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Comment In addition... (Score 1) 446

I wish these marketing people could see where all this is heading. There is an eventual outcome to all this greed... Eventually when you buy a game, you get one player model, one gun, one song that loops forever one map, one stance on one license. You want to go to the next level? Gotta pay. Wish that hill had some trees on it? It will if you pay. Notice that the buildings in this post-apocalyptic world look like something from super mario world? Pay and they might change the scenery models to something more realistic. Want that gun to get a targeting reticle? $20 please. There are several RTS and FPS games that follow this model and they have been and shall remain garage games specifically for this reason. Nobody will pay to unlock parts of a game they paid for. As if $60 and $80 games arent enough, now you cant even play the complete game without a $20 monthly subscription (even if it is an FPS with offline bots) and hoping to god your computer doesnt die or require a new video card, changing your hardware setup and voiding your license? Its greed in one of its purest forms. Game companies need to get a grip and realize they cant turn into the RIAA just to make their fiscal sales goals and expect everyone to wet themselves whenever they release another EULA contract disguised as a game. Ill be using Epic's game disks as coasters from here on out thanks.
The Almighty Buck

Vital Parts of Games As DLC? 446

Epic Games president Michael Capps did an interview recently with GamesIndustry, and he had some interesting things to say about the future of downloadable content, and how it will affect the retail games market. He also discussed the trend toward social gaming, and Epic's plans in that regard. Quoting: "I'm not sure how big it is here [in Europe], but the secondary market is a huge issue in the United States. Our primary retailer makes the majority of its money off of secondary sales, and so you're starting to see games taking proactive steps toward that by ... if you buy the retail version you get the unlock code. I've talked to some developers who are saying 'If you want to fight the final boss you go online and pay USD 20, but if you bought the retail version you got it for free.' We don't make any money when someone rents it, and we don't make any money when someone buys it used — way more than twice as many people played Gears than bought it."
Space

Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth 235

MaxwellEdison writes "Scientists have discovered evidence of magnetic portals connecting the Earth and the Sun every 8 minutes. 'Several speakers at the Workshop have outlined how FTEs form: On the dayside of Earth (the side closest to the sun), Earth's magnetic field presses against the sun's magnetic field. Approximately every eight minutes, the two fields briefly merge or "reconnect," forming a portal through which particles can flow. The portal takes the form of a magnetic cylinder about as wide as Earth. The European Space Agency's fleet of four Cluster spacecraft and NASA's five THEMIS probes have flown through and surrounded these cylinders, measuring their dimensions and sensing the particles that shoot through.'"
Security

Student Charged With Three Felonies For Finding Security Flaw — and Report 547

Well, yet another teenage hacker who "did the right thing" by reporting a security flaw is being punished for his actions. Although it definitely sounds like the whole story may not be in the clear yet, a 15-year-old New York high school student has been charged with three felonies claiming that he accessed a file containing social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and home addresses of past and present employees ... and then sent an anonymous email to the principal alerting him to the security flaw. "All that was needed to access the information was a district password. School officials have admitted that thousands of students, faculty and employees could have accessed the same file for up to two weeks."
Space

Cassini 'Tastes' Organic Material at Enceladus 70

Riding with Robots writes "As previously reported, the robotic spacecraft Cassini recently flew through the mysterious geyser plumes at Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. Today, NASA released the preliminary results of the flyby, including some intriguing findings, such as organic materials 20 times denser than expected and relatively high temperatures along the fissures where the geysers emanate. 'These spectacular new data will really help us understand what powers the geysers. The surprisingly high temperatures make it more likely that there's liquid water not far below the surface,' said one mission scientist."

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