It seems FTA that none of the six titles are original though. They are all new versions of old franchises and multiplatform titles (like The Godfather.) It's a little bit disappointing that we're not seeing more original works.
There's lots of good stories about the computer illiterate, here's mine.
I was doing support for McDonald's Canada and we connected to their lanes through a back office server via VNC. Of course, we didn't use the "black out screen" option. So, one day this woman in her back office called us and said, "Help! My back office server has turned into a register! And even worse, the touch screen is broken!"
I can help but crack up every time I think of this poor woman trying to use her regular CRT monitor as a touch screen. Of course, the analyst connected should have informed the store that they were connected....but that just ruins the humour.
I know that I've been buying less games due to lack of innovation. There's just too many sequels and not enough new ideas. Even Katamari. Playing the first Katamari was great. The sequel and the PSP version were really just more of the same.
That's one reason the DS is doing so well. A lot of things we're seeing for the first time and they're completely great. I'd much rather perform surgery with my touch screen then play something like Blinx 2.
The fact that I know people who continue to get spyware and format their drives over and over again despite being told to use Firefox, tells me that no, chronic spyware is not enough to switch for most computer users.
Using OpenOffice will not change these students. Rather than knowing Word and Excel they'll just know Writer and Calc. There are some students who are interested and will learn more and there are some who will not. The important thing is that they acquire the skills that will get them employed.
Sadly, I can't see any office software package bringing down Microsoft Office by the time these kids graduate. It is far more important to a general career -- maybe not a geek career -- to know how to us MS Office rather than be able to explain what a spreadsheet is and what a word processor is.
Regardless of the reasons why Microsoft donated the software the end result is that the kids are the winners. Their schools are now going to have some money that would have been spent on software that can now be spent on other things to improve their education. Motives aside, is that such a bad thing?
I'd agree that the pricing scheme combined with the release schedule doesn't seem to be the best form of delivery. If they are going to take a year between episodes and each episode is 5 hours of gameplay, then they might as well just wait and release it all at once as an expansion.
However, this is Half-Life 2 we're talking about. It could be 2 hours of gameplay at $20 and a year apart between releases and people would still buy it. I know I will.
How about games? It seems pretty likely to me that they're going to be offering downloadable gaming. If a selection of PS1 games will be available for download on the PSP I'm sure they'll allow the same offering for the PS3.
Any news on how the PS3 is affecting 3rd party hardware manufacturers for Blu-ray? I can't imagine they'd appreciate the PS3 undercutting them by $400. However, it does raise the question of what features they will be implementing to make their hardware worth that extra money.
For my dollar, they better be implementing something absolutely incredible.
Gears of War creator CliffyB seems to be making a name for himself. Other than that the field seems pretty dry.
Most franchises these days are associated with the developing company. The Price of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy, Jak and Daxter, and even Grand Theft Auto -- everyone knows the companies behind the games but people don't really know the individuals. In the end it's probably a better way for the company to operate.
I live in Toronto and the stores here open on Sunday at 12:00 noon. Not having pre-ordered a DS Lite I left at 12:10 to go buy one. I needed to go to 4 different stores before I found a store that was completely sold out. And every store I went to had about 5 other people asking if they could buy a DS Lite.
If that's how the early morning went, I can't imagine how the rest of the day went. Sounds like a pretty successful launch for a product revision.
Dungeons and Dragons Offline?
on
DDO Goes Solo
·
· Score: 4, Funny
I wonder if they'll be offering an offline version of their game for those who only want to play solo?
It's good to hear that FFXIII is going back to the roots with their battle system and not going along the same route as XII. Granted, we haven't received the game yet but the demo of XII really turned me off.
XIII is starting to sound like a game I'll enjoy. Of course, I still don't like the idea of announcing three of them at once. If I have to buy and play all three to get the complete story then I won't be a happy camper.
Slashdot Mirror
It seems FTA that none of the six titles are original though. They are all new versions of old franchises and multiplatform titles (like The Godfather.) It's a little bit disappointing that we're not seeing more original works.
1981 called. They want their game back.
I can help but crack up every time I think of this poor woman trying to use her regular CRT monitor as a touch screen. Of course, the analyst connected should have informed the store that they were connected....but that just ruins the humour.
But then along comes the RIAA to try to sue them for singing songs they don't have rights to. =)
I know that I've been buying less games due to lack of innovation. There's just too many sequels and not enough new ideas. Even Katamari. Playing the first Katamari was great. The sequel and the PSP version were really just more of the same.
That's one reason the DS is doing so well. A lot of things we're seeing for the first time and they're completely great. I'd much rather perform surgery with my touch screen then play something like Blinx 2.
'Liar liar, pants on fire."
The fact that I know people who continue to get spyware and format their drives over and over again despite being told to use Firefox, tells me that no, chronic spyware is not enough to switch for most computer users.
Using OpenOffice will not change these students. Rather than knowing Word and Excel they'll just know Writer and Calc. There are some students who are interested and will learn more and there are some who will not. The important thing is that they acquire the skills that will get them employed.
Sadly, I can't see any office software package bringing down Microsoft Office by the time these kids graduate. It is far more important to a general career -- maybe not a geek career -- to know how to us MS Office rather than be able to explain what a spreadsheet is and what a word processor is.
Regardless of the reasons why Microsoft donated the software the end result is that the kids are the winners. Their schools are now going to have some money that would have been spent on software that can now be spent on other things to improve their education. Motives aside, is that such a bad thing?
I'd agree that the pricing scheme combined with the release schedule doesn't seem to be the best form of delivery. If they are going to take a year between episodes and each episode is 5 hours of gameplay, then they might as well just wait and release it all at once as an expansion.
However, this is Half-Life 2 we're talking about. It could be 2 hours of gameplay at $20 and a year apart between releases and people would still buy it. I know I will.
How about games? It seems pretty likely to me that they're going to be offering downloadable gaming. If a selection of PS1 games will be available for download on the PSP I'm sure they'll allow the same offering for the PS3.
Doesn't everybody love porn?
Any news on how the PS3 is affecting 3rd party hardware manufacturers for Blu-ray? I can't imagine they'd appreciate the PS3 undercutting them by $400. However, it does raise the question of what features they will be implementing to make their hardware worth that extra money. For my dollar, they better be implementing something absolutely incredible.
Gears of War creator CliffyB seems to be making a name for himself. Other than that the field seems pretty dry.
Most franchises these days are associated with the developing company. The Price of Persia: Sands of Time trilogy, Jak and Daxter, and even Grand Theft Auto -- everyone knows the companies behind the games but people don't really know the individuals. In the end it's probably a better way for the company to operate.
I live in Toronto and the stores here open on Sunday at 12:00 noon. Not having pre-ordered a DS Lite I left at 12:10 to go buy one. I needed to go to 4 different stores before I found a store that was completely sold out. And every store I went to had about 5 other people asking if they could buy a DS Lite.
If that's how the early morning went, I can't imagine how the rest of the day went. Sounds like a pretty successful launch for a product revision.
I wonder if they'll be offering an offline version of their game for those who only want to play solo?
It's good to hear that FFXIII is going back to the roots with their battle system and not going along the same route as XII. Granted, we haven't received the game yet but the demo of XII really turned me off.
XIII is starting to sound like a game I'll enjoy. Of course, I still don't like the idea of announcing three of them at once. If I have to buy and play all three to get the complete story then I won't be a happy camper.