Ah, been a while.
So I've been reading up on some of these news articles on how Microsoft is suing Datel and their new cheap alternative controllers known as the Wildfire. Or is it the Turbofire? I can't quite tell, since on their web page it gives a link to purchase the former, and it leads me to the latter. Great way to give the feeling of quality, really.
Anyhow, for a price of $29.99, you get this controller that looks pretty much like the authentic first party peripheral. You also get a nifty Turbo programming option to which the site itself boasts that "single shot pistols in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, become lethal, fully automatic weapons that can empty a clip on an enemy in a second!" As a competitive gamer, this concept is purely disgusting, but that's not the point of this blog.
The issue of course being this lawsuit, and more so the community comments that have appeared in response to said claim. Many of the more vocal gamers have voiced, astonishingly enough, disgust towards Microsoft taking action against the European based company. They're being a bunch of no-good greedy piles of dirt trying to monopolize the market. How could they ever consider such a thing?
You kids (you must be kids, I'm being demeaning at the moment) all need to shut up and think. Or in this case, stop thinking the way you are right now. Yes Microsoft is rich. No, they cannot stop trying to get money. For Microsoft is a business, as amazing as that may seem. Businesses run on pure, undiluted love for the consumer and address their every need, of course. Ah, no they don't. They care for your wallets and whatever feeble contents they might hold. Because they need it. A business is created not solely to serve you the consumer, but to also make the people of that business money, and thus, a living.
So one can argue that Datel is just trying to make a living too. That's quite true, and they have every right to try and do that. However, it should be encouraged that they try to do so by not stealing. Their controller, whatever it's called, is just that, an example of stealing. Unlicensed, and bearing a distinctly similar appearance. Nothing is going to Microsoft, for what is essentially their stuff. Does that sound wrong?
If not, lets put it this way. You all make a book. It's a pretty cool book. So cool, in fact, that I grab a copy, rename all the characters and slightly change their characteristics and their environment while still keeping the story as intact as possible. Then I release it as my own with a marginally cheaper price tag and rake in a hundred times more sales than your book. Are you going to sue me? Bah, stop being greedy.
No really, you all need to stop acting like these companies are evil giants trying to steal all your money. They're just people trying to get money by actually doing something about it. Freeloaders should never be supported, yet you're all crying them out to be the small guy looking in. If none of you see a problem in this, then I fear for this world. It cannot operate on the basis you all seem to expect it to. And yes, I do mean that. It's not just some textbook emotion stirring conclusion thrown in to make me look wise.
One last note, Microsoft going for a monopoly? It's their dang product, they'll do whatever they dang well please. That includes selling it to all you whiny people.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Strange things you discover when you're living in a dorm
Having lived in a dorm for about 6 months now, I've learned a few things about living on your own and living with people you don't like. I've gone and made a list of things I never thought I would learn given the situation.
1. Things will always go missing.
I can't explain this one without it feeling like I'm pointing figures at some people, but damn it, why does everything I consider to be unimportant at the time go missing. Things like pens, paper, pots, plastic Tupperware, socks and the like. This is do to one of multiple things, but most likely, one of your roommates ran off with it. Such is the case with our missing pots and plastic Tupperware, when two of my previous roommates left a few weeks ago, these items disappeared as well. I had that nagging feeling in the back of my head of what had happen, but it wasn't until my other roommate pointed it out that I was able to connect the dots. What most likely happened was one of them took a few things thinking it was his, which is kinda understandable when just about all college students, including myself, shop for dishes at Walmart. So do your best to keep track of your items, but don't majorly freak out when that something goes missing.
2. The Importance of Bread
Bread has always something that I've taken advantage of. It was always in well supply in my house growing up and we never ran out. While I do buy about two loafs every time I stop by the Food Loin, that goes by quickly with three hungry men living in the same apartment. Those two loafs are lucky to survive a week and a half in this apartment. Just about every meal I eat involves bread and when I run out I have a hard time coming up with a meal that feels complete. Not only that but its the most requested food item I'm asked for, when a roommate asks to share food. I have I guess the importance of this one is, you can never buy enough bread.
3. Having a Giant Pair of Headphones is the Universal Symbol for People to be Quite
This one doesn't work on everyone, but it does for about a good 80% of the people I've tried this on. I'm not too sure what it is that makes people around you go quite, but they do. Its not my headphones blocking out the sound either. Most of the time now I don't even listen to music when I'm wearing these things. People just have this strange reaction to shut up when they see you trying to listen to something. I think the key is have giant headphones and not to little one's that go into your ear. The bigger the headphones the better your chances.
4. The Neighbors Hate You
No matter what I do, I can not get a positive response from any of the neighbors we have around us, this includes those to the side, above, below and in front of us. While they do put on a friendly face when you meet them for the first time, they quickly disappear whenever you need someone to return a favor. Also I've noticed that the neighbors can be as load as they want too, but god forbid you turn up your tv up to a volume where you can actually hear it. We actually got a notice from the apartment complex about causing a too much noise from one of our neighbors and we weren't even in the apartment. Avoid neighbors like an atheist avoids church, they are nothing but trouble and don't give a crap about you.
That's all I've got for now. I might come back latter and rant a little bit more about the topic of having to live on your own. But until then, stay classy.
1. Things will always go missing.
I can't explain this one without it feeling like I'm pointing figures at some people, but damn it, why does everything I consider to be unimportant at the time go missing. Things like pens, paper, pots, plastic Tupperware, socks and the like. This is do to one of multiple things, but most likely, one of your roommates ran off with it. Such is the case with our missing pots and plastic Tupperware, when two of my previous roommates left a few weeks ago, these items disappeared as well. I had that nagging feeling in the back of my head of what had happen, but it wasn't until my other roommate pointed it out that I was able to connect the dots. What most likely happened was one of them took a few things thinking it was his, which is kinda understandable when just about all college students, including myself, shop for dishes at Walmart. So do your best to keep track of your items, but don't majorly freak out when that something goes missing.
2. The Importance of Bread
Bread has always something that I've taken advantage of. It was always in well supply in my house growing up and we never ran out. While I do buy about two loafs every time I stop by the Food Loin, that goes by quickly with three hungry men living in the same apartment. Those two loafs are lucky to survive a week and a half in this apartment. Just about every meal I eat involves bread and when I run out I have a hard time coming up with a meal that feels complete. Not only that but its the most requested food item I'm asked for, when a roommate asks to share food. I have I guess the importance of this one is, you can never buy enough bread.
3. Having a Giant Pair of Headphones is the Universal Symbol for People to be Quite
This one doesn't work on everyone, but it does for about a good 80% of the people I've tried this on. I'm not too sure what it is that makes people around you go quite, but they do. Its not my headphones blocking out the sound either. Most of the time now I don't even listen to music when I'm wearing these things. People just have this strange reaction to shut up when they see you trying to listen to something. I think the key is have giant headphones and not to little one's that go into your ear. The bigger the headphones the better your chances.
4. The Neighbors Hate You
No matter what I do, I can not get a positive response from any of the neighbors we have around us, this includes those to the side, above, below and in front of us. While they do put on a friendly face when you meet them for the first time, they quickly disappear whenever you need someone to return a favor. Also I've noticed that the neighbors can be as load as they want too, but god forbid you turn up your tv up to a volume where you can actually hear it. We actually got a notice from the apartment complex about causing a too much noise from one of our neighbors and we weren't even in the apartment. Avoid neighbors like an atheist avoids church, they are nothing but trouble and don't give a crap about you.
That's all I've got for now. I might come back latter and rant a little bit more about the topic of having to live on your own. But until then, stay classy.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
A Complaint Against Complaints
I'm tired of hearing that magical word in the video game world. I'm tired of the pursuit of fair gameplay, and the countless errors the so called fixes bring about. I'm tired of people whining nonstop over certain weapons or moves, and bemoaning the ineffectiveness of others. Everyone is doing it. I'm doing it. Nerf this, buff that. Balance, balance, balance.
What people fail to realize however, is that this is a problem brought upon them by themselves.
Humans, by nature, want more. None of you can honestly say to me (thank goodness for the Internet and it's textual methods of communication) that you wouldn't like a bit more variety. Just one more gun please, maybe one more perk. Oh could I get a new projectile with that? Thanks.
Yet for some reason we seem to never realize that you can't fix a game by adding more stuff to be broken. Add a new character? The whole spectrum of balance is altered. New player class? You've just made another one utterly useless. No, you balance video games not by adding, but by reducing. Less variety, less chance for something to be undesirable. This is especially true for shooters, to which these days comprise of nothing but class based warfare. Get rid of the player classes outright. Make every player start with the same weapons, same ammo, same stats, and make them scavenge from there. This will let you concentrate on only the weapon balancing, and will ensure at least a semblance of balance no matter how badly you screw things up there. This is the method of the video game Doom (had to mention it), which I'd like to boast is now 16 years old, and still has a fairly large gaming community. Of course this doesn't mean emulate Doom, but it makes a great example as to how simplicity lasts.
However, I realize that we'll never be able to go back to the basics in gaming. While some will wholly support it, the majority will cry saying that things just aren't modern enough anymore. I suppose it's all human nature, and we all know how easy that is to fix. Oh how much I would love the day we would be able to nerf cell phones.
What people fail to realize however, is that this is a problem brought upon them by themselves.
Humans, by nature, want more. None of you can honestly say to me (thank goodness for the Internet and it's textual methods of communication) that you wouldn't like a bit more variety. Just one more gun please, maybe one more perk. Oh could I get a new projectile with that? Thanks.
Yet for some reason we seem to never realize that you can't fix a game by adding more stuff to be broken. Add a new character? The whole spectrum of balance is altered. New player class? You've just made another one utterly useless. No, you balance video games not by adding, but by reducing. Less variety, less chance for something to be undesirable. This is especially true for shooters, to which these days comprise of nothing but class based warfare. Get rid of the player classes outright. Make every player start with the same weapons, same ammo, same stats, and make them scavenge from there. This will let you concentrate on only the weapon balancing, and will ensure at least a semblance of balance no matter how badly you screw things up there. This is the method of the video game Doom (had to mention it), which I'd like to boast is now 16 years old, and still has a fairly large gaming community. Of course this doesn't mean emulate Doom, but it makes a great example as to how simplicity lasts.
However, I realize that we'll never be able to go back to the basics in gaming. While some will wholly support it, the majority will cry saying that things just aren't modern enough anymore. I suppose it's all human nature, and we all know how easy that is to fix. Oh how much I would love the day we would be able to nerf cell phones.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wherein I discuss Karate Kid: The Remake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxJs9482qys
This is a fascinating trailer. 10 year old kids beating each other down in the streets of China, using martial arts moves that some adults have trouble with (Wow! A spinning sweep kick!)It's almost like watching The Matrix, except stripped of everything that made the movie interesting (large amounts of Hugo Weaving?) and weighed down with an aging, wandering Jackie Chan.
Logically, this means one thing, and one thing only: With the expected smash hit of this movie, the Wachowski brothers will notice the acting capabilities of Jaden Smith. Ignoring all logic and sense, they will cast the young boy as Neo, in a remake of The Matrix. Jackie Chan will reprise his role as Jaden's mentor as the new Morpheus, and Trinity will be replaced altogether by a wisecracking Chris Tucker.
Sounds appealing? Neither does this movie. Or your posting.
This is a fascinating trailer. 10 year old kids beating each other down in the streets of China, using martial arts moves that some adults have trouble with (Wow! A spinning sweep kick!)It's almost like watching The Matrix, except stripped of everything that made the movie interesting (large amounts of Hugo Weaving?) and weighed down with an aging, wandering Jackie Chan.
Logically, this means one thing, and one thing only: With the expected smash hit of this movie, the Wachowski brothers will notice the acting capabilities of Jaden Smith. Ignoring all logic and sense, they will cast the young boy as Neo, in a remake of The Matrix. Jackie Chan will reprise his role as Jaden's mentor as the new Morpheus, and Trinity will be replaced altogether by a wisecracking Chris Tucker.
Sounds appealing? Neither does this movie. Or your posting.
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