Messages

1726

General Gaming / Re: Namco vs. Capcom Rumors

« on: July 20, 2010, 10:53:13 PM »

I've always thought that Tekken was an extremely boring game. I have no interest. I want to see Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat, with fatalities for both sides!

1727

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Monster Hunter Thwii

« on: July 20, 2010, 10:51:53 PM »

Until the monster self destructs, taking the hunter with it!

1728

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Which Retro Console Should I Buy?

« on: July 19, 2010, 02:03:20 AM »

I don't see the Dreamcast on that list.

Best. Console. Ever.

1729

General Gaming / Re: Games Industry Death Watch 2010

« on: July 18, 2010, 12:45:01 AM »

I haven't seen a movie better than Tron in a looong time.

1730

General Gaming / Re: Left 4 Dead 2

« on: July 16, 2010, 07:47:24 PM »

That would, to me, indicate an inconsistency in your files and the files that Steam/L4D are expecting to find. Have you installed any mods, sound packs, skins, etc? Have you played on any public servers that may have had mods installed? You may want to have Steam verify your files. It can take a little while, but it might just solve the issue. If not, I'd outright delete the file in question (pak01_div.vtk) and then verify your files.

1731

Announcements / Re: Karma is back for a trial run!

« on: July 14, 2010, 07:03:41 PM »

If people whine and complain about their score, the system will be taken away again.

My score sucks... take it away!

1732

General Gaming / Re: Left 4 Dead 2

« on: July 14, 2010, 10:04:47 AM »

Realism Versus is where we separate the men from the boys.

1733

General Gaming / Re: When is it okay to "steal"?

« on: July 09, 2010, 12:20:48 PM »

Pale, the car analogy isn't mine. The MPAA owns that one. It's a pro-copyright example that doesn't make sense precisely because it is about physical goods. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Frankly, you and anyone else would be a complete and utter liar if you said "No, I wouldn't replicate a new car or house for free". You continue to put words in my mouth, assuming that I advocate nothing but piracy. However, what you seemingly fail to realize is that there is a definitive difference between downloading piece of software and walking into the store and stealing a physical copy.

Now Pale, to quench your curiosity... Yes, I have created plenty. In fact, I make my living as an artist of various mediums. To add onto that, my primary hobby is film making. Because I am a true artist that actually creates things anew, I believe that my work should be spread, shared, and enjoyed. Unless I am contracted for a specific job by a specific client, everything I do is available for free on my website. You can purchase a physical copy (whether it be DVDs or poster prints) and have it in that form if you choose. A lot of people that enjoy my work make purchases so that they can show their support. I acknowledge this by providing otherwise unimportant incentives, whether it be higher-resolution art or DVD extras. Art should be free for the masses. The problem is that we probably haven't even been talking about at throughout this. We've been talking about commercial products. Rehashed video games and cliche Hollywood sequels. That's not art, it's a product.

Maybe the real problem is that individuals don't often possess the rights to a creation nowadays, but instead are held by corporations. Copyrights seem to linger on indefinitely instead of entering into the public domain as they're supposed to. This does nothing but stifle creativity, as now no one can make derivative works because copyright ensures that it's more profitable for a creation to have one limited release and then be locked away from everyone for eternity. Copyright, as it exists today, is nothing but governments pandering to corporations. It's not something that should be supported. It's something that should be evaluated and refined so that it can truly encourage and protect creativity.

1734

General Gaming / Re: When is it okay to "steal"?

« on: July 09, 2010, 11:17:43 AM »

It's okay to steal if you're Robin Hood. Hell, most people don't seem to mind the government stealing from them every day either.

However, ROMs are not stealing. Stealing requires that you deprive someone else of property. You wouldn't steal a car, would you? I know I wouldn't. But I'm willing to bet that you'd drive a Porsche around if you could perfectly replicate one with a few mouse clicks, all without harming or detracting from anyone else.

This is one of the stupidest things I have ever read.

Riiight. So you wouldn't be driving a top-of-the-line car if it were freely replicated at no-one's expense? See, that's the kind of dumb analogies pro-copyright people bring up. Copy infringement does not equate to theft. Physical goods are not present, and thus are never taken from anyone. There is an unlimited amount of digital goods to be had however, with not cost involved in producing them other than the initial development.

I'm not trying to rationalize theft, or even copyright infringement. I'm merely using a classic example of the copyright cartels to make people like you actually think for once. The idea that I'm merely renting a game is disgusting. When you've walked into a store and purchased something, you own it. You may not own the IP or the source code, but that disc and its contents are now yours. I should be able to make as many backups of it as I want, since the developer would never replace a broken disc in the future. Furthermore, I should be able to rip the game and get it running on whatever other system I can. Of course if I had those freedoms, then developers wouldn't be able to resell the same game on every system for decades... like Nintendo does.

This is all about limiting the rights and the fun that consumers have with their product. Even on the PC side, we see ungodly draconian DRM, dedicates servers stripped from titles, and environments that are all-but-impossible to mod and customize. Games aren't mean to be long-term fun anymore. They're just a quick cash grab... disposable products. That's why developers want to do away with the used market even more than piracy. In many ways, developers see them as the same thing. After all, they're not making money off of either, so clearly buying a used game is just as bad as pirating it, right?

More specifically in the case of Mother 3. Unless you live in Japan where it has been released, I say download the hell out of it. It's not your fault that Nintendo has overlooked an entire market because of greed. You shouldn't be required to jump through hoops just to get a product. Besides, I'd be surprised if most developers didn't think importing was against their EULA.

1735

General Gaming / Re: When is it okay to "steal"?

« on: July 08, 2010, 10:51:25 PM »

Stealing is never okay, per say. It is sometimes necessary though. A starving man, with no other options, may opt to steal a loaf of bread instead of dying. Obviously someone is deprived a loaf of bread, which makes said theft morally wrong and possibly damaging toward another person's well-being. However, I'd hardly blame someone that is in such a situation. There are many scenarios where theft, while not justifiable, can easily be necessary to some.

You're quite right though, ROMs do fall under copyright infringement, which is against the law. It's not on the same level as theft however. It seems that copyright laws do more to harm consumers than they do to protect creators nowadays. Individually created ROMs should clearly fall under fair-use, for archival and format shifting purposes if nothing else.

I seriously doubt that you could even begin to guess at my political views. Private message me if you care to try.

1736

General Gaming / Re: When is it okay to "steal"?

« on: July 08, 2010, 08:45:10 PM »

Obviously, I was referring the statement I made, therefore you get banned.

It's okay if I respond to THIS statement though... right?

And all of a sudden my score goes down. Go figure.

1737

Nintendo Gaming / Re: NBA JAM - BOOOOOOM-SHAKA-LAKA - He's On FIRE!!!!!

« on: July 08, 2010, 08:05:58 PM »

As long as I finally get to see that awesome Mortal Kombat court...

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3175219

1738

General Gaming / Re: When is it okay to "steal"?

« on: July 08, 2010, 08:03:58 PM »

It's okay to steal if you're Robin Hood. Hell, most people don't seem to mind the government stealing from them every day either.

However, ROMs are not stealing. Stealing requires that you deprive someone else of property. You wouldn't steal a car, would you? I know I wouldn't. But I'm willing to bet that you'd drive a Porsche around if you could perfectly replicate one with a few mouse clicks, all without harming or detracting from anyone else.

1739

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Nintendo's got 700 Problems, but.......

« on: July 04, 2010, 01:25:11 AM »

Having watched my girlfriend (who was a relapsed gamer) struggle and get frustrated trying to master the learning curve of a game has opened my eyes that the industry needs to step back and rethink a few things.

But she's a girl! You can't base your entire opinion on her. She has a genetic predisposition to simply not be very good at videogames... and football... and carpentry.

1740

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Sin & Punishment 2

« on: July 03, 2010, 03:10:37 PM »

I'd definitely purchase a new Space Harrier game if Sega could do it even half as well as Sin & Punishment 2.

1741

TalkBack / Re: 100 Classic Books Review

« on: July 02, 2010, 08:09:22 PM »

Almost all of these books are in the public domain. They can be obtained--for free--from numerous websites. In theory, you'd then be able to use them on just about any device whether it be a modified DS, an actual eBook reader, a laptop, etc.

1742

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Sin & Punishment 2

« on: July 02, 2010, 08:18:10 AM »

Picked it up yesterday. I've never played the original game, so all I have to compare this to is Space Harrier. I'm definitely liking it so far despite all the jagged edges.

1743

General Gaming / Re: So I got a PS3, now what?

« on: July 02, 2010, 07:15:42 AM »

Heavy Rain.

1744

General Gaming / Re: Portal - The Cake is a Lie!

« on: July 01, 2010, 04:20:15 PM »

It just seems like TF2 has high requirements for being such a graphically unimpressive shooter.

Seems like you don't have a very good grasp of comparative system requirements.

1745

General Gaming / Re: My 6 month review of Gamefly

« on: July 01, 2010, 04:07:51 PM »

I can usually get 4-6 days shipping both ways but not aways--80%. 

Do you mean that it takes 4-6 from the time you send one back to the time the next one arrives? If so, that sounds pretty on par and not nearly as bad as most of the turn around times I've heard.

1746

General Gaming / Re: Left 4 Dead 2

« on: June 28, 2010, 06:24:11 PM »

OMG, I just fired up this game for the 1st time (never played L4D1) and I'm loving it already.

You're in a for a treat. I like the general atmosphere of the first L4D personally, but enough extra were added and things tweaked to make the sequel unquestionably good. You may want to install the Add-On Support through Steam and download the conversions of the first game's campaigns. You can find them in both their original and modified formats. The modified formats add L4D2 goodies while not trying to stay 100% accurate. There are plenty of other good custom campaigns floating around as well for once you get bored with the few Valve-made ones.

Link: http://nekoarcnetwork.com/l4donl4d2/

1747

General Gaming / Re: Game sales declining because games are boring

« on: June 28, 2010, 11:31:45 AM »

Most games nowadays aren't worth playing. Even fewer are worth playing through more than once. All games nowadays are ridiculously overpriced.

1748

Nintendo Gaming / Re: System Update

« on: June 24, 2010, 05:37:57 PM »

No. All it does is stop the Homebrew Channel from being installed byway of previously used methods. No pirate tactics were ever targeted, and even the Homebrew Channel can still be installed via different methods.

1749

Nintendo Gaming / Re: System Update

« on: June 23, 2010, 11:17:05 PM »

Looks like I'm avoiding this update. Nintendo is doing more to actually turn people into pirates with all their homebrew-blocking updates. They should just do like Microsoft and ban people from playing online when they catch them.

There are already plenty of workarounds to get you up and going again if you really need to update. Nintendo should stop fighting this endless, loosing battle against piracy and divert all that funding into making some games instead.

1750

TalkBack / Re: Iwata Dissatisfied with Nintendo’s Online Efforts

« on: June 23, 2010, 11:15:14 PM »

You don't always notice the lag because only SSBBrawl actually attempts to sync up the action. Every other game just goes by positions. There is always lag, it is why you can often fire shells in Mario Kart and have them go right through other racers, or hit then even if it cleanly misses them. They are never exactly where they appear on your screen. Every Wii game is like this.

Most multiplayer games in general are like this. There's really no reason to transmit every single piece of data back and forth between all players when only a small bit of information really matters. That's smart coding, and doesn't really have anything to do with the Wii itself. Also, the games are almost all peer hosted, so again, your latency has a lot to do with who you're playing with.