Remember when the norm for a video game was a blue hedgehog that ran fast and collected rings and emeralds?
And now we have sexy blue Asari commandos quickly kicking ass and collecting names.
Personally, I'd call that an improvement, but each to his own.
My last five "big" games were Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Bioshock 2, Demon's Souls and Final Fantasy 13, so I'm not real clear on the whole "games are too realistic" concept. Dozens of alien races, 15th century Italy, a dying undersea city, a demon haunted world and cell powered Final Fantasy psychedelia- yeah, I can just walk out my door and see all that.
Maybe I'd feel differently if I played endless FPS games day in and day out, but then then the article switches to complain that they are not real enough, so who even knows WTF they are babbling about.
You want real? Go outside. Or join the Army. Real enough for you yet? Or just have a friend pop a cap in you when you get snipered in a game.
Most people dislike books because they were forced to read them in school, and there's nothing worse than being made to read a book you hate (Wurthering Heights... eugh).
We read every horrible, depressing Jack London story. There was one about a guy trying to survive in some tundra wasteland, and he's draining ponds to just get at some fish, crawling for miles and then he loses all his fingers or toes or some appendage. The End. And all the rest... brutality, murder, suicide- whee! He must have been one of the most miserable SOBs to walk the Earth. No wonder everyone thought he committed suicide.
From Wikipedia: His "simple grave is marked only by a mossy boulder."
Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel.
I saw Cosmos when it first aired. Don't worry. You'll get over it.
It's the amounts of energy and the sheer scales required that always unravels all the lofty plans. You hear about all these wild ideas, but when you start to look at the actual numbers involved (like 1000 kilometer lenses focusing city sized lasers on light sails bigger than the Earth), the hopelessness begins to settle in. That's why I always say if something out there *did* create the universe, it was a total asshole, and I'd love to punch it in the closest thing it has for a crotch.
Oh, but I'm just being a big old curmudgeon many will say. That newfangled physics will be along any day now to upend our view of the cosmos, and we'll be tossing Alcubierre drive ships out into the galaxy left and right! You betcha!
And we eventually pounded Clippy into oblivion through ridicule, satire and parody. We must maintain eternal vigilance against this threat. Hold the line, comrades! Hold the line!
But would running it at 12000x9000 pixels with 50 trillion polygons per millisecond at 60 frames per quantum tick of the Universe make the game any more *fun*?
I remember back in the fun 8-bit days when Lucasfilm released Koronis Rift with its' shiny new fractal graphics technology. Very pretty game for the time. The gameplay blew entire monkeyhouses of chimps, but it sure was pretty.
Well, I've read plenty of articles about how the relentless drive for polygon count and shiny lighting models has held back other parts of game development (such as enemies that don't walk around with neon "Kill Me" signs on their backs), maybe the industry *should* concentrate on something else for a while.
In between all the shiny AAA titles I played last year on the X360, PS3 and PC, the one that really sucked me in was Little King's Story, an RTS style game on the Wii. A cute little game with cute graphics where part way into it you realize the goal is global conquest and flat out genocide of neighboring kingdoms.:-) Awesome. More archers!
People thought voting their precious Party line was important.
Really, that's it in a nutshell.
People got voted in because they were a Democrat or a Republican in carefully drawn district boundaries. The result is an army of low grade thinkers that exhibit fake charm, glibness, massive egos, manipulative lying, no remorse or responsibility for their errors, a need for constant stimulation, parasitic behavior, poor long term planning and impulsive sexual appetites just to name a few flaws.
Now go compare that list to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist and you realize the problem: the asylum is being run by the lunatics because we have a system that, when you roll in a media hungry for scandal and irrelevancies, filters out anyone *except* lunatics.
Just break up already!
Honestly, there's less drama in a year's worth of tabloid stories about some boofruck celebrity couple's breakup and the custody of their mutant child.
Take control of young tough Friedrich Heinz Lykakok as he battles his way up the hierarchy of the illicit precision watch market, and eventually targets the trillions of secret dollars and Euros squirreled away in secret Swiss bank accounts. In between missions, tool around the streets and find a lovely little Swiss miss with whom to pass the time.
Pre-order now and get an unlock code for the Sig 550 rifle that shoots fine chocolate bullets. Carnage in the streets never tasted so sweet!
*Pfft* On of my fellow engineers at work has a Boxter. Another bought a used (Oops! I mean pre-owned!) 911 Targ- Turb- um, something or other. I don't know if it pushed back their retirements at all, but Porsches are just not that big of a deal, anymore.
Now if the doctor has a Bugatti Veyron or Ascari A10, you might want to worry.;-)
If he drives up in a Morgan Aero, run away as fast as you can.
So then all laws requiring motor vehicle insurance are unconstitutional? That would be interesting.
Some do make that argument, yes. I am unaware if it has been formally challenged on that basis, though. It could be argued that not having auto insurance could wind up affecting others financially while not having health insurance only screws yourself (the financial burden on your next of kin notwithstanding).
life expectancy
There's only a 6 year span covering the life expectancies of the top 50 countries. That really doesn't seem like much, and trying to read *one* factor into it, like health care, is pointless. I could just as easily declare the USA has a lower number due to bad diet and in *spite* of our health care.
Note: I'm actually not opposed to the single payer concept. I just would like someone other than our Congress to hammer it out.;-)
So what parts of the current health care bill do you think will have the biggest and best effects?
There's some fun little games in there. The trick is to pop in and check what's new in the games section every couple of days. I look for new trailers, demos, arcade and indie games.
It's supposed to be a sandbox for budding developers. You're not going to find the next Mass Effect there. Are so many people really missing the point? Yeah, yeah, in this world that's a totally pointless question.
Slashdot Mirror
They should have called it the iWhine based on the reactions it evokes in people. Mod me troll but you know in your hearts I'm right.
Remember when the norm for a video game was a blue hedgehog that ran fast and collected rings and emeralds?
And now we have sexy blue Asari commandos quickly kicking ass and collecting names.
Personally, I'd call that an improvement, but each to his own.
My last five "big" games were Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Bioshock 2, Demon's Souls and Final Fantasy 13, so I'm not real clear on the whole "games are too realistic" concept. Dozens of alien races, 15th century Italy, a dying undersea city, a demon haunted world and cell powered Final Fantasy psychedelia- yeah, I can just walk out my door and see all that.
Maybe I'd feel differently if I played endless FPS games day in and day out, but then then the article switches to complain that they are not real enough, so who even knows WTF they are babbling about.
You want real? Go outside. Or join the Army. Real enough for you yet? Or just have a friend pop a cap in you when you get snipered in a game.
Most people dislike books because they were forced to read them in school, and there's nothing worse than being made to read a book you hate (Wurthering Heights... eugh).
We read every horrible, depressing Jack London story. There was one about a guy trying to survive in some tundra wasteland, and he's draining ponds to just get at some fish, crawling for miles and then he loses all his fingers or toes or some appendage. The End. And all the rest... brutality, murder, suicide- whee! He must have been one of the most miserable SOBs to walk the Earth. No wonder everyone thought he committed suicide.
From Wikipedia: His "simple grave is marked only by a mossy boulder."
As it should be!
Immediately after watching it I couldn't stop thinking about space travel.
I saw Cosmos when it first aired. Don't worry. You'll get over it.
It's the amounts of energy and the sheer scales required that always unravels all the lofty plans. You hear about all these wild ideas, but when you start to look at the actual numbers involved (like 1000 kilometer lenses focusing city sized lasers on light sails bigger than the Earth), the hopelessness begins to settle in. That's why I always say if something out there *did* create the universe, it was a total asshole, and I'd love to punch it in the closest thing it has for a crotch.
Oh, but I'm just being a big old curmudgeon many will say. That newfangled physics will be along any day now to upend our view of the cosmos, and we'll be tossing Alcubierre drive ships out into the galaxy left and right! You betcha!
Sure, kids. Sure you will.
Company employee defends company product! The internets staggered! Anarchy in the streets!
And we eventually pounded Clippy into oblivion through ridicule, satire and parody. We must maintain eternal vigilance against this threat. Hold the line, comrades! Hold the line!
Eh, we'll probably be injecting the video right into our optic nerves before then. :)
But would running it at 12000x9000 pixels with 50 trillion polygons per millisecond at 60 frames per quantum tick of the Universe make the game any more *fun*?
I remember back in the fun 8-bit days when Lucasfilm released Koronis Rift with its' shiny new fractal graphics technology. Very pretty game for the time. The gameplay blew entire monkeyhouses of chimps, but it sure was pretty.
Well, I've read plenty of articles about how the relentless drive for polygon count and shiny lighting models has held back other parts of game development (such as enemies that don't walk around with neon "Kill Me" signs on their backs), maybe the industry *should* concentrate on something else for a while.
In between all the shiny AAA titles I played last year on the X360, PS3 and PC, the one that really sucked me in was Little King's Story, an RTS style game on the Wii. A cute little game with cute graphics where part way into it you realize the goal is global conquest and flat out genocide of neighboring kingdoms. :-) Awesome. More archers!
shenin- shenano- shin- shenanigu- DAMMIT!
What the hell has happend to us as a country?
People thought voting their precious Party line was important.
Really, that's it in a nutshell.
People got voted in because they were a Democrat or a Republican in carefully drawn district boundaries. The result is an army of low grade thinkers that exhibit fake charm, glibness, massive egos, manipulative lying, no remorse or responsibility for their errors, a need for constant stimulation, parasitic behavior, poor long term planning and impulsive sexual appetites just to name a few flaws.
Now go compare that list to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist and you realize the problem: the asylum is being run by the lunatics because we have a system that, when you roll in a media hungry for scandal and irrelevancies, filters out anyone *except* lunatics.
Great for folks who go through relationships like Octomom goes through diapers.
The world has it's first true supervillain.
So who is our superhero? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Obamaman? Anyone?
Remember: no capes!
Just break up already! Honestly, there's less drama in a year's worth of tabloid stories about some boofruck celebrity couple's breakup and the custody of their mutant child.
House Passes Massive Medical Insurance Bill, 219-212
Calm, rational discussion of its effects ensues.
(QD takes slow puff of cigar and a contemplative sip brandy)
So, gentlemen and gentlewomen, what sort of contraption has our legislative conclave unleashed into the wild?
How the freaking hell was this flamebait? You ideologues need to all drop dead and let the rational humans have a crack at things.
Of course that will depopulate most of the Earth.
There. How's that for flamebait?
Grand Theft Auto - Zurich
Take control of young tough Friedrich Heinz Lykakok as he battles his way up the hierarchy of the illicit precision watch market, and eventually targets the trillions of secret dollars and Euros squirreled away in secret Swiss bank accounts. In between missions, tool around the streets and find a lovely little Swiss miss with whom to pass the time.
Pre-order now and get an unlock code for the Sig 550 rifle that shoots fine chocolate bullets. Carnage in the streets never tasted so sweet!
Did someone pass a law banning correlation between Slashdot headlines and the actual stories?
Title: game banned
Story: new law paves the way for a ban, but it's still unclear.
It use to be once in a while, but now...
What's next?
Title: Civilization destroyed in improbable cataclysmic event!
Story: 2012 released on DVD and Blu-Ray
I once had mine set to "Stop Sniffing My Wifi" and later to "Secret CIA Node #301"
I considered "Sex Offender Network" just to see if it got a reaction, but thought better of it.
Finish him!
*Pfft* On of my fellow engineers at work has a Boxter. Another bought a used (Oops! I mean pre-owned!) 911 Targ- Turb- um, something or other. I don't know if it pushed back their retirements at all, but Porsches are just not that big of a deal, anymore.
Now if the doctor has a Bugatti Veyron or Ascari A10, you might want to worry. ;-)
If he drives up in a Morgan Aero, run away as fast as you can.
You can go in and see them ranked by sales and star rating.
*shrug* Whaddya want?
So then all laws requiring motor vehicle insurance are unconstitutional? That would be interesting.
Some do make that argument, yes. I am unaware if it has been formally challenged on that basis, though. It could be argued that not having auto insurance could wind up affecting others financially while not having health insurance only screws yourself (the financial burden on your next of kin notwithstanding).
life expectancy
There's only a 6 year span covering the life expectancies of the top 50 countries. That really doesn't seem like much, and trying to read *one* factor into it, like health care, is pointless. I could just as easily declare the USA has a lower number due to bad diet and in *spite* of our health care.
Note: I'm actually not opposed to the single payer concept. I just would like someone other than our Congress to hammer it out. ;-)
So what parts of the current health care bill do you think will have the biggest and best effects?
There's some fun little games in there. The trick is to pop in and check what's new in the games section every couple of days. I look for new trailers, demos, arcade and indie games.
It's supposed to be a sandbox for budding developers. You're not going to find the next Mass Effect there. Are so many people really missing the point? Yeah, yeah, in this world that's a totally pointless question.