For about $30 you can get a powerstrip with a built in cut-off that powers down any peripherals when the main appliance is turned off. In other words, you plug your TV into the strip's main outlet and your consoles into the secondary outlets, and whenever you turn off your TV the power to your consoles is cut off. Since consoles drain power even when turned off, it saves a not-insignificant amount of energy over time.
480 pages, or four times the length of a two-hour movie script, is 8 hours. Everyone expects this game to have 20 hours of gameplay. Where are the other 720 pages? They're ripping us off!!! Commentbomb the Ghostbusters DVD on Amazon!
@lionkitten: Here here. It really aggravates me that that word was tossed into the headline of the story, especially knowing how some of the commenters are going to take it and run with it. It's already happening.
Chris Early, the head of Windows Gaming, said at GDC that Solitaire and Minesweeper were specifically designed to teach people how to use the mouse/GUI. Minesweeper was meant to teach point-and-click; Solitaire to teach click-and-drag.
The problem isn't just anonymity.
Like it or not, the hardcore gaming audience is still mostly young males. Young American males are not known for their civility. Even many adult males when surrounded by a lot of other males in a competitive situation (i.e. playing a game online) tend to become kind of assholes. Anyone who's ever been to a sporting event or a pickup football game knows that anonymity has little to do with that.
Combine the above with the fact that a priori a loud asshole will be heard while a person politely sitting quietly will not, and suddenly all gamers start seeming a lot like assholes.
@vanderblade: Young children do NOT always have the ability to distinguish between reality and the virtual world, despite their parents' best attempts to elaborate on that distinction. Which is why as a kid I was terrified for weeks after seeing one commercial for Friday the 13th pt. 3 on television. Sometimes children need to be shielded from media that they're not ready for, and it's a parent's job to determine when and how to do that.
A perfectly reasonable parenting technique.
I don't hear him saying that the games that frighten him shouldn't exist or that no one should play them. In fact, he's taking a thoughtful approach to the fact that those games do exist, and even drawing a distinction between different gaming audiences.
His comments are the type of thing that those of us fighting game censorship should embrace, not revile.
When I saw the headline and first paragraph, I thought the article was going to say that Take-Two was suing the CTA for using an acronym too similar to the now-popular GTA. Oh well, but what does it say about Take-Two that I'm willing to believe that they'd do that?
Pointless rant:
Why do so many New Yorkers think only rich Manhattanites own cars? Haven't you noticed that the vast majority of non-cab cars on the streets are brokedown junkers? That's because lots and lots of average people live in parts of the city where, if you have two kids and a dog, a car is nearly as necessary as it is in any other city.
When I lived in Bay Ridge, I owned a brokedown junker (and no, I didn't commute with it). And yes, there was never any parking. Why? Because everybody else owned a car too.
As for GTA: it got wrong that most New Yorkers prefer their hot dogs with the skin on. I mean, WTF?
Often a project lead/executive producer kind of role doesn't need to be in the pit every day to still be the one making the lead creative decisions.
Look at television: the executive producer of a show isn't on set every day, but he or she is the one who envisions how every aspect of the show should work and makes sure the team realizes the vision.
Any thought of starting from zero again? Banning EVERYBODY, and then implementing a new system of auditioning or invitations?
Aside from the noticeably degraded level of discourse lately, I find the sheer volume of comments off-putting. With a couple of hundred comments per post, it's really hard to absorb any meaningful discussion.
Poichissed!
Tip: they have them at Zappos too, for $4 more but with helpful comments from previous purchasers who noted that they run a full size large.
@MantisDragon: What I meant was that we should be calling her "Dr. Byron."
And:
@Brian Ashcraft: Maybe I am uptight, but when other people here are replying "Kotaku should hire that MILF" and "She looks like an older, slightly less hot version of Jade," I think it's best to err on the side of respect, especially if we expect to get any in return.
Anyone else think it's a little patronizing to call her "Dr. Tanya?" "Look at the cute lady who thinks she's a doctor!"
It's a little sad how many video game Easter eggs involve seeing poorly rendered women in their poorly rendered underpants.
Anyway, I think the classic Easter egg, if you stretch the definition of the term, goes back to the Sega Genesis: Mortal Kombat's blood mode.
The Shiite extremist leaders are reporting to their troops now: "All is well! We continue to Donkey Kong away at their efforts! And they continue to pump in the quarters and send their little men at us!"
I could go on like this all day.
Some math here: $100 million on 600 Web games = over $160,000 per game, a large chunk of change in the online gaming world.
"No Blu-Ray in the future for Xbox" seems like an overly definitive pronouncement. All Greenburg says is the they're not in talks with Sony. That doesn't mean that they won't be in talks with Sony a day from now or a year from now. MS might be dying to be in talks with Sony but doesn't want to tip its hand.
If I were betting, I would bet on there being a Blu-Ray enabled 360 in the future.
Now please now. Also, please make God an unlockable character for the ark-opening scene. I want to smite me some Nazis!
I'm surprised traditional video games and TV watching expended the same amount of energy. Studying/rigorous mental work burns a surprisingly high amount of calories, so I thought gaming might win out a bit there.
