alanschu

I'm still a fan of the Gravis/PS2 style controller with the 4 shoulder buttons and the 4 thumb buttons, d-pad, and start/select button. I loved my old Gravis, and the only reason I don't still use it is because it's lacking in the dual-analog. I couldn't find any and have a Saitek right now, but my best friend said he found a PS2 style controller at the local Staples so I'll probably snag myself one. The Saitek has 6 buttons with the right thumb, and it gets a bit difficult to pull off button combos when I have to bring my right index finger into the fray as well

Unfortunately, publishers will look at Invisible War and go "Deus Ex is dead" ignoring the fact that it's very different. If we started seeing some games that took charge on Deus Ex's example, it'd be better

I've heard that game development can be crazy fun, but it's not the software engineering vocation that nets you the big bux! Nevertheless I'm steamrolling right into self-induced poverty! :D

My boy Ovechkin still notched two goals! Too bad they didn't have TWO ovechkins

I added a bit to my previous post, not that it affects any of your points in your latest post. I believe metadigital has sources to the average cost of game development. I can't really look for them at the moment because I should be writing an essay instead of posting this It probably does cover the development costs. I think (also like movies) a problem with the current model is that the bulk of that money goes to the publisher, rather than the developer.

It wasn't a hand pass. Hartnell knocked it down to himself, and he was definitely outside the crease when it happened (not that he gloved it anyways).

Movies have avenues of income that go way beyond the movie theater. The majority of the money made for a movie is with the DVD sales nowadays. According to John Buchanan, the University Liasion for Electronic Arts, the total revenue of video games is more than the box office returns. But it doesn't even come close to touching the DVD sales alone, let alone combined with the box office returns. The 600,000 * $50 also only works if all copies of the game were sold at $50. On a final note, the target market of movies is much larger than the target market of video games. Their volume far far far faaaaaaaaar exceeds that of video game sales. Having said that, movies are the exact same way. A few exceptional movies carries the load of many movies that do not make a profit. It too is a gamblers market, where movies are made under the hope that they do well. Many have argued that this has been just as bad for the movie industry, resulting in increased cliches and less innovative ideas. Many movies do not make profits in Hollywood. It's just that the select few can be exceptionally successful and can carry the load. Just like video games.

Errr, I don't recall that. Privateer was a Wing Commander fan's wet dream. It basically let you loose in the universe there. It did have a story, but the most fun was just decking out your ship and messing around. The best part IMO was becoming a pirate, as it made every jump that much more risky as you could stumble upon a militia, or worse yet a confederate, patrol. You could even freelance for the military if you wanted which was neat too, as the quadrant bordered a Kilrathi zone. .

Getting a faulty console would definitely be a kick in the teeth. They better implement one hell of a good return policy :D

Is that silly french game Starflight? I loved Privateer. Though it's numerous planets you could fly to weren't much more than places to trade goods or get missions.

Yup. Every letter pretty much had a corresponding action. Look for the capital letter to know which one you had to push when you accessed the help screen!

A giant rat from the 1986 MS-DOS version: Which I feel is the biggest drawback of the huge demands for art content. It's the art content that bloats a game like KOTOR. I remember Warren Spector talking about how Richard Garriot placed every single tile of land in Ultima 6. Even then that's a pretty huge task. I couldn't fathom it today.

The one thing I notice is how fast those old games play. I can just hold down the up arrow and go from Trinsic to Yew in about a minute in some of those older games. Probably doesn't hurt having the fast computers either.

Muahahahhahahaa Though seriously you should be thanking me.

That's also from the 1986 remake. I don't even know what the 1980 original looks like.

I feel that Batman Begins is probably the best comic inspired movie of them all. Followed probably by the 1989 Tim Burton Batman I feel Batman Begins is a pretty good movie on its own, without the comic book inspiration. Definitely an entertaining flick

Were the graphics really that... umm... did they look like that back then? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yes, they did glow in the dark Here's some Ultima I goodness, Apple II style:

I think the big beef with Kalfear was that it volunteered his opinion into something that did not require it. I doubt I, metadigital, or anyone else particularly cared about his purchasing habits. You never know! Some people are craaaaa-azy like that. And since you're a Leafs fan I just assumed

Xenon: Warrior Server

To be honest, I'm not even 100% sure if I have even done it. I think I may have tested it, but it was a loooong time ago. Let me know how it turns out :D

I'm not saying it's a copyright. It just sounds like one, given that it seems more like an idea rather than a tangible product. Unless of course you also put out a product

My unwavering respect for your video game l33tness! And that is priceless my friend

Hmmm, I don't remember my quote. I'm pretty sure I never said you could have more than the number of slots. But I do think that you can take both of the modules from the same type of canister if you have the space permitting. That is, getting aqualung does not exclude you from using one of your chest upgrades for the ability to take less damage from toxic fumes.

My avatar would show an inkling to be playing Ultima ONE

Don't take this the wrong way mkreku, but sometimes we don't see eye-to-eye when it comes to game reviews. Which is fair enough since we have our own preferences and whatnot. The beauty thing about the list is that it requires zero financial investment from me. If I get Quake 4 and it's a so-so game, I still won't mind. Having said that, the reason why Quake IV is on there is pretty much because there's not much else to choose from this year IMO. The two biggies are Call of Duty 2 and Civ 4. Even if Call of Duty 2 is just more CoD (though I already like the AI...giving accurate descriptions of enemy locations based on their positions was rather cool in the demo) it'd still be crazy high on my list. The original CoD is easily in my upper tier of favourite games. On any given day, I'd put it behind my big 3 (Half-Life, Deus Ex, and Ultima 7 are uncatchably 1a, 1b, and 1c at the moment). So far the improvments over the original seem impressive, and the little bit I played of the second one was phenomenal.