You obviously feel that lying is not 'immoral' or 'unethical.' Most people don't feel that way, even though they (yes, me too) still do it. Lying on a blog is not moral or ethical than lying to any random stranger.
Some of the bugs are so dangerous that it doesn't matter WHAT operating system you're running, code could be written that could attack the entire system. It would still be OS-specific code, but since the exploit is in the hardware, it's a LOT harder to prevent the attack, if it's even possible.
Some of the bugs are unfixable, as well. (I assume they mean without physcially replacing the chip with a 'fixed' one that doesn't exist yet.)
Well that's the thing, isn't it? 'Common ethics' aren't written anywhere, and differ person to person. Many people feel that endorsing a product for money, without that fact being known, is unethical. Others think it's perfectly okay, and Caveat Emptor. Nobody has standardized 'common ethics' and yet most everyone thinks they know what they are, much like 'common sense.'
Personally, I feel it's slimey, but think I'd see it pretty quickly, and distruct their 'opinions' (that's what a blog is) from then on. But then, I don't generally read random blogs anyhow.
It's the same code of ethics for living life in general. People make a bigger deal of it when you break that unwritten code en-masse. For some reason, the same people that think it's okay to do unethical things in on a small scale are violently opposed to those who do it on a grand scale.
As far as PRB, I can only guess it's Microsoft's attempt to rework the term 'user friendly' and aim it at business. The very confusion about meaning seems to be getting them more press than they could buy, too. It's either amazingly lucky, or a really good marketing strategy. (I tend to think it's the former.)
It's quite obvious that he isn't serious. Even if you didn't catch that from the examples (including the example of banging 2 fish together and instantly creating a city), the repeated use of the word 'teh' should have been a give-away.
Careful declaring another person's IQ, lest you disclose your own.
I could have sworn I just read on this article that Nintendo intended to help small developers by dealing with the ESRB stuff. (For the mini-games system, not if you want to make a DVD.) Could have read it wrong, I guess.
As noted already, the Wii Dev Kit is less than $2000. While that is still a -tad- highly for just a bit of hardware and license, it's also got some support behind it as well. Look at the rest of the costs to developing as well, though:
PC: $1000 x 2. (Got to have 2 half-decent ones, if you're even half serious. Programmer and Artist.) Software: Free to $10000+. (Depending on if you go with a free compiler, the Gimp, and Blender or get really serious.)
And this is assuming only 2 people. (It could be done with only 1 person, but programmer-artists are pretty rare.)
So at the minimum, you're looking at enough money to match the cost of the dev kit, and if you're serious, you're going to way way overspend the cost of it anyhow.
Want that? Good Lord, no! I want the opposite. I want Copyright Law to be sane everywhere. So far, it's seems to be sane -nowhere-.
I'm not against providing a bit of assurance to creators. But anything more than a few years is absolutely ridiculous. On the other hand, no copyright is just as ridiculous.
"I have heard nothing but good things about Rayman and Elebits"
Oh, let me be the first then!
Rayman: I was halfway-enjoying the first round or 2. When it came to the area with the close-the-toilet-door scene, it was ridiculous. Not only was that event nearly impossible, the others were hard enough that I didn't care anymore, either.
Elebits: While it was interesting at first, it very quickly got tedious because of the interface.
I don't enjoy games that I fight the interface, rather than play the game. This is mostly because I hate the pointing system on the Wii. There is no way to calibrate it to my TV, and I've tried everything I could think of to place the censor so that it was calibrated 'good enough'. Pointing just plain sucks.
One that I did find amusing for a while was Wario. The little challenges were way too short (They're shorter than the interludes!) but they were amusing.
I'm very much looking forward to this. So far, the most fun I've had on the Wii is still the first game, Wii Sports. I was -so- hoping that Wii Play would be as good, but it's nothing like it.
Super Paper Mario is nice and fun, but took almost no advantage of the uniqueness of the system. Excite Truck was good, not great. Trauma Center was better than the DS version, but still not as much fun as Wii Sports.
I'm looking for more little games like the Wii Sports ones that are fun solo, and a ton of fun with friends, and I'm willing to pay for them. I think this plan will bring those titles.
If I had a little more motivation, I'd gladly spend the ~$2k for the Wii dev kit and write my own games. Unfortunately, I still haven't even managed to motivate myself to do it on the PC for free. Some day...
With the exception of the 'almost always work at home' (doesn't happen a lot) and the hours (they vary according to individual's preference), sounds like here, too.
I have no problem with keeping an eye on email every time I walk by my computer, and responding or fixing a problem or 2 here and there. It keeps Everyone (including my co-workers) happy, and generally doesn't cost me much. There's only been a few times when I had to put something fairly important (to me) away, and almost never that I had to stop something -very- important. (Usually someone else will step in and do it, instead.)
One of my co-workers DOES spend a ton of time at home working, and I kick myself for lack of work ethic whenever I realize he's spent time working at home. I then realize that I already over-work anyhow, so no biggie.
I think a lot of the people that complain about these working conditions have never actually experienced them. I've been in the cube farm of a major OEM and a major telecommunications company, and I've done retails in different stores, and I -far- prefer to work a little harder here and know the people around me are doing the same, for the good of ourselves and the company. It's a completely different feeling and I don't ever think, 'Man, if I have to deal with that lazy bugger again today...' Every other job I've had, I've had to do someone else's work because they were too lazy. I'm not saying that'll never happen here, but it hasn't so far (near 2 years now).
My point: Don't judge a book by its cover. Just because 1 aspect of the job seems to suck doesn't mean there aren't 2 others that make up for it.
Yes, because software and websites made in France can only be accessed from there, and therefore would only be of interest to the French. Good catch.
How the hell did this get modded 'informative'? 'Interesting' or 'Under-rated' I could grudgingly admit that some people might find it, but 'informative'??
I guess you know you're trolling, and that why you posted AC. I'm going to bite anyhow, even though I know better.
Yes, Linux is not entirely user friendly yet. No denying that. But maybe you mean 1%, as you said... It's not really a good troll your way.
And yes, apt-get is a -lot- easier. Why? Because you left the steps out on the Windows side where you search for some utility on the web and have to wade through search results that mean nothing and attempt to find what you want, or you could just apt-get install it. 1 step, not several.
Check out those complicated instr... err, no. You just download and run the file. Okay, you have to make it executable first. Just a bit of security there. At least it didn't ask you 'cancel or allow?' about 5 times.
Including the steps to set up video properly is a bit disingenuous unless you include the steps for Windows as well. Including finding and downloading the proper drivers for sound, video, motherboard chipset, etc. Is it easier on Windows? A bit, yes. But the steps still exist.
I've not worked a helpdesk at a major corporation, but I -have- worked as tech support via phone for a major OEM. It -never- went like that in the 6 months I was there.
I've had people that were extremely frustrated that the PC they bought never worked from day 1, and I've had people who didn't understand a thing about it, and neither of those types type of people acted like that.
So either helpdesks are extremely different and the employees think the helpdesk is paid to be abused, or the tech has already made their life hell in the past and they are responding to that. Judging by the first reaction, the temptation to be rude over a simple polite statement, I'd guess it's the latter.
It's true, however, that stepping users through 'debugging' is indeed hell. I suspect you actually mean 'troubleshooting', and it's slightly less like hell though. Maybe a summer day in the desert.
As for the 'important' part of the error... How should they -know- what part that is? Are they expected to go to college for a computer science degree just to help you do your job?
Instead of blaming the user so much, take precautions. Get to know what those error messages look like so you can ask for the information, instead of expecting it to be automatically provided. Learn to ask the right questions, instead of expecting the user to have any idea what's going on.
Helpdesk positions -exist- because users are stupid. If they weren't, you wouldn't be sitting there helping them.
Simple: It's not sensational enough. It wouldn't even make a single episode on Law & Order because nobody died, got raped, or violated any other taboo of modern society.
I had considered starting to watch some of the more popular shows until I saw a CSI commercial that proudly exclaimed how a little girl would get raped on the show. That was it. They said nothing else about the episode.
I still watch some, like Bones, but the ones that make their episodes/commercials based solely on disgusting crimes aren't on my watch list. I wish I could say that for everyone, though. (Bones has some of that, but it's not the basis.)
Now, I could see a -reality- show based on your concept, though. Get a group of people together and mass-violate stupid laws. Might even be able to get them removed from the books without any real fuss whatsoever, that way.
I enjoyed Halo 1 until about the halfway point, where they stopped giving you AIs to fight along-side.
Halo 2 was boring.
Prey was a good game because it had plot.
So yeah, I'm much more excited about BioShock than Halo 3. They've spent a -lot- of time talking about how the game will play, instead of how you will play the game. That is, they put a lot of detail into the environment and story, instead of giving Halo 2 a new UI and some extra guns, and some random new enemy to face in boring square corridors. (I've read nothing on Halo 3, so I could be off the mark here.)
Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I'm hoping for a -experience- with this game, and not just another shooter.
Maybe you haven't noticed, but not everyone here is a computer science major. Every time I leave some stupid little detail out, not matter how useless, I get 6 replies telling me of my 'mistake', instead of realizing I left it out because 'everyone' already knows it.
And yes, I realize that he was also doing illegal things that there was no way he could fight in court. I was simply noting that there's only 1 reason he'd want to, no matter how little sense it actually made. The only other reason he'd do that was because he was just really, really stupid.
Maybe you missed the news for quite a while now, but it's illegal to circumvent copyright here now. The chip itself is not illegal, but once you install it, you've broken the law, even if it's not actually ever used.
Yes, it's a stupid law. But it's still the law, and if you break the law (and get caught!) you get arrested.
I have to wonder if they guy -wanted- to be arrested, though. Advertising illegal activities on Craig's List? Jeeeez. Maybe he could put posters on the Police Headquarters' doors next time, instead.
So, WHY would he want to get arrested? There's only 1 way to get a law off the books: Fight it in court. Yes, it's stupid, too. You have to actually break the law you think is unfair, do jailtime, and then beat it in court (probably several courts) before you can get the law removed.
This is true no matter how stupid the law is, and that's why there's still a law in FL that makes it illegal to blow bubbles underwater, or to lead your elephant down Main Street backwards in Maine. (I may have the places wrong, but they exist.)
What happened to the old days, where premium content on a website was behind a username/password system?
DRM'ing this content is -pointless- because it is sent over the air unencrypted first. Anyone who would download it from the website and repost it will instead just DVR it and rip it from there. It's an added step, but not much trouble at all. Especially with PC-based DVR.
So who are they really trying to protect this from? The common citizen? Most of them couldn't download the stream if you installed the firefox plugin FOR them. Most of the rest wouldn't bother. And the ones that would will just find another way.
I think this is an answer is search of a problem. Someone has been brainwashed or bribed into thinking DRM -has- to be used to protect content, instead of understanding that it's a choice, and a failed attempt at protection and more costly than it's worth.
I'm an American, and all the decent content will -still- end up within my reach very shortly after it airs. I don't need to go anywhere -near- the BBC's site, though I might consider paying some fees to watch their content online. I find some of it to be quite good. I -can't- if they DRM it, though, as my Windows PC is not in a room fit for relaxing.
I rented it for the 360 and it wasn't what I thought at all. I liked the idea of combining 'magic' (advanced tech?) with gunplay, but after going through the tutorial, I quickly realized there was no story at all. I sent it back at that point, and while it may have gotten better, it would never have gotten to the point where I'd enjoy playing it.
What does this have to do with anything? Crappy marketing. They used the name to attract players, but didn't bother to make it clear that it wasn't the kind of game that name is associated with. So they've basically pissed off everyone, since those attracted by the name will be pissed, and those that would have liked the gameplay but were turned off by the name will be pissed when they find out they're missing out.
Someone has already said 'Why should I pay for the game if I'm going to have to crack it to play it anyhow?' This is a pretty prevalent attitude, and they are going to lose a lot of sales to people that play it on XP instead of Vista.
Having said that, I've heard that you can't play multiplayer at all (no Live) and it asks for the DVD at one of the later levels. So there's -some- incentive for them to buy the game, but only if they upgrade to Vista anyhow.
I take this to mean that you haven't purchased a console in quite a few years. DreamCast emulation is still spotty at best, and PS2 emulation is crap. Even PS1 emulation still has issues. GBA works great, but DS? Not a chance. Nor PSP.
As for "why wouldn't I be able to play a game that runs on the same hardware", take a look at Wine. At best, playing Windows games in Linux is slower and glitchy. At worst, impossible. They're still making great strides at it, but they aren't there yet.
He means unlimited to other people on his same carrier.
I'm using T-Mobile for that feature, myself. My immediately family (mom, dad, 2 sisters) are all on T-Mobile and any calls we make to each other, or any other T-Mobile phone, are free.
If we call a Verizon mobile, or a landline, etc, then we have to use our minutes.
It sounds really great at first, but we -still- manage to use all our minutes each month anyhow, and none of us are really big talkers.
I have thought about MetroPCS (where all calls are unlimited, to anyone) but my family stupidly signed a 2 yr contract about a year ago to get free cheap-ass phones (they break theirs a lot) and the coverage for MetroPCS is apparently really bad.
Not a real good analogy, since in this case the 'graffiti' was produced by the 'construction company', and then painted over. All someone had to know was that it was there, and how to make it show.
This really -was- at least partially Rockstar's fault, as they could have removed the code and 'art' necessary to make the scene, and there would have been no scandal. (Art in this case being the script for the scene, as well as any scene-specific textures and meshes, if any.) The deal with the ESRB is that the developer is to provide info on -anything- that was on that disc. With the amazing things hackers do to circumvent copy protections, and create cheats, it wasn't a far leap to assume they could 'unlock' this content.
Do I think it's stupid? Yes, the whole mess. But Rockstar is not nearly so innocent as you claim.
Nobody. And I said 'if'. As in, once they fully catch up, -if- their product is more stable, they will be the better choice. From what I can tell, this isn't fully finished and isn't really ready for use. The article is news only because they got as far as they did so quickly.
Slashdot Mirror
You obviously feel that lying is not 'immoral' or 'unethical.' Most people don't feel that way, even though they (yes, me too) still do it. Lying on a blog is not moral or ethical than lying to any random stranger.
Sure:
Some of the bugs are so dangerous that it doesn't matter WHAT operating system you're running, code could be written that could attack the entire system. It would still be OS-specific code, but since the exploit is in the hardware, it's a LOT harder to prevent the attack, if it's even possible.
Some of the bugs are unfixable, as well. (I assume they mean without physcially replacing the chip with a 'fixed' one that doesn't exist yet.)
Well that's the thing, isn't it? 'Common ethics' aren't written anywhere, and differ person to person. Many people feel that endorsing a product for money, without that fact being known, is unethical. Others think it's perfectly okay, and Caveat Emptor. Nobody has standardized 'common ethics' and yet most everyone thinks they know what they are, much like 'common sense.'
Personally, I feel it's slimey, but think I'd see it pretty quickly, and distruct their 'opinions' (that's what a blog is) from then on. But then, I don't generally read random blogs anyhow.
It's the same code of ethics for living life in general. People make a bigger deal of it when you break that unwritten code en-masse. For some reason, the same people that think it's okay to do unethical things in on a small scale are violently opposed to those who do it on a grand scale.
As far as PRB, I can only guess it's Microsoft's attempt to rework the term 'user friendly' and aim it at business. The very confusion about meaning seems to be getting them more press than they could buy, too. It's either amazingly lucky, or a really good marketing strategy. (I tend to think it's the former.)
Holy crap, someone with no sense of humor.
It's quite obvious that he isn't serious. Even if you didn't catch that from the examples (including the example of banging 2 fish together and instantly creating a city), the repeated use of the word 'teh' should have been a give-away.
Careful declaring another person's IQ, lest you disclose your own.
I could have sworn I just read on this article that Nintendo intended to help small developers by dealing with the ESRB stuff. (For the mini-games system, not if you want to make a DVD.) Could have read it wrong, I guess.
As noted already, the Wii Dev Kit is less than $2000. While that is still a -tad- highly for just a bit of hardware and license, it's also got some support behind it as well. Look at the rest of the costs to developing as well, though:
PC: $1000 x 2. (Got to have 2 half-decent ones, if you're even half serious. Programmer and Artist.)
Software: Free to $10000+. (Depending on if you go with a free compiler, the Gimp, and Blender or get really serious.)
And this is assuming only 2 people. (It could be done with only 1 person, but programmer-artists are pretty rare.)
So at the minimum, you're looking at enough money to match the cost of the dev kit, and if you're serious, you're going to way way overspend the cost of it anyhow.
Want that? Good Lord, no! I want the opposite. I want Copyright Law to be sane everywhere. So far, it's seems to be sane -nowhere-.
I'm not against providing a bit of assurance to creators. But anything more than a few years is absolutely ridiculous. On the other hand, no copyright is just as ridiculous.
"I have heard nothing but good things about Rayman and Elebits"
Oh, let me be the first then!
Rayman: I was halfway-enjoying the first round or 2. When it came to the area with the close-the-toilet-door scene, it was ridiculous. Not only was that event nearly impossible, the others were hard enough that I didn't care anymore, either.
Elebits: While it was interesting at first, it very quickly got tedious because of the interface.
I don't enjoy games that I fight the interface, rather than play the game. This is mostly because I hate the pointing system on the Wii. There is no way to calibrate it to my TV, and I've tried everything I could think of to place the censor so that it was calibrated 'good enough'. Pointing just plain sucks.
One that I did find amusing for a while was Wario. The little challenges were way too short (They're shorter than the interludes!) but they were amusing.
I'm very much looking forward to this. So far, the most fun I've had on the Wii is still the first game, Wii Sports. I was -so- hoping that Wii Play would be as good, but it's nothing like it.
Super Paper Mario is nice and fun, but took almost no advantage of the uniqueness of the system. Excite Truck was good, not great. Trauma Center was better than the DS version, but still not as much fun as Wii Sports.
I'm looking for more little games like the Wii Sports ones that are fun solo, and a ton of fun with friends, and I'm willing to pay for them. I think this plan will bring those titles.
If I had a little more motivation, I'd gladly spend the ~$2k for the Wii dev kit and write my own games. Unfortunately, I still haven't even managed to motivate myself to do it on the PC for free. Some day...
With the exception of the 'almost always work at home' (doesn't happen a lot) and the hours (they vary according to individual's preference), sounds like here, too.
I have no problem with keeping an eye on email every time I walk by my computer, and responding or fixing a problem or 2 here and there. It keeps Everyone (including my co-workers) happy, and generally doesn't cost me much. There's only been a few times when I had to put something fairly important (to me) away, and almost never that I had to stop something -very- important. (Usually someone else will step in and do it, instead.)
One of my co-workers DOES spend a ton of time at home working, and I kick myself for lack of work ethic whenever I realize he's spent time working at home. I then realize that I already over-work anyhow, so no biggie.
I think a lot of the people that complain about these working conditions have never actually experienced them. I've been in the cube farm of a major OEM and a major telecommunications company, and I've done retails in different stores, and I -far- prefer to work a little harder here and know the people around me are doing the same, for the good of ourselves and the company. It's a completely different feeling and I don't ever think, 'Man, if I have to deal with that lazy bugger again today...' Every other job I've had, I've had to do someone else's work because they were too lazy. I'm not saying that'll never happen here, but it hasn't so far (near 2 years now).
My point: Don't judge a book by its cover. Just because 1 aspect of the job seems to suck doesn't mean there aren't 2 others that make up for it.
Yes, because software and websites made in France can only be accessed from there, and therefore would only be of interest to the French. Good catch.
How the hell did this get modded 'informative'? 'Interesting' or 'Under-rated' I could grudgingly admit that some people might find it, but 'informative'??
I guess you know you're trolling, and that why you posted AC. I'm going to bite anyhow, even though I know better.
m l
Yes, Linux is not entirely user friendly yet. No denying that. But maybe you mean 1%, as you said... It's not really a good troll your way.
And yes, apt-get is a -lot- easier. Why? Because you left the steps out on the Windows side where you search for some utility on the web and have to wade through search results that mean nothing and attempt to find what you want, or you could just apt-get install it. 1 step, not several.
As for your game installation example, maybe you should pick something actually made FOR Linux, instead of hacked onto it later. Darwinia, for example: http://www.darwinia.co.uk/downloads/demo_linux.ht
Check out those complicated instr... err, no. You just download and run the file. Okay, you have to make it executable first. Just a bit of security there. At least it didn't ask you 'cancel or allow?' about 5 times.
Including the steps to set up video properly is a bit disingenuous unless you include the steps for Windows as well. Including finding and downloading the proper drivers for sound, video, motherboard chipset, etc. Is it easier on Windows? A bit, yes. But the steps still exist.
I've not worked a helpdesk at a major corporation, but I -have- worked as tech support via phone for a major OEM. It -never- went like that in the 6 months I was there.
I've had people that were extremely frustrated that the PC they bought never worked from day 1, and I've had people who didn't understand a thing about it, and neither of those types type of people acted like that.
So either helpdesks are extremely different and the employees think the helpdesk is paid to be abused, or the tech has already made their life hell in the past and they are responding to that. Judging by the first reaction, the temptation to be rude over a simple polite statement, I'd guess it's the latter.
It's true, however, that stepping users through 'debugging' is indeed hell. I suspect you actually mean 'troubleshooting', and it's slightly less like hell though. Maybe a summer day in the desert.
As for the 'important' part of the error... How should they -know- what part that is? Are they expected to go to college for a computer science degree just to help you do your job?
Instead of blaming the user so much, take precautions. Get to know what those error messages look like so you can ask for the information, instead of expecting it to be automatically provided. Learn to ask the right questions, instead of expecting the user to have any idea what's going on.
Helpdesk positions -exist- because users are stupid. If they weren't, you wouldn't be sitting there helping them.
Simple: It's not sensational enough. It wouldn't even make a single episode on Law & Order because nobody died, got raped, or violated any other taboo of modern society.
I had considered starting to watch some of the more popular shows until I saw a CSI commercial that proudly exclaimed how a little girl would get raped on the show. That was it. They said nothing else about the episode.
I still watch some, like Bones, but the ones that make their episodes/commercials based solely on disgusting crimes aren't on my watch list. I wish I could say that for everyone, though. (Bones has some of that, but it's not the basis.)
Now, I could see a -reality- show based on your concept, though. Get a group of people together and mass-violate stupid laws. Might even be able to get them removed from the books without any real fuss whatsoever, that way.
I enjoyed Halo 1 until about the halfway point, where they stopped giving you AIs to fight along-side.
Halo 2 was boring.
Prey was a good game because it had plot.
So yeah, I'm much more excited about BioShock than Halo 3. They've spent a -lot- of time talking about how the game will play, instead of how you will play the game. That is, they put a lot of detail into the environment and story, instead of giving Halo 2 a new UI and some extra guns, and some random new enemy to face in boring square corridors. (I've read nothing on Halo 3, so I could be off the mark here.)
Maybe I'm a dreamer, but I'm hoping for a -experience- with this game, and not just another shooter.
From TFS: "The chip inside Blue Gene/P consists of four PowerPC 450 cores running at 850MHz each."
Maybe you haven't noticed, but not everyone here is a computer science major. Every time I leave some stupid little detail out, not matter how useless, I get 6 replies telling me of my 'mistake', instead of realizing I left it out because 'everyone' already knows it.
And yes, I realize that he was also doing illegal things that there was no way he could fight in court. I was simply noting that there's only 1 reason he'd want to, no matter how little sense it actually made. The only other reason he'd do that was because he was just really, really stupid.
Maybe you missed the news for quite a while now, but it's illegal to circumvent copyright here now. The chip itself is not illegal, but once you install it, you've broken the law, even if it's not actually ever used.
Yes, it's a stupid law. But it's still the law, and if you break the law (and get caught!) you get arrested.
I have to wonder if they guy -wanted- to be arrested, though. Advertising illegal activities on Craig's List? Jeeeez. Maybe he could put posters on the Police Headquarters' doors next time, instead.
So, WHY would he want to get arrested? There's only 1 way to get a law off the books: Fight it in court. Yes, it's stupid, too. You have to actually break the law you think is unfair, do jailtime, and then beat it in court (probably several courts) before you can get the law removed.
This is true no matter how stupid the law is, and that's why there's still a law in FL that makes it illegal to blow bubbles underwater, or to lead your elephant down Main Street backwards in Maine. (I may have the places wrong, but they exist.)
What happened to the old days, where premium content on a website was behind a username/password system?
DRM'ing this content is -pointless- because it is sent over the air unencrypted first. Anyone who would download it from the website and repost it will instead just DVR it and rip it from there. It's an added step, but not much trouble at all. Especially with PC-based DVR.
So who are they really trying to protect this from? The common citizen? Most of them couldn't download the stream if you installed the firefox plugin FOR them. Most of the rest wouldn't bother. And the ones that would will just find another way.
I think this is an answer is search of a problem. Someone has been brainwashed or bribed into thinking DRM -has- to be used to protect content, instead of understanding that it's a choice, and a failed attempt at protection and more costly than it's worth.
I'm an American, and all the decent content will -still- end up within my reach very shortly after it airs. I don't need to go anywhere -near- the BBC's site, though I might consider paying some fees to watch their content online. I find some of it to be quite good. I -can't- if they DRM it, though, as my Windows PC is not in a room fit for relaxing.
I rented it for the 360 and it wasn't what I thought at all. I liked the idea of combining 'magic' (advanced tech?) with gunplay, but after going through the tutorial, I quickly realized there was no story at all. I sent it back at that point, and while it may have gotten better, it would never have gotten to the point where I'd enjoy playing it.
What does this have to do with anything? Crappy marketing. They used the name to attract players, but didn't bother to make it clear that it wasn't the kind of game that name is associated with. So they've basically pissed off everyone, since those attracted by the name will be pissed, and those that would have liked the gameplay but were turned off by the name will be pissed when they find out they're missing out.
Someone has already said 'Why should I pay for the game if I'm going to have to crack it to play it anyhow?' This is a pretty prevalent attitude, and they are going to lose a lot of sales to people that play it on XP instead of Vista.
Having said that, I've heard that you can't play multiplayer at all (no Live) and it asks for the DVD at one of the later levels. So there's -some- incentive for them to buy the game, but only if they upgrade to Vista anyhow.
I take this to mean that you haven't purchased a console in quite a few years. DreamCast emulation is still spotty at best, and PS2 emulation is crap. Even PS1 emulation still has issues. GBA works great, but DS? Not a chance. Nor PSP.
As for "why wouldn't I be able to play a game that runs on the same hardware", take a look at Wine. At best, playing Windows games in Linux is slower and glitchy. At worst, impossible. They're still making great strides at it, but they aren't there yet.
He means unlimited to other people on his same carrier.
I'm using T-Mobile for that feature, myself. My immediately family (mom, dad, 2 sisters) are all on T-Mobile and any calls we make to each other, or any other T-Mobile phone, are free.
If we call a Verizon mobile, or a landline, etc, then we have to use our minutes.
It sounds really great at first, but we -still- manage to use all our minutes each month anyhow, and none of us are really big talkers.
I have thought about MetroPCS (where all calls are unlimited, to anyone) but my family stupidly signed a 2 yr contract about a year ago to get free cheap-ass phones (they break theirs a lot) and the coverage for MetroPCS is apparently really bad.
Not a real good analogy, since in this case the 'graffiti' was produced by the 'construction company', and then painted over. All someone had to know was that it was there, and how to make it show.
This really -was- at least partially Rockstar's fault, as they could have removed the code and 'art' necessary to make the scene, and there would have been no scandal. (Art in this case being the script for the scene, as well as any scene-specific textures and meshes, if any.) The deal with the ESRB is that the developer is to provide info on -anything- that was on that disc. With the amazing things hackers do to circumvent copy protections, and create cheats, it wasn't a far leap to assume they could 'unlock' this content.
Do I think it's stupid? Yes, the whole mess. But Rockstar is not nearly so innocent as you claim.
Nobody. And I said 'if'. As in, once they fully catch up, -if- their product is more stable, they will be the better choice. From what I can tell, this isn't fully finished and isn't really ready for use. The article is news only because they got as far as they did so quickly.