Heck, I'm nearly 40, and not so horny compared to 20 years ago, but even I don't want to play a game with a lead character that looks like Kathy Bates. Imagine looking at her backside for 20 or more hours...games are just different than film.
About that... Number one on my list of things to leave behind is the game industry's current focus on making games more like movies. It's mostly an issue of presentation, like lens flares and motion blur, but also things like the overuse of cutscenes with sweeping cameras etc. Why imitate something that's generally inferior?
Sorry, to elaborate, if you go to the Jet Set Radio section at emuparadise, then Jet Set Radio - Unreleased Tracks, you'll get the songs on the original Jet (Grind) Radio for DC. Which had much better music, IMO.
Naughty Dog, "borrowing" a page from Shiny, utilized streaming with Jak & Daxter. Shiny did it many years earlier in MDK.
I don't mind having to sit through some sort of trickery or misdirection while levels load, it sure beats how things used to be. What gets me is the number of other developers who still haven't even bothered to "borrow", much less create their own uniques ways to get us to become oblivious as to what's happening behind the scenes, to keep from yanking us out of the game we're trying to play.
More relevant to my way of thinking in regard to practices that need to cease to exist is the illogical console save system (a.k.a. NONE, or WHEN WE WANT YOU TO). Everything out there now, handhelds included, should be able to make quick saves and loads, anywhere you want. Why do console devs make such foolish decisions? Another example: no mouse and keyboard support for home consoles, even for hardware with those exact connections right there on the front. A handful of devs have gotten all these things right, so it's not as if it's some insurmountable task.
The reason I wouldn't do this, and I'd really like to, is the same reason I couldn't do it last gen. Developers of console games just DO NOT want to allow for user choice of control method in this way. Never mind that the code involved would be as insignificant as a gnat on the ass of a warthog compared to all the other work involved for any game.
Beats the hell out of me why this situation exists, but I haven't seen any real change this gen, and don't expect to in the future. The only option is go get some dodgy adapter made in HK and hope for the best.
I bought a Data Dr. from Fry's several years ago for around $30. It's a disc resurfacer of the manual (hand-cranked) sort that removes a very thin layer of plastic. For deeper scratches you have to crank more. So far it's more than paid for itself in my experience.
These were also packaged as "DVD Dr.", "Game Dr.", etc., depending on what area of the store you were in. They're all the exact same unit. They also made motorized versions. I don't know if they still make or sell these economical resurfacers, but it's worth looking into.
I've noticed this field of view problem with console first-person games dating back to the N64. I call it a problem because the limited field of view always feels artificially restrictive, almost two-dimensional (or "mono"), compared to the more realistic FOV usually encountered with PC games. Basically it's a very slight fish-eye effect, which effectively recreates how we actually view our world. It's not something that a wide aspect screen would alleviate (to simulate peripheral vision), because it's still "flat". Some amount of distortion is required.
Fortunately, I've never experienced any sort of motion sickness/dizziness from a game that wasn't attributable to me intentionally altering my brain chemistry. I'd recommend trying Dramamine or something similar. It seems to work pretty well for some people I know who get car or boat-sick.
Agreed. We really do seem to be entering the Age of Lowered Expectations.
However, I'd say there's no reason for PC components to fail all that frequently either. I've had a few bad parts (infamous IBM Deathstar and a Yamaha CD burner) that only lasted a year or so, but for the past 8+ years the systems in my home have otherwise been trouble free. Then again, I build all the systems we use. Name brand PC makers have always used the cheapest, sorriest components they can find.
My experience goes all the way back to the Atari 2600, and I'm a "traditional consumer". Meaning that when I buy something, I expect that it will be mine, and that given reasonable care, it will last a reasonable period of time. I believe that many companies are hoping to create a new consumer model, wherein those who purchase something don't have these fundamental, logical expectations.
This has become obvious in the realm of videogame consoles. During the 128-bit era we began to see several examples of console games released with serious bugs (the sort of bugs that are game-stoppers). Up until this point, the mere concept of such a thing was unimaginable, ludicrous. Prior to the Sony PS2, I never had a console that didn't last at least until the next generation or iteration. In fact, all the consoles I've owned have lasted long enough so that emulation via PC was a truly viable alternative, except for my Dreamcast, but it's still functional. For myself and many others, the PS2 heralded the beginning of this "age of lowered expectations". Yes, modern consoles are much more complex and produce more heat. Addressing these issues adequately is what the designers are paid for.
As consumers, we have a duty to raise a stink when the products we buy fail to come anywhere close to meeting our expectations of functionality or longevity. Remaining silent (or accusing those who raise a stink) only ensures that eventually, everything we buy will be crap.
I got more of a kick out of the actual video for the first one. What game are those kids supposed to be playing? Tom Clancy's Shoot the Floor Grating? My daughter handled a mouse better at age 8.
I'm just the opposite. There are very few DC games I've actually completed because after 30 minutes my hands are aching. I grew up using the 2600 stick, both on the 2600 and then after migrating to the C64, and never experienced near the discomfort that the DC controller wrought. I think it has something to do with finger length, the DC pad's grip areas just aren't large enough to wrap comfortably around.
When I first saw the original Playsation controller, my first thought was that there's no way something that goofy looking could ever be comfortable to hold. But then I played a game with it, and soon after I bought a PSX. I still think Sony's are the most comfortable/useful and use the Logitech clones on our PC's for appropriate games. Some people don't like that the d-pad directionals are separated, but at least they're useable compared to those idiotic "completely open" circular things found on most PC and some console pads. Which is what the 360 controller apparently uses as well, for some inane reason. You're just as (in my case more) likely to press diagonally than horizontally or vertically on those silly things.
I do agree that the keyboard & mouse reign supreme though.:)
Good luck with RO customer support. I had to get my controller replaced shortly after buying the first game right after it came out. It took around 4 months. By the time I got it, my rabid enthusiasm for the game had waned quite a bit, naturally. At one point they lost my "ticket", so for a period of several weeks I didn't even exist as far as they were concerned.
I'd look for a do-it-yourself fix, or buy a third-party wireless (TAC or somesuch, if they make 360 versions...) while you're waiting.
Actually there have been at least four such games for consoles, and yes they most definitely removed any doubt some may have had about this issue quite a long time ago.
Unreal Tournament, Dreamcast, 2001
Outtrigger, Dreamcast, 2001
Quake III Arena, Dreamcast, 2000
Half-Life, Playstation 2, 2001 (no online option, but 2-player splitscreen deathmatch)
From what I've seen, the lack of logical reasoning or unwillingness to accept change has been a trait found in those who enter PC FPS gaming and insist on using the gamepads from their consoles. Most of these misguided folk see the light pretty quickly.
I've been considering a 360 as an alternative to the PC for gaming, and figured that mouse & keyboard support for games would have finally (logically) been implemented, particularly in regard to the volume of games that desperately need it. Unless some company from Hong Kong comes out with a product allowing m/kb use, as they have in the past for other consoles, that glaring lack of foresight is a deal breaker for me.
Because great original games, like Psychonauts, don't sell. Even when people get the rare chance to show that they want something new or different, they prove that they don't. Drones.
Yeah, I hear ya man. Buncha ungrateful S.O.B.'s.
It's just like when I left a few tiny instruments in a patient while performing surgery once. He had the nerve to complain to me about it, and I told him that when he could perform a quadruple bypass that I'd take his complaints seriously.
Or back before med school, when I worked at a Jiffy Lube. I changed the brake pads on this guy's car, but...
"That it's being met with relative disinterest is a much bigger compliment to Windows XP (and 2000) than it is criticism of Vista."
The compliment being that for both the average and advanced user, the previous OSes still do everything needed of them. But I don't think that's all there is to it. High on anyone's list of actual functionality, I would think, would be security. Obviously, any promises of added security (for the user I mean, not the RIAA/MPAA) will likely be met with some degree of skepticism by any previous average user of XP/IE.
And for the more enlightened users, I believe it mostly comes down to DRM. Even many average users have some idea that DRM is overtly anti-consumer. One doesn't have to know specifically how DRM is implemented in Vista. Anyone who's had the displeasure of experiencing how it's been "working" in a current environment knows enough.
I think it will be interesting to see how many advanced users begin moving even more toward open source alternatives. And how many average users, after buying into Vista, eventually begin wondering if there's not a better way, especially after hearing from their advanced user friends. The PC has traditionally been been associated with open architecture and freedom for the user to do with it whatever he or she wishes. This is a very important concept to many people, regardless of what those dependent upon MS for their liveliehoods would like to believe.
My three for him would be "make more games!". Overall the gameplay took a backseat to the story, characters & just the well realized concept, I think. A few parts of Meat Circus were too frustrating for me, but that's when I handed the gamepad to my oldest daughter;)
I've noticed after playing about 200 or so PS2 games that load times in general are horrible. But then you have Jak & Daxter, a very early game that had no loads after you started playing...so I guess there's really no excuse for other devs. But the PS2 port was mostly handed off to some other studio (that I never heard of). I don't think Double Fine had much to do with how crappy the load times were, or any of the major concessions that were necessary to bring it to the PS2, like (as usual) very poor textures, and spotty framerate. I'm just glad I played it on PC.
If you want to experience the absolute worst load times on PS2, give Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure a spin. Each area is roughly the size of only 2 full screens on your television, and every time you go to either a new or previous area, which is EVERY 1-2 minutes, there's a 30-60 second load. And this is supposed to hold the attention of a child. I had to tell our 3-year old that the game broke just to get out of having to play it with her it was so torturous, and I tend to give quite a bit of leniency to kids' games, having had to endure more than my share over the years.
DVD might be comparatively short lived due to the push from all directions for the adoption of high def. I recall our own federal government, acting in our best interests as they have for decades, had set a date by which television broadcasts would be exclusively high definition. There was no similar impetus driving consumers to switch to a digital format back in the VHS days.
Wrong
I had one of those Deathstar drives that died a week after the warranty expired. That was back when I was running Win98, which was of course impossible to keep running 24/7. The system spent almost as much time powered off as on. IBM just made poor quality drives, obviously. It was OEM, so the warranty was only 1 year. Had I bought a 'retail' packaged HD, regardless of make, it would've had a 3-year warranty. They all did back then. HD warranties began dropping a few years ago, but you can still find many brands online with 3-5 year warranties. And these are run-of-the-mill, consumer grade drives.
I've had a couple of cheap Maxtors running for 4+ years now, 24/7, not a bit of trouble so far. But they will fail eventually, it's inevitable. Backing up data and having redundancy has always been important, and likely will remain so in reference to magnetic storage of any type, with or without moving parts.
Slashdot Mirror
Heck, I'm nearly 40, and not so horny compared to 20 years ago, but even I don't want to play a game with a lead character that looks like Kathy Bates. Imagine looking at her backside for 20 or more hours...games are just different than film.
About that...
Number one on my list of things to leave behind is the game industry's current focus on making games more like movies. It's mostly an issue of presentation, like lens flares and motion blur, but also things like the overuse of cutscenes with sweeping cameras etc. Why imitate something that's generally inferior?
Sorry, to elaborate, if you go to the Jet Set Radio section at emuparadise, then Jet Set Radio - Unreleased Tracks, you'll get the songs on the original Jet (Grind) Radio for DC. Which had much better music, IMO.
Try here:
http://www.emuparadise.org/index2.php
Quite a few game soundtracks to be nabbed here.
Naughty Dog, "borrowing" a page from Shiny, utilized streaming with Jak & Daxter. Shiny did it many years earlier in MDK.
I don't mind having to sit through some sort of trickery or misdirection while levels load, it sure beats how things used to be. What gets me is the number of other developers who still haven't even bothered to "borrow", much less create their own uniques ways to get us to become oblivious as to what's happening behind the scenes, to keep from yanking us out of the game we're trying to play.
More relevant to my way of thinking in regard to practices that need to cease to exist is the illogical console save system (a.k.a. NONE, or WHEN WE WANT YOU TO). Everything out there now, handhelds included, should be able to make quick saves and loads, anywhere you want. Why do console devs make such foolish decisions? Another example: no mouse and keyboard support for home consoles, even for hardware with those exact connections right there on the front. A handful of devs have gotten all these things right, so it's not as if it's some insurmountable task.
The reason I wouldn't do this, and I'd really like to, is the same reason I couldn't do it last gen. Developers of console games just DO NOT want to allow for user choice of control method in this way. Never mind that the code involved would be as insignificant as a gnat on the ass of a warthog compared to all the other work involved for any game. Beats the hell out of me why this situation exists, but I haven't seen any real change this gen, and don't expect to in the future. The only option is go get some dodgy adapter made in HK and hope for the best.
I bought a Data Dr. from Fry's several years ago for around $30. It's a disc resurfacer of the manual (hand-cranked) sort that removes a very thin layer of plastic. For deeper scratches you have to crank more. So far it's more than paid for itself in my experience.
These were also packaged as "DVD Dr.", "Game Dr.", etc., depending on what area of the store you were in. They're all the exact same unit. They also made motorized versions. I don't know if they still make or sell these economical resurfacers, but it's worth looking into.
I've noticed this field of view problem with console first-person games dating back to the N64. I call it a problem because the limited field of view always feels artificially restrictive, almost two-dimensional (or "mono"), compared to the more realistic FOV usually encountered with PC games. Basically it's a very slight fish-eye effect, which effectively recreates how we actually view our world. It's not something that a wide aspect screen would alleviate (to simulate peripheral vision), because it's still "flat". Some amount of distortion is required.
Fortunately, I've never experienced any sort of motion sickness/dizziness from a game that wasn't attributable to me intentionally altering my brain chemistry. I'd recommend trying Dramamine or something similar. It seems to work pretty well for some people I know who get car or boat-sick.
Psychonauts. Particularly the boss in Gloria's Theater: A big fat self-important theater critic.
Agreed. We really do seem to be entering the Age of Lowered Expectations. However, I'd say there's no reason for PC components to fail all that frequently either. I've had a few bad parts (infamous IBM Deathstar and a Yamaha CD burner) that only lasted a year or so, but for the past 8+ years the systems in my home have otherwise been trouble free. Then again, I build all the systems we use. Name brand PC makers have always used the cheapest, sorriest components they can find.
My experience goes all the way back to the Atari 2600, and I'm a "traditional consumer". Meaning that when I buy something, I expect that it will be mine, and that given reasonable care, it will last a reasonable period of time. I believe that many companies are hoping to create a new consumer model, wherein those who purchase something don't have these fundamental, logical expectations.
This has become obvious in the realm of videogame consoles. During the 128-bit era we began to see several examples of console games released with serious bugs (the sort of bugs that are game-stoppers). Up until this point, the mere concept of such a thing was unimaginable, ludicrous. Prior to the Sony PS2, I never had a console that didn't last at least until the next generation or iteration. In fact, all the consoles I've owned have lasted long enough so that emulation via PC was a truly viable alternative, except for my Dreamcast, but it's still functional. For myself and many others, the PS2 heralded the beginning of this "age of lowered expectations". Yes, modern consoles are much more complex and produce more heat. Addressing these issues adequately is what the designers are paid for.
As consumers, we have a duty to raise a stink when the products we buy fail to come anywhere close to meeting our expectations of functionality or longevity. Remaining silent (or accusing those who raise a stink) only ensures that eventually, everything we buy will be crap.
the sound of leather striking skin with force.
I got more of a kick out of the actual video for the first one. What game are those kids supposed to be playing? Tom Clancy's Shoot the Floor Grating? My daughter handled a mouse better at age 8.
I'm just the opposite. There are very few DC games I've actually completed because after 30 minutes my hands are aching. I grew up using the 2600 stick, both on the 2600 and then after migrating to the C64, and never experienced near the discomfort that the DC controller wrought. I think it has something to do with finger length, the DC pad's grip areas just aren't large enough to wrap comfortably around.
:)
When I first saw the original Playsation controller, my first thought was that there's no way something that goofy looking could ever be comfortable to hold. But then I played a game with it, and soon after I bought a PSX. I still think Sony's are the most comfortable/useful and use the Logitech clones on our PC's for appropriate games. Some people don't like that the d-pad directionals are separated, but at least they're useable compared to those idiotic "completely open" circular things found on most PC and some console pads. Which is what the 360 controller apparently uses as well, for some inane reason. You're just as (in my case more) likely to press diagonally than horizontally or vertically on those silly things.
I do agree that the keyboard & mouse reign supreme though.
Good luck with RO customer support. I had to get my controller replaced shortly after buying the first game right after it came out. It took around 4 months. By the time I got it, my rabid enthusiasm for the game had waned quite a bit, naturally. At one point they lost my "ticket", so for a period of several weeks I didn't even exist as far as they were concerned.
I'd look for a do-it-yourself fix, or buy a third-party wireless (TAC or somesuch, if they make 360 versions...) while you're waiting.
Actually there have been at least four such games for consoles, and yes they most definitely removed any doubt some may have had about this issue quite a long time ago. Unreal Tournament, Dreamcast, 2001 Outtrigger, Dreamcast, 2001 Quake III Arena, Dreamcast, 2000 Half-Life, Playstation 2, 2001 (no online option, but 2-player splitscreen deathmatch) From what I've seen, the lack of logical reasoning or unwillingness to accept change has been a trait found in those who enter PC FPS gaming and insist on using the gamepads from their consoles. Most of these misguided folk see the light pretty quickly.
I've been considering a 360 as an alternative to the PC for gaming, and figured that mouse & keyboard support for games would have finally (logically) been implemented, particularly in regard to the volume of games that desperately need it. Unless some company from Hong Kong comes out with a product allowing m/kb use, as they have in the past for other consoles, that glaring lack of foresight is a deal breaker for me.
I read this somewhere:
If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress?
Worldcraft, or UnrealED...building stuff is still a lot of fun!
Because great original games, like Psychonauts, don't sell. Even when people get the rare chance to show that they want something new or different, they prove that they don't. Drones.
Yeah, I hear ya man. Buncha ungrateful S.O.B.'s. It's just like when I left a few tiny instruments in a patient while performing surgery once. He had the nerve to complain to me about it, and I told him that when he could perform a quadruple bypass that I'd take his complaints seriously. Or back before med school, when I worked at a Jiffy Lube. I changed the brake pads on this guy's car, but...
"That it's being met with relative disinterest is a much bigger compliment to Windows XP (and 2000) than it is criticism of Vista."
The compliment being that for both the average and advanced user, the previous OSes still do everything needed of them. But I don't think that's all there is to it. High on anyone's list of actual functionality, I would think, would be security. Obviously, any promises of added security (for the user I mean, not the RIAA/MPAA) will likely be met with some degree of skepticism by any previous average user of XP/IE.
And for the more enlightened users, I believe it mostly comes down to DRM. Even many average users have some idea that DRM is overtly anti-consumer. One doesn't have to know specifically how DRM is implemented in Vista. Anyone who's had the displeasure of experiencing how it's been "working" in a current environment knows enough.
I think it will be interesting to see how many advanced users begin moving even more toward open source alternatives. And how many average users, after buying into Vista, eventually begin wondering if there's not a better way, especially after hearing from their advanced user friends. The PC has traditionally been been associated with open architecture and freedom for the user to do with it whatever he or she wishes. This is a very important concept to many people, regardless of what those dependent upon MS for their liveliehoods would like to believe.
My three for him would be "make more games!". Overall the gameplay took a backseat to the story, characters & just the well realized concept, I think. A few parts of Meat Circus were too frustrating for me, but that's when I handed the gamepad to my oldest daughter ;)
I've noticed after playing about 200 or so PS2 games that load times in general are horrible. But then you have Jak & Daxter, a very early game that had no loads after you started playing...so I guess there's really no excuse for other devs. But the PS2 port was mostly handed off to some other studio (that I never heard of). I don't think Double Fine had much to do with how crappy the load times were, or any of the major concessions that were necessary to bring it to the PS2, like (as usual) very poor textures, and spotty framerate. I'm just glad I played it on PC.
If you want to experience the absolute worst load times on PS2, give Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure a spin. Each area is roughly the size of only 2 full screens on your television, and every time you go to either a new or previous area, which is EVERY 1-2 minutes, there's a 30-60 second load. And this is supposed to hold the attention of a child. I had to tell our 3-year old that the game broke just to get out of having to play it with her it was so torturous, and I tend to give quite a bit of leniency to kids' games, having had to endure more than my share over the years.
Yes, they can. All one has to do is reverse the order of the sessions, xeal's most famous app did this automatically. (bin2boot)
DVD might be comparatively short lived due to the push from all directions for the adoption of high def. I recall our own federal government, acting in our best interests as they have for decades, had set a date by which television broadcasts would be exclusively high definition. There was no similar impetus driving consumers to switch to a digital format back in the VHS days.
Wrong I had one of those Deathstar drives that died a week after the warranty expired. That was back when I was running Win98, which was of course impossible to keep running 24/7. The system spent almost as much time powered off as on. IBM just made poor quality drives, obviously. It was OEM, so the warranty was only 1 year. Had I bought a 'retail' packaged HD, regardless of make, it would've had a 3-year warranty. They all did back then. HD warranties began dropping a few years ago, but you can still find many brands online with 3-5 year warranties. And these are run-of-the-mill, consumer grade drives. I've had a couple of cheap Maxtors running for 4+ years now, 24/7, not a bit of trouble so far. But they will fail eventually, it's inevitable. Backing up data and having redundancy has always been important, and likely will remain so in reference to magnetic storage of any type, with or without moving parts.