Guess I'll have to add Take Two to my personal boycott list, right there alongside EA.
When the reviews came in for the new Battle Field game, and they made note of the non-optional in-game ad delivery system (which, at the time at least, was not printed on the box) it was the last straw, and I immediately took every EA game I owned and turned them into my local trade-in for store credit. I also vowed to never again purchase any game from EA. Ever. Even despite my overwhelming desire to play spore. If I am given an EA game as a gift, I will politely accept it, and tactfully inform the gift giver of my intentions and of my boycott of the company. They lack respect, and are becoming just like commercial TV; another fine service I no longer require.
I play to escape, what I wish to escape is the constant in-my-face barrage of unsolicited suggestion. I will not pay for services that exist to provided such suggestion.
FTFA:
* Call of Duty 3
* Genji 2: Days of the Blade
* Madden NFL 2007
* Marvel Ultimate Alliance
* Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire
* NBA '07
* NBA 2k7
* NHL 2k7
* Resistance: Fall of Man
* Ridge Racer 7
* Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
* Tony Hawk's Project 8
* Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
I never had much interest in GTA:SA (not a fan of the 90's gang land genre), but a fellow member of the Machinima community had created a movie studio mod for it (Discussion here) and I really, really, wanted to check it out.
Unfortunately I didn't catch wind of this project until after the Hot Coffee mess, and the retailers had already re-stocked with the "fixed" copy of the game. Needless to say I was no longer motivated to spend my money.
The only one you can blame here is R* for not disclosing all the naughty 'bits' (pun intended) when up for ERSB review. The media response was predictable: childish, immature, and embarrassing when overseas. You know, the usual for us Americans.
Anyway, modders are essential for PC games, they keep the game content fresh, (thus keeping the game on store shelves longer) and players get to play game developer and train for that line of work. (Not to mention all the unique new game play modes and art style innovations) To shun modders is the same as shunning your developers. Bad move not matter how you look at it.
By that logic, could one not introduce such an "off switch" into cells destined to become part of a human fetus? Certainly not a cure for those already inflicted, but it would give the next generation a real fighting chance. I know, I know, genetic engineering is "evil" but is it any worse that allowing a known disease to cultivate when a stop-block is known?
I'm not scientist, and certainly not a religious fellow. Just a curious citizen of earth who's seen his fair share of cancer victims. The results of this research illustrates to me a clear connection between stem cells and cancer, and intrigues such possibilities.
It may be the clouds of nostalgia, but I recall the Master System has having the best box art ever. When you walked into the store, you knew which games were for the Master System at a single glance. I dug the minimalist style, and the consistency of the box art. Each game had it's own flavor and yet the boxes could be displayed and not look tacky on your converted VHS rack.
Well, when I went to Tokyo last week I had to pass up dozens of awesome looking console games that I really wanted to purchase. I ended up spending all that money on DS games instead, knowing that they would play in my system. The DVD's on the other hand were a pain in the ass; if not for my region-hacked laptop hooked up to my TV I would have never even looked at their collection. Owning the uncut DVD for the new Jet Li film before it's even out in US theaters is pretty freaking sweet, getting to watch it is even sweeter.
I hope Nintendo at least continues to keep at least Japan-USA in the same region, I would love to pick up odd quirky Wii games on my next trip. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Whoa! 40 Years ago!? Amazing! Crazy how long it took to go public/mainstream. I guess it's one thing to design something and quite another to build upon it.
If they insist on giving you the run-around in this regard, just tell them in no uncertain terms that they will come at: (insert best time for you,) or you'll switch to satellite, and will recommend the same for your friends and family. They tend to see it your way after that, it's worked for me in the past.
I know there are few people who use SMS here in the US, but it's complicated and cost extra. I know my phone has a pile of features like text messages and that vcast thing, but it's just too hard to use with those tiny little cell phone keys with three+ letters to a key. (it took me a week to figure out how to put my mp3s on the damn player mode!) It's just easier to call and keep it short.
I don't think it was the CGI that killed the FF movie, I think the fact that it was a horrid telling of a bland story that killed it. It was never really going anywhere, it started up ok, but never really left the line.
Advent Children, while not nearly as good looking, and even though it was campy as hell, was still a much better movie over all. But I thought Spirits was jaw-droping at the time, I didn't get the lifeless vibe when I first saw it.
(note: I don't play console RPGs and have never played any of the FF games, so I'm only ranting from a movie and animation fan's pov.)
I'm a "hardcore gamer", and $600, while double the price of the $300 PS2, is easily affordable.
Say, can I borrow 600 bucks? I'd love me some ps3 action too! If it's cool, I'll be in my co-leased apartment playing $9.99 used xbox and ps2 games on my hand-me-down TV and Stereo. Which, while we're at it here, could also use some speakers that didn't come from those wal-mart bought 3 disk changers systems. I found some floor standing JBL's at the local Best Buy, the pair for 300 bucks! realistically I could pay you back for all of this in about 4 months if I skip the monthly gamestop raids. Call me!
As a gamer and a tech at a Texas ISD I am stuck in the middle.
On one side the more tax money rolls in, the bigger my raise in Aug, on the other side that raise means nothing if I have to pay more for games.
I guess I should be focusing on the kids and what it means for them, but if I don't get my Guitar Hero fix daily, those kids will destroy my mind, and then they all somehow fail my lab.
On second thought, you better not tax games, it'll breed angry un-focused teachers who vent on slashdot during field-day. I'm not too worried about getting paid next to nothing, that's why I got two jobs!/sigh
For as long as I've been of concert going age, I've never been able to afford to see my favorite top tier bands live. Chances are I never will. I'd love to see some of those guys live, but honestly it's not worth more than 30 bucks for a few hours of rock songs I've already heard a thousand times on my awesome home stereo.
Local clubs and battle of the band conveniently located at the softball complex down the street are about all the live performances I can afford to attend, and it has nothing to do with download habits of the American geek. 12 bucks parking, god knows for refreshments, and tickets $65+ that's a huge chunk out of my monthly spending cash (or "after bill"), all of it if I bring a date. Maybe I'm the minority, but I've also got to look ahead at gas prices and related rises in COL. I'm already buying a concert ticket at the pump every other week! (I try to walk as often as possible, but it's hard to do in the suburbs of Dallas.)
No, don't go blaming downloader's, you've just priced your self out of mainstream. Enough people seem to be able to afford it, so I guess more power to you. The rest of us will happily download from the iTunes and IRC's of the interworld and remain skeptical of your pricy spectacle.
I remember the first time I turned on the US version of SMB2 and thinking..."Wait, did I rent the right game here?"
I liked the music, but was disappointed that it didn't play like SMB1, the new look were awesome for the time and were enough to keep me interested through the rental period, but once I took it back I never looked back.
I still hum the music to this day, however.
It was just too different for me I guess, never considered it a real Mario game even then, and years later (well, when the story broke like 10 years ago) now I know why. It wasn't the real SMB2! I knew something was fishy, even as a punk kid.
Would the real SMB2 been too hard for me? At the time, I can say yes. I had enough trouble timing the jumps in SMB1 without wind and rain helping me out! Then again, I was about 18 years under it's Japanese target audience...
Maybe it's just me, but when the rev comes home with me, the first thing I play will not be Mario 3 from the NES. I want the new games that use the new controller! They can keep the classics, well, for the first month or two anyway. 20 titles sound good, better than the Game Cube launch anyway. Especially if they keep the promise of new releases often during the first year.
You've just gotten home from the doctors office. You've got 6 months, at best. Someone finds a cure three days later. They file for a patent and refuse to give it up for less than x$ where x = extreme. 12-16 months later they sign a deal with a major medical company who then sells it for x$ where x = extreme and they refuse to lease the cure to competitors and sue the pants off anyone who uses an unlicensed cure. Tell me that is not evil? I dare you. Cures for major causes of death should be issued in bulk by your government for free (Tax Dollars) not protected by patents.
The fight for the Internet has just gone global. Looking to help China is great, fabulous, noble and all, but the time to focus on America is now. ISP's are clamoring for tiered networks, the government is looking to legislate censorship (it only starts with protecting the kids, soon it will be to protect EVERYONE,) and the entertainment industry is suing people left and right for sharing, which I'm sure will lead to regulation of P2P traffic.
The question is this, do we continue with this network as it is now, let the man direct the traffic and install his regulations, or do we the geeks of the world build a new Internet in the hopes of even one more day of geekish freedom?
Wait Mr. Lucas, you mean you're just now hearing about Machinima? We've been doing it for 10 years now! Well, with Lucas on board maybe the market for niche pre-vis real time 3D tools will kick up finally. All I can say is, open source Lucas, OPEN SOURCE!
Simple, they warrant the arrest. If I'm in my community where it's legal, I'm outside of your communities' jurisdiction, there's not a lot you can do about that. Your community can at that point issue a ban on my content if they feel it is necessary. They could also contact my community and have civil discussions on the appropriate level of action to take, if any. A well rounded community should be able to discern what is acceptable content (historical nazi party information site) and what is not (child porn).
Slashdot Mirror
Guess I'll have to add Take Two to my personal boycott list, right there alongside EA.
When the reviews came in for the new Battle Field game, and they made note of the non-optional in-game ad delivery system (which, at the time at least, was not printed on the box) it was the last straw, and I immediately took every EA game I owned and turned them into my local trade-in for store credit. I also vowed to never again purchase any game from EA. Ever. Even despite my overwhelming desire to play spore. If I am given an EA game as a gift, I will politely accept it, and tactfully inform the gift giver of my intentions and of my boycott of the company. They lack respect, and are becoming just like commercial TV; another fine service I no longer require.
I play to escape, what I wish to escape is the constant in-my-face barrage of unsolicited suggestion. I will not pay for services that exist to provided such suggestion.
But how else does one, who can only afford one console, confirm their purchase decision as the right one?
Like it or not, the world needs a winner, and we all want to be on that team.
That said, if I had mod points you'd get +insightful or +interesting.
NBA '07 is from EA Sports and NBA 2k7 is from 2k Sports. Two different games (of the same game) from two different developers.
FTFA: * Call of Duty 3 * Genji 2: Days of the Blade * Madden NFL 2007 * Marvel Ultimate Alliance * Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire * NBA '07 * NBA 2k7 * NHL 2k7 * Resistance: Fall of Man * Ridge Racer 7 * Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 * Tony Hawk's Project 8 * Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
I never had much interest in GTA:SA (not a fan of the 90's gang land genre), but a fellow member of the Machinima community had created a movie studio mod for it (Discussion here) and I really, really, wanted to check it out.
Unfortunately I didn't catch wind of this project until after the Hot Coffee mess, and the retailers had already re-stocked with the "fixed" copy of the game. Needless to say I was no longer motivated to spend my money.
The only one you can blame here is R* for not disclosing all the naughty 'bits' (pun intended) when up for ERSB review. The media response was predictable: childish, immature, and embarrassing when overseas. You know, the usual for us Americans.
Anyway, modders are essential for PC games, they keep the game content fresh, (thus keeping the game on store shelves longer) and players get to play game developer and train for that line of work. (Not to mention all the unique new game play modes and art style innovations) To shun modders is the same as shunning your developers. Bad move not matter how you look at it.
Binary Picture Show has been doing something like this for a while with their Gaming News with Lady Mainframe.
Granted it's not an automated system, but I can almost guarantee it's much more entertaining.
By that logic, could one not introduce such an "off switch" into cells destined to become part of a human fetus? Certainly not a cure for those already inflicted, but it would give the next generation a real fighting chance. I know, I know, genetic engineering is "evil" but is it any worse that allowing a known disease to cultivate when a stop-block is known?
I'm not scientist, and certainly not a religious fellow. Just a curious citizen of earth who's seen his fair share of cancer victims. The results of this research illustrates to me a clear connection between stem cells and cancer, and intrigues such possibilities.
It may be the clouds of nostalgia, but I recall the Master System has having the best box art ever. When you walked into the store, you knew which games were for the Master System at a single glance. I dug the minimalist style, and the consistency of the box art. Each game had it's own flavor and yet the boxes could be displayed and not look tacky on your converted VHS rack.
Well, when I went to Tokyo last week I had to pass up dozens of awesome looking console games that I really wanted to purchase. I ended up spending all that money on DS games instead, knowing that they would play in my system. The DVD's on the other hand were a pain in the ass; if not for my region-hacked laptop hooked up to my TV I would have never even looked at their collection. Owning the uncut DVD for the new Jet Li film before it's even out in US theaters is pretty freaking sweet, getting to watch it is even sweeter.
I hope Nintendo at least continues to keep at least Japan-USA in the same region, I would love to pick up odd quirky Wii games on my next trip. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
"When we designed HDTV 40 years ago..."
Whoa! 40 Years ago!? Amazing! Crazy how long it took to go public/mainstream. I guess it's one thing to design something and quite another to build upon it.
If they insist on giving you the run-around in this regard, just tell them in no uncertain terms that they will come at: (insert best time for you,) or you'll switch to satellite, and will recommend the same for your friends and family. They tend to see it your way after that, it's worked for me in the past.
I know there are few people who use SMS here in the US, but it's complicated and cost extra. I know my phone has a pile of features like text messages and that vcast thing, but it's just too hard to use with those tiny little cell phone keys with three+ letters to a key. (it took me a week to figure out how to put my mp3s on the damn player mode!) It's just easier to call and keep it short.
Dude! Movies! Xmen. 5. Dennys? cool.
I don't think it was the CGI that killed the FF movie, I think the fact that it was a horrid telling of a bland story that killed it. It was never really going anywhere, it started up ok, but never really left the line. Advent Children, while not nearly as good looking, and even though it was campy as hell, was still a much better movie over all. But I thought Spirits was jaw-droping at the time, I didn't get the lifeless vibe when I first saw it. (note: I don't play console RPGs and have never played any of the FF games, so I'm only ranting from a movie and animation fan's pov.)
I'm a "hardcore gamer", and $600, while double the price of the $300 PS2, is easily affordable.
Say, can I borrow 600 bucks? I'd love me some ps3 action too! If it's cool, I'll be in my co-leased apartment playing $9.99 used xbox and ps2 games on my hand-me-down TV and Stereo. Which, while we're at it here, could also use some speakers that didn't come from those wal-mart bought 3 disk changers systems. I found some floor standing JBL's at the local Best Buy, the pair for 300 bucks! realistically I could pay you back for all of this in about 4 months if I skip the monthly gamestop raids. Call me!
As a gamer and a tech at a Texas ISD I am stuck in the middle. On one side the more tax money rolls in, the bigger my raise in Aug, on the other side that raise means nothing if I have to pay more for games. I guess I should be focusing on the kids and what it means for them, but if I don't get my Guitar Hero fix daily, those kids will destroy my mind, and then they all somehow fail my lab. On second thought, you better not tax games, it'll breed angry un-focused teachers who vent on slashdot during field-day. I'm not too worried about getting paid next to nothing, that's why I got two jobs! /sigh
Since your ears are clogged from all the bull in Cali then you probably didn't hear what the Texas State Lotto "pays" for!
Proposed nothing, I got one of those $30 tickets the other day, won 60 bucks, woot!
Best part is, I work for an ISD so it's like playing for free!
Regular DVD!
Hell, my HDTV is always in HD anyway, why would I need HD or ray's blue DVD's? That's just stupid!*
*This comment is a joke, but it is widely believed to be true in the consumer world.
For as long as I've been of concert going age, I've never been able to afford to see my favorite top tier bands live. Chances are I never will. I'd love to see some of those guys live, but honestly it's not worth more than 30 bucks for a few hours of rock songs I've already heard a thousand times on my awesome home stereo.
Local clubs and battle of the band conveniently located at the softball complex down the street are about all the live performances I can afford to attend, and it has nothing to do with download habits of the American geek. 12 bucks parking, god knows for refreshments, and tickets $65+ that's a huge chunk out of my monthly spending cash (or "after bill"), all of it if I bring a date. Maybe I'm the minority, but I've also got to look ahead at gas prices and related rises in COL. I'm already buying a concert ticket at the pump every other week! (I try to walk as often as possible, but it's hard to do in the suburbs of Dallas.)
No, don't go blaming downloader's, you've just priced your self out of mainstream. Enough people seem to be able to afford it, so I guess more power to you. The rest of us will happily download from the iTunes and IRC's of the interworld and remain skeptical of your pricy spectacle.
I remember the first time I turned on the US version of SMB2 and thinking..."Wait, did I rent the right game here?"
I liked the music, but was disappointed that it didn't play like SMB1, the new look were awesome for the time and were enough to keep me interested through the rental period, but once I took it back I never looked back.
I still hum the music to this day, however.
It was just too different for me I guess, never considered it a real Mario game even then, and years later (well, when the story broke like 10 years ago) now I know why. It wasn't the real SMB2! I knew something was fishy, even as a punk kid.
Would the real SMB2 been too hard for me? At the time, I can say yes. I had enough trouble timing the jumps in SMB1 without wind and rain helping me out! Then again, I was about 18 years under it's Japanese target audience...
Not 'getting any' != homosexual
Maybe it's just me, but when the rev comes home with me, the first thing I play will not be Mario 3 from the NES. I want the new games that use the new controller! They can keep the classics, well, for the first month or two anyway. 20 titles sound good, better than the Game Cube launch anyway. Especially if they keep the promise of new releases often during the first year.
You've just gotten home from the doctors office. You've got 6 months, at best. Someone finds a cure three days later. They file for a patent and refuse to give it up for less than x$ where x = extreme. 12-16 months later they sign a deal with a major medical company who then sells it for x$ where x = extreme and they refuse to lease the cure to competitors and sue the pants off anyone who uses an unlicensed cure. Tell me that is not evil? I dare you. Cures for major causes of death should be issued in bulk by your government for free (Tax Dollars) not protected by patents.
The fight for the Internet has just gone global. Looking to help China is great, fabulous, noble and all, but the time to focus on America is now. ISP's are clamoring for tiered networks, the government is looking to legislate censorship (it only starts with protecting the kids, soon it will be to protect EVERYONE,) and the entertainment industry is suing people left and right for sharing, which I'm sure will lead to regulation of P2P traffic.
The question is this, do we continue with this network as it is now, let the man direct the traffic and install his regulations, or do we the geeks of the world build a new Internet in the hopes of even one more day of geekish freedom?
Wait Mr. Lucas, you mean you're just now hearing about Machinima? We've been doing it for 10 years now! Well, with Lucas on board maybe the market for niche pre-vis real time 3D tools will kick up finally. All I can say is, open source Lucas, OPEN SOURCE!
Simple, they warrant the arrest. If I'm in my community where it's legal, I'm outside of your communities' jurisdiction, there's not a lot you can do about that. Your community can at that point issue a ban on my content if they feel it is necessary. They could also contact my community and have civil discussions on the appropriate level of action to take, if any. A well rounded community should be able to discern what is acceptable content (historical nazi party information site) and what is not (child porn).