I once worked at a place that tried to "high tech" up their lobby to impress clients. Within a year or two, most of the cool (and expensive) plasma displays they used had either stopped working altogether or developed glitches and burn-in. Their "high tech" lobby ended up looking like a shabby tech scrap-yard. When they finally redesigned it again, they went back to the traditional design they had before they wasted a lot of money.
I suspect the idea of the "cool, high tech, hip" office space, with gadgets and displays everywhere, is a fiction invented by more by movies and wishful thinking than anything else. I remember Tom Clancy laughing in the DVD commentary track for "The Sum of All Fears" about the CIA offices being shown as these high-tech wonders with glass that could be rendered opaque for security proposes, etc. "Well, what do real CIA offices look like?" asked the director. "Like any other boring office," Clancy replied.
All these neat looking open spaces and cubicles are my worst nightmare. I've managed to spend my entire career having my own private offices and my worst nightmare is to ever have to work in an open space or a cubicle--listening to every asshole in the office, having everyone looking over my shoulder, etc. THAT was one of the big things what made the fictional "Initech" such a terrible place to work (remember Peter having to listen to "Welcome to Initech. Please Hold." over-and-over again all day? Nothing builds morale like private offices. Open spaces just turn everyone into Less Nessmans (if anyone still remembers that reference).
It's funny how MS-bashers have created such a finely-honed and specific definition of "monopoly" that it only applies to Microsoft, as if no other company can be evil but them.
You don't "make a difference" in the Republican Party. Being a part of it is not a sign you're trying to do good, it's a sign you've sold your soul. Dick Cheney's daughter tried to play that "Well, I'm trying to make a difference" shit, even as the party steadily increased its anti-gay rhetoric to a fever pitch and sponsored more and more constitutional amendments across the country aimed at gays.
The opening of his speech will be "Okay, so I lost you all of a shitload of money. But the important thing is, we stuck it to the big, bad Microsoft! WHO'S WITH ME?" There is more to the speech, but it's unlikely he'll be able to speak coherently after that, what with his lungs filling with blood.
Back in 1981, scientists thought it would be SUCH a great idea to do a Liza Minnelli/Bo Derek clone. And I warned those scientists about their family histories of mental problems, alcoholism, etc. But they were all like "No, look at how funny Liza is in Arthur, wouldn't it be great to combine her talent with big tits and blonde hair?" And, at first, I thought "Well okay, she could sing and she would be hot. That might just work."
And that is how I became one of the monsters that created Britney Spears.
It's funny how easily you can drift into doing evil, horrific things with just a little peer pressure and lack of foresight.
Re:This is why I don't like Master Chief/Solid Sna
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· Score: 1
I always figured Freeman was actually a mute who was too proud to carry around one of those cards.
Re:These reactions scare me
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· Score: 1
"Dragon's Lair 360" anyone?
Re:These reactions scare me
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· Score: 3, Funny
I think what you're looking for is called a "movie."
This is why I don't like Master Chief/Solid Snake
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· Score: 5, Interesting
When I play a videogame (particularly with 3d games in general and FPS's in particular) I always think of myself as the protagonist. I call the shots, I make the decisions, I decide the strategy. This is why I generally don't identify much with the purported "protagonist" of most games. Having a protagonist in an FPS is trying to enforce 3rd-person storytelling on a 2nd-person medium. Even though *I'm* doing all the action, I'm doing it as a character. This wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the jarring cutscenes where I'm suddenly NOT the protagonist and have no control over the action (i.e. a sudden shift into 3rd-person). It tends to take me right out of the game.
I really think designers could learn a lot from games like "Half-Life 2," "Portal," and "Bioshock" which go easy on the cutscenes and downplay the protagonist. I like a game that says "you the player are the hero," not games where the hero is Master Chief/Solid Snake/whoever-the-fuck. I never connect to those characters because *I'm* the hero, not them.
Frankly, I wouldn't have even known what Gordon Freeman looked like in HL2 if I hadn't seen him on the box. And that's the way I like it. Too many game developers treat this 2nd-person medium as if it were just a slight variation on a traditional 3rd-person movie.
Harrison Ford didn't do another Indiana Jones. His 30-year-old stunt double and the special effects guys did another Indiana Jones. He just had to show up periodically and say some dialogue will standing still (lest he break his hip).
I'm pretty sure that his wife left with the kids shortly after he started walking around the house naked all night, smearing himself with his own feces and mumbling to himself about videogames monitoring his brainwaves.
Mencken's days as a prominent social critic are *long* over, my friend. And it doesn't help that most of his colorful colloquialisms have long since fallen out of the popular lexicon. I'm not surprised that someone misspelled "bumcombe." I'm surprised that anyone today even used the word in the first place.
Anyone dumb enough to base a purchase decision entirely on the seller's marketing materials *deserves* to get fucked. I wouldn't buy a toaster without looking for 3rd party opinions, much less make a major purchasing decision for my company.
Writers ignore this sort of thing until there is big money involved. Harlan Ellison, for example, sued James Cameron for "stealing" his ideas for the Terminator only after it became a major commercial success.
Of course, in point of fact, Ellison's case was a joke. The premise of a time-traveler coming back in time to help humanity is an ancient sci-fi trope. If anyone should have complained about Terminator theft, it was the estate of Phillip Dick, whose popular "Second Variety" bore a *striking* resemblance to Kyle Reese's dystopia. The sad thing is that Ellison actually conned his way into a victory in that case, adding another notch in his belt as a widely renowned and widely despised uber-asshole.
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So I guess it's okay to abuse your monopoly as long as you're not convicted. Steve Jobs will be happy to hear that.
I suspect the idea of the "cool, high tech, hip" office space, with gadgets and displays everywhere, is a fiction invented by more by movies and wishful thinking than anything else. I remember Tom Clancy laughing in the DVD commentary track for "The Sum of All Fears" about the CIA offices being shown as these high-tech wonders with glass that could be rendered opaque for security proposes, etc. "Well, what do real CIA offices look like?" asked the director. "Like any other boring office," Clancy replied.
All these neat looking open spaces and cubicles are my worst nightmare. I've managed to spend my entire career having my own private offices and my worst nightmare is to ever have to work in an open space or a cubicle--listening to every asshole in the office, having everyone looking over my shoulder, etc. THAT was one of the big things what made the fictional "Initech" such a terrible place to work (remember Peter having to listen to "Welcome to Initech. Please Hold." over-and-over again all day? Nothing builds morale like private offices. Open spaces just turn everyone into Less Nessmans (if anyone still remembers that reference).
It's funny how MS-bashers have created such a finely-honed and specific definition of "monopoly" that it only applies to Microsoft, as if no other company can be evil but them.
You don't "make a difference" in the Republican Party. Being a part of it is not a sign you're trying to do good, it's a sign you've sold your soul. Dick Cheney's daughter tried to play that "Well, I'm trying to make a difference" shit, even as the party steadily increased its anti-gay rhetoric to a fever pitch and sponsored more and more constitutional amendments across the country aimed at gays.
The opening of his speech will be "Okay, so I lost you all of a shitload of money. But the important thing is, we stuck it to the big, bad Microsoft! WHO'S WITH ME?" There is more to the speech, but it's unlikely he'll be able to speak coherently after that, what with his lungs filling with blood.
Only together can they defeat Microsoft, and rule the world as a monopoly so strong that even God will fall to his knees before them!
And that is how I became one of the monsters that created Britney Spears.
It's funny how easily you can drift into doing evil, horrific things with just a little peer pressure and lack of foresight.
I always figured Freeman was actually a mute who was too proud to carry around one of those cards.
"Dragon's Lair 360" anyone?
I think what you're looking for is called a "movie."
I really think designers could learn a lot from games like "Half-Life 2," "Portal," and "Bioshock" which go easy on the cutscenes and downplay the protagonist. I like a game that says "you the player are the hero," not games where the hero is Master Chief/Solid Snake/whoever-the-fuck. I never connect to those characters because *I'm* the hero, not them.
Frankly, I wouldn't have even known what Gordon Freeman looked like in HL2 if I hadn't seen him on the box. And that's the way I like it. Too many game developers treat this 2nd-person medium as if it were just a slight variation on a traditional 3rd-person movie.
Hey, it's not a troll if it's true.
Harrison Ford didn't do another Indiana Jones. His 30-year-old stunt double and the special effects guys did another Indiana Jones. He just had to show up periodically and say some dialogue will standing still (lest he break his hip).
Not impossible, just highly unlikely. I personally would prefer they go with a different actor, but at least RDA would come cheap.
$40 million for the leading man and leading woman
$100,000 for the script
I love this game more and more every day.
I'm pretty sure that his wife left with the kids shortly after he started walking around the house naked all night, smearing himself with his own feces and mumbling to himself about videogames monitoring his brainwaves.
The fact that his lawsuits have no legal merit never stopped him before.
My dream is to one day meet Justin Long and punch him right in his smug fucking face.
Product A sucks too. He just doesn't have enough of a customer base for anyone to notice.
Mencken's days as a prominent social critic are *long* over, my friend. And it doesn't help that most of his colorful colloquialisms have long since fallen out of the popular lexicon. I'm not surprised that someone misspelled "bumcombe." I'm surprised that anyone today even used the word in the first place.
Anyone dumb enough to base a purchase decision entirely on the seller's marketing materials *deserves* to get fucked. I wouldn't buy a toaster without looking for 3rd party opinions, much less make a major purchasing decision for my company.
You read the Wargames novelization, didn't you?
Of course, in point of fact, Ellison's case was a joke. The premise of a time-traveler coming back in time to help humanity is an ancient sci-fi trope. If anyone should have complained about Terminator theft, it was the estate of Phillip Dick, whose popular "Second Variety" bore a *striking* resemblance to Kyle Reese's dystopia. The sad thing is that Ellison actually conned his way into a victory in that case, adding another notch in his belt as a widely renowned and widely despised uber-asshole.