Hi. My Name is New Game Developer. I just made a game that cost me $2,000,000. I want to sell as many games as I can to recoup my costs. What? My game isn't selling because it sucks? I'd better drop the price and expect people to pay a lower price for the same EA brand--erm. I mean quality game.
Facetiousness aside... Developers have to recover their investment one way or another. If they can hold off and recover their cost by keeping the price high, then so be it. Sometimes it's in their best interest, though, to sell the game at a lower price. It's how economics work. One way or another, they need to make their money back, and it's either going to be through a high price tag or a very large volume of sales./shrug.
While I am the king of frugal gaming, the economics of this don't quite work.
If no one wants to buy the game at the initial price, the developers don't have any incentive to drop the prics of the game. No incentive to drop the price means that the game's price remains high, and then no one ever buys it. No one buys it... No money to finance the next project.
I hope this theory works out, though. It'd be nice to see developers like EA take dive.......:D
You raise some excellent points, although I have a couple of comments to make...
1. Not having EA on board actually improved the quality of games that the Dreamcast did see... Point in case... aside from the Sims, what's the last quality EA title you've seen... Madden 96? You are correct, though. Not having developers means fewer games... one of the problems that plagued the N64.
2. PS2 announced that week... gah. Yeah, if I was standing in line, I'd reconsider.
3. No cash... Ooops, sorry kid, if you give me the $$$ now, you'll get your dreamcast in 6-8 weeks. hehe.
4. Here's where I completely disagree with you. A game does not need more than a GB to be fun and innovative. Games that could possibly even span two or three dvds scare me... Not because we don't/won't ever see them, but because that's a lot of wasted resources... disc space, production costs, etc. etc. etc. My arguments are as follows:
* Super Mario Bros. weighed in at under 128k (?). Played that game religiously for months. Still visit it from time to time.
* Super Mario World weighed in at under 2 MB (?). Played that game religiously for months. Just refinished it.
* Super Mario 64 weighed in at 8 MB. PLayed that game religiously for months. Still visit it (in a recently portable version).
Now, obviously Mario does not constitute every possibly imaginable game out there, but let's use Mario 64 as a stepping stone. At 8 megs, it was an amazing game with very little in terms of textures and prerecorded sound effects. Using MIDI(-like) music (and the fantastic Nintendo 64 Sound Processor), the score was absolutely amazing... and it was a fraction of that 8 MB. I cannot say that my gaming experience has been augmented by hearing these big name (or so they tell me...) bands playing today's latest and greatest music... With one exception. GTA actually gives me reason to enjoy a prerecorded soundtrack, and it's been done in such a way that draws you further into the game.
Textures is something Mario 64 lacks. If we're using the GD-Roms that the DC shipped with, and we're conservative of the rest of our consumption of space... that leaves 992 Megs of free space for texture. Yup.
So... I blame the developers for wasting all of that space. I do.
I agree with you, even though I don't like the X-Box line of consoles.
I do wish to know more information, though.
I have purchased (and still enjoy) an aftermarket dreamcast, and it seems great to me now. I'm not seeing why people really thought the PS2 was worth the wait (more importantly--why they should pass up the dreamcast).
No, I'm not one of the first to stand in line for a console, so I'm a little perplexed by this whole thread. What strikes against the Dreamcast were there?
I have been violated. There have been two posts regarding a comic that I am unfamiliar with, and no one has posted a URL. What is this, the 1990s? Do I have to go to google myself? Why am I so lazy?
If I recall correctly, the NES was still "Officially" supported and sold through 1995... I have a nice li'l toploading NES that I'm sure I could dig out of my closet, unwrap from the protective plastic coat, and ruin it's future ebay value... then we'll know for sure.
René Descartes' classic saying is only loosely translated as "I think, therefore I am". In the context he used it, it most like was intended as "I doubt, therefore I am"...
Yes, I have way to much free time. Yes, this is offtopic. Yes, I need a complete cycle of regeneration before I can provide any useful insight.
This nerd's not buyin' it unless it's got the original theatrical release. Damnit. Han fired first. I don't care what Lucas wants us to remember, that's how it happened.:)
Someone who understands that the media's name is Blu-Ray, which is a (some may say) clever moniker because it uses "Blue Rays" when reading the disc.</rant>
The rest of the world should only pay their own way to meet the full terms of the Kyoto agreement.
As I have said, the US can do a lot to clean up its own act. What obligation does the US have, though, to financially pay for the rest of the world to clean up their act?
AC specifies above:
Kyoto asks Western nations to lower CO2 emissions by 500M tonnes by 2012. In 2012 China will bring online coal-powered electric generation plants that will produce 5,000M tonnes of CO2. Yup, Kyoto is useless.
Now, if this is indeed true, why should America pay to make these Coal plants cleaner burning? America has a big enough burden paying for its eco-friendly tasks.
If you can afford to build it, you can afford to build it right. What's wrong with that theory, aye? Am I really an arrogant, ignorant American? Or am I just concerned with the way the world keeps forgetting that the US actually does the right thing once in a while (as seldom as it may actually be)?
I find humor in the root-level comment, but there is a deeper underlying issue with the Kyoto agreement that doesn't settle well with my view on it.
Sure the U.S. pollutes a great deal; we also use something like 1/6 of all of the world's resources. But to my understanding (and I may be wrong), we put out a lot less pollution than China or India.
I have family that has recently travelled to this part of the world, and they've had a hard time adjusting to the pollution that exists in that part of the world... Smog is everywhere I'm told.
Yeah, the U.S. can do a lot to clean up its own act, but the rest of the world has a long way to go, too.
Now, why should the U.S. foot the bill for the rest of the world?
Antiquated Ideals with Linux as a Community
on
Linux Instant Messengers
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Am I the only one who understands where this article is going?
Linux is a wonderful, efficient, relatively secure operating system, but damned, the UI is fugly on almost every distro. Even the "perdy" distros have UI deficiencies.
Why does this matter? It works, it's functional, right?
Short Answer... Yes... Long Answer... No.
In the ideal Linux world, everyone has discard MS Windows, and they are strictly using open source software... There is no concern over quality of software, no concern over usability, and no concern over closed protocols, software, and formats.
That's not the case. Most of the world uses Windows, and that's just the way it is. Windows does offer something that Linux doesn't offer in that sense... a relatively consistent (*sigh*) user interface, a relatively attractive (*sigh*) visual style, and relatively easy-to-manage (*sigh*) suite of software.
Point is, how do you tell an inexperienced Linux user to install a different visual style?
How do you tell an inexperienced Linux user to install new hardware (think something without pre-compiled Linux compatible drivers)?
How do you tell an inexperienced Linux user to do most every day things?
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this comment, but I have used Windows, OS X, and Linux. Plain and simple Linux is not the easiest to learn from a new user standpoint.
Sure, I'll hear the argument that once you learn, you'll be fine. Explain that to the old persons in my family who don't want to learn. Explain that to the young persons in my family who don't understand why they should learn Linux.
I am not trying to say the Linux needs to copy every Windows / OS X feature or functionality, in fact I'm quite opposed to this. Linux has a powerful kernel that's being underutilized by a copycat interface.
Why do the creative minds of the Linux community insist on duplicating Windows. Linux != Windows. Create a new interface. Move into a different direction that what we know now. Here's a novel idea. Forge a new, easier, more efficient way to use a computer.
Of course, the underlying principle is still this... GAIM is not MSN. GAIM is merely trying to duplicate how classic MSN/AOL/Y! looked and felt. It's been done. Move on.
I'm not saying that GAIM needs to recreate the annoying Screen Shake or whatever it's called. I'm not saying GAIM needs to recreate MSN/AIM/Y!/ICQ/Google Talk/etc. Do something original with it. Give me a compelling reason to use it. Give me an application that's not bloated (*coTRILLIANugh*). Give me something more intuitive (*coADIUMugh*) but unique (*coDOESN'TEXISTugh*).
The Linux community as a whole is stuck in this antiquated mindset. Let's move on. It's time to change. Linux doesn't need to be just for elite, make it available and usable (keyword) to the masses.
Ok. So... Sony posts losses for one quarter, and they lay off a bunch of people... It's now my responsibility as a Nintendo Fanboy to jump up and down and praise this as the death of my archnemesis right?
Ehh. Who am I kidding. Apathy is too much damned work.
Ok, on the picture of the Invite, it reads... "RSVP to mvp_media@apple.com". At least, that is what it looks like. Is it just me, or does someone need to learn to use photoshop a little better?...
Knowing how Microsoft acquires most of their patents, you just invented it for them! This press release was just a scam to get some other dope to do the work...
Slashdot Mirror
Hi. My Name is New Game Developer. I just made a game that cost me $2,000,000. I want to sell as many games as I can to recoup my costs. What? My game isn't selling because it sucks? I'd better drop the price and expect people to pay a lower price for the same EA brand--erm. I mean quality game.
/shrug.
Facetiousness aside... Developers have to recover their investment one way or another. If they can hold off and recover their cost by keeping the price high, then so be it. Sometimes it's in their best interest, though, to sell the game at a lower price. It's how economics work. One way or another, they need to make their money back, and it's either going to be through a high price tag or a very large volume of sales.
While I am the king of frugal gaming, the economics of this don't quite work.
:D
If no one wants to buy the game at the initial price, the developers don't have any incentive to drop the prics of the game. No incentive to drop the price means that the game's price remains high, and then no one ever buys it. No one buys it... No money to finance the next project.
I hope this theory works out, though. It'd be nice to see developers like EA take dive.......
If your wedding pictures were lost in that magic 5% wouldn't they suck shit?
You raise some excellent points, although I have a couple of comments to make...
/shrug. Well... Good Bye, Karma!
1. Not having EA on board actually improved the quality of games that the Dreamcast did see... Point in case... aside from the Sims, what's the last quality EA title you've seen... Madden 96? You are correct, though. Not having developers means fewer games... one of the problems that plagued the N64.
2. PS2 announced that week... gah. Yeah, if I was standing in line, I'd reconsider.
3. No cash... Ooops, sorry kid, if you give me the $$$ now, you'll get your dreamcast in 6-8 weeks. hehe.
4. Here's where I completely disagree with you. A game does not need more than a GB to be fun and innovative. Games that could possibly even span two or three dvds scare me... Not because we don't/won't ever see them, but because that's a lot of wasted resources... disc space, production costs, etc. etc. etc. My arguments are as follows:
* Super Mario Bros. weighed in at under 128k (?). Played that game religiously for months. Still visit it from time to time.
* Super Mario World weighed in at under 2 MB (?). Played that game religiously for months. Just refinished it.
* Super Mario 64 weighed in at 8 MB. PLayed that game religiously for months. Still visit it (in a recently portable version).
Now, obviously Mario does not constitute every possibly imaginable game out there, but let's use Mario 64 as a stepping stone. At 8 megs, it was an amazing game with very little in terms of textures and prerecorded sound effects. Using MIDI(-like) music (and the fantastic Nintendo 64 Sound Processor), the score was absolutely amazing... and it was a fraction of that 8 MB. I cannot say that my gaming experience has been augmented by hearing these big name (or so they tell me...) bands playing today's latest and greatest music... With one exception. GTA actually gives me reason to enjoy a prerecorded soundtrack, and it's been done in such a way that draws you further into the game.
Textures is something Mario 64 lacks. If we're using the GD-Roms that the DC shipped with, and we're conservative of the rest of our consumption of space... that leaves 992 Megs of free space for texture. Yup.
So... I blame the developers for wasting all of that space. I do.
I agree with you, even though I don't like the X-Box line of consoles.
I do wish to know more information, though.
I have purchased (and still enjoy) an aftermarket dreamcast, and it seems great to me now. I'm not seeing why people really thought the PS2 was worth the wait (more importantly--why they should pass up the dreamcast).
No, I'm not one of the first to stand in line for a console, so I'm a little perplexed by this whole thread. What strikes against the Dreamcast were there?
Sure. Give Microsoft the edge in console sales just because they have a small collection of bloated PC monopolies...
I mean... Since Windows brings home the bacon, the X-box is going to succeed. Right?
I have been violated. There have been two posts regarding a comic that I am unfamiliar with, and no one has posted a URL. What is this, the 1990s? Do I have to go to google myself? Why am I so lazy?
Dreamcast's poor DRM precipitated it's demise?
Well clearly that is how Microsoft has been able to turn such a profit off of the first X-Box... Crikey. Hold the press...
If I recall correctly, the NES was still "Officially" supported and sold through 1995... I have a nice li'l toploading NES that I'm sure I could dig out of my closet, unwrap from the protective plastic coat, and ruin it's future ebay value... then we'll know for sure.
If anyone wins the next gen of consoles, I hope the media realizes it's someone who actually has a profitable business model.
*COUnintendoGH*
Sorry. I think I'm coming down with a cold...
Cogito, ergo sig.
René Descartes' classic saying is only loosely translated as "I think, therefore I am". In the context he used it, it most like was intended as "I doubt, therefore I am"...
Yes, I have way to much free time. Yes, this is offtopic. Yes, I need a complete cycle of regeneration before I can provide any useful insight.
Yes, but can it stream Linux?
Sorry... had to...
This nerd's not buyin' it unless it's got the original theatrical release. Damnit. Han fired first. I don't care what Lucas wants us to remember, that's how it happened. :)
Thank you!
Someone who understands that the media's name is Blu-Ray, which is a (some may say) clever moniker because it uses "Blue Rays" when reading the disc.</rant>
I'm still not understanding... Anyone help me out? What is this... "Physical activity"?
hence my sig.
Apparently the real breakthrough here isn't this new technology in rocket science, but rather that someone still uses Babelfish/Altavista.
:)
You're right.
The rest of the world should only pay their own way to meet the full terms of the Kyoto agreement.
As I have said, the US can do a lot to clean up its own act. What obligation does the US have, though, to financially pay for the rest of the world to clean up their act?
AC specifies above:
Kyoto asks Western nations to lower CO2 emissions by 500M tonnes by 2012. In 2012 China will bring online coal-powered electric generation plants that will produce 5,000M tonnes of CO2. Yup, Kyoto is useless.
Now, if this is indeed true, why should America pay to make these Coal plants cleaner burning? America has a big enough burden paying for its eco-friendly tasks.
If you can afford to build it, you can afford to build it right. What's wrong with that theory, aye? Am I really an arrogant, ignorant American? Or am I just concerned with the way the world keeps forgetting that the US actually does the right thing once in a while (as seldom as it may actually be)?
A.C. you make an excellent point!
I find humor in the root-level comment, but there is a deeper underlying issue with the Kyoto agreement that doesn't settle well with my view on it.
Sure the U.S. pollutes a great deal; we also use something like 1/6 of all of the world's resources. But to my understanding (and I may be wrong), we put out a lot less pollution than China or India.
I have family that has recently travelled to this part of the world, and they've had a hard time adjusting to the pollution that exists in that part of the world... Smog is everywhere I'm told.
Yeah, the U.S. can do a lot to clean up its own act, but the rest of the world has a long way to go, too.
Now, why should the U.S. foot the bill for the rest of the world?
Am I the only one who understands where this article is going?
Linux is a wonderful, efficient, relatively secure operating system, but damned, the UI is fugly on almost every distro. Even the "perdy" distros have UI deficiencies.
Why does this matter? It works, it's functional, right?
Short Answer... Yes... Long Answer... No.
In the ideal Linux world, everyone has discard MS Windows, and they are strictly using open source software... There is no concern over quality of software, no concern over usability, and no concern over closed protocols, software, and formats.
That's not the case. Most of the world uses Windows, and that's just the way it is. Windows does offer something that Linux doesn't offer in that sense... a relatively consistent (*sigh*) user interface, a relatively attractive (*sigh*) visual style, and relatively easy-to-manage (*sigh*) suite of software.
Point is, how do you tell an inexperienced Linux user to install a different visual style?
How do you tell an inexperienced Linux user to install new hardware (think something without pre-compiled Linux compatible drivers)?
How do you tell an inexperienced Linux user to do most every day things?
I'm sure I'll get flamed for this comment, but I have used Windows, OS X, and Linux. Plain and simple Linux is not the easiest to learn from a new user standpoint.
Sure, I'll hear the argument that once you learn, you'll be fine. Explain that to the old persons in my family who don't want to learn. Explain that to the young persons in my family who don't understand why they should learn Linux.
I am not trying to say the Linux needs to copy every Windows / OS X feature or functionality, in fact I'm quite opposed to this. Linux has a powerful kernel that's being underutilized by a copycat interface.
Why do the creative minds of the Linux community insist on duplicating Windows. Linux != Windows. Create a new interface. Move into a different direction that what we know now. Here's a novel idea. Forge a new, easier, more efficient way to use a computer.
Of course, the underlying principle is still this... GAIM is not MSN. GAIM is merely trying to duplicate how classic MSN/AOL/Y! looked and felt. It's been done. Move on.
I'm not saying that GAIM needs to recreate the annoying Screen Shake or whatever it's called. I'm not saying GAIM needs to recreate MSN/AIM/Y!/ICQ/Google Talk/etc. Do something original with it. Give me a compelling reason to use it. Give me an application that's not bloated (*coTRILLIANugh*). Give me something more intuitive (*coADIUMugh*) but unique (*coDOESN'TEXISTugh*).
The Linux community as a whole is stuck in this antiquated mindset. Let's move on. It's time to change. Linux doesn't need to be just for elite, make it available and usable (keyword) to the masses.
But, what do I know?
Ok. So... Sony posts losses for one quarter, and they lay off a bunch of people... It's now my responsibility as a Nintendo Fanboy to jump up and down and praise this as the death of my archnemesis right?
Ehh. Who am I kidding. Apathy is too much damned work.
Response from Apple:
--
Thank you for contacting Apple.
We cannot find your name on the official invitation list. Please clarify how you received your invitation so we may confirm your space.
Apple Events
--
*Shifts eyes back and forth... and darts for the woods*
Great! Time to get me some tickets! ;) Still, though, you'd expect better photoshopping from a AppleInsider?
Ok, on the picture of the Invite, it reads... "RSVP to mvp_media@apple.com". At least, that is what it looks like. Is it just me, or does someone need to learn to use photoshop a little better?...
Knowing how Microsoft acquires most of their patents, you just invented it for them! This press release was just a scam to get some other dope to do the work...