Look at the meteoric rise of the trade-in market and digital distribution.
Aren't those diametrically opposed? Not that they can't coexist, but they each seem to support opposite sides. With zero trade-in value, a digital purchase is a vote for higher net prices. World of Warcraft and Madden are both proof that you can charge people hundreds of dollars for a game, as long as you are clever.
Yes, if you were to average all the game prices I'm sure they are way down, but I don't think it's a simple supply/demand problem. These games aren't homogeneous and price is only one of many variables. I bet A-list prices are and will remain as high as ever. Our perspective is skewed because there are more games than ever, so of course there are going to be more losers than ever, more trade-ins than ever, and so on. And consider that old games don't go away, so the stockpiles of used games are going to grow naturally over time. Before the big chains started taking over game shops, did they even have a way to estimate national trade-in sales? I remember plenty of used game shops back in the early 90s, probably in equal proportion to the overall popularity of gaming at the time.
I'm not saying higher prices are better though. It may have helped Left 4 Dead. On the other hand we don't know what the sales would have been had the price had a more typical life cycle. Maybe exactly the same, but over a longer period of time.
I'm not impressed unless it's been proven over time...
If you had read the article you would know that they developed a *time machine* in tandem with the glasses so that they could prove their long-term durability.
Keyboard/mouse input is, at least in my opinion, superior in games where pointing and clicking is a sizable part of the game.
This is an understatement. I do not think most people realize how wide the chasm is between game pads and KBM when it comes to FPS games. We have an entire generation of seasoned gamers who are using auto-aim! In competitions! Auto-aim!
That misses the point. Traditional graphic designers are obviously not going to use this (for now, at least). At the moment, this appeals to sites that want to trick up their dynamic content. The same sites that might allow you to choose different skins (e.g. gmail.com). Just because YOU won't use something doesn't make it useless.
The key to any good RPG is the ability to prepare your character to meet new challenges; to ponder ahead of time what goals you have in mind for your character development, and then to go about accomplishing these feats. Sometimes this looks like grinding for hours on end to increase your level, other times it involves using clever combinations of items and abilities to suit the task at hand. RPGs that are too easy, and RPGs that allow the grinding to become repetitive both suffer from the same flaw: you're not being asked to use your brain. Grinding is good when there is a steady and evolving challenge, but too often it's just mindless repetition.
Other things are important too of course. Some light tactics, and a light story, for instance. I prefer RPG stories light because the heavier they are the more apparent it becomes how lame they are. Better to let my imagination fill in the blanks.
OK, so she's a pirate *and* a liar. Let's take away all the money she's likely to earn in her lifetime, because clearly, that's how much this woman has harmed the RIAA.
A few things: Kirk was given the position of 1st Officer, not Captain, and by a ship Captain who had previous biases toward Kirk. This event, along with the eventual inheritance of Captain, also occurred during unusual emergency circumstances, and (IIRC) the 1st Officer promotion closely followed the death-defying free-fall mission you described, which surely upped Kirk's credibility. So while it's still not the most plausible scenario, at least it can be argued. Less plausible, to me, was manning the rest of the bridge with recent graduates.
Re: The ship's mining laser. Clearly the laser extends to lessen the influence of the atmosphere of the given planet being excavated. This would likely be a way to speed up the drilling process. I don't find that hard to believe at all. Of course, you could question why the ship didn't just get closer to the planet, but one look at the Romulan ship leads one to believe it probably doesn't deal well with gravity.
I don't code, but I can describe my best work environment. In a cube, plenty of activity in the building (not after hours), headphones, coffee, and limited interruptions. But I also need coworker interactions, provided they pertain to the subject being worked. It helps if my tasks are spelled out early in the day. NOT a huge conference call with some clueless project manager, mind you. Just a conversation among coworkers. Nothing takes me out of my productivity mood like a buzzword-laden project management meeting.
While I'll never get tired of seeing new Star Trek movies, you do have a point. 90% of what we see today is either a sequel, a retread, or a copycat. The fat cats are mostly interested in safe bets.
She looked at me as if I were accosting her to do such a thing! She quite reluctantly did so and the purchase went through. It astounded me how poor the whole payment experience was. This experience left an indelible impression that I would not be returning to Sears anymore. If they were going to put up a stink over punching in a credit card number, I would not want to know what they would do if I had a real problem.
While I totally side with you on this, you gotta be fair and point out that bad employees end up even in good places. It's true that good companies do a better job of weeding these people out, but it's not a perfect process. Of course, the higher up the chain you go, the fewer excuses you have. Bad managers are a REALLY bad reflection on the company.
I take offense to the notion that smart shoppers are somehow to blame for all of society's ills. The truth is that brick and mortar stores are the male bird in this scenario, fluffing their colorful feathers to attract us "females", the customers. I don't need a frickin' iPod. I can walk out the door without a purchase and it won't affect my life one bit. The business, on the other hand, NEEDS me to buy their garbage. They are lucky to even have me walk in their door. If they aren't willing to listen to feedback (don't upsell us every time we make eye contact) then they are doomed to fail, and SO WHAT!? I will not grieve for Circuit City.
It is up to the stores to figure out what works. We didn't ask them to start a business. There are plenty of ways to get it done. If your upselling techniques bring enough revenue to offset the number of people it inevitably drives away, great! I will continue to moan about it, but who cares? You have a working business model.
You know who I never complain about? Fry's. They seem to get everything right. There's a bazillion customers in the store every time I go, confirming my suspicion. When I'm in Fry's I don't feel like every employee has been given an upselling pep-talk that morning before work, and I don't feel like a nuisance for not buying some stupid warranty. The entire store seems designed to make me want to go there. Imagine that!
What I thought you were going to talk about is how customers are unreasonable in their service expectations. They drop their phone in the toilet, then show up at the dealer expecting a new one. They throw temper tantrums when a company won't match someone else's price. Those people are just annoying to be around.
It would makes Iowa completely irrelevent in the national elections.
No, it would make Iowa proportionately relevant.
I doubt there is much correlation between the amount presidents campaign in a state and the amount they end up truly representing that state after being elected.
Presidents are a national figurehead. They are there to represent the will of the people, not the will of the states. Right? True state representation comes from congress.
The electoral college creates the swing state scenario. In such a scenario, many states become so predictably partisan as to become "completely irrelevant" during the election. This is no better than having your representation scaled down to the level of your population. Furthermore, it disproportionately represents states who become swing states.
Boo friggin' hoo! Seriously though, while your point is valid, it's also important for you to understand that you represent only one portion of the audience for this type of game. Many of us actually enjoy (yes, enjoy!) the setbacks associated with dying, because it challenges us to think through our tactics better. I can totally see someone not having the patience for this, but please do not assume everyone, or even most people for that matter, are the same as you.
I have been playing through all the hand held remakes of the Final Fantasy series (currently playing IV) and Final Fantasy I was my least favorite by far, precisely because they nerfed the difficulty level to where you almost never die. The resulting game is a brain-dead experience; barely participatory.
(BTW there is no Final Fantasy IX for the DS, so perhaps you are referring to FFIV.)
The nag screens are a big issue. When MS installs something that requires a reboot, it will periodically (every 5 minutes or so) flash a "reboot please" nag screen. The thing is practically begging to be disabled.
I would like to consider your argument, but you didn't really back it up. You said the Fed and taxes were partly to blame for the Great Depression, but you didn't really explain why or how it correlates to what's being done today. And everything else you said was merely a rehash of the standard conservative "hands-off" motto.
How about considering the fact that, due to a *lack* of regulation, countless loans were given to people who couldn't pay them back, causing houses to be built but not paid for, sending our economy into a tailspin?
Or how about the fact that, again due to a *lack* of regulation, we have companies so large that their success or failure has global economic implications?
You assume things will bounce back if a company fails and sells its assets. You may be right but you haven't convinced me. And you haven't discussed the amount of *time* required for this bounce back. A few years might be acceptable. But what if it's 50 years? 100?
Now, it's true that this will be hard for those employees who were supposed to be taken care of, but unfortunately life isn't fair.
And hard for anyone with a contract. And hard for anyone working for those contracted companies. And hard for anyone selling items to those people working for those contracted companies. And on and on. Letting them dissolve may be the best option, but it's not the default solution.
What is worse? Allowing big companies to drain federal resources for a time, or allowing our entire economy to slump for a time? Are they even mutually exclusive? Tough questions, and I don't think the conservative ideology is going to solve them by itself.
I was facetiously referring to denying used sales. (Japan does that? Wow.) Anyway, it's worth noting that yeah, car companies have taken the correct path towards gaining some of those used-car dollars: By selling used cars!
More to the point, they didn't install some sort of speed governor that won't let you exceed 65mph until it calls home to ensure you are the original owner of the car.
Here's a case for used games: We don't hate your company for trying to railroad us into a new copy. These companies are pissed that Gamestop makes money doing something they don't. If they are so jealous of Gamestop, why not sell used copies from their own website? Instead of modifying their business strategy to meet market demand (or better yet, ignoring it altogether since the industry continues to grow in spite of used game sales being around since inception), they would rather try to alter the market itself by brute force. Nice.
They are welcome to do as they please, just as we are welcome to play other games. There's a chance it will work exactly like they want it to, I guess. Time will tell. One thing is for sure: It adds no value to the customer, and in fact *removes* value since they no longer have the option to sell or trade their own stuff.
I'd like to see a car company try something like this.
Slashdot Mirror
Look at the meteoric rise of the trade-in market and digital distribution.
Aren't those diametrically opposed? Not that they can't coexist, but they each seem to support opposite sides. With zero trade-in value, a digital purchase is a vote for higher net prices. World of Warcraft and Madden are both proof that you can charge people hundreds of dollars for a game, as long as you are clever.
Yes, if you were to average all the game prices I'm sure they are way down, but I don't think it's a simple supply/demand problem. These games aren't homogeneous and price is only one of many variables. I bet A-list prices are and will remain as high as ever. Our perspective is skewed because there are more games than ever, so of course there are going to be more losers than ever, more trade-ins than ever, and so on. And consider that old games don't go away, so the stockpiles of used games are going to grow naturally over time. Before the big chains started taking over game shops, did they even have a way to estimate national trade-in sales? I remember plenty of used game shops back in the early 90s, probably in equal proportion to the overall popularity of gaming at the time.
I'm not saying higher prices are better though. It may have helped Left 4 Dead. On the other hand we don't know what the sales would have been had the price had a more typical life cycle. Maybe exactly the same, but over a longer period of time.
I think I just missed the entire point of the story.
...if MS starts picking on the iPhone app store approval process.
If you had read the article you would know that they developed a *time machine* in tandem with the glasses so that they could prove their long-term durability.
It definitely needs a reboot of some sort. It has gone from a medieval fantasy game to a bizarre soap opera.
This is an understatement. I do not think most people realize how wide the chasm is between game pads and KBM when it comes to FPS games. We have an entire generation of seasoned gamers who are using auto-aim! In competitions! Auto-aim!
And piracy is going to increase.
That misses the point. Traditional graphic designers are obviously not going to use this (for now, at least). At the moment, this appeals to sites that want to trick up their dynamic content. The same sites that might allow you to choose different skins (e.g. gmail.com). Just because YOU won't use something doesn't make it useless.
Intelligent design is primarily discussed by religious people, but it's an entirely separate concept.
The key to any good RPG is the ability to prepare your character to meet new challenges; to ponder ahead of time what goals you have in mind for your character development, and then to go about accomplishing these feats. Sometimes this looks like grinding for hours on end to increase your level, other times it involves using clever combinations of items and abilities to suit the task at hand. RPGs that are too easy, and RPGs that allow the grinding to become repetitive both suffer from the same flaw: you're not being asked to use your brain. Grinding is good when there is a steady and evolving challenge, but too often it's just mindless repetition.
Other things are important too of course. Some light tactics, and a light story, for instance. I prefer RPG stories light because the heavier they are the more apparent it becomes how lame they are. Better to let my imagination fill in the blanks.
OK, so she's a pirate *and* a liar. Let's take away all the money she's likely to earn in her lifetime, because clearly, that's how much this woman has harmed the RIAA.
A few things: Kirk was given the position of 1st Officer, not Captain, and by a ship Captain who had previous biases toward Kirk. This event, along with the eventual inheritance of Captain, also occurred during unusual emergency circumstances, and (IIRC) the 1st Officer promotion closely followed the death-defying free-fall mission you described, which surely upped Kirk's credibility. So while it's still not the most plausible scenario, at least it can be argued. Less plausible, to me, was manning the rest of the bridge with recent graduates.
Re: The ship's mining laser. Clearly the laser extends to lessen the influence of the atmosphere of the given planet being excavated. This would likely be a way to speed up the drilling process. I don't find that hard to believe at all. Of course, you could question why the ship didn't just get closer to the planet, but one look at the Romulan ship leads one to believe it probably doesn't deal well with gravity.
Will this fix the printing issues in Calc? I was getting wild results before. Not even close to WYSIWYG.
I don't code, but I can describe my best work environment. In a cube, plenty of activity in the building (not after hours), headphones, coffee, and limited interruptions. But I also need coworker interactions, provided they pertain to the subject being worked. It helps if my tasks are spelled out early in the day. NOT a huge conference call with some clueless project manager, mind you. Just a conversation among coworkers. Nothing takes me out of my productivity mood like a buzzword-laden project management meeting.
While I'll never get tired of seeing new Star Trek movies, you do have a point. 90% of what we see today is either a sequel, a retread, or a copycat. The fat cats are mostly interested in safe bets.
She looked at me as if I were accosting her to do such a thing! She quite reluctantly did so and the purchase went through. It astounded me how poor the whole payment experience was. This experience left an indelible impression that I would not be returning to Sears anymore. If they were going to put up a stink over punching in a credit card number, I would not want to know what they would do if I had a real problem.
While I totally side with you on this, you gotta be fair and point out that bad employees end up even in good places. It's true that good companies do a better job of weeding these people out, but it's not a perfect process. Of course, the higher up the chain you go, the fewer excuses you have. Bad managers are a REALLY bad reflection on the company.
I take offense to the notion that smart shoppers are somehow to blame for all of society's ills. The truth is that brick and mortar stores are the male bird in this scenario, fluffing their colorful feathers to attract us "females", the customers. I don't need a frickin' iPod. I can walk out the door without a purchase and it won't affect my life one bit. The business, on the other hand, NEEDS me to buy their garbage. They are lucky to even have me walk in their door. If they aren't willing to listen to feedback (don't upsell us every time we make eye contact) then they are doomed to fail, and SO WHAT!? I will not grieve for Circuit City.
It is up to the stores to figure out what works. We didn't ask them to start a business. There are plenty of ways to get it done. If your upselling techniques bring enough revenue to offset the number of people it inevitably drives away, great! I will continue to moan about it, but who cares? You have a working business model.
You know who I never complain about? Fry's. They seem to get everything right. There's a bazillion customers in the store every time I go, confirming my suspicion. When I'm in Fry's I don't feel like every employee has been given an upselling pep-talk that morning before work, and I don't feel like a nuisance for not buying some stupid warranty. The entire store seems designed to make me want to go there. Imagine that!
What I thought you were going to talk about is how customers are unreasonable in their service expectations. They drop their phone in the toilet, then show up at the dealer expecting a new one. They throw temper tantrums when a company won't match someone else's price. Those people are just annoying to be around.
No, it would make Iowa proportionately relevant.
Boo friggin' hoo! Seriously though, while your point is valid, it's also important for you to understand that you represent only one portion of the audience for this type of game. Many of us actually enjoy (yes, enjoy!) the setbacks associated with dying, because it challenges us to think through our tactics better. I can totally see someone not having the patience for this, but please do not assume everyone, or even most people for that matter, are the same as you.
I have been playing through all the hand held remakes of the Final Fantasy series (currently playing IV) and Final Fantasy I was my least favorite by far, precisely because they nerfed the difficulty level to where you almost never die. The resulting game is a brain-dead experience; barely participatory.
(BTW there is no Final Fantasy IX for the DS, so perhaps you are referring to FFIV.)
The nag screens are a big issue. When MS installs something that requires a reboot, it will periodically (every 5 minutes or so) flash a "reboot please" nag screen. The thing is practically begging to be disabled.
I would like to consider your argument, but you didn't really back it up. You said the Fed and taxes were partly to blame for the Great Depression, but you didn't really explain why or how it correlates to what's being done today. And everything else you said was merely a rehash of the standard conservative "hands-off" motto.
How about considering the fact that, due to a *lack* of regulation, countless loans were given to people who couldn't pay them back, causing houses to be built but not paid for, sending our economy into a tailspin?
Or how about the fact that, again due to a *lack* of regulation, we have companies so large that their success or failure has global economic implications?
You assume things will bounce back if a company fails and sells its assets. You may be right but you haven't convinced me. And you haven't discussed the amount of *time* required for this bounce back. A few years might be acceptable. But what if it's 50 years? 100?
And hard for anyone with a contract. And hard for anyone working for those contracted companies. And hard for anyone selling items to those people working for those contracted companies. And on and on. Letting them dissolve may be the best option, but it's not the default solution.
What is worse? Allowing big companies to drain federal resources for a time, or allowing our entire economy to slump for a time? Are they even mutually exclusive? Tough questions, and I don't think the conservative ideology is going to solve them by itself.
I get excited just reading about what he's working on. He's like a living work of fiction. What an inspiration!
I was facetiously referring to denying used sales. (Japan does that? Wow.) Anyway, it's worth noting that yeah, car companies have taken the correct path towards gaining some of those used-car dollars: By selling used cars!
More to the point, they didn't install some sort of speed governor that won't let you exceed 65mph until it calls home to ensure you are the original owner of the car.
One thing we do not need is incentive for longer loading screens.
Here's a case for used games: We don't hate your company for trying to railroad us into a new copy. These companies are pissed that Gamestop makes money doing something they don't. If they are so jealous of Gamestop, why not sell used copies from their own website? Instead of modifying their business strategy to meet market demand (or better yet, ignoring it altogether since the industry continues to grow in spite of used game sales being around since inception), they would rather try to alter the market itself by brute force. Nice.
They are welcome to do as they please, just as we are welcome to play other games. There's a chance it will work exactly like they want it to, I guess. Time will tell. One thing is for sure: It adds no value to the customer, and in fact *removes* value since they no longer have the option to sell or trade their own stuff.
I'd like to see a car company try something like this.