They'll merit the equivalent of literary criticism when academics are allowed to write theses on videogames themselves, not just on videogames and psychological effects.
I think most people still don't consider the great film achievements the same thing as a Leonardo or a Michaelangelo. Film has a lot more legitimacy than it did but the inherently commercial nature of it could prevent it from ever being accepted the way the Classic Masters are.
Masterpieces of any art form, be it painting, music, sculpture, or theater, all were inherently commercial ventures. Great paintings and sculptures were commissioned. Plays (even in ancient Greece) were funded by some benevolent patron and usually charged admission. Great classical composers wrote the music to operas and again charged admission. Even in their times, the Classic Masters still had to eat.
While M rated games are great sellers, there are still awesome games for kids (and not just at Nintendo). Some recent examples that come to mind are Katamari Damacy, Gran Turismo 4, and SSX3 (although SSX isn't that great, it's still fun for a while). And, if you wish to go the Nintendo route, you have loads of stuff that is fun for both kids and adults; Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon. . .
Besides, you can always get a PC and hook them on Minesweeper and Solitare. Or SimCity and the like. Or hit up one of those free flash or java games sites (obviously NOT Newgrounds).
One thing that I like to do is to browse the cheapie Computer game section and get the old classics for a few bucks.
The ESRB has done a fine job so far. However, bland "T for teen" or "M for Mature" ratings can only convey so much. Even the more specific stuff, such as "suggestive themes" or "nudity" doesn't really tell parents that much. For example, "God of War" was rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Nudity, and Strong Language. (game site here).
The violence primarily consists of killing monsters and an occasional civilian in an extrememly brutal way. (One boss dies from being impaled through the roof of the mouth, with the lethal stake coming out the beast's eye socket). So the violence and blood and gore count is dead on. But the nudity merely consists of a few bare breasts (mainly in a few cutscenes), some on female civilians, others on female monsters. All this is done in a natural context; no strippers, no hookers, just a style-of-the-time kind of effect. So its there, but not emphasized. As for "Suggestive Themes" there is a 30-second sex minigame (with the bare-breasted female civilians) amounting to a few moans and an offscreen bouncing bed. I have no idea where the strong language came from. There is no profanity (aside from Hell and Damned, both used in a literal sense). There are some death-threats and battle taunts ("This city will be your grave"; "I have taught you many ways to kill a mortal"), but little other than that. The thematic elements are definitely not for children, though i can't go into that without spoiling some plot twists.
The problem with the characterization given by the ERSB rating is that the M definitely came from the violence, not the nudity. However, without playing the game, one would look at the rating and think "hmm . . . intense violence, nudity AND suggestive themes... must be one of those rape-and-pillage games" instead of a more accurate "ultra-violent, brutal monster bashing with some bare breasts and a tiny sex scene on the side."
So how do we get parents to actually know what they're getting before they buy it? Fewer buzzwords, more specifics. Let them know that the brutal violence is throughout the game and far outweighs the sex. Let them know exactly why the game was given the specific rating. Let them know the full extent of all buzzwords used by the rating.
My rating would go something like this: Rated M for intense violence directed primarily at monsters. There is extensive in-game as well as cutscene bloodshed and gore. There are also cutscenes and in-game sequences containing bare-breasted women in a non-sexual context. There is also a brief, implied scene of consensual sex between adults. This scene is heard but not seen. There are also some plot twists involving brutal violence not appropriate for children. The language is coarse but not profane.
On a side note, I would say that it is the parent's job to check up on the stuff their kids play, but that has been done to death. Also, the US really needs to get over its Puritan heritage and realize that sex between two consenting adults is not necessarily a bad thing. And this fixation with topless women is only going to end up badly . . . but again, thats another rant for another day.
The only "copy restrictions" apply to sending music from your ipod to someone else's iTunes. But if you enable it as a disk, your "restrictions" disappear.
Stuff on your iPod that you get from their Music store is difficult to break DRM if YOU (the purchaser) don't want to. Since the files can only be played on "authorized" comps, I suppose that counts as a secure music player.
On the other hand, if your music collection is of really poor sound quality, nobody will WANT to steal your music.
As a "half-assed vegitarian" (poultry and fish are cool, beef, pork and lamb not cool), I sure as hell don't speak for all vegitarians. However, I would say that eating this cloned meat would depend on one's personal opinions on cloning or genetically modified food, not based on vegitarianism. After all, people raised a huge stink with the genetically altered vegetables a few years back.
If they really wanted to sell this artificial meat to the public, they need to label it "organic" and watch the cash roll in.
Your "inevitable merger between consoles and gaming PC's" will not happen. Have you played a good RTS or MMORPG on a console? Would you like to type linux commands using the cursor and onscreen keyboard?
Until I see consoles shipped with keyboards and mice, or PCs shipped with a dualshock controller, I doubt there will be a merger between consoles and PCs.
Spin: arrrr, pirates of the south west
Spin: thar be large pipes o'bandwith near ye'ol univarsety.
Pirate: yearg, ye may be an ta somethan thar.
Spin: what say ye we pull yonder USB hard disk longside yonder NMSU puter and begin tha lutin and plunderin.
Pirate: yearg. The master done gaved me a testin machine with a grand ol CDR.
Pirate: Avast!
Pirate: MP3s off the starboard bow!
Spin: stere clear of ye porn pop ups rollin in from tha east.
Pirate: I have mah trusty Opera browsa to help me fend em off.
Spin: encrypt the data holds, batton down thar security patches, argh thar be spyware abound.
MortalKombat> stfu mat|t u cu.nt
* Acaila sets mode: +b MortalKombat!*@*
@Acaila> FINISH HIM
mat|t> rofl
MortalKombat> omg wtf man
* MortalKombat was kicked by Acaila (forward, forward, back, back, forward, punch)
@Acaila> FATALITY!
Ich: I have passed the transitional stage of internet geekhood
Ich: I was cashiering at work today, and was punching in the code for plums, which is 4040.
Ich: and the 0 key doesn't work this well, so I punched it in wrong.
Ich: and the machine flashed up "Item Not Found: 404"
Ich: and I actually laughed out loud
WallJam7: roses are red
WallJam7: violets are blue
WallJam7: all of my base
WallJam7: are belong to you
Firefly: Time for my prayers:
Firefly: Our Father, who 0wnz heaven, j00 r0ck!
Firefly: May all 0ur base someday be belong to you!
Firefly: May j00 0wn earth just like j00 0wn heaven.
Firefly: Give us this day our warez, mp3z, and pr0n through a phat pipe.
Firefly: And cut us some slack when we act like n00b lamerz, just as we teach n00bz when they act lame on us.
Firefly: Please don't give us root access on some poor d00d'z box when we're too pissed off to think about what's right and wrong, and if you could keep the fbi off our backs, we'd appreciate it.
Firefly: For j00 0wn r00t on all our b0x3s 4ever and ever, 4m3n.
Gee, have they ever thought of not answering the phone? Most if not all cell phone plans include caller ID.
If you don't answer the call, but have voicemail (which comes standard in most cases and cannot be removed/disabled), you use minutes when your voicemail picks up the call. On top of that, voicemail is on even when the phone is off.
Do these statistics include the pron?
on
UMD Sales Top 100K
·
· Score: 1
I'm sure it will take a while, but when it is a commercially viable procedure, this stuff will probably cost insane amounts of money.
This leads to an obvious problem: If the rich and powerful are also physically stronger than us, how are we gonna overthrow them? Seriously, muscles harnessed for long toil under the blazing sun won't be able to compete with these cyborg implants!
We must act now, before the muscles are implanted, and before the damn upper class becomes impervious to our insurrection. To arms, comrades!
Slashdot Mirror
Try the FIRST amendment.
The added mass of lead shielding is where the problem lies. (F/m)=a, remember?
but God of War was DEFINED by its boss battles
Definitely. Hell, God of War should get an honorary award: Best Boss Death for the way Kratos took out the Hydra.
Where's the little face and stuff at the bottom of the screen? I need to know how much ammo The Rock has left.
They'll merit the equivalent of literary criticism when academics are allowed to write theses on videogames themselves, not just on videogames and psychological effects.
I think most people still don't consider the great film achievements the same thing as a Leonardo or a Michaelangelo. Film has a lot more legitimacy than it did but the inherently commercial nature of it could prevent it from ever being accepted the way the Classic Masters are.
Masterpieces of any art form, be it painting, music, sculpture, or theater, all were inherently commercial ventures. Great paintings and sculptures were commissioned. Plays (even in ancient Greece) were funded by some benevolent patron and usually charged admission. Great classical composers wrote the music to operas and again charged admission.
Even in their times, the Classic Masters still had to eat.
Actually, it would be 3 and 2/3 monkey for each king and one monkey to rule them all . . .
The question is . . . will they keep the orbs? I mean blood everywhere is cool and all, but red orbs are so much cooler!
Seriously, though... if they make a GoW movie, it would probably look like a Kevin Sorbo Hercules movie with more blood and more CG.
You seem to underestimate the sheer amount of money that children control through their parents. E games keep Nintendo profitable.
Actually, making fun, innovative games without needing to rely on a loss-leader to sell consoles is what keeps Nintendo profitable.
While M rated games are great sellers, there are still awesome games for kids (and not just at Nintendo). Some recent examples that come to mind are Katamari Damacy, Gran Turismo 4, and SSX3 (although SSX isn't that great, it's still fun for a while). And, if you wish to go the Nintendo route, you have loads of stuff that is fun for both kids and adults; Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon. . .
Besides, you can always get a PC and hook them on Minesweeper and Solitare. Or SimCity and the like. Or hit up one of those free flash or java games sites (obviously NOT Newgrounds).
One thing that I like to do is to browse the cheapie Computer game section and get the old classics for a few bucks.
The ESRB has done a fine job so far. However, bland "T for teen" or "M for Mature" ratings can only convey so much. Even the more specific stuff, such as "suggestive themes" or "nudity" doesn't really tell parents that much. For example, "God of War" was rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Nudity, and Strong Language. (game site here).
The violence primarily consists of killing monsters and an occasional civilian in an extrememly brutal way. (One boss dies from being impaled through the roof of the mouth, with the lethal stake coming out the beast's eye socket). So the violence and blood and gore count is dead on. But the nudity merely consists of a few bare breasts (mainly in a few cutscenes), some on female civilians, others on female monsters. All this is done in a natural context; no strippers, no hookers, just a style-of-the-time kind of effect. So its there, but not emphasized. As for "Suggestive Themes" there is a 30-second sex minigame (with the bare-breasted female civilians) amounting to a few moans and an offscreen bouncing bed. I have no idea where the strong language came from. There is no profanity (aside from Hell and Damned, both used in a literal sense). There are some death-threats and battle taunts ("This city will be your grave"; "I have taught you many ways to kill a mortal"), but little other than that. The thematic elements are definitely not for children, though i can't go into that without spoiling some plot twists.
The problem with the characterization given by the ERSB rating is that the M definitely came from the violence, not the nudity. However, without playing the game, one would look at the rating and think "hmm . . . intense violence, nudity AND suggestive themes... must be one of those rape-and-pillage games" instead of a more accurate "ultra-violent, brutal monster bashing with some bare breasts and a tiny sex scene on the side."
So how do we get parents to actually know what they're getting before they buy it? Fewer buzzwords, more specifics. Let them know that the brutal violence is throughout the game and far outweighs the sex. Let them know exactly why the game was given the specific rating. Let them know the full extent of all buzzwords used by the rating.
My rating would go something like this: Rated M for intense violence directed primarily at monsters. There is extensive in-game as well as cutscene bloodshed and gore. There are also cutscenes and in-game sequences containing bare-breasted women in a non-sexual context. There is also a brief, implied scene of consensual sex between adults. This scene is heard but not seen. There are also some plot twists involving brutal violence not appropriate for children. The language is coarse but not profane.
On a side note, I would say that it is the parent's job to check up on the stuff their kids play, but that has been done to death. Also, the US really needs to get over its Puritan heritage and realize that sex between two consenting adults is not necessarily a bad thing. And this fixation with topless women is only going to end up badly . . . but again, thats another rant for another day.
B/c I don't think most religous fundamentalists would want to "Challenge Everything".
Worrying about someone getting your music should be the least of your worries.
The only "copy restrictions" apply to sending music from your ipod to someone else's iTunes. But if you enable it as a disk, your "restrictions" disappear.
Stuff on your iPod that you get from their Music store is difficult to break DRM if YOU (the purchaser) don't want to. Since the files can only be played on "authorized" comps, I suppose that counts as a secure music player.
On the other hand, if your music collection is of really poor sound quality, nobody will WANT to steal your music.
As a "half-assed vegitarian" (poultry and fish are cool, beef, pork and lamb not cool), I sure as hell don't speak for all vegitarians. However, I would say that eating this cloned meat would depend on one's personal opinions on cloning or genetically modified food, not based on vegitarianism. After all, people raised a huge stink with the genetically altered vegetables a few years back.
If they really wanted to sell this artificial meat to the public, they need to label it "organic" and watch the cash roll in.
Anyone got a mirror?
Your "inevitable merger between consoles and gaming PC's" will not happen. Have you played a good RTS or MMORPG on a console? Would you like to type linux commands using the cursor and onscreen keyboard?
Until I see consoles shipped with keyboards and mice, or PCs shipped with a dualshock controller, I doubt there will be a merger between consoles and PCs.
All jokes from here.
Spin: arrrr, pirates of the south west
Spin: thar be large pipes o'bandwith near ye'ol univarsety.
Pirate: yearg, ye may be an ta somethan thar.
Spin: what say ye we pull yonder USB hard disk longside yonder NMSU puter and begin tha lutin and plunderin.
Pirate: yearg. The master done gaved me a testin machine with a grand ol CDR.
Pirate: Avast!
Pirate: MP3s off the starboard bow!
Spin: stere clear of ye porn pop ups rollin in from tha east.
Pirate: I have mah trusty Opera browsa to help me fend em off.
Spin: encrypt the data holds, batton down thar security patches, argh thar be spyware abound.
MortalKombat> stfu mat|t u cu.nt
* Acaila sets mode: +b MortalKombat!*@*
@Acaila> FINISH HIM
mat|t> rofl
MortalKombat> omg wtf man
* MortalKombat was kicked by Acaila (forward, forward, back, back, forward, punch)
@Acaila> FATALITY!
Ich: I have passed the transitional stage of internet geekhood
Ich: I was cashiering at work today, and was punching in the code for plums, which is 4040.
Ich: and the 0 key doesn't work this well, so I punched it in wrong.
Ich: and the machine flashed up "Item Not Found: 404"
Ich: and I actually laughed out loud
WallJam7: roses are red
WallJam7: violets are blue
WallJam7: all of my base
WallJam7: are belong to you
Firefly: Time for my prayers:
Firefly: Our Father, who 0wnz heaven, j00 r0ck!
Firefly: May all 0ur base someday be belong to you!
Firefly: May j00 0wn earth just like j00 0wn heaven.
Firefly: Give us this day our warez, mp3z, and pr0n through a phat pipe.
Firefly: And cut us some slack when we act like n00b lamerz, just as we teach n00bz when they act lame on us.
Firefly: Please don't give us root access on some poor d00d'z box when we're too pissed off to think about what's right and wrong, and if you could keep the fbi off our backs, we'd appreciate it.
Firefly: For j00 0wn r00t on all our b0x3s 4ever and ever, 4m3n.
Go here and have fun.
a recent one:
pathogen: in maths today we found out that 1+3+3+7 = 14
pathogen: so therefore 1337 = 14
pathogen: so anyone who speaks 1337 is 14
Gee, have they ever thought of not answering the phone? Most if not all cell phone plans include caller ID.
If you don't answer the call, but have voicemail (which comes standard in most cases and cannot be removed/disabled), you use minutes when your voicemail picks up the call. On top of that, voicemail is on even when the phone is off.
(From the /. story here.)
Still, 100,000 is a pretty low number. Especially for pron sales.
but the prequel wouldn't be Frank, it would be Brian.
besides, I would say the muscle implants in this story are closer to the Tleilaxu's work than the Japanese Robots.
Dune roxors.
I'm sure it will take a while, but when it is a commercially viable procedure, this stuff will probably cost insane amounts of money.
This leads to an obvious problem: If the rich and powerful are also physically stronger than us, how are we gonna overthrow them?
Seriously, muscles harnessed for long toil under the blazing sun won't be able to compete with these cyborg implants!
We must act now, before the muscles are implanted, and before the damn upper class becomes impervious to our insurrection. To arms, comrades!
Viva la revolucion!
If you can't reproduce digital prints at the store, invest in a sweet printer/scanner combo. Problem solved.
Hmm, I feel an entrepreneurial urge coming on. . .