Mantaman - Slashdot User

Valve Delays Portal 2, Squashes Duke Nukem Rumors 135

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday June 10, 2010 @05:54AM from the duke-is-not-still-alive-still-alive dept.

SKYMTL writes "In a tongue-in-cheek commentary, Valve has announced the delay of Portal 2 and thrown water on the rumor fires regarding its E3 'surprise.' This surprise was rumored to be either Half-Life 3 or the revival of Duke Nukem, and it looks like neither will happen anytime soon."

Revisiting the "Holy Trinity" of MMORPG Classes 362

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 18, 2009 @08:20AM from the or-druid-as-the-case-may-be dept.

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."

Pirates as a Marketplace 214

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday December 09, 2009 @07:31AM from the marrrrrrrket-share dept.

John Riccitiello, the CEO of Electronic Arts, made some revealing comments in an interview with Kotaku about how the company's attitudes are shifting with regard to software piracy. Quoting: "Some of the people buying this DLC are not people who bought the game in a new shrink-wrapped box. That could be seen as a dark cloud, a mass of gamers who play a game without contributing a penny to EA. But around that cloud Riccitiello identified a silver lining: 'There's a sizable pirate market and a sizable second sale market and we want to try to generate revenue in that marketplace,' he said, pointing to DLC as a way to do it. The EA boss would prefer people bought their games, of course. 'I don't think anybody should pirate anything,' he said. 'I believe in the artistry of the people who build [the games industry.] I profoundly believe that. And when you steal from us, you steal from them. Having said that, there's a lot of people who do.' So encourage those pirates to pay for something, he figures. Riccitiello explained that EA's download services aren't perfect at distinguishing between used copies of games and pirated copies. As a result, he suggested, EA sells DLC to both communities of gamers. And that's how a pirate can turn into a paying customer."

Comment Re:Thank god! (Score 2, Insightful) 908

by Mantaman on Tuesday July 08, 2008 @06:18PM (#24107179) Attached to: Mercedes To Phase Out Gasoline By 2015

Mr Mercedes and Mr Benz where the first to bring us the car. They where the first to fit powerstearing as standard They where the first to fit ABS as standard They where the first to fit SatNav as standard (well in most of the range) They where the first to bin petrol/gas? They do inovate at Mercedes so it wouldnt surprise me if they did it.

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