That would definitely encourage me to pick up RPGs I've abandoned. I have a save game in Final Fantasy III that I just can't bring myself to fire up since I don't have the foggiest on what's next.
Pokemon actually did it pretty good (at least on the GBA). When you load a saved game, major events that occured after the previous save in the storyline or location changes get read back to you in a "flashback" mode. I thought that was extremely clever and would love to see similar things in future games.
I also remember Metal Gear Solid 2 and forward having a "review" screen (maybe it was optional) after loading that fills you in to the story so far.
While I do think it's completely plausable that some Square-Enix exec said "Unreal = Western-friendly game," it just makes me shake my head.
I don't see what benefits the Unreal Engine provides versus a home-grown system except:
A) [Almost] trivial multiplatform porting. B) Easier to subcontract out work on a familiar engine. C) To trick FPS players who don't like RPGS into picking one up.
I don't think C will work very well. B is unfortunate as a lot of talent seems to be shifting away from the big co.s into nameless blameless little pockets in the developer pool. A... well... that's the only one I could find myself happy about. I can't think of one true* multiplatform Square-Enix game, Square EA, Squaresoft, or Enix game. I could be wrong about that one, though.
Judging from the success of the Final Fantasy series...
The title "The Last Remnant" implies the game will not have a sequel, therefore it will do great and there will be a continuing string of sequels made for next 20 years.
I kind of wish they'd pay more love to the Chrono series and the Final Fantasy Tactics line instead of coming up with new franchises that they'll only half-heartedly support.
I enjoyed game called Geneforge quite a bit. It uses "shaping" to magically describe away genetic modification, and the story seems to graze against the consequences of the very issues you mention.
Example: there are a subspecies of "human" created by Shapers (those who have trained in the ways of genetic engin-- oops, I mean, "shaping") who are made for the exact types of reasons as above... farming, mining, other hard labor. They have just enough of an intellect to do things but not enough to really think or survive without a master to guide them.
In a related story, RIAA and MPAA have both filed suit in court to preemptively obtain ISP subscriber information before any infringement can occur.
"It's an important step forward for the Web 3.0," Ebeneezer Swindler, lawyer for the RIAA, said. "Someone could get on that evil BitTorrent site and download our content. This happens so fast that by the time we logged in we couldn't even see their IP addresses. Our current technology requires us to temporarily join the pirates so we could get their information... it's no good if they'd already stolen what they needed and gotten out of there!"
"It's NO good," reiterated Swindler, with peculiar emphasis on the "NO."
No government official could be reached for comment as they were busy preordering ivory backscratchers from expected additional campaign contributions from the MAFIAA.
Does it really cost more to provide energy at certain hours than others? Or is this just a case of the utility company fiddling with the rates in the only way they can to bilk more money out of everyone?
I really don't know why the above was marked troll. And I walk in the minefield by trying to answer even in a neutral manner. So be it.
(Disclaimer: I am a US Citizen)
There's a lot of resentment over the power the US has held over the heads of other nations in the world. Gunboat negotiations and all.
US corporations spread globalism with an emphasis on profits over the benefit of humanity. The government repeatedly chooses not to reign them in because the politicians are lobbied by money instead of doing what's right for the nation.
Unfair trade agreements, a favor of capitalism over socialism, and other inequities just helps keep people angry. We try to police the world and are bad neighbors to the world community at the same time.
That said, (minefield time) I do agree that there's far more anti-American feelings than warranted. If Portugal (just for a random example) found itself in our position it would do the exact same thing. It's a Game Theory thing. A lot of old world countries did all sorts of horrible things within their spheres of influence. It just so happens that the rise of US power coincided with the time when one nation COULD have global reach.
But... Until we get voter turnout rates that aren't pathetic compared to American Idol, Until we have a culture that honors education instead of 50 Cent, Until we can be colorblind in all racist matters, Until we can humble ourselves as a member of the world instead of masters of it We will continue to be hated.
Considering the many proposed benefits of the Galileo system (from Wiki): * higher precision to all users than is currently available through GPS or GLONASS * improve availability of positioning services at higher latitudes * provide an independent positioning system upon which European nations can rely even in times of war or political disagreement.
How important is #3 to the EU? I would say the first two points are the most valuable. Is there any evidence that the US has intentionally crippled GPS in countries it's not aligned with? Seeing as how I could buy a receiver in the US and take a trip to Iran, does the system just not beam back data if you happen to be in an unfriendly zone?
Don't get me wrong, anything that improves on GPS is fine by me. It just seems a little petty to be driven by a "GO HOME YANKS!" mentality instead of a "GO PROGRESS!" one.
Seriously, though, perhaps it'd be beneficial to equip robots with sensors and constraints which would let them feel "pain". Kind of like how if you try to overextend your arm you'll feel pain in the shoulder. It could become a self-limiting mechanism.
(As opposed to hard coding the limits? I dunno. Humans have some hard coded limits by the structure of bones and placement of muscles, but others don't.)
"You are not allowed to exclude non-hard-drive-equipped Xboxes"
Is that a mandate from Microsoft in order to be a Licensed game? Is that a rule with the development house? Is there a requirement that a screenshot of the game must look identical regardless of which version console you're using?
I'd buy the first question having a YES answer. I could even shrug my shoulders at the second having a YES. The third, well, doesn't seem very likely since already the quality of the image depends on your display hookup.
Couldn't the game, at run time, determine the availability of a HD and use that for caching high-detail textures while if unavailable it would cap itself to just low/medium detail textures streaming off the disc?
And I'm just an armchair console guy: I'm sure actual developers have already thought of that and many other potential solutions.:P
The problem was that the open areas of SA didn't really add to the game much. It's not like Oblivion where taking a detour could pay off in a neat cave or side story or something under the radar.
The aforementioned problem is a game design problem where extra stuff was padded in but not fleshed out. It was most certainly technically possible to remove that padding but they chose not to.
Technical limitations and getting around them aren't exactly going to help game design any.
The source, TFA, is Dan Houser, Creative VP at Rockstar.
What would a person titled "Creative VP" have to do with announcing a technical limitation of a game that just finished releasing a trailer which implies the game is coming pretty soon? I dunno.
Would it be a big loss to target the game to HD-equipped 360's only? How about it looks less detailed if the console doesn't have one, so that those users can decide if they want extra detail and spring for the HD.
Granted adding a HD to a 360 isn't quite the same as a new controller, but remember that Sony released quite a few games clearly labelled "DUAL SHOCK REQUIRED" due to heavy non-optional use of the analog sticks. Ape Escape is one that instantly comes to mind. Nintendo also required the 8 Meg expansion for the N64 for a few games, too.
It really isn't an issue of who does less damage. Copyright reform really needs to be championed, and you can't say that ANY of the two parties are spearheading it. When I see in a platform statement a declaration of how that party will no longer tow the line for the MAFIAA, then I'll feel comfortable with assigning the blame.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. This puts Democrats in the same box as Republicans.
I'd take issue with that biggest avantage. I'm not convinced that 360 availability in lieu of the Wii (and PS3 for, what, those two weeks?) was really that significant.
I don't think people looking for a Wii and what it brings would be ok picking up a 360 instead. Likewise, people in the market for a PS3 aren't going to be satisfied with a 360. People don't want "a video game system", they ask for systems by name.
Then again, maybe I should have asked a mall Santa Claus what the kids were exactly saying.
If a console isn't generating [enough] profit, it always runs the risk of being abandoned. That's usually bad for gamers*.
That said, it's unlikely Microsoft would abandon XBox even if it didn't make a profit next year or even the year after. It's there simply to be in the market. The justification is likely the same as Windows: get enough people familiar with the platform and nobody will even consider the alternatives.
The statement is nothing more than to pacify the shareholders on the recently news that Microsoft's gaming division lost $300 mil last quarter.
*Bad for most gamers. It's great for people with stocks of games and are speculating on the aftermarket value of them. I could rant about those people but, nah, I'll leave it to someone else.;)
You really should have stopped after your first two sentences. If there's one thing history has told us is that politicians in both parties have been in favor of perpetually and retroactively extending copyrights, legislation to protect their buddies in big business (DMCA), and trampling on the citizenry.
Last time I was stopped at a light on the perimeter road of my local university a vessel approached me and demanded all the tea and spices in my hull. When I told them I didn't know what they were talking about, they shot a canonball at the side of my car.
It's about time Congress stepped up to protect the people from these pirates! I had to miss class that day (that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)
Personally, I didn't get into politics at all UNTIL I heard funny edits of the 2004 presidential debates on my local morning radio program. Yeah, I voted with the party line my folks did... never questioned it really. I'd go so far as to say I was a BAD voter since I just went with the flow and didn't really take any thought into anything beyond what the 5 minute blurbs on TV told me. Kind of like how that sort of person might be a bad juror.
The bit was cute. They used a series of clever edits and bleeps to make it look like Bush and Kerry were cursing at each other and saying things like "I don't like that s***."
But it made me sit up and pay a little more attention to the world around me. Now I have my political convictions and vote accordingly. I that program to thank for tricking me into caring what these people were saying.
I'm actually looking forward to hearing a derivative work of Obama rapping.;)
"The letter asks that the video from any Democratic Presidential debate be available freely after the debate, by either placing the video in the public domain, or licensing it under a Creative Commons (Attribution) license."
There are many kinds of Creative Commons licenses, and not all of them are as permissive as the requested one.
Slashdot Mirror
"AND GIVE PEOPLE DAMM SYNOPSIS!"
That would definitely encourage me to pick up RPGs I've abandoned. I have a save game in Final Fantasy III that I just can't bring myself to fire up since I don't have the foggiest on what's next.
Pokemon actually did it pretty good (at least on the GBA). When you load a saved game, major events that occured after the previous save in the storyline or location changes get read back to you in a "flashback" mode. I thought that was extremely clever and would love to see similar things in future games.
I also remember Metal Gear Solid 2 and forward having a "review" screen (maybe it was optional) after loading that fills you in to the story so far.
My guess would be that sales reports of this game could help make up their minds if exclusivity is THAT beneficial for Final Fantasy.
Ah, yes, I forgot about that. There were also some similarly crap-tastic PC versions of Final Fantasy VII and VIII. Thank you, AC!
While I do think it's completely plausable that some Square-Enix exec said "Unreal = Western-friendly game," it just makes me shake my head.
I don't see what benefits the Unreal Engine provides versus a home-grown system except:
A) [Almost] trivial multiplatform porting.
B) Easier to subcontract out work on a familiar engine.
C) To trick FPS players who don't like RPGS into picking one up.
I don't think C will work very well. B is unfortunate as a lot of talent seems to be shifting away from the big co.s into nameless blameless little pockets in the developer pool. A... well... that's the only one I could find myself happy about. I can't think of one true* multiplatform Square-Enix game, Square EA, Squaresoft, or Enix game. I could be wrong about that one, though.
* as in, not remade or rereleased
Judging from the success of the Final Fantasy series...
The title "The Last Remnant" implies the game will not have a sequel, therefore it will do great and there will be a continuing string of sequels made for next 20 years.
I kind of wish they'd pay more love to the Chrono series and the Final Fantasy Tactics line instead of coming up with new franchises that they'll only half-heartedly support.
I enjoyed game called Geneforge quite a bit. It uses "shaping" to magically describe away genetic modification, and the story seems to graze against the consequences of the very issues you mention.
Example: there are a subspecies of "human" created by Shapers (those who have trained in the ways of genetic engin-- oops, I mean, "shaping") who are made for the exact types of reasons as above... farming, mining, other hard labor. They have just enough of an intellect to do things but not enough to really think or survive without a master to guide them.
In a related story, RIAA and MPAA have both filed suit in court to preemptively obtain ISP subscriber information before any infringement can occur.
"It's an important step forward for the Web 3.0," Ebeneezer Swindler, lawyer for the RIAA, said. "Someone could get on that evil BitTorrent site and download our content. This happens so fast that by the time we logged in we couldn't even see their IP addresses. Our current technology requires us to temporarily join the pirates so we could get their information... it's no good if they'd already stolen what they needed and gotten out of there!"
"It's NO good," reiterated Swindler, with peculiar emphasis on the "NO."
No government official could be reached for comment as they were busy preordering ivory backscratchers from expected additional campaign contributions from the MAFIAA.
I Am Not A Powerplant Engineer, so...
Does it really cost more to provide energy at certain hours than others? Or is this just a case of the utility company fiddling with the rates in the only way they can to bilk more money out of everyone?
I really don't know why the above was marked troll. And I walk in the minefield by trying to answer even in a neutral manner. So be it.
;)
(Disclaimer: I am a US Citizen)
There's a lot of resentment over the power the US has held over the heads of other nations in the world. Gunboat negotiations and all.
US corporations spread globalism with an emphasis on profits over the benefit of humanity. The government repeatedly chooses not to reign them in because the politicians are lobbied by money instead of doing what's right for the nation.
Unfair trade agreements, a favor of capitalism over socialism, and other inequities just helps keep people angry. We try to police the world and are bad neighbors to the world community at the same time.
That said, (minefield time) I do agree that there's far more anti-American feelings than warranted. If Portugal (just for a random example) found itself in our position it would do the exact same thing. It's a Game Theory thing. A lot of old world countries did all sorts of horrible things within their spheres of influence. It just so happens that the rise of US power coincided with the time when one nation COULD have global reach.
But...
Until we get voter turnout rates that aren't pathetic compared to American Idol,
Until we have a culture that honors education instead of 50 Cent,
Until we can be colorblind in all racist matters,
Until we can humble ourselves as a member of the world instead of masters of it
We will continue to be hated.
That's ok, I was unpopular in high school, too.
"... not controlled by the US"
Considering the many proposed benefits of the Galileo system (from Wiki):
* higher precision to all users than is currently available through GPS or GLONASS
* improve availability of positioning services at higher latitudes
* provide an independent positioning system upon which European nations can rely even in times of war or political disagreement.
How important is #3 to the EU? I would say the first two points are the most valuable. Is there any evidence that the US has intentionally crippled GPS in countries it's not aligned with? Seeing as how I could buy a receiver in the US and take a trip to Iran, does the system just not beam back data if you happen to be in an unfriendly zone?
Don't get me wrong, anything that improves on GPS is fine by me. It just seems a little petty to be driven by a "GO HOME YANKS!" mentality instead of a "GO PROGRESS!" one.
Obligatory "Why was I built to feel pain?"
Seriously, though, perhaps it'd be beneficial to equip robots with sensors and constraints which would let them feel "pain". Kind of like how if you try to overextend your arm you'll feel pain in the shoulder. It could become a self-limiting mechanism.
(As opposed to hard coding the limits? I dunno. Humans have some hard coded limits by the structure of bones and placement of muscles, but others don't.)
Heh, my memory must have blocked Uwe Boll to protect itself. ;)
Has any movie based off a video game not been basically a big F.U. to the original material?
Super Mario Bros., Doom, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil... it goes on and on.
Next thing you'll know Keanu Reeves will be cast as a Belmont, and Christopher Walken will be Dracula. *shudder*
I haven't seen an EULA yet, closed or open source, that didn't waive any and all responsibility or fitness for any purpose.
Then again I've never reviewed any of those for life-critical applications.
"You are not allowed to exclude non-hard-drive-equipped Xboxes"
:P
Is that a mandate from Microsoft in order to be a Licensed game? Is that a rule with the development house? Is there a requirement that a screenshot of the game must look identical regardless of which version console you're using?
I'd buy the first question having a YES answer. I could even shrug my shoulders at the second having a YES. The third, well, doesn't seem very likely since already the quality of the image depends on your display hookup.
Couldn't the game, at run time, determine the availability of a HD and use that for caching high-detail textures while if unavailable it would cap itself to just low/medium detail textures streaming off the disc?
And I'm just an armchair console guy: I'm sure actual developers have already thought of that and many other potential solutions.
The problem was that the open areas of SA didn't really add to the game much. It's not like Oblivion where taking a detour could pay off in a neat cave or side story or something under the radar.
The aforementioned problem is a game design problem where extra stuff was padded in but not fleshed out. It was most certainly technically possible to remove that padding but they chose not to.
Technical limitations and getting around them aren't exactly going to help game design any.
The source, TFA, is Dan Houser, Creative VP at Rockstar.
What would a person titled "Creative VP" have to do with announcing a technical limitation of a game that just finished releasing a trailer which implies the game is coming pretty soon? I dunno.
Would it be a big loss to target the game to HD-equipped 360's only? How about it looks less detailed if the console doesn't have one, so that those users can decide if they want extra detail and spring for the HD.
Granted adding a HD to a 360 isn't quite the same as a new controller, but remember that Sony released quite a few games clearly labelled "DUAL SHOCK REQUIRED" due to heavy non-optional use of the analog sticks. Ape Escape is one that instantly comes to mind. Nintendo also required the 8 Meg expansion for the N64 for a few games, too.
It really isn't an issue of who does less damage. Copyright reform really needs to be championed, and you can't say that ANY of the two parties are spearheading it. When I see in a platform statement a declaration of how that party will no longer tow the line for the MAFIAA, then I'll feel comfortable with assigning the blame.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. This puts Democrats in the same box as Republicans.
I'd take issue with that biggest avantage. I'm not convinced that 360 availability in lieu of the Wii (and PS3 for, what, those two weeks?) was really that significant.
I don't think people looking for a Wii and what it brings would be ok picking up a 360 instead. Likewise, people in the market for a PS3 aren't going to be satisfied with a 360. People don't want "a video game system", they ask for systems by name.
Then again, maybe I should have asked a mall Santa Claus what the kids were exactly saying.
If a console isn't generating [enough] profit, it always runs the risk of being abandoned. That's usually bad for gamers*.
;)
That said, it's unlikely Microsoft would abandon XBox even if it didn't make a profit next year or even the year after. It's there simply to be in the market. The justification is likely the same as Windows: get enough people familiar with the platform and nobody will even consider the alternatives.
The statement is nothing more than to pacify the shareholders on the recently news that Microsoft's gaming division lost $300 mil last quarter.
*Bad for most gamers. It's great for people with stocks of games and are speculating on the aftermarket value of them. I could rant about those people but, nah, I'll leave it to someone else.
"Lamar Smith (R-TX)"
You really should have stopped after your first two sentences. If there's one thing history has told us is that politicians in both parties have been in favor of perpetually and retroactively extending copyrights, legislation to protect their buddies in big business (DMCA), and trampling on the citizenry.
Last time I was stopped at a light on the perimeter road of my local university a vessel approached me and demanded all the tea and spices in my hull. When I told them I didn't know what they were talking about, they shot a canonball at the side of my car.
It's about time Congress stepped up to protect the people from these pirates! I had to miss class that day (that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)
Personally, I didn't get into politics at all UNTIL I heard funny edits of the 2004 presidential debates on my local morning radio program. Yeah, I voted with the party line my folks did... never questioned it really. I'd go so far as to say I was a BAD voter since I just went with the flow and didn't really take any thought into anything beyond what the 5 minute blurbs on TV told me. Kind of like how that sort of person might be a bad juror.
;)
The bit was cute. They used a series of clever edits and bleeps to make it look like Bush and Kerry were cursing at each other and saying things like "I don't like that s***."
But it made me sit up and pay a little more attention to the world around me. Now I have my political convictions and vote accordingly. I that program to thank for tricking me into caring what these people were saying.
I'm actually looking forward to hearing a derivative work of Obama rapping.
Specificly, from TFA:
"The letter asks that the video from any Democratic Presidential debate be available freely after the debate, by either placing the video in the public domain, or licensing it under a Creative Commons (Attribution) license."
There are many kinds of Creative Commons licenses, and not all of them are as permissive as the requested one.
Parent is now my new favorite post.