T w e n t y S i d e d
No joke today. I play it straight and say goodbye to Robert Culp.
Okay, one joke. But it’s not mine. Seen in a forum somewhere:
Cast members to have died so far while waiting for Episode 3: 1
Ask Me a Question: Unbeatable DRM
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toasty asks:
Observation: Apparently there has not yet been released a working Crack for Assassin's Creed 2. I know this because where I live currently (Bangladesh) only pirated games are sold.
While I do not LIKE the method of DRM put in place on Assassin's Creed 2, what would you say if this method of DRM provided Publishers with an effective means to prevent piracy. I still maintain my belief that crackers and hackers will eventually crack/hack the game, but… what if they don't? Would you take this method of DRM (always being connected to the Internet) as “acceptable” if it allowed PC gaming to flourish without fear of piracy?
Some have claimed to have seen the game running. Others claim that it does not work at all. It’s possible the former are pirates trying to save face and claiming they have a crack that does not exist. It’s possible the people who claim the game remains un-cracked just had a bad version or lacked some technical secret to make the thing go. Rather than call one a liar by endorsing the other, I’ll just pull a Gandalf and admit ignorance by naming it caution.
But let’s play “what if” and assume the Assassin’s Creed 2 DRM remains un-cracked.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Ask Me a Question: Unbeatable DRM”
Shamus Plays: LOTRO, Part 10
Never before has greed and misanthropy been so gosh-darn adorable.
This week we do some quests in the Shire, and even dabble in crafting a bit.
I will say that I like the farming in LOTRO, even though I can’t figure out why. (My main is a Master Supreme Farmer.) It’s not really a game. There’s no strategy or skill involved. It’s just busywork. This should be something I hate. If a developer had shown me the design document for the farming gameplay I would have rolled it up and swatted them on the nose with it. But in the end it’s probably the most interesting crafting system I’ve tried. I still think there’s lots of room for improvement, but whatever they’re doing here, it’s a step in the right direction.
Stolen Pixels #179: Breen Interviews Chell
I have crafted another one of those web-comic dealies, and I offer it here for your perusal.
It’s not often I get genuinely excited about a sequel. I am excited about Portal. To my shame, my enthusiasm comes from screenshot preview hype mag Game Informer, which I usually regard as little more than a catalog. Please understand that I usually know better than to be swayed by anything the magazine has to say. I mean, they hand it out for free. At Gamestop. This is not a place you should turn if you want a clear-headed critical opinion on a game. Or anything else.
But the Portal 2 article found a gap in my armor of distrust and cynicism. I read it all the way through. On purpose, and without irony. And now I want the game.
It’s going to be a long year.
(Right here is a good place for a paragraph asking about Half-Life 2: Episode 3, but I just don’t have it in me today.)
What Does a Robot Want?
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The conventional wisdom in science fiction is that any artificial intelligent beings would naturally adopt the same drives and goals as Homo sapiens. That is, they’ll fight to survive, seek to gain understanding, desire to relate to others, and endeavor to express themselves. Basically, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Fiction authors routinely tell us the story of robots who want to make friends, have emotions, or indulge dangerous neurotic hang-ups.
But I don’t think this necessarily follows. Continue reading ⟩⟩ “What Does a Robot Want?”
DJO – Happy in Paraguay
This is an interesting specimen. It’s made the rounds and clocked a million or so views as of this writing. It’s been on Attack of the Show.
(Warning: Naughty language.)
Link (YouTube) |
I find myself loving the idea while disliking the execution. It’s amusing to see this nonsense dialog lip-sync so well with the original footage. But the constantly changing voices and the insertion bodily function noises feel like they betray the idea. Without those, it would kind of have the humorously subversive quality of found art. But once you add burping and “wacky” voices it feels like you’re trying to add humor instead of discovering it.
It still works, but I’d actually love if someone took this idea and played it “straight”.
But credit where it’s due: It’s a clever idea and the author does a good job of making the dialog fit.
Experienced Points: The Isolation of Random Matchmaking
In this one I talk about the automated matchmaking in the upcoming Starcraft 2. Well, actually, I’m using SC2 as a launching point for talking about this trend of automated matchmaking in general that has been pervasive on consoles and is becoming increasingly common on the PC. I don’t know if it will make any sense at all to people who haven’t played games like Team Fortress 2 where community Balkanization is an emergent feature.
And I expect the thread for this one will be a little rough, because for a certain segment of the fanbase, You Are Not Allowed to imply that SC2 will not be perfection. This is odd, because nobody seems to care if you denigrate the original. It’s usually the other way around: The original is sacred, and the sequels are fair targets.
From The Archives:
Silver Sable Sucks
This version of Silver Sable is poorly designed, horribly written, and placed in the game for all the wrong reasons.
Quakecon 2012 Annotated
An interesting but technically dense talk about gaming technology. I translate it for the non-coders.
The Dumbest Cutscene
This is it. This is the dumbest cutscene ever created for a AAA game. It's so bad it's simultaneously hilarious and painful. This is "The Room" of video game cutscenes.
Raytracing
Raytracing is coming. Slowly. Eventually. What is it and what will it mean for game development?
Good to be the King?
Which would you rather be: A king in the middle ages, or a lower-income laborer in the 21st century?
Fable II
The plot of this game isn't just dumb, it's actively hostile to the player. This game hates you and thinks you are stupid.
Gamers Aren’t Toxic
This is a horrible narrative that undermines the hobby through crass stereotypes. The hobby is vast, gamers come from all walks of life, and you shouldn't judge ANY group by its worst members.
Batman: Arkham Origins
A breakdown of how this game faltered when the franchise was given to a different studio.
Trashing the Heap
What does it mean when a program crashes, and why does it happen?
The Best of 2015
My picks for what was important, awesome, or worth talking about in 2015.