Wow. Same difference really. If write access to everything is always to the anonymous user it's just as bad as if the only requirement was choosing a name and password.
You'd think they'd at least want to know who made the changes so they know whose changes to ignore next time though.
Of course there's a lack of quality. Anybody can come in and edit anybody else's work.
Step 1: Create an account Step 2: Do whatever the hell you want to the whole place
Maybe a level system ought to be put in place. Create enough new entries and then you can edit other users' work. It's not a perfect solution, but it would cut down on some of the nonsense.
I prefer to game on a console. They're more cost efficient, I can sit on the couch while I play, the game works every time (no config stuff), and I don't have to continuously upgrade my computer (my computer is working on 4 years old).
Atelier Iris is not anything like the other games mentioned. It is a traditional console RPG. Turn-based combat and a neat alchemy system for synthesizing items.
It's fun, but it sure isn't Disgaea (or any other SRPG for that matter).
I'm sitting comfortably at four games (but three of them are largely the same game).
- Fable - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - Jade Empire
I'm probably also buy multi-platform stuff for X-Box since it seems to be faster and a bit nicer looking if they were the same price as the PS2 or Cube version.
I own a PS2 and a GameCube, and I'm interested in the 360, but I probably won't buy one due to its price. I'll pick up a regular X-Box when they drop in price after the 360 release though.
Price is a factor for many of us, as well. I want an X-Box but still haven't bought one. $150 for a brand new console when its successor will be out before year's end? A GameCube costs $100 with a Super Smash Bros. pack-in.
They may be about the same size, but the Micro can at least afford to be a gaming platoform first. It has a d-pad, A, B, L, and R buttons — buttons that make sense to play games. It's just not intuitive to remember that 1 is up, 4 is left, 5 is right, and 1 is down. There's also the question of orientation. Game controllers need to be able to be manipulated with the hands. When was the last time you saw a cell phone actually take off that wasn't designed to be operated with only one hand?
Is there anyone in the world that wouldn't want to receive this thing as a gift?
I don't want one as a gift. I have a regular GBA. If I'm going to receive a portable system, get me a PSP (the one I don't have) or give me some money toward one. I don't need a piece of hardware that only plays a fraction of the games my current portable hardware can play.
More often than not, complex stories just drag a game down. They force a game into a linear progression and usually just result in a lot of gameplay sacrifices to meet the demands of the story.
Aside from Street Fighter all of the games you mentioned are already linear? What would a story hurt?
SMB - finish this level to get to the next one!
Contra - memorize this level to get to the next one!
Counter Strike never tells you about the motivations of their characters, to a larger extent than "they want to blow up the place!". Your assumptions about the backstory are meaningless in this discussion, because you can write all the Counter Strike fanfiction, or study a lot about the terrorism situation, but all that info is not in the game.
I know that they don't. My point is that they could. The model of terrorists/counterterrorists could make for a very good story. I understand that it doesn't yet, but maybe it could draw more people in. I know I've never played CS, but I'd be more prone to try it if there was a good single player game with a decent story.
And a career mode doesn't help either. It is not the same thing as character development.
Career mode may not be character development, but it's a lot more fun that running race after race and having nothing to show for it. I used to play Troy Aikman Football for the Genesis. When I played alone I played in season mode. When I played against a friend, we played games that didn't matter. That game wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as much play if there weren't a season mode.
But, come the fuck on. Video game characters now need a sensible reason for jumping on mushroom heads or blasting aliens with their rocket launcher?
Mario does have a sensible enough reason. In SMB 1, he's trying to save the princess. In SMB 2, he's dreaming, and in SMB 3, he's trying to turn the kings back into people and save the princess.
mass produce farms and send zerglings against enemy camp
I happen to think that Starcraft already has a good story, and I've replayed the campaign mode to get the story again.
This kind of reasoning is what turned many video GAMES into "interactive full motion video experiences".
View pre-rendered cinematic. Hit square. Rummage about for experience points/bonus/item.
I'm not saying that all video games ought to be Xenosaga. They shouldn't. All I'm saying is that there ought to some semblance of a reason for why the characters do what they do. If that motivation is as simple as "the giant bird kidnapped my sister!" that's fine. At least there's a reason for Link to start his adventure. I can't think of an FPS that doesn't have some sort of story behind it (admittedly, I'm not an avid FPS gamer), and I think that story improves the game. If you want to skip the story-telling, that's your choice (and it should be available to you), but I like stories; good gameplay is great, but it's a good story that draws me (and I think many others) in to the game and keeps me coming back for more.
I'm not much for racing games, but isn't Counter Strike all about terrorists and counter-terrorists?
There is tremendous room for a great single-player campaign where you take your team (from either side) and either beat back the terrorist threat or overthrow your fictional government.
And it may not be the most involved, but don't some racers come with a career mode? I think that's about as close to a story as a sports title really gets, but by now it's a necessity, I think.
Good gameplay is essential, but why should I care how well the character controls if I don't care about what he's doing?
The Jak and Daxter games tell a decent story and are fun along the way as well. Why are we rewarding that which ought to be standard in a game (decent story) anyway?
I thought the Crash games were fun platformers for the PSX, and he seemed to be the closest thing to Mario or Sonic that Sony had, and he's made it through 2 generations on the Sony hardware.
In 2005's ceremony, held alongside Game Developers Conference last March, Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda) and Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari and creator of Pong) became the first recipients of the Lifetime Achievement award, and Master Chief (Halo), Link (The Legend of Zelda), Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog also received stars on the Walk Of Game.
Aren't these stars supposed to recognize legends? Link, Mario, and Sonic have all been in more games than I can count. They are instantly recognizable as icons of the industry. How many games feature Master Chief? Only 2. Shouldn't the industry have waited just a bit before placing Master Chief on the same pedestal as Link, Sonic, and Mario? Where are Crash Bandicoot, the goomba, and Ganon?
I understand that Halo was a popular FPS, but I think it's too new to be considered legendary quite yet.
If you only stick around for one month, $15.00 US is a great price for Beyond Good & Evil. Granted, I played the GameCube version, but I can't imagine that the PC version is much different.
BG&E is easily one of the most underrated games of this console generation. It's nice to look at, runs on a great engine (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time used its "Jade" engine), has good, varied gameplay (Legend of Zelda style combat, hovercraft driving/racing, amatuer photography), and a good story.
If you haven't played it, this game alone makes a month of GameTap worth it.
<Devil's Advocate>
It's more the exception than the rule, but the GBA can have loading times. Rebelstar Tactical Command is complex enough that each mission loads for about 10-15 seconds.
Granted, you play that mission for an hour and it's the only one with load time I can think of, but it's there. </Devil's Advocate>
Of course it could be argued that RPGs simply attract more emotionally unstable gamers, and that if these same players were forced to try Microsoft Flight Simulator, they'd cry like babies when their Cessna crashed into a pylon during a failed runway approach. Sadly, Bowen does not appear to explore this possibility.
Couldn't it just be that RPGs have the most involved stories and that the people who play them pay attention to the story? Of course those who play story-intensive games will have a more emotional reaction to gaming than the person who plays only sports games and other story-light titles. The aim of a game is to entertain, and some us are entertained by a good story along with our button mashing.
The base elements themselves may not have changed, but Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas got a new engine. GTA III and GTA:VC were running on the old Body Harvest engine from the N64.
Just because it plays similarly doesn't mean that no work was done.
I actually like FF VIII. The juntioning system was broken, but it was interesting. And it was still possible to play the game as it was intended. One just had to be conscious not to abuse the system and power your party up via junctioning.
I can understand not calling the Legend of Zelda games RPGs because Link doesn't level up and the game is very active, but I'm curious why you don't think it's an adventure game.
You control a young man who must save his world. He travels all over the land battling fierce creatures and huge boss monsters. He finds nifty gadgets which turn out to be vital to his progress.
From dictionary.com: An undertaking or enterprise of a hazardous nature.
That sounds an awful lot like a Legend of Zelda game to me.
Slashdot Mirror
Wow. Same difference really. If write access to everything is always to the anonymous user it's just as bad as if the only requirement was choosing a name and password.
You'd think they'd at least want to know who made the changes so they know whose changes to ignore next time though.
Of course there's a lack of quality. Anybody can come in and edit anybody else's work.
Step 1: Create an account
Step 2: Do whatever the hell you want to the whole place
Maybe a level system ought to be put in place. Create enough new entries and then you can edit other users' work. It's not a perfect solution, but it would cut down on some of the nonsense.
I prefer to game on a console. They're more cost efficient, I can sit on the couch while I play, the game works every time (no config stuff), and I don't have to continuously upgrade my computer (my computer is working on 4 years old).
Atelier Iris is not anything like the other games mentioned. It is a traditional console RPG. Turn-based combat and a neat alchemy system for synthesizing items.
It's fun, but it sure isn't Disgaea (or any other SRPG for that matter).
I'm sitting comfortably at four games (but three of them are largely the same game).
- Fable
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
- Jade Empire
I'm probably also buy multi-platform stuff for X-Box since it seems to be faster and a bit nicer looking if they were the same price as the PS2 or Cube version.
I own a PS2 and a GameCube, and I'm interested in the 360, but I probably won't buy one due to its price. I'll pick up a regular X-Box when they drop in price after the 360 release though.
Price is a factor for many of us, as well. I want an X-Box but still haven't bought one. $150 for a brand new console when its successor will be out before year's end? A GameCube costs $100 with a Super Smash Bros. pack-in.
They may be about the same size, but the Micro can at least afford to be a gaming platoform first. It has a d-pad, A, B, L, and R buttons — buttons that make sense to play games. It's just not intuitive to remember that 1 is up, 4 is left, 5 is right, and 1 is down. There's also the question of orientation. Game controllers need to be able to be manipulated with the hands. When was the last time you saw a cell phone actually take off that wasn't designed to be operated with only one hand?
Is there anyone in the world that wouldn't want to receive this thing as a gift?
I don't want one as a gift. I have a regular GBA. If I'm going to receive a portable system, get me a PSP (the one I don't have) or give me some money toward one. I don't need a piece of hardware that only plays a fraction of the games my current portable hardware can play.
More often than not, complex stories just drag a game down. They force a game into a linear progression and usually just result in a lot of gameplay sacrifices to meet the demands of the story.
Aside from Street Fighter all of the games you mentioned are already linear? What would a story hurt?
Counter Strike never tells you about the motivations of their characters, to a larger extent than "they want to blow up the place!". Your assumptions about the backstory are meaningless in this discussion, because you can write all the Counter Strike fanfiction, or study a lot about the terrorism situation, but all that info is not in the game.
I know that they don't. My point is that they could. The model of terrorists/counterterrorists could make for a very good story. I understand that it doesn't yet, but maybe it could draw more people in. I know I've never played CS, but I'd be more prone to try it if there was a good single player game with a decent story.
And a career mode doesn't help either. It is not the same thing as character development.
Career mode may not be character development, but it's a lot more fun that running race after race and having nothing to show for it. I used to play Troy Aikman Football for the Genesis. When I played alone I played in season mode. When I played against a friend, we played games that didn't matter. That game wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as much play if there weren't a season mode.
But, come the fuck on. Video game characters now need a sensible reason for jumping on mushroom heads or blasting aliens with their rocket launcher?
Mario does have a sensible enough reason. In SMB 1, he's trying to save the princess. In SMB 2, he's dreaming, and in SMB 3, he's trying to turn the kings back into people and save the princess.
mass produce farms and send zerglings against enemy camp
I happen to think that Starcraft already has a good story, and I've replayed the campaign mode to get the story again.
This kind of reasoning is what turned many video GAMES into "interactive full motion video experiences". View pre-rendered cinematic. Hit square. Rummage about for experience points/bonus/item.
I'm not saying that all video games ought to be Xenosaga. They shouldn't. All I'm saying is that there ought to some semblance of a reason for why the characters do what they do. If that motivation is as simple as "the giant bird kidnapped my sister!" that's fine. At least there's a reason for Link to start his adventure. I can't think of an FPS that doesn't have some sort of story behind it (admittedly, I'm not an avid FPS gamer), and I think that story improves the game. If you want to skip the story-telling, that's your choice (and it should be available to you), but I like stories; good gameplay is great, but it's a good story that draws me (and I think many others) in to the game and keeps me coming back for more.
I'm not much for racing games, but isn't Counter Strike all about terrorists and counter-terrorists?
There is tremendous room for a great single-player campaign where you take your team (from either side) and either beat back the terrorist threat or overthrow your fictional government.
And it may not be the most involved, but don't some racers come with a career mode? I think that's about as close to a story as a sports title really gets, but by now it's a necessity, I think.
Good gameplay is essential, but why should I care how well the character controls if I don't care about what he's doing?
The Jak and Daxter games tell a decent story and are fun along the way as well. Why are we rewarding that which ought to be standard in a game (decent story) anyway?
I thought the Crash games were fun platformers for the PSX, and he seemed to be the closest thing to Mario or Sonic that Sony had, and he's made it through 2 generations on the Sony hardware.
Mario got his star last year.
In 2005's ceremony, held alongside Game Developers Conference last March, Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda) and Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari and creator of Pong) became the first recipients of the Lifetime Achievement award, and Master Chief (Halo), Link (The Legend of Zelda), Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog also received stars on the Walk Of Game.
Aren't these stars supposed to recognize legends? Link, Mario, and Sonic have all been in more games than I can count. They are instantly recognizable as icons of the industry. How many games feature Master Chief? Only 2. Shouldn't the industry have waited just a bit before placing Master Chief on the same pedestal as Link, Sonic, and Mario? Where are Crash Bandicoot, the goomba, and Ganon?
I understand that Halo was a popular FPS, but I think it's too new to be considered legendary quite yet.
Nintendo makes money in ALL divisions.
If you only stick around for one month, $15.00 US is a great price for Beyond Good & Evil. Granted, I played the GameCube version, but I can't imagine that the PC version is much different.
BG&E is easily one of the most underrated games of this console generation. It's nice to look at, runs on a great engine (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time used its "Jade" engine), has good, varied gameplay (Legend of Zelda style combat, hovercraft driving/racing, amatuer photography), and a good story.
If you haven't played it, this game alone makes a month of GameTap worth it.
<Devil's Advocate>
It's more the exception than the rule, but the GBA can have loading times. Rebelstar Tactical Command is complex enough that each mission loads for about 10-15 seconds.
Granted, you play that mission for an hour and it's the only one with load time I can think of, but it's there.
</Devil's Advocate>
Of course it could be argued that RPGs simply attract more emotionally unstable gamers, and that if these same players were forced to try Microsoft Flight Simulator, they'd cry like babies when their Cessna crashed into a pylon during a failed runway approach. Sadly, Bowen does not appear to explore this possibility.
Couldn't it just be that RPGs have the most involved stories and that the people who play them pay attention to the story? Of course those who play story-intensive games will have a more emotional reaction to gaming than the person who plays only sports games and other story-light titles. The aim of a game is to entertain, and some us are entertained by a good story along with our button mashing.
The base elements themselves may not have changed, but Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas got a new engine. GTA III and GTA:VC were running on the old Body Harvest engine from the N64.
Just because it plays similarly doesn't mean that no work was done.
DS == dual-screen gimmick with few or no games that usefully take advantage of the second screen.
Some good DS games:
I actually like FF VIII. The juntioning system was broken, but it was interesting. And it was still possible to play the game as it was intended. One just had to be conscious not to abuse the system and power your party up via junctioning.
I can understand not calling the Legend of Zelda games RPGs because Link doesn't level up and the game is very active, but I'm curious why you don't think it's an adventure game.
You control a young man who must save his world. He travels all over the land battling fierce creatures and huge boss monsters. He finds nifty gadgets which turn out to be vital to his progress.
From dictionary.com:
An undertaking or enterprise of a hazardous nature.
That sounds an awful lot like a Legend of Zelda game to me.