For GUIs, Just the Right Degree of Realism 256
mr crypto writes "User interfaces make copious use of pictures and symbols, but how abstract should images be? Lukas Mathis has an interesting blog entry on where to draw the line."
Modern Warfare 2 Surpasses $1 Billion Mark; Dedicated Servers What? 258
The Opposable Thumbs blog is running an interesting article contrasting everything Activision did "wrong" in creating and marketing Modern Warfare 2 with the game's unqualified success. Despite price hikes, somewhat shady review practices, exploit frustrations, and the dedicated server fiasco, the game has raked in over a billion dollars in sales.
"There was only one way to review Modern Warfare 2: on the Xbox 360, in Santa Barbara, under the watchful eye of Activision. Accepting the paid trip, along with room and board, was the only way you were going to get a review before launch. Joystiq noted that this broke their ethics policy, but they went anyway. Who can say no to a review destined to bring in traffic? Shacknews refused to call their coverage a 'review' because of the ethical issues inherent in the situation, but that stance was unique. The vast majority of news outlets didn't disclose how the review was conducted, or added a disclaimer after the nature of the review was made public. This proved to Activision that if you're big enough, you can dictate the exact terms of any review, and no ethics policy will make news outlets turn you down."
Comment Difference (Score 1) 506
She needs to figure out that her surname doesn't have to dictate her personality or behavior.
Comment Re:Shenanigans (Score 1) 292
Silly /.er, do you really think they're talking about anything outside of their own products and standards?
Comment Remain Rational (Score 1) 480
Behaving like a rational human being instead of freaking out and pissing down your leg every time some incompetent, irrational wing-nut sets his pants on fire would be a better start. Spending millions more dollars on security theater isn't going to do a damn thing to make anybody any safer. If you were one of the sheep in the herd that was terrified that this happened, then by definition, the terrorist(s) already won.
Whatever Happened To Second Life? 209
Barence writes "It's desolate, dirty, and sex is outcast to a separate island. In this article, PC Pro's Barry Collins returns to Second Life to find out what went wrong, and why it's raking in more cash than ever before. It's a follow-up to a feature written three years ago, in which Collins spent a week living inside Second Life to see what the huge fuss at the time was all about. The difference three years can make is eye-opening."
Astronomers Discover 33 Pairs of Waltzing Black Holes 101
Astronomers from UC Berkeley have identified 33 pairs of waltzing black holes, closing the gap somewhat between the observed population of super-massive black hole pairs and what had been predicted by theory. "Astronomical observations have shown that 1) nearly every galaxy has a central super-massive black hole (with a mass of a million to a billion times the mass of the Sun), and 2) galaxies commonly collide and merge to form new, more massive galaxies. As a consequence of these two observations, a merger between two galaxies should bring two super-massive black holes to the new, more massive galaxy formed from the merger. The two black holes gradually in-spiral toward the center of this galaxy, engaging in a gravitational tug-of-war with the surrounding stars. The result is a black hole dance, choreographed by Newton himself. Such a dance is expected to occur in our own Milky Way Galaxy in about 3 billion years, when it collides with the Andromeda Galaxy."
Comment I takes (Score 1) 839
More brain power than the average driver has to figure out that if you can't see the signal, perhaps you should fucking slow down or stop before proceeding. Oh wait, never mind, these must be the same people who claim they have no problem paying attention to driving while talking on their cell phones.
Revisiting the "Holy Trinity" of MMORPG Classes 362
A feature at Gamasutra examines one of the foundations of many MMORPGs — the idea that class roles within such a game fall into three basic categories: tank, healer, and damage dealer. The article evaluates the pros and cons of such an arrangement and takes a look at some alternatives.
"Eliminating specialized roles means that we do away with boxing a class into a single role. Without Tanks, each class would have features that would help them participate in and survive many different encounters like heavy armor, strong avoidance, or some class or magical abilities that allow them to disengage from direct combat. Without specialized DPS, all classes should be able to do damage in order to defeat enemies. Some classes might specialize in damage type, like area of effect (AoE) damage; others might be able to exploit enemy weaknesses, and some might just be good at swinging a sharpened bit of metal in the right direction at a rapid rate. This design isn't just about having each class able to fill any trinity role. MMO combat would feel more dynamic in this system. Every player would have to react to combat events and defend against attacks."
Comment Yep (Score 1) 309
A nice list of all of the same assholes that constantly whine about how their IP is being stolen. Funny how everybody else is the pirate/bad guy/criminal/whatever but the logic never applies to them.
Comment No matter how well you build the O/S (Score 1) 611
You still can't fix stupid. Stupid is forever.
Comment Re:InfoBunker (Score 1) 87
Not me. I like things indoor plumbing, fresh, running water and the Internet. If we're going to end civilization as we know it I'd rather be at ground zero sipping on a Guiness. You can have the post-apocalypse all to yourself.
Comment Yawn (Score 1) 230
ZOMG! EA shipped a game that was not ready for prime time! OH NOES!!!!
Give me a break. The day EA ships something that doesn't suck it'll be a vacuum cleaner. I quit giving them my money a long time ago after waiting months if not years for them to fix crap that should never have shipped that way.
Oh, and for the apologists: The shipped that crap hugely broken without caring about their customers. And you want the customers to "understand" how difficult life is for poor little EA games? Get a life. I'll give a shit about their problems in the gaming industry just as soon as they show an iota of concern for their customers. We don't owe them shit other than the profit (that BTW they already got from thousands of users for their broke-dick product).
Comment Photoshop Dropped From Windows 7! (Score 1) 900
Film at 11 ... sheesh.
Comment Remember ... (Score 1) 643
It's freedom of the press not freedom of speech ... oh wait ...
I'm not sure what pisses me off more, that this happened at all, or that the person ratting out his source was the newspaper guy. Incredible.
