"I wasn't aware of the crappy things done to Skyrim because of the console development being primary, other than the menu/inventory system."
The combat in skyrim is horrible compared to what we had ages ago. It's been 20 years since such combat styles have existed and we haven't moved on. That's the real problem. If you haven't played older games you need to because your lack of gaming history is really showing. The way the character controls and the combat animations are downright amateur and tacky compared to what is possible on a PC.
Problem is publishers and developers know that ALL gamers are idiots generally speaking. If you do not believe this consider steam and online DRM that you find gamers defending time and time again. You can go see the gabe newell lovefest on reddit if you disbelieve this.
Lets face it here also - because console gamers have lower standards then PC gamers they will buy anything even if it sucks. Where as PC gamers (generally speaking) trend towards not putting up with bullshit and hence lower sales.
The worst part about all of this, is just sheer lazyness, entitlement and bad management of game developers by both developers themselves and publishers. Publishers have single handedly ruined PC gaming by being cheap and unwilling to commit money to make the PC version a proper PC version instead of just a lazy farmed out port.
Just look at what square did with Deus Ex: Human revolution, they out-sourced out the boss fights and that's why they feel so forced and out of place. Modern game companies just cover up shit with bling and if it sells they won't mend their ways. Game developers have figured out the secret to sales success - stuff hollywood movie in a game (call of duty , mass effect, and now skyrim) and loads of people will buy your dumbed down game.
High fidelity attracted the wrong kind of audience - people who don't really like VIDEO GAMES to gaming. They typically want story, characterization and all sorts of other fancy bling instead of - you know satisifying and deep gameplay. When I read game dev articles on 'making characters more emotional' I want to puke. How about exciting and satisfying combat and things to do in the world first guys? lol.
Once the rules themselves are for sale, you have meta economics, and not just regular economics.
This is just nerd bullshit and denial of reality, human beings do not work like economists and theorists think they do. It's not about inventing the perfect legal or theoretical ideas, it's about WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS after you make such a system because it is populated by mere human beings. I wish economists and people like yourself would model actual human behavior under your chosen ruleset empirically and then look at the results after n-generations to see what happens.
Evidence based... not the fantasies you're espousing. Capitalism and markets as economists would have them are - utopian. People are always looking to find ways to game the system, especially the rich and powerful who can buy laws through lobbying which cannot be effectively checked (as we've seen).
"The only reminder should bethat processors designs for different types of math can do that math faster than processors designed for other types of math."
... it's all about how technology is used rather then using it as a bandaid or distraction. There are places in schools where technology makes sense.
The real issue as always comes down to the staff and the students, unwilling uneducated/lazy staff or lazy/disinterested students are the real issues. No amount of technology or NO technology is going to change what is fundamentally a problem of understanding human beings strengths and weaknesses and tracking these people to curriculum appropriate to their abilities and interests.
No just look at software - YOU NEVER OWN THE SOURCE CODE. Like wtf, this prevents study, updating and modification of old programs. It's fucking sick the con-artistry the software industry has been able to perpetrate under the con-artist legal concept called "licensing".
"IP abolition isn't necessarily any better than what we have now, what we need is real meaningful reform to the system."
The system will just keep pushing back until it gets what it wants back again, you are painfully naive. Just look at copyright extensions. No one was there to stop it, no one gives a shit. We will 'never fix it' because monied interests are always trying to game the fucking system. It's like you've learned nothing from the giant bank bailouts (because they can game system).
You're dealing with an opponent who has bottom resources and infinite energy the public simply can't expect to keep expending energy fighting every special interest.
"I know we're often taught that the "Killer App" is the necessary component"
When I mean "killer app" I should have also said "reason to want to upgrade" i.e. it adds features that are significant that makes my life easier. i.e. a shit tonne of automation, advances in AI managed internet downloads, etc. They have really lost the vision and are making what might be called "software used by hand" instead of creating software that does a fuck tonne of automation, automating all sorts of common tasks instead of us having to do things 'by hand'. I often have to do lots of manual tasks with software that could be automated via AI that would add value to my life that is not currently done by any company.
I really mean it when I say - Microsoft lacks visionaries. There's lots of interesting stuff that could be done if small developers like these guys (http://www.tag2find.com/), had money and leadership by combing the landscape for lots of small little advancements and ideas and creating new innovative ways that software adds values to peoples lives (saving time, headaches, etc). People will pay good money to save time and the whole purpose of computer should be AUTOMATION and to have it be a servant to add value to our lives.
"is an insult to any citizen who actually THINKS about social issues and politics."
The vast majority of humanity doesn't have the intelligence to think about social issues and politics, also EVERYONE should see the following video. Our minds do not work like the enlightenment thought they did, the idea that 'we can think our way to right conclusions given the evidence' is scientifically false, we are much worse at reasoning then the enlightenment was aware of.
"Not understanding numbers is as harmful as not being able to read."
Except human mathematical ability is not understood much at all, and genetics has a lot to due with whether one is capable / interested in math or not, things you struggle with you usually get negative emotional feedback and it's usually really stressful, having to struggle and experience stress naturally leads to kids checking out of math. You should all see the following:
"I'm not a big fan of commenting code. I prefer code possessing such clarity that it is self-commenting."
This is idiocy, and it's based on a false understanding of how the human mind works. The enlightenment assumed that human reasoning was rational, literal, and easy, it's not.
... games in 64-bit OS is one of the things that holds me back. The main reason many stick with XP is purely not wanting to have to deal with application compatability. XP runs damn near everything/w DOSbox, there is no need for more 'upgrade headaches' that new OS's usually bring.
... it's innovative edge, it needs to see the operating system as not something that users care about - users care about KILLER APPS. If microsoft would start including KILLER APPS with their new versions of windows they could sell operating systems.
I've often thought the way information and OLE has worked really needs a fucking revolution but they don't seem to have any imagination of what *computers could be* anymore, they are stuck in their engineer culture and have no visionaries. I've had tonnes of ideas over the years about user interfaces that I'd love to throw sick cash (that MS has) behind, but I doubt the knuckledraggers at MS would be able to see the merit. They have no real passion for making peoples lives better anymore IMHO.
Look at their behavior, you don't shoot PEACEFUL UNARMED CIVILIANS and put them in the fucking hospital. The actions of police tell us just what the elite think of occupy.
Obama is afraid of the media, look at how fucked up places like foxnews have made american politics. The fact that obama is so afraid of the media is really a problem.
"How can game publishers not understand this after all these years?"
Human beings are predators, they want domination and control. I bet we'll see trusted computed rear it's ugly head in some form soon now that walled gardens have been made popular by apple and company.
Slashdot Mirror
"I wasn't aware of the crappy things done to Skyrim because of the console development being primary, other than the menu/inventory system."
The combat in skyrim is horrible compared to what we had ages ago. It's been 20 years since such combat styles have existed and we haven't moved on. That's the real problem. If you haven't played older games you need to because your lack of gaming history is really showing. The way the character controls and the combat animations are downright amateur and tacky compared to what is possible on a PC.
Problem is publishers and developers know that ALL gamers are idiots generally speaking. If you do not believe this consider steam and online DRM that you find gamers defending time and time again. You can go see the gabe newell lovefest on reddit if you disbelieve this.
Lets face it here also - because console gamers have lower standards then PC gamers they will buy anything even if it sucks. Where as PC gamers (generally speaking) trend towards not putting up with bullshit and hence lower sales.
The worst part about all of this, is just sheer lazyness, entitlement and bad management of game developers by both developers themselves and publishers. Publishers have single handedly ruined PC gaming by being cheap and unwilling to commit money to make the PC version a proper PC version instead of just a lazy farmed out port.
Just look at what square did with Deus Ex: Human revolution, they out-sourced out the boss fights and that's why they feel so forced and out of place. Modern game companies just cover up shit with bling and if it sells they won't mend their ways. Game developers have figured out the secret to sales success - stuff hollywood movie in a game (call of duty , mass effect, and now skyrim) and loads of people will buy your dumbed down game.
High fidelity attracted the wrong kind of audience - people who don't really like VIDEO GAMES to gaming. They typically want story, characterization and all sorts of other fancy bling instead of - you know satisifying and deep gameplay. When I read game dev articles on 'making characters more emotional' I want to puke. How about exciting and satisfying combat and things to do in the world first guys? lol.
Economics is defined by rules.
Once the rules themselves are for sale, you have meta economics, and not just regular economics.
This is just nerd bullshit and denial of reality, human beings do not work like economists and theorists think they do. It's not about inventing the perfect legal or theoretical ideas, it's about WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS after you make such a system because it is populated by mere human beings. I wish economists and people like yourself would model actual human behavior under your chosen ruleset empirically and then look at the results after n-generations to see what happens.
Evidence based... not the fantasies you're espousing. Capitalism and markets as economists would have them are - utopian. People are always looking to find ways to game the system, especially the rich and powerful who can buy laws through lobbying which cannot be effectively checked (as we've seen).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahl's_law
"The only reminder should bethat processors designs for different types of math can do that math faster than processors designed for other types of math."
Not all kinds of math can be parallelized.
... is that the human mind does not literally perceive the world, see here:
http://bit.ly/dYaWUc
... it scale and can you produce it cheaply?
... seems to contradict his argument. The game is free to play but there are aspects of the game that are enhanced if you pay.
... it's all about how technology is used rather then using it as a bandaid or distraction. There are places in schools where technology makes sense.
The real issue as always comes down to the staff and the students, unwilling uneducated/lazy staff or lazy/disinterested students are the real issues. No amount of technology or NO technology is going to change what is fundamentally a problem of understanding human beings strengths and weaknesses and tracking these people to curriculum appropriate to their abilities and interests.
"ave shifted the terms of that bargain some."
No just look at software - YOU NEVER OWN THE SOURCE CODE. Like wtf, this prevents study, updating and modification of old programs. It's fucking sick the con-artistry the software industry has been able to perpetrate under the con-artist legal concept called "licensing".
"IP abolition isn't necessarily any better than what we have now, what we need is real meaningful reform to the system."
The system will just keep pushing back until it gets what it wants back again, you are painfully naive. Just look at copyright extensions. No one was there to stop it, no one gives a shit. We will 'never fix it' because monied interests are always trying to game the fucking system. It's like you've learned nothing from the giant bank bailouts (because they can game system).
http://dailybail.com/home/there-are-no-words-to-describe-the-following-part-ii.html
You're dealing with an opponent who has bottom resources and infinite energy the public simply can't expect to keep expending energy fighting every special interest.
"Whatever social value(s) the media industry was trying to impress upon us over the last 10 years have failed,"
Not quite, people willingly defend DRM and pay for DRM'd games. I'd say they are doing alright in some cases.
I should have mentioned I also have legacy hardware that has no drivers/support in X64 my bad and I don't feel like shelling out.
"I know we're often taught that the "Killer App" is the necessary component"
When I mean "killer app" I should have also said "reason to want to upgrade" i.e. it adds features that are significant that makes my life easier. i.e. a shit tonne of automation, advances in AI managed internet downloads, etc. They have really lost the vision and are making what might be called "software used by hand" instead of creating software that does a fuck tonne of automation, automating all sorts of common tasks instead of us having to do things 'by hand'. I often have to do lots of manual tasks with software that could be automated via AI that would add value to my life that is not currently done by any company.
I really mean it when I say - Microsoft lacks visionaries. There's lots of interesting stuff that could be done if small developers like these guys (http://www.tag2find.com/), had money and leadership by combing the landscape for lots of small little advancements and ideas and creating new innovative ways that software adds values to peoples lives (saving time, headaches, etc). People will pay good money to save time and the whole purpose of computer should be AUTOMATION and to have it be a servant to add value to our lives.
"is an insult to any citizen who actually THINKS about social issues and politics."
The vast majority of humanity doesn't have the intelligence to think about social issues and politics, also EVERYONE should see the following video. Our minds do not work like the enlightenment thought they did, the idea that 'we can think our way to right conclusions given the evidence' is scientifically false, we are much worse at reasoning then the enlightenment was aware of.
http://bit.ly/dYaWUc
"Not understanding numbers is as harmful as not being able to read."
Except human mathematical ability is not understood much at all, and genetics has a lot to due with whether one is capable / interested in math or not, things you struggle with you usually get negative emotional feedback and it's usually really stressful, having to struggle and experience stress naturally leads to kids checking out of math. You should all see the following:
The enlightenment was wrong about human reason:
http://bit.ly/dYaWUc
Daniel Tammet - Savant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbASOcqc1Ss
"I'm not a big fan of commenting code. I prefer code possessing such clarity that it is self-commenting."
This is idiocy, and it's based on a false understanding of how the human mind works. The enlightenment assumed that human reasoning was rational, literal, and easy, it's not.
http://bit.ly/dYaWUc
Code commenting, especially going beyond the trivial is damn necessary if you've ever worked on someone elses code on large projects.
... games in 64-bit OS is one of the things that holds me back. The main reason many stick with XP is purely not wanting to have to deal with application compatability. XP runs damn near everything /w DOSbox, there is no need for more 'upgrade headaches' that new OS's usually bring.
... it's innovative edge, it needs to see the operating system as not something that users care about - users care about KILLER APPS. If microsoft would start including KILLER APPS with their new versions of windows they could sell operating systems.
I've often thought the way information and OLE has worked really needs a fucking revolution but they don't seem to have any imagination of what *computers could be* anymore, they are stuck in their engineer culture and have no visionaries. I've had tonnes of ideas over the years about user interfaces that I'd love to throw sick cash (that MS has) behind, but I doubt the knuckledraggers at MS would be able to see the merit. They have no real passion for making peoples lives better anymore IMHO.
Look at their behavior, you don't shoot PEACEFUL UNARMED CIVILIANS and put them in the fucking hospital. The actions of police tell us just what the elite think of occupy.
If you use google or post on slashdot you are already using a CLI you just don't know it because of the wrapper.
" mean if the outcome is the same either way..."
Obama is afraid of the media, look at how fucked up places like foxnews have made american politics. The fact that obama is so afraid of the media is really a problem.
Yes because we all know no one ever got shot in the head @ occupy.
Iraq veteran seriously injured by police projectile is lucid and responding but brain swelling still a risk, say doctors
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/27/occupy-oakland-scott-olsen-surgery
Sen. Bernie Sanders:
Against corporate personhood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPQgjkTRRRI
Collapse of the middle class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq1zpHF0J04
"How can game publishers not understand this after all these years?"
Human beings are predators, they want domination and control. I bet we'll see trusted computed rear it's ugly head in some form soon now that walled gardens have been made popular by apple and company.