Top 20 Gaming Lows of 2004 434
An anonymous reader writes "Gamepro has posted a story about the gaming lows in 2004 -- a fair roundup of all the junk that's happened this past year. Those poor smugglers..."
He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion
Not all of them are lows (Score:2, Insightful)
13) Legislators Move to Restrict Sales of Mature Games--And Fail
Politicians raise a rhetorical maelstrom for the opulence of violence in video games, but ultimately leaves a barely discernable ripple in the industry. Targeting games such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Manhunt, legislators from Florida and California sought to more strictly enforce sales of violent games to minors--some even suggested making it a third-degree felony for allowing minors to obtain a copy of
Indeed. (Score:5, Insightful)
But, I think the point of this list wasn't so much "bad things in gaming" as "embarrasing news items in gaming". And Acclaim's Infinium-like final flameout was nothing if not embarrasing.
Re:Indeed. (Score:3, Funny)
Bizarre.
Re:Indeed. (Score:2, Insightful)
Well... "Young Turks" is one of the songs in the in-game soundtrack of GTA: San Andreas..
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:5, Interesting)
The last time I went to walmart, I bought a video game that was rated M (One of those repacked Midway arcade series things... god knows why it was rated M, the whole screen consists of about 200 pixels.) Anyway, the Wal-Mart cashier carded me. I gave him a funny look and he said he had to make sure I was at least 18. Apparently Wal-Mart has decided that they are going to act as a surrogate parent to video game buyers.
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:3, Interesting)
I find the whole thing rather annoying. This is why I tend to shop elsewhere.
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:2)
The basic idea, far as I understand it anyway, is that it doesn't piss off the majority of the customers and it makes a few (say, some of the nearby parents) feel better about the store.
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:5, Insightful)
There's a reason that theatrical releases don't get as much parental grief as they could: they're perceived as making strides to police themselves. Video games have to give the same vibe, or we're going to have more legislation every year.
This isn't just about freedom, but about maturation on the industry. Despite the fact that's it's a multi-billion dollar business, it still has a stigma that should accompany something much smaller and seedier. Industry-enforced policing tells people that it really is an industry.
So if it means that a 12-year-old has to have daddy buy "Kill Mail Murder Destroy Deluxe 5" for him, it's a tradeoff I can accept.
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:2)
While a felony is excessive (Score:5, Insightful)
This is perhaps not a real problem for console games, since they are on the TV and you can watch your kids playing them, but what about handheld games? The portables are getting very powerful and realistic (I think I may have to get myself a DS), and you can't very well be hovering over your kids' shoulders all the time, it defeats the point.
So say you get your 13 year old kid a handheld, and a selection of fun games who's content you find appropriate. However, some day when he has free time, he slips over to a game shop near his school and picks up a rated M game who's content you do not find appropriate. He swaps the label for something else, and you are none to the wiser.
All this is easily prevented, as with R movies, by simply not allowing kids to buy the game. If you decide it is appropriate for your kids, you can buy it for them, while your neighbour might decide it is not appropriate for their kid and not.
I don't see any real problem, it's no more inconvienet than being carded to buy tobacco or alcohol. It helps ensure that parents are the ones who decide what is appropriate for their kids and when.
It's a nice ideal to say "Well parents should always know what their kids are doing" but that's just not how it works. You cannot watch your kids 24 hours a day. Even if you could, you wouldn't want to because an important part of development is feeling a sense of control and independence. If you are hovering over their shoulder all the time, that won't happen.
Re:While a felony is excessive (Score:3, Interesting)
No, overzealous parents don't help (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, for many parents, there's a happy medium between total restriction and no restriction. As an example one of my coworkers, who is the father of two boys around 12 years old, asked about UT 2004. He was thinking of getting it for his kids, but wanted to check it out first. I let him borrow my copy and he tried it. He decided that it was acceptable, but with the parental controls engaged turning down the gore level. GTA, on the other hand, he finds unacceptable (though fun).
However the shooters are a new thing for them, he didn't used to let his kids play them, he just feels they've grown up enough that it's ok now. In a couple years, he'll allow for more gore and probably most M rated games.
But that's a decision for him to make, and restricting the sale of M games helps. An M rating doesn't mean he won't let his kids play it, it means he needs to evaluate it first, then make a decision. A T rating means that it's probably fine as is since it limits the amount of violence and such allowed.
You can't fix stupid parents, but the ratings can help responsible parents do their job easier.
Re:While a felony is excessive (Score:3, Insightful)
And if you're kid's smart enough to be sneaking around like that, then chances are good they're old enough to play the game. A little gratuitous violence and sexuality never hurt anyone.
Re:While a felony is excessive (Score:3, Insightful)
It's a nice ideal to say "Well parents should always know what their kids are doing" but that's just not how it works
It's a nice ideal to say "By censoring out any information which I think will make my children not think things that I want them to, I will make them better people". But that isn't how things work in real life, IMO.
Re:While a felony is excessive (Score:2)
Re:While a felony is excessive (Score:4, Insightful)
And having the stores act as mommies is going to make kids feel in control and independent?
Re:While a felony is excessive (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:2)
But in most cases, you only see the movie once. Games you see over and over for days, weeks or months on end. The effect is stronger, and lasts longer. That's not to say the movie ratings system may not need tweeking, but it does explain why the games people are sricter.
Re:Painfully interesting indeed... (Score:3, Insightful)
You must not be an American?
I don't think revamping the ratings system will will fix the problem per se. My reason for promoting a ratings revamp that would span across all media is based on the fact of being able to make good decision based on strict rules. If you are looking for smut, then you may or may not bea able to find it in an R rating. The same goes for games -- if
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:2, Interesting)
And indeed, there is societal accpetance. Every day, I have the thrill of watching Channel One news at school, and as such see a pretty fair amount of exactly wha
Parents need help not more worries (Score:2, Insightful)
Fast food
Junk food
Violence and sex on TV
Children of slacking parents
Violence and sex in Video games
Violence and sex on the internet
advertising advertising advertising for all sorts of useless sh*t, etc.
Give a break. Or rather, give me a hand. Get the fast food out of t
Re:Parents need help not more worries (Score:2, Insightful)
No, it didn't.
Fast food
It was in schools before. The difference was we made students workout at least 1 period out of the school day and we DID NOT have this "everyone is equal" mentality. There are winners and losers, period. Get it out of peoples minds that "everyone's a winner" and you'll start to see things turn back.
Junk food
Same as above.
Violence and sex on TV
Might be a little more now, but with hundreds of channels, I still have no
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:3, Insightful)
You ALWAYS have a huge 4 inch logo for cingular on your screen and there are billboard ads everywhere. Fricken nightmare.
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:3, Insightful)
Since you seem to feel that a parent should have a right to keep their kids from buying certain games (or CDs or movies or whatever the medium of the day is), I'm curious as to how you expect them to go about that. Are parents supposed to keep their kids chained up so they can never go anywhere near a store that sells violent video games? Are they supposed to monitor and watch their k
Re:Not all of them are lows (Score:4, Insightful)
Lame List (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Lame List (Score:5, Interesting)
At first I thought that my expectations for it had just been too high, or that my tastes in gaming had begun to change... but now that HL2 is out, I can be sure that neither of these things were true, and Doom 3 was, in fact, just a crappy game. Ravenholm was one of my favorite parts of HL2, and that kind of atmosphere was what I expected throughout Doom 3. It didn't deliver.
HL2's Steam system being on this list while Doom's craptasticness is omitted is unjust.
Re:Lame List (Score:4, Interesting)
I know when I'm playing a good FPS; I only get that 'I'm starting to get bored' feeling after the 3rd or 4th day (usually on the second go through). I played Doom 3 through once - I started again on 'hard' and I just lost interest half way through.
The other problem with the perception of Doom 3 is that the two decent FPSs which came before and after (FarCry and HL2) are just *way* better. If you took Doom 3 and sent it back in a time machine to 2002, perhaps it would have been that ground breaking smash-hit that people were expecting.
I'm certainly looking forward to games by Ravensoft et al. based on the Doom 3 engine.
Re:Lame List (Score:3, Insightful)
That said, HL2 was a great game too, but in a different way - I loved Doom III's tense atmosphere and amazing (on my system at least) gra
Re:Lame List (Score:3, Informative)
Here's a tip to survive that spot without taking any damage:
Take out each sentry gun, turn it around, and then put it back in its storage slot. (You might want to make sure a sentry gun is in a slot on the outside of the little corridor
Re:Lame List (Score:2)
Re:Lame List (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:HL2 was crap too... (Score:3, Insightful)
I wonder if game makers go through cycles where they are so overwhelmed with new technology that they can't make a non-linear game to save their lives. There was a whole series of RPGs for the playstation that were mind-numbingly linear, then they got better, then Final Fantasy X came out (linear again). Is there a trend where the "ground breaking" games are more hype than substance, because of the new technical challenges?
Re:Lame List (Score:2)
The graphics were good. However, the gameplay was about the same as a 2D scroller. The game constantly kept you on the same path, without giving you true freedom of movement. You basically had the choice to either move forward or backward.
Half-Life 2 had thi
Re:Lame List (Score:2)
Re:Lame List (Score:2, Informative)
You could probably make it fun if you had a chain saw, a rocket launcher and a plasma gun.
I'm not entirely sure that's true... (Score:5, Insightful)
And when children blame their misdeeds on the video game, the parents will be blamed and not the industry.
Re:I'm not entirely sure that's true... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I'm not entirely sure that's true... (Score:2, Insightful)
However, the problem with legislation is that
a) Legislation can alost always been too broadly interpreted or loopholes in the wording can have unintended consequences
and b) It's really NOT the place of the state to dictate what is and is not the appropriate way for a parent to raise his/her child. I'm sure that legislation would prevent kids from playing a lot of games that I think they shouldn't be playing, but that is not my choice or anyone else's choice to make. Only the parent should be making t
Re:I'm not entirely sure that's true... (Score:2)
How is this a low? (Score:4, Insightful)
every page had at least one thin that was politically motivated. "video games make kids fat" " Legislators Move to Restrict Sales of Mature Games--And Fail" "Video Games--The New Terrorist Device of Choice" etc. I think someone had an axe to grind
Re:How is this a low? (Score:2)
and you repost that on Slashdot? you're a troll magnet baby...
Re:How is this a low? (Score:2)
In fact, they said nary a word about Nintendo, and I rather expected them to be up there somewhere. They may even deserve a spot up there somewhere, for all their gaming quality, it's been a tough year for them in console sales.
you know what i think (Score:2, Informative)
They forgot to list... (Score:3, Insightful)
What's next? An ADDITIONAL PC required to process graphics for the main system? No wonder why I prefer console gaming!!
Re:They forgot to list... (Score:4, Informative)
For the curious it's the MSI brand of 5200 with 128MB of ram and 8x AGP interface. It has a massive [but short so it doesn't hit neighbouring cards] heatsink and that's it. The thing gets a bit warm during play but that's about it.
I'm sure the same calibre GPU two years ago would have required a fan + more power. I'm sure 2 years from now the 6800FX will be a "moderate" card by the newer standards.
So if you don't need excessive GPU power right now get a 5200FX series card. They're good bang for buck. I mean for 100$ [cdn] I got
1. nvidia GPU [e.g. works in linux with good 3d in x86_64 mode]
2. 128MB of DDR 400 memory
3. AGP 8x interface [sounds impressive]
4. Capable DX and GL support
5. Card that can play modern games, specially UT2k4
6. Drives a 1280x1024 LCD monitor at 75Hz
Tom
Re:They forgot to list... (Score:3, Interesting)
You're spot on. I just replaced my son's GF3 Ti200 with an on-sale GF FX 5700LE. While the 5700LE does need a fan, it doesn't need the molex connector like my 5600 Ultra that I purchased a year and a half ago. (The two cards are approximately equal in performance.)
Re:Erm... (Score:2)
That's like selling 100GB disks making the customer think it's 100GiB...
ARRG I HATE THE WORLD!!! PEOPLE ARE JUST NOT HONEST!!! FUCK HUMANITY FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK HUMANITY!!!!
Re:They forgot to list... (Score:2)
Also ATI support for linux [and specially x86_64] SUCKS ASS.
As for your CRT.... I doubt that. I don't know of many commercial CRTs [at retail outlets] that will do 1600x1200 let alone at 140Hz. The card may be able to output that but I doubt your monitor can.
Tom
Re:They forgot to list... (Score:3, Informative)
X-bit Labs did tests to show this. These tests [xbitlabs.com] show there is not a difference that is significant in power consumption throughout, although the new XT cards are improving with their heat loss and power consumption.
Re:They forgot to list... (Score:2, Informative)
Go back to playing FPS with controllers.
Re:They forgot to list... (Score:3, Insightful)
And don't get me started on load times. a PS2 takes about as long to load a map of an average game as doom3 takes to load >512megs of a single map. You can't even compare them
Re:They forgot to list... (Score:2)
They Forgot... (Score:5, Insightful)
Fileplanet offered a subscription-only WoW final stress test download that was by no means wait-free, as many users had to wait an excess of 24 hours to be able to download, and once they were able to download, it was a ripping-fast average rate of 3k/s.
1)Gamespy/Fileplanet still exists.
Author of the Article knows /. pretty well (Score:3, Funny)
Now, don't get me wrong, they are all "evil" but I have not found a place other than slashdot where I hear people argue on how much SCO or EA "suck" but geeks are found everywhere (or almost). In conclusion, the author is then a member of slashdot, isnt' that right COWBOY!
Number 1? (Score:2, Insightful)
And yes, they have a lock on the NFL, but there are other types of football and a lot of other sports.
Personally I think that long term some of the legislative efforts are going to be much worse for the industry than the few poor judgements made by EA.
---
Opinions here [blogspot.com] too. Read at your own risk :-)
Re:Number 1? (Score:2)
It's depressing to think that Origin, Maxis, Bullfrog and Westwood were all swallowed into the vile pool of slime that is EA, never to release a decent game again. Argh!!
Re:Number 1? (Score:2)
It's that EA is allowed to exist at all in its current form, really. It's a monopoly which regularly behaves in a predatory manner - fully exercising the business model set forth by Bill Gates and company.
Small game companies get bought out, or simply can't compete against the megolithic monster that is EA. When a small game company has the option of make a good game, or advertise, and they decide to make a good game -
No mention of the Ultima Online low-downs? (Score:5, Insightful)
Everything from the release of Age of Shadows (turning UO into a item-based PVP game and trying to make it a gigantic Diablo 2 clone) to the release of 7th anniversary edition (yet another expansion-pack for UO which wasn't worth the money).
Oh, and did I mention that EA is the one holding the lashes?
Gaming Low #21 (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Gaming Low #21 (Score:2)
The N-Gage entry is invalid for this year (Score:4, Interesting)
To complicate matters, I happen to think the N-Gage QD is quite a nifty device -- aside from being a cell phone it runs symbian software, has bluetooth (and can act as a remote control to my laptop). Also, it doesn't suffer from the drawbacks mentioned in the article (it isn't side talking, you *can* hot swap games and memory cards easily, etc).
On the gaming side of things, Sega just realeased a MMOG for the N-Gage called Pocket Kingdom which is a great game and a news maker in that it is the first true MMOG for a portable handheld. The campaign for that game has been running pretty strongly so it quite compensates for the ending of the other campaign mentioned in the article. Perhaps the author just didn't notice it since they have shifted more to online advertising than offline ads? Either way, again, the end of an particular ad campaign is hardly qualification for a "Lowest" point of the year.
Re:The N-Gage entry is invalid for this year (Score:5, Funny)
Such as paying people to hype their crap on slashdot?
Sierra! (Score:3, Insightful)
While technically still existing for the sake of retaining the brand, Vivendi Universal shut down cut its Seattle-based staff of 350--ending a long legacy of PC gaming. One of the most respected in the 80's and into the 90's, the company created games such as Kings Quest, Quest for Glory, Red Baron, Aces of the Pacific, and Aces Over Europe (from now defunct flight sim studio Dynamix). In not-so-consoling news, Leisure Suit Larry still lives on as a series of mini-games.
Heck, the loss of Space Quest alone is the saddest thing I've ever heard. Now.. those were games. Thank goodness for abandonware - even though I'm sure this Vivendi Universal company owns the rights, I'll still be downloading Space Quest games.
The death of the mid-sized developer. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The death of the mid-sized developer. (Score:2)
Stupid and Wrong (Score:3, Informative)
All the "video games are bad" items torn from the pages of mainstream newspapers should never have made it to this list. When damn near everyone plays or has a friend who plays video games the journalists and politicians behind these stories are pissing in the wind (and most of them know it).
Re:Stupid and Wrong (Score:2)
Support Steam (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Support Steam (Score:4, Insightful)
By keeping automatically Steam up to date, it makes pirates go nuts to have to update their distributions of games so hopefully systems like this will discourage pirates since it keeps them working nonstop. It is a fact that not long ago Valve has banned another 30 000 accounts from trying to use an invalid/cracked key and with those first 20 000 banned, it shows that Valve are commmitted to fight back against cheapskates.
Re:Support Steam (Score:3, Informative)
I just bought my first PC for work (having been an avid Mac user for 15+ years) and decided, while I was at it, to get some nice games to go with it. The HL franchise never registered with me, having been a Mac user, but I downloaded Steam one night and made a total impulse buy of the Silver HL2 package about a week before HL2 was released.
For me, Steam worked out slicker then dog snot. I paid like $60 and got all sorts of good content at that price;
Re:Support Steam (Score:5, Interesting)
And that's not the only reason for me to hate it, but it's the most important.
Re:Support Steam (Score:3, Insightful)
-How would you feel if you bought a book and read it, but somehow could not sell it or loan it to a friend?
-What if this sort of content control had always been in place for copyrighted works? How much would the world suck if the Mona Lisa disappeared when its first owner died, or if people weren't allowed to donate old books and DVDs to libraries?
Content control is a terrible idea. If it were perfect -- i.e. if i
Game mags going is no loss. (Score:4, Interesting)
With sites like GameFaqs, spending money on a gaming magazine is a true waste. Even strategy guides are a waste with all the detailed enthousiast faqs out there for free. Plus, the free faqs are actually honest. This is no longer the days of Nintendo Power.
What about the Sam and Max fiasco? (Score:5, Insightful)
But Lucas Arts sales people canceled it because the only thing they know how to market is yet another Star Wars title.
Is Lucas Arts planning on producing any title in the near future that is not a rehash of the Star Wars franchise?
I expect "JarJar's Big Adventure" or "Jedi of Gor" and day now...
Re:What about the Sam and Max fiasco? (Score:5, Informative)
That is not the reason that Lucas Arts gave.
Here [adventuregamers.com] is what Steve Purcell, the creator of Sam and Max had to say about the cancelation.
The Lucas Arts press release (which you obviously never read) gave the reason of the cancelation as "it was not the right time to release a graphic adventure". In other words, they could not figure out how to sell anything that was not a Star Wars game.
Quality (or lack thereof) had nothing to do with it.
Unique??!!??!!!??? (Score:3, Insightful)
I feel for these people, but I can't honestly tell the difference between one mag and another. The only difference I can see is the platform they focus on... other than that they contain 90% advertising.
With that many ad's, how can they possibly lose money?
Oh wait... someone has to want to SEE the CONTENT of the magazine, to be willing to put up with the ad's
I think that the gaming magazine market may be having a "correction" that is entirely appropriate given the vacuous wasteland that is their subject matter. When all you produce are reviews, throw out the occasional spoiler, and every once and awhile interview a meaningful industry player asking stupid questions like "was coming up with the sequel to Daikatana III difficult?" it is extremely easy to see how this is happening.
I think many of these rags are the product of an industry that is so brimful of cash, that any leaky bucket of a publication was able to sop up some of the spill. Once the novelty of the magazine settled down into predictable pablum, the reader voted with their wallet, and saved the ridiculous newstand price for these mags (I mean who subscribed?) for purchasing more games that they read reviews of for free online.
As soon as these magazines lost the ability to hide behind the "We're in start-up mode and just building our readership" excuse, they dried up and blew away.
Please learn from your mistakes Gaming mag industry... please surprise me with the originality of your content, the accuracy of your acumen, the ... FUCK IT, JUST COMP ME A SUBSCRIP.
Sour grapes? (Score:3, Insightful)
Smugglers in SWG a low?
EQ2 dead? OK, EQ2 might not be everyone's favorite, but ripping on EQ2 while praising WoW is just fanboy talk.
Re:Sour grapes? (Score:4, Interesting)
The way smuggler players were treated typified the entire SWG experience. SOE basically took a guaranteed hit and flushed it down the toilet by ignoring what players wanted and focusing on what marketing decided would pull in new players.
So yeah I agree that SWG as a whole was really one of the lows of 2004.
Re:Sour grapes? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think it's fan boy talk at all, I think to suggest that it is, is in itself much closer to 'fanboy talk' of the EQ2 variety. EQ2 has been widley fairly reguarded as a flop because people have full knowledged of how SOE run their titles and after SWG in particular customers were very shy of them.
In a building full of developers and IT workers from 20-35 only one has taken up EQ2 to my knowledge. People have never the less intentionally avoided EQ2 because they are fully aware of what to expect from an SOE title and by and large it's not something people equate with 'fun' (or competant mangement, witness SWG, PS). As we are a European office we don't have WoW here yet (a few weeks to go), but all the MMO players here are itching to play it again after having had such a great time in the open (and closed) beta.
Sony On Line grind-a-thons simply have little appeal in the wider market; as the take up of the more traditional gaming experience found in WoW has shown, which is unique centered around allowing players to solo any quest if they wish, not worry to much about money or skill and just concentrate on fun things like exporing, gaining new abilities (at a fairly rapid pace I might add) and learning about the game world. As a consequense of course it fails the hardcore players somewhat (due to the relative ease of levelling and the aquisition of items), though the genuine diversity of classes and races should provide a significant amount of longevity. The vast majority of people prefer games to be fun-centric with many rewards and the oppertunity to explore new environments, they don't want to play some crazy 3D fantasy equivolent of a hardcore Japanese shoot-em-up.
Of course some people find hardcore games provide 'a different form of entertainment', other people find them an exercise in frustration (I fall into the latter and get quite pissed off if a game is not entertaining or if I'm frustaded by an inadequte design). While the division is much smaller in the PA reading community (for example), the majority of gamers - both dedicated and casual - are in the same camp as me to a large extent.
I don't think this is an indication that people want easier games, indeed I don't think that has anything to do with it, though I mention this as it's often cited. The truth is people just want better games that don't fall back of doing repetative tasks (or illogical puzzles, or pixel perfect jumping puzzles, or big reverse-engineering puzzles where you try to workout how the game mechanics are implimented in order to get the most out of the game, rather than concentrating on just playing it in an abstract manner) as a way of demonstrating your commitment or ability.
I have a friend who plays L2, _a lot_. He has a Jedi in SWG. He really likes to level, to challange the game mechanics and 'beat' the game. In each an every game he evaluates it and uses all his reasources to reverse engineer the game mechanics to work out what weapon used on what monters at what level will allow you to level fastest or produce the most 'wins' in PvP, down to the (what can be surprisingly complex) math routines underneath. I think that L2 caters to players like him brilliantly and is a testament to NC Soft (as is CoH I would add, which caters to a totally differnt segment of players). That L2 has have very little take off in the west is hardly surprising though, it's just no the sort of experience most people are looking for in an entertainment title.
The same is true of EQ2. The wider world is simply much more impressed with WoW, no surprise it was Penny Arcade's game of the year. As comptent a follow up as it is and as good as it's parts are, I think EQ2 is a contender for anyone's game of the year as the crucial gratifying gameplay factor just isn't there.
We'll have a better idea by the spring/summer about how the EQ2 style of MMO is going to do agains
Just desserts for SOE (Score:3, Insightful)
What about JFK Reloaded? (Score:3, Insightful)
A game in which you re-enact the killing of JFK for yourself? And have the option of shooting civilians?
While other games may have assassination and killing people, but usually there is some decent end you achieve. This, on the other hand, is pure garbage, the game that legislators will be looking to when trying to 'tone-down' video games.
Re:What about JFK Reloaded? (Score:5, Insightful)
Decent end? In GTA? Or a host of other games? Especially those war games that are so popular. Killing nobody conscripts is suddenly okay but a pretty president from a wealthy and powerful family is hands off? Lets not get too "patriotic" here, comrade.
Its a game, get over it.
To me, this was a height of free expression and if Joe and Jane Sixpack don't like it, they can somehow force themselves not to buy it.
Number 8 Rules (Score:5, Funny)
No shit, who would want a handheld shaped like an overweight computer geek who runs a website with a stupid name?
Half-Life 2 Collectors Edition Inspired (Score:4, Informative)
#1 should have been Steam!!! (Score:3, Interesting)
Right now Steam exerts as much control over your computer as any Trojan, except we pay for the privilege. Steam tells you want to do, when you can do it, how you can do it, and can pull the plug for ANY reason. Right now Valve has pulled accounts for those who allegedly run warez versions of its game. But what's stopping it from branching out?
What if Valve gets bought out by Sony, for example, and Sony decides to crack down on MP3 and Divx files?
What if Valve decides to charge a monthly access to Steam?
What if Valve goes out of business or its servers get shut down?
And here's the important one: What if Steam makes mistakes and people who validly paid for the game gets screwed out of ALL of their Valve games?! Does Valve really think it has created the first perfect system in all of humanity?! From their press releases it sure sounds that way.
With Steam buyers of Half-Life 2 have given up any resale rights. They have given up any right to play the game off line. And despite the fact that the game is validated every time you play it, you're still stuck using the CD when you play. Oh, and by the way, if you have any other Valve games you lost the same rights on those too because Steam will conveniently convert them to its draconian DRM, free of charge.
And where is the advantage to the user?! If Steam eliminated all piracy of Half-Life 2, why isn't it cheaper?!
The bad news is that because Half-Life 2 is such a success, Steam will be the future of PC gaming. So it's only a matter of time before ALL games are sold this way. But the really bad news is because people are accepting this Palladium-lite in droves, it's only a matter of time before ALL software is sold this way!
Re:#1 should have been Steam!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Play games
when you can do it
When you're logged in with your games fully updated which is done automatically from servers faster than waiting lets say, in-line at fileplanet or searching for a mirror on google or filemirrors.
how you can do it
You can play offline if you save your login info in your pc. Otherwise, configure it as you want like HL1 (before Steam) via user-specific configs or use whatever tool to launch games. It's not any different.
and can pull the plug for ANY reason
That's right. If you hack and are caught, you're banned. If you're cd-key is spreaded among people, then your account is banned. Otherwise, its one account to have as long as Steam is online.
What if Valve gets bought out by Sony, for example, and Sony decides to crack down on MP3 and Divx files?
Valve made two games until now. Half-Life and Half-Life 2. That and several mods that they bought the rights or ported such as Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat. They are on top of their game and the last thing they'd do is let this company be acquired by a giant. Won't happend unless Valve screws up somewhere.
What if Valve decides to charge a monthly access to Steam?
Do you have a chain around your neck saying that you are owned by them? If they somehow decide that fees should be payed to use Steam for whatever reason, people aren't stupid, they will leave and so would I.
What if Valve goes out of business or its servers get shut down?
Steam servers going offline is the only thing that worries me. Without those servers, our copies would be useless but I guess a company that wouldn't want to lose loyal fans would release some kind of patch so we could play even at that worst possible scenario.
What if Steam makes mistakes and people who validly paid for the game gets screwed out of ALL of their Valve games?! Does Valve really think it has created the first perfect system in all of humanity
It could happend. If that happends, then nothing's stopping you from taking action against them. You have rights as a consumer and federal laws say so from Canada, US, UK, Germany, and many others. (Correct me if I'm wrong)
It's far from a perfect system but until now, it's doing the job that it's suppose to do. A lot of europeen customers got screwed because their dvd drive couldn't read their media. Valve ignored for a long time (I was going nuts too) but they eventually gave in and now theres no cd-check. They don't completely ignore us.
With Steam buyers of Half-Life 2 have given up any resale rights. They have given up any right to play the game off line. And despite the fact that the game is validated every time you play it, you're still stuck using the CD when you play.
Ignorant. Read my last statement. Valve did remove the cd-check. The file "Source Shared Securom.gcf" is no longer downloaded by Steam.
And where is the advantage to the user?! If Steam eliminated all piracy of Half-Life 2, why isn't it cheaper?!
I don't understand that logic. So if a product can be pirated, then it has to be more expensif? Damn dude! Lets Raise the price of Windows up to $5000 USD!
That's it that's all.
"I was carded buying a game" and other whines (Score:5, Insightful)
Listen, I work video game retail and my company requires that myself and all of my employees verify that a purchaser is 17 years or older before buying an M rated game. In many cases, it's certainly not necessary, but if you're carding one person, you should probably, as a rule, card everyone. I've seen 16 year olds who look like they're 29 and 29 year olds who look like they're 16.
"But I have a full beard!" Congratulations - I knew this girl in middle school who was rocking some chin hair for awhile. All of the kids used to send her to get pork rinds, Hustler and cigarettes from the local Exxon. Now I'm an overweight, porn addicted chain smoker.
If someone asks to see your ID and you're insulted or inconvenienced, talk to your doctor about changing your meds. We're not playing surrogate parent, we're just trying to enforce the ESRBs ratings here. I have had some of my employees NOT card teenagers when purchasing an M rated game and there have been instances where the parent came back wondering why we sold them Mortal Theft Autohunt: Streets of LA. This isn't a particularly good situation to be in for a company (or a store manager who has to calm an irate parent), so it's a good practice to have.
And trust me, I for one think that there are indeed many children not "of age" who are "mature" enough to play Manhunt or Halo 2. But it's not my job to decide that and there's certainly no harm in erring on the side of caution. Hell, you're going into your wallet anyhow; your ID is already right there, man!
Re:Article Text (Score:3, Funny)
Nice attempt at justifying cheap-ass karma whoring, but unfortunately it didn't work because the site is neither slow nor annoying to read over several pages.
Therefore, you rightfully find yourself modded down. Enjoy...
Re:Article Text (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Article Text (Score:2)
"Perhaps this is the game - the waiting - and then when the date comes, they'll say 'Good job, thanks for playing!'"
Re:Article Text (Score:2)
God, that's awful. Mod parent up!
It was NEWS from this year (Score:3, Informative)
The DNF reference refers to the news (from this year!) that they have selected a company to produce the physics engine for DNF. So, there you are - shameful news from this year.
Re:Top 10 Website lows of 2005 (Score:5, Funny)
Dear
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John P. Author
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You do realize
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that most web browsers
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have these things called
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"scroll bars", don't you?
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They let you put the entire
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article on one page where it
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is easier to read.
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Please make use of these
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"scroll bars" on your next
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article. Thank you.
Re:Top 10 Website lows of 2005 (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Top 10 Website lows of 2005 (Score:4, Insightful)
Video card reviews tend to be much worse. They make the charts unreadably small, slap 20 words of text with each chart and make the review 15 pages long with several hundred kb of advertising on each page.
Re:Top 10 Website lows of 2005 (Score:2)
I already use large fonts on my system, but still had to boost the font size up to 150% before I could read a word. Ah. IDG. That explains it -- those guys "design" for what they have on their locked down in-house machines.
Regards,
--
*Art
Re:Top 10 Website lows of 2005 (Score:5, Funny)
> NEXT->
> that most web browsers
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> have these things called
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> "scroll bars", don't you?
Hey, I know you! You're the guy from Tom's Hardware Guide!