Very interesting read even Bill Gates seems to come out in favour of abolishing software patents. Of course that was in 1991. I guess he must have done a 180.
I can read the frustration in your post but IMHO you are not a troll. Sorry have not read your URL yet but will do after your post (looks interesting though).
In many ways I agree with you because I think the average person feels so powerless in the face of Mega/Giga dollars that companies like Microsoft wield to push through patents in software that to people in the field feel are trivial and obvious.
I am very anti software patents because they are based on maths and logic which should not (IMHO) be patentable. Patents based on maths and logic do reduce the ability of human mind to innovate or even think freely for that matter. Yes I know the arguments that companies like these use and in nearly all cases they are just FUD, unfortunately the Law listens, because in many respects most Lawyers and Judges don't have the technical knowledge and work on precedent.
The main problem I see with software patents is that the patent is written in legalese and the actual science would be poorly understood by the patent lawyer although it just may be possible that the lawyer has a degree in Law and Science (hands up if you are one). Many software (and also many non software ones as well) patents are fairly vague but all encompassing and can be interpreted in a variety of ways but always to the advantage of the person/company who had the patent written for them in the first pace.
Even a person who understands the science finds a patent difficult to read because it is written in a language they are not normally familiar with, so it can be difficult to determine if you are infringing.
Unfortunately patent law reform will only come from the judiciary with the support of the appropriate companies and I don't see this happening anytime soon since they have so much to loose at the feeding trough.
Actually Zelda II got panned by the purists although I enjoyed it since it was refreshingly different from the original Zelda (I liked this as well). This game did have some story telling although not a lot though but interesting nevertheless especially when you consider this was on the NES. This game also had an element of RPG stat raising and you were free to upgrade certain statistics in any order.
The GPU may be the culprit here as I have read that it does consume 60W to 90W but that was for the PC card so more research needs to be done.
I don't think the Cell is the issue here since in 2005 the following article http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jht ml?articleID=163106213 was saying power consumption at 4GHz was going to be approx 80W. Reading other articles on the Cell it was basically designed to consume less power than conventional microprocessors.
If the PS3 uses 380W that is a lot of power to dissipate and the machine would get very hot (think approx 3 x 100W and one 75W globe) and the cooling fan would be sounding like a small jet engine. All reports to date seem to indicate that the machine is cool to touch and no one has commented on a blast of very hot air from the machine (I am sure they would have detected it). I have an older PS2 (45W) and if you put your hand to the back you can feel warm air coming out the back and the top is slightly warm, now multiply that by 8 and you would burn your hand so if the PS3 does consume 380W then Sony have turned the Laws of thermodynamics on it's head.
To be fair if the PS3 consumes 380W I would assume it would do that on start up but what I really want to know is what does it consume in standby and what does it consume running?
I tried to find out were and how the web sites arrived at 380W and could not, so far it appears to be hear say. Has anyone actually put a Watt-meter on this machine? or baring that measure the voltage (110V and 240V) and measured the input current in amps then using the simple formula Power (Watts) = Volts x Amps that would be the best solution.
To say that "Sony hates 2D" without applying this to Microsoft and Nintendo is just unfair since all game machines from the PS1 onwards mainly have 3D games because the market preferred those type of games. There are actually more 2D games for the PS1 and PS2 than with the N64, Gamecube and Xbox. This is not to say that 3D is the best format since some 2D games are really fun to play but it is rare to see new ones now. I don't know of any for the next gen consoles except possibly some home grown ones
Some consumers do like to buy the collectors edition be it a game, music or movie, although to me three variants for Halo 3 is getting ridiculous however we are talking Microsoft that has six variants of their new Vista OS (sorry could not resit that).
In Australia the premium games for the Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube are between AU$90 (US$69.70) and AU$100 (US$77.44). Normally after three to six months these games (except for Nintendo games) drop by 50% to 80% so if you don't mind the wait prices are not that bad. All the premium next gen games for Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 (in March) will be AU$110 (US$85.10) and I am not talking about collectors editions which can be 30% or more dearer.
Still it really is up to the consumer if they buy the no-frills or premium game or even wait for the game to drop in price.
For those interested the cost of the next gen game game consoles (premium editions) in Australia the Xbox 360 is at AU$700 (US$542), the Wii at AU$400 (US$309) and the PS3 (March) at AU$1000 (US$774). So US gamers are not being ripped off as badly as Australians and our standard of living is the same as the US.
It is well worth reading the following: http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/420/1 since it discusses the upcoming MS Windows Vista Eula which mainly appears to define what you can't do. This is a fairly easy read (3 pages) although if you follow the links you could waste the rest of the day.
From the article I think the best quote is " The draconian limitations I've discussed could only be enacted by a monopoly unafraid of alienating its users, as it feels they have no other alternative. Microsoft may yet learn, however, that there are limits to what its users will bear. "
For those who don't want to read the article I think it is best summed up by "You're hosed".
Actually you have hit on the major reason why Linux is not popular in many Business because "it is not like Windows". The real problem with Linux is while it can happily inter-operate with nearly all distributions of Linux and Unix, *nix OS's don't inter-operate well with MS Windows, due to fact that MS Windows does not have open formats while Linux not only has open formats it also has its source open for all to see. Unfortuantely the desktop will always be the hardest to migrate since many Business are very conservative, the lead to the acceptance of the Linux desktop will come first from Government.
The slow but steady adoption of Linux by Governments in Europe and Asia is not due to them being altruistic but pragmatic since the openness of the Linux (or all *nix) formats makes a great deal of sense and they are under scrutiny by their electorates and opposition (unless it is a dictatorship and then anything anti US business is acceptable) to cut costs. Once enough Government groups move to Linux, business and eventually the home user will follow.
Most games I have played on the PS2 that had rumble were IMHO done very badly and in the majority of cases it was better just to turn it off. In some of course rumble can actually set the mood and enhance the game-play. At least on the PS2 you do have the option of turning rumble off but this is a feature of the game not the PS1/2 or controller. I actually use the Logitech 2 wireless controller which IMHO is very comfortable, has rumble if you want and fun to use. The batteries for this seem to last for ages.
Personally I would like to see rumble on the new Sony controller but what if I want to play old PS1 or PS2 games that do have rumble, that would mean I would have to use my PS1/2 (or third party) dual shock controller and I hope there is an adaptor for this on the PS3. If the PS3 allowed this and I cannot see why not since it is a computer then game producers can still make their games with rumble which you as the player can enable or disable. In this way Sony does not get hammered by the (obvious even in the 1980's) patent and third party controller manufacturers can make money as well. Basically everyone wins including the patent holder.
Now all we need someone to raise their submarine patent on motion or tilt sensing and we will have a huge mess on our hands.
I have have always said that a good game to some may be a crap game to another and vice versa. To really rate games you need to stick to groups (ie. FPS, RPG, platformer, adventure.... etc) and if the game is for the PC and/or console and not try to lump them all into one heap. Of course you end up with a book instead of a few pages and even then some people will disagree with you.
Like it or not sales can help better than someones comments, however when you are first or near first to market (I think "Night Trap" falls into this) then people will buy it even though they find out later it stinks and the company cries all the way to the bank. When this game came out the Internet was young and not many people had access to it so the only ratings for a game was to ask the retailer and you can imagine what they would say or wait till the monthly gaming magazine came out (assuming it rated the game). This does not happen as much now although for any purchase it still is "Caveat Emptor" (Latin for "Buyer Beware").
Still the article was light reading and was fairly humorous in its descriptions (condemnations) of the games.
I got Foxtel (Australia) mainly to avoid seeing commercials but in the last few months instead of a break plugging a new or old shows I now see commercials. At least it is not as bad as the commercial channels yet were you can get up-to several minutes per thirty minute segment, this has forced me to actually record what I want to watch and use fast forward on commercials.
I am actually starting to record Foxtel shows now and while this is ok for now I am seriously considering canceling my subscription and I think my wife is rapidly coming to the conclusion that this is the best way of going. I can use the money I save (over approx one and a half years) to buy a Digital TV converter a new PS3 and a Wii and a few games from which I can get much more enjoyment. Even though free to air digital TV still has alot of commercials at least I can record the show and then fast forward through the commercials. With most HD recorders (actually my wife loves this) you can even use the time-shift feature to offset viewing by five minutes to two or more hours.
If enough people started to vote with their feet I think you may get better services offered but unfortunately I think there are powerful lobby groups who would use this to try to get the Government to start looking at receiver/transmitter licensing like they used to have in Australia for TV and Radio in the 1950's and 1960's. Of course to the Government a network device tax may sound like a great taxation raiser but they would have to be careful so a "pepper-corn tax" (like the one in Germany) and the sweetener of better (yeah right - may-by initially) services may convince the electorate that this is good for them.
How's this for future advertising:
"If you subscribe to MY_SERVICE for small fee of $XXX per month we will pay your yearly TV, PC and Radio licences".
Of course if the electorate allowed licensing then I think I have to charge a fee for suggesting the advertisement in the first place, after all I will need the money to pay my license fee.
Played all the Res Evil games except 4 (on my to-do list) and of all of them do have issues with camera angle at some time. I am not sure of 4 since I think you can control the camera. It can be very annoying when the camera angle is wrong although in the majority of cases the fix is to stick in the middle (if you can) of the area you are exploring.
I think that the idea of finding and using items even though they may seem silly is to distinguish the game from the first person shooter (FPS) and provide an simple RPG challenge (puzzle solving) as is the limited ammo and weapon types which IMHO is much more realistic (hence survival) than some FPS's (floating and/or spinning ammo and guns - how real is that). As for horror and survival I think the best one was were you as Jill (RE3) had to keep running from the monster which would keep following you and would even open closed doors which always stopped other monsters that were chasing you. As for the short skirt and boots (not exactly practical) well I prefer looking at a girl dressed like that than with practical armor on (call me sexist but I would think most males prefer this).
In all the RE games I never had any issues with limited typewriter ribbons but basically this is another aspect of game play (similar to the crystals in Tomb Raider) which can be an interesting challenge or make game-play more difficult. IMHO saving anywhere detracts and dumbs down the game-play, I prefer save-points or at least recovery points (example God of War) since this makes for a more challenging game although I can see were it can be very frustrating when a game with limited save points may require one to three hours of work before saving and should you die between them!!.
Actually the original RE1 game was a parody/salute based on the old 1950's B horror movies along with the deliberate bad voice acting. You can play the guy but I always recommend the girl first since the game is easier and you get to know the mansion first. If you have a Gamecube I do reccommend RE1 since the graphics are fantastic and the story was different (sort off) although you still don't have any control of the camera.
As far as the Silent Hill series. Liked SH1 and SH3 but not SH2 (not exactly sure why but possibly I did not like the character) although IMHO the RE series was better since I actually got to like the characters even though the voice acting was cheesy.
The problem in gaming is that just because a person likes or hates a particular game or game style does not necessary mean that everyone else will agree with them. That is why we have so many different styles of games and are better off for it. I myself like console RPG's (played PC ones but lost interest) and action adventure games, however some games which I thought I would like I have found tedious and annoying, while others I have loved because I found them fun and challenging. Personally the most interesting game I have played is Metroid 3 on the Gamecube because this game went from originally an action/adventure, sidescroller/platformer game to a first person perspective game with all the above (except sidescrolling since it was 3D) and I found it more fun to play than many FPS games. Metroid 3 was not survival horror but sometimes your heart would beat a little faster when you went into a room or area and something huge and ugly would attack you and if you did not have the right equipment you died quickly.
I think people have to decide which gaming next gen machine (or machines) they are going to get, when they are going to get it and what games they expect to run on them. Not everyone likes First Person Shooters or even Role Playing Games for that matter. Some people like photo realism while others like cartoony style games. There are so many styles and types of games out there now and it really comes down to what you really like and enjoy playing.
Personally I have always liked the Metroid and Zelda series while not caring for Pokemon, Mario or Donkey Kong. I also like many PlayStation games, some IMHO are rubbish but there are many that are not. However it is rare for me to like PC or Xbox games. Still what I like and don't like may be different to other people's likes and dislikes.
Exclusive games can actually sell a console initially but when there is not much difference in the so called exclusive game to another similar but different game on a different console then choosing a console becomes harder and that is were backwards compatibility comes in at least for a time.
One thing you can do with this which would not benefit Microsoft is to install this software on a Linux machine and run a virtual copy of MS Windows which to all intensive purposes is free. After-all it came with your PC so you will have a valid license. You should also be able to use Windows Update and play the latest games in a "sand-boxed environment", but for serious stuff you could use what normally comes with your Linux distro.
For a visualised MS Windows machine you could even go out and buy Windows Software but for the life of me I cannot see why (speaking as a normal user not from a business or corporate perspective), still at least you would have the option. You can even use this scenario to keep multiple copies of the OS and it should be legal providing you only run one copy at a time. This could start to get murky so any legal advice here?
Even a pirated (shock horror!) copy of MS Windows should be able to be run under a virtual machine and providing you don't try to update the OS via the web you can still run many Microsoft products (think games) although this would be illegal.
Of course if you cannot do this then the whole thing is a big con, because visualisation should allow you to do just what I have proposed.
I was in EB's two weeks ago in Australia and saw the game Bully on the shelf as a new game. The strange thing was it was not named as Bully (can't remember what though) but all the artwork was identical to what I have seen from game sites. The writing was also something similar to the introduction. I was in a hurry and did not enquire if the game was actually available although from previous experience if the game box in EB's has full information front and rear then it normally is in stock.
Since I am not currently in Australia (will be returning soon) can anyone (this also may be available in the UK since Australia uses the PAL TV standard) confirm or deny this?
Maybe the best way of getting around this issue is to rename the game from "Bully" which possibly has terrible connotations for those of a delicate nature, to something less likely to upset people.
Excellent reply, I was getting tired of seeing the same old anti Sony rants as if Sony was the most evil manufacturer in the world.
What many people here seem to forget is the PS2 was actually reviled as expensive, hard to program for, had an unnecessary DVD drive and lots of other negative things but look how well it did. The PS3 properly won't do as well as the PS2 and Sony SCE certainly has done some IMHO stupid things but I think the best way of judging Sony is a year from now, not on some slip-ups before a particular product ships.
The 1mm read distance would certainly stop the casual pass in the case of an rfid chip reader but it would be interesting in knowing how they determined a 1mm transmitting range since any wireless transmitting device has the potential for unlimited range. Granted that you need a much more sensitive receiver to receive the weaker signal but it could be done and that is all a cracker needs.
This web site has been out for some time so it appears that if you have a contact-less method of reading something then it's eventually going to be cracked. It is very easy to get close such as sitting next to or just brushing past a the potential victim without them being aware of any evil intent and 1m is a huge distance to play around with.
It is allot harder to get info off something that requires physical contact with a reader since that means physically touching that something (normally a card) and that would normally alert the victim.
In the Unix environment patches do come out on a regular basis however unless the kernel is updated you don't have to reboot. In many ways I actually do support Microsoft for this because you do need to keep your OS (Unix, NT, Linux... etc) current and sometimes you really have to force your customers to upgrade otherwise they never will.
The problem with MS Service Packs releases is the fact that sometimes the SP causes more issues so care and testing needs to be carried out. Don't think this does not apply in the *nix area because it does so you should never be an early adopter unless you do have a good testing environment. Patch testing in the *nix area appears to be more acceptable to management than the same type of testing in MS Windows so it is normally easier to organise an outage.
If you look at commercial Unix support, this is normally available if your OS is two or less releases behind equally applied to both OS version and patch release. However I will admit that you can get support for earlier releases but only if you are willing to pay extra and this is normally stated in the service contact.
As for Linux 2.4 kernel, most recent commercial(Redhat and Suse) and non-commercial releases (CentOS... etc) are now 2.6 and have been so for well over a year, however the 2.4 kernel is still supported for earlier Linux distributions.
I live in Australia and currently I see the majority of HDTV's with 720p (plasma and LCD) capability , however what is confusing to many is the fact that standard definition (SD) plasma TV's are also available at a AU$300 to AU$1000 (approx AU$1 = US$0.75) price differential and unless you know this and can compare many buyers do perceive that they are getting a bargain so called HDTV set when in fact they are getting a SD TV. This will cause a great deal of confusion when deciding which new gaming machine to buy especially when you can't detect much of a difference between graphics when viewed on a SD TV.
Currently 1080p in Australia is more expensive at about 30% to 100% dearer than it's 720p equivalent, however that will change very soon when Sony, Sharp and others bring out their LCD 1080p HDTV's. This sounds good but I have seen some confusing trends in that some 1080p HDTV's are really 720p with the ability to display 1080p content. Even more disturbing is the fact that many sales reps don't even know how to correctly advise prospective buyers.
In some respect this could actually assist the Wii but if and when this confusion is fixed only then people will be able to see significant differences in display types, whether this will influence their purchase remains to be seen.
On a slightly different note. If parents are going to buy a gaming machine for their kids it would be more common to buy a gaming machine for the TV their kids are going to use and in the majority case that would be a SD TV (great for Wii, PS2 and Xbox here) in their bedroom or play area and not the HDTV (better for Xbox 360 and PS3) in the living area unless the parent(s) are into gaming and if only one is a gamer and the other one isn't then I can foresee issues, since some compromise has to be arrived at. This would be a topic for another discussion.
Note: Just because I made the assumption "better for" the Wii would still look good on a HDTV as well so the choice of which next gen machine is the best buy is really up to the consumer and what they perceive are good or appropriate.
As far as anti aliasing goes this is an issue for the console. When the PS2 first came out some of the first gen games had very noticeable jagged edges which in-turn caused many people to rubbish the PS2. There were many red faces when Sony came out with a simple fix which the designers should have known about in the first place.
When any nuclear device is exploded it would normally be detected as seismic activity, if this is not detected then N Korea has not tested a nuclear device unless they were running an emulation such as an arcade copy of Defender (sorry could not resist that).
Even China who is N Korea's closest ally would not like to see them with atomic weapons since China is right on their boarder and any nuclear war exchange would be just as devastating to China, so I think you will find the Chinese Government is working behind the scenes to prevent N Korea becoming a nuclear power, however the N Korean Government is really just a one man show and this is dangerous to all countries in the region.
Actually the greatest issue facing our world today is the generation of power and as more nations require increasing amounts power the problem is going to get worse. Nuclear energy is a viable energy resource along with coal and alternative (so called green) resources. So I can understand countries using Nuclear power but when that research is directed to weapons development especially if the Government is unstable or fanatical then there really is a very dangerous tip to the balance of power. To date we have always had rational pragmatic Governments who have had access to the "Doomsday Button" but this is changing and it is this that is quite worrying.
Most people would think of a recent "comfort game" rather than a game they cannot play or have to use a PC emulator for so while many older gamers liked NES, Sega, snes, N64... etc games many would play games they currently have, be they console or PC games.
I think the so called "comfort game" is a game you can get into quickly for that 30 min to 2 hour relaxing challenge and then switch off and do something else (ie. eat, read, zone out on TV, sex (some of us do you know), sleep.... etc). Personally I have always liked the Zelda (NES through Gamecube) series although getting further in the game it becomes more of an adrenaline rush and challenge than relaxation.
Games like First Person Shooters are not what I would call an "comfort game" since they are more adrenaline rush and IMHO are not conducive to relaxing however I am quite sure many will tell me I am wrong. I do think that any on-line game cannot be a "comfort game" because you are dependent on getting people to play with you and this may not always be the case.
The problem is that many games except for short term puzzle games start to get challenging and it becomes very easy to loose track of the time. I have always found PC games (at least the ones I like) are like this, while console games are much easier to get into and out off, although this does depend on the game (example God of War - easy to get into but difficult to switch it off because it IMHO is addictive).
I suppose the best "comfort game" I have ever played is the "Ratchet and Clank" series since it IMHO is fun and you can switch it off after an hour or so. All I have to do is put the game in the PS2 pick up my wireless controller select "AV" on my TV, plug-in my wireless headphones and relax (hopefully) on my sofa. Time from start to playing is less than 1 minute. Still what I find fun may not be fun to other people.
Re:the guidence system runs Linux
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Rocket Men
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· Score: 0, Offtopic
Basically your post is off-topic or just flamebait but I'll reply anyway since this is a common complaint coming from uninformed MS Windows people.
As far a Linux being 1% of the market I suggest you do some reading. It may be small from the desktop perspective but in the server market it is huge and is growing faster than MS Windows, although this depends on the county and in the majority of cases the push comes from Telecoms and the Government. Most businesses are too conservative to push Linux but they do need to work with the Government and if the Government uses Linux then business will follow.
As far as application installation under *nix the installation method is dictated by the designer/writer of a program, all the user needs to to (or should do) is run a few simple commands or even run an installer GUI then run the program and in nearly all cases you don't have to reboot. It is not and I repeat NOT the fault of the OS it is always the fault of the program writer if the program installation requires a complex set of commands that the person who is doing the installation has to follow. In all cases the installer process should be well documented even if this done by the installer script. It is very rare to see this done in the MS Windows environment and in many cases software installation under MS windows is a matter of trust while under *nix it is a matter of understanding what is going on.
You mention Quake installation under Linux and as I have said before the problem is not the OS but the guys who were to lazy (IMHO) or did not have the time to write a proper installer script. Which from what I have read from your post could have been written in a few minutes.
If you are a Unix/Linux person writing the above I would say you need to do some reading. If you are a Windows person who dabbles in Linux then I hope I have provided some education.
Slashdot Mirror
From the (http://swpat.ffii.org/) the following URL has Quotations on Software patents.
http://swpat.ffii.org/vreji/quotes/index.en.html
Very interesting read even Bill Gates seems to come out in favour of abolishing software patents. Of course that was in 1991. I guess he must have done a 180.
I can read the frustration in your post but IMHO you are not a troll. Sorry have not read your URL yet but will do after your post (looks interesting though).
In many ways I agree with you because I think the average person feels so powerless in the face of Mega/Giga dollars that companies like Microsoft wield to push through patents in software that to people in the field feel are trivial and obvious.
I am very anti software patents because they are based on maths and logic which should not (IMHO) be patentable. Patents based on maths and logic do reduce the ability of human mind to innovate or even think freely for that matter. Yes I know the arguments that companies like these use and in nearly all cases they are just FUD, unfortunately the Law listens, because in many respects most Lawyers and Judges don't have the technical knowledge and work on precedent.
The main problem I see with software patents is that the patent is written in legalese and the actual science would be poorly understood by the patent lawyer although it just may be possible that the lawyer has a degree in Law and Science (hands up if you are one). Many software (and also many non software ones as well) patents are fairly vague but all encompassing and can be interpreted in a variety of ways but always to the advantage of the person/company who had the patent written for them in the first pace.
Even a person who understands the science finds a patent difficult to read because it is written in a language they are not normally familiar with, so it can be difficult to determine if you are infringing.
Unfortunately patent law reform will only come from the judiciary with the support of the appropriate companies and I don't see this happening anytime soon since they have so much to loose at the feeding trough.
Actually Zelda II got panned by the purists although I enjoyed it since it was refreshingly different from the original Zelda (I liked this as well). This game did have some story telling although not a lot though but interesting nevertheless especially when you consider this was on the NES. This game also had an element of RPG stat raising and you were free to upgrade certain statistics in any order.
The GPU may be the culprit here as I have read that it does consume 60W to 90W but that was for the PC card so more research needs to be done.
t ml?articleID=163106213 was saying power consumption at 4GHz was going to be approx 80W. Reading other articles on the Cell it was basically designed to consume less power than conventional microprocessors.
I don't think the Cell is the issue here since in 2005 the following article http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jh
If the PS3 uses 380W that is a lot of power to dissipate and the machine would get very hot (think approx 3 x 100W and one 75W globe) and the cooling fan would be sounding like a small jet engine. All reports to date seem to indicate that the machine is cool to touch and no one has commented on a blast of very hot air from the machine (I am sure they would have detected it). I have an older PS2 (45W) and if you put your hand to the back you can feel warm air coming out the back and the top is slightly warm, now multiply that by 8 and you would burn your hand so if the PS3 does consume 380W then Sony have turned the Laws of thermodynamics on it's head.
To be fair if the PS3 consumes 380W I would assume it would do that on start up but what I really want to know is what does it consume in standby and what does it consume running?
I tried to find out were and how the web sites arrived at 380W and could not, so far it appears to be hear say. Has anyone actually put a Watt-meter on this machine? or baring that measure the voltage (110V and 240V) and measured the input current in amps then using the simple formula Power (Watts) = Volts x Amps that would be the best solution.
To say that "Sony hates 2D" without applying this to Microsoft and Nintendo is just unfair since all game machines from the PS1 onwards mainly have 3D games because the market preferred those type of games. There are actually more 2D games for the PS1 and PS2 than with the N64, Gamecube and Xbox. This is not to say that 3D is the best format since some 2D games are really fun to play but it is rare to see new ones now. I don't know of any for the next gen consoles except possibly some home grown ones
Some consumers do like to buy the collectors edition be it a game, music or movie, although to me three variants for Halo 3 is getting ridiculous however we are talking Microsoft that has six variants of their new Vista OS (sorry could not resit that).
In Australia the premium games for the Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube are between AU$90 (US$69.70) and AU$100 (US$77.44). Normally after three to six months these games (except for Nintendo games) drop by 50% to 80% so if you don't mind the wait prices are not that bad. All the premium next gen games for Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 (in March) will be AU$110 (US$85.10) and I am not talking about collectors editions which can be 30% or more dearer.
Still it really is up to the consumer if they buy the no-frills or premium game or even wait for the game to drop in price.
For those interested the cost of the next gen game game consoles (premium editions) in Australia the Xbox 360 is at AU$700 (US$542), the Wii at AU$400 (US$309) and the PS3 (March) at AU$1000 (US$774). So US gamers are not being ripped off as badly as Australians and our standard of living is the same as the US.
It is well worth reading the following: http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/420/1 since it discusses the upcoming MS Windows Vista Eula which mainly appears to define what you can't do. This is a fairly easy read (3 pages) although if you follow the links you could waste the rest of the day.
From the article I think the best quote is " The draconian limitations I've discussed could only be enacted by a monopoly unafraid of alienating its users, as it feels they have no other alternative. Microsoft may yet learn, however, that there are limits to what its users will bear. "
For those who don't want to read the article I think it is best summed up by "You're hosed".
Actually you have hit on the major reason why Linux is not popular in many Business because "it is not like Windows". The real problem with Linux is while it can happily inter-operate with nearly all distributions of Linux and Unix, *nix OS's don't inter-operate well with MS Windows, due to fact that MS Windows does not have open formats while Linux not only has open formats it also has its source open for all to see. Unfortuantely the desktop will always be the hardest to migrate since many Business are very conservative, the lead to the acceptance of the Linux desktop will come first from Government.
The slow but steady adoption of Linux by Governments in Europe and Asia is not due to them being altruistic but pragmatic since the openness of the Linux (or all *nix) formats makes a great deal of sense and they are under scrutiny by their electorates and opposition (unless it is a dictatorship and then anything anti US business is acceptable) to cut costs. Once enough Government groups move to Linux, business and eventually the home user will follow.
Most games I have played on the PS2 that had rumble were IMHO done very badly and in the majority of cases it was better just to turn it off. In some of course rumble can actually set the mood and enhance the game-play. At least on the PS2 you do have the option of turning rumble off but this is a feature of the game not the PS1/2 or controller. I actually use the Logitech 2 wireless controller which IMHO is very comfortable, has rumble if you want and fun to use. The batteries for this seem to last for ages.
Personally I would like to see rumble on the new Sony controller but what if I want to play old PS1 or PS2 games that do have rumble, that would mean I would have to use my PS1/2 (or third party) dual shock controller and I hope there is an adaptor for this on the PS3. If the PS3 allowed this and I cannot see why not since it is a computer then game producers can still make their games with rumble which you as the player can enable or disable. In this way Sony does not get hammered by the (obvious even in the 1980's) patent and third party controller manufacturers can make money as well. Basically everyone wins including the patent holder.
Now all we need someone to raise their submarine patent on motion or tilt sensing and we will have a huge mess on our hands.
Never played any of them and never will.
.... etc) and if the game is for the PC and/or console and not try to lump them all into one heap. Of course you end up with a book instead of a few pages and even then some people will disagree with you.
I have have always said that a good game to some may be a crap game to another and vice versa. To really rate games you need to stick to groups (ie. FPS, RPG, platformer, adventure
Like it or not sales can help better than someones comments, however when you are first or near first to market (I think "Night Trap" falls into this) then people will buy it even though they find out later it stinks and the company cries all the way to the bank. When this game came out the Internet was young and not many people had access to it so the only ratings for a game was to ask the retailer and you can imagine what they would say or wait till the monthly gaming magazine came out (assuming it rated the game). This does not happen as much now although for any purchase it still is "Caveat Emptor" (Latin for "Buyer Beware").
Still the article was light reading and was fairly humorous in its descriptions (condemnations) of the games.
I got Foxtel (Australia) mainly to avoid seeing commercials but in the last few months instead of a break plugging a new or old shows I now see commercials. At least it is not as bad as the commercial channels yet were you can get up-to several minutes per thirty minute segment, this has forced me to actually record what I want to watch and use fast forward on commercials.
I am actually starting to record Foxtel shows now and while this is ok for now I am seriously considering canceling my subscription and I think my wife is rapidly coming to the conclusion that this is the best way of going. I can use the money I save (over approx one and a half years) to buy a Digital TV converter a new PS3 and a Wii and a few games from which I can get much more enjoyment. Even though free to air digital TV still has alot of commercials at least I can record the show and then fast forward through the commercials. With most HD recorders (actually my wife loves this) you can even use the time-shift feature to offset viewing by five minutes to two or more hours.
If enough people started to vote with their feet I think you may get better services offered but unfortunately I think there are powerful lobby groups who would use this to try to get the Government to start looking at receiver/transmitter licensing like they used to have in Australia for TV and Radio in the 1950's and 1960's. Of course to the Government a network device tax may sound like a great taxation raiser but they would have to be careful so a "pepper-corn tax" (like the one in Germany) and the sweetener of better (yeah right - may-by initially) services may convince the electorate that this is good for them.
How's this for future advertising:
"If you subscribe to MY_SERVICE for small fee of $XXX per month we will pay your yearly TV, PC and Radio licences".
Of course if the electorate allowed licensing then I think I have to charge a fee for suggesting the advertisement in the first place, after all I will need the money to pay my license fee.
Played all the Res Evil games except 4 (on my to-do list) and of all of them do have issues with camera angle at some time. I am not sure of 4 since I think you can control the camera. It can be very annoying when the camera angle is wrong although in the majority of cases the fix is to stick in the middle (if you can) of the area you are exploring.
I think that the idea of finding and using items even though they may seem silly is to distinguish the game from the first person shooter (FPS) and provide an simple RPG challenge (puzzle solving) as is the limited ammo and weapon types which IMHO is much more realistic (hence survival) than some FPS's (floating and/or spinning ammo and guns - how real is that). As for horror and survival I think the best one was were you as Jill (RE3) had to keep running from the monster which would keep following you and would even open closed doors which always stopped other monsters that were chasing you. As for the short skirt and boots (not exactly practical) well I prefer looking at a girl dressed like that than with practical armor on (call me sexist but I would think most males prefer this).
In all the RE games I never had any issues with limited typewriter ribbons but basically this is another aspect of game play (similar to the crystals in Tomb Raider) which can be an interesting challenge or make game-play more difficult. IMHO saving anywhere detracts and dumbs down the game-play, I prefer save-points or at least recovery points (example God of War) since this makes for a more challenging game although I can see were it can be very frustrating when a game with limited save points may require one to three hours of work before saving and should you die between them!!.
Actually the original RE1 game was a parody/salute based on the old 1950's B horror movies along with the deliberate bad voice acting. You can play the guy but I always recommend the girl first since the game is easier and you get to know the mansion first. If you have a Gamecube I do reccommend RE1 since the graphics are fantastic and the story was different (sort off) although you still don't have any control of the camera.
As far as the Silent Hill series. Liked SH1 and SH3 but not SH2 (not exactly sure why but possibly I did not like the character) although IMHO the RE series was better since I actually got to like the characters even though the voice acting was cheesy.
The problem in gaming is that just because a person likes or hates a particular game or game style does not necessary mean that everyone else will agree with them. That is why we have so many different styles of games and are better off for it. I myself like console RPG's (played PC ones but lost interest) and action adventure games, however some games which I thought I would like I have found tedious and annoying, while others I have loved because I found them fun and challenging. Personally the most interesting game I have played is Metroid 3 on the Gamecube because this game went from originally an action/adventure, sidescroller/platformer game to a first person perspective game with all the above (except sidescrolling since it was 3D) and I found it more fun to play than many FPS games. Metroid 3 was not survival horror but sometimes your heart would beat a little faster when you went into a room or area and something huge and ugly would attack you and if you did not have the right equipment you died quickly.
I think people have to decide which gaming next gen machine (or machines) they are going to get, when they are going to get it and what games they expect to run on them. Not everyone likes First Person Shooters or even Role Playing Games for that matter. Some people like photo realism while others like cartoony style games. There are so many styles and types of games out there now and it really comes down to what you really like and enjoy playing.
Personally I have always liked the Metroid and Zelda series while not caring for Pokemon, Mario or Donkey Kong. I also like many PlayStation games, some IMHO are rubbish but there are many that are not. However it is rare for me to like PC or Xbox games. Still what I like and don't like may be different to other people's likes and dislikes.
Exclusive games can actually sell a console initially but when there is not much difference in the so called exclusive game to another similar but different game on a different console then choosing a console becomes harder and that is were backwards compatibility comes in at least for a time.
One thing you can do with this which would not benefit Microsoft is to install this software on a Linux machine and run a virtual copy of MS Windows which to all intensive purposes is free. After-all it came with your PC so you will have a valid license. You should also be able to use Windows Update and play the latest games in a "sand-boxed environment", but for serious stuff you could use what normally comes with your Linux distro.
For a visualised MS Windows machine you could even go out and buy Windows Software but for the life of me I cannot see why (speaking as a normal user not from a business or corporate perspective), still at least you would have the option. You can even use this scenario to keep multiple copies of the OS and it should be legal providing you only run one copy at a time. This could start to get murky so any legal advice here?
Even a pirated (shock horror!) copy of MS Windows should be able to be run under a virtual machine and providing you don't try to update the OS via the web you can still run many Microsoft products (think games) although this would be illegal.
Of course if you cannot do this then the whole thing is a big con, because visualisation should allow you to do just what I have proposed.
Thanks, no wonder I could not remember the name since I never studied Latin at school. Still the Latin name is interesting and appropriate.
I was in EB's two weeks ago in Australia and saw the game Bully on the shelf as a new game. The strange thing was it was not named as Bully (can't remember what though) but all the artwork was identical to what I have seen from game sites. The writing was also something similar to the introduction. I was in a hurry and did not enquire if the game was actually available although from previous experience if the game box in EB's has full information front and rear then it normally is in stock.
Since I am not currently in Australia (will be returning soon) can anyone (this also may be available in the UK since Australia uses the PAL TV standard) confirm or deny this?
Maybe the best way of getting around this issue is to rename the game from "Bully" which possibly has terrible connotations for those of a delicate nature, to something less likely to upset people.
Excellent reply, I was getting tired of seeing the same old anti Sony rants as if Sony was the most evil manufacturer in the world.
What many people here seem to forget is the PS2 was actually reviled as expensive, hard to program for, had an unnecessary DVD drive and lots of other negative things but look how well it did. The PS3 properly won't do as well as the PS2 and Sony SCE certainly has done some IMHO stupid things but I think the best way of judging Sony is a year from now, not on some slip-ups before a particular product ships.
Adding to my last post.
The 1mm read distance would certainly stop the casual pass in the case of an rfid chip reader but it would be interesting in knowing how they determined a 1mm transmitting range since any wireless transmitting device has the potential for unlimited range. Granted that you need a much more sensitive receiver to receive the weaker signal but it could be done and that is all a cracker needs.
Very good point. Take the following web site for instance it actually shows how rfid can be compromised.
r acking-rfid-crypto/
http://www.hackaday.com/2005/02/19/sniffing-and-c
This web site has been out for some time so it appears that if you have a contact-less method of reading something then it's eventually going to be cracked. It is very easy to get close such as sitting next to or just brushing past a the potential victim without them being aware of any evil intent and 1m is a huge distance to play around with.
It is allot harder to get info off something that requires physical contact with a reader since that means physically touching that something (normally a card) and that would normally alert the victim.
In the Unix environment patches do come out on a regular basis however unless the kernel is updated you don't have to reboot. In many ways I actually do support Microsoft for this because you do need to keep your OS (Unix, NT, Linux ... etc) current and sometimes you really have to force your customers to upgrade otherwise they never will.
... etc) are now 2.6 and have been so for well over a year, however the 2.4 kernel is still supported for earlier Linux distributions.
The problem with MS Service Packs releases is the fact that sometimes the SP causes more issues so care and testing needs to be carried out. Don't think this does not apply in the *nix area because it does so you should never be an early adopter unless you do have a good testing environment. Patch testing in the *nix area appears to be more acceptable to management than the same type of testing in MS Windows so it is normally easier to organise an outage.
If you look at commercial Unix support, this is normally available if your OS is two or less releases behind equally applied to both OS version and patch release. However I will admit that you can get support for earlier releases but only if you are willing to pay extra and this is normally stated in the service contact.
As for Linux 2.4 kernel, most recent commercial(Redhat and Suse) and non-commercial releases (CentOS
I live in Australia and currently I see the majority of HDTV's with 720p (plasma and LCD) capability , however what is confusing to many is the fact that standard definition (SD) plasma TV's are also available at a AU$300 to AU$1000 (approx AU$1 = US$0.75) price differential and unless you know this and can compare many buyers do perceive that they are getting a bargain so called HDTV set when in fact they are getting a SD TV. This will cause a great deal of confusion when deciding which new gaming machine to buy especially when you can't detect much of a difference between graphics when viewed on a SD TV.
Currently 1080p in Australia is more expensive at about 30% to 100% dearer than it's 720p equivalent, however that will change very soon when Sony, Sharp and others bring out their LCD 1080p HDTV's. This sounds good but I have seen some confusing trends in that some 1080p HDTV's are really 720p with the ability to display 1080p content. Even more disturbing is the fact that many sales reps don't even know how to correctly advise prospective buyers.
In some respect this could actually assist the Wii but if and when this confusion is fixed only then people will be able to see significant differences in display types, whether this will influence their purchase remains to be seen.
On a slightly different note. If parents are going to buy a gaming machine for their kids it would be more common to buy a gaming machine for the TV their kids are going to use and in the majority case that would be a SD TV (great for Wii, PS2 and Xbox here) in their bedroom or play area and not the HDTV (better for Xbox 360 and PS3) in the living area unless the parent(s) are into gaming and if only one is a gamer and the other one isn't then I can foresee issues, since some compromise has to be arrived at. This would be a topic for another discussion.
Note: Just because I made the assumption "better for" the Wii would still look good on a HDTV as well so the choice of which next gen machine is the best buy is really up to the consumer and what they perceive are good or appropriate.
As far as anti aliasing goes this is an issue for the console. When the PS2 first came out some of the first gen games had very noticeable jagged edges which in-turn caused many people to rubbish the PS2. There were many red faces when Sony came out with a simple fix which the designers should have known about in the first place.
When any nuclear device is exploded it would normally be detected as seismic activity, if this is not detected then N Korea has not tested a nuclear device unless they were running an emulation such as an arcade copy of Defender (sorry could not resist that).
Even China who is N Korea's closest ally would not like to see them with atomic weapons since China is right on their boarder and any nuclear war exchange would be just as devastating to China, so I think you will find the Chinese Government is working behind the scenes to prevent N Korea becoming a nuclear power, however the N Korean Government is really just a one man show and this is dangerous to all countries in the region.
Actually the greatest issue facing our world today is the generation of power and as more nations require increasing amounts power the problem is going to get worse. Nuclear energy is a viable energy resource along with coal and alternative (so called green) resources. So I can understand countries using Nuclear power but when that research is directed to weapons development especially if the Government is unstable or fanatical then there really is a very dangerous tip to the balance of power. To date we have always had rational pragmatic Governments who have had access to the "Doomsday Button" but this is changing and it is this that is quite worrying.
Most people would think of a recent "comfort game" rather than a game they cannot play or have to use a PC emulator for so while many older gamers liked NES, Sega, snes, N64 ... etc games many would play games they currently have, be they console or PC games.
.... etc). Personally I have always liked the Zelda (NES through Gamecube) series although getting further in the game it becomes more of an adrenaline rush and challenge than relaxation.
I think the so called "comfort game" is a game you can get into quickly for that 30 min to 2 hour relaxing challenge and then switch off and do something else (ie. eat, read, zone out on TV, sex (some of us do you know), sleep
Games like First Person Shooters are not what I would call an "comfort game" since they are more adrenaline rush and IMHO are not conducive to relaxing however I am quite sure many will tell me I am wrong. I do think that any on-line game cannot be a "comfort game" because you are dependent on getting people to play with you and this may not always be the case.
The problem is that many games except for short term puzzle games start to get challenging and it becomes very easy to loose track of the time. I have always found PC games (at least the ones I like) are like this, while console games are much easier to get into and out off, although this does depend on the game (example God of War - easy to get into but difficult to switch it off because it IMHO is addictive).
I suppose the best "comfort game" I have ever played is the "Ratchet and Clank" series since it IMHO is fun and you can switch it off after an hour or so. All I have to do is put the game in the PS2 pick up my wireless controller select "AV" on my TV, plug-in my wireless headphones and relax (hopefully) on my sofa. Time from start to playing is less than 1 minute. Still what I find fun may not be fun to other people.
Basically your post is off-topic or just flamebait but I'll reply anyway since this is a common complaint coming from uninformed MS Windows people.
As far a Linux being 1% of the market I suggest you do some reading. It may be small from the desktop perspective but in the server market it is huge and is growing faster than MS Windows, although this depends on the county and in the majority of cases the push comes from Telecoms and the Government. Most businesses are too conservative to push Linux but they do need to work with the Government and if the Government uses Linux then business will follow.
As far as application installation under *nix the installation method is dictated by the designer/writer of a program, all the user needs to to (or should do) is run a few simple commands or even run an installer GUI then run the program and in nearly all cases you don't have to reboot. It is not and I repeat NOT the fault of the OS it is always the fault of the program writer if the program installation requires a complex set of commands that the person who is doing the installation has to follow. In all cases the installer process should be well documented even if this done by the installer script. It is very rare to see this done in the MS Windows environment and in many cases software installation under MS windows is a matter of trust while under *nix it is a matter of understanding what is going on.
You mention Quake installation under Linux and as I have said before the problem is not the OS but the guys who were to lazy (IMHO) or did not have the time to write a proper installer script. Which from what I have read from your post could have been written in a few minutes.
If you are a Unix/Linux person writing the above I would say you need to do some reading. If you are a Windows person who dabbles in Linux then I hope I have provided some education.