Found this randomly and decided to try it out.
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Way Too Much Information (MLP)
Well, this is pointless but I have an overload of links which I don't want to bury in my bookmarks.
- Mod chip stuff: I get scared when my official discs don't boot (sometimes due to dust, but a few have scratched from being lent out or actually dropping accidentially). I find it stupid to have to spend over 420 on a disc whose materials cost less than $1 to produce, probally less than 10 cents, actually, so I'd like to backup my games. Plus I don't actually buy games anymore, I borrow (and lend from my "classic" PS1 library) so I'd rather not scratch anyone's discs... just backup and play. Anyhow, here are the links to the one I want that's in stock for $25 USD or so.
- I also need a printer. I haven't had my own printer for about 3 years now, maybe more. Well, the broken ones don't count. Anyhow, I'm not sure what to get... Epson, Cannon, HP?
- This DiscPainter printer thingy looks cool, but I'm sorta concerned about finding cartidges for it.
- I couldn't afford an Amiga when they were actually being made, but I always wanted a 600HD. Anyhow, the Sega CD used similar technology... sorta... same CPU, anyways. Same as the Neo Geo too, actually.
- Some nut compiles JVM code from stack to register basis. Well, it's part of the Android stack. Take that, sun! Documentation on the DalvikVM is still incomplete but rev. eng. has already begun.
- Oh, and... twitter/facebook addicts can now have their very own yoga routine.
- I don't use twitter (yet?) and am very non-impressed by facebook, esp. since the old evil empire (MicroSoft, for those who don't know) bought it.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Me: 8,698.
Flu: 9,200.
I'm getting much better, but the flu also threw me a few curve-balls, disrupting my sleep and keeping me restless. So, I compensated by drinking water, some special anti-flu tea, and moving furniture. As a result, I should soon be back to 100%... I'm about 72% (or normal health) now.
Well, I've go a ton of things to do this week, because Univ. classes are starting back next week, I'm still sick, and also I wanna work on some for-money projects as well as catch up with some other stuff that I had put of whilst I was working at my last assignment.
So, no long rant or youtube update yet ;).
Flu: 9,200.
I'm getting much better, but the flu also threw me a few curve-balls, disrupting my sleep and keeping me restless. So, I compensated by drinking water, some special anti-flu tea, and moving furniture. As a result, I should soon be back to 100%... I'm about 72% (or normal health) now.
Well, I've go a ton of things to do this week, because Univ. classes are starting back next week, I'm still sick, and also I wanna work on some for-money projects as well as catch up with some other stuff that I had put of whilst I was working at my last assignment.
So, no long rant or youtube update yet ;).
Sunday, August 17, 2008
MLP - Because Randomness is Kool
This is another Mindless Link Propogation.
What features are in the ideal RPG? A comment I found [ link ] suggests these features:
Moving on to more links:
Something about math, and why it is useful to express things using mathmatical symbols.
Some-one did a "Playtest" of P3, the JPN version. This was before the English-language releast. It is well-written, this playtest. [ link ]
I've been researching "Greensleeves", because I have vague but strong memeories of, in primary school, around age 9 or 10, learning this song which freaked me out because it talked about someone being buried and grass growing on their gravesite, and the grass was called "green sleaves". It was to the tune of "Greensleves", but was nighter a romantic song like [ this youtube vid ], nor does wikipedia give me much joy. I found lyrics to a [ longer version of the love song thingy ] than the [ traditional medley ], but none is as morbid as what I remember.
I'm starting to wonder what I could have possibly learnt when I was younger... could it be that I watched some "thriller" on late-night TV that had alternate lyrics to the tune? This small, non-consequential problem threatens to dominate my whole life, but no, I will just forget it for now and focus on more important things, like how to get rich and make a difference in the world. Or something. That's what world domination is called nowadays, right: social responsiblity.
What features are in the ideal RPG? A comment I found [ link ] suggests these features:
- pick (or create your character, including)
- stats
- team (questing party): chose who and wheter to gather as "teammates"
- teammates (supporting party characters) with unique storylines which you experience by having them in your team
- the ability to change stats almost at will (like "Red Mage", I guess, in 8BT)
- various choices: a branching, rather than linear, time/story-line
- side quests. by the thousands
- upgrades for weapons, armour, and and other equipment (and, I supposed, vehicles as well). "endless" is that the comment suggested.
- endless endings which are based on your choices
Moving on to more links:
Something about math, and why it is useful to express things using mathmatical symbols.
Some-one did a "Playtest" of P3, the JPN version. This was before the English-language releast. It is well-written, this playtest. [ link ]
I've been researching "Greensleeves", because I have vague but strong memeories of, in primary school, around age 9 or 10, learning this song which freaked me out because it talked about someone being buried and grass growing on their gravesite, and the grass was called "green sleaves". It was to the tune of "Greensleves", but was nighter a romantic song like [ this youtube vid ], nor does wikipedia give me much joy. I found lyrics to a [ longer version of the love song thingy ] than the [ traditional medley ], but none is as morbid as what I remember.
I'm starting to wonder what I could have possibly learnt when I was younger... could it be that I watched some "thriller" on late-night TV that had alternate lyrics to the tune? This small, non-consequential problem threatens to dominate my whole life, but no, I will just forget it for now and focus on more important things, like how to get rich and make a difference in the world. Or something. That's what world domination is called nowadays, right: social responsiblity.
What Era are We Living within?
I remember when I became aware of an important social phenomenom: the specifics of trade, and how the majority trades, and how your trade, influence your "level" in society. In the Agrian (Direct/Small-Scale Farming) Era, most people maintained farms, in order to sustain themselves and their families... with improvements in farming technology, more time was freed up, and more organisation was put to food production, leading to food security.
Food security means population security. Long-term plans. Social security. You can no do things like build the Great Wall of China over several hundred years, or many, many generations. A society can't really afford the time and effort for engineering if they have inconsistent food production, and most people under-fed.
It occured to me, as we were studying steam power and how it affected the Industrial Revolution in England, and thus, worldwide, that China had the same technology, even earlier, but refused to use it en mass because they were already trying to increase gainful employment/size of work-force, and having machines doing most of the world would be against the goals of the state at that time. I actually saw this issued discussed explictly in a kung-fu movie set back in that time period (sorry, I don't know the proper name for it, I really didn't do history for very long in school), I think it was one of the Wong Fei Long series starting Jet Li.
Anyhow, we have all sorts of social-changing technology now, from nuclear power to electronic voting machines to sex toys to videogames. How each technology is used depends more on social concerns than on pure functionaltiy.
For example, several countries oppose nuclear power, because of the perceived danger: disposal of necessary waste, and the risk of a "meltdown" like Chernobol(sp?)/Wormwood. Other countries oppose nuclear power, not for themselves, but for others, since they fear it could lead those other countries to possess nuclear weapons. The chief concern is never a cost-benefit analysis as you'd expect in a truly captialist, commerical-interest-comes-first society.
It is not that democracy reigns, either... it is that the ruling class feeds the public the "slanted truth" and the public resonates it. Because the mainstream way of trade when it comes to information is to comply with a few assumptions:
1. they're good and bad(evil) options
2. we are chosing the good ones
3. we live in a democracy because of voting
These are all "memes" in the true sense of the word: they're mental genes, and they influence perception and thus behaviour. For example, because of #3, the repositioning of the US as a "police state" is seen as impossible by most people, and even those who have experienced the reality of the changes which have already taken place lack the vocabulary, or perhaps, will, to discuss it, since everyone "knows" that democracy = freedom.
Anyhow, I got off-track. I think this era that we live in is a combination of commercial and social (Sociocommercial?). It has the legacy of even the industrial era, with factories still mass-producing things, but with a class of "time-rich" people already widely in evidence, due to affluent parents, part-time jobs, being in the education system, or even having been laid off but not in a rush to find new jobs.... and a lot of these time-rich people are doing things largely for social, rather than commercial reasons (like me and this blog).
Yet, we can't discount commercial reasons or influences. A lot of out culture and development comes from sources which we would never even be aware of, if not for the commercial motive. For example, "keyeske - see his youtube channel" mentioned that Persona influenced him a lot - see his youtube vid where he says this -, and I find the roots in Jungian Psycology to have helped encourage my interest in formal study of the subject (whereas, before, I viewed all formal study as a giant waste of time).
Well, Persona was and is a commercial product. In fact, the reason why the Snow Queen story was removed (and the Ambrosia quest by extention, together totally about 60% of the videogame), was due to "commercial constraints": there wasn't enough time-money to make the full game available for the launch window. Since Atlus US seems... sorta anemic when it comes to initiative, it's unlikely that they would have taught of later releasing the full version, plus some improvements... like how Atlus JPN did with P3 and P3:FES (upgrade and dual), thus driving Atlus US to relase P3:FES (based on the dual JPN edition, which includes an enhanced P3 and the additional FES story).
I should mention, though, that not everyone is living in the same era. The word "ghetto" was used during Nazi oppression of Jews to describe the seggregated areas where Jews were forced to lived in order to stagnate their economic power whilst awaiting execution; although potrayed as somewhat kool places where rap artists are born, or something, areas called ghettos nowadays have similar effects: economic depression, and shortened life-span (although, not necessarily by Nazis). Although, I can't fully appreciate that since I life in a bizarre place.
Moving further, they're people who don't even have access to running water. They have to walk miles each day just to get water rations. And, forget about electricity.
I can hardly imagine what that must be like, but you hear about that and then about the fact that there's a growing housing crisis which will displace 2/3 of the population of the world within a generation, and you get the feeling that we've already passed the "peak point" of success, and us who are fortunate to have running water, electricity, and access to education (not necessarily formal; self-study works, esp. with e-book and other ways of getting access to knowledge) have almost an obligation to solve some of the world's problems... no only because it is "right", but moreso because it is commercially smart.
Hanging around playing aimlessly whilst people live below a basic standard of living was tried before, a little thing called the French Revolution resulted and serves as one of the sharpest and most famous reminders that, as leaders, and forunate people, we need to also have "social responsibility", and also, a commercial mind, or else, the very fabric of society will collapse.
Well, I didn't expect to write all of this... but after reading the article about FF7 as a refection of Japanese society, by kotowari, I guess I sorta got off on an inspired tangent.
Also, there's a brief article on that same site about P1 (Persona 1, "Revelations: Persona".
Food security means population security. Long-term plans. Social security. You can no do things like build the Great Wall of China over several hundred years, or many, many generations. A society can't really afford the time and effort for engineering if they have inconsistent food production, and most people under-fed.
It occured to me, as we were studying steam power and how it affected the Industrial Revolution in England, and thus, worldwide, that China had the same technology, even earlier, but refused to use it en mass because they were already trying to increase gainful employment/size of work-force, and having machines doing most of the world would be against the goals of the state at that time. I actually saw this issued discussed explictly in a kung-fu movie set back in that time period (sorry, I don't know the proper name for it, I really didn't do history for very long in school), I think it was one of the Wong Fei Long series starting Jet Li.
Anyhow, we have all sorts of social-changing technology now, from nuclear power to electronic voting machines to sex toys to videogames. How each technology is used depends more on social concerns than on pure functionaltiy.
For example, several countries oppose nuclear power, because of the perceived danger: disposal of necessary waste, and the risk of a "meltdown" like Chernobol(sp?)/Wormwood. Other countries oppose nuclear power, not for themselves, but for others, since they fear it could lead those other countries to possess nuclear weapons. The chief concern is never a cost-benefit analysis as you'd expect in a truly captialist, commerical-interest-comes-first society.
It is not that democracy reigns, either... it is that the ruling class feeds the public the "slanted truth" and the public resonates it. Because the mainstream way of trade when it comes to information is to comply with a few assumptions:
1. they're good and bad(evil) options
2. we are chosing the good ones
3. we live in a democracy because of voting
These are all "memes" in the true sense of the word: they're mental genes, and they influence perception and thus behaviour. For example, because of #3, the repositioning of the US as a "police state" is seen as impossible by most people, and even those who have experienced the reality of the changes which have already taken place lack the vocabulary, or perhaps, will, to discuss it, since everyone "knows" that democracy = freedom.
Anyhow, I got off-track. I think this era that we live in is a combination of commercial and social (Sociocommercial?). It has the legacy of even the industrial era, with factories still mass-producing things, but with a class of "time-rich" people already widely in evidence, due to affluent parents, part-time jobs, being in the education system, or even having been laid off but not in a rush to find new jobs.... and a lot of these time-rich people are doing things largely for social, rather than commercial reasons (like me and this blog).
Yet, we can't discount commercial reasons or influences. A lot of out culture and development comes from sources which we would never even be aware of, if not for the commercial motive. For example, "keyeske - see his youtube channel" mentioned that Persona influenced him a lot - see his youtube vid where he says this -, and I find the roots in Jungian Psycology to have helped encourage my interest in formal study of the subject (whereas, before, I viewed all formal study as a giant waste of time).
Well, Persona was and is a commercial product. In fact, the reason why the Snow Queen story was removed (and the Ambrosia quest by extention, together totally about 60% of the videogame), was due to "commercial constraints": there wasn't enough time-money to make the full game available for the launch window. Since Atlus US seems... sorta anemic when it comes to initiative, it's unlikely that they would have taught of later releasing the full version, plus some improvements... like how Atlus JPN did with P3 and P3:FES (upgrade and dual), thus driving Atlus US to relase P3:FES (based on the dual JPN edition, which includes an enhanced P3 and the additional FES story).
I should mention, though, that not everyone is living in the same era. The word "ghetto" was used during Nazi oppression of Jews to describe the seggregated areas where Jews were forced to lived in order to stagnate their economic power whilst awaiting execution; although potrayed as somewhat kool places where rap artists are born, or something, areas called ghettos nowadays have similar effects: economic depression, and shortened life-span (although, not necessarily by Nazis). Although, I can't fully appreciate that since I life in a bizarre place.
Moving further, they're people who don't even have access to running water. They have to walk miles each day just to get water rations. And, forget about electricity.
I can hardly imagine what that must be like, but you hear about that and then about the fact that there's a growing housing crisis which will displace 2/3 of the population of the world within a generation, and you get the feeling that we've already passed the "peak point" of success, and us who are fortunate to have running water, electricity, and access to education (not necessarily formal; self-study works, esp. with e-book and other ways of getting access to knowledge) have almost an obligation to solve some of the world's problems... no only because it is "right", but moreso because it is commercially smart.
Hanging around playing aimlessly whilst people live below a basic standard of living was tried before, a little thing called the French Revolution resulted and serves as one of the sharpest and most famous reminders that, as leaders, and forunate people, we need to also have "social responsibility", and also, a commercial mind, or else, the very fabric of society will collapse.
Well, I didn't expect to write all of this... but after reading the article about FF7 as a refection of Japanese society, by kotowari, I guess I sorta got off on an inspired tangent.
Also, there's a brief article on that same site about P1 (Persona 1, "Revelations: Persona".
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Misinformation
What are "professional" gaming sites doing nowadays, eh? Gamespot, 1up, etc. hardly have any info on Revelations:Persona (P1), and what little they have is inaccurate.
Anyhow, flu: 9,001. Me: 7,000. The battle has been intense but I am far away from being the victor. More importantly, the flu has a point score "Over 9,000!". At least my bases still belong to me.
There's been a rumour since march that Revelations: Persona is coming to PSP, and someone [ link ] assumed that it would be properly translated to English if it does come over. I say... not bloody likely. At the Atlus Panel, they explictly said that they don't want to translated "old" games (form the PS1 era, which means everything before P3), and they haven't eeven translated Innocent Sin (that's being done by Gemini/Tom, as I mentioned in a previous blog). So at best they'll republishing the pre-existing PS1 title, with its missing Snow Queen storyline.
Assuming that I don't die first, I'm going to upgrade my vid. cap. rig and do some more P1 gameplay vids, based on various requests. However,I've also got this real-world problem of being near-broke and stuff, so I have to work on hat until I fix it... for the week, though, I did actually gain a bit of revenue... spent more in food alone, but, it's a start (the balance comes from the part-time job that I did recently... said job also helped weaken my immune system, but I'd have to say that the nail in my coffin was my own self-neglect, and I'll have to be more careful in the future).
I haven't been sick like this in at least 3 years. I guess I took it for granted and stopped paying suck close attention. I mean, I actually thought to myself "I'm going to get sick if I keep this up...", but I guess aprtly I wanted a vacation and being sick is a way to get it. Normally, people don't think of unconscious motivations like that, but I'm goot at reflective introspection. I know exactly what my weaknesses are... but perhaps it is time I focus on, and build, my strengths.
So, one of my strengths is getting things done. Not only with computers, in general. And I've decided that what I want to do is make a small adventure game, but with a sci-fi edge to it, so I can have an excuse to use some sort of "plasma laser" weapon... I'm sure the better name for it would be charged-gel-low-velocity-missle-launcher, based on how slow "lasers" move in most sci-fi thingies... I mean, peopel dodge them in realtime, and shit... but I'm setting my thing underwater, and using ballistic weapons just seem to me to be a tad less than wise, when a shot in the hull means almost certain death for everyone.
*cough, cough* no, I'm not hinting at anything, I'm actually coughing. It is annoying.
[I stopped here to go an sleep, or something. As I mentioned earlier, I'm really sick.]
Anyhow, flu: 9,001. Me: 7,000. The battle has been intense but I am far away from being the victor. More importantly, the flu has a point score "Over 9,000!". At least my bases still belong to me.
There's been a rumour since march that Revelations: Persona is coming to PSP, and someone [ link ] assumed that it would be properly translated to English if it does come over. I say... not bloody likely. At the Atlus Panel, they explictly said that they don't want to translated "old" games (form the PS1 era, which means everything before P3), and they haven't eeven translated Innocent Sin (that's being done by Gemini/Tom, as I mentioned in a previous blog). So at best they'll republishing the pre-existing PS1 title, with its missing Snow Queen storyline.
Assuming that I don't die first, I'm going to upgrade my vid. cap. rig and do some more P1 gameplay vids, based on various requests. However,I've also got this real-world problem of being near-broke and stuff, so I have to work on hat until I fix it... for the week, though, I did actually gain a bit of revenue... spent more in food alone, but, it's a start (the balance comes from the part-time job that I did recently... said job also helped weaken my immune system, but I'd have to say that the nail in my coffin was my own self-neglect, and I'll have to be more careful in the future).
I haven't been sick like this in at least 3 years. I guess I took it for granted and stopped paying suck close attention. I mean, I actually thought to myself "I'm going to get sick if I keep this up...", but I guess aprtly I wanted a vacation and being sick is a way to get it. Normally, people don't think of unconscious motivations like that, but I'm goot at reflective introspection. I know exactly what my weaknesses are... but perhaps it is time I focus on, and build, my strengths.
So, one of my strengths is getting things done. Not only with computers, in general. And I've decided that what I want to do is make a small adventure game, but with a sci-fi edge to it, so I can have an excuse to use some sort of "plasma laser" weapon... I'm sure the better name for it would be charged-gel-low-velocity-missle-launcher, based on how slow "lasers" move in most sci-fi thingies... I mean, peopel dodge them in realtime, and shit... but I'm setting my thing underwater, and using ballistic weapons just seem to me to be a tad less than wise, when a shot in the hull means almost certain death for everyone.
*cough, cough* no, I'm not hinting at anything, I'm actually coughing. It is annoying.
[I stopped here to go an sleep, or something. As I mentioned earlier, I'm really sick.]
Thursday, August 14, 2008
May's Law
"May's Law: Software efficiency halves every 18 months, compensating Moore's Law."
- ripped from Wikipedia, link - Bio on David May, who formulated the law. He's a ... largely unknown genius type, I guess, being one fo the designers fo teh Transputer system. Of course, even Tiem Sweeney and John Camrack are largely unknown (key programmers behind the Unreal and Doom/Quake engine-games, respectively).
Flu: 27. Me: 23. Flu leads by 4 points, but there's still a chance that I will reign victorious.
I have some MLP (Mindless Link Propagation), based on my research into the Transputer arch. and Occam in particular... since the Terminator systems in Chronicles are rumoured to be based directly on the Occam sofware. From a glance, Occam looks retarded, because it forces the designr to explicate parllelism. However, it is interesting that someone tried so hard to build parallel computer systems. Pity they didn't use them for arcade games or military simulation equipment... or did they? No way to knwo about the latter, really.
Anyhow, all these links are from WIki pedia articles (pardon my typos, I'm in a lot of pain but I need to keep moving or else I'll die. Shark blood):
Transputer - the worlds' best kept secret next to the C64 REU. (i.e. the secret is "best", not "best-kept". It would have been nice to be able to buy a microcomputer which could upgrade to a supercomputer just by buying additional parts... basically, like what LAIN did in Serial Experiments Lain.
Occam - Created by people who think that question marks should do things other than ask questions, and were obviously too nerdy to care that their language looks like shit and can't be understood by outsiders.
The must have been Pink.
The article of Process Calculus, which makes that shit sound hard, and ignores the obvious problem (at least to me): sync. stuff blocks the calling process, and async needs to know when data is valid. Unreal acrually addresses some of this via "state" and "latent" keywords, andthe constructs which implement native finite state machines for classes (actually, modes of operation as named states), and soft co-threading on a massive level (hundreds, if not more than thousands, of threads , typically. Mostly sleeping but wtvr).
I hate "math" because it makes easy things sound hard. However, asside from classes which I never bothered to attend, I've never gotten less than a 90% on a math exam. THat's probally bullshit,but the point is that I'm great at math, but I need to apply it to stuff. Which is why I chose Physics, Mathematics, and Accounts at A-Level, eons ago, even though I was too sick to do the exams... hmmm... and now I'm sick again... I shouldn't tell teh Internets this stuff, suppose I can't get a job? What will I do without wage-slavery?
In order to fomally describe concurrent systems CSP was developed. Did I mention that Unreal does all this concurrent stuff, without that fancy math notation shit? I mean, you edit the code in an editor that is part property dialogues, part graphical/art/map editors, and part self-aware code re-interpeter. Or something.
Oh, look, besides Hawkins, thatere's anotehr Steven in science who is actively doing interesting stuff. Actually, I'd more out SE-Z in SMT than Hawkins... but arccording to SMT 1, the Steven in the game was not in a wheelchair due to physical illness, but, rather, as a result of a demon negotiation that went bad, leaving him crippled.
And, of course, since digital media is the new printing press (in that there's a social change and economic reform going on because of these new technologies bring "power to the masses"), I have a link to an article related to stuff like that. Something about Elvis and the business side of music popularity.
I'm gonan go ask the lady in the moon to heal me of this flu. It's almost full, after all.
"Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale Moon-light?"
- ripped from Wikipedia, link - Bio on David May, who formulated the law. He's a ... largely unknown genius type, I guess, being one fo the designers fo teh Transputer system. Of course, even Tiem Sweeney and John Camrack are largely unknown (key programmers behind the Unreal and Doom/Quake engine-games, respectively).
Flu: 27. Me: 23. Flu leads by 4 points, but there's still a chance that I will reign victorious.
I have some MLP (Mindless Link Propagation), based on my research into the Transputer arch. and Occam in particular... since the Terminator systems in Chronicles are rumoured to be based directly on the Occam sofware. From a glance, Occam looks retarded, because it forces the designr to explicate parllelism. However, it is interesting that someone tried so hard to build parallel computer systems. Pity they didn't use them for arcade games or military simulation equipment... or did they? No way to knwo about the latter, really.
Anyhow, all these links are from WIki pedia articles (pardon my typos, I'm in a lot of pain but I need to keep moving or else I'll die. Shark blood):
Transputer - the worlds' best kept secret next to the C64 REU. (i.e. the secret is "best", not "best-kept". It would have been nice to be able to buy a microcomputer which could upgrade to a supercomputer just by buying additional parts... basically, like what LAIN did in Serial Experiments Lain.
Occam - Created by people who think that question marks should do things other than ask questions, and were obviously too nerdy to care that their language looks like shit and can't be understood by outsiders.
The must have been Pink.
The article of Process Calculus, which makes that shit sound hard, and ignores the obvious problem (at least to me): sync. stuff blocks the calling process, and async needs to know when data is valid. Unreal acrually addresses some of this via "state" and "latent" keywords, andthe constructs which implement native finite state machines for classes (actually, modes of operation as named states), and soft co-threading on a massive level (hundreds, if not more than thousands, of threads , typically. Mostly sleeping but wtvr).
I hate "math" because it makes easy things sound hard. However, asside from classes which I never bothered to attend, I've never gotten less than a 90% on a math exam. THat's probally bullshit,but the point is that I'm great at math, but I need to apply it to stuff. Which is why I chose Physics, Mathematics, and Accounts at A-Level, eons ago, even though I was too sick to do the exams... hmmm... and now I'm sick again... I shouldn't tell teh Internets this stuff, suppose I can't get a job? What will I do without wage-slavery?
In order to fomally describe concurrent systems CSP was developed. Did I mention that Unreal does all this concurrent stuff, without that fancy math notation shit? I mean, you edit the code in an editor that is part property dialogues, part graphical/art/map editors, and part self-aware code re-interpeter. Or something.
Oh, look, besides Hawkins, thatere's anotehr Steven in science who is actively doing interesting stuff. Actually, I'd more out SE-Z in SMT than Hawkins... but arccording to SMT 1, the Steven in the game was not in a wheelchair due to physical illness, but, rather, as a result of a demon negotiation that went bad, leaving him crippled.
And, of course, since digital media is the new printing press (in that there's a social change and economic reform going on because of these new technologies bring "power to the masses"), I have a link to an article related to stuff like that. Something about Elvis and the business side of music popularity.
I'm gonan go ask the lady in the moon to heal me of this flu. It's almost full, after all.
"Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale Moon-light?"
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Competing with Unsanctioned Reproductions
I know that I'm the only one that seems to care about the word "Pirate" as much too harsh, but if you don't stand for anything, you're fall for ... something.
Err, that's not the saying at all.
Anyhow, link: http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html
A popular article which replies to feedback from people who use "Unsanctioned Reproductions" (URs) of videogame software. It was very interesting, because few if any people have bothered with collecting any real data on the subject... usually, the *AA just pulls numbers out of Uranus or something. I mena, $750 USD as the cost of an Unsanctioned, compressed copy of a song? Freaking heck!
Anyhow, the score, if you were paying attention to my last blog, is now 21-19, the Flu being the 21, and me being the 19. I am functioning just one notch above "blob of useless human waste", or something.
I blame... Sony, for publishing at least some of the Persona games, although it has nothing to do with why I'm... a little bit... sick...( and a lot in denial about it!)....
You see, I sat in front of a fan in a room that was around 90 deg. F. The fan oscillated, and blew on one side of my body, but not the other. For like twelve hours staight, whilst I did nerdy stuff like write blog entries like I'm doing now, and... I dunno what the freak else.
On top of that, two people at my last part-time short-term assignment job thingy were sick. One so sick that she went home early, the other, the one sitting right next to me, boasting that she wanted to spread her sickness to everyone. I like a fool boasted about a "strong immune system".
Then there's the fact that University is starting back and I feel ill-prepared, and generally am going through some sort of social aversion issues.
However, I have been out of the house today and yesterday... and even made a bit of money... well, overall, I spent more than I made, by far... and I must say that I need to open my own PC/gaming shop, but whatever... that's another rant and I just don't have the endurance for it.
Err, that's not the saying at all.
Anyhow, link: http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html
A popular article which replies to feedback from people who use "Unsanctioned Reproductions" (URs) of videogame software. It was very interesting, because few if any people have bothered with collecting any real data on the subject... usually, the *AA just pulls numbers out of Uranus or something. I mena, $750 USD as the cost of an Unsanctioned, compressed copy of a song? Freaking heck!
Anyhow, the score, if you were paying attention to my last blog, is now 21-19, the Flu being the 21, and me being the 19. I am functioning just one notch above "blob of useless human waste", or something.
I blame... Sony, for publishing at least some of the Persona games, although it has nothing to do with why I'm... a little bit... sick...( and a lot in denial about it!)....
You see, I sat in front of a fan in a room that was around 90 deg. F. The fan oscillated, and blew on one side of my body, but not the other. For like twelve hours staight, whilst I did nerdy stuff like write blog entries like I'm doing now, and... I dunno what the freak else.
On top of that, two people at my last part-time short-term assignment job thingy were sick. One so sick that she went home early, the other, the one sitting right next to me, boasting that she wanted to spread her sickness to everyone. I like a fool boasted about a "strong immune system".
Then there's the fact that University is starting back and I feel ill-prepared, and generally am going through some sort of social aversion issues.
However, I have been out of the house today and yesterday... and even made a bit of money... well, overall, I spent more than I made, by far... and I must say that I need to open my own PC/gaming shop, but whatever... that's another rant and I just don't have the endurance for it.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Flu Versus Me
Sometime between Sunday night and now, Tuesday evening, I got some rest, built a PC, and did a 10-minute (or so ) video for the YouTube Channel, Bajan13K.
As a result of all of this work and static-ness, I'm now fighting off the symptoms of a 'flu. The enemy is not inside the gates yet, though, I am fighting it back with vigor and concentration. Not to mention, activity.
So, today I went and did a few errands, and I also cleaned up a bit... one of my neighbors says that I seem to somehow create space with my re-arrangement skills (which I call, humbly, layout-fu).
I'm not sure if anyone reads this blog yet, I haven't tried to promote it other than an easily overlooked link from the Bajan13K YouTube Channel, but it moved from something I just started out of a random link-following spree, into a diary of sorts which aims to parallel updates to said channel, but also includes a much more detailed and wider look at issues affecting video-gaming.
Well, in Persona 3 (P3) , if you study every night as well as run thru the dungeon (there's only one as far as I know, Tartarus or whatever) for extended periods, you'll be sick and have to forego both acedemic and physical excursions for a time, until you recover. It seems therefore that I didn't take the hint, eh? But, my problem is really the heat of this "cave" that I live in. It's made of mostly solid rock and metal, so it is hot an constricted, even at night. Actually, ambient temp. here is around 30-35 degrees C (90s of F. scale), so, for me at least, it is rather brutal.
The fact that it is hotter inside than outside is not inevitable, though: ceiling fans, high roofs, and box-fridges (you know, AC units) all help... none of which I have, so, I have to suffer, for now. However, I'm thinking of more and more ambitious yet somehow realistic plans to rennovate this apartment, ior build a better one... for now, though, I need to get strong enough to work thru the heat, which is why I worked so hard recently.
The score, then, is so far about 10-18, with me being the 18, in the match between the Flu and myself. I'm winning, but I can't afford to become complacent.
As a result of all of this work and static-ness, I'm now fighting off the symptoms of a 'flu. The enemy is not inside the gates yet, though, I am fighting it back with vigor and concentration. Not to mention, activity.
So, today I went and did a few errands, and I also cleaned up a bit... one of my neighbors says that I seem to somehow create space with my re-arrangement skills (which I call, humbly, layout-fu).
I'm not sure if anyone reads this blog yet, I haven't tried to promote it other than an easily overlooked link from the Bajan13K YouTube Channel, but it moved from something I just started out of a random link-following spree, into a diary of sorts which aims to parallel updates to said channel, but also includes a much more detailed and wider look at issues affecting video-gaming.
Well, in Persona 3 (P3) , if you study every night as well as run thru the dungeon (there's only one as far as I know, Tartarus or whatever) for extended periods, you'll be sick and have to forego both acedemic and physical excursions for a time, until you recover. It seems therefore that I didn't take the hint, eh? But, my problem is really the heat of this "cave" that I live in. It's made of mostly solid rock and metal, so it is hot an constricted, even at night. Actually, ambient temp. here is around 30-35 degrees C (90s of F. scale), so, for me at least, it is rather brutal.
The fact that it is hotter inside than outside is not inevitable, though: ceiling fans, high roofs, and box-fridges (you know, AC units) all help... none of which I have, so, I have to suffer, for now. However, I'm thinking of more and more ambitious yet somehow realistic plans to rennovate this apartment, ior build a better one... for now, though, I need to get strong enough to work thru the heat, which is why I worked so hard recently.
The score, then, is so far about 10-18, with me being the 18, in the match between the Flu and myself. I'm winning, but I can't afford to become complacent.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sharks and Consoles
For a long time, the Gameboy (you know, the shades-of-green one) was the most prolific gaming platform. Even though PCs have always been a good hardware platform, the legacy of being designed as a office/business platform rather than a consumer/entertainment platform still haunts it, and will forever, but that's another rant.
The Gameboy was not popular because ti was the best of the handhelds. It was popular because it had the three main characteristics with respect to commercial software (games): fun, accessibility, popularity. "Tetris" embodies this the best, but the huge library of titles which followed its launch mostly capitalized on these trends, thanks to Nintendo's visionary involvement in approving and promoting games for the platform.
Tertis was fun. Anyone could play it (accessibility), anyone who bought an origional SKU got Tetris free (accessibility, popularity), and it was promoted well.
Although Nintnedo released more handheld platforms, such as the GBC (Gameboy Color), their backwards compatibility protected the investment of early adopters, whilst giving benefits to new adopters. This "sliding upgrade model" was something Nintendo wanted from the NES to SNES, but due to limits of their engineering team, couldn't accomplish it at the time-cost available.
So, anyhow, Sony does a similar "sliding upgrade" as far as consoles are concerned. Even the newfangled PS3 can play PS1 games, and PS1 games are being re-released for PSP and so forth.
In a way, the PS3 is an extension of the PS1... the "PlayStation brand" is not just a brand; it is a virtual platfrom with a very wide compatibility window. This stuff matters to peopel who've invensted in dozen, if not hundreds of games.
PCs, on the other hand, continually break compatibility with older version of themselves. This is not strictly for technical reasons, but, rather, because of Microsoft shifiting the "sliding window" and developers not being aware, or not taking advantage of, future roadmaps to "future proof" their software. Hardly any DOS games work unmodified on recent systems, but since hardly any PC-publishing houses from DOS days still publish/support even updated versions of their titles, then who cares, right?
In the console world, Sony has done the best job on protecting the investment of gamers... and even now, you can buy a PS2 or PS3 and play all you PS1 games, and, depending on model of the PS3, your PS2 games as well. Software emulation of PS2 games for the PS3 models without it built in is possible, but I don't know much about it.
The point is that the PS3 represents somewhat of a climax in console technology (the XBOX360 and Wii could be seen in the same light, but more for business than technical reasons). HD is fine for mature gamers with disposable income, but many unvoiced gamers play on SD screens, even if they can afford something better, for various reasons... from here on, esp. with a 10-year lifespan of the PS2 being understated, we can expect a lifecycle which is more aboud increasing penetration, and expanding the software library, than about making a "bigger, stronger" console.
This is not the same as consoles dying. This is, moreso, the market becoming more mature.
Oh, yeah, this rant was inspired by an Edge article [link].
The Gameboy was not popular because ti was the best of the handhelds. It was popular because it had the three main characteristics with respect to commercial software (games): fun, accessibility, popularity. "Tetris" embodies this the best, but the huge library of titles which followed its launch mostly capitalized on these trends, thanks to Nintendo's visionary involvement in approving and promoting games for the platform.
Tertis was fun. Anyone could play it (accessibility), anyone who bought an origional SKU got Tetris free (accessibility, popularity), and it was promoted well.
Although Nintnedo released more handheld platforms, such as the GBC (Gameboy Color), their backwards compatibility protected the investment of early adopters, whilst giving benefits to new adopters. This "sliding upgrade model" was something Nintendo wanted from the NES to SNES, but due to limits of their engineering team, couldn't accomplish it at the time-cost available.
So, anyhow, Sony does a similar "sliding upgrade" as far as consoles are concerned. Even the newfangled PS3 can play PS1 games, and PS1 games are being re-released for PSP and so forth.
In a way, the PS3 is an extension of the PS1... the "PlayStation brand" is not just a brand; it is a virtual platfrom with a very wide compatibility window. This stuff matters to peopel who've invensted in dozen, if not hundreds of games.
PCs, on the other hand, continually break compatibility with older version of themselves. This is not strictly for technical reasons, but, rather, because of Microsoft shifiting the "sliding window" and developers not being aware, or not taking advantage of, future roadmaps to "future proof" their software. Hardly any DOS games work unmodified on recent systems, but since hardly any PC-publishing houses from DOS days still publish/support even updated versions of their titles, then who cares, right?
In the console world, Sony has done the best job on protecting the investment of gamers... and even now, you can buy a PS2 or PS3 and play all you PS1 games, and, depending on model of the PS3, your PS2 games as well. Software emulation of PS2 games for the PS3 models without it built in is possible, but I don't know much about it.
The point is that the PS3 represents somewhat of a climax in console technology (the XBOX360 and Wii could be seen in the same light, but more for business than technical reasons). HD is fine for mature gamers with disposable income, but many unvoiced gamers play on SD screens, even if they can afford something better, for various reasons... from here on, esp. with a 10-year lifespan of the PS2 being understated, we can expect a lifecycle which is more aboud increasing penetration, and expanding the software library, than about making a "bigger, stronger" console.
This is not the same as consoles dying. This is, moreso, the market becoming more mature.
Oh, yeah, this rant was inspired by an Edge article [link].
Unofficial, not Pirate
I know that, over time, the meaning of words change. However, I'm still irked by the way "pirate" is used so universally to mean unofficial products based on "IP" which was once embodied in official products. Especially when the unofficial product has no official competitor.
For example, fan fiction is refered by some (most?) authors as "copyright infringement". I could go for trademark infringement, if, say, "Harry Potter" or "The A-Team" were registered trademarks, but to say that a whole ficitonal universe is the property of the creator is rather bizarre. Universes only exist when they're observed - wheter you believe in the physical, quantum physics, version of this or not, it is totally true for works of fiction. If Anne Rice writes a book and nobody reads it, then it only exist for the author, in their role as observer. From the time someone else reads it, there's not a copy of that universe - and, due the to differences of perspective, also, a derivative form of it.
I understand that creators intend to have their cake and eat it too. "Royalty", or the "ruling class", have been doing that since the beginning of historic times.
However, in an era of accelerated information, copying and deriving are even more common than basic necessities of life. I mean, you have anorexic people posting youtube videos for and against the deprivation of nutrition as a "lifestyle" or a "disease". The fact that people would rather create information, and spread their own opinions, then eat, a basic human necessity, is perhaps an extreme example but it shows that information creation is very important to people.
And in creating, we sometimes re-use things which went before.
Getting back to "piracy", the term orgionally mean physical theft, often accompanies with death and destruction of transportation systems (sinking ships which may take months or even years to build). Somehow, I don't see making an unofficial copy of a song or movie as having the same impact. At least, not to the creators. The makers of the unofficial copy, however, can be sued for more than their weight in gold (I don't exaggerate, gold is relatively cheap nowadays and the lawsuits start at $750 US per song, or some stupid thing like that), and imprisioned for several years.
Meanwhile, China, where large-scale organized unofficial production occurs, still has "most favoured nation" status in the WTO.
To reconcile this difference: the individual is persecuted, the nation is exalted, there's an obvious answer: the real crime is "being small".
Thinking Big is not just something to help you be creative in day to day life, apparently, it is also the key (or at least, part of it) to unlock the door to world domination. Large-scale production of unofficial goods by any individual is seen as seperate from their host country, and occasional "raids" to raise publicity obviously help both the producters (who are seen as victims of an Evil Empire) and the customers (who become aware that they should be supporting unofficial, rather than official products, since the official ones are more expensive).
Having said all that, I still like official stuff... I'm not one of those people who says their "only testing out" a game and don't buy it. I bought Bushido Blade, even in retrospect I can't say it was a great game for the money, I can still resell it... in the meantime, I can trade or borrow games if my money is low. Or I can use the time I would have spent playing games to make money, instead. Or educate myself. Or go to the beach.
However, the life cycle of "software", which I'm using to refer to not only games, but DVD movies, CD audio, and so on... is geared to be brief. The life cycle of the remixes, samples, and remakes could be longer, but the producers are mostly clueless and uninterested in this. THey don't even have "software maintainence" departments, and don't often keep their own source code.
No, really. FF7 hasn't been remade yet because Square lost the source code to it!
And there was a similar problem with the Japanese-language self-parody game, SGGG:
In a way, it is as if the wealth of knowledge, culture, and "IP" that has been created by the "game industry" is being lost through their short-term perspective... but, why should we really care, if we're living in a short-term era?
Well, I care because I see game-making as a part of the growing entertainment sector, and related to the growing demand for "Makers", be they Engineers, Artists, or Business builders... or even construction workers, Architects... everyone who can make something are going to be in higher and higher demand, for a few reasons:
For example, fan fiction is refered by some (most?) authors as "copyright infringement". I could go for trademark infringement, if, say, "Harry Potter" or "The A-Team" were registered trademarks, but to say that a whole ficitonal universe is the property of the creator is rather bizarre. Universes only exist when they're observed - wheter you believe in the physical, quantum physics, version of this or not, it is totally true for works of fiction. If Anne Rice writes a book and nobody reads it, then it only exist for the author, in their role as observer. From the time someone else reads it, there's not a copy of that universe - and, due the to differences of perspective, also, a derivative form of it.
I understand that creators intend to have their cake and eat it too. "Royalty", or the "ruling class", have been doing that since the beginning of historic times.
However, in an era of accelerated information, copying and deriving are even more common than basic necessities of life. I mean, you have anorexic people posting youtube videos for and against the deprivation of nutrition as a "lifestyle" or a "disease". The fact that people would rather create information, and spread their own opinions, then eat, a basic human necessity, is perhaps an extreme example but it shows that information creation is very important to people.
And in creating, we sometimes re-use things which went before.
Getting back to "piracy", the term orgionally mean physical theft, often accompanies with death and destruction of transportation systems (sinking ships which may take months or even years to build). Somehow, I don't see making an unofficial copy of a song or movie as having the same impact. At least, not to the creators. The makers of the unofficial copy, however, can be sued for more than their weight in gold (I don't exaggerate, gold is relatively cheap nowadays and the lawsuits start at $750 US per song, or some stupid thing like that), and imprisioned for several years.
Meanwhile, China, where large-scale organized unofficial production occurs, still has "most favoured nation" status in the WTO.
To reconcile this difference: the individual is persecuted, the nation is exalted, there's an obvious answer: the real crime is "being small".
Thinking Big is not just something to help you be creative in day to day life, apparently, it is also the key (or at least, part of it) to unlock the door to world domination. Large-scale production of unofficial goods by any individual is seen as seperate from their host country, and occasional "raids" to raise publicity obviously help both the producters (who are seen as victims of an Evil Empire) and the customers (who become aware that they should be supporting unofficial, rather than official products, since the official ones are more expensive).
Having said all that, I still like official stuff... I'm not one of those people who says their "only testing out" a game and don't buy it. I bought Bushido Blade, even in retrospect I can't say it was a great game for the money, I can still resell it... in the meantime, I can trade or borrow games if my money is low. Or I can use the time I would have spent playing games to make money, instead. Or educate myself. Or go to the beach.
However, the life cycle of "software", which I'm using to refer to not only games, but DVD movies, CD audio, and so on... is geared to be brief. The life cycle of the remixes, samples, and remakes could be longer, but the producers are mostly clueless and uninterested in this. THey don't even have "software maintainence" departments, and don't often keep their own source code.
No, really. FF7 hasn't been remade yet because Square lost the source code to it!
And there was a similar problem with the Japanese-language self-parody game, SGGG:
“I remember finding a pirate version in Brazil! Why the hell would such a version be made and sold, especially when you think about all the Japanese text? The Dreamcast used GD-ROMs – if the GD-ROM was used to its full capacity you could not make a copy of it on CD-ROM, so I bought one of these Brazilian CD-ROM copies and brought it back to Sega to analyze it. I realized that the content had been edited to fit the format; many things were missing or changed. But this pirate version had an interesting role afterwards as we were thinking about adapting the game for the mobile phones. We were lacking the source code and there was no possibility at the time to take it from the retail version: I recall thinking about trying to get it from the pirate version. But in the end we didn’t because the project didn’t happen."
(from an Edge story on SGGG)
In a way, it is as if the wealth of knowledge, culture, and "IP" that has been created by the "game industry" is being lost through their short-term perspective... but, why should we really care, if we're living in a short-term era?
Well, I care because I see game-making as a part of the growing entertainment sector, and related to the growing demand for "Makers", be they Engineers, Artists, or Business builders... or even construction workers, Architects... everyone who can make something are going to be in higher and higher demand, for a few reasons:
- People want more custom-made stuff. Look at the car aftermarker, but also, PC mods an even fashion.
- Entertainment, even if it is following a formula, involves a lot of creation, both for animation and live action
- Post-war areas would benefit from rapid re-building which avoids the problems of the past
Saturday, August 2, 2008
MLP
A fan site for Kartia (one of my fave stories/games):
http://www.amphisbaena.com/spot/kartia/index.html
Perfect Playstation, a catalog of sorts of every PS1 game:
http://www.game-rave.com/
http://www.amphisbaena.com/spot/kartia/index.html
Perfect Playstation, a catalog of sorts of every PS1 game:
http://www.game-rave.com/
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I Never Buy Games....
The last game I bought was "Kartia", which I bought together with "Bushido Blade". They were expensive, since they were new and I bought them locally, for like $250 BBD total (about $125 US). However, I wanted to spend a lot of money on myself in an attempt to cheer myself up.
Since then, I've enjoyed Kartia but was disappointed by the abortion that was Bushido Blade. You can see the potential for a great game there, but they got too caught up in their "system" to actually make it... to date, no other game has had such free movement, not even the Dead or Alive series with its multi-tiered levels... but, Dead or Alive is actually fun to play; Bushido Blade makes you wonder if they ever heard of the concept "play testing", where actually people who aren't brainwashed by their "developers' reality distorition field" could tell them "look, this control scheme sucks. one-hit kills are interesting, but you need more play modes. you need tons more variety in the one-player mode "Slash".... why not reuse parts of the fighting arena?" and stuff like that.
Kartia was complete as a game but needed an enhanced sequel. It should have began a series, rather than being a stand-alone. I mean, they created this whole world, and only used it once? What a waste of "IP"(Intellectual Property)! Kartia needed something like an expansion pack, at least. However, that is something that never, ever happens with console games, until the recently released Persona 3:FES (P3:FES or just FES) for the PlayStation 2 (PS2).
Of course, sequels and enhanced revisions are released more often in Japan, but that doesn't matter as the people with the money (Middle America) don't speak Japanese.
So, since then, I've borrowed, traded, and otherwise acquired games. Technically, I don't have a console videogame system anymore: a friend lent me his PS2, part of his game library, and his DreamCast. I actually play the PS2 a bit but haven't set up the DC in forever. I just don't make the time.
You see, if I spend a lot of money on something, I want to feel that it was worth it... but game-making is an "industry", and there's something wrong with that. Contrast it with writing or singing. Yes, they're commercial publishing houses for books... but plenty of people write for their own benefit, or with the hopes of being paid in attention. Similarly, people sing in the shower. However, most people who make games in the "industry" are... delusional. The delusions vary. Some people love playing games, so they study, get a CS degree, and get hired, ridden like slaves, burnt-out, all the whilst lying to everyone, mostly themselves, that they are doing what they love.
Until people come out of the shower, or wake up from a dream, and express a game in the same way they'd express a song or a story, and moreover, at least a few of these people become obvious commercial successes, I can't say that game-making is really "mature". It is still a den of delusions....
Before I rant on, though, I do actually play some games... P1 (Revelations: Persona, now better know as Persona 1 since Persona came out) and P3 the most frequent on console, and I have a on-and-off relationship with StarCraft.... but most of all, I think about how games are made, or could be made. It fascinates me.
And, I think we (I) can do it better... and, in parallel, do something else: to liberate my mind from delusions, and rule over my own world. In other words, to "grow up". To mature. To balance. To attain the standard of life, rather than wallow in poverty or under-achievement.
So, blogs are a part of the expression, but there is a more powerful form of express, in the form of creation... poetry, prose, "moving comics", and ultimately, interactive audiovisual dramatic presentations (my view of what videogames can be, when done properly), are all forms of expression which I try at...
Most of the time, I fail to concentrate enough. That has bothered me for a while, but nowadays, it is less of an issue, because I clearly am expressing more, and more consistently.
In any case, I also need a stable, wide income stream in order to even consider buying games... right now, I am like a spoilt kid in that I get things which I don't directly work for... but I believe that by under-acheiving, it is as if I am burying myself, one wasted day at a time... so, I came up with a plan to "actualize" myself... and it basically goes like this: live long and strong, with frequent remembering of self, an the path to success will open itself.
"Hitman(2007)" quoted the Psalms when it said the same thing in another way:
Trust in the Lord,
... and everything you desire
shall become manifest.
(my paraphrase).
Since then, I've enjoyed Kartia but was disappointed by the abortion that was Bushido Blade. You can see the potential for a great game there, but they got too caught up in their "system" to actually make it... to date, no other game has had such free movement, not even the Dead or Alive series with its multi-tiered levels... but, Dead or Alive is actually fun to play; Bushido Blade makes you wonder if they ever heard of the concept "play testing", where actually people who aren't brainwashed by their "developers' reality distorition field" could tell them "look, this control scheme sucks. one-hit kills are interesting, but you need more play modes. you need tons more variety in the one-player mode "Slash".... why not reuse parts of the fighting arena?" and stuff like that.
Kartia was complete as a game but needed an enhanced sequel. It should have began a series, rather than being a stand-alone. I mean, they created this whole world, and only used it once? What a waste of "IP"(Intellectual Property)! Kartia needed something like an expansion pack, at least. However, that is something that never, ever happens with console games, until the recently released Persona 3:FES (P3:FES or just FES) for the PlayStation 2 (PS2).
Of course, sequels and enhanced revisions are released more often in Japan, but that doesn't matter as the people with the money (Middle America) don't speak Japanese.
So, since then, I've borrowed, traded, and otherwise acquired games. Technically, I don't have a console videogame system anymore: a friend lent me his PS2, part of his game library, and his DreamCast. I actually play the PS2 a bit but haven't set up the DC in forever. I just don't make the time.
You see, if I spend a lot of money on something, I want to feel that it was worth it... but game-making is an "industry", and there's something wrong with that. Contrast it with writing or singing. Yes, they're commercial publishing houses for books... but plenty of people write for their own benefit, or with the hopes of being paid in attention. Similarly, people sing in the shower. However, most people who make games in the "industry" are... delusional. The delusions vary. Some people love playing games, so they study, get a CS degree, and get hired, ridden like slaves, burnt-out, all the whilst lying to everyone, mostly themselves, that they are doing what they love.
Until people come out of the shower, or wake up from a dream, and express a game in the same way they'd express a song or a story, and moreover, at least a few of these people become obvious commercial successes, I can't say that game-making is really "mature". It is still a den of delusions....
Before I rant on, though, I do actually play some games... P1 (Revelations: Persona, now better know as Persona 1 since Persona came out) and P3 the most frequent on console, and I have a on-and-off relationship with StarCraft.... but most of all, I think about how games are made, or could be made. It fascinates me.
And, I think we (I) can do it better... and, in parallel, do something else: to liberate my mind from delusions, and rule over my own world. In other words, to "grow up". To mature. To balance. To attain the standard of life, rather than wallow in poverty or under-achievement.
So, blogs are a part of the expression, but there is a more powerful form of express, in the form of creation... poetry, prose, "moving comics", and ultimately, interactive audiovisual dramatic presentations (my view of what videogames can be, when done properly), are all forms of expression which I try at...
Most of the time, I fail to concentrate enough. That has bothered me for a while, but nowadays, it is less of an issue, because I clearly am expressing more, and more consistently.
In any case, I also need a stable, wide income stream in order to even consider buying games... right now, I am like a spoilt kid in that I get things which I don't directly work for... but I believe that by under-acheiving, it is as if I am burying myself, one wasted day at a time... so, I came up with a plan to "actualize" myself... and it basically goes like this: live long and strong, with frequent remembering of self, an the path to success will open itself.
"Hitman(2007)" quoted the Psalms when it said the same thing in another way:
Trust in the Lord,
... and everything you desire
shall become manifest.
(my paraphrase).
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Just Another Mindless Link Propogation
Well, google is really "in everything", but I don't really see the point of blogger, when livejournal is doing an okay job and there are already vibrant communities...
EDIT: My newer livejournal blog: http://bajan13k.livejournal.com/
So, you can usually find my cousins' blogs at http://granitor.livejournal.com
and our youtube presence is http://www.youtube.com/user/bajan13k
and this is just something I did randomly, I guess.
EDIT: My newer livejournal blog: http://bajan13k.livejournal.com/
So, you can usually find my cousins' blogs at http://granitor.livejournal.com
and our youtube presence is http://www.youtube.com/user/bajan13k
and this is just something I did randomly, I guess.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
