freak 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2011 @ 10:44am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I see.

    That's very true and another reason to hate DLC in general.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2011 @ 10:43am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Just so you know, Catwoman is in the main plot regardless of whether you have the DLC.
    They don't change that if you don't have the DLC, although I imagine it might make a little less sense if you don't also play through her chapters.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2011 @ 09:49am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    How so?

    If I DL the DLC for catwoman, my roommates & GF can also use that DLC when they play on the same console, can't they?

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2011 @ 09:37am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    So, they couldn't include all the content for $60 that they had already made part of the core game?

    DLC is supposed to be for new, additional, non-core content, like expansions, new non-core characters, etc.

    No one is complaining that Robin or Nightwing are DLC, for example. They aren't core characters in the game; You do not require them to 100%.

    To switch to a different series, I don't think anyone complained that Undead Nightmare was DLC/expansion.


    Catwoman isn't just an add-on to the game for 1st hand buyers, she is PART OF the game.
    Now, if catwoman wasn't part of the game, and just a bonus given to 1st hand buyers, I wouldn't mind so much. A lot of gamers would still be pissed because playing as catwoman was advertised as being a big part of the game. If it hadn't been advertised like that, I doubt many people would have a gripe at all.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2011 @ 06:52am

    Re: 2 cents worth...

    "when i buy a game,i should have everything needed to finish that game in the box"


    To be fair, catwoman is not required to finish the story. She IS required to 100% the base game.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2011 @ 08:38pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    They're overdoing it with the DLC money grab.

    I should note also, that in all the promotional material, playing as catwoman was touted as being in the game.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2011 @ 08:36pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    Oh right. Turns out everything I'm talking about is on wikipedia.

    So, looks to the wiki's sources.

  • On the post: Sony Ericsson Shows How Not To Connect With Fans: Forces Shutdown Of Xperia Fan Blog

    freak ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2011 @ 08:15pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    "Trademarks must be protected sensibly[...]"

    For example, couldn't they give that fansite a free license to use the trademark?

    (That's a real question, IANAL, I don't already know, even if I suspect)

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2011 @ 08:08pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    "A portion of the [riddler] puzzles are also specific to Catwoman, and can only be completed by her."


    A part of the base game was taken out of the game to be made into DLC.

    This did not need to be separate from the disc, this did not need a redemption code, this was not made after the rest of the game.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2011 @ 07:55pm

    Re:

    Eh, I'm trying to source this now, because I'm mostly repeating things I've heard on forums. Which aren't always the most reliable of new sources.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2011 @ 07:55pm

    Re:

    The catwoman parts aren't included on the disk, they have to be downloaded.

    So it's not only hacking; players would have to also distribute the hacked files. Not that that adds much additional trouble to the hacker, but I imagine that pisses off the 1st hand buyer we just bought the game and has to wait another 10 minutes for his game to finish downloading.

  • On the post: Want Revenue From Used Games? Just Have GameStop Buy DLC Codes For The Customer

    freak ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2011 @ 07:44pm

    They could also, y'know, realize that the used-game market isn't a bad thing.

    It increases the value of their future games, the presence of a secondary market helps the primary market flourish, etc. etc.


    I'm more pissed off than anything at the stunt. This isn't something *extra*, this is something they took out of the game. From what I've read, It is impossible to 100% the game without playing as catwoman. Don't have an internet connection? You're SOL, even if you bought first-hand or at gamestop.

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2011 @ 05:45pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: ugh please

    Remind me, again, what exactly are they suing over, and what was the point trying to be proven with the anecdote of the lawyer being unable to tell her product apart from a distance?

    Learn to threaded mode?

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2011 @ 10:08am

    Re: Re: Wow the haters don't fact check.

    Oh, hey, good call on the shifting goal posts.

    If apple made GUI a revolution by being the first, then definitely not-apple (RIM?) made the smartphone revolution ;p


    I think I'll leave it at "Apple had a positive impact on each of these things", and not try to figure out the magnitude.

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2011 @ 10:05am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: ugh please

    Egh, I feel bad applying this idea directly to apples products.

    I don't really know enough about the specifics.

    I maintain however, that it is fully possible for 99% to get obvious ideas wrong in a computer device by the mismanagement or under-importance of the design team.

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2011 @ 09:50am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: ugh please

    Yes. And that's the statement I thought you were arguing.

    In the design field, we can see that the designs are obvious, because of the very large number of previous ideas that were expressed, like say, that tablet in the film, 2001, that are what apple is claiming is being infringed upon and stolen.


    And if what you say is true, and mine not, that still brings me to the same conclusion: something that is and would have been obvious to designers, was not done correctly for the other 99% because it was not in fact, skilled workers who were working on the part that required them.

    Even if they're down the chain and doing the grunt work, if you tell programmers how to program, and you don't know how to program, you're going to end up with something horrible, or the least, very unoriginal. I assume the same goes for most any profession, including design.

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2011 @ 09:10am

    Re: Response to: fogbugzd on Oct 21st, 2011 @ 8:58pm

    Reading failure.

    Fog mentions he uses this as an argument against apple fanboys who are angry, or at least argue that, android/RIM/windows copied something from the iPhone, when it is, in fact, the other way around.

    In other words, he's not attacking the iPhone, he's attacking the iFans. I don't think he's angry about the iPhone copying things either, or at least that is something that is beyond the scope of his post.

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2011 @ 09:07am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: ugh please

    "If it was "obvious", why did 99% of the products out there screw it up?"


    I'll give you the same answer I give everyone who questions design in computers.

    You don't hire [X] to do the work of a skilled [Y], except in the case where we do, in fact, hire programmers to design interfaces.

    Should we expect a programmer to be skilled, or see what is obvious, in the field of graphics/interface design?

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2011 @ 09:01am

    Re: Re: The iPhone is the Real Rip Off

    Well, you have reading failure, and I also think the iPhone is somewhat less than revolutionary. 'somewhat'

    Now, the iPhone's marketing, sure, I can accept that as something special, but to call it 'revolutionary' when I'm pretty sure smartphones would have eventually become common anyways? Eh.

  • On the post: Steve Jobs Was Willing To 'Rip Off' Everyone Else… But Was Pissed About Android Copying iPhone?

    freak ( profile ), 22 Oct, 2011 @ 07:14am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: ugh please

    I agree besides the fact that 3 meters is "not a long distance" to identify something from. We're talking about pieces of plastic that are supposed to be 1 foot away from your nose. Maybe if we were discussing a billboard, or a type of furniture.

    From 10 feet away, you can't make out the screws & panels on the laptop bottom, and if viewed from the right angle, my laptop could be confused with my desktop.

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