If it was so bloody obvious, why did nobody get the idea to do it before Nintendo came along with the RumblePak (which predates Immersion's patents but covers a different implementation)? Of course it's obvious to use the sense of touch but it's not obvious how to build hardware to do that. It's just as obvious to make a controller that responds to being moved in space or pointed at a point in space but it's not obvious how to build that.
Besides, patents don't cover an idea or a goal, they cover a specific implementation, in this case attaching a noncentered weight to an electric motor with an intensity controllable by the software and stuffing two of those into a gamepad. If that was so bloody obvious Sony wouldn't have needed a guy from Immersion to tell them how to do that.
whether or not it's even better than another way isn't even in question
That's important because someone might have patented the better way already so you have to search for an alternative implementation that does not violate the previous patent.
That's because you haven't spotted the Vogon demolisher fleet yet. (Spore allows you to interact with other planets, another race may send its fleet over and destroy your planet)
If you don't see where the game is you haven't seen the demonstration. It can be like Pacman, a hack & slay, The Sims with aliens, Civ, SimEarth or Master of Orion. It doesn't have a point where it tells you "congrats, you've beat the game" but there is definitely always a task (expand) and challenge (don't go extinct) present.
Only slightly. Even a megacorp can't allow a division to essentially throw money out of the window infinitely. If the leaders don't think the game division has a chance at becoming profitable it might get the axe. Or at least strict spending limits, which could already severely damage their plans.
If someone can't produce work worth minimum wage he'd probably cost you more in overhead than wage, anyway.
Of course, those workers who do manage to maintain their employment will be able to demand a higher wage as a result of the restricted supply of employable workers
While the supply of workers may be limited by the minimum wage it is by no means so limited that you can't find someone deperate enough to remain at minimum wage, no matter what.
And how often do you see pay cuts because someone isn't producing enough for his wage?
Absolutes are never good, neither a completely unregulated nor a totally draconian market are good. Some regulations are good, others are plain idiotic. It does make sense to enforce some minimum standards for work that make sure people don't risk their life in dangerous working conditions and can at least afford to pay the rent with their salary. What the OP is complaining about is laws such as minimum wage. I mean, WTF? There are enough companies in the US that combine bad working conditions with minimum wage, imagine how much lower they'd go if minimum wage was abolished. And seriously, the minimum wage is so low that if you can't even pay that you have a serious problem.
I don't think Nintendo has Sega's support, Sega seems to prefer the XBox even though their games sell the least on that platform. IIRC Sega even announced some cooperation to put games on XBLA.
It downloads the game normally but prioritizes the bits in the order they appear in the game. So after 50% completion it's really the first half of the game downloaded, not random segments scattered all over the place.
Personally I liked the handheld versions better, defense there isn't just pushing a button during a certain point of the enemy's animation and your character flinching differently, you make the character jump or use a hammer and sometimes have to dodge complex attack patterns. It feels much more like an action game and since the timing is more obvious it feels like you have more control.
Germany: On average 40 Euros (47$), some at 45 or even 50 Euros (53 and 60$, respectively but only very few are this expensive), some down to 35 (42$, again not many).
For a comparison, GBA games were 40-45 Euros with 45 being the standard during the first few years and 40 being standard now, I don't think there are any games released for less than that except for the NES Classics.
The PS2 outselling the XC doesn't surprise me, the GBA outsold the DS and PSP for quite some time before either of them managed to take over. I think it has to do with awful launch lineups all three of them had, without good games noone but the really geeky people wants a console.
The Gamecube is clearly superior, the Dreamcast ports it got (and there were many during the second year or so) were usually enhanced quite a bit and still nowhere near the GC native games in graphical quality.
The preview is not a preview of the product but a half-finished early build of the product. It's not really possible to say much about it and I don't think the reader really cares what bugs you found in a build that's 6+ months away from release. So what's left is pretty much to reiterate the design document and the few parts you've seen that will stay the same in the final.
The reviews are the things that are supposed to help you make an informed decision, previews are just there to tell you what the devs are planning for the game and whether any good ideas are already apparent in the build. If you make a decision based on the preview that's your fault, the preview only reflects what the developer hopes the game will be, not what you'll get when you buy the game. Noone knows what the final will offer when they are writing a preview.
Especially in Europe where the average console game runs you the equivalent of 70-75 USD. And according to Google his 40GBP games cost ~70USD as well.
And stop adjusting old prices for inflation to claim new prices are cheap. 1. Good pricing is always relative to comparable goods, in this case PC games which run you a mere 50USD converted and e.g. movies and CDs which go for 20 USD each (and no using the "money per time unit" logic, few games offer as much entertainment as a good movie consistently over the entire play time). 2. As technology matures it becomes cheaper. There was a time when 1000$ for the smallest harddrive was a great deal but you wouldn't argue that a 500$ 80GB harddrive is cheap because of that. 3. No matter how you compare them, games are too expensive. No other consumer-level entertainment medium costs that much for a single product. 4. Why are we paying the equivalent of 70$ for a current generation game that costs 50$ in the US?
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If it was so bloody obvious, why did nobody get the idea to do it before Nintendo came along with the
RumblePak (which predates Immersion's patents but covers a different implementation)? Of course it's obvious to use the sense of touch but it's not obvious how to build hardware to do that. It's just as obvious to make a controller that responds to being moved in space or pointed at a point in space but it's not obvious how to build that.
Besides, patents don't cover an idea or a goal, they cover a specific implementation, in this case attaching a noncentered weight to an electric motor with an intensity controllable by the software and stuffing two of those into a gamepad. If that was so bloody obvious Sony wouldn't have needed a guy from Immersion to tell them how to do that.
whether or not it's even better than another way isn't even in question
That's important because someone might have patented the better way already so you have to search for an alternative implementation that does not violate the previous patent.
People never complained [..] that killing aliens in Contra is too violent for children.
That does not explain Probotector.
You forgot Socrate, he actually got executed because he was "corrupting the minds of the children".
That's because you haven't spotted the Vogon demolisher fleet yet. (Spore allows you to interact with other planets, another race may send its fleet over and destroy your planet)
If you don't see where the game is you haven't seen the demonstration. It can be like Pacman, a hack & slay, The Sims with aliens, Civ, SimEarth or Master of Orion. It doesn't have a point where it tells you "congrats, you've beat the game" but there is definitely always a task (expand) and challenge (don't go extinct) present.
No, it's about intelligently designing evolution!
THIS is why I fully-support external power supplies, or "wall-warts" as some people call them: if it dies, you can easily replace it for around $20.
Unless it happens to be an XBox 360 power brick, then you're in trouble. It seems that MS doesn't sell replacements.
Only slightly. Even a megacorp can't allow a division to essentially throw money out of the window infinitely. If the leaders don't think the game division has a chance at becoming profitable it might get the axe. Or at least strict spending limits, which could already severely damage their plans.
If someone can't produce work worth minimum wage he'd probably cost you more in overhead than wage, anyway.
Of course, those workers who do manage to maintain their employment will be able to demand a higher wage as a result of the restricted supply of employable workers
While the supply of workers may be limited by the minimum wage it is by no means so limited that you can't find someone deperate enough to remain at minimum wage, no matter what.
And how often do you see pay cuts because someone isn't producing enough for his wage?
Absolutes are never good, neither a completely unregulated nor a totally draconian market are good. Some regulations are good, others are plain idiotic. It does make sense to enforce some minimum standards for work that make sure people don't risk their life in dangerous working conditions and can at least afford to pay the rent with their salary. What the OP is complaining about is laws such as minimum wage. I mean, WTF? There are enough companies in the US that combine bad working conditions with minimum wage, imagine how much lower they'd go if minimum wage was abolished. And seriously, the minimum wage is so low that if you can't even pay that you have a serious problem.
I don't think Nintendo has Sega's support, Sega seems to prefer the XBox even though their games sell the least on that platform. IIRC Sega even announced some cooperation to put games on XBLA.
It downloads the game normally but prioritizes the bits in the order they appear in the game. So after 50% completion it's really the first half of the game downloaded, not random segments scattered all over the place.
Personally I liked the handheld versions better, defense there isn't just pushing a button during a certain point of the enemy's animation and your character flinching differently, you make the character jump or use a hammer and sometimes have to dodge complex attack patterns. It feels much more like an action game and since the timing is more obvious it feels like you have more control.
I'm not trying to give you statistics, I'm trying to find a solution for your problem.
Germany: On average 40 Euros (47$), some at 45 or even 50 Euros (53 and 60$, respectively but only very few are this expensive), some down to 35 (42$, again not many).
For a comparison, GBA games were 40-45 Euros with 45 being the standard during the first few years and 40 being standard now, I don't think there are any games released for less than that except for the NES Classics.
Well, it's twice as many colours.
The PS2 outselling the XC doesn't surprise me, the GBA outsold the DS and PSP for quite some time before either of them managed to take over. I think it has to do with awful launch lineups all three of them had, without good games noone but the really geeky people wants a console.
A common comment I've heard is that those who complain about headaches often didn't calibrate the system properly. Did you do that?
The Gamecube is clearly superior, the Dreamcast ports it got (and there were many during the second year or so) were usually enhanced quite a bit and still nowhere near the GC native games in graphical quality.
Mr. T before he pities the fool, Mr. T while he pities the fool and Mr. T after he pitied the fool.
The preview is not a preview of the product but a half-finished early build of the product. It's not really possible to say much about it and I don't think the reader really cares what bugs you found in a build that's 6+ months away from release. So what's left is pretty much to reiterate the design document and the few parts you've seen that will stay the same in the final.
The reviews are the things that are supposed to help you make an informed decision, previews are just there to tell you what the devs are planning for the game and whether any good ideas are already apparent in the build. If you make a decision based on the preview that's your fault, the preview only reflects what the developer hopes the game will be, not what you'll get when you buy the game. Noone knows what the final will offer when they are writing a preview.
Tune in next week for evidence that no real women look like TV weatherpersons
Maybe I'm watching the wrong channel but the weatherpeople I see are always well into the upper 50s or at least look like it.
I'll be asking around whether Nintendo put stealth into the game before buying, they love doing that and it ruins the experience.
$65 US for a game is cheap.
Especially in Europe where the average console game runs you the equivalent of 70-75 USD. And according to Google his 40GBP games cost ~70USD as well.
And stop adjusting old prices for inflation to claim new prices are cheap.
1. Good pricing is always relative to comparable goods, in this case PC games which run you a mere 50USD converted and e.g. movies and CDs which go for 20 USD each (and no using the "money per time unit" logic, few games offer as much entertainment as a good movie consistently over the entire play time).
2. As technology matures it becomes cheaper. There was a time when 1000$ for the smallest harddrive was a great deal but you wouldn't argue that a 500$ 80GB harddrive is cheap because of that.
3. No matter how you compare them, games are too expensive. No other consumer-level entertainment medium costs that much for a single product.
4. Why are we paying the equivalent of 70$ for a current generation game that costs 50$ in the US?
Yes but this is a website for nerds. Maybe 23 would qualify.