This tend towards realism was started by Counterstrike, in my opinion. Before that deathmatch was a supersonic brawl over the rocket launcher with infinite lives and team games were similarly fast and chaotic. Now game characters are slooow, you're lucky if you're allowed to respawn, guns are, well guns and environments completely lack lava and floaty platforms.

Also, finally played Portal for the first time this weekend, boy that's one surreal game! (and i'm not talking about the physicsy stuff!)

Guess you had to be there. It's not like she fell through a glass window onto rusty nails.

Thanks for your reply, i refer you to my original comment (emphasis added)

"when Linux finally arrives on the desktop no home users will have desktops"

> The way I look at it, if you don't risk failure, you don't risk success, either

Brilliant. That's gonna be my next sig!

I remember once when my eldest daughter was nearly 2 we were in the park and there was another parent with a boy of roughly the same age. She was running along giggling and looking at the boy and ran straight into the side of a slide, smacking her face on it and then falling backwards to the ground. Naturally the boy's dad was full of concern. My wife and i were rolling around laughing. She got up, dusted herself off and carried on playing. I bet that boy's a wuss.

I've been predicting for a while now that when Linux finally arrives on the desktop no home users will have desktops. Already the recycling sites and web sites and streets around where I live are filling up with unwanted computer desks while everyone migrates to PS3s, iPhones or laptops...

This.

My music spend is rarely on shop-bought CDs, mainly goes on gig tickets. Also, when you are going to see a band live in another country - and wouldn't be travelling there otherwise - do the flights and hotel count?

I agree with your analysis and in my experience your points can all be found in the differences between Halo:CE and 2. The first Halo offers more in terms of all three of your points: The game environment is generally larger and there are more areas to explore (or at least, nooks and crannies if not full blown sections), There's a little non-linearity in certain sections, though not massively so you do get to do a few minor things (like getting 3 lots of marines air-lifted out) in a different order but also in terms of how you "attack" some of the larger scale battles (get a tank, or a warthog, or snipe) and this leads into the final point, there are entire sections of the game (mainly ones involving the flood) that you can charge through at high speed, or take your time to kill as many as possible. The former is more efficient but leads to the feeling that you've missed out.

Even though these three areas (and they do bleed into each other) aren't massively fleshed out in Halo:CE, when you play Halo 2, which feels more firmly on rails, and confines you to a number of set piece battles interspaced between sitting on an elevator/gondola/light-beam-thing/kayak and waiting you realize just what it is you are missing out on.

I think somewhere in my rambling was the point that it's sometimes more subtle than you realize, and that a game doesnt need to be GTA "open" to feel open.

ooh, me, me me!!

richardacre@[slashdot username].co.uk

I honestly believe that the sales guy's brain was in a state of "it costs more, it MUST BE BETTER" and no amount of logic or reasoning would have swayed him. It's a natural human situation to be in in my observation (see also: Man-Made-Climate-Change Sceptics (but the environment is SO MASSIVELY BIG it's impossible for humans to change it!) and all religions ever)

Actually, it's interesting that you mention Soderbergh - he has a great method of working with Hollywood (Nolan seems to be taking this approach too) - where he makes a big blockbuster on behalf of hollywood one year, then because he's made them a bunch of cash they let him make whatever film he wants to make next. A kind of give and take setup, cunning way to work the system IMO

exactly what I was going to post. For comparison I work in software (like most people here, I suspect) and I'm very happy being a developer with no managerial responsibility. Is this "making it" in software or is it mandatory to strive to be the next Linus?

or you could just place your maximum bid as your first bid. And laugh at the idiots who pay more for an item than what it's worth. The key to ebay is patience, you'll win the item you want at a price you want, but it may be the 4th/5th attempt (obviously this doesnt apply to rare items, but it does to everything else)

Find a Morrisons supermarket. They'll likely have a selection of 500ml bottled beers that you can usually get 4 for £6 (or some similar offer). Buy 4 random ones, though pay attention to the alcohol percentage, (i try to stay under 5!). Keep em in a cool dark place but not the fridge (you want somewhere between fridge and room temperature, under the stairs should do it). Crack one open, pour it into a glass and drink it. Read the descriptions on the bottle and remember what you did and didn't like. Enjoy your beer adventure.

replace the insides with a capacitor across the data lines...