I don't think this can be attributed to *just* the MMORPGs, a lot of games that have extended multiplayer lives (as many should) can stem the flow of games that one person goes through in a year. Many people who play Counter-Strike or Battlefield 2 for example often don't play that many games at the same time, and we all know about the cases of gamers who have played nothing but CS since they got it.
I think it is less a problem with MMORPGS, but more a feature of the extended life of some games nowdays thanks to internet multiplayer, in which case, can we really see it as a problem?
Good to finally see some common sense prevail. It's the people who complain about videogames nowdays that are the problem, they are too busy finding reasons for why their kids are naughty/messed up to bother actually being a proper parent to them. What parent honestly let's their children play GTA, and then has the ordacity to complain that it is too violent. Here's a tip for them all, the kid's can't buy the games themselves, they have to have come from somewhere... and it's usually the parents. It's a sad, sad day when some people expect others to look after their children, and it seems like this trend is spreading with the current news over the state of Myspace and the lawsuit.
It's good to see people thinking outside of the box with what is available with Source, due to the market domination of CS:S and Day of Defeat it seemed as if that engine was doomed to only seeing mods based on that kind of FPS multiplay. It seems like most of the mods since those two gained popularity have been very similar except for a number which have become well recognised for their own achievements, hopefully these two can live up to the growing market in the mod community for things that are different (shown in the popularity of Sven Co-Op, Science and Industry and Garry's Mod) and become successful. I, for one, will give them a try with an open mind.
Seems like Amazon now want to assert the power they have over others, I guess we can only hope that one-click ordering is ruled as being something they can't have patented as it is like trying to patent online shopping itself. It's also quite a shame that nothing has come of the review of the patent (posted on Slashdot May 19th). Seems like Amazon want to get rid of free enterprise by taking out pieces of their rivals. I hope they get slapped down.
No real suprise here, it's been coming for a long time. With so many people thinking they will never be seen on the net and that only a small amount of people can reach their personal pages, smart employers will google around for them and find out a lot more about the person than they need to know and you can't blame them, that way they will find the best candidate for the job no matter what CV they are presented with or how many qualifications you have.
It may be a harsh way to do things, and some may argue that work should stay work and personal life should be private, but if you compromise yourself publically on the web - expect to reap what you sow.
It's a shame, but I think they should really leave the Duke Nukem brand alone now, they have done almost irrepairable damage with DNF and it will take a lot of time for consumers to stop seeing the developers and the series as a franchise as a joke. Never mind the motive for ripping the game to shreds critically once it comes out due to the massive waiting time. It's a shame to see such a promising title go down, but they have done it too wrong. One of the major lessons for future game studios?
They should think about making one of these for internet addiction too. Think I'm joking? try going a week without going online, or even visiting slashdot for that matter. It has become integral to our lives, but to a point where people can spend all day surfing instead of getting sunlight or exercise. Not that I'm complaining, it suits me just fine.
Somehow I doubt it will create a rival to the internet, but to see the telecoms companies finally upgrading the basic abilities of the phone is good, they have been complacent in the past and they were risking the whole market share of the phone (after the proliferation of mobiles and services such as Skype). Hopefully they will keep up this creativity and be rewarded for it by the consumers.
I can't really see either of them learning much from each other, both sides are facing major issues at the moment (mainly brought on by themselves) which result in the market being unhappy with what is being produced. Maybe hollywood can learn from the games industry to not blame poor sales figures on piracy rather than the low-grade movies they are churning out by the truckload. At least that would be one positive step.
I think one of the main reasons this will never happen is that it does not involve any physical exertion, it's the new equivalent to a game of chess or a card game and it will only ever reside in it's own leagues. Which is arguably where it should stay, some things have their place and to be honest, the olympics is definitely not the place that gaming should be celebrated as a sport.
This was no real suprise, and it dates back to the frequently mentioned Betamax scenario. Basically, at the end of the day, consumers want one format they can use to buy something and use it everywhere, which is why DVD is so popular (TV,PC,PS2,XBOX etc), when you create media that is specific to your hardware, you are immeadiately locking out a huge share of the market and you are only leading your product to a very likely doom.
It could have been so much different.
I can see his line of thought, why would they need his DNA when his crime didn't involve anything that would require him to be traced via DNA. Seems like they need samples of his IP more;).
On a more serious note, it is worrying to see a trend in the creation of nation-wide databases of DNA, although it could be argued that they are very effective in tracing criminals, it also goes against some of the basic freedoms that we enjoy in living in such a country.
It's a shame that some of the biggest influences who were lobbying against it from inside the adult industry were domain owners who did not want to lose their most valuable.com assets. That's the problem with business being done over the internet, it seems as if there is no real loyalty to others in the same business as you, more of a dog-eat-dog and selfish attitude, which one day may well contribute to the downfall of the current widespread availability of porn on the net which makes so many people money.
It's good to see aftermarket modifications finally getting their own review sites, with the huge amount that are available it is about time that they recieved some recognition as being geniuine parts instead of just niche products that some fanatics of the product buy. Kudos to the owners of this site for taking the dip and making such a great research, I for one have already bookmarked it.
I think it will be definitely interesting, not to mention one of the other important genres which has yet to follow one specific platform which is the adult industry. I have a feeling that Sony making Blu-Ray really their own may contribute to it not being the accepted format, as most people will want to feel as if they can use the format in all devices and even if this is possible, people will still feel the Blu-Ray is associated too closely to it's producer.
This is a travesty, you can't let the faults of the minority affect the majority, but once again it is happening. This is another case of the government trying to find scapegoats for social problems, Columbine wasn't because those kids played Quake... it was because of a build up of a huge number of factors. This is like saying seeing the army on TV makes people want to kill others, someone needs to set the people who think up laws like this straight before they get too much power. I'd like to keep my civil liberties, thanks.
This proclaimed downturn was just a period in which the games industry was churning out substandard games and people were getting more into the internet and other past times, especially stuff like MMORPGs. Once good games started coming out and the hype of new consoles returned, of course the old days of console gaming would return. I like how the industry sometimes blames everything but themselves for the downturn in sales.
This whole tailoring the content to individual players will start eroding markets such as rental and resale of games, which isn't cool. Microsoft kept it to a minimum with the Xbox360 as they know that users do not want purchased content locked to them, but it seems as if the more people hear about the PS3 the more it is out of line with what they want and expect.
It seems like Sony have realised that Microsoft have stepped their game up with the Xbox360 and now they must bring their product up in equivalent, wanting to destroy the MS product in the marketplace like they did with the original Xbox. It looks like it will be much harder to have such dominance this time around for Sony, it will be interesting to see if they will be able to pull it off.
This still goes on a lot, the most popular arcade games now are simply adapted a bit and put out by other manufactures under a different brand. The fact is that there is only so many ways people want to play at arcades, so most shooting games will all seem similar after a while, it is very hard to be creative in a field that has been trying to do so for the last 30 years.
It seems as if hot coffee did a lot of damage to them, over something so trivial as what it actually was. This can be attributed to the media twisting it, I have read newspapers and websites that had the ordacity to claim that the hot coffee mode was standard in the game and was unlocked in the options and other similar lies, along with the whole war on porn/violent video games this has made for an unhealthy media climate which does not like the GTA games one bit.
It also reminds me of the treatment of hentai in the western world, with papers claiming that it is promoting rape/murder/violence to the young audience that view it, which has resulted in some distrubution firms having to close due to massive losses and protests at the sale of their products.
I think at the end of the day Take Two and Rockstar need to sit down and work through their problems, because if one falls it has the potential to bring the other down with it, and with so many people waiting for the next installment in the GTA franchise, they would be missing out on a lot of money.
They always used rebates knowing that a good percentage would never go through the hassle of the mailing process, I guess this shows good faith that they are now making it easier and I wouldn't be suprised if they saw more sales because of it. Good work Best Buy.
A lot of people misinterpret Google.cn as being the chinese version of Google.com, even though they still offer the unfiltered version at Google.com. It seems to me as if google are just playing by china's rule in order to get the extra traffic, and more importantly the extra money.
Good move by Disney, they know that Pixar were one of the main reasons for them staying afloat and if they lost them they would really be in trouble as they don't really have any other profitable movie making things at the moment, other than Lion King 72 or Aladdin 94, they need to focus on original content rather than milking their old franchises.
To be honest I can't see the Revolution being the most popular console on the market, it is the kind of gaming system that will be fun for Multiplayer when you have friends around but you won't be able to sit for hours on it yourself playing some of the games, which is why the PS2 and Xbox toppled the Gamecube last generation. People don't always want to play games with their friends, which is why the whole games industry push on Online play is a bit rushed at the minute. Most of the time when I turn a console on I just want to relax and play, not enter into a 4 way online championship tournament battle.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think this can be attributed to *just* the MMORPGs, a lot of games that have extended multiplayer lives (as many should) can stem the flow of games that one person goes through in a year. Many people who play Counter-Strike or Battlefield 2 for example often don't play that many games at the same time, and we all know about the cases of gamers who have played nothing but CS since they got it.
I think it is less a problem with MMORPGS, but more a feature of the extended life of some games nowdays thanks to internet multiplayer, in which case, can we really see it as a problem?
Good to finally see some common sense prevail. It's the people who complain about videogames nowdays that are the problem, they are too busy finding reasons for why their kids are naughty/messed up to bother actually being a proper parent to them. What parent honestly let's their children play GTA, and then has the ordacity to complain that it is too violent. Here's a tip for them all, the kid's can't buy the games themselves, they have to have come from somewhere... and it's usually the parents. It's a sad, sad day when some people expect others to look after their children, and it seems like this trend is spreading with the current news over the state of Myspace and the lawsuit.
It's good to see people thinking outside of the box with what is available with Source, due to the market domination of CS:S and Day of Defeat it seemed as if that engine was doomed to only seeing mods based on that kind of FPS multiplay. It seems like most of the mods since those two gained popularity have been very similar except for a number which have become well recognised for their own achievements, hopefully these two can live up to the growing market in the mod community for things that are different (shown in the popularity of Sven Co-Op, Science and Industry and Garry's Mod) and become successful. I, for one, will give them a try with an open mind.
Seems like Amazon now want to assert the power they have over others, I guess we can only hope that one-click ordering is ruled as being something they can't have patented as it is like trying to patent online shopping itself. It's also quite a shame that nothing has come of the review of the patent (posted on Slashdot May 19th). Seems like Amazon want to get rid of free enterprise by taking out pieces of their rivals. I hope they get slapped down.
No real suprise here, it's been coming for a long time. With so many people thinking they will never be seen on the net and that only a small amount of people can reach their personal pages, smart employers will google around for them and find out a lot more about the person than they need to know and you can't blame them, that way they will find the best candidate for the job no matter what CV they are presented with or how many qualifications you have.
It may be a harsh way to do things, and some may argue that work should stay work and personal life should be private, but if you compromise yourself publically on the web - expect to reap what you sow.
It's a shame, but I think they should really leave the Duke Nukem brand alone now, they have done almost irrepairable damage with DNF and it will take a lot of time for consumers to stop seeing the developers and the series as a franchise as a joke. Never mind the motive for ripping the game to shreds critically once it comes out due to the massive waiting time. It's a shame to see such a promising title go down, but they have done it too wrong. One of the major lessons for future game studios?
They should think about making one of these for internet addiction too. Think I'm joking? try going a week without going online, or even visiting slashdot for that matter. It has become integral to our lives, but to a point where people can spend all day surfing instead of getting sunlight or exercise. Not that I'm complaining, it suits me just fine.
Somehow I doubt it will create a rival to the internet, but to see the telecoms companies finally upgrading the basic abilities of the phone is good, they have been complacent in the past and they were risking the whole market share of the phone (after the proliferation of mobiles and services such as Skype). Hopefully they will keep up this creativity and be rewarded for it by the consumers.
I can't really see either of them learning much from each other, both sides are facing major issues at the moment (mainly brought on by themselves) which result in the market being unhappy with what is being produced. Maybe hollywood can learn from the games industry to not blame poor sales figures on piracy rather than the low-grade movies they are churning out by the truckload. At least that would be one positive step.
I think one of the main reasons this will never happen is that it does not involve any physical exertion, it's the new equivalent to a game of chess or a card game and it will only ever reside in it's own leagues. Which is arguably where it should stay, some things have their place and to be honest, the olympics is definitely not the place that gaming should be celebrated as a sport.
This was no real suprise, and it dates back to the frequently mentioned Betamax scenario. Basically, at the end of the day, consumers want one format they can use to buy something and use it everywhere, which is why DVD is so popular (TV,PC,PS2,XBOX etc), when you create media that is specific to your hardware, you are immeadiately locking out a huge share of the market and you are only leading your product to a very likely doom.
It could have been so much different.
I can see his line of thought, why would they need his DNA when his crime didn't involve anything that would require him to be traced via DNA. Seems like they need samples of his IP more ;).
On a more serious note, it is worrying to see a trend in the creation of nation-wide databases of DNA, although it could be argued that they are very effective in tracing criminals, it also goes against some of the basic freedoms that we enjoy in living in such a country.
It's a shame that some of the biggest influences who were lobbying against it from inside the adult industry were domain owners who did not want to lose their most valuable .com assets. That's the problem with business being done over the internet, it seems as if there is no real loyalty to others in the same business as you, more of a dog-eat-dog and selfish attitude, which one day may well contribute to the downfall of the current widespread availability of porn on the net which makes so many people money.
It's good to see aftermarket modifications finally getting their own review sites, with the huge amount that are available it is about time that they recieved some recognition as being geniuine parts instead of just niche products that some fanatics of the product buy. Kudos to the owners of this site for taking the dip and making such a great research, I for one have already bookmarked it.
I think it will be definitely interesting, not to mention one of the other important genres which has yet to follow one specific platform which is the adult industry. I have a feeling that Sony making Blu-Ray really their own may contribute to it not being the accepted format, as most people will want to feel as if they can use the format in all devices and even if this is possible, people will still feel the Blu-Ray is associated too closely to it's producer.
This is a travesty, you can't let the faults of the minority affect the majority, but once again it is happening. This is another case of the government trying to find scapegoats for social problems, Columbine wasn't because those kids played Quake... it was because of a build up of a huge number of factors. This is like saying seeing the army on TV makes people want to kill others, someone needs to set the people who think up laws like this straight before they get too much power. I'd like to keep my civil liberties, thanks.
This proclaimed downturn was just a period in which the games industry was churning out substandard games and people were getting more into the internet and other past times, especially stuff like MMORPGs. Once good games started coming out and the hype of new consoles returned, of course the old days of console gaming would return. I like how the industry sometimes blames everything but themselves for the downturn in sales.
This whole tailoring the content to individual players will start eroding markets such as rental and resale of games, which isn't cool. Microsoft kept it to a minimum with the Xbox360 as they know that users do not want purchased content locked to them, but it seems as if the more people hear about the PS3 the more it is out of line with what they want and expect.
It seems like Sony have realised that Microsoft have stepped their game up with the Xbox360 and now they must bring their product up in equivalent, wanting to destroy the MS product in the marketplace like they did with the original Xbox. It looks like it will be much harder to have such dominance this time around for Sony, it will be interesting to see if they will be able to pull it off.
This still goes on a lot, the most popular arcade games now are simply adapted a bit and put out by other manufactures under a different brand. The fact is that there is only so many ways people want to play at arcades, so most shooting games will all seem similar after a while, it is very hard to be creative in a field that has been trying to do so for the last 30 years.
It seems as if hot coffee did a lot of damage to them, over something so trivial as what it actually was. This can be attributed to the media twisting it, I have read newspapers and websites that had the ordacity to claim that the hot coffee mode was standard in the game and was unlocked in the options and other similar lies, along with the whole war on porn/violent video games this has made for an unhealthy media climate which does not like the GTA games one bit.
It also reminds me of the treatment of hentai in the western world, with papers claiming that it is promoting rape/murder/violence to the young audience that view it, which has resulted in some distrubution firms having to close due to massive losses and protests at the sale of their products.
I think at the end of the day Take Two and Rockstar need to sit down and work through their problems, because if one falls it has the potential to bring the other down with it, and with so many people waiting for the next installment in the GTA franchise, they would be missing out on a lot of money.
They always used rebates knowing that a good percentage would never go through the hassle of the mailing process, I guess this shows good faith that they are now making it easier and I wouldn't be suprised if they saw more sales because of it. Good work Best Buy.
A lot of people misinterpret Google.cn as being the chinese version of Google.com, even though they still offer the unfiltered version at Google.com. It seems to me as if google are just playing by china's rule in order to get the extra traffic, and more importantly the extra money.
Good move by Disney, they know that Pixar were one of the main reasons for them staying afloat and if they lost them they would really be in trouble as they don't really have any other profitable movie making things at the moment, other than Lion King 72 or Aladdin 94, they need to focus on original content rather than milking their old franchises.
To be honest I can't see the Revolution being the most popular console on the market, it is the kind of gaming system that will be fun for Multiplayer when you have friends around but you won't be able to sit for hours on it yourself playing some of the games, which is why the PS2 and Xbox toppled the Gamecube last generation. People don't always want to play games with their friends, which is why the whole games industry push on Online play is a bit rushed at the minute. Most of the time when I turn a console on I just want to relax and play, not enter into a 4 way online championship tournament battle.