A simple mistake, they thought they were getting John Carmack. Seriously, though... you have to wonder about a company that pins their hopes of a financial turnaround on a guy who blew $30 million on a Quake1 total conversion that arrived 2 years late.
And it doesn't seem like Romero is any less flakey, he just got married to some 18 year old Romanian chick that he met on the internet. So, erm... I guess Stevie is available.
I skimmed... does that count? Apparently not, as I didn't catch the penalty info.
I dunno how I feel about that. I suppose it's better than the "bouncing" effect but the real solution would be to have your car be damaged, thus forcing you into a pit stop or perhaps just ending your race totally.
I really like the Gran Turismo series, but the most frustrating aspect that punches a big hole in the overall immersion and sense of realism is the physics engines.
Specifically, I'm talking about the fact that you can't crash. Sure, you hit another car and spin out.. losing time and potentially costing you the race. However, you cannot "damage" your car. No matter how hard you try, you can't flip, roll, or crumple the vehicle around a light pole. The was a design decision to satiate corporate interests (not too many car companies would be keen to see one of their cars depicted in such a way. While I can understand the decision (one of aspects that makes GT so cool is the sheer number of "real" cars you can play with), it causes unrealistic racing conditions. For example, in GT3 I wouldn't care about slamming into slight turns because I knew I would be "bounced" back on track without incident. So, I'd approach the turn at 120mph and get knocked down to 70mph, passing by the computer opponent that was safely taking the turn at 45mph. In "real life", my I'd lose a tire and possible send my car hurtling towards a terrified audience.
I've read that GT4 will behave the same way, and that's a shame. I don't necessarily blame Sony but rather the car companies who would otherwise withhold licensing rights.
I agree that the phrase "compares favorably" raises an eyebrow, but in looking at the stats I'd say that that the overall performance will resemble a PS2 than a PS1. Doesn't the ps1 have something like 2mb of ram and a 66mhz cpu. Plus, it looks like the psp has a alot of hardware assisted tricks that the ps2 doesn't have.
One thing that concerns me is ram -- only 8 mb seems like a bad idea. True, it's way more than you see in any portable, but it seems like it's crippling the potential of the other hardware that's going into this thing. Plus, when you have a cartridge you can get by with low ram because of the relatively fast rom transfer times. In the case of the psp, You either load everything into ram to (which would eliminate in game load times but diminish overall graphics) or transfer/spool in-game (and watch your batteries dry up in minutes).
I'm definitely intrigued to see what happens. The first press-releases made this thing sound like a complete fantasy but now it's getting tangible, the only question now is cost and battery life.
How long do you think it will take before a hacker writes a virus that specifically targets ATM's, cash registers, or vending machines running embedded windows?
To work, the virus would need to spread by infecting any machine (but not be "malicious" so as not to attract attention). However, as soon as it detects that it is running on an ATM, gets down to business: sending your credit card / pin to an IRC channel, spamming random people with your grocery purchases, or (gulp) transferring your funds to 2600 magazine.
The linux kit doesn't enhance the graphics capability of the ps2. I was merely stating that I believed the ps2 was cabable of higher resolutions than 480p. A bit of googling revealed that the ps2 hardware can drive 1024x768. So there you go. Whether or not games choose to run in higher resolutions is a design choice, not a technical limitation.
(For the record, I've got a Gamecube, can't really speak for the xbox or PS2 HD support)
IMHO, HD support is implemented much better on the Gamecube than on the PS2. The majority of games on the gamecube support 480p with no noticeable drop in framerate. In contrast, very few of the PS2 games support any HD modes. The only HD game I own on the ps2 is SSX3, and though the framerate is fine there is a *very* noticeable drop in responsiveness from the controller (not sure I understand why). Also, the majority of cube games can detect if you are using an HDTV, while on the ps2 you are required to hold certain buttons down on the controller during startup.
However, I believe that the PS2 can support higher resolutions, while the cube can only support 480p.
I wonder how Marble Madness translates given the fact that interfaces are so different-- the arcade version had a single trackball for movement as opposed to the control pads of today. Part of the difficulty of the arcade game was overcoming the intracacies of the control mechanism. To a lesser extent the same goes for paperboy.
True, but then again the problem with Netscape was the same problem of many of the Dot-Bombs: they had their IPO before they had an established, successful business model.
If I remember correctly, doesn't Google operate in the black? It seems to me that they already have an established, workable revenue stream whereas Netscape was never able to make money selling copies of their browser and webserver sales weren't hacking it either.
I couldn't disagree more. The gameplay in Ico was sublime. It was easy to pick up and understand the controls, yet the game had surprising depth. The graphics were awesome, but the sound and score were incredible.
I am not surprised that it faired so poorly, for the same reason that art films do so poorly relative to summer blockbuster. I know this will end up sounding elitist... but the game was probably over most people's heads. Things like artistry, powerful narrative, and emotion are lost on your average Madden 200x fan.
Still, with the market penetration of the PS2 I suspect that we will see more experimental, nich market titles. I'll use the art film example again: they don't have record-breaking sales, but they probably generate enough sales to make to make up costs.
We got 0wn3d because I didn't go to windowsupdate. I know we've been treating our fanbase with smug contempt, and lying about the release date for a few weeks now, but we'd really like you guys to help us out now. Okay?
Perhaps a better way to keep the HL2 codebase secure would be to release it via Steam -- fat chance downloading anything there.
"...the life cycle of this [hardware] generation will be the longest of any in the industry's short history"
That's a pretty interesting quote, when you consider that Sony's Kunitake Ando claimed that the emergence of the XBox would shorten the video game lifecycle. Here's a good quote from the ZDNet Article
The biggest threat to the PlayStation2 is that the Xbox changes the industry's life cycle
To be honest, I think that this might have been true, but the sour economy in the USA has probably had as big an effect on the console lifecycle than anything. As far as price cuts are concerned, all three companies are waiting to see if the Gamecube price drop translates to a spike in sales. I mean, what's the point in a pricecut if the cube doesn't do any better at a $80 price advantage?
My hunch: There will be a spike, and Xbox and Gamecube will be $149 by mid november.
By using the service(s) provided by VeriSign under these Terms of Use, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions here in and documents incorporated by reference.
So basically, they've hijacked my browser to take them to their site, and then claim that my use of their "service" contractually binds me to their terms of use. Nice. Make sure you type your urls very carefully lest you become contractually obligated to Verisign!
Many analysts have faulted the Gamecube for it's inibility to play DVD's. However, the gamecube's narrow focus as stricktly a gaming machine has enabled it to go to a pricepoint that Sony and Micrsosoft (probably) won't match.
Imho, $99 put's the gamecube in the "impulse buy" range. Also, Nintendo now has a line of budget titles. This might be the gamecube's turning point. Certainly not a level of success on the order of what the ps2 has seen, but perhaps a rehash of the situation with the N64 -- the market was big enough to attract developers and turn a profit.
Yeah, same here. Looks like someone was able to add a redirect tag into their wiki. I'll have a fun time explaining that one to the proxy log monitors.
Perhaps they aren't the braintrust that they think they are.
Apple keeps publishing benchmarks that compare the G5 to a Pentium 4. I can appreciate that Apple is trying to woo the pc crowd but these figures don't really interest me.
I am already an owner of a G4, and I don't want to purchase a G5 until I know that it's worth the money. How much faster is it? 25%? 50%? I usually don't upgrade until I can double performance for the same amount of money as what I paid for my current computer.
Does anyone know where any G4 vs. G5 specs are posted?
I wouldn't call it a labyrinth, per se. My point is that software patents are bad. The logic of the parent was that software patents aren't bad if their used against the right companies.
"I hate plugins, so I don't care about the rapant abuse of software patents in this instance"
Taken in another context, it's a bit like saying
"I don't like [insert racial epithet here], so I don't care that the government violates their civil rights"
If we dismiss the travesty that Eolas is trying to get away with because the victims are Microsoft and plug-ins, don't come bitching to me when you get sued off your ass for using a JPEG or GIF on your website.
Though I've never been formally diagnosed, I've taken a few of the ADD tests and scored well into the "You need serious help" rank. Also, I've been an avid gamer since I was 6.
Still, I don't think that games caused, or even aggrevated, any sort of hyperactive condition. I simply think that it was one of the few things that was able to hold my attention span.
Video games are typically fast paced and quite stimulating (even the slowest-paced RPG is still more stimulating that your average book). Secondly, games provide stimulation in three areas: aural, visual, and tactile (your hands are busily manipulating a control pad or a keyboard)... all simultaneously.
Rather than condemn games, I think that psychologists and educators should integrate the knowledge gained from this research to effectively use this medium. If an ADHD kid can spend hours in front of a game... why not try to make educational content that contains the same levels of stimulation?
Sorry for the pun, but does anyone know where I can find a comparison between the G5 vs the older G4? Apple doesn't have any g4 vs g5 benchmarks My guess is that they don't want people to use inductive reasoning to compare the g4 to the current crop of Pentiums.
Slashdot Mirror
Games like Dance Dance Revolution make you Lean and Mean!.
A simple mistake, they thought they were getting John Carmack. Seriously, though... you have to wonder about a company that pins their hopes of a financial turnaround on a guy who blew $30 million on a Quake1 total conversion that arrived 2 years late.
And it doesn't seem like Romero is any less flakey, he just got married to some 18 year old Romanian chick that he met on the internet. So, erm... I guess Stevie is available.
Has anyone made any quicktime VR's of these panorama shots? I figured that would be inevitable.
I skimmed... does that count? Apparently not, as I didn't catch the penalty info.
I dunno how I feel about that. I suppose it's better than the "bouncing" effect but the real solution would be to have your car be damaged, thus forcing you into a pit stop or perhaps just ending your race totally.
I really like the Gran Turismo series, but the most frustrating aspect that punches a big hole in the overall immersion and sense of realism is the physics engines.
Specifically, I'm talking about the fact that you can't crash. Sure, you hit another car and spin out.. losing time and potentially costing you the race. However, you cannot "damage" your car. No matter how hard you try, you can't flip, roll, or crumple the vehicle around a light pole. The was a design decision to satiate corporate interests (not too many car companies would be keen to see one of their cars depicted in such a way. While I can understand the decision (one of aspects that makes GT so cool is the sheer number of "real" cars you can play with), it causes unrealistic racing conditions. For example, in GT3 I wouldn't care about slamming into slight turns because I knew I would be "bounced" back on track without incident. So, I'd approach the turn at 120mph and get knocked down to 70mph, passing by the computer opponent that was safely taking the turn at 45mph. In "real life", my I'd lose a tire and possible send my car hurtling towards a terrified audience.
I've read that GT4 will behave the same way, and that's a shame. I don't necessarily blame Sony but rather the car companies who would otherwise withhold licensing rights.
I agree that the phrase "compares favorably" raises an eyebrow, but in looking at the stats I'd say that that the overall performance will resemble a PS2 than a PS1. Doesn't the ps1 have something like 2mb of ram and a 66mhz cpu. Plus, it looks like the psp has a alot of hardware assisted tricks that the ps2 doesn't have.
One thing that concerns me is ram -- only 8 mb seems like a bad idea. True, it's way more than you see in any portable, but it seems like it's crippling the potential of the other hardware that's going into this thing. Plus, when you have a cartridge you can get by with low ram because of the relatively fast rom transfer times. In the case of the psp, You either load everything into ram to (which would eliminate in game load times but diminish overall graphics) or transfer/spool in-game (and watch your batteries dry up in minutes).
I'm definitely intrigued to see what happens. The first press-releases made this thing sound like a complete fantasy but now it's getting tangible, the only question now is cost and battery life.
How long do you think it will take before a hacker writes a virus that specifically targets ATM's, cash registers, or vending machines running embedded windows?
To work, the virus would need to spread by infecting any machine (but not be "malicious" so as not to attract attention). However, as soon as it detects that it is running on an ATM, gets down to business: sending your credit card / pin to an IRC channel, spamming random people with your grocery purchases, or (gulp) transferring your funds to 2600 magazine.
The linux kit doesn't enhance the graphics capability of the ps2. I was merely stating that I believed the ps2 was cabable of higher resolutions than 480p. A bit of googling revealed that the ps2 hardware can drive 1024x768. So there you go. Whether or not games choose to run in higher resolutions is a design choice, not a technical limitation.
Sorry, wrong. PS2 Linux (arguably consumer software, as they sell it to consumers) drives a monitor at 800x600.
IMHO, HD support is implemented much better on the Gamecube than on the PS2. The majority of games on the gamecube support 480p with no noticeable drop in framerate. In contrast, very few of the PS2 games support any HD modes. The only HD game I own on the ps2 is SSX3, and though the framerate is fine there is a *very* noticeable drop in responsiveness from the controller (not sure I understand why). Also, the majority of cube games can detect if you are using an HDTV, while on the ps2 you are required to hold certain buttons down on the controller during startup.
However, I believe that the PS2 can support higher resolutions, while the cube can only support 480p.
I wonder how Marble Madness translates given the fact that interfaces are so different-- the arcade version had a single trackball for movement as opposed to the control pads of today. Part of the difficulty of the arcade game was overcoming the intracacies of the control mechanism. To a lesser extent the same goes for paperboy.
True, but then again the problem with Netscape was the same problem of many of the Dot-Bombs: they had their IPO before they had an established, successful business model.
If I remember correctly, doesn't Google operate in the black? It seems to me that they already have an established, workable revenue stream whereas Netscape was never able to make money selling copies of their browser and webserver sales weren't hacking it either.
I couldn't disagree more. The gameplay in Ico was sublime. It was easy to pick up and understand the controls, yet the game had surprising depth. The graphics were awesome, but the sound and score were incredible.
I am not surprised that it faired so poorly, for the same reason that art films do so poorly relative to summer blockbuster. I know this will end up sounding elitist... but the game was probably over most people's heads. Things like artistry, powerful narrative, and emotion are lost on your average Madden 200x fan.
Still, with the market penetration of the PS2 I suspect that we will see more experimental, nich market titles. I'll use the art film example again: they don't have record-breaking sales, but they probably generate enough sales to make to make up costs.
Perhaps a better way to keep the HL2 codebase secure would be to release it via Steam -- fat chance downloading anything there.
I hate it when I do that.
"Gamecube" should be PS2. Argh.
That's a pretty interesting quote, when you consider that Sony's Kunitake Ando claimed that the emergence of the XBox would shorten the video game lifecycle. Here's a good quote from the ZDNet Article
To be honest, I think that this might have been true, but the sour economy in the USA has probably had as big an effect on the console lifecycle than anything. As far as price cuts are concerned, all three companies are waiting to see if the Gamecube price drop translates to a spike in sales. I mean, what's the point in a pricecut if the cube doesn't do any better at a $80 price advantage?
My hunch: There will be a spike, and Xbox and Gamecube will be $149 by mid november.
The arms look disproportionately long to me. Has anyone else noticed this?
So basically, they've hijacked my browser to take them to their site, and then claim that my use of their "service" contractually binds me to their terms of use. Nice. Make sure you type your urls very carefully lest you become contractually obligated to Verisign!
Many analysts have faulted the Gamecube for it's inibility to play DVD's. However, the gamecube's narrow focus as stricktly a gaming machine has enabled it to go to a pricepoint that Sony and Micrsosoft (probably) won't match.
Imho, $99 put's the gamecube in the "impulse buy" range. Also, Nintendo now has a line of budget titles. This might be the gamecube's turning point. Certainly not a level of success on the order of what the ps2 has seen, but perhaps a rehash of the situation with the N64 -- the market was big enough to attract developers and turn a profit.
Yeah, same here. Looks like someone was able to add a redirect tag into their wiki. I'll have a fun time explaining that one to the proxy log monitors.
Perhaps they aren't the braintrust that they think they are.
Apple keeps publishing benchmarks that compare the G5 to a Pentium 4. I can appreciate that Apple is trying to woo the pc crowd but these figures don't really interest me.
I am already an owner of a G4, and I don't want to purchase a G5 until I know that it's worth the money. How much faster is it? 25%? 50%? I usually don't upgrade until I can double performance for the same amount of money as what I paid for my current computer.
Does anyone know where any G4 vs. G5 specs are posted?
I wouldn't call it a labyrinth, per se. My point is that software patents are bad. The logic of the parent was that software patents aren't bad if their used against the right companies.
Taken in another context, it's a bit like saying
If we dismiss the travesty that Eolas is trying to get away with because the victims are Microsoft and plug-ins, don't come bitching to me when you get sued off your ass for using a JPEG or GIF on your website.
Though I've never been formally diagnosed, I've taken a few of the ADD tests and scored well into the "You need serious help" rank. Also, I've been an avid gamer since I was 6.
Still, I don't think that games caused, or even aggrevated, any sort of hyperactive condition. I simply think that it was one of the few things that was able to hold my attention span.
Video games are typically fast paced and quite stimulating (even the slowest-paced RPG is still more stimulating that your average book). Secondly, games provide stimulation in three areas: aural, visual, and tactile (your hands are busily manipulating a control pad or a keyboard)... all simultaneously.
Rather than condemn games, I think that psychologists and educators should integrate the knowledge gained from this research to effectively use this medium. If an ADHD kid can spend hours in front of a game... why not try to make educational content that contains the same levels of stimulation?
Sorry for the pun, but does anyone know where I can find a comparison between the G5 vs the older G4? Apple doesn't have any g4 vs g5 benchmarks My guess is that they don't want people to use inductive reasoning to compare the g4 to the current crop of Pentiums.