The top of the box is pulled back to reveal the construction within.
A few weeks ago, I caved in and bought Minecraft. Â It is a fun little game. Â The game can be played single player, or multiplayer. Â Currently, multiplayer is a little broken – the monsters can’t hurt you, in fact, nothing can hurt you, so jumping off stuff is fun! Â Multiplayer servers can also be modified to allow players the ability to summon items instead of mining them. Â The picture to the right is what I’m currently building on one such server. Â If you want to spend some time, you can go through the map of that server and see all the awesome things that people are building.
Anyway, the one thing I really dig about this game is that it shows what an indie developer can do, and that high end photo realistic visuals aren’t needed if the game is fun to play. Â Minecraft is a blast and it has a very 8-bit look to it.
The game is still technically in “Alpha” (the phase before Beta, which is the phase before release), however you can purchase it now for about $15, which gets you the Alpha and free upgrades to future releases. Â If you wait until release you’ll have to pay double, at least, and you’ll miss out on months of fun!
Another thing I like about this game, and the buzz it is getting, is the idea that, if embraced, some of the free form creation that exists here might find their way into other games, other MMOs. Â Though I do think it will work best on a small scale. Â Can you imagine World of Warcraft allowing people to make their own buildings and destroy terrain? Â Insanity!
Ummm… yeah. Â I was never really a fan of America’s Funniest Home Videos and their constant barrage of men getting hit in the nuts and other zany antics caught on film, so when Jackass aired on TV and it was essentially people doing the AFHV stuff on purpose, I tuned out. Â On the other hand, people doing crazy stunts was pretty much made for 3D. Â I’ve been trying like hell to get into a free screening of this, because that’s the only way I’d ever see it, but have had no luck. Â I suppose I’ll never get to enjoy Jackass in 3D.
Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Julian McMahon, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Cox, Karl Urban, and James Remar. Â That’s eleven reasons to see this movie right there. Â Add to that the fact that the trailer looks awesome, and it’s based on the Warren Ellis comic book about an ex-CIA agent who has been targeted for assassination, and you’ve got a must see film for me. Â I’ll be there. Â Count on it.
If you travel in the gaming blog circles, you might have heard about or even read a little anonymous diatribe about Warhammer Online. Â And there are responses. Â One. Â Two. Â Three. Â Four. Â Five. Â Six. Â And I’m sure there are more… Â But really, I don’t want to talk about that. Â Instead, let’s talk about what constitutes a failure in the MMO world.
I’ve seen a number of places, in comments on the above linked posts and all around the Internet that Warhammer “failed”. Â However, they sold 1.2 million boxes, which I have to assume covered a good bit, if not all of the development costs. Â We know they bled subscribers, and the last official numbers were that they had 300,000 subscribers as of March 2009. Â They have cut back on servers, down to 9 (4 US, 2 UK, 2 German, 1 French) and are most certainly down below the reported 300k. Â Still… if we can assume that the box sales and the first couple of months recouped the development investment, and if the current operating costs are below their subscription revenue, while the returns for the investors aren’t good, is an MMO operating in the black a failure? Â I mean, they haven’t shut the game off yet, so I kinda have to assume they operate in the black, or damn close to it. Â I could be wrong.
Clearly, the game did not perform as well as people would have hoped. Â They didn’t make WoW-style money hats to wear while driving dump trucks of money to the bank, but did they lose money? Â Is the game bleeding cash? Â Each perspective on a game defines failure in different ways. Â An investor, for example, will define failure as earning less money than other, less risky, options. Â If he earned less on his cash than he would have just putting it in a savings account, then it’s an epic failure. Â A publisher or game company probably defines success or failure on the affect the game has on both the bottom line AND the company reputation. Â If a game is making money but the press keeps bringing the game up as being crap or failing, then overall the game is probably a failure since it might affect getting future investors to give you their money.
For me, as a player and a wanna-be developer, success means the game runs and I, as a player, can play it and we, as the developers, are still able to release more content. Â Failure exists only when the game is in the red and we have to shut it off to keep from bankrupting everyone involved.
How many MMOs have truly failed? Â Asheron’s Call 2, The Matrix Online, Tabula Rasa, APB, Motor City Online, The Sims Online… Are there more bodies in the MMO graveyard? Â How do you define failure?
This can’t possibly be a full review of the game, because at this point I’ve only played it through once, and if you are familiar with the original, you know that means that I failed. Â I messed up a case, let survivors die and then eventually got stupidly overwhelmed by zombies. Â However, death isn’t the end in a Dead Rising game. Â Death just means I get to start over, while keeping my levels and skills and whatnot. Â Oh, and clothes. Â One of the silliest bits in the DR games is that when you start over your character will have on the clothes he was wearing when he died. Â In the original, that meant that if you died after the abduction, you could wind up watching the opening cinematics in your skivvies. Â In my case, I’m wearing footy pajamas, a fedora and a Groucho Marx disguise.
I digress… Â The simple fact is that DR2 is the kind of sequel you love to get. Â It understands what was great about the original and makes it better, and also understands what was tedious and fixes that too. Â My biggest issue with the original was that the survivors all sucked. Â No matter what weapons you gave them, they didn’t seem to be able to fight. Â In DR2, I actually plan my routes so that I’ll have 2 or 3 or more survivors, armed with guns, when I get to a psycho or run certain parts of the game. Â The survivors actually, you know, help! Â But don’t just take my word for it, read this review as well.
Anyway. Â I’m totally loving this game, and think that everyone should play it (and the original too, and Case 0 if they are on the 360, and Case West on the 360 when it comes out, and Dead Rising 3 when they inevitably make it). Â I still haven’t played around with the co-op or multiplayer, but I’ll be doing that this weekend.
I’ve been driving cars for over twenty years now, and what follows is a mixture of helpful tips and venting about stupidity.
Turn signals are not for the driver. It would almost be better if they somehow made it impossible to turn left or right, or change lanes, without using a turn signal. Â The problem is that doing those things is possible without the turn signal so many drivers don’t use them. Â But the turn signal isn’t for the driver, hence why they are on the outside of the car, where the driver could not possibly see them. Â This is because turn signals are to tell other drivers what your intentions are and allows them the ability to react. Â Brake lights work the same way, which is why it’s nice when people “cover” their brakes (touch the pedal lightly so that the lights kick on but the car isn’t actually braking yet) before they start braking.
No one knows what flashing your head lights means. One time, I was driving down the road and a person coming the other direction was flashing their head lights. Â Over the next hill there was a police car waiting to catch speeders. Â Obviously, flashing head lights means “cop ahead!” Â So, another time I was driving and a person coming the other direction was flashing their lights. Â I slowed down because there was going to be a cop… only there wasn’t. Â Instead there was a large dead animal in the road. Â Flashing head lights must mean “something ahead!” Â This held true for years as people flashed lights for construction and accidents and other things, until I realized that in my own driving I’d only ever flashed my head lights at two other people and both times it was because the other drivers didn’t have their head lights on after dark, and I recalled someone doing that for me once too. Â So, flashing head lights must mean “something!” Â In the last twenty years, I’ve come to realize that flashing head lights can mean almost anything from a cop to trash in the road to head lights being off to acknowledging that the driver of the other car is attractive, and so now I pretty much ignore them. Â Well, I do make sure my own head lights are on, because that’s the only meaning that matters.
No one can see you waving. Really, the only time anyone will ever see you wave is when they are looking for it. Â If someone lets you in ahead of them in traffic, a courtesy wave to that someone is not only encouraged, it is greatly appreciated. Â Always do it. Â On the other hand, if you are coming up on a left turn and you see someone on that street you are about to turn on also wishing to make a left turn, especially if the road you are on is a busy one, there is a temptation to slow down and wave them out. Â Only, 90% of the time, they can’t see you waving. Â Want to know why? Â A) they aren’t looking at you, they are watching traffic for gaps so they can make their left turn. Â B) Window tinting and glare and about a dozen other things means when they do look at your car, they can’t see you except for perhaps a faint ghostly swishing of something that might be a wave, but they can’t tell. Â By the time they can see you waving, you’ve stopped short, there are now ten cars backed up behind you and the gap in traffic they were actually paying attention to a couple cars back is now closed. Â And odds are you may have to honk your horn to let them know you are waiting for them. Â Being nice is one thing, letting people in to stop & go traffic is awesome, but if the traffic is flowing, the best thing you can do is to get where you are going as quick as you can. Â Don’t stop traffic and break up the flow just to be nice to some random person.
Click to see the Cracked post about the 10 Commandments of Facebook
My birthday has come and gone. Â One thing that was very different this year over previous years is that my wall on Facebook wasn’t filled with well wishes. Â This was a little sad… and yet, entirely expected. Â More than a few people have made mention about not being able to write on my wall there, so I decided that I’d blog about it.
At first, the wall seems like a good idea. Â Given the origins of Facebook, the wall is pretty much the chalkboard/whiteboard/corkboard on your dorm door. Â People can drop by and, if you aren’t there, leave you a note. Â As with many things, this also fits with Facebook’s “everything is public” mentality that those of us who don’t feel that way fight and force them to keep their privacy settings useful. Â (If Facebook and Zuckerberg had their way, nothing would be private.) Â Most of the things that used to appear on my wall were fine. Â Birthday well wishes, holiday cheer, the occasional photo or video. Â But every once in a while, something I would prefer to be a private message would show up there. Â Thankfully in my case it was never anything bad, but we’ll come back to this.
Another problem (in my opinion) with the wall is that they opened it up for applications. Â At the beginning, games would spam your news feed. Â “Jason has a new cow in Farmville! Â Click here to get a free cow too!” Â All in an attempt to get your friends to all play. Â But now you also get “Jason has given you a roofing nail in Farmville! Â Click here to collect it!” written on your wall. Â Seeing as how I don’t like very many of those games, disabling the wall stopped a bunch of those without me having to block the applications.
Anyway… back to the inappropriate comments. Â The main issue with the wall is that it is (mostly) public. Â If you allow people to post on your wall, your visibility options are: Everyone, Friends of Friends, Friends Only, and Custom. Â Now, under Custom it allows you to block certain people or only allow trusted people, but it is a pain to do and doesn’t really solve the issue. Â (Choosing “Only Me” is effectively the same as turning off the Wall.) Â The majority of people never look at their security settings (and Facebook is counting on that). Â Instead, most people think the wall is like sending a personal message. Â The result is that over the years I’ve seen a number of things posted on walls that should be in private messages, or at least restricted to Friends Only. Â Phone numbers, addresses, social security numbers, test results (yes, those kinds of tests), family secrets, and so on. Â Sometimes I think about when people have bluetooth headsets for their cell phones. Â They seem to forget that now that they aren’t hunched over their phone and talking into it, they are now projecting and everyone within twenty feet can hear that they are frustrated about not getting laid in the last eight months, and that since they haven’t been laid they don’t know why they have itching and burning in their crotch. Â The wall on Facebook is like that.
So, back when I was running through all my security settings a few months ago, I decided to just go ahead and turn the wall off. Â Don’t need it. Â If you have something to say to me you can either send me a private message, or you can post it in your news feed and dedicate it to me. Â I’d recommend the private message. Â Sure, I’m ruining the social network aspects, the viral nature, of Facebook. Â I don’t care.
Another inspiring movie about a horse. Â I’m sure it will be good. Â It looks good. Â But I’m just not going to spend $10 to see this in the theater. Â However, the wife and I will happily watch it the minute it’s available on Netflix.
Wes Craven. Â I have loved, for one reason or another, every film that he has made. Â So I’m sure I’ll love this too. Â Plus, it’s horror. Â In 3D. Â If any movie earns my money this weekend, this might be it. Â There is only one thing that could possibly stop me…
… and that would be this film. Â Not only am I a huge fan of Ryan Reynolds, but the mere idea of this film intrigues me. Â Practically the entire film taking place inside a box where the main character is buried alive with a lighter, a knife and a cell phone. Â I know plenty of people who can’t see this film. Â Not won’t, but can’t. Â They would have to leave from all the claustrophobic feelings. Â But I want to see this. Â I must see this. Â Luckily for me, this weekend is my birthday, so I might just get what I want.
