Anyone who has actually designed a game - whether it is was Pac-Man or WoW - will tell you that the hard part is not the content - it is in tuning the game to be that ideal mix of challenging, fun, and rewarding without being too hard or discouraging. Say what you want about WoW's limitations but I think any game designer can appreciate the fantastic job they have done with making a game appealing to an extremely wide range of players.
Making content by hand is extremely expensive in terms of both time and money, but so far any non-trivial attempt to do this automatically has failed because of the tuning issue, even for "simple" games like Pac-Man. Hand-made maps in RTS or Counter-Strike or even Load Runner are just more fun than generated ones. Random behavior in a top-selling game is mostly limited to what is inside a locked chest or other things like that.
If you think about it, creating a fun game is no different than creating an interesting film or book. You will probably see fully computer-generated games that are fun to play about the same time you see a computer writing a best-seller.
I am also skeptical of user generated content/crowd-sourcing. Most people just make crap, so you need to have some human process in there acting as the editor. Most of the games that have any success at user content at all rely on professional content builders who are not themselves players. I don't even consider that user-generated content. Those authors are basically members of the development team who are not being paid.
Can't he make his child porn in Sims 3 like a normal person?
While I agree that DRM is a bad idea, I am really surprised by the people's expectation that once you buy something, you have a permanent right to it. Reading that guy's email about not being able to have his digital book on 8 devices - geez, get a grip! Imagine you bought a physical book, in hard copy, for $40. And now you wanted the nice paperback for the airplane. Guess what? You have to buy another one. What if you left the book somewhere? Guess what - no would cares if you "already paid good money for it". You would STILL have to buy another one. If I buy a CD and it breaks - guess what? The store is not going to give me a new one.
DRM is an attempt to make digitial objects act more like physical objects. IRL, I can show you a photo of my kids without giving you the photo. IRL, if I give you my copy of a book, I no longer have it. Etc.
Also - I have to agree with many posters here in calling BS on people's "outrage" against DRM. If you don't like it, don't buy it. But don't complain about DRM while also posting gushing reviews of Hollywood movies.
You have to use the American definition of "Arab", which is "anyone who practices Islam". Imagine how confused they get in Malaysia!
I am shocked. After reading the article and a little more about EOCS organization, it seems that Japan makes some games that do NOT involve rape. Who would have guessed?
I suspect it will be similar to the great cultural loss of the ability to memorize long narratives that was brought about by the invention of writing.
For the low end of that range, it is fun to PLAY robot. Explain the concept that robots only do exactly what you say, and then make some "commands" like "move forward", "turn left", "pick up object" and then work together to try to solve problems, like "how can we get the rubber snake into your sister's bed?". The kid plays the role of the programmer, the CPU, the robot motor (we use toy dump trucks typically for this), and the all-important role of the debugger.
My research shows that it will take you 10 YEARS before your big screen TV, Blu-Disc player, and surround sound system will pay for itself, versus going to see a movie in the theater. Plus, we all know the theater is better because it has that nice popcorn smell. I will upload a spreadsheet if you aren't convinced...
I don't understand this at all. Whoever said that "The Press" is supposed to be unbiased? The whole idea is that you choose what you want to read. If you want to get an unbiased view, then read a mix of press. Have people stopped thinking all together?
What good is a ticket to the good life, if you can't find the entrance?