Who'd turn off their iPod full of Rammstein just to answer a phone call from your Dümass friend?
Seriously, though, if I buy a device for the purpose of listening to music, I don't want anything to stop it to answer a phone. If I'm listening to my music on my iPod on the way home from work on the subway or bus, I don't really want to be bothered in general; I can always check my phone to see if it's anyone important. If it's someone who may have critical news, then I'll probably answer it, but otherwise- well, the Music > the Conversation.
What's with this whole "one piece stop shop" MP3 phone obsession anyway? Throwing all of your eggs into one basket will only leave you eggless and unhappy if that one basket asplodes, or gets stolen. I'd rather keep my devices separate, for both backup reasons and convenience reasons.
I can also go camping with my MP3 player without having to be tethered to a cellphone...
I borrowed my cousin's V-Boy for a while. It was actually kinda fun, though I am glad I didn't buy one myself. He had five games for it.
In all honesty, I really liked most of the games. Wario Land was just really really good. The puzzles were interesting, I liked the use of foreground and background layers, and it gave a real thrill to get past some of the neat challenges. The sounds were typical, but the graphics, I thought, were very good for Wario. Right where it should be.
Mario Tennis... well, it had funky music. That's about all i can really say about it. It was kinda addicting, but not very well documented or designed. I couldn't figure out how to do some of the special moves the computer kept winning with...
Teleroboxer: teh AWESOME. No, seriously, that game was ridiculously fun. Mostly because it was ridiculously hard. It was an arcade game, plain and simple. The two shoulder buttons would move you in a left or right direction, and then a combination of the D-pad/stick and a certain button determined what kind of attack you delivered- a jab, a hook, an uppercut, or what. The computer got much harder each time, and it felt to me like it was learning to anticipate my moves. Learning the patterns of the AI's boxing wasn't easy, because after the second level or so, they'd just beat the crap out of you repeatedly. You can't really learn the pattern when you're losing four times in a row within fifteen seconds.
After much dedication and wastes of my life, I managed to beat the entire Title, got the belt of Boxing Awesomeness or whatever it's called, and defended my title about fifty six times. The battles were just fun, and the funny robot boxers that tried to kill you were really cute and cool, honestly. I liked how they started falling apart when they were losing- they'd start steaming and smoking, bits and pieces came off, wires came out... A lot of attention to detail in a video game system where many games seriously lacked.
It was quite challenging. Not many games these days challenge me like that, and I miss that. Playing Call of Duty on Veteran mode is a challenge, I suppose, as is playing Deus Ex on "Realistic" mode (which means they shoot you in the head with a pistol from 100 yards away while running towards you), which is just plain unfair. But Teleroboxer gave you a very direct Skill Reward ratio. If you had the skills, you could win- but you had to work real hard to develop them.
With a game like that on the system, I couldn't honestly say I didn't like the Virtual Boy. But yeah... after a while, the red, and the vision layers... whew. Pain in the eyes.
I think that, contrary to many stereotypes and expectations, serious gamers (specifically, males, as I've no real experience with female gamers cause I haven't personally met any) actually put forth a lot into their gaming. While society in the US has a big "boys don't cry" thing going on, there are "powerful circumstances" in which it's perfectly "okay" for men to shed tears. For example, the average joe at home wouldn't think less of a man for shedding tears at the loss of the championship game in some sport. Nor do I think they'd misunderstand the tears brought about by a colossal failure of a science experiment, or engineering project. Or the death of a loved one.
I think serious gamers fall into this category. For us gamers, it isn't simply about playing- it's about immersion. That immersion involves us putting a great deal of concentration and feeling into our effort, so that we get a real sense of reward or accomplishment for completing the adjectives. When a game really captures your immersion and attention, it can really provoke emotional responses in your imagination, beyond simply that of a natural competition (i.e. being upset because you are losing is different from being upset because the character you are identifying strongly with is suffering from adverse circumstances).
Many gamers I know understand this, and accept it. For example, when all of my friends and I played through Xenogears, there were several moments that brought our hearts to our throats and made our eyes burn. That entire game is one emotional rollercoaster after another. None of us thought less of each other or any other for being choked up by Xenogears, because we understood that involving ourselves deep into the game had a much stronger meaning than simply playing a game for the joy of completing something.
Why shouldn't games make us cry? This is one of the few places that males are allowed to actually express their emotion to other guys, without fear of reproach (assuming the other guys understand the nature of serious gaming). I think most of the serious male gamers I know are very glad of such opportunities, rather than constantly suppressing how we feel about a given situation.
Slashdot Mirror
Who'd turn off their iPod full of Rammstein just to answer a phone call from your Dümass friend? Seriously, though, if I buy a device for the purpose of listening to music, I don't want anything to stop it to answer a phone. If I'm listening to my music on my iPod on the way home from work on the subway or bus, I don't really want to be bothered in general; I can always check my phone to see if it's anyone important. If it's someone who may have critical news, then I'll probably answer it, but otherwise- well, the Music > the Conversation. What's with this whole "one piece stop shop" MP3 phone obsession anyway? Throwing all of your eggs into one basket will only leave you eggless and unhappy if that one basket asplodes, or gets stolen. I'd rather keep my devices separate, for both backup reasons and convenience reasons. I can also go camping with my MP3 player without having to be tethered to a cellphone...
I borrowed my cousin's V-Boy for a while. It was actually kinda fun, though I am glad I didn't buy one myself. He had five games for it. In all honesty, I really liked most of the games. Wario Land was just really really good. The puzzles were interesting, I liked the use of foreground and background layers, and it gave a real thrill to get past some of the neat challenges. The sounds were typical, but the graphics, I thought, were very good for Wario. Right where it should be. Mario Tennis... well, it had funky music. That's about all i can really say about it. It was kinda addicting, but not very well documented or designed. I couldn't figure out how to do some of the special moves the computer kept winning with... Teleroboxer: teh AWESOME. No, seriously, that game was ridiculously fun. Mostly because it was ridiculously hard. It was an arcade game, plain and simple. The two shoulder buttons would move you in a left or right direction, and then a combination of the D-pad/stick and a certain button determined what kind of attack you delivered- a jab, a hook, an uppercut, or what. The computer got much harder each time, and it felt to me like it was learning to anticipate my moves. Learning the patterns of the AI's boxing wasn't easy, because after the second level or so, they'd just beat the crap out of you repeatedly. You can't really learn the pattern when you're losing four times in a row within fifteen seconds. After much dedication and wastes of my life, I managed to beat the entire Title, got the belt of Boxing Awesomeness or whatever it's called, and defended my title about fifty six times. The battles were just fun, and the funny robot boxers that tried to kill you were really cute and cool, honestly. I liked how they started falling apart when they were losing- they'd start steaming and smoking, bits and pieces came off, wires came out... A lot of attention to detail in a video game system where many games seriously lacked. It was quite challenging. Not many games these days challenge me like that, and I miss that. Playing Call of Duty on Veteran mode is a challenge, I suppose, as is playing Deus Ex on "Realistic" mode (which means they shoot you in the head with a pistol from 100 yards away while running towards you), which is just plain unfair. But Teleroboxer gave you a very direct Skill Reward ratio. If you had the skills, you could win- but you had to work real hard to develop them. With a game like that on the system, I couldn't honestly say I didn't like the Virtual Boy. But yeah... after a while, the red, and the vision layers... whew. Pain in the eyes.
I think that, contrary to many stereotypes and expectations, serious gamers (specifically, males, as I've no real experience with female gamers cause I haven't personally met any) actually put forth a lot into their gaming. While society in the US has a big "boys don't cry" thing going on, there are "powerful circumstances" in which it's perfectly "okay" for men to shed tears. For example, the average joe at home wouldn't think less of a man for shedding tears at the loss of the championship game in some sport. Nor do I think they'd misunderstand the tears brought about by a colossal failure of a science experiment, or engineering project. Or the death of a loved one. I think serious gamers fall into this category. For us gamers, it isn't simply about playing- it's about immersion. That immersion involves us putting a great deal of concentration and feeling into our effort, so that we get a real sense of reward or accomplishment for completing the adjectives. When a game really captures your immersion and attention, it can really provoke emotional responses in your imagination, beyond simply that of a natural competition (i.e. being upset because you are losing is different from being upset because the character you are identifying strongly with is suffering from adverse circumstances). Many gamers I know understand this, and accept it. For example, when all of my friends and I played through Xenogears, there were several moments that brought our hearts to our throats and made our eyes burn. That entire game is one emotional rollercoaster after another. None of us thought less of each other or any other for being choked up by Xenogears, because we understood that involving ourselves deep into the game had a much stronger meaning than simply playing a game for the joy of completing something. Why shouldn't games make us cry? This is one of the few places that males are allowed to actually express their emotion to other guys, without fear of reproach (assuming the other guys understand the nature of serious gaming). I think most of the serious male gamers I know are very glad of such opportunities, rather than constantly suppressing how we feel about a given situation.
(Link goes to NetDisco.org).
If your network infrastructure supports SNMP pretty much all the way, this tool is pretty rad.
"You haven't heard the last of Adam Wii!"