Messages

51

General Gaming / Re: Microsoft's real stance on Indy developers

« on: August 09, 2008, 03:49:54 AM »

Source
Any indie developer will tell you it's a challenge to create the title of your dreams, but the bigger hurdle by far is getting the game published and distributed -- by someone that won't rape you for all you're worth. In a recent Gamasutra editorial by Ron Carmel of 2D Boy (developer of World of Goo), he takes a conversational tone towards Microsoft while addressing what he identifies as their three key moves that have turned off indie developers:

    1. Xbox Live Arcade royalties cut by about half
    2. De-listing of games from XBLA
    3. Xbox Live Community Games terms established

Ouch. We certainly are aware of those first two, as they have been discussed to death by developers and fans alike, but Carmel goes on to address the flaws in the recent Xbox Live Community Games announcement, pointing out price limitations and how game promotion can be a double-edged sword:

    "If the royalty rate drops from 70 percent to 40 percent for the promotional period, the promotion would barely affect the developer's bottom line, only stuffing Microsoft's pockets. Worse, if sales do not nearly double, developers actually lose money due to the promotion. Nickel and diming developers will not help XBLCG get the best games and is in my opinion a myopic strategy."

Will any of Carmel's opinions make a difference to a behemoth like Microsoft? I want to say it's unlikely, but at the same time I applaud him for standing up and clarifying thoughts that many others may have, but don't speak aloud. The indie pool is where some of today's most dynamic ideas are coming from, and I can only hope the courage Carmel displayed in speaking his mind here will be an inspiration to others to stand up for the games they create.

Even with the Wii's "Draconian" 40MB size limit on WiiWare stuff I bet it's more friendly than XBLA, I think the profit ratio on WiiWare is  Developer/publisher 70/30 Nintendo which can still be amazing considering how Nintendo was always stingy with licensing pricing.  And last time I checked 70% profit to the game creator is much better and more inviting than the 40% that Microsoft offers.

Only thing is that Nintendo supplies zero help to indie developers through software tools or internal support, whereas Microsoft has a whole department devoted to helping devs (indie or not) with their projects (XBOX or not). Also, XNA game development studio thingy, which is a huge deal.

I find it funny that they've completely ignored Nintendo's presence in the market in this regard by choosing to **** their potential indie devs just as WiiWare debuts.

No one's perfect, but Nintendo has never been helpful to indies, no matter what they say when announcing/launching WiiWare; Microsoft has more follow through on this, even if it's just baby-steps in comparison.

52

General Chat / Re: So...the Dark Knight?

« on: August 07, 2008, 02:36:47 AM »

The last eight posts of this thread made me vomit in my own mouth.

edit: MONEY DOES NOT EQUAL QUALITY. YOU ARE BEING SOLD A GENERIC MASS-MARKET PRODUCT ENGINEERED TO MAKE AS MANY PEOPLE STUPIDLY HAPPY AS POSSIBLE. THESE FILMS ARE MADE BY MACHINES, AUTOMATICALLY CHURNED OUT COOKIE CUTTER BULLSHIT. VOTE REPUBLICAN.

53

General Chat / Re: "All Powerful"

« on: August 06, 2008, 12:11:26 AM »

Could there really be an "All-powerful" God? If so, then this God must be able to defy logic.

non sequitur

54

General Chat / Re: I HATE LAX

« on: August 06, 2008, 12:05:16 AM »

Second

55

General Gaming / Re: Official NWR PAX 2008 Thread

« on: August 05, 2008, 10:19:43 PM »

I thought I was going, but I probably won't be able to. We'll see.

56

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 29, 2008, 04:21:05 AM »

Oh man, they've aged since Heat..

And The Godfather Part II.

57

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 29, 2008, 12:50:02 AM »

Then I take back everything; I'll watch it and love it.

58

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 29, 2008, 12:43:48 AM »

Who's directing the new Transformers?

59

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 29, 2008, 12:21:44 AM »

Which makes me pathetic. Anyways, don't you think it's a bit early to call The Dark Knight the greatest film of the year? Like, there's six months to go.

LOL from the guy that said all those 6 movies listed sucked.

DaMAAaaaAn took this to another thread, and now I'm bringing it back.

Hey you, shut up: I'm not the only one who said these movies look like ****.

Ice Age 3
Transformers 2
Saw 5
Final Destination 4
Underworld 3
Harry Potter
Madagascar 2
The Grudge 3

I mean, seriously, this list looks GOOD? I'm open to anything, anytime, but to say that all of these (sans Potter) looks like total and utter garbage is not elitist, is not the result of a pretentious and overbearing movie taste, and it's definitely not uncommon (look at the other posts).

Shove it up your pie hole.

60

TalkBack / Re: Raise Your Standards

« on: July 28, 2008, 08:31:54 PM »

Evan needs to take the last few posts and split them off into their own topic like he used to do, in General Chat, Official Toaster Discussion.

Will everyone whine like before?

61

General Chat / Re: So...the Dark Knight?

« on: July 28, 2008, 08:07:56 PM »

Which makes me pathetic. Anyways, don't you think it's a bit early to call The Dark Knight the greatest film of the year? Like, there's six months to go.

62

General Chat / Re: So...the Dark Knight?

« on: July 28, 2008, 08:02:06 PM »

coughsupremacycough

63

General Chat / Re: So...the Dark Knight?

« on: July 28, 2008, 07:57:11 PM »

Again, as soon as I voice my opinion the thread becomes about how much everyone hates my taste: why is it that everyone knows all about how sucky my movie taste is when they haven't seen any of the movies I have?

/frustrated digression

64

General Chat / Re: So...the Dark Knight?

« on: July 28, 2008, 06:19:39 PM »

(maybe starwars but not really)

LOL Return of the Jedi is the best one in the whole series.

No comment.

65

General Chat / Re: Who wants to house RABicle? Poor in faux Vancouver.

« on: July 27, 2008, 02:48:24 PM »

You know we do have peanut butter in Australia... We hold BBQs too. And Shyguy oh wait you're being sarcastic LOL

I figured you probably did.  Its just very American by my understanding...

I have noticed taht americans have a RABID ENTHUSIASM for peanut butter. Like, the pb Twix bars and I'm prettys ure I was at the cafe and some woman asked for it in her coffee or milkshake or someshit.

I noticed that Australians have a rabid distaste for peanut butter: I offered RAB a PB and J sandwich, and he said "no, I'll just use jelly." HE PUT JELLY ON TWO PIECES OF WHEAT BREAD AND ATE IT.

66

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 27, 2008, 12:53:49 PM »

I guess I just don't "get" Pixar movies, because I haven't enjoyed a Pixar movie since Toy Story and found Wall-E a bloody masterpiece...

If there's one thing about it that's great, parts of it are way different from previous Pixar films.

This is one of the reasons I like The Dark Knight so much. It takes a movie which at first glance should be a standard summer blockbuster action movie, and elevates the material into a greater film. It also manages to do this with a PG-13 rating, which is also impressive.

Unlike other action films, it is greater than the sum of its parts. Like Wall-E, though, I felt it was at times too preachy.

67

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 27, 2008, 03:58:46 AM »

You're very right about Leatherheads, it does feel like a classic film, mostly by way of the dialogue and story rather than the style and cinematography. I think George Clooney's actually a great Hollywood director.

My hate for Ron Howard is probably a combination of a dislike of his popular acclaim and a general distaste for his sentimental and simplistic movies that seem profound but aren't, by any measure. But more than anything I hate I hate I hate How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

I liked Wall-E, especially the opening 45 minutes. The film began to lose itself when it shifted from the world to the spaceship. Before there were just two characters (plus cockroach) and absolutely no dialogue, but on the spaceship suddenly we have an influx of characters and some weird extra explanatory plot developments. I didn't need the environmental metaphor or the didactic presence of the fat, machine-reliant humans. By the end I felt so preached at, which is something I hate in films whether I agree with them or not. You're absolutely right about the space dance, just gorgeous, and I loved the little cleaning robot, and the "island of misfit toys" assemblage of broken robots. All that stuff qualifies it as a great animated film. It was pretty much the human stuff that I didn't need; I didn't need the crowd of folk cheering Wall-E on, or the stupid plant in a shoe (which starts out like a subtle metaphor and becomes just a plot device) or any of that stuff.

More than anything, the (Chaplin-esque, Tati-esque) silent-movie opening half hour is a masterpiece, and I wish they could have kept it up. The rest of the film felt uneven, with parts considerably below Pixar's standards. I think my favorite of their films may now be Ratatouille.

Wall-E probably does have the Oscar, but it'll depend on what's nominated for me to say that it deserves it. The year Ratatouille beat Persepolis, I was a conflicted man. Not sure which of those "really" deserved the award, or if the whole concept of "awards" can handle the fact that these two great, different films were so outstanding when compared to pretty much any studio product that year (outside of, maybe, Eastern Promises).

I do think the Bond trailer looks a lot like a Bourne film; I also think it looks as generic as all previous Bonds. It's as if they tell the directors to be deliberately bland, to never "set the standard" for action films, as the Bournes have done, or Michael Bay before them, or Terminator 2 before him, or Spielberg before it, or Akira Kurosawa before all of them. Yet the Bond films are considered "definitive" action when they always play by the extremely strict structural guidelines and never deviate from the established formula (established in 1959 by Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, and I'm not kidding). Casino Royale broke some rules, as did Goldeneye, and this one looks like it's about a rogue Bond, so it'll break a bit, but I'm sure there will still be a sexual romance, three or four distinct action set-pieces involving gadgets or vehicles or both, and witty one-liners peppered throughout. As for the "style" of the films, they've always looked like they were directed by the same person, which is not a sign of artistic excellence in my opinion.

68

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 26, 2008, 07:02:55 PM »

I'm not sure we've mentioned a movie yet that's not garbage.

What?

See my post:

The Dark Knight
Quantum of Solace
Wall-E

All are garbage?

Yours was the exception; my post was a broad troll, not a specific one. Wall-E and Dark Knight are good films, no idea whether Quantum of Solace will be good or not (I won't tell you my prediction).

Leatherheads is probably the best film I've seen this year (which is not a great compliment to the other flicks this year; how did Pixar manage to disappoint me so?). I scrolled through a semi-complete list of upcoming domestic films. I'm looking forward to Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder, both of which are coming out next month. Burn After Reading looks like it could be fun or good or both; Lakeview Terrace looks like a rehash of Changing Lanes, but it's by Neil Labute so I'll give it a spin; Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna is probably as good as any Spike Lee film (read: very good); The Road is based on another Cormac McCarthy novel but I haven't seen the director's other work; I hate Ron Howard, but the source material for Frost/Nixon is interesting; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has an amazing trailer, and Fincher's last flick Zodiac was excellent; and, of course, I'll see the new Harry Potter film. I'm also waiting for Steven Soderbergh's Che Guevara epic to make it to theatres, but that may not happen since it's 4 hours long (or longer). And if someone asked me to go to Hamlet 2 with them, I would go.

This list excludes any foreign or independent movies that get buzz and may actually come out in my neck of the woods. I missed The Fall while it was local, and I regret it.

edit: and I'm completely with Wandering on Ponyo, Cliff, Sea, etc, though I doubt it's coming out this year in America (Disney's been re-dubbing and slightly re-editing Miyazaki's films before they come over here, and I don't know if they've picked this up for domestic distribution yet. People generally don't go see these flicks; I saw Howl's Moving Castle with one friend in an empty theatre).

OH! I forgot my absolute number one upcoming film: Standard Operating Procedure.

69

General Chat / Re: Who wants to house RABicle? Poor in faux Vancouver.

« on: July 26, 2008, 02:56:54 PM »

Also check this site: trimet.org - which is for Portland and all the cities it connects to. Just tell it where you want to go and by what time, and it'll give you walking and riding directions.

70

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 26, 2008, 01:29:39 AM »

I'm not sure we've mentioned a movie yet that's not garbage.

71

General Chat / Re: Who wants to house RABicle? PORTLAND IS BOOKED OUT! HALP!

« on: July 26, 2008, 01:28:34 AM »

Considering that we haven't heard from him tonight, I'm betting he's dead.

72

General Chat / Re: Upcoming Movies

« on: July 25, 2008, 09:03:04 PM »

What's the point of this thread?

73

General Chat / Re: Who wants to house RABicle? PORTLAND IS BOOKED OUT! HALP!

« on: July 25, 2008, 09:01:18 PM »

I already checked, he hasn't seen The Goonies.

He hopped on the bus again today, and AFAIK he doesn't have a place to stay up north yet. He's trying hostels, but if he has to throw down a pretty penny he can go to a hotel or just keep busing up north.

A month ago I was considering going on the trip with him, but it didn't end up working out as all of my Portland friends have moved away.

74

General Chat / Re: So...the Dark Knight?

« on: July 25, 2008, 12:14:21 PM »

I think people need to get out more if they call most of what happens in the movie realistic. It was a great movie but come on, it was far from a "realistic".

Realism isn't about being "accurate to reality." Realism is attempting to represent a version of reality without gloss or stylistic obfuscation. It, in and of itself, is a style. EasyCure is correct when saying that we're applying the statement when compared to previous Batman films. Really, when compared to every other comic book movie ever, the Nolan Batmans clearly use "realism" as their aesthetic base.

P.S. I hate Batman Begins; it's edited like a trailer, with none of the humor of a Michael Bay film.

75

General Chat / Re: Who wants to house RABicle? Poor and lost in: Medford

« on: July 25, 2008, 03:28:42 AM »

You may be able to hit up a baseball game in Portland, actually.