The idea of putting advertising in games, regardless of whether it's optional or not is an interesting one. It comes back to the question of motivation. If a studio designs a game, we assume they (programmers, artists, texturers etc.) are doing it because a) they enjoy it and b) they believe they're creating a cultural icon made up of lots of different artistic elements like sound, visuals and animation.
Now I think it's fairly accepted that anything that "Sells out" (ie. uses the artistic medium purely for profit) isn't really regarded as art. These days that may seem less the case and I bet you're all waiting to cite examples of particular genres of music and film which contain product placement, but in my opinion and I think the opinion of many of those who both create and appreciate true art (Whether it be film, music, paintings, whatever) those particular examples fail to be art and end up being advertisements in themselves.
I think that placing ads in the artistic medium of videogames negates the inherent artistic nature of them, as concern grows over whether the creators of the game were making it because of the above reason or purely to make money.
Then again maybe I'm just sick of seeing the same bunch of #%@&head corporations ripping off their workers, consumers and the environment and infiltrating every aspect of our lives. Gaming should be a form of escapism. It's hard to escape our intense, competitive, profit driven world when there's Coca Cola and Microsoft billboards in my supposedly "alternate" universe.
I guess it depends on how it's done. Microsoft ads in Oblivion would be illusion-shattering -- but what about ads for game add-ons, done as posters and such, in an in-game style? ("Wizard's castle for sale -- see Gro-dalk the realty agent in the Market District...") You could speak to the agent if you want, get a description of the add-on, then agree (or not) to receive an email with the purchase details.
(You could even confirm in-game if you were set up to do this when you registered.)
In general, if ads are useful, targeted, and reasonably unobtrusive, I welcome them as a source of information.
For instance, if a site wants to advertise (based on a search for robotics-related documents) that they have a good deal on stepper motors, great. I might well click through and find something I'd like. Amazon does a great job with this as far as books go -- their recommendations of what else I'd like often come up with some really cool suggestions.
What I don't want to see are ads for the general public (or even the general gamer public). Even if such a beast as a typical gamer exists, it ain't me. My taste in ads is somewhat like my taste in music -- I don't expect anyone else to like the exact mix I do (and most people's tastes will be pretty different. I admit I'm weird.)
...wouldn't it be pretty straightforward to replace the hardware circuit that does
if(bignastyDRM(uniqueDRMkey)==TRUE){}
with
if(TRUE){}
...?
Yes, I know circuits are usually either designed with a capture program or modeled in VRML/Verilog -- but the logic still holds. Find out what part of the circuit locks the functionality -- and replace it with a wire to Vcc.
(Unless, of course, they will require the chip to communicate with the mothership every time it has to blow its little digital nose etc...)
That's being rather picky, I think. I know it isn't saying much, but I routinely see much worse from the likes of CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post etc. Also, Slashdot tends to be a bit more niche-oriented while maintaining roughly the same timeliness, so the occasional rough grammar is to be expected, I'd think.
How did someone with the great idea of "spy on your children" get modded Insightful? Try parenting people, shockingly effective. I don't consider viewing a publicly-available website such as MySpace or Facebook to be "spying." To me, that is responsible parenting. Installing a keylogger or other spyware on the kids' PCs -- or using a packet sniffer on the house LAN -- would be spying.
One of the comments below TFA has it right, I think. No competent kid is going to be slowed down by more than a few seconds by these restrictions. Better to allow them to create a profile openly -- and for their parents to create a MySpace persona to keep tabs on them and see what's being posted etc.
Most of the people that I know who are old enough to have kids on MySpace know a LOT less about using the Internet than their kids do. (Yeah, I know; there will be a few/.ers reading this who have kids and who DO know what they're doing; I'm not talking about you.)
Any "security" measures designed to "protect" kids don't have a chance of working unless either:
The kids want them to work, and/or
The security measures take into account that the kids are very knowledgeable and their parents generally aren't.
I'll accept that video games are the sole reason we're getting fatter -- if McDonalds accepts that fast food is making us violent. It seems just as logical to me.
Personally, I know why I'm fat (although I'm currently working on that problem). Soft drinks, pure and simple. I used to consume at least 1,000kcal/day of the stuff. At 3500kcal/lb, that adds up fast!
At least I don't smoke -- but as a soda addict, I do sympathize with smokers. It's hard to give up (or even cut back on) something you really enjoy.
It might help with realism. Sure, games have good-looking trees already (Oblivion comes to mind). But like any discipline, if you get expert help, it does increase realism.
For instance, trees that look plausible to not only gamers but botanists, given their environment, will almost certainly seem more "real" even to non-experts. The human mind is good at picking up on patterns, even subconsciously -- and weeping-willow trees in arid areas (for example) will probably look somehow out-of-place to many people, even if they can't put a finger on *why*.
All the trees in the gallery look strangely similar. Are they all conifers so far? It's still downloading the trees from their server (and no doubt slashdotted), but I was hoping to use it to build deciduous-type trees (virtual bonsai). Oh, well. It's still cool.
Thanks, guys. As Ms. Fawcett would say, "I'm into trees." (Just not quite in the same way she is...)
[I'd like to see a lot less of] Emphasis on online games [and] Console-only games. On a PC, how do you do multiplayer without an Internet connection and without requiring the host of a party to buy multiple PCs? You don't. I'd like to see more single-player games. Portal, Oblivion, Syberia, Myst...
Things in the gaming world I'd like to see a lot less of in 2008:
If-it-moves-shoot-it games. Portal was really cool. How about more innovative games like that?
Emphasis on online games. (Aren't geeks supposed to be antisocial?)
Handwriting-based mind games (this means you, Brain Age!)
Sports games.
Internet-required-to-play or disc-required-to-play security. Including Steam -- although the ability to download a game across the 'Net is very cool. What, are you trying to make us download a cracked copy??
Console-only games. I'd bet PCs are more popular than any one console...
Maybe I just don't get it, but I really don't see how "pair programming" -- at least as it was explained to us in the CS classes I took -- could possibly be efficient. Two programmers sharing one computer?
I'm not the world's most l33t programmer (far from it), but I did win a local programming contest a few years back -- due in large part, I think, to the fact that the other teams had to share a terminal, whereas I was working by myself. Anecdotal, I know -- but it gives me definite doubts about the wisdom of Pair Programming.
I figure if anyone knows, you guys do. Am I missing something here -- or is this really as inefficient as it seems to be?
Slashdot Mirror
In Soviet Russia, lame memes take *YOU* back to ebaumsworld!
The idea of putting advertising in games, regardless of whether it's optional or not is an interesting one. It comes back to the question of motivation. If a studio designs a game, we assume they (programmers, artists, texturers etc.) are doing it because a) they enjoy it and b) they believe they're creating a cultural icon made up of lots of different artistic elements like sound, visuals and animation.
Now I think it's fairly accepted that anything that "Sells out" (ie. uses the artistic medium purely for profit) isn't really regarded as art. These days that may seem less the case and I bet you're all waiting to cite examples of particular genres of music and film which contain product placement, but in my opinion and I think the opinion of many of those who both create and appreciate true art (Whether it be film, music, paintings, whatever) those particular examples fail to be art and end up being advertisements in themselves.
I think that placing ads in the artistic medium of videogames negates the inherent artistic nature of them, as concern grows over whether the creators of the game were making it because of the above reason or purely to make money.
Then again maybe I'm just sick of seeing the same bunch of #%@&head corporations ripping off their workers, consumers and the environment and infiltrating every aspect of our lives. Gaming should be a form of escapism. It's hard to escape our intense, competitive, profit driven world when there's Coca Cola and Microsoft billboards in my supposedly "alternate" universe.
I guess it depends on how it's done. Microsoft ads in Oblivion would be illusion-shattering -- but what about ads for game add-ons, done as posters and such, in an in-game style? ("Wizard's castle for sale -- see Gro-dalk the realty agent in the Market District...") You could speak to the agent if you want, get a description of the add-on, then agree (or not) to receive an email with the purchase details.
(You could even confirm in-game if you were set up to do this when you registered.)
In general, if ads are useful, targeted, and reasonably unobtrusive, I welcome them as a source of information.
For instance, if a site wants to advertise (based on a search for robotics-related documents) that they have a good deal on stepper motors, great. I might well click through and find something I'd like. Amazon does a great job with this as far as books go -- their recommendations of what else I'd like often come up with some really cool suggestions.
What I don't want to see are ads for the general public (or even the general gamer public). Even if such a beast as a typical gamer exists, it ain't me. My taste in ads is somewhat like my taste in music -- I don't expect anyone else to like the exact mix I do (and most people's tastes will be pretty different. I admit I'm weird.)
The Microsoft way
(tho' rather funny)
Seems here to stay;
Redmond has money!
Burma Shave
I'm imagining the ORDB server basically doing the 'Net equivalent of the Monty Python "SPAM" skit...
Spam spam spam spam...
What's that there? An email from your supervisor? SPAM, I say. SPAM SPAM SPAM!
2008.04.01 isn't for another week and a half. This would be very nice, but I'm not holding my breath...
...wouldn't it be pretty straightforward to replace the hardware circuit that does
...?
if(bignastyDRM(uniqueDRMkey)==TRUE){}
with
if(TRUE){}
Yes, I know circuits are usually either designed with a capture program or modeled in VRML/Verilog -- but the logic still holds. Find out what part of the circuit locks the functionality -- and replace it with a wire to Vcc.
(Unless, of course, they will require the chip to communicate with the mothership every time it has to blow its little digital nose etc...)
Redmond weather reports are predicting thunderstorms, with a 90% chance of scattered chair showers.
45 nautical miles? Wow -- that's almost as big as the Pentium Pro. What's the big deal?
Oh. SI units. My bad. Didn't expect to see them, stateside...
"Amicus curiae" non "amicus RIAAie" est!
NYCL for President. Go get 'em, sir! 8-)
Amerzone, Syberia, Syberia II, Paradise... the guy is an artistic genius. These aren't games, they're slices of (very interesting) worlds.
That's being rather picky, I think. I know it isn't saying much, but I routinely see much worse from the likes of CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post etc. Also, Slashdot tends to be a bit more niche-oriented while maintaining roughly the same timeliness, so the occasional rough grammar is to be expected, I'd think.
I know what you mean. I remember playing tic-tac-toe on the teletype terminal that my uncle had as a grad student at UMD.
Most of the people that I know who are old enough to have kids on MySpace know a LOT less about using the Internet than their kids do. (Yeah, I know; there will be a few
Any "security" measures designed to "protect" kids don't have a chance of working unless either:
I'll accept that video games are the sole reason we're getting fatter -- if McDonalds accepts that fast food is making us violent. It seems just as logical to me.
Personally, I know why I'm fat (although I'm currently working on that problem). Soft drinks, pure and simple. I used to consume at least 1,000kcal/day of the stuff. At 3500kcal/lb, that adds up fast!
At least I don't smoke -- but as a soda addict, I do sympathize with smokers. It's hard to give up (or even cut back on) something you really enjoy.
It might help with realism. Sure, games have good-looking trees already (Oblivion comes to mind). But like any discipline, if you get expert help, it does increase realism.
For instance, trees that look plausible to not only gamers but botanists, given their environment, will almost certainly seem more "real" even to non-experts. The human mind is good at picking up on patterns, even subconsciously -- and weeping-willow trees in arid areas (for example) will probably look somehow out-of-place to many people, even if they can't put a finger on *why*.
All the trees in the gallery look strangely similar. Are they all conifers so far? It's still downloading the trees from their server (and no doubt slashdotted), but I was hoping to use it to build deciduous-type trees (virtual bonsai). Oh, well. It's still cool.
Thanks, guys. As Ms. Fawcett would say, "I'm into trees." (Just not quite in the same way she is...)
Nah -- that 95% just opted out of the downgrade to IE7.
I can has bad grammar??
Maybe I just don't get it, but I really don't see how "pair programming" -- at least as it was explained to us in the CS classes I took -- could possibly be efficient. Two programmers sharing one computer?
I'm not the world's most l33t programmer (far from it), but I did win a local programming contest a few years back -- due in large part, I think, to the fact that the other teams had to share a terminal, whereas I was working by myself. Anecdotal, I know -- but it gives me definite doubts about the wisdom of Pair Programming.
I figure if anyone knows, you guys do. Am I missing something here -- or is this really as inefficient as it seems to be?
Wow. A literate, thoughtful AC.
*checks weather report for Hell, expecting snow showers*