I believe there are some responsible retrailers (as I was when I worked in a store that sold video games, comics, etc.). However, I still believe that a few workers here and there may let it slide.
I have to debate the fact that the games in question are intentionally marketed to children. Publishers can advise the retailers all they want to not sell the game to minors, however, there will always be that one guy at EB, Rhino or elsewhere that thinks he'll be "cool" and let the kid buy it. Or the parents or grandparents will buy it for the child. Could the retailer advise the customer of the content? Yes. Will they? No. It's a sale, and the parent should be researching that aspect.
US Arcades are dying because of outrages prices per session that over an hour (for a novice player) could add up easily to the cost of the game. If I'm a DDR fanatic, I can buy any edition of the game plus a third-party pad for $100 more or less, why would I endlessly shell out money for it?
And as I glance through arcades, I see... FPS, FPS, FPS, and old NLF Blitz game, rarely do I see a pinball machine, and when I do, it's either Playboy or Terminator 2, and a bunch of Chuck E. Cheese toys that do nothing but dispense tickets for worthless prizes.
If I go into an arcade and drop $1 in tokens for a racing game that I've never played, and I suck at it (either due to my own lack of skills, an alread-damaged steerng wheel, or any other reason) I will not be easily tempted to drop another $1 to come in last place in a race that lasted thirty-seconds because I didn't pass a checkpoint.
The death of the US Arcade is coming about because of overpricing and lack of originality. Some arcades combat the pricing issue by offering time cards, where you pay a flat fee for one hour of gaming. But when there's no games worth playing, no one will buy the cards either. (You had to buy a separate card at a higher cost to play DDR, by the way.)
The reason I do not place blame squarely on the parent is that some (not all, some) are still amazed, bewildered and uninformed as to what online video games involve. Do not misunderstand me that there should have been a watchful eye. However if the parent had believed it was simply a game and did not know the amount of communication possible, I would give them some slack. Some parents still do not comprehend what a "nintendo" is capable of these days, and frankly, they probably feel horrible about not monitoring the child after the fact.
Perhaps the account should not be cancelled, but it would be interesting to see a flag system in place. After all, neighbors are notified when a sexual predator moves into town. Perhaps Microsoft should consider branding convicted offenders with specific icons so that they can still sign onto the network while alerting anyone to their criminal status.
...This is a very good example of why I find the Nintendo WFC to be very well designed in terms of child safety. There are no WFC chat programs (currently) available, and the only way to seek a friend through Mario Kart or Animal Crossing is to already have their ID# (and vice-versa). I specifically stated possible sexual predators seeking out children to my friend when he was complaining of the lack of free chat and messaging services.
But nor do I blame XBox live. Ultimately the fault and blame is on the assailant. I simply think Nintendo was wise to structure such a limited network, especially with games targeted at younger audiences.
That would backfire horribly. The only thing noticed more than an out-spoken idiot is a martyr. He's been preaching video games encourage violence, and to be intentionally struck down by a gamer would only bring legitimate attention to his cause.
Wouldn't that generate a conflict of interest in the eyes of a judge?
Either he's supporting the company (financially through shares), or he isn't (by suing).
And I realize I'm reading too much into a joke.
It would track the mobile phone signals of loved ones, then cross-reference which mobile cell they were in with pre-programmed locations, like the home, school, or workplace.
We don't want to be Big Brother. We want to make the tools so you can be Big Brother!
1) Make a better game that someone is proud to keep in their library, either to loan to a friend for a weekend or to replay at a later time, perhaps on a more difficult setting.
2) Offer trade-ins: EB, Gamestop, Rhino, et al employ a large number of people and they make a good deal of money off second-hand games. Also, other establishments make an extra $10 or so taking games as trade for other merchandise and then reselling them later.
Institute some sort of voucher system. Let's use Nintendo as a hypothetical. Say for example a customer purchased Pikmin 2, beat the game fairly quickly, and had no desire to keep it in his collection any longer. If Nintendo had a system where the purchaser could send the game back to Nintendo for coupon for any future Nintendo media purchase. Nintendo could then evaluate the state of the game, repackage it (if the package has been stained, or damaged) and then resolicit it at a discounter price to a specialty electronics vendor with a seal saying it has passed inspection.
The game looks new, plays as well as a new one (not having scratches, smudges, etc.) and is certified by the company.
For one thing, having SSB on the DS would be nice, as you could take it more places than you could the Revolution. The portability plus connectivity would be a nice feature.
Yes, I think it would be good incentive to have both characters that are unlocked in the single game by sole achievements, then exclusives that are only unlocked through sync'ing the two devices. (Or using an Action Replay, of course.)
I would like to see a DS-edition of Smash Bros., but not as a complete stand alone game. We've already seen Gameboy/Gamecube connectivity with Metroid (where completing the GBA version unlocked the original Metroid in the Gamecube version [or something similar, my facts may be off]) and Animal Crossing (where your character could visit an island that you could transfer to your GBA, or where classic NES games could be transferred to the GBA.)
If Nintendo created not only an online SSB for the Revolution, but a DS "lite" edition that would allow for certain bonuses in each game reflected by your game stats (for example, playing the DS edition in multi-player mode for over an hour might unlock a new attack for a character in the Revolution edition) that would be quite interesting. Allow for exclusive maps, attacks, perhaps a hidden character that is unlocked on each console when first sync'ed. Account for records in each game. I believe something along that line would be very enjoyable.
My $1.25 on the topic.
"It was the first console FPS that was actually playable with a decent control mechanism."
The aspect of a decent control mechanism is debatable. That comes down to preference and the ability to customize the controls to reflect the player's instinctive reactions.
Whether it is a joke or not is irrelevant. This is Nintendo playing a very good game of CYA. Parents have the option of setting these limits, and as long as Nintendo provides the tools and instructions on how to use them, they can find their way out of any potentially dangerous situations.
"Those parental controls that are installed, and referred to in the manual... did you use those to keep little Billy from playing our Rated-M games? Either of those games? No? You didn't bother setting a password? Not our fault."
Is there anyone on this forum that honestly believed it would come out?
No, but I'm sure this forum is home to a number of Devil's Advocates who will take the opposite opinion, either for the sake of debate, or to annoy all others.
Glad to hear they're anxious to learn...
on
Fighting FUD with Humor
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
If Gagne's so sure the average user is more than willing to learn new things, then he can be the one to walk my mother through downloading ISOs for the latest Mandrake build, helping her pick which items to install, explaining why she needs a "gui" (and what it is) and then helping her pick between KDE, Gnome...
Slashdot Mirror
"Does this mean that a Mac laptop will be included in the purchase price of an "E" ticket?"
Doubt it, but maybe we'll get a nice "bong" when Space Mountain starts.
"What were they thinking?"
Probably something along the lines of "What the hell, I'm getting fired at the end of the month, anyway."
I believe there are some responsible retrailers (as I was when I worked in a store that sold video games, comics, etc.). However, I still believe that a few workers here and there may let it slide.
I have to debate the fact that the games in question are intentionally marketed to children. Publishers can advise the retailers all they want to not sell the game to minors, however, there will always be that one guy at EB, Rhino or elsewhere that thinks he'll be "cool" and let the kid buy it. Or the parents or grandparents will buy it for the child. Could the retailer advise the customer of the content? Yes. Will they? No. It's a sale, and the parent should be researching that aspect.
US Arcades are dying because of outrages prices per session that over an hour (for a novice player) could add up easily to the cost of the game. If I'm a DDR fanatic, I can buy any edition of the game plus a third-party pad for $100 more or less, why would I endlessly shell out money for it?
And as I glance through arcades, I see... FPS, FPS, FPS, and old NLF Blitz game, rarely do I see a pinball machine, and when I do, it's either Playboy or Terminator 2, and a bunch of Chuck E. Cheese toys that do nothing but dispense tickets for worthless prizes.
If I go into an arcade and drop $1 in tokens for a racing game that I've never played, and I suck at it (either due to my own lack of skills, an alread-damaged steerng wheel, or any other reason) I will not be easily tempted to drop another $1 to come in last place in a race that lasted thirty-seconds because I didn't pass a checkpoint.
The death of the US Arcade is coming about because of overpricing and lack of originality. Some arcades combat the pricing issue by offering time cards, where you pay a flat fee for one hour of gaming. But when there's no games worth playing, no one will buy the cards either. (You had to buy a separate card at a higher cost to play DDR, by the way.)
The reason I do not place blame squarely on the parent is that some (not all, some) are still amazed, bewildered and uninformed as to what online video games involve. Do not misunderstand me that there should have been a watchful eye. However if the parent had believed it was simply a game and did not know the amount of communication possible, I would give them some slack. Some parents still do not comprehend what a "nintendo" is capable of these days, and frankly, they probably feel horrible about not monitoring the child after the fact.
Perhaps the account should not be cancelled, but it would be interesting to see a flag system in place. After all, neighbors are notified when a sexual predator moves into town. Perhaps Microsoft should consider branding convicted offenders with specific icons so that they can still sign onto the network while alerting anyone to their criminal status.
...This is a very good example of why I find the Nintendo WFC to be very well designed in terms of child safety. There are no WFC chat programs (currently) available, and the only way to seek a friend through Mario Kart or Animal Crossing is to already have their ID# (and vice-versa). I specifically stated possible sexual predators seeking out children to my friend when he was complaining of the lack of free chat and messaging services.
But nor do I blame XBox live. Ultimately the fault and blame is on the assailant. I simply think Nintendo was wise to structure such a limited network, especially with games targeted at younger audiences.
I hope they are depending on more than that to sell their service.
So... I can rest assured I'll be first in line to buy the soundtrack from Laguna Beach, then?
Wait... so SCO is suing about the copyrights, which they admit are owned by Novell, and weren't even part of the deal?
We can do stuff like that?
*ahem*
Mister Trump, if you're reading: You are a successful business man. I am not. Therefore, you owe me one billion dollars. A money order will be fine.
Maybe the author is suggesting that we simply unplug the audio cables from the back of our televisions.
Though that would make it difficult to follow the storyline of Super Monkey Ball.
A dull Spike TV rip-off?
Ouch. Kick 'em when they're down, I guess.
That would backfire horribly. The only thing noticed more than an out-spoken idiot is a martyr. He's been preaching video games encourage violence, and to be intentionally struck down by a gamer would only bring legitimate attention to his cause.
Wouldn't that generate a conflict of interest in the eyes of a judge?
Either he's supporting the company (financially through shares), or he isn't (by suing).
And I realize I'm reading too much into a joke.
It would track the mobile phone signals of loved ones, then cross-reference which mobile cell they were in with pre-programmed locations, like the home, school, or workplace.
We don't want to be Big Brother. We want to make the tools so you can be Big Brother!
Clearly Google's intentions are similar to that of the plans for OpenOffice.
The world's first online web browser.
1) Make a better game that someone is proud to keep in their library, either to loan to a friend for a weekend or to replay at a later time, perhaps on a more difficult setting.
2) Offer trade-ins: EB, Gamestop, Rhino, et al employ a large number of people and they make a good deal of money off second-hand games. Also, other establishments make an extra $10 or so taking games as trade for other merchandise and then reselling them later.
Institute some sort of voucher system. Let's use Nintendo as a hypothetical. Say for example a customer purchased Pikmin 2, beat the game fairly quickly, and had no desire to keep it in his collection any longer. If Nintendo had a system where the purchaser could send the game back to Nintendo for coupon for any future Nintendo media purchase. Nintendo could then evaluate the state of the game, repackage it (if the package has been stained, or damaged) and then resolicit it at a discounter price to a specialty electronics vendor with a seal saying it has passed inspection.
The game looks new, plays as well as a new one (not having scratches, smudges, etc.) and is certified by the company.
For one thing, having SSB on the DS would be nice, as you could take it more places than you could the Revolution. The portability plus connectivity would be a nice feature. Yes, I think it would be good incentive to have both characters that are unlocked in the single game by sole achievements, then exclusives that are only unlocked through sync'ing the two devices. (Or using an Action Replay, of course.)
I would like to see a DS-edition of Smash Bros., but not as a complete stand alone game. We've already seen Gameboy/Gamecube connectivity with Metroid (where completing the GBA version unlocked the original Metroid in the Gamecube version [or something similar, my facts may be off]) and Animal Crossing (where your character could visit an island that you could transfer to your GBA, or where classic NES games could be transferred to the GBA.)
If Nintendo created not only an online SSB for the Revolution, but a DS "lite" edition that would allow for certain bonuses in each game reflected by your game stats (for example, playing the DS edition in multi-player mode for over an hour might unlock a new attack for a character in the Revolution edition) that would be quite interesting. Allow for exclusive maps, attacks, perhaps a hidden character that is unlocked on each console when first sync'ed. Account for records in each game. I believe something along that line would be very enjoyable.
My $1.25 on the topic.
"...mobile gaming will not be a focus until 2007..."
...when they announce their tie-in with "projected-to-be-successful" Gizmondo.
That's how it works? And here I thought it was just the latest console using Hype technology.
Whether it is a joke or not is irrelevant. This is Nintendo playing a very good game of CYA. Parents have the option of setting these limits, and as long as Nintendo provides the tools and instructions on how to use them, they can find their way out of any potentially dangerous situations.
"Those parental controls that are installed, and referred to in the manual... did you use those to keep little Billy from playing our Rated-M games? Either of those games? No? You didn't bother setting a password? Not our fault."
If Gagne's so sure the average user is more than willing to learn new things, then he can be the one to walk my mother through downloading ISOs for the latest Mandrake build, helping her pick which items to install, explaining why she needs a "gui" (and what it is) and then helping her pick between KDE, Gnome...