Kevin was screwed by the Government, no question.
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Kevin Mitnick Answers
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· Score: 2
I'm not defending Mitnick's actions. He did lots of things that were wrong and deserving of punishment. However, he was screwed over by the Government in his trial and imprisonment.
Clearly, the Government was using Mitnick as an example to all the other would-be hackers. They completely ignored Mitnick's rights to a "speedy trial," denied him a bail hearing, and so forth in order to achieve their goal. I've heard of RAPISTS who served less time than Mitnick did.
Second, I believe that the Government was also "testing the waters" with Mitnick as to how they could hold someone while violating due process. They painted the picture of him being an extremely dangerous criminal, almost to the point of labeling him as a terrorist (and this was pre-9/11, as well). Perhaps they wanted to see if they could make someone look dangerous enough that the public would support an unconstitutional imprisonment of that person.
Either way, I feel Mitnick was unjustly treated by the Government. There was absolutely no need to treat him the way he was treated in order to convict him of the things he was guilty of.
Anyway, Kevin's "social engineering" skills should clearly be an eye opener for anyone who implements security, computer security or otherwise. People themselves are often the weakest link of security. It doesn't matter if a password is encrypted with the highest grade encryption available if someone just tells it to an attacker over the phone.
I don't listen to the radio any more. I'm tired of the increasingly stupid DJ personalities, the ads for stuff I'll never buy, and the same songs being played over and over. To top it off, I dislike static.
Now they are making the stupid DJ personalities even worse by making them entirely generic. Yay.
I don't think it has much to do with how good or bad the movie really was. I think that it was because of the following reasons:
1. Interest in Star Trek is fading. The last couple of Trek TV show offerings has not really done a good job of pleasing fans. I think a lot of on-and-off Star Trek fans are getting tired of Berman's crappy TV offerings, and are looking elsewhere for Science Fiction.
2. They released it at the wrong time. They were directly competing with Harry Potter, a James Bond flick, and Two Towers. I think that a lot of people would have checked Nemesis out, except for the fact that there were probably three or four other movies that they'd rather see.
I skipped out on Nemesis myself. It isn't that I didn't want to see it, but I rarely go to the movies nowadays. The first chance I had to go to the movie theater, I naturally went and saw the Two Towers.
But I've heard that Nemesis isn't really all that bad. It might not be as good as Star Trek 6 or First Contact, but it is definately on my TO RENT list. I think that the home video release will see a lot more acceptance than the theatrical release.
I agree. I think that the hard drive manufacturers need to stop focusing on how big they can make drives, and to start focusing on ways to make drives more reliable. A 200 GB drive is useless if it dies after six months.
When I hear about a the "Drug Czar" I am reminded about the "war on drugs" that has already cost us plenty of civil liberties and caused a violent and expensive black market for drugs.
The idea of a "Cyber Security Czar" frightens me even more, especially given the fact that the Bush Administration doesn't seem to care jack squat for the rights and privacy of American citizens.
The fact that it seems they dismissed the old Cyber Security Czar because he was actually sticking up for the privacy of citizens (and thus not working towards Bush's vision of a facist-style government in which citizens are reduced to flag-waving serfs with no actual rights) scares me quite a bit.
I personally think that it may be time to privatize space exploration. I believe that there IS potential profit in exploring space.
The problem is that people get "scared" when things like this happen. Nobody said that going into space was safe. There are risks involved with exploration, and people forget that things like this will happen... even though it has been 17 years since the last accident, which is a pretty darn good record, IMO.
Yes, for your information. I always believed that terrorists would eventually get the idea to hijack a plane and then crash it into a building. I'm shocked at how "surprised" everyone seemed to be, since anyone with any common sense should have been able to see how dangerous a fully fueled-up 747 in the wrong hands can be.
In this case, I would be surprised if this turns out to be a terrorist attack because surface-to-air missiles can only hit targets up to 100,000 feet. The only possibility I see is terrorists getting a volunteer inside NASA to sabotoge the shuttle, which is unlikely.
Terrorists also like to make it clear that their attacks ARE terrorist attacks. Piloting planes into buildings are clear terrorist attacks. Silently causing a shuttle to break up during re-entry is not.
1. This is indeed a tragedy that this happened, there is no question about that.
2. However, I believe that Astronauts know the risk involved during manned space flights. A lot of people find it completely unacceptable when someone dies in these missions, but there is a big risk involved with going to space and returning to Earth. These people voluntarily went to space as explorers, and exploration is often a risky business. It is to be expected that once in a while something will go wrong. No deaths for 17 years is infinitely better than the troubles that explorers faced hundreds of years ago.
3. We can't suspend launches for two years like with the Challenger. Even if NASA plans on suspending the Shuttle and the ISS program, they'll need to use Shuttles to get people off of the thing.
4. The Space Shuttle program is aging. It is probably high time that a new space vehicle is designed, one that takes advantage of newer technology. While this will not decrease the risk of going into space very much (especially of going to Mars), this is probably as good a time as any to look at a new type of spacecraft.
5. Perhaps it IS time to privatize NASA. There seem to be lots of rich people willing to blow $20 million here and there for thrill rides into space. If technology makes it feasable to go to Mars and colonize it one day, I'm sure that there would be private parties interested.
6. I highly doubt that this was a terrorist attack. I don't think terroists have the means to hit a spacecraft 200,000 feet up.
I guess that there is still some debate if or not the Jaguar really was 64-bit.
I know that it had five processors, and that two of those were supposedly "64-bit," but I've heard that those two chips really weren't 64-bit. I also know that the thing had two proprietary processors called "Tom" and "Jerry." I'm not sure if those are the supposed "64-bit" processors, or if they refer to other processors.
Either way, the thing was really hard to program for. Tempest 2000 is pretty much the only really memorable game from the system.
That being said, does anyone know of a Jaguar emulator out there? ^_^;
You'd be right, except for the fact that there were actually quite a few REALLY GOOD GAMES that came out for the Mega CD / Sega CD system. These include Lunar, Lunar 2, Shining Force CD, Sonic CD, and a few others.
It could have been a force to reckon with in the US if Sega had stayed away from the crappy FMV games, and Sony hadn't sabotoged it with the crappy "Make My Video" (or something like that) series. Sony used the Sega CD as an "experimental" platform. Sony was developing the Playstation at the same time they were releasing HORRIBLE titles for the Sega CD. They learned that "FMV games" were not the way to go as far as software was concerned, and did so at Sega's expense.
I can see it now...
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Advergames
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· Score: 2, Interesting
We'll start seeing racing games in which the Ford Focus can outrace a Ferrari, fighting games in which the characters that smoke are highly overpowered, and DDR-clones in which you always get better scores when you dance to RIAA-sanctioned music as opposed to that "indy" crap.
I'm not saying you're an "idiot" for liking GTA or other "mature" games. This is not my point in the GTA reference.
However, when I talk about video games with a casual gamer of my age, they usually say they think GTA is the "coolest game ever" because you can "steal cars" and "have sex with hookers then run them over to get your money back." They don't like the game because of the the plot, gameplay, or any sort of artistic point the game makers might be trying to make. They like it because they get to steal cars and kill hookers, and ONLY because they get to steal cars and kill hookers.
I see a LOT of complaints that Nintendo makes "kiddy", that they don't make anything an 18-30 year old gamer would want to play, etc., etc.
The complaints obviously don't come from anyone who has actually played a GameCube game for an extended period of time. Nintendo has done an excellent job appealing to both young kids and older GAMERS, IMO.
All of Nintendo's "big" GameCube games are extremely fun to play. Cartoonish characters appeal to younger players, but it is the solid, fun games that have kept Nintendo fans loyal since the 80s.
Take SSB: Melee, for example. It is filled with characters kids will like based on appearance. Mario, Luigi, Pikachu, Yoshi, etc. It is also extremely fun, but has tons of retro Nintendo goodness that only an older gamer will appreciate (I doubt an 8-Year old understands who the "Ice Climbers" are).
Animal Crossing is yet another game that looks like it is "for kids" at first glance, but delivers some interesting, innovative gaming as well as the ability to play old NES games... a feature that was obviously designed for older fans.
And then, there is Metroid Prime, which is probably the best console game released within the last two years.
Most of the GC games can be enjoyed by anyone. As more people who grew up with the original NES start to have children, Nintendo might actually be able to reclaim the top spot. Why? Because parents will be able to purchase their family a console that they can enjoy for the retro-ness, and their kids can also enjoy.
Honestly, my PS2 got more use in 2002 as a DVD player and a PS1. I haven't been impressed with too many games that have come out in 2002 for it. On the other hand, the my Cube has been getting a lot of play time, and will continue to do so since Link and I will have some serious princess rescuing to do come Spring.
What Nintendo HAS NOT done well is appealed to casual idiot who thinks that having sex with a hooker and then running her over to get your money back is the epitomy of good, "mature," gameplay. This is a good thing.
And even with all that RAM, it'll always seem like we need more to run the latest version of Windows.
I bought it, I should be able to play it in Linux.
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"DVD-Jon" Faces Retrial
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Additionally, while this is not a popular idea around here, isn't it the companies right to decide that they only want their disks to play on windows systems?
No, it isn't. Once I buy a DVD, the disc is MINE. I should have the right to play it on any player that I can get it to work on. It isn't necessarily the responsibility of the company to facilitate it, but if I should be able to play my DVD on my Linux box if I want to figure out how to do it. DeCSS has been very useful to me, as I can play my DVDs, all of which are legit, on my Laptop, which runs Linux.
I don't see anyone saying that people should be allowed to hack popular windows only games to run on liniux, so why should movies be different?
Except that people DO use WINE to to get their "Windows Only" games to run on Linux. People use it to play EverQuest, Starcraft, and many other games that the programmers didn't intend to run in Linux. Again, there is nothing wrong with it if the people doing it have legitimately purchased the software.
This is a troll, or at least someone who has not played the game enough to give it a fair shake.
The "single player" campaign of NWN is, admittedly, not as good as the Baldur's Gate games. However, you can have TONS of fun with this game and a bunch of friends playing some custom modules. The reason you only get to control one character is because this is designed to be a multiplayer game (even the "single player campaign" is better as a co-op with others).
The amount of quality fan-made material for NWN is actually quite staggering. Yes, most of the fan-made modules aren't really that great... but there are quite a few fan made modules that are BETTER than the "official campaign."
Plus the fact that Bioware, from the start, has been very helpful to those who want to make their own character models, tilesets, music, and so forth makes things great for custom content builders.
Things have been slower than everyone would have liked for the Linux client. However, NWN is an awesome game that is well worth playing if you're into D&D and similar RPGs.
I don't see the problem, no matter HOW many copies it sells. As long as it is a fan-based work.
Naturally, there are limits. I belive a distinction must be made between a corporate entity (Sony, Disney, etc.) and a fan or group of fans. While it would not be okay for Sony to make a Mario Game, I believe it would be acceptible for a hobbyist/fan to grab a PS2 Linux kit and create a "Mario" game for PS2 with it. Nintendo probably would disagree with me. ^_^
To give another example, in recent years fan-made content in Japan has entered into other areas. Some fans create software based on existing works. This type of software is often called "Doujin-soft."
The company Leaf makes several "dating sim" type games for the PC.
One writer of Doujin-soft created a series of fighting games for PC using the characters from Leaf games. It is known as the "Queen of Heart" series. He sells these games, and is apparently quite successful in doing so.
If I break into your house but don't steal anything and just "deface" your home with soap it's okay and I should just get a spanking.
I don't believe you should get a spanking, but I believe you should recieve less of a penalty than if you DID steal things from my home.
I didn't say that someone who defaces a web site should just get off with a "spanking." They should be held liable for the damage they have done, and should still recieve some jail time. I said they should get less of a penalty than someone who cracks into a database server and steals credit card numbers, because the damage is much greater and affects many more people.
The punishment should be in accordance to the damage they caused, and if they stole or hurt anyone.
I believe that the penalties for merely defacing a website, or cracking into a machine and not actually doing much damage or "stealing" anything should be light. Sure, it is annoying, but it isn't that major.
If someone cracks into a database server and steals credit card information, that is another thing altogether. They should be charged with theft of credit cards (or whatever the actual crime is).
If someone (hypothetically) manages to crack into a computer that controls air traffic radar, and planes end up crashing because of it, they should be locked away for mass murder.
Some of the proposed punishments for computer crimes are quite harsh, treating the perpetrator like a terrorist or violent criminal. However, someone who simply defaces a web site and writes "I 0wn j00!" on it doesn't deserve to be given more time than a rapist.
This is what I know about doujinshi. I'm sure that I might be missing some small details, but it is an interesting contrast to the concepts of Intellectual Property that we have in the US.
As the article states, doujinshi are "fan comics" created mainly by amatures that are based on existing works by professional manga artists. Doujin varies greatly in quality and content. Lots of it is complete crap, while some of it is actually very good, arguably better than the work it is derived from. Additionally, a lot of doujin is pornographic in nature, though not all of it is.
It is similar to fanfiction, except there is one huge difference between fanfiction in the US and doujin in Japan. Doujin artists actually SELL their work for profit. There are even stores deticated just to doujin in Japan, not to mention many very large conventions centered around doujin.
In the US, the owners of the original work would no doubt sue the pants off of anyone who tried this. If I were to make an "X-Men" fan comic and try to sell it, I could expect a big fat lawsuit from Marvel comics. However, in Japan, doujin artists are very rarely prosecuted.
The only time I can think of a doujin artist being sued is when Nintendo took legal action against a female doujin artist for making a Pokemon-based comic where Pikachu is raped by Satoshi (Ash). I can't really blame them for that one...
Most of the time pro manga artists see the doujinshi based on their works as homage. Infact, many major manga artists (such as Akamatsu Ken, creator of Love Hina) got their start doing doujin.
Doujinshi have been around for a LONG time. Obviously, the presence of these fan comics have done little to no harm to the professional manga and anime industries. Those who produce doujin are typically the most hard core and loyal fans of the professional works, after all.
I think doujinshi is an excellent example that derivitive works really do not dilute trademarks, or any such nonsense, and that these works actually help to promote fandom of the original work. If only our friends in the RIAA and MPAA could understand that... but I guess it is pointless, after all.
I've always had nothing but bad experience with ATI's drivers, while I've had no problems with nVidia's. This might have changed recently, but due to my past experience, I'd probably hold out for the GeForce FX if I were going for a top-end card.
Aside from the fact that I dislike Microsoft, which is apparently since I'm posting on Slashdot...
I have not been impressed with X-Box, the games, or this X-Box live thing. It seems that Microsoft is charging X-Box users an extra $10 a month so that X-Box consoles can establish a connection with one another... this is on top of the $50 fee for broadband that you have to pay. To me, this is what it all boils down to.
Top it off with the fact that I have yet to see an X-Box game that surpasses Quake 3, CounterStrike, UT2003, Wolfenstein, etc. on the PC in terms of enjoyability, controllability, etc.
Even if I put my dislike of Microsoft aside, I still don't see a reason to own an X-Box.
And the sad thing is that aside from maybe one or two games, I'm not seeing very much use out of my PS2 either, except as a DVD player.
On the other hand, I HAVE been impressed with Nintendo. Instead of trying to turn their console into a computer, they have instead focused on delivering completely awesome games. If you play Metroid Prime, you'll know what I mean. It is the most awesome console game I've played in two years by far. The most exciting thing is that the new Zelda is supposedly even BETTER than Metroid Prime. To top it off with all the other awesome games, Mario Sunshine, Animal Crossing, etc., I don't understand why people aren't flocking to the Game Cube.
I played EQ for a while (about 2 months). At first it was fun to go into a world with lots of people in it. Unfortunately, it didn't remain fun for very long.
The community of players turned out to be not very interesting at all. It took an hour to find a good group, or even meet with someone I knew. It eventually became boring and repetetive to build my character. The strange thing was that I felt that I had to keep playing and building my character, because I was paying for it. EQ quickly became a part time job that I was PAYING FOR.
I discovered that my character was essentially meaningless as well. Everyone around me was an adventurer just like me. No matter what I did, the world was always exactly the same. People would eternally continue to raid the same zones, full of the same monsters, to get the same treasures. Nothing any player does really effects the game world.
I quit EQ, and subsequently tried DAOC, hoping it would be better. DAOC was slightly better, but still eventually had the same problems as EQ.
Honestly, it is much more fun to play the countless NWN mods out there. It is much more enjoyable, honestly, because these modules have plots where your character is important. You can also play as little or as much as you want without worrying about wasting money.
I've been playing video games pretty much since the NES came out, and know many who have been playing since earlier. I love playing console and PC games, and love the idea of making my own game, even if it is just for fun.
Many game players (at least among those with some computer knowledge) dream that they could make a game of their own.
However, there is actually quite a bit of work to go into a game, besides just programming. Unless it is a text only game, you need art and music. You also have to come up with the concepts and story for your game, as well as the "rules" for the game itself (for example, if you want to make an RPG, you need to figure out all the stats, etc. that you'll need).
If you are making the game for fun, it is doable. It doesn't really matter if the game ends up looking like a Super NES game. As long as you enjoy the end product.
But then there are those who might try to start making games professionally. It seems that starting from scratch will only get more difficult as time goes on to make a game that will sell.
In the early to mid 80s, if you could code well, you could probably make a text adventure game by yourself and have a shot at actually selling it if it was good / interesting, especially if it was well liked by other computer geeks.
Unfortunately, things have changed. The top selling PC games nowadays were made with many people. To make a similar game you not only need programmers, but you need 3D artists and someone to make an entire music score. You might need voice actors, and someone to "direct" the cutscenes. Finally, you need to market the game to an audience of the lowest common denominator.
Such a game would be quite hard for someone starting out to produce and then break into the business with. Even if someone can manage to make a good game, they still have to get it out there.
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I'm not defending Mitnick's actions. He did lots of things that were wrong and deserving of punishment. However, he was screwed over by the Government in his trial and imprisonment.
Clearly, the Government was using Mitnick as an example to all the other would-be hackers. They completely ignored Mitnick's rights to a "speedy trial," denied him a bail hearing, and so forth in order to achieve their goal. I've heard of RAPISTS who served less time than Mitnick did.
Second, I believe that the Government was also "testing the waters" with Mitnick as to how they could hold someone while violating due process. They painted the picture of him being an extremely dangerous criminal, almost to the point of labeling him as a terrorist (and this was pre-9/11, as well). Perhaps they wanted to see if they could make someone look dangerous enough that the public would support an unconstitutional imprisonment of that person.
Either way, I feel Mitnick was unjustly treated by the Government. There was absolutely no need to treat him the way he was treated in order to convict him of the things he was guilty of.
Anyway, Kevin's "social engineering" skills should clearly be an eye opener for anyone who implements security, computer security or otherwise. People themselves are often the weakest link of security. It doesn't matter if a password is encrypted with the highest grade encryption available if someone just tells it to an attacker over the phone.
I don't listen to the radio any more. I'm tired of the increasingly stupid DJ personalities, the ads for stuff I'll never buy, and the same songs being played over and over. To top it off, I dislike static.
Now they are making the stupid DJ personalities even worse by making them entirely generic. Yay.
I don't think it has much to do with how good or bad the movie really was. I think that it was because of the following reasons:
1. Interest in Star Trek is fading. The last couple of Trek TV show offerings has not really done a good job of pleasing fans. I think a lot of on-and-off Star Trek fans are getting tired of Berman's crappy TV offerings, and are looking elsewhere for Science Fiction.
2. They released it at the wrong time. They were directly competing with Harry Potter, a James Bond flick, and Two Towers. I think that a lot of people would have checked Nemesis out, except for the fact that there were probably three or four other movies that they'd rather see.
I skipped out on Nemesis myself. It isn't that I didn't want to see it, but I rarely go to the movies nowadays. The first chance I had to go to the movie theater, I naturally went and saw the Two Towers.
But I've heard that Nemesis isn't really all that bad. It might not be as good as Star Trek 6 or First Contact, but it is definately on my TO RENT list. I think that the home video release will see a lot more acceptance than the theatrical release.
I agree. I think that the hard drive manufacturers need to stop focusing on how big they can make drives, and to start focusing on ways to make drives more reliable. A 200 GB drive is useless if it dies after six months.
When I hear about a the "Drug Czar" I am reminded about the "war on drugs" that has already cost us plenty of civil liberties and caused a violent and expensive black market for drugs.
The idea of a "Cyber Security Czar" frightens me even more, especially given the fact that the Bush Administration doesn't seem to care jack squat for the rights and privacy of American citizens.
The fact that it seems they dismissed the old Cyber Security Czar because he was actually sticking up for the privacy of citizens (and thus not working towards Bush's vision of a facist-style government in which citizens are reduced to flag-waving serfs with no actual rights) scares me quite a bit.
I personally think that it may be time to privatize space exploration. I believe that there IS potential profit in exploring space.
The problem is that people get "scared" when things like this happen. Nobody said that going into space was safe. There are risks involved with exploration, and people forget that things like this will happen... even though it has been 17 years since the last accident, which is a pretty darn good record, IMO.
Yes, for your information. I always believed that terrorists would eventually get the idea to hijack a plane and then crash it into a building. I'm shocked at how "surprised" everyone seemed to be, since anyone with any common sense should have been able to see how dangerous a fully fueled-up 747 in the wrong hands can be.
In this case, I would be surprised if this turns out to be a terrorist attack because surface-to-air missiles can only hit targets up to 100,000 feet. The only possibility I see is terrorists getting a volunteer inside NASA to sabotoge the shuttle, which is unlikely.
Terrorists also like to make it clear that their attacks ARE terrorist attacks. Piloting planes into buildings are clear terrorist attacks. Silently causing a shuttle to break up during re-entry is not.
1. This is indeed a tragedy that this happened, there is no question about that.
2. However, I believe that Astronauts know the risk involved during manned space flights. A lot of people find it completely unacceptable when someone dies in these missions, but there is a big risk involved with going to space and returning to
Earth. These people voluntarily went to space as
explorers, and exploration is often a risky business. It is to be expected that once in a while something will go wrong. No deaths for 17 years is infinitely better than the troubles that explorers faced hundreds of years ago.
3. We can't suspend launches for two years like with the Challenger. Even if NASA plans on suspending the Shuttle and the ISS program, they'll need to use Shuttles to get people off of the thing.
4. The Space Shuttle program is aging.
It is probably high time that a new space vehicle is designed, one that takes advantage of newer technology. While this will not decrease the
risk of going into space very much (especially of going to Mars), this is probably as good a time as any to look at a new type of spacecraft.
5. Perhaps it IS time to privatize NASA. There seem to be lots of rich people willing to blow $20 million here and there for thrill rides into space. If technology makes it feasable to go to Mars and colonize it one day, I'm sure that there would be private parties interested.
6. I highly doubt that this was a terrorist attack. I don't think terroists have the means
to hit a spacecraft 200,000 feet up.
I guess that there is still some debate if or not the Jaguar really was 64-bit.
I know that it had five processors, and that two of those were supposedly "64-bit," but I've heard that those two chips really weren't 64-bit. I also know that the thing had two proprietary processors called "Tom" and "Jerry." I'm not sure if those are the supposed "64-bit" processors, or if they refer to other processors.
Either way, the thing was really hard to
program for. Tempest 2000 is pretty much the only really memorable game from the system.
That being said, does anyone know of a Jaguar emulator out there? ^_^;
You'd be right, except for the fact that there were actually quite a few REALLY GOOD GAMES that came out for the Mega CD / Sega CD system. These include Lunar, Lunar 2, Shining Force CD, Sonic CD, and a few others.
It could have been a force to reckon with in the US if Sega had stayed away from the crappy FMV games, and Sony hadn't sabotoged it with the crappy "Make My Video" (or something like that) series. Sony used the Sega CD as an "experimental" platform. Sony was developing the Playstation at the same time they were releasing HORRIBLE titles for the Sega CD. They learned that "FMV games" were not the way to go as far as software was concerned, and did so at Sega's expense.
We'll start seeing racing games in which the Ford Focus can outrace a Ferrari, fighting games in which the characters that smoke are highly overpowered, and DDR-clones in which you always get better scores when you dance to RIAA-sanctioned music as opposed to that "indy" crap.
Yay.
I'm not saying you're an "idiot" for liking GTA or other "mature" games. This is not my point in the GTA reference.
However, when I talk about video games with a casual gamer of my age, they usually say they think GTA is the "coolest game ever" because you can "steal cars" and "have sex with hookers then run them over to get your money back." They don't like the game because of the the plot, gameplay, or any sort of artistic point the game makers might be trying to make. They like it because they get to steal cars and kill hookers, and ONLY because they get to steal cars and kill hookers.
I see a LOT of complaints that Nintendo makes "kiddy", that they don't make anything an 18-30 year old gamer would want to play, etc., etc.
The complaints obviously don't come from anyone who has actually played a GameCube game for an extended period of time. Nintendo has done an excellent job appealing to both young kids and older GAMERS, IMO.
All of Nintendo's "big" GameCube games are extremely fun to play. Cartoonish characters
appeal to younger players, but it is the solid, fun games that have kept Nintendo fans loyal since the 80s.
Take SSB: Melee, for example. It is filled with characters kids will like based on appearance. Mario, Luigi, Pikachu, Yoshi, etc. It is also extremely fun, but has tons of retro Nintendo goodness that only an older gamer will appreciate (I doubt an 8-Year old understands who the "Ice Climbers" are).
Animal Crossing is yet another game that looks like it is "for kids" at first glance, but delivers some interesting, innovative gaming as well as the ability to play old NES games... a feature that was obviously designed for older fans.
And then, there is Metroid Prime, which is probably the best console game released within the last two years.
Most of the GC games can be enjoyed by anyone. As more people who grew up with the original NES start to have children, Nintendo might actually be able to reclaim the top spot. Why? Because parents will be able to purchase their family a console that they can enjoy for the retro-ness, and their kids can also enjoy.
Honestly, my PS2 got more use in 2002 as a DVD player and a PS1. I haven't been impressed with too many games that have come out in 2002 for it. On the other hand, the my Cube has been getting a lot of play time, and will continue to do so since Link and I will have some serious princess rescuing to do come Spring.
What Nintendo HAS NOT done well is appealed to casual idiot who thinks that having sex with a hooker and then running her over to get your money back is the epitomy of good, "mature," gameplay. This is a good thing.
And even with all that RAM, it'll always seem like we need more to run the latest version of Windows.
Additionally, while this is not a popular idea around here, isn't it the companies right to decide that they only want their disks to play on windows systems?
No, it isn't. Once I buy a DVD, the disc is MINE. I should have the right to play it on any player that I can get it to work on. It isn't necessarily the responsibility of the company to facilitate it, but if I should be able to play my DVD on my Linux box if I want to figure out how to do it. DeCSS has been very useful to me, as I can play my DVDs, all of which are legit, on my Laptop, which runs Linux.
I don't see anyone saying that people should be allowed to hack popular windows only games to run on liniux, so why should movies be different?
Except that people DO use WINE to to get their "Windows Only" games to run on Linux. People use it to play EverQuest, Starcraft, and many other games that the programmers didn't intend to run in Linux. Again, there is nothing wrong with it if the people doing it have legitimately purchased the software.
This is a troll, or at least someone who has not played the game enough to give it a fair shake.
The "single player" campaign of NWN is, admittedly, not as good as the Baldur's Gate games. However, you can have TONS of fun with this game and a bunch of friends playing some custom modules. The reason you only get to control one character is because this is designed to be a multiplayer game (even the "single player campaign" is better as a co-op with others).
The amount of quality fan-made material for NWN is actually quite staggering. Yes, most of the fan-made modules aren't really that great... but there are quite a few fan made modules that are BETTER than the "official campaign."
Plus the fact that Bioware, from the start, has been very helpful to those who want to make their own character models, tilesets, music, and so forth makes things great for custom content builders.
Things have been slower than everyone would have liked for the Linux client. However, NWN is an awesome game that is well worth playing if you're into D&D and similar RPGs.
I don't see the problem, no matter HOW many copies it sells. As long as it is a fan-based work.
Naturally, there are limits. I belive a distinction must be made between a corporate entity (Sony, Disney, etc.) and a fan or group of fans. While it would not be okay for Sony to make a Mario Game, I believe it would be acceptible for a hobbyist/fan to grab a PS2 Linux kit and create a "Mario" game for PS2 with it. Nintendo probably would disagree with me. ^_^
To give another example, in recent years fan-made content in Japan has entered into other areas. Some fans create software based on existing works. This type of software is often called "Doujin-soft."
The company Leaf makes several "dating sim" type games for the PC.
One writer of Doujin-soft created a series of fighting games for PC using the characters from Leaf games. It is known as the "Queen of Heart" series. He sells these games, and is apparently quite successful in doing so.
If I break into your house but don't steal anything and just "deface" your home with soap it's okay and I should just get a spanking.
I don't believe you should get a spanking, but I believe you should recieve less of a penalty than if you DID steal things from my home.
I didn't say that someone who defaces a web site should just get off with a "spanking." They should be held liable for the damage they have done, and should still recieve some jail time.
I said they should get less of a penalty than someone who cracks into a database server and steals credit card numbers, because the damage is much greater and affects many more people.
The punishment should be in accordance to the damage they caused, and if they stole or hurt anyone.
I believe that the penalties for merely defacing a website, or cracking into a machine and not actually doing much damage or "stealing" anything should be light. Sure, it is annoying, but it isn't that major.
If someone cracks into a database server and steals credit card information, that is another thing altogether. They should be charged with theft of credit cards (or whatever the actual crime is).
If someone (hypothetically) manages to crack into a computer that controls air traffic radar, and planes end up crashing because of it, they should be locked away for mass murder.
Some of the proposed punishments for computer crimes are quite harsh, treating the perpetrator like a terrorist or violent criminal.
However, someone who simply defaces a web site and writes "I 0wn j00!" on it doesn't deserve to be given more time than a rapist.
This is what I know about doujinshi. I'm sure that I might be missing some small details, but it is an interesting contrast to the concepts of Intellectual Property that we have in the US.
As the article states, doujinshi are "fan comics" created mainly by amatures that are based on existing works by professional manga artists.
Doujin varies greatly in quality and content. Lots of it is complete crap, while some of it is actually very good, arguably better than the work it is derived from. Additionally, a lot of doujin is pornographic in nature, though not all of it is.
It is similar to fanfiction, except there is one huge difference between fanfiction in the US and doujin in Japan. Doujin artists actually SELL their work for profit. There are even stores deticated just to doujin in Japan, not to mention
many very large conventions centered around doujin.
In the US, the owners of the original work would no doubt sue the pants off of anyone who tried this. If I were to make an "X-Men" fan comic and try to sell it, I could expect a big fat lawsuit from Marvel comics. However, in Japan, doujin artists are very rarely prosecuted.
The only time I can think of a doujin artist being sued is when Nintendo took legal action against a female doujin artist for making a Pokemon-based comic where Pikachu is raped by Satoshi (Ash).
I can't really blame them for that one...
Most of the time pro manga artists see the doujinshi based on their works as homage. Infact, many major manga artists (such as Akamatsu Ken, creator of Love Hina) got their start doing doujin.
Doujinshi have been around for a LONG time. Obviously, the presence of these fan comics have done little to no harm to the professional manga and anime industries. Those who produce doujin are typically the most hard core and loyal fans of the professional works, after all.
I think doujinshi is an excellent example that derivitive works really do not dilute trademarks, or any such nonsense, and that these works actually help to promote fandom of the original work. If only our friends in the RIAA and MPAA could understand that... but I guess it is pointless, after all.
I've always had nothing but bad experience with ATI's drivers, while I've had no problems with nVidia's. This might have changed recently, but due to my past experience, I'd probably hold out for the GeForce FX if I were going for a top-end card.
Time for some karma burning.
Aside from the fact that I dislike Microsoft, which is apparently since I'm posting on Slashdot...
I have not been impressed with X-Box, the games, or this X-Box live thing. It seems that Microsoft is charging X-Box users an extra $10 a month so that X-Box consoles can establish a connection with one another... this is on top of the $50 fee for broadband that you have to pay. To me, this is what it all boils down to.
Top it off with the fact that I have yet to see an X-Box game that surpasses Quake 3, CounterStrike, UT2003, Wolfenstein, etc. on the PC in terms of enjoyability, controllability, etc.
Even if I put my dislike of Microsoft aside, I still don't see a reason to own an X-Box.
And the sad thing is that aside from maybe one or two games, I'm not seeing very much use out of my PS2 either, except as a DVD player.
On the other hand, I HAVE been impressed with Nintendo. Instead of trying to turn their console into a computer, they have instead focused on delivering completely awesome games. If you play Metroid Prime, you'll know what I mean. It is the most awesome console game I've played in two years by far. The most exciting thing is that the new Zelda is supposedly even BETTER than Metroid Prime. To top it off with all the other awesome games, Mario Sunshine, Animal Crossing, etc., I don't understand why people aren't flocking to the Game Cube.
I played EQ for a while (about 2 months). At first it was fun to go into a world with lots of people in it. Unfortunately, it didn't remain fun for very long.
The community of players turned out to be not very interesting at all. It took an hour to find a good group, or even meet with someone I knew. It eventually became boring and repetetive to build my character. The strange thing was that I
felt that I had to keep playing and building my character, because I was paying for it. EQ quickly became a part time job that I was PAYING FOR.
I discovered that my character was essentially meaningless as well. Everyone around me was an adventurer just like me. No matter what I did, the world was always exactly the same. People would eternally continue to raid the same zones, full of the same monsters, to get the same treasures. Nothing any player does really effects the game world.
I quit EQ, and subsequently tried DAOC, hoping it would be better. DAOC was slightly better, but still eventually had the same problems as EQ.
Honestly, it is much more fun to play the countless NWN mods out there. It is much more enjoyable, honestly, because these modules have plots where your character is important. You can also play as little or as much as you want without worrying about wasting money.
I've been playing video games pretty much since the NES came out, and know many who have been playing since earlier. I love playing console
and PC games, and love the idea of making my own game, even if it is just for fun.
Many game players (at least among those with some computer knowledge) dream that they could make a game of their own.
However, there is actually quite a bit of work to go into a game, besides just programming. Unless it is a text only game, you need art and music. You also have to come up with the concepts and story for your game, as well as the "rules" for the game itself (for example, if you want to make an RPG, you need to figure out all the stats, etc. that you'll need).
If you are making the game for fun, it is doable. It doesn't really matter if the game ends up looking like a Super NES game. As long
as you enjoy the end product.
But then there are those who might try to start making games professionally. It seems that starting from scratch will only get more difficult as time goes on to make a game that will sell.
In the early to mid 80s, if you could code well, you could probably make a text adventure game by yourself and have a shot at actually selling it if it was good / interesting, especially if it was well liked by other computer geeks.
Unfortunately, things have changed. The top selling PC games nowadays were made with many people. To make a similar game you not only need programmers, but you need 3D artists and someone to make an entire music score. You might need voice actors, and someone to "direct" the cutscenes. Finally, you need to market the game to an audience of the lowest common denominator.
Such a game would be quite hard for someone starting out to produce and then break into the business with. Even if someone can manage to make a good game, they still have to get it out there.
This is stupid. Absolutely stupid.
I could care less how many Oscars a movie wins. I could care less how many Emmys a TV show wins.