The sound in SMW was what truly made it great, however. That synth horn sound was incredibly soothing, and the addition of low drums to the soundtrack when you got on Yoshi's back was inspired.
The 16-bit era didn't follow the pattern: the SNES was a much better system tech-wise than the Genesis or the TG-16, and it ended up winning. The graphics in the Donkey Kong Country games, for example, were far better than anything released for either of those systems, plus it had the rudimentary polygonal games like Starfox. The 3DO and the NeoGeo were never competitors.
Has no one heard of Simpsons: Hit and Run? This is the obvious cartoony GTA that Nintendo never made, and it's got an even more varied set of characters than the Mario clan. Hilarious, too.
It's VERY different and ultimately too confusing. What you play in GH veers wildly, even within the same song--sometimes you are playing the lead guitar, sometimes the bass, sometimes the vocal melody (?!). There is little correspondence between what the guitar in the recording is doing and what you are supposed to hit on the guitar controller. Often, the same note in the recording will be represented by two or three different fret combos.
I'd give a friend's copy a try; at the least, you'll be far better at it at first than someone who has no experience whatsoever with the instrument. The guitar is also very small.
Weird, Sierra games always ran well on my two Tandy 1000s, even from floppies. Great graphics and excellent sound across the board, particularly since this was pre-AdLib. Maybe this is why Sierra was always very well-represented at Radio Shack.
Is this the feature that Miyamoto et al wouldn't mention at other events?
How is it going to work? At Gamespot, I read that the controller will emit a "twang close to your ear" when you fire an arrow in Zelda, but that's kinda cheesy if it turns out to be just a mechanical-sounding noise in your hand. Is there some kind of 3D sound projection technology at work here?
Apple has shipped unfinished product over and over. OSX 10.0 was by no means production ready.
Which is why, even on Macs that shipped with 10.0, it was not the default OS. 9.2 was released after OS X debuted. 10.0 was more like a public beta, since few Macs could run it well. As the Wikipedia entry notes, its release was proof that Apple could, indeed, actually create a modern operating system.
I do wonder, though, how close to the original would a page of text have to be to count as a page of the complete works of Shakespeare?
It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times!
I think the GP's point was that the culmulative effect of Windows over the past 15 years has been to bring PC hardware prices down--VGA controllers, for example, became much much cheaper once every user needed one to use Windows. EGA and the like completely disappeared once Windows 3/3.1 took over. Hard drives got far bigger, too.
I will agree with you that the price of a Windows license (not to mention Office) has not really dropped. Paying $300 for a system with Windows (even if Windows is half of that cost) is certainly a far cry from paying $2000 for a comparable PC in 1991.
...than two mouse buttons, IMO. You can easily scroll through a window just by moving two fingers on the pad. Also you can easily set up the pad to accept double clicks via tapping. Simplicity and elegance.
Fascinating! Thank you for the information! Oddly enough I've never had a problem with a bumpy ride on a bus or sitting in the back seat of one, though I do have a major problem sitting in the back of a car when I cannot see out the windshield. Reading or playing a portable game is totally out of the question in any case; I remember trying to read new comic books when I was 12 and feeling sick to my stomach--not because of the comics, mind you.;)
Is this an aboveground phenomenon? I have no problems riding the NYC subway sitting backwards, even standing backwards, on the train. I can close my eyes and everything.
Everything they're doing is a "me-too." Is there a single new idea in the PS3?
It seems, in fact, that even the components are going to be copied: the bad bad Cell (anyone even remember the supposed promise of the Emotion Engine?) will be used in computers.
They're poorly trying to play catchup on the Xbox Live|SNES/NES download services. Downloading a dual-layer PS2 DVD sounds very bizarre, if their service is ever built to the specifications they listed. Certainly we will have the ability to, one day, get 9GB file via Wifi in Tbilisi, but what's the point now?
And where are the exclusive PS3 titles? Metal Gear, Gran Turismo... I know there are enormous fans of these games, but my inclination is "so what." I'll give you Symphony of the Night, but can anyone name another PS1 game that anyone truly cares about playing again via their download service? It seems that most of their decent earlier games (as in 8 years ago) are available for the N64. Sony simply does not have the franchises that Nintendo has cultivated and Microsoft has basically bought for Xbox Live.
Even the bluray will be available in other devices. (That, of course, bodes well for the bluray format, but does it really matter with the PS3?)
The PS2/Revolutionalike controller scheme honestly reminds me of the 32X, and we all know how badly that went.
I was about to write, "Like every videogame war, it comes down to the games..." but I attended E3 in 1999 and remember the amazing promise of the Dreamcast's games, which gave the system the most quality-game-heavy launch in the history of videogaming since the NES. With the iPod now the gold standard in consumer electronics, it's about creating a complete experience for the user, and I can easily see the PS3 as all-things-to-all-people.
Xbox360 is a 1.5 upgrade. PS3 is copycatting. Combine this with the rootkit fiasco, the accompanying media hype (always impossible to meet) that blurays require a DRM-friendly HDTV, kaboom.
Nintendo all the way. I don't doubt a great deal of hype accompanying it, but it will be more of the "look at this weird thing" variety, much like the DS, and look at the DS now.
Do you have trouble riding in a car, too? I've been motion-sick from riding in the back seat, but never from a videogame; it feels like when I'm in firm control of a fixed perspective (such as a videogame or a car) then it doesn't bother me, but when I am not...
Wow, thanks for reminding me--I had forgotten how blown away I was by the first LOTR movie's similarities to Zelda 3.
Elijah Wood looked exactly like I imagined Link to look IRL, and the ring's dark world/light world power was incredibly similar to the magic mirror's power in the third game.
Slashdot Mirror
The sound in SMW was what truly made it great, however. That synth horn sound was incredibly soothing, and the addition of low drums to the soundtrack when you got on Yoshi's back was inspired.
The 16-bit era didn't follow the pattern: the SNES was a much better system tech-wise than the Genesis or the TG-16, and it ended up winning. The graphics in the Donkey Kong Country games, for example, were far better than anything released for either of those systems, plus it had the rudimentary polygonal games like Starfox. The 3DO and the NeoGeo were never competitors.
Has no one heard of Simpsons: Hit and Run? This is the obvious cartoony GTA that Nintendo never made, and it's got an even more varied set of characters than the Mario clan. Hilarious, too.
I'd give a friend's copy a try; at the least, you'll be far better at it at first than someone who has no experience whatsoever with the instrument. The guitar is also very small.
Weird, Sierra games always ran well on my two Tandy 1000s, even from floppies. Great graphics and excellent sound across the board, particularly since this was pre-AdLib. Maybe this is why Sierra was always very well-represented at Radio Shack.
? Sierra certainly did put out SQ4. It's called Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers. I got a hard drive in my Tandy 1000 RLX to play it.
Why isn't SQ4 available? 1-3 and 5 are; 4 was by far the funniest and most fun.
How is it going to work? At Gamespot, I read that the controller will emit a "twang close to your ear" when you fire an arrow in Zelda, but that's kinda cheesy if it turns out to be just a mechanical-sounding noise in your hand. Is there some kind of 3D sound projection technology at work here?
Which is why, even on Macs that shipped with 10.0, it was not the default OS. 9.2 was released after OS X debuted. 10.0 was more like a public beta, since few Macs could run it well. As the Wikipedia entry notes, its release was proof that Apple could, indeed, actually create a modern operating system.
I do wonder, though, how close to the original would a page of text have to be to count as a page of the complete works of Shakespeare? It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times!
Yes, and an Xbox will have to become a Playstation, lions will lay down with lambs, and Apple will be forced to give up on OSX and move to Windows.
I have a phone already. I have an iPod.
Behind Dell, Gateway (?), IBM (!?)--who at home aspires to buy something from IBM?
Whoops, I should read my own links more closely... the 9500 was indeed from 1995, but the dual-processing 9500 was from '96.
I can't find any information about how the OS used the two processors, though... Was this feature built into OS 7/8/whatever was used back then?
I will agree with you that the price of a Windows license (not to mention Office) has not really dropped. Paying $300 for a system with Windows (even if Windows is half of that cost) is certainly a far cry from paying $2000 for a comparable PC in 1991.
...than two mouse buttons, IMO. You can easily scroll through a window just by moving two fingers on the pad. Also you can easily set up the pad to accept double clicks via tapping. Simplicity and elegance.
Is this an aboveground phenomenon? I have no problems riding the NYC subway sitting backwards, even standing backwards, on the train. I can close my eyes and everything.
Isn't the Apple version of Solitaire that bizarre iPod music guessing game?
It seems, in fact, that even the components are going to be copied: the bad bad Cell (anyone even remember the supposed promise of the Emotion Engine?) will be used in computers.
They're poorly trying to play catchup on the Xbox Live|SNES/NES download services. Downloading a dual-layer PS2 DVD sounds very bizarre, if their service is ever built to the specifications they listed. Certainly we will have the ability to, one day, get 9GB file via Wifi in Tbilisi, but what's the point now?
And where are the exclusive PS3 titles? Metal Gear, Gran Turismo... I know there are enormous fans of these games, but my inclination is "so what." I'll give you Symphony of the Night, but can anyone name another PS1 game that anyone truly cares about playing again via their download service? It seems that most of their decent earlier games (as in 8 years ago) are available for the N64. Sony simply does not have the franchises that Nintendo has cultivated and Microsoft has basically bought for Xbox Live.
Even the bluray will be available in other devices. (That, of course, bodes well for the bluray format, but does it really matter with the PS3?)
The PS2/Revolutionalike controller scheme honestly reminds me of the 32X, and we all know how badly that went.
I was about to write, "Like every videogame war, it comes down to the games..." but I attended E3 in 1999 and remember the amazing promise of the Dreamcast's games, which gave the system the most quality-game-heavy launch in the history of videogaming since the NES. With the iPod now the gold standard in consumer electronics, it's about creating a complete experience for the user, and I can easily see the PS3 as all-things-to-all-people.
Xbox360 is a 1.5 upgrade. PS3 is copycatting. Combine this with the rootkit fiasco, the accompanying media hype (always impossible to meet) that blurays require a DRM-friendly HDTV, kaboom.
Nintendo all the way. I don't doubt a great deal of hype accompanying it, but it will be more of the "look at this weird thing" variety, much like the DS, and look at the DS now.
Do you have trouble riding in a car, too? I've been motion-sick from riding in the back seat, but never from a videogame; it feels like when I'm in firm control of a fixed perspective (such as a videogame or a car) then it doesn't bother me, but when I am not...
Real estate, of all things, is something that someone should look at first. Is the entire world becoming a shut-in?
Now, let's get Gyro Gearloose on this thing! We don't want the Beagle Boys getting to it first!
Of course Apple focuses on business: media business. Witness their "Pro" applications, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut, etc.
Elijah Wood looked exactly like I imagined Link to look IRL, and the ring's dark world/light world power was incredibly similar to the magic mirror's power in the third game.
One has little impact on anyone but himself, the other causes headaches for people all over the world.
Some priorities!