General Chat

I really thought they should have stuck with Revolution. Everyone's pretty much associated that name for Nintendo's next console. It's quite an effective name, I think. Who knows, maybe in time, people will get used to and accustomed with the new name.

It's pretty interesting to see how much heated discussion there has been already on the new name, and it hasn't been 24 hours since the announcement. It sure has made a ripple, which must work in Nintendo's favour of getting the new name out there. [:)]

It sure is gonna be awekward to go to a games shop and ask for a "Nintendo wee"...

OMG I was in the shopping centre and I was in the games section and I saw a Nintendo weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

I can't look at it and pronounce it 'We' ... I keep looking at it and pronouncing it 'Why'.

Which was funny initially, cause I thought it kind of went : Revolution -> Why?

I think alot of people will just goto a shop and ask for a Nintendo console :)

quote:It sure is gonna be awekward to go to a games shop and ask for a "Nintendo wee"...

lets just hope there are no over heating problem?s like the Xbox 360. Otherwise we'll be hearing nothing but "OMG! I was playing with my Wii for 8 hour's and it just bust into flames!!" for a month or so after release.

Surely the english speaking upper management at Nintendo would have gone 'Um, sure that name means something in Japanese, but you do realise in english it means Piss?'

It is pretty lame but meh, people will eventually get used to/over it.
Personally all I care about are the games *shrugs*

And when you connect two together. You'll be playing with both you and your mates Wii Wii .

O.o That name is gonna be definatly next weeks online video game comic spotlight

Ack. They should've kept with Revolution.

It had a ring to it.

Kane: It didn't take long @:-P
http://everybodylovesnintendowii.ytmnd.com/

sooooooo, ill just stick to calling it the revolution... o_0

They could call it "Stinky Goat Faeces smothered in Yak Pee" for all I care :) I'm still going to buy one.

Wii?
First I thought ?this is just a joke, right??
Then I thought, ?well, I guess I won?t be buying a Wii!?
Then I thought about it some more.
Now I?m thinking how immensely clever the Nintendo marketing guys are, going against the grain in as many ways as possible and drawing lots of attention to their little console.

I?ll still buy a Nintendo. But I?m calling it a Nintendo.

That is the stupidest console name ive ever heard.

I thought it was fake since i wasn't expecting anything until E3, but there you go.

It's strange though, they have put a lot of effort into re-creating their immage with the design of the Revolution and the DS lite (or at the very least they stole Apple's designs) yet it seems they didn't put so much consideration into the name. well, i'm sure they did, but maybe they just didnt think about what other peolpe might think of it...

You've got to admit though, it's certainly an unconventional name, and certainly unlike any other name you would expect for a games console, which i take as attempting to further distance themselves from the standard gamer image and appeal to a broader audience. just not sure if they chose the right name.

It's weird though, when i first heard it i thought WTF? that's bloody stupid! but now that peole have been talking about it for only one day, i've heard it enough times that i'm starting to get used to it (though it still sounds stupid).

[img]http://www.australiangamer.com/images/053.jpg[/img]

Couldn't resist :)

They've created a monster... [:p]

But as someone mentioned before, it's about the games. Nintendo fans will get used to it, and have fun playing the games, while the non-Nintendo fans won't know what they are missing out on while they are still ranting about the crude sounding name of Nintendo's new console.

Their loss. [:)]

i had to agree with Jerry Holkins(Tycho) from penny arcade on this one when he posted his rant a few days ago. You really could just allready see the reactions unfolding infront of you before you read another article.

quote:From Tychos rant

The range of responses thus far have not been terribly surprising. It's the usual camps, really, and I don't know if these positions exist throughout all of human dialogue or if they are local to our merry band, but they are known to me. People who hate it because they hate X, people who hate it because it is not good, people who like it because other people hate it, people who like it because they are "above the fray," and people who like it because they like X. The first million times I saw this scene play out I could always find some piquant flavor in the proceedings, something that made each conflict unique. Now all I see is a kind of template superimposed over every motive, as though the argument were taking place between cells on a spreadsheet.

I'll definately check this out next month (in a few days) when my broadband connection goes back from being capped at 64k. (Shakes fist at stupid 10 gig limit.)

Another link worth checking out is the new Project Offset videos (which I'm sure Rod Green worked on):

http://www.projectoffset.com/downloads.html

Although the gameplay itself looks a little dull (then again it's always hard to tell from a video clip) I hafta say the art direction, especially in regards to the landscape and architecture, is near spot on.

So good work on that front ;)

Thanks guys. The video really only showed a very limited aspect of the gameplay.

I should also say there's a 4th Australian here. Chad Chatterton - a world builder on AOC. Btw, Dan and Sonia also worked on Dreamfall, which is out as we speak.

that reminds me i should check out Dreamfall sometime ;)

Its pronounced 'Fiddy Sent', Fool.

Its number one, that's just not right

If everyone here could imagine their own top ten list, how many of those games appear in this top selling games list (apart from Oblivian [;)]?

quote:Originally posted by Yug

Its pronounced 'Fiddy Sent', Fool.

lol, nigga plz.

Have any of you PLAYED the 50 cent game yet? Huh?

Give it a chance! ................ (and no, I have no interest to play it myself)

It was banned in Australia wasn't it? I'm sure it was. Did they release a cut down version or something?

It was refused classification in November last year. They have made some moderations and it has now been allowed.

Apparently they just removed the "arcade mode" and altered a few "over-the-top" cutscenes.

Haven?t played the game....don't really want to.

Shizzle!

Don't hate the playa, hate the game!

Scott.

Is it just me but is everyone starting to get tired of the GTA formula? It was great when GTA3 came out, but it seems to be really done to death now. When I had a go of San Andreas, I got bored after only a few missions. I can probably guess that 50 Cent Bulletproof will consist of the same missions where you:

1. assassinate people/blow up certain targets
2. follow/ram a vehicle
3. race/get chased while transporting someone, with some time limit

Souri, I completely understand. For me it was like, I realised that San Andreas was a great game, I knew it was impressive, etc etc ... but I just wasn't interested in it either.

I feel the same way about Oblivion [:o)]

It's interesting to see the success of different platforms - i.e. the top three games are all PS2, and the Xbox360 version of Oblivion is trouncing PC sales etc.

GTA is good, all three of them are good and I would say I enjoyed San Andreas even more not because it was any different but because they included little details that ultimately make a great game. I mean it has James Woods playing as a corrupted FBI agent, it doesn't get better than that!

I'm surprised that after so many GTA clones none of them is even close to the scale and/or quality of the GTA's. True Crime, Driver3, Getaway, 50cent, and a host of others no one remembers have all pretty much failed. But they sell well so why not make them? [;)]

That is freaking awesome!

Why is that not a game that I can ACTUALLY play??!

He is my new god.

Just wondering, does anyone have any idea how i could get in contact with the guy who made this movie?

you might be able to contact him through his myspace account.
[url]http://www.myspace.com/paulsanimations[/url]

If you have no luck there try contacting the NextWave Festival here in Melbourne, they might be able to help you get in touch with him.

[url]http://2006festival.nextwave.org.au/?pageid=3998[/url]

Be sure to post an interview if you can get one[:)]

I'd suggest good brand parts. No no-name crud at all. Make sure you get a good power supply (coolermaster or thermaltake for example) and case or you will have fun with overheating.

I'd also suggest an NForce4 based mobo (I like ASUS), AMD dual core CPU, and NVidia GPU (sorry, ATI's drivers aren't so great imho). If you aren't planning on overclocking the default CPU cooling will be fine. SLI is nice (but I'm told it's none to easy to code for).

Something else: lots of really fast really good RAM. CAS 2 latency. Mushkin and Corsair are great, but you pay for them. 2 gigs would be minimum.

It's a good idea to ask a hardware freak to tweak your bios settings.

Hi Codyalday

Could you give us a little bit more information.
*what sort of system do you have at the moment?
*What do you want to use it for? Playing highend games, heavy rendering
*what res do you run games at?

You have to be very careful when buying a pc at the moment, most vendors I?ve seen are selling cheap and outdated parts. If your not careful you'll end up with a computer that you can?t upgrade in any way without forking out a grand! ...just like me[V]

---------------------

lorien's right on the money.

wait a while!
new amd proccessors in a few months and dx10 cards around the corner.
make your decision after the new processors come out , is my opinion.

but if u want to buy one now , id suggest a x2 4400 , middle range SLI motherboard - midrange nvidia gfx card. + 1-2 gigs of ram would be sufficient.

then u can just upgrade to a new dx10 gfx card for vista, while still having a leet pc.

i just got this a month or so ago:
AMD 64 3800+ Dual Core
Geforce 7800GT 256MB
2GB Ram
Ultra Infinity Motherboard

as well as a case, DVD burner and HDDs. all up it cost me somewhere between $2000 and $2500, but with smaller and cheeper HDDs, a cheep case, no OS, etc. it would easily be below $2000 (my HDDs probably cost me close to $400 - though the 10000rpm Raptor is bloody fast!).

Thankaz all for the info. The computer will be mainly for modeling, rendering, ect. ATM it just use it for q2 and modeling, on 400x300 for the game, so nothing heavy, but to learn high poly modeling, normal mapping ect, I would need something better. It is a Celeron 566, 64MB RAM, 4MB Intergrated Graphics.
I would wait for the next gen stuff to come out, but I really need a new computer quickly.

A celeron 566, 64mb RAM and 4mb Integrated Graphics - Dude I have to say firstly, your a brave man to even run 3D Modelling software on that machine paticularly rendering using a Celeron - oh I know that feeling.

You will crap your pants with excitement at the leap in speed a new machine will bring, it will seem phenominal if you jumped from your current rig to something even half as good as LiveWires Rig above!! Seriously! [:D]

My recommendation is definatly dual core athlonFX, MINIMUM 2GB ram, Geforce 256mb 6800GT MINIMUM. You could pick up a fairly quick machine for the budget your looking at.

Good Luck!

I don't know where you live, but buy from a computer fair if you can. The stores that sell there are happy to build you a computer from selected parts if you buy mostly from them (or build it yourself if you're a hardware geek), and they come in anywhere between 20-40% less than a retail shop.

In and around NSW (well the Canberra & Sydney area) you can see locations and times for them at: http://www.computermarkets.com/

For rendering I'd recommend a dual core CPU if you can afford it (but go a couple of steps down from the top speeds to save money). Graphics card isn't so important, so maybe a 6600GT with the most RAM on it you can find (512MB? if they make 6600GT's with that much), 2GB of RAM and at least a 200GB hard drive (SATA of course).

Buy reasonable brand parts, Asus or Gigabyte are usually good bets (but we've had a few Asus ones here that have shit onboard network cards - they randomly stop working until a complete poweroff of the motherboard). DON'T buy a Graphics Card without a fan on it. A few have ungodly heat sinks with no fan - they have a nasty tendancy to overheat.

Finally got my new computer up and running. Thankaz all for the help.

well common, give us the final specs then :P

Based around Livewires computer....
AMD 64 3800+ Dual Core
2GIG RAM
7800GT 256MB PCI-E
ASUS SLI MotherBoard
80GIG SATA HDD
DVD BURNER
Centurion Case

All for around $1740.00.

it should run oblivion pretty well to!

I'm incredibly excited about Quake wars, im still playing DOD for my online FPS fix (i would be playing Battlefield 2 on occasion to be honest but i never got around to buying it..., quake wars im getting one way or another!!). Infact reflecting on that i think im more excited to hear about titles then i am about systems, the initial excitement of the new systems has passed for me and now im more interested in footage footage footage.

YES!
Im incredibly excited over any tidbits on MGS4 *drool*

oh and the revolution...

playable revolution! too bad i wont be there to play it

Unreal Tournament 2006 is going to be there in playable hands-on beta form, so that'll be interesting as well.

Here's the floor plan for E3 2006 where the exciting stuff will be happening.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/souri/2006417113546_e3_west_hall…"[/img]

Here's a link to [url="http://www.sumea.com.au/simagesmisc/E3_floorplan.gif"]all the floor plans[/url]...

Aussie developers look like they're in striking PS3-stealing distance to the Sony stand [:D]..

lol @ N-Gage. I didn't realise that thing was still alive.. *shudder*

Yeah its exciting stuff, I think the most exciting is the Revolution being finally unveiled, and more PS3 stuff.

PS3 and oblivion stealing distance :P cool to see theres a decent size auzzie stand. Looks damn exciting all up, ill be following all the updating content online from gamespot and the like for sure.

I wonder what Bethesda wil have on show, it's a bit early for any significant Oblivion related news (such as expansions) - maybe some long awaited Fallout 3 info?

Supreme commander
jagged alliance 3
Fallout 3 (fingers crossed)
Never Winter Nights 2
savage 2
Nintendo rev

i can't wait[:D]

Supreme_commander ---- It's all that matters!!!!

Although it's release dates been bumped back 6 months *grumbles* I WANT MY T.A. !!!!!

Go to the gas powered game website. It acually has some content on it!

quote:Originally posted by Caroo

Supreme_commander ---- It's all that matters!!!!

Although it's release dates been bumped back 6 months *grumbles* I WANT MY T.A. !!!!!

Go to the gas powered game website. It acually has some content on it!

Omg i hadn't heard of this game and i just checked it out, now i won't be able to sleep tonight! I was a huge fan of TA and it's about time something better came out. This game looks freaking awesome!

Caroo: after waiting 9 years for a sequel a six month's delay really isn't going to worry me[^]

Triton: well it's not a true sequel (they sold the rights off for beer money some where down the line) its looks like SC will be everything TA was and much more! Did I mention co-op!?!

Oh cool Jagged Alliance 3 on display at E3 eh? Even if it's only half as good as JA2 I'll be ecstatic :)

Sorry CombatW, I was taking a bit of a guess when I said Jagged Alliance 3 would be there. Didn't mean to get your hopes up.

Though they did release a stack of screen shots not to long ago & it's supposed to be released this year, so we can expect some more info some time soon.

You can find some of the screen shots here
[url]http://gamezoom.ru/zoom/jaggedalliance3d.html[/url]

I've got a meeting with ubisoft first thing on the Wed, so hopefully there will be some playable Red Steel :)

If you're feeling pretty ill or can't make it to that meeting for whatever reason, I think I'm a worthy replacement. [:D]

yay! at least 2 companies with booths and 1 more represented by their publisher will be there that I've worked with recently [:D]

So yes, getting excited to see if any of my content will be shown at e3 [:)]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fysno8xdJWo

Oh man, I missed a bit of it, but the Sony presentation is streaming a the moment...

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/event_popup/index.php?event=e3_2006

Heh.. the Batarang is gone! Sony's shown the PS3 controller, which looks like the normal PS2 controller, but silver. Oh, and you can tilt it in 6 degrees and the controller can sense it [;)] Maybe Nintendo should have kept quiet about their controller.

http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/5489/sonysteals5dq.jpg

The 20 gb PS3 is $500 (US), and the 60 gb PS3 is a whopping $600 (US) [:D]

They've removed the rumble from the controller, saying it interfere's with the new sensor tech, but I'm sure it's more likely they don't want to pay royalties on that tech.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced the new controller for PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3), which will become available as standard with the system. The new controller can be experienced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) held from May 10 through 12, 2006, in Los Angeles, California.

The controller for PS3 has been created by refining and improving the world's most popular PlayStation controller that has shipped more than several hundred million units worldwide, while inheriting its basic concept and design. The controller for PS3 employs breakthrough technology of high-precision, highly sensitive six-axis sensing system that does not require any devices other than the controller itself for seamless interactive operation, thus eliminating additional settings to TVs. With this technology, ways to enjoy PS3 will be further enhanced by accessing PS3 through the network, while retaining the six-axis sensing capability.

In addition to the "3-posture-axis" of roll, pitch and yaw, "3-dimension acceleration information (X, Y, and Z)" can be detected in high-precision and in real-time. In addition to standard key input available in existing controllers, more natural and more intuitive play will become possible as if the controller has become part of your body.

Pursuant to the introduction of this new six-axis sensing system, the vibration feature that is currently available on DUALSHOCK and DUALSHOCK 2 controllers for PlayStation and PlayStation 2, will be removed from the new PS3 controller as vibration itself interferes with information detected by the sensor.

The shape of L2/R2 buttons located on the top of the controller has also been enlarged with increased depth in stroke for more subtle control in games. At the same time, the tilting angle of the analog joy sticks has been slightly broadened to enable more delicate and more dynamic manipulation. Along with these improvements, precision of above information detection (L2/R2, analog joy stick) has been increased from 8 bit to 10 bit.

All input information will be immediately transferred to the PS3 system through the Bluetooth wireless technology. By using a USB cable, the PS3 controller can be swapped seamlessly from wireless to wired, and can be charged automatically. The cable can be attached and detached at anytime.

By integrating all these features into one standard PlayStation controller, SCEI, together with content creators, expects to further expand and accelerate the world of next generation computer entertainment.

For any Sumeans at E3 tomorrow - check out the E3 demo for Destroy All Humans 2. There's a big display in the THQ area, along with demo stations in the Sony, Microsoft and Brady Games areas.

DAH2 got a mention in one of the Sony conference slides and Pandemic got a mention from Kaz Hirai at the end which was all cool.

[url]http://destroyallhumansgame.com[/url]

The LA office just announced Mercs 2 as well - the director of Mercs is an Aussie.

[url]http://www.mercs2.com[/url]

Thanks! Hope you get fat too so the rest of us don't feel as guilty! [:)]

Happy Easter to all!

Happy Easter :)

Meeerrrrrrry Christmas

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Easter, people [:)]

And also, Happy New Year [:D] I'm not kidding here. It's the Lao New Year [url="http://www.muonglao.com/laonewyear.html"]this weekend[/url]!

Happy chocolate egg eating festival :)

Happy Easter sumeans

have a safe journey - for those who go interstate!

The chocolate Wabbit season has officially begun! happy hunting[;)]

May the eggs be plentiful and the good times... also plentiful... yeah.

mmmm large dark chocolate egg... happy easter!
what about you though? a dark, white or milk (mid) chocolate person. i likes em dark.. [}:)]

[url="http://www.rhcl.com.au"]Richmond Hill cafe and larder[/url] on bridge road richmond has the best cheese room ever.

If you're into food, you're going to the right place :)

that I do man, yeah, are there any cool Indian places around that you know of?

It's Chinese rather than Indian, but you HAVE to go to the Supper Inn in Chinatown (Celestial ave). Decor wise it's a dive, food wise it's bloody amazing. It's also sanely priced. You often have to queue to get a table.

cool, I'll check it out, good chinese is rare

We went to a Chinese restaurant one night when I was down there for the first Free Play. Can't remember what the place was called, but it's in that area where a lot of Chinese restaurants are. The service was really shocking [:D] We couldn't even get the notice of any of the waiters/waitresses the whole night, and the place wasn't even that busy. Food was nice though [:)]

If you're after good indian food, I recommend a place called "Bollywood on the park" which is in Box Hill South (~15Km east of the city). Plus if you're in Carlton, you owe it to youself to go try a pizza at Papa Gino's in Lygon St :)

Lygon street is the place to go for italian, just walk up and down the street and 10 odd people will try to coax you into their restaraunts :P good ice cream around there too

Man, when I was first made Designer the initial drafts of the HotDogs redesign had to be done on the boss' frrrikk'en ibook. The phrase "Whatever doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger"? they weren't kiddin, I could take a prolonged interrogation session with the Gestapo now after workin with that little f&%ker... I still wake up screaming...

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I wasn't sure where else to say this. Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone who emailed their interests for the reviewer positions, we were overwhelmed by the response and made our task of picking out just 3 even harder than we expected.

In the end we did choose 3 however, and you can read about them and see their reviews on the www.australiangamer.com site as of today.

Also wanted to say thanks to Souri for putting up a post about it on the front page of Sumea, at least half of the people started off their emails with 'I saw your post on the front of Sumea'. Great stuff!

Make sure your filenames don't contain spaces, and named with letters from the alphabet and/or numbers.

[^] Aha thanks Souri.

thats awesome! LOL my god... gives you a few ideas huh :P

that would phreak me out if someone did that at my workplace. at least have an appointment rather than try to barge in (not that i'm ever a door bitch)

i wonder if dressing as a muslim with a fake bomb , would get the same reaction?. (no offense to muslims lol)

if u dont see me post in a week , im in jail. [B)]

Awesome story, although it could have backfired just as easily I recon ... but points for trying to stand out more.

nothing to lose i guess, fantastic stuff!

LoL, thats so funny, and cool at the same time.
Awesome....

I wonder how many of thoes interviews were actually FBI stings

Freakin' awesome @:-D

Mind you, I don't think it'd work too well without an interview here, as all the devs I've been too need buzzing into.

Hey Thomas!

Welcome to Sumea!

Ahoy thar matey!

Hey mate, welcome!

Tell us more about yourself?

Hey thanks for the welcome, so I guess ill tell you a little bit about myself, and you can always check out my online portfolio if you wanted.

Well im 21 and my dream is to work in the games industry as a game artist, I love playing games I love making them, well at least the art for them in my spare time, I think it would be awesome if I could program but I cant (yet).

Iv been teaching myself 2d/3d art since 2001 and I guess you could say I wasnt exactly born with the artistic skills but I love it and I get better everyday so im happy. At the moment I work in a factory to pay the bills, I cant wait to get a job in the industry though, it?ll probably bring a tear to my eye from the many hours and long nights after work practicing.

I love Cg?oh I already said that so I guess I joined this place to talk to other 3d artists in Australia and maybe even in Brisbane so I can get myself known and have a good time talking to you wonderful guys and girls.

I hope this was worth your read.

Welcome aboard ;)

With motivation and the inclination you can do anything.

Hi Tom, Welcome to the boards.

Be sure to post you work in the Exhibition forum & your in your journal .

And make sure you join the IGDA and come to Brisbane meetings!

www.igda.org

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUG!

I hope you are having a great day and that you have many more in the future.

Keep up the great work with AussieGamer!

happy birthday! Try not to make yourself hug too many toilet bowls, but otherwise... enjoy your quarter-century milestone [B)]

Hey, Happy Birthday Yug [:)]

You're doing an exceptional job at AustralianGamer.com! I have to say that the podcasts you and Matt are doing are *great*. I listen to it every week [:D]. It truly is one of the more entertaining gaming podcasts out there, and I prefer it to what larger established gaming sites are producing.

Gaming podcasts seem to have exploded recently and there's a few others that I listen to while I'm working (from 1up, Gaming Steve, Kotaku just started one, and the local TekTime radio). I think what sets AustralianGamer miles apart for me is the humour, the fact that you cover local stuff as well, the casual nature of it all, and that there are two of you to make discussion and push it further. Podcasts with just one guy lose that sort of dynamic and tend to be less interesting. I sort of mentally tune out when it's just one guy rambling for an hour. Gaming Steve does a good job but his podcast are like that sometimes. I can't stand his intro music for his podcast as well. It's just too darn cheesy [:)]. Anyway, I think you guys are onto a winning formula.

Happy quarter century [:)]

Happpy Birthday to YOU! :)

happy birthday! *raises glass*

Happy birthday champ! *raises glass too* @:-D

You're bigger than Jesus

Hmm, you may find the puke scene in Team America helpful if your memories of the event are a little fuzzy [;)]

Happy birthday from me as well Yug [:)]

Cheers all for the Birthday well wishes, it was a 5 day birthday bender starting from Thursday (explaining the drunken podcast) and ending on Monday ... today is Tuesday, and I feel pretty good.

Which usually means I've got a good lot of alcahol still in my system, and I'm going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow :(

But it was worth it :)

And thanks for the comments Souri, gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside :D

I've just read an article on the problems at the GDC.. [url="http://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/25/gdc-conference-organizers-drop-the-ba…"]Pushy security guards, lotsa technical glitches, amateur/very poorly run etc[/url]. Any of it ring true?

tell you what, next time i'll go in your place and then you wont have to be bored!

Thanks for dropping by our booth Mick, was good to meet you :)

Back home now guys. Ive got heaps of photos and stories that I will put into a blog and post it on Sumea when I get the time to do so!

Souri: I really dont know what that guy is on about. Apart from some strange audio scheduling ideas (4 sessions at the same time and then 2 hours of nothing) everything was fantastic!

LiveWire: No

Tachyon: Thanks for running me through your nifty little product. I have a bunch of things to do this week and once all that is over I will be sitting down with it and integrate it into my studio!

quote:Originally posted by Souri

I've just read an article on the problems at the GDC.. [url="http://www.joystiq.com/2006/03/25/gdc-conference-organizers-drop-the-ba…"]Pushy security guards, lotsa technical glitches, amateur/very poorly run etc[/url]. Any of it ring true?

Seemed no better or worse than any other GDC I have been to (think this one is number 4). Didn't really feel like anything was substandard.

Hey Mick, what happened to the pics + write up? [:)]

...deadlines

I'm redwyre
http://live.xbox.com/member/redwyre

You never know, maybe Dell will stop claiming they can't supply nVidia cards other than Quadros in the process as well...

Do we have Alienware computers distributed here in Australia though?

Didnt dell try their own brand of gaming PCs that sold badly? If you can't penatrate, buy out!

quote:Originally posted by MoonUnit

Didnt dell try their own brand of gaming PCs that sold badly? If you can't penatrate, buy out!

Dell are an amazingly efficient company (I'm not saying their computers are any good btw). We were doing case studies on the way their business works in Management Information Systems at La Trobe- which I'm profoundly glad not to be teaching anymore [;)]

Basically they have every single possible way of saving money covered. One example is monitors: Dell never even see the monitors. They are shipped direct from the factory/distributor's warehouse (it used to be Sony, don't know about now), and Dell leave it up to the shipping company to ensure the monitor and the PC arrive together. Those Dell badges were placed on the monitors in Sony's factories... Never seeing the monitors saves them a bucketload- monitors take up lots of space, are fragile, heavy, etc. There are plenty more examples but I'd have to look things up (it's been a year since I looked at it) and it's off topic.

I've found how some business streamline things pretty interesting. Ikea are pretty efficient too.

I've got a Dell tower that I bought off a friend ages ago, and having a history of self assembled towers and computers, I must say that having a preassembled Dell computer is pretty cool. [:D]

quote:Originally posted by Yug

Do we have Alienware computers distributed here in Australia though?

Certainly do...[url]www.alienwaresystems.com.au[/url]
I've been looking at Alienware stuff for a while, but then I started coming across websites like [url]alienwareorder.blogspot.com[/url]. So I wonder if Dell has made such a wise purchase, but then, given their tech support reputation, maybe it's a perfect fit. [;)]

There's a great article over at [url="http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18536349%5E16681%5E%5En…"]AustralianIT on Alienware[/url]'s history, from humble beginnings to the Dell sale. quote:JUST a few months after cleaning out his bank account and quitting his job to help start up a childhood friend's new computer company, Alex Aguila sat alone in the fledgling firm's office and began to have second thoughts.

Banks had laughed at their concept of selling expensive PCs for video gamers at a time when other computer companies were cutting prices to grab more customers. The fact that the new company, Alienware, took its name from UFO lore did not help either.

Aguila and his friend, Nelson Gonzalez, had just $US10,000 ($13,500) between them.

"I was there and all the walls were black and the phones were sitting there and not ringing and I was thinking, what have I done," Aguila says.

Ten 10 years on, Alienware is widely acclaimed by video gamers and on track to hit $US225 million in sales this year, up from $US172 million in 2005.

Dell is pretty cool as long as you don't try to add any components to it that aren't also branded Dell.

thats a cool idea to set that up, unfortunatly for me (on telstra broadband) the image was quite jerky and it did pause occasionaly to buffer again. So without a reliable constant stream it loses some of its impact. Oh and yeah oblivion looks neat :P

LMAO!! Its cool and all but it was funny to see the game freeze up when loading between areas and the reviewer going "Errr...oops, time to reset", I guess u'd expect these kinds of issues in such a massive game. Oh and there seems to be a huge amount of loading which could be annoying for many. Luckily i'm well trained in being patient from many years of playing LucasArts adventure games.

Argh!!! I open it up and the first thing I see....INSIDE the Oblivion gate!! Damn them all to heck!!

Can't wait for my copy! [:P]

i heard that they were going to do thisthe day before the game came out (in thestates) but Bethesda asked them to delay it until afterwards, which they did. makes sence, seeing as though they have gone to great lengths not to reveal to much about the game prior to it's release.

Also, i've avoided watching this, i've got my copy ordered and i dont want anything spoilt!

cool moment: (spoiler free, just an action antecdote), when the guys got crushed by the rocks and kasavins (the reviewer) face pops up in the corner "did you guys see that!" :P

I liked the part where Livewire.... My flatmate, finally brings it home. installs it onto his brand new mega expensive PC that he bought SPECIFICALLY for Oblivion. Then proceeds to swear and cry when the game keeps crashing within 5 mins for unkown reasons. Apparently lots of people are having some pretty major issues with it. Windows 64bit related probably....

mmmmmmmmmm LiveWire's salty tears make me stronger!

go back to your WoW priest boy! And when are you going to start cooking dinner?

quote:Originally posted by MoonUnit

thats a cool idea to set that up, unfortunatly for me (on telstra broadband) the image was quite jerky and it did pause occasionaly to buffer again. So without a reliable constant stream it loses some of its impact. Oh and yeah oblivion looks neat :P

Yeh, it was pretty choppy for everyone. Definately a cool idea, although it was a major spoiler. I'm not into rpg's that much and I don't plan on getting Oblivian, so it was a great opportunity to at least experience some of what it was all about. Props to the editor who did the 12 hour marathon. I don't know if I could ever play a game for that long and provide commentary as well. [|)]

Whoo! It's working! And just to clarify: My new PC was not mega expensive, nor was i bought specifically for Oblivion, though I admit to buying it a little sooner, and spending a little extra on it, in time for oblivion, but i needed a new PC anyway, i'm not crazy enough to spend $2500 on a single game.

A note to everyone looking to get the game: if after the install seems to end, but a black install window fails to close itself - dont close it yourself, this is what i did after waiting several minutes and thinking nothing was happening, turns out it's doing something with DirectX and that's what was causing my crash. You just have to let it sit there for 5 to 10 minutes and wait for it to close itself, even though by all accounts nothing looks to be happening (even in the task manager).

As a customer.. As a gamer.. It was never the "system" that made me compelled to buy the console.. I don't really give a crap that it's nintendo or microsoft-porns little baby system. [In future reference the words "porn" and "baby" will never be written in the same sentence again.]

It's the games that compel me. My general rule of thumb is that if there are enough games you really want to play on a system to total the cost of the system itself then it's a worthwhile purchase. The X-box 360 won?t be considered in my eyes buyable until I see fable2, halo3, perfect dark, A decent mecha game and some really kick ass anime game before I even consider buying that system.

Which brings around the point. Why does sony have the biggest market share? Easy.

Something for everyone:

X-Box plays itself to be an "Adult toy." On a game-traders advertising pre-order brochure all the packs [4 of them] where all rated MA15+ and if the advertising and style alone doesn?t make you see it. The content of the game will. Sadomasochists rejoice! Cereal killer game afoot *shivers and hiss's at it, throwing no-talent stones*

Nintendo has always been the happy-go-Disney kinda brand. The most adult games I?ve ever seen on one system was the SNES. Apart from Conkers BFD on the N64...ah good times!...good lag too!

And this is where sony gets its standing ovation. The PS2 never made itself out to be a toy. It was a tool..A tool for games. And it allowed ALL games. From the cheapest $20 frogger style kid game to the highest mammal eating metal gear solid 3 type high budget bonanza.

It covered everything. Most banned games have been on the PS2 giving it even more testament to that.

Hell in Japan there selling hentai games on the PSP as sad as it sounds..well..it's not really sad. Porn sells like..like porn!

The lack of quality control on Sonys systems are irrelevant. They let anyone do whatever they want. In turn that gives them the most range. Covering all bases and making ALOT of money.

Back to wether or not the system is worth it? I'll be buying myself a PSP soon. Souly because it now has an Armoured core game, 2 megaman games and a great deal of Anime RPGs..some of them even decant!!!

IT?S NOT FOR PORN I SWEAR!! [:0]

Obsessive consumers buy consoles at launch. Cunning consumers wait for the Christmas price drop. Intelligent individuals wait for a few decent titles, and the next Christmas price drop.

The only console worth its launch price was the Dreamcast, and that only because of titles like Soul Calibur and Powerstone.

Man the Dreamcast rocked, I just dont get how SEGA lost on that one, where was the marketing for it? It didnt have that many great games but it had enough, Soul Calibur, Shenmue, Powerstone, Grandia II, even Crazy Taxi was alright, but why wasn't anyone else making for it? it was SEGA for one, sure the SATURN kinda got owned by the PS but they still had a name. And it had such cool hardware, it had a built in modem that you could detatch and upgrade, little mini games on the memory card, four controller slots, graphics were much better than the PS2 I thought... what the hell?... and the crazy CRAZY thing, is that Microsoft got the same dude in charge of the marketing of the DC... AND PUT HIM CHARGE OF THE 360!!! I guess thats why the 360 is just carving up the Japanese market at the moment huh.............................

quote:Originally posted by Jackydablunt

Man the Dreamcast rocked, I just dont get how SEGA lost on that one, where was the marketing for it? ...snipt... and the crazy CRAZY thing, is that Microsoft got the same dude in charge of the marketing of the DC... AND PUT HIM CHARGE OF THE 360!!! I guess thats why the 360 is just carving up the Japanese market at the moment

The DC marketing sucked in Oz but was pretty much fine everywhere else. The guy put in charge of it had only recently transitioned to marketing from journalism and just didn't get it. They also had problems on launch with the midnight launch consoles getting stuck in customs which didn't help their cause.

I know the guy in charge of DC marketing is still at Atari, so I'm assuming you're talking US/Japanese guy for the 360?

AP

US guy, cant remember the name though, either way its a damn shame cause it was a great potential console.

You're talking about Peter Moore, marketing guy for Dreamcast who's the marketing boss for the Xbox 360.

I'm getting an Xbox 360 on the night of the 23rd. I was at my local EB at midnight for the launch of the original Xbox as well. I paid more than $700 back then, and I'll do it again.

Why?

First of all, I'm a consumer whore. I have no illusions about the fact that I am attracted by shiny objects that look pretty. I also know I am terrible with my money. Realistically, I cannot afford an Xbox 360 right now. I will be eating baked beans on toast for at least 2 weeks.

The other thing is, I don't even NEED an Xbox 360. I already own a PS2, Gamecube, Xbox, and just got a new PC a few weeks ago.

I like to tell myself that the reason I am getting one is because I run a video game website, and I want to stay relevant.

You know what I think it comes down to though ... just the simple fact that I want an Xbox 360 because it looks and sounds like fun.

well you can get it on tax man, so all good (and yeah it sure does look pretty)

but I cant speak much anyway when it comes to being good with money, I own possibly the single most un-ecconomical car in the kosmos

Ive got to say Yug, Im with you - I'll be right there on opening day paying up. Although, it wont be just to have a fancy new console, but because there are a few games I want to check out for pure arty goodness. Bring on opening day [:)]

What are your impressions?

I'm heading over a friend's place today to get my first taste, he got oblivion and ghost recon so Im looking forward to seeing that for sure, we'll seeeeee if it will inspire the consumer within me.

What have you guys thought so far?

Ok.... went and played Oblivion and Ghost Recon co-op for a few hours........ it's pretty damn cool :)

I got a 360 with Project Gotham 3, Perfect Dark Zero and Ghost Recon ...

I did up an article of my first impressions actually and a whole bunch of screenshots for anyone whos interested: http://www.australiangamer.com/feature/94/xbox_360_-_setting_up.html

Vlad the Impaler
Ivan the Terrible
Adolf Hitler
Joseph Stalin
Mao Zedong
Pol Pot
Geek who opened up resturant
Slobodan Milosevic
Saddam Hussien...

Dude, we should meet up if you're in melbourne or me in brisbane... [:)]

You bring the nitrogen, Ill bring the cat

Cat... And people think I'm odd... [:)]

I am NOT insane, the stamp on my wrist proves that

I asked about the liquid nitrogen tank, it's used by physics and chemistry. Should be easy to persuade them to let me have a bit if I offer to bribe them with boozy ice cream I think [:)]

Are you sure that stamp doesn't mark you as insane Jacky?

not with a nikko it don't

Here's some insanity for you then:

Ice cream made from king island cream, egg yolks, honey, and a whole bottle of Tia Maria [;)]

Your list of historical mass murderers is quite apt- ice cream that will kill via cholesterol poisoning [:)]

Liquid Nitrogen is around -200 degrees centigrade btw, it will freeze anything...

even the burning lovve of a bootiful woooman?

quote:Originally posted by Jackydablunt

even the burning lovve of a bootiful woooman?

Well I somehow doubt any woman would appreciate liquid nitorgen burns... But why use liquid nitrogen? That's what crunch time is for... :(

Well it wont freeze anything.

It wont freeze nitrogen will it ?

True [:D] I've decided to put off the experiment until the weather warms up again.

Here's a bunch of fun things to do with LN2 http://www.zyra.org.uk/liqnitro.htm

And here is an example of how dangerous the stuff can be http://www.darwinawards.com/personal/personal2000-25.html , it's a personal account from someone suicidal enough to try drinking a -200 degree liquid. Very nearly earnt him a place in the darwin awards, which are awarded after death for doing the human race a favour by killing yourself (removining yourself from the gene pool) in a particularly stupid fashion.

well, I'm not a racer fan at all, but I do enjoy an odd lap around in a game every once in a while - so why listen to my comments at all? simple fact that I can supply you with the common reasons why people can't get into the genre.

first up, realism isn't fun. you're calling this an arcade racer, that's great, so tackle the frustrations from that point of view. If you crash into one wall head on (say a square pylon) which is perpindicular to you, sure you would be stopped in all logical conclusions (well... really you'd be wrapped around it and metal and organic beings would cease to exist seperately, but that's not the point). That's not fun. Hitting one thing and stopping for a 5 second crash, and then taking a further 10 seconds to pull yourself back up to the speed you where going at isn't a fun way to go from 1st to 8th and lose the entire race from one mishap. Another frustration is learning curve. Although the whole easy to pick up and play, hard to master rule sounds all good in theory, it's very rarely pulled off, with huge skill gaps between hardcore racing fans and casual gamers preventing it from being fun for either of these audiences to mix. Mario kart is a prime example of how to even that up... although a player that's just picked it up isn't going to be completely on par with someone who's been playing a month solid, they can still compete with the way the pickups are balanced - basically, the person most behind gets the best pickups to affect the person most in front, and that rule meets at the middle.

It's a hard formula to break, but simply make it fun by discarding anything frustrating and introducing only elements that enhance the entire audiences experiance. Oh, and don't reward people that are doing the best and are the most in front by making them more in front, and likewise, don't penalise people not doing well and are liable to be most behind by making them more behind. How to do that? Be inventive [:)] quick example, in f-zero on the n64 if you blew up you where out of the race (harsh penalty, not fun), but they had a slot machine you could play which affected the people in various ways that where still in the race (alleviated the frustration, made it fun, and kept you "in-the-race").

good luck [;)]

If you are making an Arcade racer, the action has to be fast and easy. Weapons are a great way to make it fun, but I guess that depends on if you want just a dedicated racer or not.

Fun physics are great, all the "fullysikadorifto" kids love sliding their cars around corners. Keep the tracks fast, that'll keep the intensity up. Check out Burnout 3 on Xbox, that has some really crazy action. It's pretty much a matter of just holding the throttle flat and steering. In one of its battle modes, each player has to try and knock the other off the road and cause them to crash.

One of the ways Burnout keeps the action consistent is by using a rubber band effect. A driver that is further behind manages faster speeds until they catch up to the leader. If you are going to be having a lot of instances where the players kill each other with weapons etc, this can be a good idea, it'll keep the action constant. If its just a racer with no weapons etc... steer clear of this.

Stuff like booster pads can be a good idea, rewarding a driver who has a more control over their car. Jumps are also a blast but they need to be in the right spots.

Personally I enjoy realistic racers, I love hammering around a track just trying to push myself for consistent times and the best lines. However I am a big fan of motorsport, and I love attending the odd track day with my Celica and try to do some karting when I get the chance, so sims are in my field of interest.

You aren't at QUT by any chance are you?

I say go hard on the environments in respect to interactivity and collision, I dont know what you lads are like with physics but if you can pull off a lot of loose geometry about which can potentially get in the way then awesome, even if it doesnt affect the car's performance directly, you need visual noise, its exciting to have stuff flying everywhere, the smaller and more "bitty" the better.

Take a hit on poly counts and really spike up your particles, even just sparks and tire smoke, flung up dirt, anything you can think of, you need noise. This being said however you need to know when to hit the Player with that noise, do not hit them with everything immedietly and all the time or it'll become boring very quickly, when they're driving fast and smooth you actually want more silence, not too much happening, hopefully it would even bring them into a comfort zone, but if something goes wrong you want them to know about it, one car spins out and hits a wall and in a fraction of a second shit just goes flying everywhere, shocking the Player out of it and making them go "....... holly crap!"

Dynamic levels, really think about the level design and how you can really throw a spanner in the works, script a building to fall down somehow mid race and force all the Players to suddenly change course and take a detour, suddenly everyone's back to square one and having to find their way again.

Emphasise the environments over the vehicles themselves, yes make the vehicles look as good as you can, animate little characters on them or whatever, but they are not the gameplay. Once moving the player is for the most part watching the track ahead so thats what will be the most drawing aspect. I'd rather take a whitebox model through a slalom of loose geometry spitting up and smashing you all over the road than a fully detailed and textured rx7 around a figure 8, as much as I love rotaries, that just aint fun.

Modding!! as a bit of a car fan myself you cannot have a racing game and skip past being able to customise a car (mariokart excluded) you dont have to be realistic, you dont have to know the output of a 20B with a Garret To4, with a comical game you can do this. At one stage I was thinking of a Pirate racer where you have sail karts which you mod up with different sails or crews or weapons, you can do anything. I'm actually not a racing fan, but I remember playing SEGA GT on the Dreamcast and spending hours on the drag tracks alone, running down the qtr again and again, then taking it back into the shop to tweak this or that and get another fraction of a second off, Player's love to have things all of their own.

Do not ignore sound! DO NOT IGNORE SOUND! especially in a racing game! There's nothing like the "katshhhhh" of a blowoff valve, or the chunk of a Viper or Austin Martin's transmission change, and you gotta think, for the most part the Player's car will not be showing much activity, even flaming exhausts and wheelspins only go so far, the action and the dynamics and the 'animation' comes from the sound. Too often sound is put off to the last minute and its a waste because people just dont realise how much of a difference it actually makes. If you're doing a futuristic game then even better! make your own engine sounds up, take the sound of a tie fighter and hit a reverb on it when they change gears, it would sound kick ass.

Sound can really land the Player inside the scene, even when nothing is happening on screen, take these examples of the following scene:

"The car rounds a bend and enters into a straight to build up speed"

1) Without sound.

i)The car rounds corner
ii)Begins drift: Smoke effect off wheels.
iii) Straightens out, increases speed.
iv) 1st gear change: car jolts.
v) 2nd gear change: car jolts.
vi) 3rd gear change: car jolts.
v) Car hits final powerband, blur effect on camera, camera pans back to put distance between audience.

2) Now again, with sound.

i)The car rounds corner
sfx: powerband winding down, cuts with gear shift down, powerband winds down again.

ii)Begins drift: Smoke effect off wheels.
sfx: Engine reemerges, loose sliding sound overlayed perhaps becoming full screech depending on surface type.

iii) Straightens out, increases speed.
sfx: Powerband kicks in on gradual rise, turbo spins up overlayed on top

iv) 1st gear change: car jolts.
sfx: Chunky transmission sound and turbo blowoff, Powerband kicks in on gradual rise, turbo spins up overlayed on top.

v) 2nd gear change: car jolts.
sfx: Chunky transmission sound and turbo blowoff, Powerband kicks in on gradual rise, turbo spins up overlayed on top.

vi) 3rd gear change: car jolts.
sfx: Chunky transmission sound and turbo blowoff, Powerband kicks in on gradual rise, turbo spins up overlayed on top though is lower in pitch.

v) Car hits final powerband, blur effect on camera, camera pans back to put distance between audience.
sfx: Powerband hits peak, turbo becomes more of a jet engine whistle overlayed on top, then all sound volume drained out and hollow wind tunnel humm overlayed to depict silence of extreme speed.

...... BIIIIIG diference.

And finally, with the music, make it repetitive, singular purposeful beats, they depict purpose and drive and help the player maintain focus, also (I'd like to get feedback from some of the audio guys here) but I'd imagine it would pay to avoid music that has long string like sounds because the engines would occupy that. The music should match the engine sounds and compliment them, think about it, an engine for the most part makes a long steady hum, it's a consistant sound within the Player's ear so therefore it should be treated as part of the music to some extent, you gotta break that sound up and maintain activity.

I know you're just starting out, but if you can get some of that stuff happening then it'll make a difference for sure.

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions there!

All of what you've said are things that we've touched on during our time so far, so that's encouraging. Sound may be an effort for us as our sound guy is kind of external, but I definitely hear what you're saying about it so we'll endeavour to get some good noise in there. Particles, explosions and physics are all a definite must for us, trying to make it as noisy as possible when things go wrong.

The only thing we wouldn't go with are car customisations. Well to an extent- we're allowing people to change skins but that's about it. We're hoping for a very simple race dynamic a-la Midtown Madness or something, so we're feeling at the moment like if we allow people to mod their engines and things it's going to throw us towards a more realistic game which isnt what we're planning at the moment. We want people to be able to very quickly jump in a car and drive it around into other cars :D

Thanks for the help so far, definitely given us some new things to consider so please keep the suggestions flowing if you have more to say!

PS yes, I'm from QUT. Why do you ask?

quick idea for the harvesting:

- both player cars, and quite a few non player cars on a track
- if a player crashes, there's the physics, explosions, whole lot...
- instead of the whole respawn from stopped position, the player is transferred into the nearest non-player car behind, instantly getting them back in the race without them stopping and trying to make up their speed again which isn't fun and interrupts the fast pace, but still having a time detriment.

Thats pretty cool, but each Player would have to have a life life limit so its not just one noob wasting all the cars, or are you thinking the NPC's are getting regenerated to keep a min number on the road at all times?

definitely the latter - kind of cyclic though so it's still spread out evenly enough that it wouldn't wildly vary from amount of time to respawn behind the crash.

I think it'd work quite well in a destructible environment -- cars as volatile as leaky nitro glycerin, yet still a very fast pace gameplay at a constant peak instead sharp drop offs at each crash.

yeah there was not too much more annoying than dropping off the BLLLOODY EDGE of the haunted mansion track in mariokart... man that ticked me off. Or even worse the SNES mariokart, probably the single most frustrating game EVER!! You would absolutely blitz that italian bastard, wipe him out with a shell, he'd get flattened by some stampy thing, float down into the lava, you'd get to within a PIXEL!!! of the finish line, then "DADADA DADADEDADA" BAM!! Mario creams you from behind with his invincibilty you get knocked off the track, Peach and Bowser cross the finish line 2nd and 3rd, "GOTTA GET 4th GOTTA GET 4th!!! GOTTA..." BAM!! Donkey hammers ya, takes 4th, and you smash the controller on the floor.... now THATS gameplay

quote:Originally posted by pospi

PS yes, I'm from QUT. Why do you ask?

You mentioned working with UT2004 at uni, I'm at QUT in my last year studying IF90.

Are you one of the guys working on the pogo-mod, perchance?

I'm an arcade racer fan from way back. From Pole Position to Outrun, I loved them all. Anyway, I'd probably fall into that category of folks like JI Styles where we feel a bit alienated by the surging popularity of racing simulator games. I mean, I understand that you shouldn't really compare arcade racers and racing simulators because they're two totally different genres really, but damnit, I just can't really get into or enjoy racing simulators that much.

Anyway, my favourite racer is Outrun. It's got all the hallmarks of a great arcade racer. It's fast, and you felt like you were going places. There's a whole variety of wonderful levels/locations and getting to the next stage was seamless. I think Outrun is well known for it's stage selection where you can choose your route at the end of the level. It's a pretty good idea which helps with replayability. You also don't need to brake much at all, rarely do you have to slow down to a crawl to prepare for sharp turns, and you weren't doing laps [;)]. A great soundtrack, and an exotic car tops it all off.

I'm not sure how I would improve on Outrun. Outrun 2 added only a few new things, like powersliding around corners, and some new modes like time attack. I think the changes I'd suggest would change the much loved old Outrun formula into something else entirely. It's probably the same reason that Counterstrike is still the same game that it was in 99 or whenever it came about.

If I could change it, then I definately think it should go in the way of Burnout Revenge and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, both of which are excellant games and arcade racers at heart. I'm sure you can come up with a fair few ideas from those games.

Don't take my list of hobbies seriously btw [:D]

I think sumea needs a good profile for Anonymous Coward so please post any suggested improvements here. Insults will be flamed into oblivion [;)]

I've been told before I have a odd sense of humor [;)]

My joke has some meaning however: this profile could provide something to point an anonymous user who isn't behaving themselves to.

Having fun? [:P]

Scott.

Hey, I signed it "Lorien" pretty clearly [:)] and "Anonymous Cowards" play a very important role.

I haven't been one much at all for quite some time btw.

um WTF

To fully understand this joke you would need to have been on and reading sumea for at least as long as I have.

I'd be in lots of trouble if I fully explained it, sorry denz [;)]

Regarding the profile for anonymous coward, how about something like:
?I like to tell people their work sucks, and to really be a prick, not tell them why their work sucks.?? [:(]

quote:Originally posted by palantir

Regarding the profile for anonymous coward, how about something like:
?I like to tell people their work sucks, and to really be a prick, not tell them why their work sucks.?? [:(]

When did I do that? You are misreading something if you think so. Yes there are a couple of digs contained in this joke, but there are plenty of useful things too, and if a couple of little digs in amongst useful things makes me a "prick" in your view then that's what I am. Tough.

Another meaning here is humorously bagging myself out. Does that make me a prick to?

Isn't a major role of AC to humorously bag things (including themselves) out?

What the hell's goin on here? What year is this? ... Where are my pants!!

quote:Originally posted by lorien

quote:Originally posted by palantir

Regarding the profile for anonymous coward, how about something like:
?I like to tell people their work sucks, and to really be a prick, not tell them why their work sucks.?? [:(]

When did I do that? You are misreading something if you think so. Yes there is a couple of digs contained in this joke, but there are plenty of useful things too, and if a couple of little digs in amognst useful things makes me a "prick" in your view then that's what I am. Tough.

Another meaning here is humorously bagging myself out. Does that make me a prick to?

No no, you misunderstand. I don?t mean you are a prick ? I?m not talking about you. I?m just adding what I think should be in the profile of an anonymous coward based on my experience with the way anonymous people crit ? they tend to payout on poor work but not offer any helpful advice. At least they do with my work :P

So I?m not attacking you Lorien, I?m just trying to contribute to the joke in my own odd way. [:)]

But you?re right, the point of posting anonymously is it allows people to bag things and speak their mind. Though I can?t say I think this is necessarily a productive thing (and hence my original post).

[:D] OK there have been problems with ACs using multiple anonymous identities (and I'm pretty sure even sexes in one case), along with taking multiple points of view.

If anyone accuses me of such things I'm afraid they are mistaken- there have been more than a few anonymous posts which seem tailored for me to cop the blame for them. It started about a year ago- maybe a year and a bit.

I've never denied I've made AC posts- and maybe I crossed a line once or twice, but my posts are pretty obvious anyway and there is very little point in me being an AC. Everyone knows my opinions on some matters, and in order to be properly anonymous I'd have to be as sneaky as "Artist" and I'm not (just ask my students).

After "Artist"'s efforts attacking CynicalFan (who I have a few things in common with) and filling a thread about a competition up with a provoked argument about "is the aus industry booming" (an extremely dangerous topic on sumea imho), I started thinking about the normal, healthy roles ACs play.

CynicalFan is a far better AC than "Artist"- though he's not anonymous and ACs aren't normally so blunt and abusive [;)]

The main people I'm digging at are "Artist", "Sleepyhead", and "I found my clown". People who have done nothing but abuse AC as far as I know. "Artist" motivated me to figure out how Souri could track down a rogue AC if he needed to. I'm not at all happy about being the person to have figured out how to do it.

So I decided to give Anonymous Coward a real profile so people can tell when he's behaving himself and when he's not, and maybe have a laugh at the same time.

Blow up all AC's.
< Its up to the reader to decide if this is literal or a joke >

Like all things, as if it isnt already insanely difficult to determine peoples intentions using emails, posts and chats, AC's handily/or not so.. just add to the communication confusion.

ACs... lets see if we cant make that a new internet slang... n00b!

I'd say that after 9 out of 15 posts, and no real literal explanation or justification, it stands to reason to spell out the obvious for those 'not-in-the-know'. The anonymous coward is a term coined for users of comment pages, feedback lists, forums etc, for an unregistered user that is still allowed posting privelages, but wishes to remain anonmyous for whatever reason.

Here's my proverbial 10 foot pole.

[img]http://fusionanomaly.net/whydidthechickencrosstheroad.jpg[/img]

Sorry if there were basic things like who "Anonymous Coward" is- I've been using computers for almost 25 years and the 'net for 13 and I'm a Linux geek...

hey lorien anonymous, who would of got the idea for that!

quote:Originally posted by Anonymous Dogg

hey lorien anonymous, who would of got the idea for that!

Umm read my profile... I'm hardly anonymous on sumea.

Your profile has no picture.[8D]

lol

quote:Originally posted by Anonymous Dogg

Your profile has no picture.[8D]

Just have a look here AD http://www.acmi.net.au/acmipark_project_team.htm

Happy? [;)]

On a different note if one of the artists would like to make an avatar for this AC profile just let me know [:D]

[8D]

OK I have to reply to this [:p]

1)Off the top of my head I can't remember any good game to movie conversion, they are all pretty much mediocre at best (Silent Hill movie might change that but I still doubt it somehow). I mean cmon, Tomb raider, Resident evils, Blood rayne, Doom etc are pretty bad any way you look at them.

2)Yes there has! John Carpenters the Thing was converted a couple of years ago and its a fucking gem of a game, highly underrated and did bad in sales but if you like the movies check it out its awesome and it pretty much makes the sequel the director never got to make on film (he was involved in the making of the game btw, if just slightly i'd imagine).
I'm sure there are other good ones but cant think of them.

3)A a psychological mystery/adventure game based loosely on a David Lynch movie!! I mean cmon imagine a game set in Twin Peaks universe, pure gold [:D] (clue: the midget who plays in Carnivale plays a similar role in Twin peaks)
Or a movie based on a Cronenberg film!

4)Err can't really think of any that would make a really really good film. Maybe Tim Burton doing a Grim Fandango would be cool. Yeah actually that would be really cool!

5)I wish Uwe Boll makes as many kickass movies of great or semi-great games coming out as he can [:p] ! (somehow i think my wish will come true).

quote:
standout Game to Movie conversions

Not ?standout?, but I did enjoy the Resident evil movies. But then I like every zombie flick. So the answer is no.

quote:
Movie to Game conversions

Nothing great comes to mind. There?s been a few that where a quick bit of fun, but nothing extraordinary. Some of the Lord of the Rings games where okay, I enjoyed Spiderman 2, and Enter the Matrix was interesting.

quote:
favourite Movie that you would want to see as a game

StarGate SG1 goddamn it!! But as for a movie, um, maybe Serenity?

quote:
What would be your favourite Game that you would want to see as a Movie

Max Payne staring David Boreanaz:

[img]http://www.d-boreanaz.com/gallery/albums/albums/angel/misc-season1/ange…]

Of course he?s much older now and would better look the part. It would need to be directed by someone who could adequately pull-off the film noir thing, and it would definitely need to be very dark and violent. I would seriously love to see this movie.

quote:
What film Director would you most like to see do a game

Joss Whedon, complete with sense of humour.

yeah god bless Uwe Boll hey.......... cause I'm sure as hell no one else will

i'll go with option (6)Game/movie mashup
Evildead meet's Fallout[:D]

[img]http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000844IT.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/img]

1) no

2) Goldeneye, though that hardly resembled the movie or held a flowing storyline. It excelled on great gameplay, and the only reason I list it here is because it was based on a movie licence.

3) The TV series FireFly, and it would be a stand alone story. Why? because FireFly had such a rich universe that I want to explore it deeper (and being candled no longer can) - thus it would not be a straight conversion of the movie, nor would it follow the storyline of any episode from the series. And besides, I?ve already watched those stories!

4) Deus Ex, only it would be a 20 episode TV series, not a 2 hour movie. It would focus on developing characters, a deep storyline, and well written dialogue - and action and special effects would be secondary and used sparingly and only as necessary - and it would avoid as many matrix/action movie clich?s and stereotypes as possible.

5) Stanley Kubrick, because it would be a deep and engaging piece of interactive art, and would defy genres and conventional game thinking. Unfortunately he's no longer around so:

Joss Whedon because he's a great writer/director and his work is original and engaging, and lends itself well to conventional gameplay, as well having the potential to further the medium in story and character development.

quote:
FireFly had such a rich universe that I want to explore it deeper (and being cancled no longer can)

A game based on Firefly/Serenity would be awesome. Also, apparently there is talk of a sequal to Serenity.

I like the idea of a Deus Ex TV series.

I completely forgot about Goldeneye actually, shame on me, that was one the greatest games ever bloody made.... maybe thats why I no longer accosiated it with a movie licence.

1) Game to Movie
Whilst not really in the sense of the word my pick is "The Wizard" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098663/
Classic NES and Mario Bros 3! Nintendo Powergloves... cmon its got it all!

2) Movie To Game
Have to agree with GoldenEye on N64.

3) Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy ( Series ). Done in classeic point and click adventure style.

4) Snake Rattle n Roll from NES.
http://www.flyingomelette.com/reviews/nes/snakernr.html
Live action film of two snake heads in an isometric world. Eat evil Nibbly pibblies to grow a tail then jump on a large scale to open the mystical door to the next universe. Its got it all.. Love, Intrique, Nazi's searching for holy relics.

5) Peter Jackson
Purely so he can make a game that might actually take longer then an hour to complete :p

Damn, those are some good questions. I'll have to have a think about them [:)]

1) I have to say the first Mortal Kombat movie. I watched it so many times.

2) Nothing that stands out but I enjoyed battle for middle earth

3) Jurastic Park would make a good sim game.

4) Warcraft the movie. I suppose Peter Jackson would have to direct it.

5) Guy Ritchie.
He could make an amazing gangsta game with an indepth story full of twists interesting characters and a bit of humor.

quote: Damn, those are some good questions. I'll have to have a think about them

Well you can just call me Tony Barber

Ok,

No 1) cannot think of a single thing... though Uwe Boll films do inspire me, its the whole "If this reed can do it then why can't I" kinda thing. Sort of the way in Braveheart Wallace was 'inspired' by his chicky's death to wipe out England.

No 2)Of course as mentioned, Goldeneye (thankyou Limewire) though I actually prefer when a licence deviates from the movie like what Goldeneye did, its like it reinvents it for you as opposed to rehashing. I mean whats the point of recreting a game EXACTLY like the movie, thats just boring, its far more a compliment to the setting I think if you put your own spin on it. Skunx was telling me today that the Thing game actually took place after the movie like a sequal, thats great I think cause it doesnt hamper down the creativity.

The old Star Wars games on the SNES (Mick what are they called again?) there was a version of all three movies and they were just a side scroller where you ran along and hack the shite outta stuff, it was great.

And apparently the Cronicles of Riddick was a wicked one, though the movie did aaaabsolutely nothing for me,(it seemed like just scene after scene of Desiel wearing thoes goggles just so he could pull them off in some stupid way) I admit the game does sound pretty damn cool.

No 3)Ive got a design concept for an aliens game to act as like a 5th story which I think would rock, other than that, I'd like to see League of Extraordinary Gentlemen made into a game, though based on the original Alan Moore Graph Novel (which is what the shite movie shoulda been based on!! ya f*%ks!!), how I'd love to see it made would be in a team, turn based style like Commandos 2, or Silent Storm, now that'd kick.

Also a Last of the Mohicans game I'd like to see, just a simple 3rd person action, especially a recreation of the final scene with the kick ass fiddle tune playing over the top of it.

No 4) KOTOR!!! bring the style back into starwars dammit, SW seriously just annoyed me until I played that game, it showed me the potential of the universe and even enflamed the geek in me, inspiring an SW novel of my own that I work on occasionally... maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that... Anyway, with Kotor I'd get Ang Lee to direct, the way he manages to capture subtlety and emotion within a fantastical setting like with Croutching Tiger and Hulk, I think would really add something, and Jake Gylanhall to act, he can look very "Dark Side" when he wants too.

Or, to see James Cameron tackle Starcraft... though perhaps that'un ed be better left off the Cinema screen... Unless it was Starcraft Ghost, but even so.

No 5) Aside from Carpenter I'd like to see either Ang Lee, or Shyamalan do a game, they might work out too slow or something, but I'd be curious to see what they'd do (not to mention a Shyamalan
NPC in every game he does, and a weird facination with water and the colour red). I guess its good John Woo's getting into making games, cause he sure as hell has lost his ability to make movies! Ill see what his new one will be like.

quote:Originally posted by Burne

1) I have to say the first Mortal Kombat movie. I watched it so many times.

I agree. I always loved scorpian and sub-zero and seeing them on the big screen was fantastic. [:)]

The SNES starwars games were called "Super Star Wars" "Super The Empire Strieks Back" and "Super Return of the Last Two Games Only Short, Easy and Nowhere Near As Awsome"

1) Has in your opinion been any standout Game to Movie conversions that you have seen?

I haven't really seen anything that has made me go WOW!

2) Has in your opinion been and standout Movie to Game conversions that you have seen?

I really enjoyed The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay on Xbox. Technically the game was a prequel, it wasn't based on any of the movies stories.

3) For the budding designers out there, What would be your favourite Movie that you would want to see as a game, and how would you design it?

As mentioned above, I'd love to see a Firefly action/adventure. Something with a bit of freewill, let you travel around in the 'verse and do what you please while following a basic story. Something with that same vibe as KOTOR, however I would not like to see it as an RPG.

If a linear story is needed, I'd love to play a new crew member aboard Serenity and explore the character interactions aboard the ship. This way you don't miss out on any characters, instead of playing as Mal, or Zoe, Jayne etc...

4) What would be your favourite Game that you would want to see as a Movie, and how would you make it? (What Actors, Director?)

I'd love to see the Thief universe bought to life on the big screen, it had such an interesting mix of medieval, techno, religion, etc...

As mentioned above, David Boreanaz as Max Payne would be great. Obviously he can do the dark/brooding thing really well, and some early episodes of Angel had a film noir-ish thing going on.

5) Due to the influx of film Directors breaking into TV and Games, What film Director would you most like to see do a game? (Saying PJ's too easy, give an example of what he'd do)

Joss Whedon for sure, I just love his work. He really knows how to put a good story together, regardless of medium. I'd love to see some more X-Men stuff from him, his run on Astonishing is really good.

quote:Originally posted by LiveWire

The SNES starwars games were called "Super Star Wars" "Super The Empire Strieks Back" and "Super Return of the Last Two Games Only Short, Easy and Nowhere Near As Awsome"

That was soooo true :)

1) Has in your opinion been any standout Game to Movie conversions that you have seen?
You know what ... Super Mario Bros. the movie. There, I said it, I liked it back in the day :P

Also, if it counts, Street Fighter 2: The Movie (the manga one) was awesome.

2) Has in your opinion been and standout Movie to Game conversions that you have seen?
Thats an interesting question, cause I think there are a few great games based on Movie 'Licences', such as Tomorrow Never Dies, Chronicals of Riddick, KOTOR, Indiana Jones Adventure games on the PC, Alien vs Predator (arcade), and Matt would kill me if I didn't mention Dune 2.. As for games that follow the plot of the movie, I think most of the great ones were the classic side scrolling platformers. The Super Star Wars games on SNES, Terminator on the MegaDrive was one of the first 'good' ones, hell even Alien 3 on the SNES, Alladin (the SNES one, although the Megadrive version wasn't bad).

The only recent one that I think was brilliant was Lego Star Wars. I mean cmon, that game was awesome!

Oh, and I know I know, where's Goldeneye? Well, I never really played it much, so I can't really talk about a game I don't have that much experience with firsthand.

I'd like to mention too that I think a big reason why alot of games based on movies are crap is because the development is rushed to get the game out in time to be released with the movie. That and it's usually a quick and easy cash-in title.

That said, even though I wouldn't reccommend the game, I thought Enter the Matrix was a bold step in the right direction in regards to how seriously games are treated in the movie making process.

3) For the budding designers out there, What would be your favourite Movie that you would want to see as a game, and how would you design it?
Sin City. Design it however the hell you want, just make sure Frank Miller is involved in the process and it'll be fine.

Kill Bill 1 & 2. Suprised it hasn't been done already.

4) What would be your favourite Game that you would want to see as a Movie, and how would you make it? (What Actors, Director?)
A Tex Murphy movie. Has to be Chris Jones in the title role, with other name actors surrounding him. Get Christopher Nolan to direct it.

5) Due to the influx of film Directors breaking into TV and Games, What film Director would you most like to see do a game? (Saying PJ's too easy, give an example of what he'd do)
Darren Aronofsky or David Fincher

Hey, just out of interest, what about games based on movies of games? Street Fighter the Movie the Game jumps to mind initially ... any others? [:p]

Hmm, it turns out that there is actually a [url="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467197/"]Max Payne movie[/url] in the works:
It seems that the actor to play Max has not been announced. Suggestions on various net forums include Mel Gibson, Keanu Reeves and Christian Bale.
From [url="http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/629/629253p1.html"]IGN[/url]:
quote:
Producer Scott Faye told the trade that the film will tell the origin story of the character. He says it'll have a Dirty Harry-like tone and that the lead role calls for an actor with some chops. "I think this is a real actor's part because although the story will have action and intrigue, at its core it's a story about a man who loses everything in life that's dear to him," Faye said.

Of course knowing Hollywood I bet they?ll completely screw it up. They?ll probably try to make it look like The Matrix.

Mel Gibson? ............................................... the hell?

ALIEN 3!!!!! AGAIN! one of my favourite all time games and I bloody forgot it! I even listed that one in the best game music forum but it didnt even cross my mind on this one.

quote:Kill Bill 1 & 2. Suprised it hasn't been done already.

I was thinking about Kill Bill actually and wondering how you could make it, but when you think about it aside from the 88 fight, its really only a series of one on ones, not too sure how youd do it and keep it interesting, what'd be better, is to make a separate game though emulate the cross of genres that QT did, cause that was the true strength of Kill Bill I think.... apart from Carradine....

Darren Aronofsky, yeah thats a good suggestion actually, he'd make an interesting game, I'm reeeeaaaaly curious about how he's going to deliver Lone Wolf & Cub. I have faith, but he's treading on very thin eggshells, thats my all time favourite story and I actually couldn't think of a more DIFFERENT type of director to do it. Aronofsky has a real sporadic style whereas Lone Wolf is actually quite the opposite, Koike and Kojima deliberately paced out the mood of the panes in the graphic novel, they'd use 3 or 4 to show water dripping from a plant. Though on the flipside the action scenes would be very hectic and all over the shop, and Aronofsky would match that, the rest (and the majority) of the novel is actually anything but... I'm warning you Aronofsky... don't screw it up!..... (then again it couldnt be worse than the japanese movies)

The Max Payne movie will be terrible. Keanu Reeves? Mel Gibson? [:D]

If they want to make it at least a little bit classy, they'll need the help of [url="http://imdb.com/name/nm0654110/"]this guy[/url].

Hey Little Mo!

With regards to printing, it really just depends on where you are. I use http://www.selectmedia.com.au/ for all my CD and brochure prints because they are quite cheap and professional and I have not had a problem with them as of yet. However, like I said, shop around because you might be able to find something better and closer to where ever you are. Hope that helps!

I plan to, but things are running a little tight at the moment, so it will be all fairly last minute ? all booked / finalised a week out.

I was hoping to go this year, but I didn't come to pass unfortunatly. Maybe next year if I can save up the cash.

Look at Mick waving his plane tickets in our faces. For Shame ! [:P]

Dont worry Haz, ill bring you back a Tshirt!

See if you can manage to bring back one of those PS3's as well (or the display glass tht houses the empty console) [;)]

Sure Souri, ill bring back enough for everyone! Actually, I was thinking of doing a journal/report of the whole thing from my perspective for Sumea - is that something that would interest you?

Make sure to drop by the FMOD booth, we have a big booth this year, and will be showing some pretty cool stuff!

Great work Brett! Its great to see you guys have a big booth this year and I will pop past and say G'Day!

There will be 6 of us from Sidhe going. We don't have a stand but you'll probably come across one of us eventually :)

Thats fantastic Mario - ill keep an eye out for you guys!

You can usually find Mario at the fairmont bar :)

Hey Mick - you'll probably see a few familiar faces at the Pandemic recruiting booth if you stop by.

Have fun over there!

Thanks Brad! Its a shame you are not going but I would imagine that you are busy as hell at the moment.

quote:Originally posted by Mick1460

Sure Souri, ill bring back enough for everyone! Actually, I was thinking of doing a journal/report of the whole thing from my perspective for Sumea - is that something that would interest you?

Hell yeah! I'm sure everyone here would love to read and see some pics of the event.

Sure thing then Pal - ill pick up a camera at duty free and ill put a journal together

quote:Originally posted by Brett

You can usually find Mario at the fairmont bar :)

Purely for networking purposes, of course.