Will Wright's Spore ( http://spore.ea.com/ ) looks like a decent step in the direction of "highbrow". There's a definite potential for deep intellectual stimulation, you could have a serious discussion about the philosophical implications and themes, and it appears it will be a master work of video game art.
I don't think there's really much of a job market for writing for games by itself. The closest would be to come in as a game designer, but from what I've heard, most designers start off in software dev, level design, or maybe production then move to game design once they establish a reputation. One possible foot in the door track that's been mentioned is to climb up from QA, but that assumes an endurance for low wages and an ability to wow everyone (as they're trying to ignore you) at every turn.
I'm sure this will change over time, but what won't change is the fierce competition to get into the industry in any capacity. So it'll always be hard to come in as a writer (or designer... or anything). Might even be easier to sell a novel. Maybe one based on a video game!
Games originally published years ago on another system that you can now play on the PSP with really bad frame rates? Isn't that a lot like 80% of the PSP titles out there?
Still, portable Parappa would be pretty amazing...
Not to mention Apple is well ahead of Amazon in having an established customer base for downloadable media, with customer hardware and software already in place. Unbox is going to be an uphill battle.
I think Nintendo is mostly betting on the existence of a market that doesn't want to spend $400-500 for a console that has a huge catalog of $60 titles that can mostly be sliced into categories like Yet Another Shooter Part IV and Major Sports Game Early January 2007 Edition.
In other words, it's all about the software. A good comparison comes from looking at the Nintendo DS and the PSP. The PSP is an amazing and sexy little piece of hardware with a catalog of same-old, same-old games. The DS is an unsexy, somewhat dated piece of hardware with a great catalog of games that often defy categorization (of course, it's sprinkled with the usual trash titles, as well). The DS is dominating the PSP.
But just because Nintendo's strategy is working so well in the handheld market, with they've owned for years, that doesn't mean any of this will matter when the Revolution comes out. The home console market is not the handheld market. I'd like to see the Revolution do well, and I think it will. But I'm a little bit of a fanboy, just praying it doesn't sink.
If nothing else, we're set up for a much more interesting console battle than the last round.
What Blizzard seems to be doing is trying to avoid crapstorm flamewars on public chat channels.
I have no problem with GLBT guilds at all. And if it were my game, maybe I'd allow the flood of screaming matches in General.
Blizzard has decided it's a bad idea to allow this noise because they believe it distracts from the setting of the game.
I imagine/1 discussions evaluating George Bush's presidency would elicit a similar response from the wowers that be.
In short, most everyone here is overreacting, both the oversensitive liberals (I'm one, too, OK?) who are crying bigotry and the fools crying "Good for them!" The argument you're all having doesn't relate at all to what Blizz has done.
Combat never gets old. A zillion modes of flawless 2 player action, and it's second only to Pitfall for brilliant use of Atari 2600 sound effects. Seems like the more technology you throw at game developers, the further they stray from games like Combat. Eventually, games will just play themselves. Or do they already? I seem to remember a few 20-minute long unskippable Final Fantasy cutscenes...
There's absolutely no indication that relationships and sex work any differently in their fictional world than in our actual one.
You know, you're right. I remember just the other day, I turned to my girlfriend, grabbed my keyboard and typed "/me kisses your neck". Then we took a romantic bat ride to the Safeway to pick up some Gnomish beer.
Slashdot Mirror
Will Wright's Spore ( http://spore.ea.com/ ) looks like a decent step in the direction of "highbrow". There's a definite potential for deep intellectual stimulation, you could have a serious discussion about the philosophical implications and themes, and it appears it will be a master work of video game art.
for that one time I got drunk and broke my hand trying to punch a brick so coins would pop out of it?
I don't think there's really much of a job market for writing for games by itself. The closest would be to come in as a game designer, but from what I've heard, most designers start off in software dev, level design, or maybe production then move to game design once they establish a reputation. One possible foot in the door track that's been mentioned is to climb up from QA, but that assumes an endurance for low wages and an ability to wow everyone (as they're trying to ignore you) at every turn.
I'm sure this will change over time, but what won't change is the fierce competition to get into the industry in any capacity. So it'll always be hard to come in as a writer (or designer... or anything). Might even be easier to sell a novel. Maybe one based on a video game!
And 55% of them claim to be scantily-clad dark elf huntresses.
Games originally published years ago on another system that you can now play on the PSP with really bad frame rates? Isn't that a lot like 80% of the PSP titles out there? Still, portable Parappa would be pretty amazing...
Not to mention Apple is well ahead of Amazon in having an established customer base for downloadable media, with customer hardware and software already in place. Unbox is going to be an uphill battle.
I think Nintendo is mostly betting on the existence of a market that doesn't want to spend $400-500 for a console that has a huge catalog of $60 titles that can mostly be sliced into categories like Yet Another Shooter Part IV and Major Sports Game Early January 2007 Edition.
In other words, it's all about the software. A good comparison comes from looking at the Nintendo DS and the PSP. The PSP is an amazing and sexy little piece of hardware with a catalog of same-old, same-old games. The DS is an unsexy, somewhat dated piece of hardware with a great catalog of games that often defy categorization (of course, it's sprinkled with the usual trash titles, as well). The DS is dominating the PSP.
But just because Nintendo's strategy is working so well in the handheld market, with they've owned for years, that doesn't mean any of this will matter when the Revolution comes out. The home console market is not the handheld market. I'd like to see the Revolution do well, and I think it will. But I'm a little bit of a fanboy, just praying it doesn't sink.
If nothing else, we're set up for a much more interesting console battle than the last round.
Will this thing work with my LapBoard?
And I think you've hit the nail on the head.
/1 discussions evaluating George Bush's presidency would elicit a similar response from the wowers that be.
What Blizzard seems to be doing is trying to avoid crapstorm flamewars on public chat channels.
I have no problem with GLBT guilds at all. And if it were my game, maybe I'd allow the flood of screaming matches in General.
Blizzard has decided it's a bad idea to allow this noise because they believe it distracts from the setting of the game.
I imagine
In short, most everyone here is overreacting, both the oversensitive liberals (I'm one, too, OK?) who are crying bigotry and the fools crying "Good for them!" The argument you're all having doesn't relate at all to what Blizz has done.
Combat never gets old. A zillion modes of flawless 2 player action, and it's second only to Pitfall for brilliant use of Atari 2600 sound effects. Seems like the more technology you throw at game developers, the further they stray from games like Combat. Eventually, games will just play themselves. Or do they already? I seem to remember a few 20-minute long unskippable Final Fantasy cutscenes...
There's absolutely no indication that relationships and sex work any differently in their fictional world than in our actual one. You know, you're right. I remember just the other day, I turned to my girlfriend, grabbed my keyboard and typed "/me kisses your neck". Then we took a romantic bat ride to the Safeway to pick up some Gnomish beer.