EnderAndrew

Maxthon is a great solution for those people. I actually use Maxthon at home on some of my computers. It uses the IE rendering engine, and shows up as IE. You can even use it to download updates from windowsupdate.microsoft.com Anything that IE can do, Maxthon can do, but it has basically all the features and security of Firefox. I didn't mention Maxthon above because it isn't open source, but it may be better than Firefox overall.

In less spoilery news, they have announced that Katey Segal has been hired to play Helen in the third episode, which is supposed to be Locke centric. On the fuselage forums, Terry O'Quinn actually replied to one of my posts and mentioned that he will have a romantic interest this season. This is pure speculation, but might Helen show up on the island, or will she only appear in flashbacks? For those who don't recall, in Walkabout, Locke was talking to Helen on the phone and invited her to Sydney, but she referred to Locke as a "customer" and turned him down. He seemed awfully enamored of her however. I think it's cool that Locke might get it on with Leela/Peggy Bundy.

I'm sure that LucasArts intentionally basically went belly-up, closed offices, fired staff and canceled projects just to sabotage Obsidian. Isn't this really obvious flame-baiting?

Who necroposted?

I'm just curious which console will have spotty online support. Sony has said they've considered something similiar to Live for the PS3 but free. The PS3 is slated to have... Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x 3 (input x 1 + output x 2) Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR) ...out of the box, though they may cut down to one gigabit output. Gigabit networking for free out of the box? The 360 will have networking out of the box, and free Live service. The Revolution will have wireless networking out of the box and they are launching a (supposedly) free service for DS and the Revolution. I'm confused which console will have spotty online support.

When did Europe make an Ultima game? Origin Studios was based out of Austin, TX.

I'm avoiding all the spoilers. Aint-It-Cool-News.com has a full breakdown of the episode.

I'd like to comment that KOTOR easily had a 2 year, and probably closer to a 3 year development cycle. I'm quite sure that KOTOR:2 was much cheaper overall. It also had less marketing dollars behind it.

I want to share with you some OpenSource projects worth looking at. I also want to ask you to help spread the word about OpenSource. When free projects rival commercial products, it pushes for innovation. Competition, especially free competition is a good thing. Especially spread the word to those less technologically challenged. We all want to unlock the potential of our computers, but don't necessarily want to pay for software. Here are some programs that might help replace pirated programs on your computer. Mozilla Firefox - I recommend downloading the latest beta. If you are still using Internet Explorer, then please stop now for your own sake. There are plenty of people who don't know better. Firefox users are still in the minority. Spread the word to stop spyware, viruses, etc. Use a safe browser. OpenOffice.org - Office is perhaps one of the most used software programs out there, and perhaps one of the most commonly pirated. Here is an MS Office replacement that is free, opens MS Office documents, saves MS Office documents, creates PDFs (no need for the expensive Adobe Acrobat Pro) and does it all free. Download the 2.0 beta. Gaim - Imagine replacing MSN Messenger, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, IRC, Google Talk, etc. all at one with one simple program and one simple buddy list. Talk to anyone regardless of what program they use. No spyware and its free. GimpShop - A Photoshop replacement, that has been overhauled to look and operate even more like Photoshop. There is a Windows port of 2.2.4, and the latest version (2.2. should get ported to Windows soon. MPlayer - A media player that replaces Windows Media Player, Quicktime, ReadMedia Player, Divx Player, all at once. Or you could go with downloading Real Alternative and QuickTime Alternative. Either of those will install Media Player Classic, and codecs to allow Media Player Classic to play RealMedia or Quicktime files respectively. 7-Zip - this replaces WinZip, WinRar, etc. all at once. It compresses better than WinZip and WinRar and opens most any file. ClamWin - Free AntiVirus program. AVG is also free and quite good, but not open-source. Housecall is also a good free anti-virus solution. Shareaza - A file sharing program that downloads from 3 different networks at once, in addition to bitTorrents. CDex - Rip CDs and turn them into MP3s. virtualdub - Video capturing and processing. Blender - 3D Modeling. This may not be something everyone needs, but it is a fine example of how powerful and professional some of these projects can be. Nvu - Frontpage/Dreamweaver type HTML editor. Audacity - Sound editting software. Thunderbird - Email program aimed at replacing Outlook Express. Sunbird - Calendar application from Mozilla. Still early in development, but you can try it out. Really Slick Screensavers - Tired of the boring Windows screensavers? Try these beefed up OpenGL screensavers. The Battle of Wesnoth - An example of an open source game. This is a fantasy RTS. Nexuiz - FPS built upon an advanced version of Quake. Online play, server code, dynamic lighting, etc.

I have never editted old posts save for fixing typos, and I don't even always do that. If I edit a post, it is generally right after I post it.

There is a local vineyard that makes mead.

I stated that the devs never officially said one way or another, however the press, fans, etc. all declared that it meant Murder, Death, Kill. I said that was the best answer we have. Sarjahurmaaja declared it to be definitively wrong. He called me out and thusly the burden of proof was on him to prove me wrong. Nothing that I said was wrong. He knew absolutely that it did not mean "Murder, Death, Kill", but he couldn't find any evidence to suggest that it didn't. Since I said, this is what it probably means, and he said I was most-definately wrong, Sarjahurmaaja proved himself to be wrong. His entire arguement was based that there was no definitive answer. Thusly, he could not be definitively right, and I could not be definitively wrong. He never did get that. Honestly, I figured you however would understand the difference. I can dig up the thread and pull specific quotes if you'd like.

Thanks for showing your true colors. You have both been reported, and added to my ignore list.

I followed that thread. You are lying. You did not have any "evidence" on your side. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Only the definition of MDK. But that doesn't count for anything when answering the question, "what does MDK stand for?"

Historically, increases in storage mediums have driven innovation. Nintendo says that hardware is unimportant. What does that tell you? If you can't put 2 and 2 together, I'm only going to tell you it is 4 so many times before I consider you hopeless. I also need to repeat myself since you flat-out ignore what I actually say. "So wireless controls, hard drives, Live service, voice controlled games, wireless headsets, microcontent updates, community driven marketplaces for mods, dual-TV support, etc. doesn't count? Those change the way we play games. You claim that wireless controls don't change how we play. You are wrong. Any gamer can tell you that they have to sit within cord's length of their console. If you are playing with 3 of your buddies across two couches, both spread out a good distance from your big screen, those cord lengths don't cut it. There isn't a single console on the market that offered first-party wirless controllers. That is something new to the next generation. Your flat denail of facts is noted, again. Your willful obtuse nature and disregard for my actual posts makes you come across as a troll. Sony hasn't decided fully on the HDD issue, and in case you missed it, most retailers are forcing you to order the 360 with the HDD. It isn't really optional if it is the only way you can purchase the system. In the HDD comes preinstalled in the console when you purchase it, you can list the HDD as a feature of the console. Again, you are willfully obtuse. No, it has one online game. It has nothing like Live, let alone the new Live service launching for the 360. There are no friends lists, spectator modes, downloadable levels, microcontent, community driven content, community commerce, gamer profiles with bragging rights, etc. You want to talk about changing the way we play games? Live has changed the way games are played by ushering in a new medium for online play, with headsets, etc. The spectator mode allows you to step into a game and watch other players playing. There are virtual fantasy sports leagues where you can put together a fantasy team based on a Madden league as opposed to actual NFL stats. These are changes to the way we play games. Your blind fanboi attitudes on this matter are quite clear however. Neither Sony nor Microsoft offer a single feature other than graphics, even though I REPEATEDLY list them. Again, let me know when you want to start talking about things you understand. Both the PS2 and XBox have had games that actively feature voice-activated technology for 2 years. Being able to move about a room while playing? Isn't that a change in how you play the game? Again, you have no idea what you are talking about. With the 360 and the new Live service, I could make a mod for Oblvion and sell it on Live. You can purchase microcontent, and pay say 99 cents to purchase one track for a racing game. Live is also adding spectator mode. Nintendo has nothing at all like Live. You can't download content for their games. Where would you download it considering Gamecube doesn't offer a HDD option? The PC marketplace has had downloadable content, and online play, but never organized and marketed in the way Live has. Actually most Americans have multiple TVs in their home. There is a difference between a standard controller feature that all games must use, and an optional gimmick. I thought I made that clear, but perhaps I must REPEAT THAT as well a few more times. I also love that you discount what Sony and M$ have, saying that it has been available on the PC, but then ignore when Nintendo followed PC innovations such as with analog controls, trigger buttons, etc. Really? How. I've seen the Revolution controller demo. It is a pointer. You move it in the air, and it moves the pointer. With my flight-stick, you move it in the air, and it moves your ship. Clearly, Nintendo invented this technology! There is a reason most developers publish for the PS2, because the PS2 is in the most homes. When you release a game on the platform that has the greatest market share, you increase your profits. In Nintendo released their games on a console that had a greater market share, they would increase their profits, and the consumers would profit not only from not having to buy a third console, but also having games with improved graphical capabilities. DO YOU NEED ME TO REPEAT MYSELF AGAIN, VOLOURN? In the MDK arguement, you stated an absolute fact, except it wasn't true. You said that you knew for a fact that I was wrong, and you entered a flamefest over nothing. You trolled and flamed. In the end, I had evidence on my side, and you had flames on yours. Thanks for reminding me of your earlier behavior. I might just have to consider adding you to my ignore list as well.

You can keep putting your foot in your mouth. At the Tokyo Game Show, they showed the controller in its entirety, and stated that the full controller is standard. Without it, you couldn't play the back catalog of games and Nintendo said not only at the TGS, but at E3 that out of the box it would play all previous Nintendo games. Again, please feel free to chime in when you have a clue what you're talking about. I'm going to just refer to you as Volourn Jr. Nintendo compaired it to a mouse AND KEYBOARD. I stated mouse AND KEYBOARD. Did you perhaps miss the AND KEYBOARD part? I can repeat it another 50 times until you get it, but I am beginning to suspect, just like Volourn that you are intentionally being obtuse and that there is no real means of getting through to you with logic or facts. Wikipedia, or actual quotes from Nintendo. "Nintendo doesn't plan for the system to be HD compatible." "It is accurate that at this time we will not support high-definition [on Revolution]," confirmed Nintendo of America's vice president of corporate affairs, Perrin Kaplan, in early 2005. http://cube.ign.com/articles/522/522559p2.html The Wikipedia is written by any given schmoe. I'll take the direct quotes from Nintendo, thank you. Again, feel free to chime in when you actually know what you're talking about. Illiteracy isn't funny. You really should learn to read someday, or it will hold you back in your future endeavors. I wrote that you can develop seemlessly for the PC and 360 at once. But like Volourn, you probably need me to repeat it 50 times. If they are so successful, why did they completely fail this generation? Why are industry experts predicting them to completly fail next generation? Have you noticed that major gaming sites don't have sections for the Revolution, but they all have sections for the PS3 and 360? I proposed a logical arguement wherein Nintendo and consumers would both profit from them taking a page from Sega. I also pointed out how your "they have been historically successful" has zero weight. It did nothing for Atari, and did nothing for Sega. Where as industry experts also said Sony had no chance against the N64, and we know how that turned out. Your responses have nothing to do with the questions I posed. You have gone beyond flippant and now resort to flat out trolling.

Really? When CD technology game out, it allowed for games to use video footage, cinematics, digital audio, voice acting, etc. Storage has often held back would be innovations in gaming. Without larger mediums for storage, we can't push for more content in the game. Who knows what new forms of content we can push when storage isn't an issue at all? So wireless controls, hard drives, Live service, voice controlled games, wireless headsets, microcontent updates, community driven marketplaces for mods, dual-TV support, etc. doesn't count? Those change the way we play games. The Revolution however hasn't fufilled that promise considering they haven't mentioned a single game to feature their new technology which is optional when playing Revolution games. Such as the U-Force, SNES Mouse, Virtual Boy, Robo, SuperScope 6, PowerGlove, etc. etc. Yep, I can see your point. No, as I have noted, their innovation is something I've already owned for 10 years. That's not innovation if you ask me. You seriously have no clue what you're talking about. Market share and profit are two differnet things. A good chunk of Nintendo's profits come from the handheld market, which is a seperate beast. In the home console market, they are an also-ran at best. Their market share is in fact pathetic. If no one owns their console, then they aren't changing the way anyone plays games. If they want to make games for their established franchises, and push gimmick controllers, so be it. That is their niche. However, they don't need to release a console specifically for that. They could go the way of Sega, and I've demonstated that everyone, Nintendo included profits from that. You are being flippant, but worse, you don't know what you're talking about.

You seriously have no clue what you are talking about apparently. The Revolution's gimmick controller is not the primary device most games will use. The Revolution's controller when fully put together looks just like the Gamecube controller, with the remote sticking out the middle. Nintendo has yet to announce a single title designed around the pointing device. Futhermore, the pointing device pretty much removes access to most of the other buttons. Mouse and keyboard comparisons aren't fair, because you do quite a bit with a mouse and keyboard as opposed to a pointer and two buttons. Either way, Nintendo has released a wide variety of gimmick controllers over the years. None of them have EVER had major support in their games. In Nintendo wants to make games for their gimmick controller, they could do that just as easily on the PS3 as the Revolution. Since the "pointer" replaces the analog controller supposedly seemlessly in a game like Metroid Prime, then it could seemlessly replae the analog control on the PS3 or XBox. Again, I'm still curious how to you acecss all the buttons that suddenly aren't on the controller anymore, but that is besides the point. If Nintendo designed the peripheral for another console, then it would be just as standard as how they are designing it for the Revolution. You are not required to use the pointer on the Revolution for every game, nor would it be required on the PS3. Again, you have NO CLUE what you are talking about. M$ is shipping a console with a HDD in it. Sony lists the HDD in the system specs, and the final word has not been released if they will have two versions, make the HDD optional, etc. However, Nintendo has said outright that the Revolution is not capable of 720p, 1080i, 1080p, let alone dual 1080p images. So much for next-gen when you are sticking with 480 vertical lines. I bought a brand new HDTV for $400. Apparently you haven't heard about the XNA. Again, Microsoft has been developing an API so that you could seemlessly develop for the PC and 360 at once. They have toolkits for multi-core compiling. When you want to comment on something that you actually know something about, please let me know. No, again you have no clue what you are talking about. The DS's touch screen is the primary interface for the DS. Every game for the DS has to be developed are two screens, one of them being a touch screen. The Revolution has a standard controller, with a gimmick side that games don't have to utilize. Every single time Nintendo has ever done that in their history, 3rd parties have rarely supported the gimmick controllers. I'm not going to repeat myself anyone just because you're not comprehending. So would I, but Nintendo isn't doing that. They haven't shown how they will change gaming. They have also said that hardware isn't important. If that is the case, then why bother putting out a console? You ignore the actual questions I post and respond with flippant and unfactual remarks.

If you think that Blue-Ray storage and multicore processing isn't huge, then I don't know what to tell you. In order to push boundaries, you need the tools to push them. Nintendo could still release their gimmick controllers and publish their games on the PS3 and 360 if they wanted. The Revolution has a gimmick and that is it. They promise a Revolution in how games are played, but they haven't delivered on that. Most of their gimmicks have busted over the years, and very few panned out. The Gamecube had piss-poor market share, and very few exclusive titles that were must own. Nintendo promised Mario 128 on the console, and couldn't even deliver that in 4 years, and now MAYBE it will be on the Revolution. And the current generation did not feature wireless controllers. They are aftermarket, and not a core feature. They are an actual feature in the next generation.

Really? Which generation had support for two tvs at once, let alone two 1080p images at once? Which generation was pushing next-gen DVD formats before standard players were even common? Which generation featured wireless controllers? And since power is an issue, which generation launched with more power than home PCs? When the XBox launched, it wasn't much more than a Celeron PC. The PS3 and XBox 360 are launching with more power than gaming PCs, but also with unique features. Again, you avoid my point and make a flippant remark that has little relevance.

Nintendo hardly sold any consoles last time around, and honestly, I don't expect them to sell that many this time around either. People who post here are likely more the hardcore gamer crowd, but in actuality, few people own Gamecubes. Mine completely gathers dust. In order to play the each iteration of Zelda, I must own a Nintendo console. I honestly considered never playing another Zelda, simply because I didn't want to buy the Gamecube. Consider this. If Nintendo were to go the way of Sega, and not release home consoles, instead they could release the next Zelda on the PS3 for instance, with jaw-dropping visuals. If they wanted to integrate their new controller, they could just the same way any peripheral controller could be used. The game would be in high-def, could use the hard drive, and could have plenty of content on that awesome blue-ray disc. We all win, right? Nintendo makes their money on handhelds, and their software. They would continue to do so, and perhaps even more so. If their titles were suddenly available to a larger audience (ie, people who don't own Gamecubes, which is the vast majority of people) then they would actually likely sell more software titles and make more money. Consumers win. Nintendo wins. Comparisons to M$ dropping out aren't nearly as relevant because M$ has a decent and growing market share. Their console has unique strengths beyond one controller. For instance, in the next generation, the 360 will have an advantage in how easy it would be to port a PC title, or develop for the 360 in general. The Revolution's one advantage comes in a gimmick controller which easily could have been released as a gimmick controller licensed by Nintendo for the PS3 or 360. Sony currently dominates market share, and early polls suggest that they will overly dominate Japan and Europe. I haven't seen a poll suggesting whether or not the PS3, Revolution or 360 is most anticipated in the US yet. Sony also has several unique advantages with it's console. The PS3 will yield the Blu-Ray drive, dual 1080p support, most power, etc. Seriously, the Revolution may be the new Dreamcast. It will have it's fans, but it may be the death knoll for Nintendo's console division.

I'm a horrible human being, but builds will be up as soon as I get home and have access to a graphics program to put together the map. With family in town, and people staying at my house, and I have barely touched a keyboard the past week it seems.

There are plenty of old-school games that could be beat in a short time constraint because they were ports of arcade games. They could only swallow quarters so long. However RPGs are another beast. Are we talking about the length of RPGs or games in general?

Atari was the entire console business, and suddenly they were nothing and out of business. Sega was the number 2 man in the console industry, and some suspected would dethrone Nintendo. Now they don't have a console. Sony came out of nowhere to completely dominate market share. In the console industry, a company reinvents their validity in the market with each new generation. Nintendo has proven that they don't care about the actual hardware of their console. So why continue to put one out?

I love making up new song lyrics on the spot, however "butter man" is the version I often sing to "better man". I love Pearl Jam btw, and dig seeing how well it Vedder's have often been represented over and over again in this thread. I still contend that he may be the best lyricist of our generation. Just for you! Edit: I just wanted to say I really loved the line, "well, ****ers, He still stands" from Given to Fly.