I'm not sure what low UID's have to do with anything. I can be just as stupid as anyone here, I promise =)
I think you're misunderstanding me. My argument isn't that games used to be shorter. It's that they weren't artificially longer like they are now, and I believe strategy guides, GameFAQs, etc. are to blame. There are very few "secrets" baked into a game anymore, and if some special item is hidden, there's little to no chance you'll find it without the aid of some guide.
Contrast this with the 8-bit Zelda games, where it was entirely possibly to find everything in a game without the aid of any guide, simply because strategy guides were not mass-produced and pushed out at game launch like they are now.
So when I see a/. article like this one, where it's possible they've realized the toll all this freely available information is having on gaming as a whole and are finally cutting the fat to deal with it, you can imagine my frustration at all the crying that games won't be so long, as if that's the only measure of a great game.
Video games (RPGs in particular) were doomed exactly when strategy guides became a decent source of revenue. Instead of challenging a gamer's problem-solving skills, this forced developers to artificially lengthen games, by either requiring the player to grind for experience points, or to grind in order to raise his/her skill level. Personally, I prefer to work on my skills in a game, but each is still technically grinding.
And sure, you could say "I don't buy strategy guides", but the damage has already been done. Games have changed.
So for everyone saying "20 hours or less? Not good enough!" - Be careful what you wish for. I'm glad you have enough free time, and you are obsessive-compulsive enough to grind your way through those extra hours. I sure don't, and the idea that your whining is actually being heard by game developers is SO frustrating to me.
I can't believe I'm making this point, but here goes...
As a web developer I actually appreciate the bloat. The average user does not have patience to look for extensions that fill in the core features that other browsers offer. Without the "bloat", those users would have likely stayed with IE, Microsoft would have no motivation to improve, and we'd likely be stuck developing for something much closer to IE6... ugh...
So for me, bloat is forgivable -- I'm just happy we're finally at a spot where web standards are taking hold. It's hard for Microsoft to embrace and extend they're losing so much ground.
The chorus calling for the "end to US control over the Internet" will morph into the "end of ICAAN control, because they are not subject to oversight." Withe the "solution" being the same - UN oversight.
They are not looking for more freedom - they want more control.
I think we're missing the point. This isn't about Google or Microsoft, or even Wave. This is about some guy trying to achieve Jesse James Garrett status by coining an even more annoying buzzword than Web 2.0. Don't let it happen!!
Why can't we just stick with "...considered harmful" and move on, Ozzie? Please??
The Ctrl+Tab functionality is still there, they just removed the new interface that they had added in beta 1..
Mod parent up. I'm using the latest nightly, and you can still CTRL+TAB. It just removes the screen previews from the previous beta, which IMO were slow and annoying.
I wonder how many people have stopped to think through the implications of this charge. If it's proven to be true, it could very well mean Diebold's CEO is guilty of treason. In a time of war (which President Bush has repeatedly said is the case), that's a death penalty offense. While I don't favour the death penalty, I think you have to take a very serious look at it for somebody who hasn't just killed people, but who has attempted to kill democracy in an entire nation. This particular incident may have been restricted to one state, but Diebold has been very active in attempting to get its machines and methods protected from legal supervision at the federal level.
So what you're saying is, not only are liberals going to actively pursue the death penalty, but they're going to have to admit that we're at war to get there?
I don't know if I see that happening.. But I'm heading to the grocery store for some popcorn, just in case.
The final straw for me was when they introduced the god-awful fake pop music, complete with vocals and lyrics about Sonic. Something about it just really makes me cringe.
It's so amazing how far comment spam bots have come, and how they're beginning to post text that's so close to coherent speech. Only, I can't find the URL it's advertising. Odd...
That might be true with systems, but not with games. And unless the retailer is selling the console above the suggested retail price, they make 0$ profit on systems.
Also, consider that many consoles purchased at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc will be traded in to Gamestop to be resold for 20-30$ (US) less than the new units. The large retailers don't sell pre-owned items, which is a VERY profitable part of EB/GS business.
So if you're basing your prediction on the number of new consoles Gamestop is receiving, then no, Gamestop is not dead.
I'm an EB employee in Columbus, Ohio, and I helped open the store on Sunday for the Wii launch. I wasn't around for the PS3 launch, but my manager was, and according to him our store has sold one game for the PS3 so far. OTOH we've sold at least 30 or 40 Wii games since the Sunday launch. Apparently not many shoppers want to play games for the PS3 (yet), and Sony obviously has eBay to thank for their sales reports.
Sony could look at the high prices of the resales on eBay, and decide that $600 is not too high a retail price to pay. Hopefully they're re-evaluating their decision to use scarce components and, in turn, suppress their supply. IMO if the Wii supply was suppressed as much as the PS3, eBay would have similar high bids for that console as well.
Disclaimer: In case you couldn't tell, I am a Nintendo fanboy. But if something better and more innovative comes along, I'll be happy to jump ship =)
As a former EB Games employee, I remember being frustrated at the large number of customers who would purchase the strategy guide along with the game at release, and then have the nerve to complain that the game was "too short". It's since been my opinion that the growing strategy guide market has encouraged developers to use "cheap" methods to increase the average gameplay time.
Games were much more satisfying before the popularity explosion of guides and cheats =/
Nintendo Dream closed off by asking Miyamoto to name the version of Zelda he personally prefers. The master game maker said that he'd play the Wii version, but added that both versions will be fun.
What? What kind of stupid question...? What did they expect him to say?
"I think I'd prefer the Gamecube version. Playing with the Wii controller just isn't intuitive - as a matter of fact, don't bother buying one. I wasted my time helping produce it, and it's embarrassing to me. Death, come quick come quick come quick..."
For me, the Xbox was much more fun online than the PS2 due to the fact that they actively maintained the network. While I could play SOCOM and deal with the abundance of hacks and online Pro Action Replay users, it just wasn't fun compared to any time I'd sit and play Rainbow Six 3 or even Halo2. And while I credit MS for not regarding its online game system as something that could police itself, I also understand that they wouldn't have done so if it weren't for the monthly fee.
On the end-user side, the presence of a monthly fee also helps cut down on people who would not otherwise regard their online gaming as a privilege. Sure, you have brats and cheaters, but not near the amount that were on the free PS2 connection.
Here's to hoping that the improvements in the online capability of the DS (compare Mario Kart DS to Metroid Prime Hunters) will carry on to the Wii, and continue to get better.
::fingers crossed:: And maybe my dream will come true. What are the chances of Nintendo buying all companies responsible for creating Pro Action Replay and like devices, and only releasing them for competing systems? I would love to see that =)
The AJAX hype is like the DHTML craze all over again. IMO if you can't create a site using remote scripting without suppressing the urge to advertise to the world that you're doing so, chances are you're abusing the technology. Why should your user base care what the hell technology you're using? It should just work.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not sure what low UID's have to do with anything. I can be just as stupid as anyone here, I promise =)
I think you're misunderstanding me. My argument isn't that games used to be shorter. It's that they weren't artificially longer like they are now, and I believe strategy guides, GameFAQs, etc. are to blame. There are very few "secrets" baked into a game anymore, and if some special item is hidden, there's little to no chance you'll find it without the aid of some guide.
Contrast this with the 8-bit Zelda games, where it was entirely possibly to find everything in a game without the aid of any guide, simply because strategy guides were not mass-produced and pushed out at game launch like they are now.
So when I see a /. article like this one, where it's possible they've realized the toll all this freely available information is having on gaming as a whole and are finally cutting the fat to deal with it, you can imagine my frustration at all the crying that games won't be so long, as if that's the only measure of a great game.
Video games (RPGs in particular) were doomed exactly when strategy guides became a decent source of revenue. Instead of challenging a gamer's problem-solving skills, this forced developers to artificially lengthen games, by either requiring the player to grind for experience points, or to grind in order to raise his/her skill level. Personally, I prefer to work on my skills in a game, but each is still technically grinding.
And sure, you could say "I don't buy strategy guides", but the damage has already been done. Games have changed.
So for everyone saying "20 hours or less? Not good enough!" - Be careful what you wish for. I'm glad you have enough free time, and you are obsessive-compulsive enough to grind your way through those extra hours. I sure don't, and the idea that your whining is actually being heard by game developers is SO frustrating to me.
It's hard for Microsoft to embrace and extend they're losing so much ground.
Sorry, /if/ they're losing so much ground.
I can't believe I'm making this point, but here goes...
As a web developer I actually appreciate the bloat. The average user does not have patience to look for extensions that fill in the core features that other browsers offer. Without the "bloat", those users would have likely stayed with IE, Microsoft would have no motivation to improve, and we'd likely be stuck developing for something much closer to IE6... ugh...
So for me, bloat is forgivable -- I'm just happy we're finally at a spot where web standards are taking hold. It's hard for Microsoft to embrace and extend they're losing so much ground.
Happy Birthday, Firefox =)
They could have made the reward $100,003 instead...
The chorus calling for the "end to US control over the Internet" will morph into the "end of ICAAN control, because they are not subject to oversight." Withe the "solution" being the same - UN oversight.
They are not looking for more freedom - they want more control.
+1 Insightful. Alas, I have no mod points now. =/
I think we're missing the point. This isn't about Google or Microsoft, or even Wave. This is about some guy trying to achieve Jesse James Garrett status by coining an even more annoying buzzword than Web 2.0. Don't let it happen!!
Why can't we just stick with "...considered harmful" and move on, Ozzie? Please??
Dwight Schrute? Is that you?
But isn't that why there's a master password? I'd use that feature and protect it.
Relax. CTRL+TAB is still there, only without the cute screen preview menu from the previous beta.
The Ctrl+Tab functionality is still there, they just removed the new interface that they had added in beta 1..
Mod parent up. I'm using the latest nightly, and you can still CTRL+TAB. It just removes the screen previews from the previous beta, which IMO were slow and annoying.
I wish the summary were more clear.
to whitelist/blacklist storing items in your history/cache by URL? They have it for just about everything else!
Right-click, go to "View Page Info", and click "Permissions". It should be right there. Any takers on writing an extension for this?
Why would we want war robots to have no instinct for self-preservation when that's the reason for war in the first place?
For those leaders/countries who wage war, it will only satisfy as long as their side is the only side with these robots.
I wonder how many people have stopped to think through the implications of this charge. If it's proven to be true, it could very well mean Diebold's CEO is guilty of treason. In a time of war (which President Bush has repeatedly said is the case), that's a death penalty offense. While I don't favour the death penalty, I think you have to take a very serious look at it for somebody who hasn't just killed people, but who has attempted to kill democracy in an entire nation. This particular incident may have been restricted to one state, but Diebold has been very active in attempting to get its machines and methods protected from legal supervision at the federal level.
So what you're saying is, not only are liberals going to actively pursue the death penalty, but they're going to have to admit that we're at war to get there?
I don't know if I see that happening.. But I'm heading to the grocery store for some popcorn, just in case.
(yes, you can mod me down now)
The final straw for me was when they introduced the god-awful fake pop music, complete with vocals and lyrics about Sonic. Something about it just really makes me cringe.
You're right. Everyone knows it was A. A. Milne.
It's so amazing how far comment spam bots have come, and how they're beginning to post text that's so close to coherent speech. Only, I can't find the URL it's advertising. Odd...
... but if the knockoff alternatives lack the DRM that the authentic products contain, I'd probably consider purchasing the knockoff as well.
That might be true with systems, but not with games. And unless the retailer is selling the console above the suggested retail price, they make 0$ profit on systems. Also, consider that many consoles purchased at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc will be traded in to Gamestop to be resold for 20-30$ (US) less than the new units. The large retailers don't sell pre-owned items, which is a VERY profitable part of EB/GS business. So if you're basing your prediction on the number of new consoles Gamestop is receiving, then no, Gamestop is not dead.
I'm an EB employee in Columbus, Ohio, and I helped open the store on Sunday for the Wii launch. I wasn't around for the PS3 launch, but my manager was, and according to him our store has sold one game for the PS3 so far. OTOH we've sold at least 30 or 40 Wii games since the Sunday launch. Apparently not many shoppers want to play games for the PS3 (yet), and Sony obviously has eBay to thank for their sales reports.
Sony could look at the high prices of the resales on eBay, and decide that $600 is not too high a retail price to pay. Hopefully they're re-evaluating their decision to use scarce components and, in turn, suppress their supply. IMO if the Wii supply was suppressed as much as the PS3, eBay would have similar high bids for that console as well.
Disclaimer: In case you couldn't tell, I am a Nintendo fanboy. But if something better and more innovative comes along, I'll be happy to jump ship =)
Place this in your profile/chrome/userChrome.css file:
As a former EB Games employee, I remember being frustrated at the large number of customers who would purchase the strategy guide along with the game at release, and then have the nerve to complain that the game was "too short". It's since been my opinion that the growing strategy guide market has encouraged developers to use "cheap" methods to increase the average gameplay time.
Games were much more satisfying before the popularity explosion of guides and cheats =/
Nintendo Dream closed off by asking Miyamoto to name the version of Zelda he personally prefers. The master game maker said that he'd play the Wii version, but added that both versions will be fun.
What? What kind of stupid question...? What did they expect him to say?
"I think I'd prefer the Gamecube version. Playing with the Wii controller just isn't intuitive - as a matter of fact, don't bother buying one. I wasted my time helping produce it, and it's embarrassing to me. Death, come quick come quick come quick..."
For me, the Xbox was much more fun online than the PS2 due to the fact that they actively maintained the network. While I could play SOCOM and deal with the abundance of hacks and online Pro Action Replay users, it just wasn't fun compared to any time I'd sit and play Rainbow Six 3 or even Halo2. And while I credit MS for not regarding its online game system as something that could police itself, I also understand that they wouldn't have done so if it weren't for the monthly fee.
On the end-user side, the presence of a monthly fee also helps cut down on people who would not otherwise regard their online gaming as a privilege. Sure, you have brats and cheaters, but not near the amount that were on the free PS2 connection.
Here's to hoping that the improvements in the online capability of the DS (compare Mario Kart DS to Metroid Prime Hunters) will carry on to the Wii, and continue to get better.
::fingers crossed:: And maybe my dream will come true. What are the chances of Nintendo buying all companies responsible for creating Pro Action Replay and like devices, and only releasing them for competing systems? I would love to see that =)
The AJAX hype is like the DHTML craze all over again. IMO if you can't create a site using remote scripting without suppressing the urge to advertise to the world that you're doing so, chances are you're abusing the technology. Why should your user base care what the hell technology you're using? It should just work.