The 7/10 average is easily explained, most games are good. They're fun and everything, they're just less so than the top games and the market is pretty competitive so good but not great doesn't cut it to be worth buying.
When I buy a game, I play it and sometimes beat it the day I bought it.
Wouldn't you say that's more of a price-value disparity? You paid ~50$ for a game and only got one or two days of enjoyment out of it. That sounds like the game fails to deliver much for its price.
Also, if you beat the games that fast, shouldn't you try renting? That's about 1.50$ per day rather than 30$ per game.
Oh, really? Great games don't sell beyond the first weeks? Leaving aside that the only recent Frontier Development title I know about is Lost Winds, a download-only game that obviously can't be resold, many games are selling for a long time. Nintendo manages to make games that keep selling a lot for months or even years (a quick check on Amazon shows Mario Kart DS at the top of the DS charts, a game that came out some time last year IIRC). Perhaps the games Braben observed just weren't that great and didn't really deserve long sales?
Besides, used game sales aren't a new thing, many of my SNES and Game Boy games came from fleamarkets.
If you want general understanding I guess you could be really evil and start with one of those model-to-code programs that work on UML diagrams (Rhapsody was the one we used here but it was 5th semester, not first).
In German the language itself is called assembler, people think the name was taken verbatim from English.
I had little trouble understanding ASM but then again I learned VHDL before ASM which gave me an understanding of how the chip itself acts rather than what control codes it accepts.
My uni started with functional programming since students are likely to know math already, the basic concepts of variable, array, etc don't hold as easily there. Java was introduced in the second half of the semester.
A problem with some BASIC interpreters is that they're not very strict with their variable handling, you don't have to define a variable like in C. Pascal used to be pretty popular in education. A general problem is that these days people want to teach OOP but Java is the popular choice for that and Java forces some degree of OOP even when the program is pretty much procedural. Going with a different language forces relearning the syntax though. C++ allows ignoring the OOP parts completely and shows no trace of them until you want them but pointer and reference arithmetic isn't a healthy thing for someone who barely understands that a = a + 1 can work (Pascal uses:= for assignments...).
I'm not sure that data can actually be used for initiating transactions, just like a list of email addresses won't let you read the emails those receive.
I think he was talking about CryTek, that emo company that starts to whine and threatens to cut itself every time someone talks about violent videogames.
Sony is a bad example, they sued a company into bankrupcy for selling genuine Sony products, just to a different region. They actually claimed trademark violations.
Like what, cable internet? Sure but local monopolies are subject to other laws.
I bet you were talking about copyrighted works but there are TONS of close substitutes available. Halo 3 not on your system of choice? Tons of other FPSes available. I know you love narrowing down your requirements that you could practically add "made by X and titled Y" to the list but most people do that only when advertising is in play and that's the point of advertising, to make the customer choose one brand over another. Every seller of copyrighted works is still competing against lots of other sellers of copyrighted works and they can compete on price if they choose to do so (doesn't happen very often for big budget releases but happens anyway). Additionally from what I see copyrighted works don't have MAPs (except for books here which are legally required to be sold exactly at the same price, I guess book stores were considered an important service to the public so they must not kill each other with competition, same for pharmacies), stores just tend to stay at the MSRP because the suppliers charge so much that lower prices leave no profit margin.
Or they're used to make nuclear powers no longer a threat to the US so the US could drop nukes around the world without fear. It's a massive risk, if a nuclear power believes that the US is about to get a system that would grant it immunity to a nuclear strike that may actually provoke a war because they must use their stockpile now before it becomes obsolete and they are defenseless. The worst possible situation would be a world where one nuclear power is exempt from MAD, that one power would rule the world. It would need to be destroyed before it can get that defense up.
Nukes aren't meant for attacks but for negotiation, even the US treads carefully when dealing with a nuclear power instead of throwing its army around. A country without nukes can be invaded with a larger army, a country with nukes is too dangerous to invade even if their army consists of three grandpas and a donkey. You aren't going to get much support from the people for "liberating" a country when doing so incurs the risk of even one nuke hitting your country. Noone wants to be the leader who was at fault for triggering the world's first nuclear exchange.
Another thing I see as a problem is that they tested with one missile, IIRC the previous systems had trouble with telling threats from garbage (such as the debries left from hitting one missile) so they probably should have tested with a larger volley. Apparently their test missile even failed to deploy its included countermeasures so the accuracy of the test is even more questionable. I'm also not clear on how this would handle MIRV, would it hit the missile before it separates or will they try to shoot all the warheads down individually?
One does not send nuclear bombs against a carefully selected target. You send nuclear bombs to blow the shit out of everything in sight
Both the US and Russia have their missiles set to strike military targets first. The first goal is to incapacitate the enemy's military, shooting the population looks nice on paper but doesn't stop the enemy from capturing what remains of your country after their volley hits and seeing modern politicians killing their citizens won't really make them care anyway.
His comment was pointing out that it doesn't do you that much good to blow up a nuclear bomb right before hits you unless you either stop the nuclear reaction that would lead to massive amounts of radiation from being dumbed into your country's atmosphere from ever occurring [..]
Which is exactly what happens when a nuke is shot down. It takes a lot of precision in the detonation of the various parts of the warhead to actually reach critical mass and start the reaction, an outside blast has no real chance of providing that level of precision and would just break the warhead to pieces.
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Well, if he believes great doesn't sell then it's obviously not worth the investment. Of course that's stupid because great does sell better.
The 7/10 average is easily explained, most games are good. They're fun and everything, they're just less so than the top games and the market is pretty competitive so good but not great doesn't cut it to be worth buying.
There's apparently millions thinking the way you do, at least Nintendo is making big dough from trying to appeal to the so-called lapsed gamers.
When I buy a game, I play it and sometimes beat it the day I bought it.
Wouldn't you say that's more of a price-value disparity? You paid ~50$ for a game and only got one or two days of enjoyment out of it. That sounds like the game fails to deliver much for its price.
Also, if you beat the games that fast, shouldn't you try renting? That's about 1.50$ per day rather than 30$ per game.
Oh, really? Great games don't sell beyond the first weeks? Leaving aside that the only recent Frontier Development title I know about is Lost Winds, a download-only game that obviously can't be resold, many games are selling for a long time. Nintendo manages to make games that keep selling a lot for months or even years (a quick check on Amazon shows Mario Kart DS at the top of the DS charts, a game that came out some time last year IIRC). Perhaps the games Braben observed just weren't that great and didn't really deserve long sales?
Besides, used game sales aren't a new thing, many of my SNES and Game Boy games came from fleamarkets.
If you want general understanding I guess you could be really evil and start with one of those model-to-code programs that work on UML diagrams (Rhapsody was the one we used here but it was 5th semester, not first).
In German the language itself is called assembler, people think the name was taken verbatim from English.
I had little trouble understanding ASM but then again I learned VHDL before ASM which gave me an understanding of how the chip itself acts rather than what control codes it accepts.
"should". From what I've seen of people who join a CS course most have never done any programming.
My uni started with functional programming since students are likely to know math already, the basic concepts of variable, array, etc don't hold as easily there. Java was introduced in the second half of the semester.
A problem with some BASIC interpreters is that they're not very strict with their variable handling, you don't have to define a variable like in C. Pascal used to be pretty popular in education. A general problem is that these days people want to teach OOP but Java is the popular choice for that and Java forces some degree of OOP even when the program is pretty much procedural. Going with a different language forces relearning the syntax though. C++ allows ignoring the OOP parts completely and shows no trace of them until you want them but pointer and reference arithmetic isn't a healthy thing for someone who barely understands that a = a + 1 can work (Pascal uses := for assignments...).
Er, I think the checks for those who sell to minors are done with actual minors.
There are just many people where it's really damn obvious they're over 18. Carding grandmas would raise a few eyebrows.
I'm not sure that data can actually be used for initiating transactions, just like a list of email addresses won't let you read the emails those receive.
I think he was talking about CryTek, that emo company that starts to whine and threatens to cut itself every time someone talks about violent videogames.
Don't you have to use a manual transfer first before you can establish direct debit? I think most stores are like that.
Checks are no longer guaranteed so noone takes them anymore.
So we've found Hollywood's target demographic?
But derivative works wouldn't be.
Sony is a bad example, they sued a company into bankrupcy for selling genuine Sony products, just to a different region. They actually claimed trademark violations.
Like what, cable internet? Sure but local monopolies are subject to other laws.
I bet you were talking about copyrighted works but there are TONS of close substitutes available. Halo 3 not on your system of choice? Tons of other FPSes available. I know you love narrowing down your requirements that you could practically add "made by X and titled Y" to the list but most people do that only when advertising is in play and that's the point of advertising, to make the customer choose one brand over another. Every seller of copyrighted works is still competing against lots of other sellers of copyrighted works and they can compete on price if they choose to do so (doesn't happen very often for big budget releases but happens anyway). Additionally from what I see copyrighted works don't have MAPs (except for books here which are legally required to be sold exactly at the same price, I guess book stores were considered an important service to the public so they must not kill each other with competition, same for pharmacies), stores just tend to stay at the MSRP because the suppliers charge so much that lower prices leave no profit margin.
Yep, it was those cowardly dwarves attacking the proud troll warriors at Koom valley!
Or they're used to make nuclear powers no longer a threat to the US so the US could drop nukes around the world without fear. It's a massive risk, if a nuclear power believes that the US is about to get a system that would grant it immunity to a nuclear strike that may actually provoke a war because they must use their stockpile now before it becomes obsolete and they are defenseless. The worst possible situation would be a world where one nuclear power is exempt from MAD, that one power would rule the world. It would need to be destroyed before it can get that defense up.
Nukes aren't meant for attacks but for negotiation, even the US treads carefully when dealing with a nuclear power instead of throwing its army around. A country without nukes can be invaded with a larger army, a country with nukes is too dangerous to invade even if their army consists of three grandpas and a donkey. You aren't going to get much support from the people for "liberating" a country when doing so incurs the risk of even one nuke hitting your country. Noone wants to be the leader who was at fault for triggering the world's first nuclear exchange.
Another thing I see as a problem is that they tested with one missile, IIRC the previous systems had trouble with telling threats from garbage (such as the debries left from hitting one missile) so they probably should have tested with a larger volley. Apparently their test missile even failed to deploy its included countermeasures so the accuracy of the test is even more questionable. I'm also not clear on how this would handle MIRV, would it hit the missile before it separates or will they try to shoot all the warheads down individually?
One does not send nuclear bombs against a carefully selected target. You send nuclear bombs to blow the shit out of everything in sight
Both the US and Russia have their missiles set to strike military targets first. The first goal is to incapacitate the enemy's military, shooting the population looks nice on paper but doesn't stop the enemy from capturing what remains of your country after their volley hits and seeing modern politicians killing their citizens won't really make them care anyway.
His comment was pointing out that it doesn't do you that much good to blow up a nuclear bomb right before hits you unless you either stop the nuclear reaction that would lead to massive amounts of radiation from being dumbed into your country's atmosphere from ever occurring [..]
Which is exactly what happens when a nuke is shot down. It takes a lot of precision in the detonation of the various parts of the warhead to actually reach critical mass and start the reaction, an outside blast has no real chance of providing that level of precision and would just break the warhead to pieces.
Missile shield for terrorist attacks? Terrorists usually don't enter the country with a ballistic trajectory.