than those people directly affected by it.
Of course, having a title that sells a ton of copies makes all of this stuff easier. Someone should tell that to the EA execs.
Id Software does this. Unfortunately, the sales have been dismal on Linux/Mac. There is very little incentive for companies to do this at this point in time.
At E3, Microsoft shows a new product, XNA, which is a Windows/XBox/Mobile Device game development platform and will be used for development on XBox 2.
"If you really want to understand this concept, just watch two kittens at play. One kitten wanders off, following a bug. The other crouches low and folds his ears back, and creeps up on the other kitten until he's close enough, then he pounces on the kitten. The two kittens bite and claw and kick, and they roll around on the floor. We all laugh and say that kittens are so much fun, that they have nothing better to do all day than play - but we would be wrong.
These kittens are not wasting their time in idle entertainment. They are engaged in serious business. They are learning the skills of adult cathood. They are learning how to hunt. For what does an adult cat do when he sees prey? He crouches low, folds his ears back, and creeps up on the prey until he's close enough, then he pounces on the prey and bites and claws and kicks.
We don't see kittens lined up in neat rows as an old geezer of a cat stands a chalkboard lecturing about mouse anatomy and approach angles and attack vectors. That's not how they do it! They learn by doing, by playing."
Mein lieben!
"Evil will always TRIUMPH, because Good is DUMB." - Dark Helmet
It plays like your typical platform-puzzle game with two major things that stand out. The first is the excellent physics incorporated into the gameplay. The second is the fact that you are playing as a ball of tar. You can make yourself sticky, slippery, heavy, and any combination of these things in order to navigate the cleverly designed levels.
There is a demo available here. If you like it, definitely buy the full version and it will be well worth your $20.
I should find a girl and have a child. I wonder if the alien abduction messed with his DNA.
Eh?
... we get the chance to shoot an Ewok in the face.
I don't think there is any question about it. It can only be attributable to human error.
Id decided to go ahead and take care of the fans who have waited years for this game and get the full thing out there as quickly as possible. The people who aren't sure if they want to buy it or not can wait, I guess.
When I put it like that it sounds like bad business.
156 hours? Maybe someone should have tossed out that response, considering there are only 7 * 24 = 168 hours in a week. Seems impossible to me.
I also completely agree with the praise this game recieves. For me it ranks up there with Valkyrie Profile as one of the most underrated games I've played.
Ooompa!
John Carmack posted here that the Quake 3 source would be released by the end of the year.
In all seriousness, it's service pack TWO!!
Hey buddy, two is an even number, not an odd one.