Now there's an idea. A game in which you get to raise an animal that ignores you, treats you with contempt, scratches and bites you whne you try to pet it, and so on. Why not just make a game where you get to raise a teenager?!
Don't get me wrong, I own two cats and love them both. They just don't have the same cuddle factor as a puppy. And they sure as hell can't be taught - or more to the point, they choose to do nothing that might please their owner!
No, it wasn't. The Intellivision's CPU was actually a 16-bit processor. The common misconception of the Intellivision as a 10-bit system comes from the fact that since the majority of it's commands were 10 bits long, the game cartridges used 10-bit ROMs. The CPU also handled 8-, 14-, and 16-bit commands and data. When the occasional 14- or 16-bit command was used, it would be stored in two 10-bit words (a bidecle) with the excess bits ignored.
I should point out also that the bit width of the famicom-on-a-chip makes no difference for the Intellivision 25-in-1 game unit, since the hardware is NOT running an emulator. Those games are all re-written (or ported) to run on the famiclone hardware.
For technical information on the Intellivision, from the same people who programmed it back in the 80's, visit the following link:
One of my favorites was in Pitfall, The Mayan Adventure. Inside the game was the original Atari 2600 Pitfall.
You think that one was good? Play Pitfall II on either the Atari 5200 game system or Atari 400/800/XL/XE computer series. This version had an entire extra hidden level at the end of the game, every bit as big as the game itself was!
The only courts that should be involved should be the civil courts.
Why? Isn't fraud a felony? When he used a bot, he cheated, which means the virtual booty he snatched was obtained by FRAUD. I admit I know very little about Japanese law, but a country where it is illegal to sell a used video game probably has a pretty dim view of fraud.
no one was deprived of any non-imaginary property.
Wrong. By selling the items for real world cash, the crook himself proved that these virtual objects have real value. So through his fraud he deprived his victims of the value of those items. Had he played by the rules and not used a bot, then I would agree there is no case.
when you play a game that requires you to use real money to buy things and you know it is possible to get mugged, then you are accepting the risk that someone will steal everything from you.
I accept these same risks everyday when I walk out of my house. But I also know that if somebody stole money from me, I can expect the police to do something about it.
What the solution should be is that the developers should ban the guy with the bot, return all the items to their old owners and fix the issue. Instead, they call the cops and claim its a crime.
You really think banning an account would have stopped the guy? He was making money! How could they prevent him from simply opening a new account and starting all over again?
If the criminal in question had not taken ill-gotten virtual goods, and sold them for real money, this would be different. Then the whole issue of punishment could be carried out in the virtual world. But he did cross that line from virtual crime to real world crime, and now he must face the courts.
I think you are confusing two different ideas here. If this fellow had attacked a passerby on the street in the same manner (programming a robot to beat him senseless and take his loot) he would be guilty of both assault and robbery.
In the virtual world, however, there is no physical contact or threat of bodily harm, so there would be no case for an assault charge. However, since the virtual items stolen are in effect just data, and that data had a real world monetary value, they could very easily make a case for computer theft. In these terms, what happened isn't much different from electronically removing money from somebody's bank account and depositing it in your own.
Crap. I goofed up my stats, turns out the number I posted for the Japanese sales was actually for software sales ONLY in 2003. A little further research gave me not only the correct number for 2003, but I also found data for 2004. The following are my corrections for 2003, plus the same data for 2004:
USA in 2003: Population....................291 million people Percentage playing games......50% Hardware and software sales...$10 billion
Japan in 2003: Population....................128 million people Percentage playing games......37% Hardware and software sales...$10.37 billion
USA in 2004: Population....................293 million people Percentage playing games......50% Hardware and software sales...$9.9 billion
Japan in 2004: Population....................128 million people Percentage playing games......32% Hardware and software sales...$8.22 billion
The results:
In 2003, Japanese gamers spent $219 each video games (wow!), while Amercan gamers spent just $68.70. In 2004, Japanese gamers cut their spending to $200.70, while their American counterparts dropped to $67.60.
So even with the huge drop of revenue in 2004, Japanese gamers still outspent Americans by roughly three to one. Microsoft would be foolish to ignore those numbers.
BTW, I should point out that the source for the Japanese sales figures, CESA, blames the majority of the drop in 2004 on console price cuts and Sony's PS2 shortage that year. (Software sales in 2004 had actually increased 9% over 2003.)
I gathered the following stats from various sources via Google:
USA in 2003: Population....................291 million people Percentage playing games......50% Hardware and software sales...$10 billion
Japan in 2003: Population....................128 million people Percentage playing games......37% Hardware and software sales...$4.1 billion
The bottom line: The average Japanese gamer spent $86.50 on their hobby that year, while Americans only spent $68.70 the same year.
So yes, success in Japan DOES matter. While the Japanese game market has been shrinking since the year 2000, it is still worth more on a per capita basis. And when you have to weigh the cost of building a console at a per unit loss, you certainly want to attract the consumer that, on average, buys more software per console.
Why must everything in this country be cured by legislation?
If Congress isn't passing laws, then they aren't doing their job. Their sole reason to exist is to legislate. When you think about it, most laws they pass have already been written a few dozen times over. For instance, how many different laws can you pass making it illegal to kill somebody? Well, if you kill somebody, you are guilty of murder. If that person happens to be a law enforcement officer, then an extra law kicks in (in case the first jury doesn't hang you) making it illegal to kill a cop. If that cop happens to be of a different race or religion than you, then they can also nail you for violating his civil rights via murder. If you choose to use a gun instead of a knife, then there's another law they can use. And if the gun isn't properly licensed, there's another law. And if you used a certain kind of ammunition... you get the point. Congress passes laws for the sake of making itself look useful. ANYTHING Congress does is just a PR game to perpetuate the careers of those who are already there.
Over time, this country has learned that some of those values (sexism, racism, etc.) are immoral, and American society has largely discarded them.
You don't say it, but you suggest that this is not the case in Europe. And that is false.
I apologize, that was not my intention. I assumed that my comments about Europe's rejection of the values of the Nazi and Fascist governments of the 1930s and '40s would convey that Europe had turned away from these attitudes sooner than the USA.
True, but don't underestimate the power of the masses that get rallied easily. The problem is never the people who can and do think for themselves.
Excellent point. This is exactly how those repressive governments came to power.
In any European country, there is not that much emphasis put on sex
This is a stereotype, assumed to be true based on incomplete or circumstantial evidence. Truth is, many European nations have laws regarding sexual content in media, ESPECIALLY when it comes to such content being exposed to children. Yes, public nudity may be more socially acceptable in France than, say, Missouri. But what about Poland? Or Ireland? Germany? The UK? To simply say all Europeans accept all sexuality openly, and all Americans repress it, is absurd.
The difference is a matter of politics and history. Europe was once quite conservative, and many Europeans brought these attitudes to America when they moved here. But during the Great Depression, many ultra conservative governments took power in Europe. After WWII, there was a backlash against the intolerance of the Nazis and the Fascists. But in the USA things went differently. America did not experience the same horrors in the course of the war, just as they did not experience the same repression prior to the war. So Americans did not abandon their social and political intolerance. Over time, this country has learned that some of those values (sexism, racism, etc.) are immoral, and American society has largely discarded them.
Now back to the issue at hand. Regardless of where you fall on the matter of sexuality and violence in media, essentially the country has accepted the notion that it is up to the parents to decide what their chidren should be exposed to. Because of the vast difference of religious and social values in the USA, the sensitive topics of sex and violence have become the subject of ratings systems - in movies, television, music, and games. So it may seem we are unreasonably upset or sensitive to something like a bare breast. But the truth is, the ratings exist to help the public decide if the content in question falls within their personal levels of tolerance. And it is the same in Europe, and Australia, and Asia, and so on. Any country that prides itself on freedom allows it's people to choose for themselves.
As others have said before, Jack's yelling and screaming on these issues is merely a reflection of his own desire for prestige, and perhaps even political clout. Sales numbers reflect that in fact, most parents are comfortable that they (and perhaps their children) can handle the content of the games he attacks. So don't use the ranting of loudmouth nutjobs to judge the level of intolerance of a society. Clearly a great number of Americans are comfortable with the content of R rated movies and M rated games - they just aren't making much noise about it.
Finally, RPGs must be built upon a system of rules and statistics that are used to resolve the events that take place in the world.
Clearly the author is not familair with Paranoia, an excellent (pen & paper) RPG in which player characters rarely survive to partake in another adventure, and many aspects of the game (such as the combat system) were completely non-existant. (Game Masters were encouraged to punish and/or kill off players who simply hid or took only rudimentary action, while rewarding the most audacious and outrageous actions with success.)
Needless to say, paranoia existed not only between the characters in the game, but between the players and the GM as well!
Believe it or not, audio visualation has been present on just about every cd-based console
What I've seen on other consoles has been so simplistic and uninteresting I'm surprised anybody bothered to call them visualizations. I suppose I am being harsh, but I guess having seen the VLM before seeing the others in action kinda ruined me for other console visualizers.:-)
Interestingly, the ill-fated Atari Jaguar CD addon actually had this feature built into its hardware. It basically projected a fancy looking light show from the drive while audio CDs were playing. Obviously wasn't appealing enough that people actually decided to buy it though.
Actually, many people HAVE bought it, just for this feature. But back in the day? Consider that to use the JagCD, you had to already own the Jaguar. And if you didn't own one, you were talking about a $250 investment in hardware ($100 for Jag, $150 for Jag CD) just to see pretty pictures on your TV while listening to music. These days, a Jag + JagCD would probably still set you back $75 to $100, still a lot of money for a gimmick (albeit a very cool one).
BTW, I'm surprised nobody has brought up the ORIGINAL light synth, the Atari Video Music.
>> there weren't really any cd games worth purchasing made for the system > >Believe it or not, Battlemorph was a great game. Even the critics agreed on that one...
I agree, Battlemorph was good. Iron Soldier 2 was also pretty good. But that about does it for Jag CD games. (Good ones, anyway.)
Now back to the topic at hand - the VLM (Virtual Light Machine) built into the JagCD was quite incredible. I've seen many imitators on the PC, but none seemed to look quite as good (especially full screen and with that many colors). Apparently the VLM would intercept music data as it was streamed off the CD, and used that data to directly create the stunning visual effects via the DSP.
Now I can't believe it has taken this long for somebody to try to replicate that idea. I especially expected to Sony to give it a shot, since they are after all in the business of selling audio CD's, and this would enhance that experience.
It would be interesting to see game developers post a small table consisting of a list of functions promised in the press-releases, interviews,.plans, etc (note that this only applies to the publicity-related activities, and not internal company dialogue) and then a check next to each feature that was actually implimented.
Why wait for somebody else to implement this? Why not do it on your own? I think a feature like that alongside a standard game review would go a long way to making a video game website much more interesting. It's a great idea, you should run with it.
How can you have an article about one-button games and not mention that classic Atari 2600 homebrew, JoustPong?!? (Now known as "Flap-Ping" since Atari whined about the use of the word "Pong" in the title.)
Here's a link to the Usenet discussion that led to the creation of the game. Note the tendency towards KSS (Kitchen Sick Syndrome) by a few of the posters.;)
Content (of ideas) falls squarely under the protection of the First Amendment (esp. if it is political content). So if a state legislature tried to have guidelines over what constitutes acceptable content the Supreme Court (and probably the District and Circuit courts way before) will hold the law to be unconstitutional.
Yes, one would hope. Funny thing is, nobody thought Hitler would dismantle the German government either. Like I said, I know I sound alarmist. But people MUST think about the broader implications that come with these political moves. Logically, I realize how unlikely it is that the Thought Police will haul me away and lock me up. But I sure as hell am not going to let them get their foot in the door.
Why is it, then, that American culture is accepting of displays of violence in movies and on TV, but the hint of a nipple in a game or TV show is so scandalous?
This sort of blanket generalization is just as ignorant as those being made by the people passing the law.
Anything that excites or arouses in ANY manner is bound to be considered dangerous by somebody.
What on earth is the point of your esrb rating system if it is not used
The difference here is HOW it is used. The ESRB is a voluntary system at every level - the publishers voluntarily put the ratings on the boxes, the retailer voluntarily chooses to restrict sales based on the ratings, and parents voluntarily choose to observe the ratings when they purchase games for their kids. In my experience, the majority of retailers DO restrict sales to minors, and most parents DO understand the ratings system. In fact, it seems the only people to witness wanton disregard for the ESRB ratings are the people who want them to be codified into law.
What makes this law significant is that movies and music, which also have been subjected to voluntary ratings systems, are NOT restricted by law! This legislation gives creedence to the idea that a form of media can be just as dangerous and unhealthy as alcohol and cigarettes in the hands of a minor.
Historically, there has always been conflict between generations as new forms of expression are invented and embraced. Look at historical reactions to movies, comic books, jazz, swing, rock, punk, and so on. But aside from the occasional town ordinance, a form of expression has not been placed under such legal restriction - until now. This is a dangerous precedent. What happens when they decide that not only are certain forms of media harmful, but that certain IDEAS are dangerous? Who gets to choose these ideas?
Some may regard legal restrictions on game sales to be a logical step, but they are starting down a slippery slope with this law. Right now it is violent and sexual content. Next it could be foul language or depictions of smoking & drinking. And after that? Outlaw the expression of certain political ideas? It may seem extreme, but it is a logical progression. This is tyranny of the majority, outlawing socially unpopular notions. Right now, it is the sex and violence that is unpopular and alarming to the majority. Once they are gone, what will replace them?
I know I sound alarmist, but as I said - this is a dangerous precedent. This is a legal restriction against the expression of certain ideas. We must all be vigilant to make sure things don't get out of hand.
I agree, I have always thought Paranoia would make a great game. And multiplayer online would be very cool. But it should NOT be a persistant MMORPG! 99% of the fun of Paranoia was burning through all six of your clones in a single day, in as violently entertaining a manner as possible! I don't think I ever knew anyone that had a character advance past security clearance orange!
I normally slag off Microsoft like everyone else, but in this case it seems like they had a clue.
I agree completely. Having the VLM (lightsynth) built in to the JagCD was perhaps that doomed unit's single greatest saving grace. I was surprised when the Dreamcast, Playstation 2, and Xbox did not bother to include a similair feature even though all those units were developed post-Jag and all featured audio CD playback.
I have to disagree with your assessment. For me, Next Generation always stood out for three reasons:
- The magazine was written for adults.
Of course, NOT in the sense that Maxim is written for adults! I simply mean the literary style was devoid of the silliness of most mags, and certainly lacking the sophmoric Beavis-and-Butthead style antics often found in the current crop.
- The game reviewers were extraordinarily tough.
My rule of thumb was that if a game scored at least a 7 in Next Gen, I would love it. They were usually quite brutal in their reviews, savaging titles for even the most trivial of flaws.
- The magazine's bias was much less pronounced compared to other magazines, and it was clear they made efforts to hide it.
Any fanboy can pick up a magazine, and scream that any comment critical of their platform of choice proves the rag in question is biased. But Next Gen was always extremely fair in their treatment of all platforms. Even the much maligned Atari Jaguar received a relatively fair treatment at their hands. For instance, I remember quite clearly comparing the coverage of the 1995 E3 in several different magazines. I focused on write-ups of the individual console makers (Sega, Sony, Nintendo, 3DO, and Atari), and decided to count the number of both positive and negative adjectives in each one. (I thought this would be more objective than simply judging the relative 'feel' of the individual articles.) I found that most magazines treated the big 3 pretty equally with very positive writeups. Similarily, the 3DO articles were pretty well balanced. But when they wrote about Atari, there were approximately twice as many negative adjectives as positive.
Next Generation's approach to the 1995 E3 was dramatically different. They had the EXACT SAME NUMBER of positive and negative adjectives in their coverage of Sony, Sega, Nintendo, and 3DO. Their Atari coverage also had the same number of positive adjectives, though it did have two more negative adjectives than the other console makers. For me, this clearly showed that they were making a tremendous effort to overcome whatever personal bias they may have had to present a fair and objective coverage of the industry as a whole.
There is a psychological barrier that transcends economic conditions, a point at which something simply feels too expensive for the majority of consumers. For handheld videogames, that number is $100. And for game consoles, it is $200. Below these price points, there is mass market appeal.
The DS, thanks to years of Gameboy momentum, has surprised many of us by having an impressive launch despite the $150 price tag. People could look at recently $100 GBA-SP, then at a DS, and see a lot of hardware added to a system that keeps on delivering great entertainment. It made the price point acceptable, if still a bit high.
Then along comes the PSP, priced much higher than a full blown PS2 and yet clearly not as powerful as one, and the mass market chokes. Clearly it is a beautiful, even elegant machine, but $250?!? Holy crap!
But we shouldn't ignore timing. Nintendo rolled out there new baby in time for the Christmas holidays. When many people are not only running about in a frantic orgy of consumer spending, but are also contemplating the long winter months of indoor confinement. Sony, on the other hand, launched the PSP when many people are preoccupied with their tax bills, and those with extra cash are looking forward to fun in the sun during the impending spring and summer months ahead. If anything, I'd say the Easter launch window was just as bad an idea as the $250 price point.
such a price point was enough of a turn-off for me
I never intended to buy a PSP on day one, and in all honesty I probably won't buy one ever, so take my comments with a grain of salt. But to see the unit debut in Japan so much cheaper than here in the USA just plain stinks. Hell, imagine how badly Europe is going to get screwed!
And to add insult to injury, I didn't hear these dead pixel complaints from the Japanese buyers. Did they really slap together an inferior product for export, then jack up the price to underwrite a discount for the consumers back home?!
Granted, I can't say for sure this is what happened. But if it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck....
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I'm actually hoping they make a Nintencats though
Now there's an idea. A game in which you get to raise an animal that ignores you, treats you with contempt, scratches and bites you whne you try to pet it, and so on. Why not just make a game where you get to raise a teenager?!
Don't get me wrong, I own two cats and love them both. They just don't have the same cuddle factor as a puppy. And they sure as hell can't be taught - or more to the point, they choose to do nothing that might please their owner!
the Intellivision was a base 10 system
No, it wasn't. The Intellivision's CPU was actually a 16-bit processor. The common misconception of the Intellivision as a 10-bit system comes from the fact that since the majority of it's commands were 10 bits long, the game cartridges used 10-bit ROMs. The CPU also handled 8-, 14-, and 16-bit commands and data. When the occasional 14- or 16-bit command was used, it would be stored in two 10-bit words (a bidecle) with the excess bits ignored.
I should point out also that the bit width of the famicom-on-a-chip makes no difference for the Intellivision 25-in-1 game unit, since the hardware is NOT running an emulator. Those games are all re-written (or ported) to run on the famiclone hardware.
For technical information on the Intellivision, from the same people who programmed it back in the 80's, visit the following link:
http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/hardwar
One of my favorites was in Pitfall, The Mayan Adventure. Inside the game was the original Atari 2600 Pitfall.
You think that one was good? Play Pitfall II on either the Atari 5200 game system or Atari 400/800/XL/XE computer series. This version had an entire extra hidden level at the end of the game, every bit as big as the game itself was!
The only courts that should be involved should be the civil courts.
Why? Isn't fraud a felony? When he used a bot, he cheated, which means the virtual booty he snatched was obtained by FRAUD. I admit I know very little about Japanese law, but a country where it is illegal to sell a used video game probably has a pretty dim view of fraud.
no one was deprived of any non-imaginary property.
Wrong. By selling the items for real world cash, the crook himself proved that these virtual objects have real value. So through his fraud he deprived his victims of the value of those items. Had he played by the rules and not used a bot, then I would agree there is no case.
when you play a game that requires you to use real money to buy things and you know it is possible to get mugged, then you are accepting the risk that someone will steal everything from you.
I accept these same risks everyday when I walk out of my house. But I also know that if somebody stole money from me, I can expect the police to do something about it.
What the solution should be is that the developers should ban the guy with the bot, return all the items to their old owners and fix the issue. Instead, they call the cops and claim its a crime.
You really think banning an account would have stopped the guy? He was making money! How could they prevent him from simply opening a new account and starting all over again?
If the criminal in question had not taken ill-gotten virtual goods, and sold them for real money, this would be different. Then the whole issue of punishment could be carried out in the virtual world. But he did cross that line from virtual crime to real world crime, and now he must face the courts.
>No crime, IMHO, was committed.
I think you are confusing two different ideas here. If this fellow had attacked a passerby on the street in the same manner (programming a robot to beat him senseless and take his loot) he would be guilty of both assault and robbery.
In the virtual world, however, there is no physical contact or threat of bodily harm, so there would be no case for an assault charge. However, since the virtual items stolen are in effect just data, and that data had a real world monetary value, they could very easily make a case for computer theft. In these terms, what happened isn't much different from electronically removing money from somebody's bank account and depositing it in your own.
Crap. I goofed up my stats, turns out the number I posted for the Japanese sales was actually for software sales ONLY in 2003. A little further research gave me not only the correct number for 2003, but I also found data for 2004. The following are my corrections for 2003, plus the same data for 2004:
USA in 2003:
Population....................291 million people
Percentage playing games......50%
Hardware and software sales...$10 billion
Japan in 2003:
Population....................128 million people
Percentage playing games......37%
Hardware and software sales...$10.37 billion
USA in 2004:
Population....................293 million people
Percentage playing games......50%
Hardware and software sales...$9.9 billion
Japan in 2004:
Population....................128 million people
Percentage playing games......32%
Hardware and software sales...$8.22 billion
The results:
In 2003, Japanese gamers spent $219 each video games (wow!), while Amercan gamers spent just $68.70. In 2004, Japanese gamers cut their spending to $200.70, while their American counterparts dropped to $67.60.
So even with the huge drop of revenue in 2004, Japanese gamers still outspent Americans by roughly three to one. Microsoft would be foolish to ignore those numbers.
BTW, I should point out that the source for the Japanese sales figures, CESA, blames the majority of the drop in 2004 on console price cuts and Sony's PS2 shortage that year. (Software sales in 2004 had actually increased 9% over 2003.)
I gathered the following stats from various sources via Google:
USA in 2003:
Population....................291 million people
Percentage playing games......50%
Hardware and software sales...$10 billion
Japan in 2003:
Population....................128 million people
Percentage playing games......37%
Hardware and software sales...$4.1 billion
The bottom line: The average Japanese gamer spent $86.50 on their hobby that year, while Americans only spent $68.70 the same year.
So yes, success in Japan DOES matter. While the Japanese game market has been shrinking since the year 2000, it is still worth more on a per capita basis. And when you have to weigh the cost of building a console at a per unit loss, you certainly want to attract the consumer that, on average, buys more software per console.
Why must everything in this country be cured by legislation?
If Congress isn't passing laws, then they aren't doing their job. Their sole reason to exist is to legislate. When you think about it, most laws they pass have already been written a few dozen times over. For instance, how many different laws can you pass making it illegal to kill somebody? Well, if you kill somebody, you are guilty of murder. If that person happens to be a law enforcement officer, then an extra law kicks in (in case the first jury doesn't hang you) making it illegal to kill a cop. If that cop happens to be of a different race or religion than you, then they can also nail you for violating his civil rights via murder. If you choose to use a gun instead of a knife, then there's another law they can use. And if the gun isn't properly licensed, there's another law. And if you used a certain kind of ammunition... you get the point. Congress passes laws for the sake of making itself look useful. ANYTHING Congress does is just a PR game to perpetuate the careers of those who are already there.
Over time, this country has learned that some of those values (sexism, racism, etc.) are immoral, and American society has largely discarded them.
You don't say it, but you suggest that this is not the case in Europe. And that is false.
I apologize, that was not my intention. I assumed that my comments about Europe's rejection of the values of the Nazi and Fascist governments of the 1930s and '40s would convey that Europe had turned away from these attitudes sooner than the USA.
True, but don't underestimate the power of the masses that get rallied easily. The problem is never the people who can and do think for themselves.
Excellent point. This is exactly how those repressive governments came to power.
In any European country, there is not that much emphasis put on sex
This is a stereotype, assumed to be true based on incomplete or circumstantial evidence. Truth is, many European nations have laws regarding sexual content in media, ESPECIALLY when it comes to such content being exposed to children. Yes, public nudity may be more socially acceptable in France than, say, Missouri. But what about Poland? Or Ireland? Germany? The UK? To simply say all Europeans accept all sexuality openly, and all Americans repress it, is absurd.
The difference is a matter of politics and history. Europe was once quite conservative, and many Europeans brought these attitudes to America when they moved here. But during the Great Depression, many ultra conservative governments took power in Europe. After WWII, there was a backlash against the intolerance of the Nazis and the Fascists. But in the USA things went differently. America did not experience the same horrors in the course of the war, just as they did not experience the same repression prior to the war. So Americans did not abandon their social and political intolerance. Over time, this country has learned that some of those values (sexism, racism, etc.) are immoral, and American society has largely discarded them.
Now back to the issue at hand. Regardless of where you fall on the matter of sexuality and violence in media, essentially the country has accepted the notion that it is up to the parents to decide what their chidren should be exposed to. Because of the vast difference of religious and social values in the USA, the sensitive topics of sex and violence have become the subject of ratings systems - in movies, television, music, and games. So it may seem we are unreasonably upset or sensitive to something like a bare breast. But the truth is, the ratings exist to help the public decide if the content in question falls within their personal levels of tolerance. And it is the same in Europe, and Australia, and Asia, and so on. Any country that prides itself on freedom allows it's people to choose for themselves.
As others have said before, Jack's yelling and screaming on these issues is merely a reflection of his own desire for prestige, and perhaps even political clout. Sales numbers reflect that in fact, most parents are comfortable that they (and perhaps their children) can handle the content of the games he attacks. So don't use the ranting of loudmouth nutjobs to judge the level of intolerance of a society. Clearly a great number of Americans are comfortable with the content of R rated movies and M rated games - they just aren't making much noise about it.
Finally, RPGs must be built upon a system of rules and statistics that are used to resolve the events that take place in the world.
Clearly the author is not familair with Paranoia, an excellent (pen & paper) RPG in which player characters rarely survive to partake in another adventure, and many aspects of the game (such as the combat system) were completely non-existant. (Game Masters were encouraged to punish and/or kill off players who simply hid or took only rudimentary action, while rewarding the most audacious and outrageous actions with success.)
Needless to say, paranoia existed not only between the characters in the game, but between the players and the GM as well!
Believe it or not, audio visualation has been present on just about every cd-based console
What I've seen on other consoles has been so simplistic and uninteresting I'm surprised anybody bothered to call them visualizations. I suppose I am being harsh, but I guess having seen the VLM before seeing the others in action kinda ruined me for other console visualizers.
Interestingly, the ill-fated Atari Jaguar CD addon actually had this feature built into its hardware. It basically projected a fancy looking light show from the drive while audio CDs were playing.
Obviously wasn't appealing enough that people actually decided to buy it though.
Actually, many people HAVE bought it, just for this feature. But back in the day? Consider that to use the JagCD, you had to already own the Jaguar. And if you didn't own one, you were talking about a $250 investment in hardware ($100 for Jag, $150 for Jag CD) just to see pretty pictures on your TV while listening to music. These days, a Jag + JagCD would probably still set you back $75 to $100, still a lot of money for a gimmick (albeit a very cool one).
BTW, I'm surprised nobody has brought up the ORIGINAL light synth, the Atari Video Music.
>> there weren't really any cd games worth purchasing made for the system
>
>Believe it or not, Battlemorph was a great game. Even the critics agreed on that one...
I agree, Battlemorph was good. Iron Soldier 2 was also pretty good. But that about does it for Jag CD games. (Good ones, anyway.)
Now back to the topic at hand - the VLM (Virtual Light Machine) built into the JagCD was quite incredible. I've seen many imitators on the PC, but none seemed to look quite as good (especially full screen and with that many colors). Apparently the VLM would intercept music data as it was streamed off the CD, and used that data to directly create the stunning visual effects via the DSP.
Now I can't believe it has taken this long for somebody to try to replicate that idea. I especially expected to Sony to give it a shot, since they are after all in the business of selling audio CD's, and this would enhance that experience.
It would be interesting to see game developers post a small table consisting of a list of functions promised in the press-releases, interviews,
Why wait for somebody else to implement this? Why not do it on your own? I think a feature like that alongside a standard game review would go a long way to making a video game website much more interesting. It's a great idea, you should run with it.
How can you have an article about one-button games and not mention that classic Atari 2600 homebrew, JoustPong?!? (Now known as "Flap-Ping" since Atari whined about the use of the word "Pong" in the title.)
;)
Here's a link to the Usenet discussion that led to the creation of the game. Note the tendency towards KSS (Kitchen Sick Syndrome) by a few of the posters.
Content (of ideas) falls squarely under the protection of the First Amendment (esp. if it is political content). So if a state legislature tried to have guidelines over what constitutes acceptable content the Supreme Court (and probably the District and Circuit courts way before) will hold the law to be unconstitutional.
Yes, one would hope. Funny thing is, nobody thought Hitler would dismantle the German government either. Like I said, I know I sound alarmist. But people MUST think about the broader implications that come with these political moves. Logically, I realize how unlikely it is that the Thought Police will haul me away and lock me up. But I sure as hell am not going to let them get their foot in the door.
Why is it, then, that American culture is accepting of displays of violence in movies and on TV, but the hint of a nipple in a game or TV show is so scandalous?
This sort of blanket generalization is just as ignorant as those being made by the people passing the law.
Anything that excites or arouses in ANY manner is bound to be considered dangerous by somebody.
Why, oh why, are people so fucking stupid?
Because they can!
What on earth is the point of your esrb rating system if it is not used
The difference here is HOW it is used. The ESRB is a voluntary system at every level - the publishers voluntarily put the ratings on the boxes, the retailer voluntarily chooses to restrict sales based on the ratings, and parents voluntarily choose to observe the ratings when they purchase games for their kids. In my experience, the majority of retailers DO restrict sales to minors, and most parents DO understand the ratings system. In fact, it seems the only people to witness wanton disregard for the ESRB ratings are the people who want them to be codified into law.
What makes this law significant is that movies and music, which also have been subjected to voluntary ratings systems, are NOT restricted by law! This legislation gives creedence to the idea that a form of media can be just as dangerous and unhealthy as alcohol and cigarettes in the hands of a minor.
Historically, there has always been conflict between generations as new forms of expression are invented and embraced. Look at historical reactions to movies, comic books, jazz, swing, rock, punk, and so on. But aside from the occasional town ordinance, a form of expression has not been placed under such legal restriction - until now. This is a dangerous precedent. What happens when they decide that not only are certain forms of media harmful, but that certain IDEAS are dangerous? Who gets to choose these ideas?
Some may regard legal restrictions on game sales to be a logical step, but they are starting down a slippery slope with this law. Right now it is violent and sexual content. Next it could be foul language or depictions of smoking & drinking. And after that? Outlaw the expression of certain political ideas? It may seem extreme, but it is a logical progression. This is tyranny of the majority, outlawing socially unpopular notions. Right now, it is the sex and violence that is unpopular and alarming to the majority. Once they are gone, what will replace them?
I know I sound alarmist, but as I said - this is a dangerous precedent. This is a legal restriction against the expression of certain ideas. We must all be vigilant to make sure things don't get out of hand.
I agree, I have always thought Paranoia would make a great game. And multiplayer online would be very cool. But it should NOT be a persistant MMORPG! 99% of the fun of Paranoia was burning through all six of your clones in a single day, in as violently entertaining a manner as possible! I don't think I ever knew anyone that had a character advance past security clearance orange!
Happiness is mandatory. Are you Happy?
I normally slag off Microsoft like everyone else, but in this case it seems like they had a clue.
I agree completely. Having the VLM (lightsynth) built in to the JagCD was perhaps that doomed unit's single greatest saving grace. I was surprised when the Dreamcast, Playstation 2, and Xbox did not bother to include a similair feature even though all those units were developed post-Jag and all featured audio CD playback.
I have to disagree with your assessment. For me, Next Generation always stood out for three reasons:
- The magazine was written for adults.
Of course, NOT in the sense that Maxim is written for adults! I simply mean the literary style was devoid of the silliness of most mags, and certainly lacking the sophmoric Beavis-and-Butthead style antics often found in the current crop.
- The game reviewers were extraordinarily tough.
My rule of thumb was that if a game scored at least a 7 in Next Gen, I would love it. They were usually quite brutal in their reviews, savaging titles for even the most trivial of flaws.
- The magazine's bias was much less pronounced compared to other magazines, and it was clear they made efforts to hide it.
Any fanboy can pick up a magazine, and scream that any comment critical of their platform of choice proves the rag in question is biased. But Next Gen was always extremely fair in their treatment of all platforms. Even the much maligned Atari Jaguar received a relatively fair treatment at their hands. For instance, I remember quite clearly comparing the coverage of the 1995 E3 in several different magazines. I focused on write-ups of the individual console makers (Sega, Sony, Nintendo, 3DO, and Atari), and decided to count the number of both positive and negative adjectives in each one. (I thought this would be more objective than simply judging the relative 'feel' of the individual articles.) I found that most magazines treated the big 3 pretty equally with very positive writeups. Similarily, the 3DO articles were pretty well balanced. But when they wrote about Atari, there were approximately twice as many negative adjectives as positive.
Next Generation's approach to the 1995 E3 was dramatically different. They had the EXACT SAME NUMBER of positive and negative adjectives in their coverage of Sony, Sega, Nintendo, and 3DO. Their Atari coverage also had the same number of positive adjectives, though it did have two more negative adjectives than the other console makers. For me, this clearly showed that they were making a tremendous effort to overcome whatever personal bias they may have had to present a fair and objective coverage of the industry as a whole.
There is a psychological barrier that transcends economic conditions, a point at which something simply feels too expensive for the majority of consumers. For handheld videogames, that number is $100. And for game consoles, it is $200. Below these price points, there is mass market appeal.
The DS, thanks to years of Gameboy momentum, has surprised many of us by having an impressive launch despite the $150 price tag. People could look at recently $100 GBA-SP, then at a DS, and see a lot of hardware added to a system that keeps on delivering great entertainment. It made the price point acceptable, if still a bit high.
Then along comes the PSP, priced much higher than a full blown PS2 and yet clearly not as powerful as one, and the mass market chokes. Clearly it is a beautiful, even elegant machine, but $250?!? Holy crap!
But we shouldn't ignore timing. Nintendo rolled out there new baby in time for the Christmas holidays. When many people are not only running about in a frantic orgy of consumer spending, but are also contemplating the long winter months of indoor confinement. Sony, on the other hand, launched the PSP when many people are preoccupied with their tax bills, and those with extra cash are looking forward to fun in the sun during the impending spring and summer months ahead. If anything, I'd say the Easter launch window was just as bad an idea as the $250 price point.
such a price point was enough of a turn-off for me
I never intended to buy a PSP on day one, and in all honesty I probably won't buy one ever, so take my comments with a grain of salt. But to see the unit debut in Japan so much cheaper than here in the USA just plain stinks. Hell, imagine how badly Europe is going to get screwed!
And to add insult to injury, I didn't hear these dead pixel complaints from the Japanese buyers. Did they really slap together an inferior product for export, then jack up the price to underwrite a discount for the consumers back home?!
Granted, I can't say for sure this is what happened. But if it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck....