Romeo and Juliet . . . ?
Seriously, I mean, it's a spin off of a remake of an old show, but due they have to use a description that makes it sound like there is NOTHING original about it?
This is not the case. About a month ago, i decided i wanted to finally unlock the acheivement on Uno for winning 10 Live matches. The experience was less then desirable . . .
It have reached a point where i don't play games online unless i know you personally. Furthermore, i only do that when playing in the same room is not an option ( Co-op on Gears of War, for example. ) The reason is quick simple. If i can't smack the ever living @$%^@ out of them for being retarded, then they're going to be retarded.
When ask.com was actually new, you could ask it "What is the average air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?", and it would reply with "What do you mean, African or European?" I always got a kick out of that.
No, I'm not kidding. I don't care what the screenshots look like. If the "next-gen" system cost less then a DS, then I would be VERY skeptical of the product.
It's hard to really tell one way or the other, but he could have a point. I think the price-point of the 360 was less a function of the value and more a function of the perceived value. If the system cost too much, people wouldn't think they were getting their mony's worth. If the system cost too little, people wouldn't take it as a serious piece of hardware.
I think the biggest problem was the enforced bundle. No, I'm not talking about the way gamestop raped their customers. I'm talking about the core vs. premium. I think MS could have had a much more effective launch by sellng a single $350 unit that was the system, wireless controller, play and charge adaptor, and s-video cables. Everything else could be an add on for a "reasonable" price. Think about it, the only thing missing is the hard-drive. Sell it at $75 dollars and force the early adopters to HDTV, who probably could afford one more perchase, to purchase the HD cables, and you have a console that implies the true capibilities of the system.
I have to agree with the idea on casual games. I am surprised, however, that it hasn't been carried through to other game formats. I'm in the middle of about 3 or 4 games right now that I would love to finish. all three require you to go to a savepoint. The problem is that, as the game progresses, the savepoints get further and further apart. Therefore, I get 20 hours into a 30 hour game, but I can't finish it because I don't have a block of 4 hours to set aside to get to the next checkpoint.
The problem isn't going to be fixed with edispodic content. As long as the game makers keep placing checkpoints farther and farther away to increase difficulty, then the problem will always persist.
I think the idea that it was signed to USA is very good. The key reason being the fact that USA is owned by NBC. This gives an avenue for gaming to cross over into major networks.
I must say, you have the greatest point of all in there. Wal-Mart wasn't this "evil" during the Sam Walton era. At least, it was a different evil . . .
Sam Walton believe in good quality at good prices. To do this, he bought in high volumn and distributed himself to cut costs. He also would screw over his employees before he'd screw over a consumer.
These days, Wal-Mart still does the high volumn purchases and screws over the employees. However, they added low quality goods to the equation. This allows them to afford some lube before they screw over their employees. Some, but not much.
Truth is, as most people have said, the choice is to the consumer. If you don't like Wal-Mart, don't shop there. I shop at Wal-Mart. I've even bought games at Wal-Mart. Do I feel like I'm feeding some evil empire? No.
I have large amounts of friends that refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. That's their choise.
As far as i'm concerned, I see the convience of having everything under one roof a good thing. If the employees are gettng screwed that bad, they'd all quit. Hell, they do all quit. There is a HIGH rate of turnover at Wal-Mart. Of course, most of the people i know that have worked at Wal-Mart for length do so as supplemental income. Think about it. I have a good coding job. My girlfriend used to work at Wal-Mart. So, we had my income, with some added in from her, combined with a discount off goods at the store.
I think the critics have something correct to say. I absolutely hated KOTOR and found it completely unplayable due to the fact that it never felt like I was controlling the character. The controls for battle were completely disjointed from the on-screen action. If the new FF has the same schema, I think it really will alienate the die-hard fans. Of course, it could also help pick-up all those XBox players that made KOTOR game of the year . . .
I happen to work for a company that makes software for libraries to do exactly what you want to do. Unfortunately, our product is closed source and can be pricey, so i'm not going to recomend us, unless asked. However, i will talk about various options.
As far as your rant about open standards goes, the libraries already have one. It's called a MARC Record (MAchine Readable Cataloging). A MARC Record has every piece of information you need, and call all be found using the ISBN on the back of the book. The ISBN is also the easiest thing to use to find MARC records. As a point, our program will completely catalog a book for you with just an ISBN.
Unfortunately, a MARC Record has WAY more information in it they you probably need. Remember, this is meant for librarians. Also, the format of the MARC Record is nothing to be taken lightly. There are lots of programs to retrieve and store MARC Records, including some great Perl tools that can be found in CPAN.
If you're a bit of a DIY person, you should be able to whip up an interface with enough information fairly easily. You basically could just use any database to store the information from the book you need, which can be retrieved from MARC Records using the ISBN. Just also store the location of the book somewhre, and you should be good to go.
i've seen a few open source library programs out there, but i don't know how well they work. i could speak volumns about all the little aspects of library automation software, but they are WELL above what your needs probably are. Librarians have to be able to produce lots of rports on every aspect of the library in order to secure funding and such. That's why most of the of professional product and be so pricey.
If you want any further advice or specifics about anything, i;d be happy to help out. You can send me an email.
I admit, I'm a whore for the packaging. However, I do like that I can buy it, listen to it in my car for a week or two, bring it in the house, and rip it to my mp3 collection of all 400+ cds.
Of course, I also don't have an mp3 player . . . I may be a music whore, but I'm also old fashioned. I don't want my music collection every. A couple of CDs in the car for driving, a few select mp3s at work, and my collection at home for when i'm working there or gaming. If I'm anywhere else, I just don't want it.
Of course, I have thought about getting a RCA 128mb Lyra, purely for use while mowing the lawn and such, but I really don't think that counts. Besides, doing something like mowing the lawn in me time. You know, where I can think about thinks and reflect one others.
. . . tuck me in at night and make me soup when i'm sick?
I swear, I need to start making a log of all these claims. That way, all the other technologies come around, we can see how much @$%^@ he really was spewing.
You missed linking to Nintendo Insider. They have several other commentaries, including my own, in the Gaming Gab section. ( OK, yes, it's a shameless plug. )
The quick version of my reactions is that I was worried at first. However, as I let my mind expand, and thought of other developers, such as Namco and Sega, who already push boundries with current equipemnt, such as the DS, I am beginning to really look forward to what the new system and controller have to offer.
I wasn't trying to say my opinion was the 1005 correct opinion. I was merely remarking on how you could clearly see that the games with the largest user base got the awards.
It almost falls into the idea of games from Nintendo. They're all great games. There are lots of them I don't like, but that's just because I don't like them.
Yeah, I voted for some things that didn't win, and that doesn't bother me. It just that the large number of award for Halo 2 shows where people voted for the game they knew.
Looking through the list, the lack of the words Resident and Evil was clearly obvious.
The problem with G-Phoria being a publicly voted awards show is the public. Resident Evil 4 and God of War were FAR superiour games to Halo 2. However, Halo 2 has an install base in the millions. People are gong to vote for the game they know.
I am glad the Katamari damacy won best innovation, but there was no contest. The simple fact that it did NOT win Best Origianal Soundtrack really cements my point.
This is exactly what i thought. Microsoft is asking for a 75 million dollar budget, minimum, for this movie. Last i checked, doesn't Microsoft make that in about a day?
i'm sure they could eat the cost of production for the movie, and then easily get someone to distribute it.
Slashdot Mirror
Romeo and Juliet . . . ? Seriously, I mean, it's a spin off of a remake of an old show, but due they have to use a description that makes it sound like there is NOTHING original about it?
Umm, the subject says Alabama, but the article says Arkansas . . .
This is not the case. About a month ago, i decided i wanted to finally unlock the acheivement on Uno for winning 10 Live matches. The experience was less then desirable . . .
It have reached a point where i don't play games online unless i know you personally. Furthermore, i only do that when playing in the same room is not an option ( Co-op on Gears of War, for example. ) The reason is quick simple. If i can't smack the ever living @$%^@ out of them for being retarded, then they're going to be retarded.
i have NEVER found an exception for that rule.
Gotta wonder what that insurance premium is going to look like.
When you have several billion dollars, do you even worry about insurance anymore?
When ask.com was actually new, you could ask it "What is the average air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?", and it would reply with "What do you mean, African or European?" I always got a kick out of that.
Wait, didn't Sony include the PS2 hardware into the first gen PS3s percisely so this wouldn't happen?
How can they not get 100% backwards compatibility when PS2 games run on the PS2 hardware?
What, MTV, aka Music Television, is showing games . . . ?
MTV doesn't even show music, but they're showing games?
Well, I guess if they show games, the background music will cause them to play more music in an hour then they have so far this year . . .
I knew this was going to happen a LONG time ago.
I'm surprised it took this long.
And now, after we all figure out how to mod it, I can just hear the guys from Brainiac announcing "1001 uses for a Wii" . . .
OK, good, had to get that out of my system . . .
No, I'm not kidding. I don't care what the screenshots look like. If the "next-gen" system cost less then a DS, then I would be VERY skeptical of the product.
It's hard to really tell one way or the other, but he could have a point. I think the price-point of the 360 was less a function of the value and more a function of the perceived value. If the system cost too much, people wouldn't think they were getting their mony's worth. If the system cost too little, people wouldn't take it as a serious piece of hardware.
I think the biggest problem was the enforced bundle. No, I'm not talking about the way gamestop raped their customers. I'm talking about the core vs. premium. I think MS could have had a much more effective launch by sellng a single $350 unit that was the system, wireless controller, play and charge adaptor, and s-video cables. Everything else could be an add on for a "reasonable" price. Think about it, the only thing missing is the hard-drive. Sell it at $75 dollars and force the early adopters to HDTV, who probably could afford one more perchase, to purchase the HD cables, and you have a console that implies the true capibilities of the system.
I have to agree with the idea on casual games. I am surprised, however, that it hasn't been carried through to other game formats. I'm in the middle of about 3 or 4 games right now that I would love to finish. all three require you to go to a savepoint. The problem is that, as the game progresses, the savepoints get further and further apart. Therefore, I get 20 hours into a 30 hour game, but I can't finish it because I don't have a block of 4 hours to set aside to get to the next checkpoint.
The problem isn't going to be fixed with edispodic content. As long as the game makers keep placing checkpoints farther and farther away to increase difficulty, then the problem will always persist.
I think the idea that it was signed to USA is very good. The key reason being the fact that USA is owned by NBC. This gives an avenue for gaming to cross over into major networks.
I must say, you have the greatest point of all in there. Wal-Mart wasn't this "evil" during the Sam Walton era. At least, it was a different evil . . .
Sam Walton believe in good quality at good prices. To do this, he bought in high volumn and distributed himself to cut costs. He also would screw over his employees before he'd screw over a consumer.
These days, Wal-Mart still does the high volumn purchases and screws over the employees. However, they added low quality goods to the equation. This allows them to afford some lube before they screw over their employees. Some, but not much.
Truth is, as most people have said, the choice is to the consumer. If you don't like Wal-Mart, don't shop there. I shop at Wal-Mart. I've even bought games at Wal-Mart. Do I feel like I'm feeding some evil empire? No.
I have large amounts of friends that refuse to shop at Wal-Mart. That's their choise.
As far as i'm concerned, I see the convience of having everything under one roof a good thing. If the employees are gettng screwed that bad, they'd all quit. Hell, they do all quit. There is a HIGH rate of turnover at Wal-Mart. Of course, most of the people i know that have worked at Wal-Mart for length do so as supplemental income. Think about it. I have a good coding job. My girlfriend used to work at Wal-Mart. So, we had my income, with some added in from her, combined with a discount off goods at the store.
formidable opposition from vested interests
Ok, just tell all the people in sandals and ponytails to all wear vests . . .
On second thought, I've seen people in sandals and ponytails wear vests. There is generally no shirt under the vest.
I think the critics have something correct to say. I absolutely hated KOTOR and found it completely unplayable due to the fact that it never felt like I was controlling the character. The controls for battle were completely disjointed from the on-screen action. If the new FF has the same schema, I think it really will alienate the die-hard fans. Of course, it could also help pick-up all those XBox players that made KOTOR game of the year . . .
I happen to work for a company that makes software for libraries to do exactly what you want to do. Unfortunately, our product is closed source and can be pricey, so i'm not going to recomend us, unless asked. However, i will talk about various options.
As far as your rant about open standards goes, the libraries already have one. It's called a MARC Record (MAchine Readable Cataloging). A MARC Record has every piece of information you need, and call all be found using the ISBN on the back of the book. The ISBN is also the easiest thing to use to find MARC records. As a point, our program will completely catalog a book for you with just an ISBN.
Unfortunately, a MARC Record has WAY more information in it they you probably need. Remember, this is meant for librarians. Also, the format of the MARC Record is nothing to be taken lightly. There are lots of programs to retrieve and store MARC Records, including some great Perl tools that can be found in CPAN.
If you're a bit of a DIY person, you should be able to whip up an interface with enough information fairly easily. You basically could just use any database to store the information from the book you need, which can be retrieved from MARC Records using the ISBN. Just also store the location of the book somewhre, and you should be good to go.
i've seen a few open source library programs out there, but i don't know how well they work. i could speak volumns about all the little aspects of library automation software, but they are WELL above what your needs probably are. Librarians have to be able to produce lots of rports on every aspect of the library in order to secure funding and such. That's why most of the of professional product and be so pricey.
If you want any further advice or specifics about anything, i;d be happy to help out. You can send me an email.
If they're projecting avatars for SL into a real life place, does that mean we can finally arrest the avatars for indecent exposure?
I use AIM Express, and I didn't get any forced friends. I think that's odd, expically considering Trillian users got the bots.
Amen.
I admit, I'm a whore for the packaging. However, I do like that I can buy it, listen to it in my car for a week or two, bring it in the house, and rip it to my mp3 collection of all 400+ cds.
Of course, I also don't have an mp3 player . . . I may be a music whore, but I'm also old fashioned. I don't want my music collection every. A couple of CDs in the car for driving, a few select mp3s at work, and my collection at home for when i'm working there or gaming. If I'm anywhere else, I just don't want it.
Of course, I have thought about getting a RCA 128mb Lyra, purely for use while mowing the lawn and such, but I really don't think that counts. Besides, doing something like mowing the lawn in me time. You know, where I can think about thinks and reflect one others.
Heh, like I said, I'm kinda old fashioned.
. . . tuck me in at night and make me soup when i'm sick?
I swear, I need to start making a log of all these claims. That way, all the other technologies come around, we can see how much @$%^@ he really was spewing.
You missed linking to Nintendo Insider. They have several other commentaries, including my own, in the Gaming Gab section. ( OK, yes, it's a shameless plug. )
The quick version of my reactions is that I was worried at first. However, as I let my mind expand, and thought of other developers, such as Namco and Sega, who already push boundries with current equipemnt, such as the DS, I am beginning to really look forward to what the new system and controller have to offer.
I wasn't trying to say my opinion was the 1005 correct opinion. I was merely remarking on how you could clearly see that the games with the largest user base got the awards. It almost falls into the idea of games from Nintendo. They're all great games. There are lots of them I don't like, but that's just because I don't like them. Yeah, I voted for some things that didn't win, and that doesn't bother me. It just that the large number of award for Halo 2 shows where people voted for the game they knew.
Looking through the list, the lack of the words Resident and Evil was clearly obvious.
The problem with G-Phoria being a publicly voted awards show is the public. Resident Evil 4 and God of War were FAR superiour games to Halo 2. However, Halo 2 has an install base in the millions. People are gong to vote for the game they know.
I am glad the Katamari damacy won best innovation, but there was no contest. The simple fact that it did NOT win Best Origianal Soundtrack really cements my point.
This is exactly what i thought. Microsoft is asking for a 75 million dollar budget, minimum, for this movie. Last i checked, doesn't Microsoft make that in about a day?
i'm sure they could eat the cost of production for the movie, and then easily get someone to distribute it.