Just to correct your statement:
The USK (German version of the ESRB) puts an age recommendation on video games. I think possible is 0 for everyone, 6, 12, 16 and 18 years. As far as I know, games with a 16 or 18 rating must not be sold to people below that age (children younger than 14 are not even legally allowed to buy anything on their own, so the others are not that important). Retailers may face fines for doing so. In Germany, you have to have an ID card at the age of 16, so it is possible to verify your age.
With some titles, however, the USK may deny such a recommendation. The BPjM can only put games without a rating on the "Index". Games on this "index" may not be sold openly or advertised. People must at least be 18 years old to buy them. There is a second index. Things on this list may not be distributed or anything.
There are actually a few funny cases with censorship in German games:
1. Half Life: Every Soldier was replaced by (badly modelled) robots.
2. Counter Strike: (This one's hilarious) People do not die. When an enemy loses all his hit points, he sits down on the ground and shakes his head. I'm not kidding.
3. Soldier of Fortune 2: Everybody got replaced by robots. There even was a new introductory video that explained a different story to justify the robots.
4. Command an Conquer Generals: Suicide bombers were replaced by washing machines on wheels that exploded on contact. IIRC some other things were changed, too.
I don't have to mention, that there was no blood in these games, either. The international versions of these games are (or were, dunno) on the "index".
The "index" of video games, movies, music... is available here. You have to select "Ja, ich möchte die Inhalte von BPJM.com sehen" (Yes, I want to view the contents of BPJM.com) in the menu. Then you can select "indiziert". Optionally, you may select "Beschlagnahmt" and a law to view the second index.
Switched on cell phones are banned from the whole school compound. If you have something very important to tell your parents, you have to ask a teacher for permission.
But about your other point:
Here's an (unfortunately German) article with experts saying there should be an access restriction system to internet sites with those games. God knows what they have planned *shudders*
That is specifically my point (or one of my points, as I have many). I don't know about the USA, but in Germany day nurseries are rare and parents indeed let the TV raise their children.
If somebody thinks that such a ban is unlikely, think again. Bavaria, for example, banned cell phones in schools because of a few cases of violent videos on students' phones. Instead of solving the cause, they ban the symptoms. Experts already stated that the bill is likely to pass parliament.
It's a very sad situation in Germany. The attitude towards computer games is a joke. Games get bashed for everything.
Unfortunately, the ban may also include the production of violent computer games. If it passes (which, I hope, it doesn't) you may as well say goodbye to "Crysis" because Crytek is German...
I submitted a story about this, too, but it is still pending...
I agree with everything you said. The first MMO I would start playing is Eve-Online. The second would be Horizons (which, sadly, bombed) and I already played Ultima Online (Free RPG shards) some years ago. However, living in Germany with no possibility of getting a broadband connection, playing an MMO is almost impossible.
Ultima Online (at least on those free shards) was great, because it actually had a stand-alone economic system. Every action of a player affected the environment. One great example: There was a time on a shard, where most players had huge amounts of gold. The result: Inflation! Nobody wanted gold anymore and everything shifted to gems. Gems are actually not really valuable in UO (at least engine-wise), but player actions made them the official currency. Some time later, everything shifted back to normal.
I would like to see that in a modern MMO and I think in Eve-Online, something like that is possible. Remember the biggest raid in MMO history? In Eve-Online there was a huge infiltration going on for several months in the largest corporation and on cue, the whole corporation was wiped out in perhaps two hours. This is something that makes MMOs rich.
Moreover, why is it not possible for a player to be a powerful evil mage? He could send armies of enemies attacking the cities. Players will get enough of him and start a raid on his stronghold.
Why is it impossible to steal things in modern MMOs? Nobody likes it, when his stuff is stolen, but it makes the game richer. You have to care for your equipment. That evil mage could put his gear into his house, but it could be raided. So he puts his most valuable stuff into a chest in his own dungeon. Players will find out and start attacking that dungeon in hope of finding good items.
These things would make a really great MMORPG.
I recently read that the Wii actually can output 720p. However, it lacks the processing power to do so decently.
Here are the specifications from IGN, which have been online for several days:
http://wii.ign.com/launchguide/hardware1.html
Here's the part about HD:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/733/733464p7.html "Q: Can Wii do high-definition graphics? A: Technically, it's possible, but it's also implausible. Wii is more powerful than Xbox, a console whose library included a handful of games that ran in 720p HD. Furthermore, Wii features a multi-audio/video port with the option for component out, meaning that 480p through 720p/1080i resolutions are attainable, at least where wiring is concerned. However, due to both a miniscule amount of system RAM and less computing power when compared to HD-ready consoles like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the chance that most Wii games will break the 480p visual barrier is slim.
In fact, Nintendo executives have gone so far as to comment on the record that Wii does not support high-definition. The company wants Wii to be "quiet, small and affordable," and has thus focused its attention on the system's innovative new controller.
Nintendo's leaders have indicated that high-definition graphics are the future. But unlike Sony and Microsoft, which believe that the "HD era" has begun, the Big N asserts that widespread HD adoption will take years. The company's successor to Wii will support high-definition visuals. "
As a proud Bavarian, I am glad that Linux is finally getting the acceptance it deserves. My school, for example, uses Gentoo for its servers (Although it is maintained by some wannabe-geeks that mostly have no real clue about this stuff)
Now if only broadband would become more common in Bavaria, so that I could get a goddamn broadband connection and start using linux as a primary operating system instead of a dual-boot option that is never touched...
In Germany, the last time I checked the preorder PS3 prices (some retailers missed the news of the delay to March completely), it cost 630 EUROS! One Euro is about $1.25 at the moment. Do the math... that's about 790 dollars! I think German PS3 buyers get really screwed.
I don't care, however. I'm going to get a Wii anyway.
I think the problem is different. You can't just throw a dual core processor in to calculate physics. Physics is mostly floating point calculation and highly parallel. It is comparable to graphics calculations. Same thing: Highly parallel and floating point. There are GPUs that solve this issue and why shouldn't there be PPUs? However, it might be better to use a GPU for physics as those calculations are as I said similar. Best thing would be, as ATI is trying (see my post above) to build a general purpose GPU (GPGPU). It has massive floating point processing power but allows for all kinds of tasks.
The FPU of a CPU is not up to the task of calculating physics. It doesn't matter if it's dual core or not because the FPU stays the same.
Isn't ATI designing a GPGPU (general purpose GPU) at the moment? There are indications that there will be a new product called "Firestream" that might be such a thing.
This is my first post ever on Slashdot, so please be a bit indulgant (and above all, keep all those "You must be new here" jokes for yourselves)
I hear all this talk about the PS3 being future proof. Why is that? The only thing worth being called future proof is the BluRay drive. But in my opinion, this is by no means a guarantee for a future proof product. Suppose that HD-DVD is the winner of the format war. Now the great BluRay drive lost a huge bit of its purpose (watching HD movies) and can only be used for games. Let's even go a step further and assume, the HD formats are skipped altogether. Now Sony's stuck with its built-in drive and MS can simply stop producing its HD-DVD drives and continue selling the XBox360 (applies to Wii too, of course)
Furthermore, the XBox360 started in Dec 2005, a year before the PS3. MS could potentially start working on its next generation a full year earlier than Sony. Maybe then without a disc drive at all.
Last point: BluRay is still a pretty new format. What if Sony can't get its drives fast enough and reliable enough so that it's sufficient for new games? I don't know how fast DVD drives are nowadays, but I assume they are fast enough for every problem thrown at them by a gaming console.
PS: I'm waiting for the Wii as I never liked the Playstation for some reason unknown to even myself.
-Andy from Bavaria
Slashdot Mirror
Just to correct your statement:
The USK (German version of the ESRB) puts an age recommendation on video games. I think possible is 0 for everyone, 6, 12, 16 and 18 years. As far as I know, games with a 16 or 18 rating must not be sold to people below that age (children younger than 14 are not even legally allowed to buy anything on their own, so the others are not that important). Retailers may face fines for doing so. In Germany, you have to have an ID card at the age of 16, so it is possible to verify your age.
With some titles, however, the USK may deny such a recommendation. The BPjM can only put games without a rating on the "Index". Games on this "index" may not be sold openly or advertised. People must at least be 18 years old to buy them. There is a second index. Things on this list may not be distributed or anything.
There are actually a few funny cases with censorship in German games:
1. Half Life: Every Soldier was replaced by (badly modelled) robots.
2. Counter Strike: (This one's hilarious) People do not die. When an enemy loses all his hit points, he sits down on the ground and shakes his head. I'm not kidding.
3. Soldier of Fortune 2: Everybody got replaced by robots. There even was a new introductory video that explained a different story to justify the robots.
4. Command an Conquer Generals: Suicide bombers were replaced by washing machines on wheels that exploded on contact. IIRC some other things were changed, too.
I don't have to mention, that there was no blood in these games, either. The international versions of these games are (or were, dunno) on the "index".
The "index" of video games, movies, music... is available here. You have to select "Ja, ich möchte die Inhalte von BPJM.com sehen" (Yes, I want to view the contents of BPJM.com) in the menu. Then you can select "indiziert". Optionally, you may select "Beschlagnahmt" and a law to view the second index.
Switched on cell phones are banned from the whole school compound. If you have something very important to tell your parents, you have to ask a teacher for permission.
But about your other point: Here's an (unfortunately German) article with experts saying there should be an access restriction system to internet sites with those games. God knows what they have planned *shudders*
That is specifically my point (or one of my points, as I have many). I don't know about the USA, but in Germany day nurseries are rare and parents indeed let the TV raise their children.
If somebody thinks that such a ban is unlikely, think again. Bavaria, for example, banned cell phones in schools because of a few cases of violent videos on students' phones. Instead of solving the cause, they ban the symptoms. Experts already stated that the bill is likely to pass parliament.
It's a very sad situation in Germany. The attitude towards computer games is a joke. Games get bashed for everything. Unfortunately, the ban may also include the production of violent computer games. If it passes (which, I hope, it doesn't) you may as well say goodbye to "Crysis" because Crytek is German... I submitted a story about this, too, but it is still pending...
I agree with everything you said. The first MMO I would start playing is Eve-Online. The second would be Horizons (which, sadly, bombed) and I already played Ultima Online (Free RPG shards) some years ago. However, living in Germany with no possibility of getting a broadband connection, playing an MMO is almost impossible.
Ultima Online (at least on those free shards) was great, because it actually had a stand-alone economic system. Every action of a player affected the environment. One great example: There was a time on a shard, where most players had huge amounts of gold. The result: Inflation! Nobody wanted gold anymore and everything shifted to gems. Gems are actually not really valuable in UO (at least engine-wise), but player actions made them the official currency. Some time later, everything shifted back to normal.
I would like to see that in a modern MMO and I think in Eve-Online, something like that is possible. Remember the biggest raid in MMO history? In Eve-Online there was a huge infiltration going on for several months in the largest corporation and on cue, the whole corporation was wiped out in perhaps two hours. This is something that makes MMOs rich.
Moreover, why is it not possible for a player to be a powerful evil mage? He could send armies of enemies attacking the cities. Players will get enough of him and start a raid on his stronghold.
Why is it impossible to steal things in modern MMOs? Nobody likes it, when his stuff is stolen, but it makes the game richer. You have to care for your equipment. That evil mage could put his gear into his house, but it could be raided. So he puts his most valuable stuff into a chest in his own dungeon. Players will find out and start attacking that dungeon in hope of finding good items.
These things would make a really great MMORPG.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=204065&cid=166 86579
http://wii.ign.com/articles/733/733464p7.html
This should then also be wrong?
I recently read that the Wii actually can output 720p. However, it lacks the processing power to do so decently.
Here are the specifications from IGN, which have been online for several days: http://wii.ign.com/launchguide/hardware1.html
Here's the part about HD: http://wii.ign.com/articles/733/733464p7.html
"Q: Can Wii do high-definition graphics?
A: Technically, it's possible, but it's also implausible. Wii is more powerful than Xbox, a console whose library included a handful of games that ran in 720p HD. Furthermore, Wii features a multi-audio/video port with the option for component out, meaning that 480p through 720p/1080i resolutions are attainable, at least where wiring is concerned. However, due to both a miniscule amount of system RAM and less computing power when compared to HD-ready consoles like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the chance that most Wii games will break the 480p visual barrier is slim. In fact, Nintendo executives have gone so far as to comment on the record that Wii does not support high-definition. The company wants Wii to be "quiet, small and affordable," and has thus focused its attention on the system's innovative new controller. Nintendo's leaders have indicated that high-definition graphics are the future. But unlike Sony and Microsoft, which believe that the "HD era" has begun, the Big N asserts that widespread HD adoption will take years. The company's successor to Wii will support high-definition visuals. "
As a proud Bavarian, I am glad that Linux is finally getting the acceptance it deserves. My school, for example, uses Gentoo for its servers (Although it is maintained by some wannabe-geeks that mostly have no real clue about this stuff)
Now if only broadband would become more common in Bavaria, so that I could get a goddamn broadband connection and start using linux as a primary operating system instead of a dual-boot option that is never touched...
In Germany, the last time I checked the preorder PS3 prices (some retailers missed the news of the delay to March completely), it cost 630 EUROS! One Euro is about $1.25 at the moment. Do the math... that's about 790 dollars! I think German PS3 buyers get really screwed. I don't care, however. I'm going to get a Wii anyway.
I think the problem is different. You can't just throw a dual core processor in to calculate physics. Physics is mostly floating point calculation and highly parallel. It is comparable to graphics calculations. Same thing: Highly parallel and floating point. There are GPUs that solve this issue and why shouldn't there be PPUs? However, it might be better to use a GPU for physics as those calculations are as I said similar. Best thing would be, as ATI is trying (see my post above) to build a general purpose GPU (GPGPU). It has massive floating point processing power but allows for all kinds of tasks.
The FPU of a CPU is not up to the task of calculating physics. It doesn't matter if it's dual core or not because the FPU stays the same.
Isn't ATI designing a GPGPU (general purpose GPU) at the moment? There are indications that there will be a new product called "Firestream" that might be such a thing.
This is my first post ever on Slashdot, so please be a bit indulgant (and above all, keep all those "You must be new here" jokes for yourselves)
I hear all this talk about the PS3 being future proof. Why is that? The only thing worth being called future proof is the BluRay drive. But in my opinion, this is by no means a guarantee for a future proof product. Suppose that HD-DVD is the winner of the format war. Now the great BluRay drive lost a huge bit of its purpose (watching HD movies) and can only be used for games. Let's even go a step further and assume, the HD formats are skipped altogether. Now Sony's stuck with its built-in drive and MS can simply stop producing its HD-DVD drives and continue selling the XBox360 (applies to Wii too, of course) Furthermore, the XBox360 started in Dec 2005, a year before the PS3. MS could potentially start working on its next generation a full year earlier than Sony. Maybe then without a disc drive at all.
Last point: BluRay is still a pretty new format. What if Sony can't get its drives fast enough and reliable enough so that it's sufficient for new games? I don't know how fast DVD drives are nowadays, but I assume they are fast enough for every problem thrown at them by a gaming console.
PS: I'm waiting for the Wii as I never liked the Playstation for some reason unknown to even myself.
-Andy from Bavaria