I think it might be time for a final Happy Trails.
What started as a simple one-liner:
[kotaku.com]
Ended up with stars removed and Crecente basically calling me an idiot.
[kotaku.com]
Ah well, guess it's time to move on to the next easily replaceable gaming news aggregater. Anyone got suggestions for places that do it with a little panache and humor?
What started as a simple one-liner:
[kotaku.com]
Ended up with stars removed and Crecente basically calling me an idiot.
[kotaku.com]
Ah well, guess it's time to move on to the next easily replaceable gaming news aggregater. Anyone got suggestions for places that do it with a little panache and humor?
@Brian Crecente: Whatever, I'm clearly a douchebag because I didn't immediately get the brilliance of your writing.
Glad you decided that me disagreeing meant I lost my star(s) as well. I guess I'm not allowed to have an opinion, which boils down to 'this isn't gamificating a damn thing'.
You think the point is the achievements...fine. When I read the article, which despite the claims of your personal attacks I did a couple of times, I don't see that as the central theme. Here's the only major part that discusses it (along with a brief one sentence mention after the first picture):
"It's also why tying it to Game Center, making picture taking a game, was so important to him.
Those in-app achievements will reward people for experimentation and, he hopes, encourage people to take more risks and try different things."
...
The concept taps into the increasingly popular idea of gamification, the notion of applying the basic ideas of games to the mechanics of everyday life to make them more fun.
Even the quote you give after this section rhapsodizes more about human behavior than it does about how this makes taking pictures into a game.
Maybe my "comprehension" is undermined by the fact that I don't think that using a carrot and stick approach to an activity automatically makes it a game. I don't play games to avoid or engage risk, and I don't need achievements to create "child-like explorer" feelings in me.
But again, clearly I didn't read anything, because I disagree with the premise.
Christ, all of this because I made a joke on a gaming website that used to embrace humor and having fun with it's topics....
#kotakueditorialboard
Glad you decided that me disagreeing meant I lost my star(s) as well. I guess I'm not allowed to have an opinion, which boils down to 'this isn't gamificating a damn thing'.
You think the point is the achievements...fine. When I read the article, which despite the claims of your personal attacks I did a couple of times, I don't see that as the central theme. Here's the only major part that discusses it (along with a brief one sentence mention after the first picture):
"It's also why tying it to Game Center, making picture taking a game, was so important to him.
Those in-app achievements will reward people for experimentation and, he hopes, encourage people to take more risks and try different things."
...
The concept taps into the increasingly popular idea of gamification, the notion of applying the basic ideas of games to the mechanics of everyday life to make them more fun.
Even the quote you give after this section rhapsodizes more about human behavior than it does about how this makes taking pictures into a game.
Maybe my "comprehension" is undermined by the fact that I don't think that using a carrot and stick approach to an activity automatically makes it a game. I don't play games to avoid or engage risk, and I don't need achievements to create "child-like explorer" feelings in me.
But again, clearly I didn't read anything, because I disagree with the premise.
Christ, all of this because I made a joke on a gaming website that used to embrace humor and having fun with it's topics....
#kotakueditorialboard
@Brian Crecente: Good grief. I did read it.
Twice.
You spend the majority of it putting in pictures of results from taking pictures of his app, and two very small paragraphs mentioning the achievements.
The "gamification" is a complete afterthought in the structure of the article to the overall discussion of taking pictures and applying filters.
Like I stated above, there is no discussion of what the goals of the game are, and no so you don't get any real feel from this write-up that it is in fact turning taking pictures into a game.
If I was the only one that didn't "get it", I'd gladly admit it, but the entire comment section is filled with people focusing on the HDR aspect.
Maybe the focus is on that part because that seemed to be the focus of the article?
#kotakueditorialboard
Twice.
You spend the majority of it putting in pictures of results from taking pictures of his app, and two very small paragraphs mentioning the achievements.
The "gamification" is a complete afterthought in the structure of the article to the overall discussion of taking pictures and applying filters.
Like I stated above, there is no discussion of what the goals of the game are, and no so you don't get any real feel from this write-up that it is in fact turning taking pictures into a game.
If I was the only one that didn't "get it", I'd gladly admit it, but the entire comment section is filled with people focusing on the HDR aspect.
Maybe the focus is on that part because that seemed to be the focus of the article?
#kotakueditorialboard
@Brian Crecente: What are the achievements?
It looks like lots of people here must be missing the point of the article, because it seems to be mostly about adding filters and using HDR to make your iPhone pictures look different.
There's also no screenshots of the app, and I had to browse back through the article a second time to figure out where the link was to go get it.
I guess I interpreted the whole thing as a discussion of the filters and the approach to photography, and missed the point of the two small paragraphs that describe the gaming portion.
It looks like lots of people here must be missing the point of the article, because it seems to be mostly about adding filters and using HDR to make your iPhone pictures look different.
There's also no screenshots of the app, and I had to browse back through the article a second time to figure out where the link was to go get it.
I guess I interpreted the whole thing as a discussion of the filters and the approach to photography, and missed the point of the two small paragraphs that describe the gaming portion.
@Brian Crecente: Sorry, I keep forgetting that Kotaku is all serious shit now.
@DukeOfPwn: I have. Duke 3D sure didn't stack up against it's contemporaries very well back in the 90's either.
@Brian Crecente: So I spent an honest 30 seconds thinking about it, and I decided that this just doesn't strike me as "gamification" that much.
Granted, bloom is a very popular filter in games, so there is some correlation, but if I was looking for "gamification" I would expect something more along the lines of images where the perspective is flattened to give a more 2D look, and the filters used to provide more of a cartoon or cel-shaded appearance.
That's probably more of an old-school approach, but this version of "gamification" seems to be trying to emulate visuals in games that are trying emulate real life. The bloom and HDR effects are used to try to wash out the digital looks of rendered scenes and to provide a more realistic softness. HDR in these photos, if done for "gamification" seems backwards, since it is then making a real scene unrealistic in an attempt to circle back around and look like a scene that is trying its hardest in many cases to look realistic.
It's almost like painting shadows on a real life Mercedes to make it look like a car in GT5.
Granted, bloom is a very popular filter in games, so there is some correlation, but if I was looking for "gamification" I would expect something more along the lines of images where the perspective is flattened to give a more 2D look, and the filters used to provide more of a cartoon or cel-shaded appearance.
That's probably more of an old-school approach, but this version of "gamification" seems to be trying to emulate visuals in games that are trying emulate real life. The bloom and HDR effects are used to try to wash out the digital looks of rendered scenes and to provide a more realistic softness. HDR in these photos, if done for "gamification" seems backwards, since it is then making a real scene unrealistic in an attempt to circle back around and look like a scene that is trying its hardest in many cases to look realistic.
It's almost like painting shadows on a real life Mercedes to make it look like a car in GT5.
@Brian Crecente: Not sure that I care one way or the other, but in this instance I was attempting to make an AC2: Brotherhood joke ;)
@Jawmuncher: No, but the asshole left the toilet seat up.
@deanb: It might be fun to play, but in the "Let me rent it from Gamefly and blow through it in 4 hours like 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand" way.
I just don't share the excitement that so many seem to have, and it for sure won't be a day 1 purchase (or a purchase at all, for that matter).
I'm pro-boobs, but anti-AA knockoff shooter.
I just don't share the excitement that so many seem to have, and it for sure won't be a day 1 purchase (or a purchase at all, for that matter).
I'm pro-boobs, but anti-AA knockoff shooter.
This isn't interesting until he develops a filter that highlights where all the Borgia flags are located.
Wow, am I really the only one in the comments so far that thinks that This. Looks. Terrible.
Sure the dialogue will be fun for about the first hour, but after you've seen the boobs and taken a half dozen pisses, what else about this looks like anything other than a cheap attempt at a shooter?
There's a dozen games a year just like this that come out and disappear immediately because they can't stack up against Halo, Gears, Killzone, etc, in any shape or form.
It's doubly depressing that this is the next effort from Gearbox, who made themselves the darling up and coming studio last year with Borderlands, but who will probably throw away all of that good mind-share with this atrocity.
Sure the dialogue will be fun for about the first hour, but after you've seen the boobs and taken a half dozen pisses, what else about this looks like anything other than a cheap attempt at a shooter?
There's a dozen games a year just like this that come out and disappear immediately because they can't stack up against Halo, Gears, Killzone, etc, in any shape or form.
It's doubly depressing that this is the next effort from Gearbox, who made themselves the darling up and coming studio last year with Borderlands, but who will probably throw away all of that good mind-share with this atrocity.
You're the type of person that would design a Braveheart game to be an on-rails RPG.
That's the type of attitude that makes me lift up my kilt and shout obscenities at you.
That's the type of attitude that makes me lift up my kilt and shout obscenities at you.
@Shiryu: Shiryuzy Shore?
@Xeo: Just be sure to keep going back to Garrus periodically and chat him up.
His conversations are awesome.
One in particular made me actually laugh out loud at it, which is an extreme rarity for *any* form of entertainment (I'm more of a grinner, internal chuckler).
His conversations are awesome.
One in particular made me actually laugh out loud at it, which is an extreme rarity for *any* form of entertainment (I'm more of a grinner, internal chuckler).
@BigDaddy0790: It might be that your experience (or mine) is atypical.
Blops is way more steady, with quicker lobby times, and more consistent connections that MW2. (although there are party issues that are pretty damn frustrating).
Host migration isn't great, but it does work a little better than it did in MW2 (which always had lots of dropped games).
As far as the gameplay goes, I hit 10th prestige, and I was sick to death of the cheap tactics, hackers, and broken aspects of the game by the time I was done.
Blops has no Danger Close, One Man Army, or Barret quick-scopers. Three things alone that make it WAY better than MW2. I can play Blops without feeling like I have to stoop to cheap levels to keep the game competitive. I can play Domination or HQ without feeling like Scavenger, Danger Close, noob tubes, and RPGs are the only way to win...
Oh, and I don't ever get nuked by killstreak stacking players that are camping kills instead of playing the objectives.
Blops is way more steady, with quicker lobby times, and more consistent connections that MW2. (although there are party issues that are pretty damn frustrating).
Host migration isn't great, but it does work a little better than it did in MW2 (which always had lots of dropped games).
As far as the gameplay goes, I hit 10th prestige, and I was sick to death of the cheap tactics, hackers, and broken aspects of the game by the time I was done.
Blops has no Danger Close, One Man Army, or Barret quick-scopers. Three things alone that make it WAY better than MW2. I can play Blops without feeling like I have to stoop to cheap levels to keep the game competitive. I can play Domination or HQ without feeling like Scavenger, Danger Close, noob tubes, and RPGs are the only way to win...
Oh, and I don't ever get nuked by killstreak stacking players that are camping kills instead of playing the objectives.
@Jazhuis: yeah, no kidding.
I tried the MP for the first time this weekend (spent way too long finishing the SP first). It is awesome fun, but the matchmaking and waiting time spent getting a match is ridiculous.
I played probably 1/10th as much as I wanted to just due to the frustration of waiting on an actual game to start.
I tried the MP for the first time this weekend (spent way too long finishing the SP first). It is awesome fun, but the matchmaking and waiting time spent getting a match is ridiculous.
I played probably 1/10th as much as I wanted to just due to the frustration of waiting on an actual game to start.
@Arok_Lazarus: awesome find, thanks.
@dead_alewives: The problem is that birth rates aren't declining in poor countries, but the prosperous ones that can actually afford their population aren't growing.
Yes there are too many people in the world, but the "too many" part usually occurs in places that can't support their population. There is a VERY direct link between median income and average birthrate per woman. In the middle of Africa a woman will still average nearly 7 births in her lifetime. In Japan, the average woman is down around 1.5.
Yes there are too many people in the world, but the "too many" part usually occurs in places that can't support their population. There is a VERY direct link between median income and average birthrate per woman. In the middle of Africa a woman will still average nearly 7 births in her lifetime. In Japan, the average woman is down around 1.5.
@FutbolGenius: ...and the result would probably be just as horrible.
So yeah, just like watching one of his movies, it's probably not a good first option.
That said, setting a date to quit might be a tad hasty. Your job may suck, but it IS a job, which lots of people don't have right now. When you are employed you have all of the leverage on your side.
So be careful with this plan, as you don't want to be unemployed in March and taking another shitty job just because you have to. Right now you've got the options and the confidence to walk away from crappy positions until you find exactly what you want. 2 months on the dole tends to erase those options and land you right back in a sucky job.
So yeah, just like watching one of his movies, it's probably not a good first option.
That said, setting a date to quit might be a tad hasty. Your job may suck, but it IS a job, which lots of people don't have right now. When you are employed you have all of the leverage on your side.
So be careful with this plan, as you don't want to be unemployed in March and taking another shitty job just because you have to. Right now you've got the options and the confidence to walk away from crappy positions until you find exactly what you want. 2 months on the dole tends to erase those options and land you right back in a sucky job.
