As a summer hire programmer for a small business, I find it damn near impossible to focus on task as well. I find that programming small webapps and such is boring and not very stimulating, so I tend to waste time half the day reading slashdot and other various forums. However, when I do make myself stay on task, the common reasons are music, beverage of choice (sleep is hard to come by, so keeping hydrated keeps me focused), and simply the knowledge that if I don't meet such and such deadline then I'm rather screwed. I think, though, that the best way to stay focused is having a goal in mind and not stopping until you've accomplished it. That sense of accomplishment is usually enough to renew your interest in a project.
First off, I agree completely. Having watched other teams use the Waterfall method of game design and development during my previous year in school, I know just how dangerous it is to follow. Teams would find themselves in dire time crunches by the end, cutting out significant parts of their games that made them unique and interesting. The few teams that followed a methodology closer to that of Scrum where the teams that did well and managed to put out complete or near complete products that didn't lose the drive and power of their original designs.
But my post is actually due to the person who linked in the article. It seems to me like the article is discussing the RESULT of Agile strategy, which is Scrum. So I feel like I looked into the article with the wrong idea because the focus was actually on a spinoff that has been doing well.
Not sure why I posted, just figured I'd mention it. Offtopic me if you must *shrug*
As someone from within the industry, I have to shed a tear and agree. The fact is that staple products are being bought up so much that creativity really isn't pushed that much. I mean, how many people out there are guilty of supporting EA's Madden series for the last 5+ years? TONS! But I say it's only "kinda" true because there -are- games that are breaking the mold and doing damn well. Look at Katamari Damacy. I know that it's really the Japanese fanboys/girls in America that love it, but there is still a growing audience for the Katamari series now that it's reached a major popularity point. Shadow of the Colossus is another good example. This is a game that took the traditional platformer/action genre and gave it a bit of a twist that made a -very- fun to play and interesting game. So while the trend is to go with the cookie cutter games, there are still companies out there who are going the creative route and really making the money.
In response to your caffeine and cocaine comment, you're not quite right. First for background info: Caffeine, if I remember correctly, is a cyclo-hexane based molecule that is actually in the family of itself, Nicotine, Morphine and Heroine. The family is as such because all contain the cyclo-hexane ring, and the family shares the attribute of being an addictive/effect losing substance.
I take no stance in the argument of Ritalin and Adderal because I have never taken either and I really don't know much about them, but I will step in on the case of caffeine. The fact is that while it is an addictave substance, it is not siginificantly detrimental to the populus. Caffeine's addictive properties are not nearly as strong as nicotine (how many soda self help groups do you see out there?) and because of this, it takes no more than a day or two to break a "caffeine addiction" (I believe studies say that the addictive nature of niccotine is gone after about 3 days, and the reoccurance of smoking is generally due to an oral fixation or the brains desire for muscle memory based movement). So in the end, there is no way to compare caffeine to cocaine. You can't even compare it to nicotine. If anything, compare it to that delicious pie you love to wash down with your caffeine fix every once in a while. It's just something you have and then crave for a day or so afterward, nothing more.
Sadly, the fact is that you're making a vast assumption about the interests of the people within the gaming community.
"Seriously, how many PS1 games did you buy or play on your PS2 in the last three years? I think I played one (FFIX) and purchased none."
I don't really care what -you- did in the last three years, because it doesn't dictate or relate at all to what -I- did in the last three years. For the sake of proving my point, I purchased FFVIII, FFT, Legend of Dragoon, and several other PS1 games in the last 3 years. Damnit, I've purchased plenty of Game Boy Advance games to play on my DS in the last 3 years.
You can't make sweeping generalizations about public opinion. In the end, the freedom to think and choose for ourselves will always mean that there is some randomness to what we do. And putting the Chaos Theory aside, there is no way you will be able to determine just what games I am going to buy in the next three years, just like there is no way I can determine what games you are going to buy in the next three years.
I'm not entirely sure about that. I think spellcheckers in Word processing programs, just like the "codecheckers" of IDEs, assist in catching more extravagent mistakes that happen out of mild carelessness or typographical issues. The true nitty-gritty details are NEVER caught and -they- are the ones that are truly important to deal with yourself.
And to the sake of the topic as a whole. I completed my freshman year of a cs program and I think that they handled it very well save for the first part. My first programming class was an introduction to C that involved no programming what so ever, but focused instead on the syntax and theory of the language. I really didn't like this, but the fact that I had several years programming experience beforehand made it an interesting start. My next programming class, focused on C++, started me with several simpler programs written in either VI or EMACS. After that, because the focus of my degree is software development, we moved on to an IDE. So while I definitely support students learning close to the bones, I can't help but feel that the use of an IDE should really be tailored to the position of the class in the spectrum of the education and what the education is leading to.
The fact is that you really only see advertising in games within the sports genre. Racing is the biggest (obviously) and like you said, it adds to the realism, so game creators will continue to do it. And as someone from within the industry, I guarantee that the money to be made on advertising FAR outweighs the 15% who claim that they won't play games with advertising.
Slashdot Mirror
As a summer hire programmer for a small business, I find it damn near impossible to focus on task as well. I find that programming small webapps and such is boring and not very stimulating, so I tend to waste time half the day reading slashdot and other various forums. However, when I do make myself stay on task, the common reasons are music, beverage of choice (sleep is hard to come by, so keeping hydrated keeps me focused), and simply the knowledge that if I don't meet such and such deadline then I'm rather screwed. I think, though, that the best way to stay focused is having a goal in mind and not stopping until you've accomplished it. That sense of accomplishment is usually enough to renew your interest in a project.
But my post is actually due to the person who linked in the article. It seems to me like the article is discussing the RESULT of Agile strategy, which is Scrum. So I feel like I looked into the article with the wrong idea because the focus was actually on a spinoff that has been doing well.
Not sure why I posted, just figured I'd mention it. Offtopic me if you must *shrug*
Each company will set its own procedures on how it uses the database This reeks of Pedophile ISP employee having -way- too much fun...
As someone from within the industry, I have to shed a tear and agree. The fact is that staple products are being bought up so much that creativity really isn't pushed that much. I mean, how many people out there are guilty of supporting EA's Madden series for the last 5+ years? TONS! But I say it's only "kinda" true because there -are- games that are breaking the mold and doing damn well. Look at Katamari Damacy. I know that it's really the Japanese fanboys/girls in America that love it, but there is still a growing audience for the Katamari series now that it's reached a major popularity point. Shadow of the Colossus is another good example. This is a game that took the traditional platformer/action genre and gave it a bit of a twist that made a -very- fun to play and interesting game. So while the trend is to go with the cookie cutter games, there are still companies out there who are going the creative route and really making the money.
In response to your caffeine and cocaine comment, you're not quite right. First for background info: Caffeine, if I remember correctly, is a cyclo-hexane based molecule that is actually in the family of itself, Nicotine, Morphine and Heroine. The family is as such because all contain the cyclo-hexane ring, and the family shares the attribute of being an addictive/effect losing substance. I take no stance in the argument of Ritalin and Adderal because I have never taken either and I really don't know much about them, but I will step in on the case of caffeine. The fact is that while it is an addictave substance, it is not siginificantly detrimental to the populus. Caffeine's addictive properties are not nearly as strong as nicotine (how many soda self help groups do you see out there?) and because of this, it takes no more than a day or two to break a "caffeine addiction" (I believe studies say that the addictive nature of niccotine is gone after about 3 days, and the reoccurance of smoking is generally due to an oral fixation or the brains desire for muscle memory based movement). So in the end, there is no way to compare caffeine to cocaine. You can't even compare it to nicotine. If anything, compare it to that delicious pie you love to wash down with your caffeine fix every once in a while. It's just something you have and then crave for a day or so afterward, nothing more.
Sadly, the fact is that you're making a vast assumption about the interests of the people within the gaming community.
"Seriously, how many PS1 games did you buy or play on your PS2 in the last three years? I think I played one (FFIX) and purchased none."
I don't really care what -you- did in the last three years, because it doesn't dictate or relate at all to what -I- did in the last three years. For the sake of proving my point, I purchased FFVIII, FFT, Legend of Dragoon, and several other PS1 games in the last 3 years. Damnit, I've purchased plenty of Game Boy Advance games to play on my DS in the last 3 years.
You can't make sweeping generalizations about public opinion. In the end, the freedom to think and choose for ourselves will always mean that there is some randomness to what we do. And putting the Chaos Theory aside, there is no way you will be able to determine just what games I am going to buy in the next three years, just like there is no way I can determine what games you are going to buy in the next three years.
I believe the quote is, "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery."
I'm not entirely sure about that. I think spellcheckers in Word processing programs, just like the "codecheckers" of IDEs, assist in catching more extravagent mistakes that happen out of mild carelessness or typographical issues. The true nitty-gritty details are NEVER caught and -they- are the ones that are truly important to deal with yourself. And to the sake of the topic as a whole. I completed my freshman year of a cs program and I think that they handled it very well save for the first part. My first programming class was an introduction to C that involved no programming what so ever, but focused instead on the syntax and theory of the language. I really didn't like this, but the fact that I had several years programming experience beforehand made it an interesting start. My next programming class, focused on C++, started me with several simpler programs written in either VI or EMACS. After that, because the focus of my degree is software development, we moved on to an IDE. So while I definitely support students learning close to the bones, I can't help but feel that the use of an IDE should really be tailored to the position of the class in the spectrum of the education and what the education is leading to.
The fact is that you really only see advertising in games within the sports genre. Racing is the biggest (obviously) and like you said, it adds to the realism, so game creators will continue to do it. And as someone from within the industry, I guarantee that the money to be made on advertising FAR outweighs the 15% who claim that they won't play games with advertising.