Hmmm, I agree with you 100%, but without the negative connotation. Please, allow me to restate:
Gung-ho Mac users think of Apple as a philosophy as much as a product. Most people who buy iPods just want a good MP3 player. These people who just want an MP3 player will eventually decide they want another product, and won't accord Apple any special consideration because of it's success with the iPod.
Why not? Because it has the possibility to make the platform suck otherwise.
I really like the Wii's pricepoint. It makes me want to like the platform. But the focus that they have on softcore gamers makes me wonder it there will be any games for me to like on it.
Now, dig this: I don't have anything against 12 year old girls playing games. Or old people either. But I'm not that market. If children and old people want to play games like Halo and Ninja Gaidan and Soul Calibur and other games that I like, GREAT! Bring 'em on. I will take great pleasure in fragging/being fragged by them.
But if Nintendo wants to spend all it's time making the Barbi / My Little Pony crossover game, or Bingo - Large Type Version then how can I be excited about their platform? This isn't even to imply that these are the kind of games that children / the elderly would like (how would I know?) but if it's what the company thinks they'll like then it's what will get made.
I fear that nintendo will spend too much effort courting non-traditional gamers. That's very egalitarian, and I commend it. I won't begrudge them the platform. But I may have to look elsewhere for my own entertainment.
While movie watching, game playing, and full desktop use through the HMD would be cool, my sights are set lower (and higher).
A pair of glasses with see-through display. The resolution would of course be lower than what would be required by a full desktop these days. But I can imagine a low res friendly linux distro - does it already exist? Or maybe someone could drive it with a WinCE device.
Input would be tricky. But I have to imagine that it could be addressed somehow. My own HUD would let me take notes, scan back through them later, maybe look at maps, provide offline access to wikipedia (don't they have that now? 80Gb or something?) and basically provide the functionality of having memorized a good set of desktop references.
Of course, once it pics up steam as a project someone will integrate a digital camera to take pictures and attach notes to ( *snap* this is the building I am going to... *snap* this guy's name is Dave, and he's friends with Larry...) maybe even audio recording.
All sorts of stuff to enhance my everyday functioning starts with an HMD that goes to a laptop in a backpack, running appropriate software.
Backpack - check laptop - check HMD - possible software - possible input device - chording keyboard, maybe?
It'll be cool when we get it made. Seems like it could happen any time now. Someone sell the glasses and I bet some open source project will sprout around it.
It's kind of the same like with VR glasses. They came few years ago with big hype of being the NEXT GREAT THING. Nothing like that happend. Why? Price. Prices even now are too high. A way too high. It's not that VR glasses are not useful and fun. Everybody who tried them know - they ARE. But who's going to pay $2000 or more for them?
DUDE. They have little color LCD's on everything now. On your watch. On your Ipod Nano. On your $60 digital camera. WHY NOT IN SOME GLASSES??? Oh, you can get the sony ones for like $500. But seriously, people. It's just the screen. You have to plug it into something. It's not like you're buying a camera or an mp3 player or a computer or whatever. JUST SELL ME THE GLASSES, $100. Low res operating systems already exist. Just sell the glasses. Just do it. I know you can. Quit stalling.
They've built big and powerful alliances, they control vast in-game resources, and they're deeply involved in all of the political intrigue in the game. But they're stuck at this terrible point where no matter how much they collect, how much territory they control, there's still tons more out there.
You guys. We don't need to send the military to knock over dictatorships. All we need to do is get them hooked on WoW. If Napoleon had played WoW he wouldn't have been worrying about stifling trade with England - he'd have spent all his time... negotiating with the... spider-elf clan of... endor... something... I dunno I don't play WoW.
Seriously. If someone had sent Saddam a gift memborship or something he'd be texting people in-game about pen-missle (you know he'd be the type to get frothing mad) and we could get Blizzard to offer him Lvl100 gear if he'd just turn over Iraq to us. South American dictators... African Warlords... WHOEVER! Get 'em hooked on WoW and WE'LL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN! These types of O/C psychos would probably starve themselves to death playing WoW! It's BRILLIANT!
Dude is driving on the highway with his wife, and cuts off or is cut off by another driver. So he returns the favor. The incident escelates for a while and then dude eventually gets off the highway. He is followed by the nemesis car. He gets out to speak to the other driver at the end of the exit-ramp. The other driver gets out as well. The other driver shoots the wife of the man, who remained in the car.
Was the shooter correct to do what he did? No. Should he be found and prosecuted? Yes. Were the man and his wife greviously harmed by unnecessary over-reaction? Yes.
Did the first man court that over-reaction in the first place? Yes. Would refraining from being an asshole have been a safer course of action? Yes.
Even if the other guy is a bigger 'asshat', he should stay within the law.
I think should is the operative word here. Remember, you are starting from the premise that the other guy is a bigger asshat.
I need to know the PS3 has power. I need to be afraid that it might drain my bank account. Or set my room on fire. Or hurt me in other more subtle ways. Only then will I respect it.
You don't need the PS3. Allow me to tell you about the BADTIMES virus...
"I feel that buying a game directly from the game company, say through Steam or one of those download services, is GREAT."
I need to point out here that I still dislike steam.
1) I want a physical copy of the game I have bought. Likewise with music. Data goes *poof* too easily. Make a backup? Yes, it's called the install CD.
2) I do not want to have to interact across the intarweb in order to run the software that I have already purchased. I tried to play Halflife2 again a while back, after a long time away, but all my computer was interested in was downloading updates. And if Steam were to go belly up I guess I'd be outta luck, wouldn't I? (if everyone switches to this kind of service it will happen eventually)
I like buying music on Amazon because of the variety they offer, and I get to have the physical CD of the music. It will be a long time yet before I buy any media without any media.
You know, the RIAA sucks. And pop music sucks. CDs are too expensive. It's all true.
But I really have bought fewer CDs since I started downloading stuff.
Oh, all the geeks can be like 'That hasn't been SHOWN! There's no PROOF!' But these people are lying to themselves. There are a lot of people out there who download stuff willy-nilly who no longer get the itch to go out and buy a CD because they need some new tunes.
Lots of folks probably download music thinking to themselves "Oh, I'll buy this if I really like it..." maybe some of them even do so. I'm sure few people think to themselves "A-HA now I have stolen this and needn't pay for it!" (because people don't think of it as stealing, because it isn't) But for really real, people are downloading music and if nothing else they aren't getting the feeling of 'damn I need a new CD cause I have listened to all my old stuff a million times.'
Does porn hurt women? Does violent TV promote violence in children? Does music downloading cost the music industry? These things are hard to prove. In any one instance, the answer is '*I* don't hurt women / wasn't a violent child / wasn't going to give the RIAA any money anyway!' You can never really point to instance of one or the other. But in the background noise of society, it's there.
I don't necessarily think downloading music is wrong, but I think the RIAA clearly gets less traffic because of it. I've stopped downloading music, mostly. I got a hold of all the old tunes that I kinda dug but never felt was worth the price to buy ('Tarzan Boy', 'Mr. Roboto' etc.). Since I stopped, I've actually ordered some CD's from Amazon. Get the St. Germain one, 'Tourist' it's good.
I've been thinking about this sort of thing for about 5 years now. Unfortunately, I'm just some schmuck with a day job, not a technology directing captain of industry. =(
I'm totally enthused about this sort of thing. I don't think Wi/360/PS3 will be the direction to go, however. The Nintendo DualScreen is much closer to being on the right path. When we have:
DEVICE = handheld gaming system + GPS + wireless ethernet/internet...then the world of gaming will probably explode. Smart folks with resources like this guy can probably put something together with laptops or maybe PDAs and associated gear.
I imagined a 'first game' of computer-mediated tag. Players define a complex area/volume to be the playfield (square, circle, union, subtraction), rules may be made (speedlimit - perhaps location dependant), powerups deposited (enhanced 'tag' range, increased or decreased speedlimit) and away you go. Sounds like the pacman in NYC game already.
But the first generation of games will only establish a common metaphore. Games based on Tag, Hide N Seek, Capture the Flag, Assassins will take established physical world gaming concepts and begin to expand them. After that things will start to get weird. It'll kick ass.
Minneapolis (where I am) has a goony elevated/enclosed sidewalk system. It would be rad for these kinds of games. I look forward to one day taking my Nintendo GameMapper into the Skyway and finding an open invite game of "RedRover" to play in. Perhaps it would even keep track of weather I had played with any of the individuals in the current game before. Maybe it would beep to tell me that my Assasination target was within 100m. Perhaps these two games would overlap to create an interesting new experience.
This sort of thing could revolutionize not only games but social lives. I think it could be Really Big. Makes me wish I was in Frank Lantz' shoes.
Slashdot Mirror
Isn't that what marriage is for?
Duh! Marriage is for sex!
"...This has been sorely missing in Bush's Vision for Space Exploration." You don't think he actually remembers that, do you?
Hmmm, I agree with you 100%, but without the negative connotation. Please, allow me to restate:
Gung-ho Mac users think of Apple as a philosophy as much as a product. Most people who buy iPods just want a good MP3 player. These people who just want an MP3 player will eventually decide they want another product, and won't accord Apple any special consideration because of it's success with the iPod.
Why not? Because it has the possibility to make the platform suck otherwise.
I really like the Wii's pricepoint. It makes me want to like the platform. But the focus that they have on softcore gamers makes me wonder it there will be any games for me to like on it.
Now, dig this: I don't have anything against 12 year old girls playing games. Or old people either. But I'm not that market. If children and old people want to play games like Halo and Ninja Gaidan and Soul Calibur and other games that I like, GREAT! Bring 'em on. I will take great pleasure in fragging/being fragged by them.
But if Nintendo wants to spend all it's time making the Barbi / My Little Pony crossover game, or Bingo - Large Type Version then how can I be excited about their platform? This isn't even to imply that these are the kind of games that children / the elderly would like (how would I know?) but if it's what the company thinks they'll like then it's what will get made.
I fear that nintendo will spend too much effort courting non-traditional gamers. That's very egalitarian, and I commend it. I won't begrudge them the platform. But I may have to look elsewhere for my own entertainment.
-A
I thought this was going to be a controller to survive gamer rage
I was ready to be excited, thinking this was true. nerf is totally poised to own this market.
Rumble is totally a gimmik, I agree. But it is a gimmik that I have become accustomed to and have come to expect.
"This song is just six words long."
I know, I know, but at least it ties in with the poll.
While movie watching, game playing, and full desktop use through the HMD would be cool, my sights are set lower (and higher).
A pair of glasses with see-through display. The resolution would of course be lower than what would be required by a full desktop these days. But I can imagine a low res friendly linux distro - does it already exist? Or maybe someone could drive it with a WinCE device.
Input would be tricky. But I have to imagine that it could be addressed somehow. My own HUD would let me take notes, scan back through them later, maybe look at maps, provide offline access to wikipedia (don't they have that now? 80Gb or something?) and basically provide the functionality of having memorized a good set of desktop references.
Of course, once it pics up steam as a project someone will integrate a digital camera to take pictures and attach notes to ( *snap* this is the building I am going to... *snap* this guy's name is Dave, and he's friends with Larry...) maybe even audio recording.
All sorts of stuff to enhance my everyday functioning starts with an HMD that goes to a laptop in a backpack, running appropriate software.
Backpack - check
laptop - check
HMD - possible
software - possible
input device - chording keyboard, maybe?
It'll be cool when we get it made. Seems like it could happen any time now. Someone sell the glasses and I bet some open source project will sprout around it.
It's kind of the same like with VR glasses. They came few years ago with big hype of being the NEXT GREAT THING. Nothing like that happend. Why? Price. Prices even now are too high. A way too high. It's not that VR glasses are not useful and fun. Everybody who tried them know - they ARE. But who's going to pay $2000 or more for them?
DUDE. They have little color LCD's on everything now. On your watch. On your Ipod Nano. On your $60 digital camera. WHY NOT IN SOME GLASSES??? Oh, you can get the sony ones for like $500. But seriously, people. It's just the screen. You have to plug it into something. It's not like you're buying a camera or an mp3 player or a computer or whatever. JUST SELL ME THE GLASSES, $100. Low res operating systems already exist. Just sell the glasses. Just do it. I know you can. Quit stalling.
release "In Your Eyes" and then... Don't dump your crap into the marketplace
I would suggest that "In Your Eyes" is not one of Gabriel's stronger songs, unless maybe you're an angsty teenage girl.
holy shit *FLASH OF INSPIRATION*
They've built big and powerful alliances, they control vast in-game resources, and they're deeply involved in all of the political intrigue in the game. But they're stuck at this terrible point where no matter how much they collect, how much territory they control, there's still tons more out there.
You guys. We don't need to send the military to knock over dictatorships. All we need to do is get them hooked on WoW. If Napoleon had played WoW he wouldn't have been worrying about stifling trade with England - he'd have spent all his time... negotiating with the... spider-elf clan of... endor... something... I dunno I don't play WoW.
Seriously. If someone had sent Saddam a gift memborship or something he'd be texting people in-game about pen-missle (you know he'd be the type to get frothing mad) and we could get Blizzard to offer him Lvl100 gear if he'd just turn over Iraq to us. South American dictators... African Warlords... WHOEVER! Get 'em hooked on WoW and WE'LL NEVER SEE THEM AGAIN! These types of O/C psychos would probably starve themselves to death playing WoW! It's BRILLIANT!
News Flash: Too much of anything is bad for you.
The fact that this is common sense does not change the fact that some people need to be warned of it.
I'm reminded of a story I heard a while back:
Dude is driving on the highway with his wife, and cuts off or is cut off by another driver. So he returns the favor. The incident escelates for a while and then dude eventually gets off the highway. He is followed by the nemesis car. He gets out to speak to the other driver at the end of the exit-ramp. The other driver gets out as well. The other driver shoots the wife of the man, who remained in the car.
Was the shooter correct to do what he did? No. Should he be found and prosecuted? Yes. Were the man and his wife greviously harmed by unnecessary over-reaction? Yes.
Did the first man court that over-reaction in the first place? Yes. Would refraining from being an asshole have been a safer course of action? Yes.
Even if the other guy is a bigger 'asshat', he should stay within the law.
I think should is the operative word here. Remember, you are starting from the premise that the other guy is a bigger asshat.
Beowulf cluster of teens would work poorly.
...
1/IQ(tot) = 1/IQ(t1) + 1/IQ(t2) + 1/IQ(t3)
I need to know the PS3 has power. I need to be afraid that it might drain my bank account. Or set my room on fire. Or hurt me in other more subtle ways. Only then will I respect it.
You don't need the PS3. Allow me to tell you about the BADTIMES virus...
"I feel that buying a game directly from the game company, say through Steam or one of those download services, is GREAT."
I need to point out here that I still dislike steam.
1) I want a physical copy of the game I have bought. Likewise with music. Data goes *poof* too easily. Make a backup? Yes, it's called the install CD.
2) I do not want to have to interact across the intarweb in order to run the software that I have already purchased. I tried to play Halflife2 again a while back, after a long time away, but all my computer was interested in was downloading updates. And if Steam were to go belly up I guess I'd be outta luck, wouldn't I? (if everyone switches to this kind of service it will happen eventually)
I like buying music on Amazon because of the variety they offer, and I get to have the physical CD of the music. It will be a long time yet before I buy any media without any media.
You know, the RIAA sucks. And pop music sucks. CDs are too expensive. It's all true.
But I really have bought fewer CDs since I started downloading stuff.
Oh, all the geeks can be like 'That hasn't been SHOWN! There's no PROOF!' But these people are lying to themselves. There are a lot of people out there who download stuff willy-nilly who no longer get the itch to go out and buy a CD because they need some new tunes.
Lots of folks probably download music thinking to themselves "Oh, I'll buy this if I really like it..." maybe some of them even do so. I'm sure few people think to themselves "A-HA now I have stolen this and needn't pay for it!" (because people don't think of it as stealing, because it isn't) But for really real, people are downloading music and if nothing else they aren't getting the feeling of 'damn I need a new CD cause I have listened to all my old stuff a million times.'
Does porn hurt women? Does violent TV promote violence in children? Does music downloading cost the music industry? These things are hard to prove. In any one instance, the answer is '*I* don't hurt women / wasn't a violent child / wasn't going to give the RIAA any money anyway!' You can never really point to instance of one or the other. But in the background noise of society, it's there.
I don't necessarily think downloading music is wrong, but I think the RIAA clearly gets less traffic because of it. I've stopped downloading music, mostly. I got a hold of all the old tunes that I kinda dug but never felt was worth the price to buy ('Tarzan Boy', 'Mr. Roboto' etc.). Since I stopped, I've actually ordered some CD's from Amazon. Get the St. Germain one, 'Tourist' it's good.
A
something something something ourselves, we need to smoke more pot, am I right?
DUDE YOU ARE SO RIGHT. Pass the dutchie, yo...
what were you talking about?
Bush sucks, but the levee system had been underfunded since the late 60's.
Soul Calibur 2 is that great.
> That scene wasn't in TOS. I think what you mean is: "That scene didn't use to be in TOS."
I've been thinking about this sort of thing for about 5 years now. Unfortunately, I'm just some schmuck with a day job, not a technology directing captain of industry. =(
...then the world of gaming will probably explode. Smart folks with resources like this guy can probably put something together with laptops or maybe PDAs and associated gear.
I'm totally enthused about this sort of thing. I don't think Wi/360/PS3 will be the direction to go, however. The Nintendo DualScreen is much closer to being on the right path. When we have:
DEVICE = handheld gaming system + GPS + wireless ethernet/internet
I imagined a 'first game' of computer-mediated tag. Players define a complex area/volume to be the playfield (square, circle, union, subtraction), rules may be made (speedlimit - perhaps location dependant), powerups deposited (enhanced 'tag' range, increased or decreased speedlimit) and away you go. Sounds like the pacman in NYC game already.
But the first generation of games will only establish a common metaphore. Games based on Tag, Hide N Seek, Capture the Flag, Assassins will take established physical world gaming concepts and begin to expand them. After that things will start to get weird. It'll kick ass.
Minneapolis (where I am) has a goony elevated/enclosed sidewalk system. It would be rad for these kinds of games. I look forward to one day taking my Nintendo GameMapper into the Skyway and finding an open invite game of "RedRover" to play in. Perhaps it would even keep track of weather I had played with any of the individuals in the current game before. Maybe it would beep to tell me that my Assasination target was within 100m. Perhaps these two games would overlap to create an interesting new experience.
This sort of thing could revolutionize not only games but social lives. I think it could be Really Big. Makes me wish I was in Frank Lantz' shoes.
Adam Thorne