Hardware improvements can have a huge effect on what you can and can't do with a game.
Don't believe me? I would like you to take the games that were released in 1992 and compare them with the games that were released in 2012. Computers are still computers, pushing 1's and 0's around. The only real difference is that hardware has gotten much much more advanced. Faster, more powerful, more parallel.
And where that really matters a lot is math and physics. Take Half-Life 2. The game play relied heavily on simulating real world physics. Using the gravity gun to throw something across the field to hit an enemy for instance. The math involved for that would have taken several computers a long time back in 1992 running at 66MHz.
(http://www.computerhope.com/history/1992.htm - Intel 486DX2 66MHz was the screaming fast top of the line chip)
Since we don't know much about the next series of consoles, it's hard to say what specifically they are designing the games to do. But there are, right now, modern computer games that will not run on the current consoles.
(http://www.gamespot.com/news/skyrim-dawnguard-dlc-may-never-come-to-ps3-6394066)
It's a bit like going to IKEA on a whim and then trying to fit an entertainment center in to the backseat of your sedan because for some reason you decided not to drive your minivan that day. (personal experience)
It becomes a case of "What am I willing to give up in order to get an entertainment center today. I can fit a box that is 60 inches, and that one is 80 inches long. So I need to go back upstairs and find an entertainment center that is 60 inches or less."
The decision makers at EA looked at their grand vision, looked at the next set of hardware, and then looked at the current hardware, and had to make a decision. "Do we start cutting pieces off until it will run, and make it look and play less than it's best, or do we sit on it for a little while, improve it, and wait till we have something that can do what we really want."
They could, however, start building a following for the console by releasing a PC version that makes use of modern technology. That may be to strategic for them to handle though.
tl;dr: designing games on the console RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT is a little bit like trying to get your feet into your baby shoes. Something is going to get removed to make it work. Wanting to wait for the better hardware so you can release something really impressive is not a bad idea.
tl;dr2: Release a PC version to start building the brand!
I was going to ask if the Hugo people, or the authors who were giving the speech if they could sue Vobile or Ustream to have all robots removed from the site, make them drop the ban hammer by hand, not automatically.
I supposed you could still have Vobile do the search, but instead of having ban privileges just give it flag privileges and then have a human review it if it applies.
But it also sounds like the Hugo people didn't read the fine print, so maybe it wouldn't go through.
Maybe the threat was to have all the stuff that is already in the public eye dragged together into one pile in the middle of the courtroom for the world to see how pathetic and shallow her life is.
Something like:
Old Navy: Ok, here's the deal, right now the pathetic wreckage that you made of your life is spread thinly across the world like a light dusting of ash from a crematory smokestack. We are giving you two choices. One, drop this, and we'll pull the commercial down and go our separate ways. Two, continue this and we'll pull every bad decision, every bit of dirty laundry, every closet skeleton, every bit of dirt and grime that we can find out into the open and shine a spotlight on it so bright that the world will ridicule you and the name Kardashian will become slang for shame. You know that guy you fooled around with in second grade? Yeah, he'll be up on the stand too.
I believe the word you're looking for is irony.
As in, isn't it ironic that she she might be mad that EA 'stole' the idea that she 'stole' from Dante, who probably 'stole' parts of it from Catholic literature and mythology...
The best result is the judge ordering the employees of the two companies to battle to the death...
EA will probably win, just because of numbers, and also Battlefield experience... Although Zynga has that that Mafia mojo going for it. Except that they stole that mojo, so it may not work as well.
Re: Re: Seems extremely easy to get arrested any more
What a coincidence, I'm a descendant of the First Farter!
Please send me my cut of the licensing money!
On a side note, I'm also descended from the first sneezer, who also did a lot of other bodily functions first. My lawyer will be sending the full list of things you should pay me for.
They are trying to get people to switch to IPv6, and not getting much cooperation...
"All of the sudden" law enforcement says that they can't track IPv6 addresses? Pull the other one.
It's just a ploy to try to get better IPv6 adoption.
And on a side note, I read that IPv6 has enough range to give every star in the universe an address, even if there were several billion times more stars in the universe. Why not just give every single network capable device it's own burned in IPv6 address that can't be changed no matter what. Then, all the sudden an IP address is a person, or at least a specific machine owned by a person.
Maybe the $25k is to cover the cost of getting the data recovered?
I think everyone here agrees that one copy does not a backup make, and preferably you want to have a copy as far off site as you can, either a physical media copy or a cloud copy.
However, Apple does a lot to market their products to people that don't know computers.
Not saying this guy has an excuse for not having a second backup. Or keeping a copy of everything on the computer at the very least.
I'd rather have a less expensive external HD for local backup combined with a backup service like Carbonite or Jungle Disk or one of the many other online backup options than an over priced external hard drive.
For $299 at least get one with multiple drives for redundancy.
IF this goes through, I hope one of the justices grand children gets sued into the ground for selling their used stuff to a friend from school.
On a side note, if you aren't allowed to sell stuff, can you still give it away?
"I'd like to sell you this picture of a house that I drew myself. Only $200. And today only, I'm throwing in a free gift of a first gen iPad as a special thank you!"
You're missing something here, and that's different demographics.
For instance, a lot of people went out to buy Skyrim or Diablo 3 at full price ($60).
I have 2 kids and a third on the way. Between family, work, and just every day life, I have a few hours a week to play, and not a huge budget to spend.
I could set aside a little here or there to save up for New AAA Release 2012, but in reality I would be able to get one game a year. Maybe 2.
Or I can wait a year or two, read reviews and user experiences to see which ones are worth buying. Wait for all the patching and bug fixes, and then pick it up for $10 on a steam sale... That's OK with me, because I also pick up 6-8 other games, and have enough to last me a long time.
Thanks to sales and bundles I have 20+ games that I have yet to try, and at my pace it'll be a long time before I finish them all. And in the mean time, there will be more sales and bundles...
This is why it's smart to do these huge sales. Lots of people will still buy it at full price, and the people that never would can pick it up late at a discount, and not have to pirate it to be able to afford it.
I have to nitpick a little with your 4th point, mostly about the word meagerness.
I don't think that it's wrong for a Christian, even a minister, to be wealthy, or drive the vehicle that they want, or have a nice home, etc.
The big point, and the main problem with wealth, is when people start serving the wealth instead of using it to minister to other people.
I read a bio on J C Penny (the guy who started the store chain. I'm pretty sure it was him, though it was a long time ago that I read it), and I remember one of the interesting facts was that he and his wife decided to give away 90% of their income to ministry (help the poor, minister the gospel, etc) and the remaining 10% was enough to make them very well off.
That's the real "prosperity gospel". Show God that the more He blesses you, the more you'll help others, and you wont be able to give it away fast enough.
As soon as the money starts being more important than helping people, then it'll start drawing you away from what you're supposed to be doing, and that's serving mammon, and that's what gets you into trouble.
The bible does say that "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children," so it's not wrong to build up some capital.
When my pregnant wife went into the hospital to get an ultrasound, I wanted to film the process so we could show people the baby moving and stuff. So I asked the technician if I could record the little monitor with my cell phone camera. She said that because of liability the hospital policy said no cameras. They are so scared of lawsuits that you aren't allowed to film births anymore like you could when I was young, because if someone wanted to, they could take the recording out of context and sue the hospital.
It's probably the same thing for cops, even the honest ones.
If I saw you walking toward me with a camera or other recording device, it would make me think that you had an agenda, and recordings can be altered to show anything.
The solution? More cameras. Put a shoulder mounted camera on every cop, and don't allow them to be shut off. Record every second of every day that an officer is in uniform.
Stream the video live to recording units in each squad car, the police station, and some centralized state or federally controlled location.
Then any good cop will be able to know that if he/she acts within the law, then all will be well, and any doctored record that someone else makes will be thrown out.
And for the bad cops, if a camera gets shut off or otherwise disabled, then there is a suspension. It may get some of the good cops, but not as many.
As a judge, he's a public employee. We might hold him accountable for things that he does that go against the best interest of the public.
It only makes sense.
On the post: EA: Withholding The Next Great Videogame Franchise For The Next Console Is Good Business
Re: Re:
Don't believe me? I would like you to take the games that were released in 1992 and compare them with the games that were released in 2012. Computers are still computers, pushing 1's and 0's around. The only real difference is that hardware has gotten much much more advanced. Faster, more powerful, more parallel.
And where that really matters a lot is math and physics. Take Half-Life 2. The game play relied heavily on simulating real world physics. Using the gravity gun to throw something across the field to hit an enemy for instance. The math involved for that would have taken several computers a long time back in 1992 running at 66MHz.
(http://www.computerhope.com/history/1992.htm - Intel 486DX2 66MHz was the screaming fast top of the line chip)
Since we don't know much about the next series of consoles, it's hard to say what specifically they are designing the games to do. But there are, right now, modern computer games that will not run on the current consoles.
(http://www.gamespot.com/news/skyrim-dawnguard-dlc-may-never-come-to-ps3-6394066)
It's a bit like going to IKEA on a whim and then trying to fit an entertainment center in to the backseat of your sedan because for some reason you decided not to drive your minivan that day. (personal experience)
It becomes a case of "What am I willing to give up in order to get an entertainment center today. I can fit a box that is 60 inches, and that one is 80 inches long. So I need to go back upstairs and find an entertainment center that is 60 inches or less."
The decision makers at EA looked at their grand vision, looked at the next set of hardware, and then looked at the current hardware, and had to make a decision. "Do we start cutting pieces off until it will run, and make it look and play less than it's best, or do we sit on it for a little while, improve it, and wait till we have something that can do what we really want."
They could, however, start building a following for the console by releasing a PC version that makes use of modern technology. That may be to strategic for them to handle though.
tl;dr: designing games on the console RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT is a little bit like trying to get your feet into your baby shoes. Something is going to get removed to make it work. Wanting to wait for the better hardware so you can release something really impressive is not a bad idea.
tl;dr2: Release a PC version to start building the brand!
On the post: Copyright Enforcement Bots Seek And Destroy Hugo Awards
Kill Vobile The Robot
I supposed you could still have Vobile do the search, but instead of having ban privileges just give it flag privileges and then have a human review it if it applies.
But it also sounds like the Hugo people didn't read the fine print, so maybe it wouldn't go through.
Also, you can sue for things other than money.
On the post: Kim Kardashian & Old Navy Settle Lawsuit Over Look-A-Like
Re:
Something like:
Old Navy: Ok, here's the deal, right now the pathetic wreckage that you made of your life is spread thinly across the world like a light dusting of ash from a crematory smokestack. We are giving you two choices. One, drop this, and we'll pull the commercial down and go our separate ways. Two, continue this and we'll pull every bad decision, every bit of dirty laundry, every closet skeleton, every bit of dirt and grime that we can find out into the open and shine a spotlight on it so bright that the world will ridicule you and the name Kardashian will become slang for shame. You know that guy you fooled around with in second grade? Yeah, he'll be up on the stand too.
On the post: Why People Pirate: The Story Of Avatar
Re: Re: Re: Re: Market for 3D
On the post: Gawker Sued For Copyright Infringement For Showing Image That Inspired EA's Dante's Inferno
Re: Re:
As in, isn't it ironic that she she might be mad that EA 'stole' the idea that she 'stole' from Dante, who probably 'stole' parts of it from Catholic literature and mythology...
On the post: Back And Forth Cloning Battles With Zynga Continue With New EA Chapter
Re:
EA will probably win, just because of numbers, and also Battlefield experience... Although Zynga has that that Mafia mojo going for it. Except that they stole that mojo, so it may not work as well.
On the post: Patent Troll Claims That Showing A Video With A Static Ad Next To It Infringes
Re: Troll the Trolls
1. A system and a method for pumping air by means of moving a diaphragm.
2. A system and a method for chemically bonding oxygen to iron as a means of oxygen transportation within biological systems.
3. A system and a method for chemically releasing oxygen from a bound state to be used as an oxygen source in biological systems.
4. A system and a method for chemically breaking down organic matter into base elements and waste material.
The nice thing about number 4, is that it also covers decomposing, so that they will continue to infringe until they become dust.
On the post: More Anti-Youtube Whining: 'YouTube Complies With Our Takedown Requests Just To Make Us Look Bad'
Bee's average speed is between 12-15 mph
On the post: Author Strips Naked To Protest Book Piracy; Probably Works As Well As Anything Else
it could work...
I promise not to buy or read it either, just make it stop!
On the post: Couple Arrested For Dancing On NYC Subway Platform
Re: Re: Seems extremely easy to get arrested any more
Please send me my cut of the licensing money!
On a side note, I'm also descended from the first sneezer, who also did a lot of other bodily functions first. My lawyer will be sending the full list of things you should pay me for.
On the post: FBI & DEA Warn That IPv6 May Be Too Damn Anonymous
It's a trick?
"All of the sudden" law enforcement says that they can't track IPv6 addresses? Pull the other one.
It's just a ploy to try to get better IPv6 adoption.
And on a side note, I read that IPv6 has enough range to give every star in the universe an address, even if there were several billion times more stars in the universe. Why not just give every single network capable device it's own burned in IPv6 address that can't be changed no matter what. Then, all the sudden an IP address is a person, or at least a specific machine owned by a person.
On the post: Guy Sues Apple For $25k Because His Time Capsule Device Died
Recovery Cost?
I think everyone here agrees that one copy does not a backup make, and preferably you want to have a copy as far off site as you can, either a physical media copy or a cloud copy.
However, Apple does a lot to market their products to people that don't know computers.
Not saying this guy has an excuse for not having a second backup. Or keeping a copy of everything on the computer at the very least.
I'd rather have a less expensive external HD for local backup combined with a backup service like Carbonite or Jungle Disk or one of the many other online backup options than an over priced external hard drive.
For $299 at least get one with multiple drives for redundancy.
On the post: The Oatmeal v. Funnyjunk: How The Court Of Public Opinion Beats The Court Of Baseless Legal Threats
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Funnyjunk isn't entirely wrong
He just didn't leave office.
I don't know how that works.
On the post: Police Arrest Woman For Filming Them, Take Phone Out Of Her Bra, Claim That It Must Be Kept As 'Evidence'
Re: Windows Phones will automatically upload to Skydrive
Video is probably to large for iCloud to handle at this point...
Some day probably.
On the post: Why The Supreme Court Needs To Make Sure That Selling A Used iPad Isn't A Copyright Violation
Until it happens to you, and a workaround?
On a side note, if you aren't allowed to sell stuff, can you still give it away?
"I'd like to sell you this picture of a house that I drew myself. Only $200. And today only, I'm throwing in a free gift of a first gen iPad as a special thank you!"
On the post: EA Believes That Making A Lot Of Money Is Less Important Than Keeping Games Expensive
Re:
For instance, a lot of people went out to buy Skyrim or Diablo 3 at full price ($60).
I have 2 kids and a third on the way. Between family, work, and just every day life, I have a few hours a week to play, and not a huge budget to spend.
I could set aside a little here or there to save up for New AAA Release 2012, but in reality I would be able to get one game a year. Maybe 2.
Or I can wait a year or two, read reviews and user experiences to see which ones are worth buying. Wait for all the patching and bug fixes, and then pick it up for $10 on a steam sale... That's OK with me, because I also pick up 6-8 other games, and have enough to last me a long time.
Thanks to sales and bundles I have 20+ games that I have yet to try, and at my pace it'll be a long time before I finish them all. And in the mean time, there will be more sales and bundles...
This is why it's smart to do these huge sales. Lots of people will still buy it at full price, and the people that never would can pick it up late at a discount, and not have to pirate it to be able to afford it.
On the post: US Government Gets 10% Royalty On 'Passion Of The Christ' Prequel In Plea Deal With Mexican Drug Cartel Money Launderer
Re: Re: Re: Question:
I don't think that it's wrong for a Christian, even a minister, to be wealthy, or drive the vehicle that they want, or have a nice home, etc.
The big point, and the main problem with wealth, is when people start serving the wealth instead of using it to minister to other people.
I read a bio on J C Penny (the guy who started the store chain. I'm pretty sure it was him, though it was a long time ago that I read it), and I remember one of the interesting facts was that he and his wife decided to give away 90% of their income to ministry (help the poor, minister the gospel, etc) and the remaining 10% was enough to make them very well off.
That's the real "prosperity gospel". Show God that the more He blesses you, the more you'll help others, and you wont be able to give it away fast enough.
As soon as the money starts being more important than helping people, then it'll start drawing you away from what you're supposed to be doing, and that's serving mammon, and that's what gets you into trouble.
The bible does say that "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children," so it's not wrong to build up some capital.
On the post: Federal Appeals Court Rejects Illinois' Eavesdropping Law As Likely Violating The First Amendment
Re: Re: Re: In case you'd like to know, the IL Attorney General is a She...
That's how I read it anyway, since he's also the one using the law in a very vindictive manner.
On the post: Federal Appeals Court Rejects Illinois' Eavesdropping Law As Likely Violating The First Amendment
The real problem
It's probably the same thing for cops, even the honest ones.
If I saw you walking toward me with a camera or other recording device, it would make me think that you had an agenda, and recordings can be altered to show anything.
The solution? More cameras. Put a shoulder mounted camera on every cop, and don't allow them to be shut off. Record every second of every day that an officer is in uniform.
Stream the video live to recording units in each squad car, the police station, and some centralized state or federally controlled location.
Then any good cop will be able to know that if he/she acts within the law, then all will be well, and any doctored record that someone else makes will be thrown out.
And for the bad cops, if a camera gets shut off or otherwise disabled, then there is a suspension. It may get some of the good cops, but not as many.
On the post: Federal Appeals Court Rejects Illinois' Eavesdropping Law As Likely Violating The First Amendment
Re:
It only makes sense.