Would love a key. Thanks Blue!

Longest front-page Blue's News post I've ever seen....

Yeah, i'm not sure the point of this post. Verizon sells iPads. What exactly are our doubts supposed to be about?

Presumably they mean Heroes of Might & Magic VI? Given that the original Might & Magic series was up to IX...

FYI -- This does NOT come with the full version of Peggle.

This comes with "Peggle Extreme", which is a new and special demo-sized version of Peggle, themed around Half-Life 2, Portal, and TF2.

It will likely eventually be free, but for now is only available if you pre-order this bundle.

C'mon Cliffski, you know what game this is. It's the indie turn-based strategy game you've seen around.

-Hiro_Antagonist

Craw:
> I am certain they will attempt to license DX or some other kind of typical Micro$haft BS.
Oh really? I'd be interested in knowing how you 'know' that. I would strongly argue it makes very little sense for them to do that, or rather that they already do charge for DX (client) licences as a small part of a Windows license. This has proved to be to everyone's benefit.

> 50 and 100 meg patches are common nowadays
1) no they're not "common" under the definition I think you're trying to infer, though the term is relative 2) when patches of that size do occur, it has *nothing* to do w/ DirectX. When they do happen, it's because companies (like valve or whoever) are adding additional content (maps, guns, skins, textures, models, etc.) and/or functioanlity to their games, or because they made fundamental coding flaws in their game. It has *nothing* to do w/ MS or DirectX, man.

> case in point, SQL Slammer
SQL Slammer affected people who didn't apply patches which MS *did* release to the public months before. Yes, there tend to be lots of patches for products, especially MS products, but that's because MS products tend to be larger than any other company's. And as software size increases, so does its logical complexity. And as anyone who's familiar with such matters will tell you, increased complexity (of anything) will increase potentiality for being exploited (read: hacked.) MS puts more effort/money into testing its products than any other company, and yes, bugs do still slip through, as they always will at any company, *especially* ones that deal with as numerous and as complex software packages as MS. MS products do tend to have a lot of bugs found, but it's because they're bigger (and more complex) than most other software packages, and because more people use them in obscure and 'creative' ways than other packages. The Windows line has seen more radical permutations of use than any other single software package ever created. So even if it had an equal amount of bugs (and I maintain it has more due to its complexity) as other software, more bugs would be found because it's used more often and in more ways.

Creston:
I think you missed my point, because I don't think we're actually disagreeing w/ each other about DirectX. I'm saying that rather than developing from scratch those technologies that DirectX provides (which is an option, albiet a stupid one), they use DirectX. I'm trying to make the point that this is directly analogous to this new set of features which MS will be providing with Longhorn. Remember, DirectX isn't the only alternative. Devs can always write their own. But they don't, because it's better to use a common-coded set of APIs that do mundane stuff for you. Just like it makes no sense for every game developer to write their own networking, sound, and device code, it also doesn't make sense for them to write their own matchmaking, patching, installing, etc.

-Scott
http://www.MediaJive.com/

p.s. re: running from CD. I can't imagine it'll be required. But think about small games that shouldn't actually *need* to be installed. I think all they're saying is that they'd remove the necessity for Windows-friendly games to be installed, which they must be now. An excellent example would be Bejeweled Deluxe from PopCap.com. If the average Joe/Jane could buy that on a CD and just play it w/o having to actually isntall it, that would be better for everyone.

This comment was edited on Mar 11, 00:08.

Actually, Luka, it's got little to do w/ .Net. Your anti-MS feelings are duly noted, but try actually making a valid, well-founded point next time instead of just ranting.

Actually, there will be far less chance for "things going wrong and plain not working", because the code will be written once, will be better tested than any code in any single game could possibly ever be, and will be far cheaper for developers (and in the long run, us) because each different developer won't have to continue to re-invent the metaphorical wheel every time.

In case you haven't noticed, a variety of MS technologies have VASTLY improved gaming. Most notable are the DirectX technologies. While as a customer you probably think you haven't directly seen or felt any improvement, you have. Games are cheaper (to develop at least), more stable, and more powerful than they were before DirectX. Nobody forced developers to use DirectX. They use it because it's by far the best development platform for PC games out there.

You see, when developers have to keep writing match-making code, or networking code, or patching code, or installation code, or whatever from scratch, it takes a lot of time and a lot of money, and bugs will exist. If you look at most games over the last few years, even today, they are usually patched soon after release to fix the inevitable probelms with these areas of the product. This is because relatively few people have tested the code, and because it's expensive to write code well and robustly.

But when you have code (like, say, DirectX or Longhorn) that literally millions of people will have put their shakespeare-writing ape-hands on, you tend to find and fix these bugs very quickly. And game developers can now either shave off entire parts of their budgest (lowering prices and/or increasing profits), or reallocate those parts of their budget back into what matters -- the game itself.

This announcement is good news for PC gamers, just like DirectX was so many years ago. The transition may be a little awkward (like the DOS to Win95 transition), but eventually we'll all be sighing collectively in relief that we no longer have to worry about this or that, like we're all now glad we dont' have to worry about config.sys and EMS and XMS and those sorts of (now-)obsolete headaches.

-Scott
http://www.MediaJive.com/


This comment was edited on Mar 10, 22:01.

Someone said:
"You're forgetting the fact that they are working on a Linux version of Neverwinter Nights. MS buying Bioware would axe all future cross platform development!"

I doubt that's the case, but it probably does mean that Bioware won't make any more PS2 or GC titles.

Just like MS has always allowed their games to be released or ported to Mac, I wouldn't see why Linux is any different. Especially if they're buying BioWare, I would expect Microsoft would want as optimal a return on the investment as they can, which would mean finishing the linux code. Plus, since NWN behaves in a network-economy fashion (i.e. the more people that have it, the more valuable each copy is), MS would probably want it on as many platforms as possible to increase market share and incent continuing sales. (See Half-Life for a roughly analagous example of this principle.)

-Scott

You know, I've still to this day never even heard Big Huge Games (or Brian Reynolds) address in an interview how the game will be different from Empire Earth. From what I can tell, their description of the game makes it sound exactly the same, and yet, if this is not true, they've made no attempt to clarify the misconception.

So, since I already have EE, I guess I won't be buying RoN.

-Scott
http://www.MediaJive.com/

I'm with Coupland (#20) on this one. While of course the decision itself is up to Blue, there are always 'hidden costs' with anything you do, even if it appears to be 'free money' like a PayPal donation button.

In reality, sponsorships, ads, pay-for-performance affiliations, etc., do actually provide reasonable and sustainable income streams for sites with decent traffic, and from my math (derived from the claim of over 1/8 of a *billion* 'visitors') Blue appears be doing all right for himself.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't do our best to support Blue -- in fact I'm saying we *should*. But I'm also saying that it would be more effective to support him by exploring his sponsors by clicking on their ads and by spreading word of BluesNews.com to others that might be interested and by buying a T-shit rather than making him split his already limited attention even more.

Interestingly enough, today is my last day at Microsoft -- I'm off to start my own site (about 85% done already) with a very analagous revenue and usage model to Blue's (but non-competing content), and suffice it to say that PayPal donations aren't anywhere in that model....

-Scott

(edited for general clarity)
This comment was edited on Sep 20, 16:31.

Honestly, given Blizzard's historical rate in releasing products, it seems abnormal to have just released a game and to start another full game this soon with Worlds of Warcraft in development.

My personal guess is the inevitable WarCraft3 expansion.

>So they launch America's Army on Canada day, eh?
>More evidence of our infiltration into your essential systems.
Heh. Well, except that as the press release clearly states, America's Army is being launched on July 4th, a.k.a. (America's) Independance Day. The only mention of July 1 was, as far as I can tell, in your imagination.

More evidence of Canadians scrambling to find influence into our 'essential systems'? ;-)

Peace and Love
-Chairman Bill

If anyone could post the contents of the patch's readme, I'd be very grateful. (It's not available on the site, and you can only read it if you fully install the patch over an existing installation. *sigh*)

Thanks.

Actually, the game is available now, at least at Electronics Boutique/EBX stores across the country. I've got my copy in hand now, and my friend picked his up in Cincinnati and we're going ot get our multi-play on tonight.

For those who care, EBGames.com (Electonics Boutique's website) started listing Condition Zero about 2 weeks ago at this URL:
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=215571&mscssid=ESV7BKKD8W1X8NC8JQ7JQFWQK8V64VB0&ref=1&PromoCode=&site=&siteID=

While this date certainly isn't set in stone, EBGames' release dates are closer than any other source I've found. This is because their dates are always exactly what the publishers tell them. If a publisher doesn't give them a date, then one isn't listed.

It should also be noted that they listed the price as $20 -- which I personally feel is extremely reasonable. (I would have paid $50.)

Anyway, the EB release date would technically be the very very end of Q1, and the press release says Q2, so the EB date may indeed change again.

UPDATE: Something I just noticed -- Even thought the product description says nothing about it being a book, the publisher is listed as "Versus Books", so it could be that this is the hint book. *shrug*

-Chairman_Bill

This comment was edited on Feb 12, 18:12.

>It still doesn't quite explain where Outstanding
>Achievement in Art Direction comes in though. Is that not
>the same as Visual Engineering?

Actually, they're different things.

"Visual Engineering" basically refers to the beauty of the 3-D engine.

"Art Direction" is the quality of the art assets.

These are two very different aspects of a product produced by different sub-teams.

For example, Disciples II may very well be nominated for "Art Direction" next year because of its fanstastic art, but certainly wouldn't ever even be considered for "Visual Engineering" because it's completely 2D and doesn't require a souped-up graphics engine to run.

Notice that the games under "Visual Engineering" all have amazing 3D engines, where the ones under "Art Direction" all have more unique and/or high-quality textures, models, and general creative design. (Especially Munch -- MGS2 and Rogue Squadron were lame picks in my opinion though.)

Halo was nominated for both awards because it excelled in both areas.

-Scott

I did think it was nice that they recognized two undersung titles:

Monopoly Tycoon -- Honestly, I have a lot of respect for this game. It's one of the most original yet engaging game designs to come along in a while, and they managed to strongly leverage the Monopoly license while making an entirely new game. If you haven't played it yet, I strongly suggest you give it a shot. It wholey deserved its 2 nominations.

Conker's Bad Fur Day -- an adult-themed game on a kids system. I suppose it was doomed to failure, but the 2 nominations should help vindicate its development team a little.

-Scott

So I don't get it.

Since when did companies (especially an unrelated 3rd party like Amazon) *ever* mail you demo CD's for free? You pay extra for them when you get them with CD magazines (check the magazine prices with and without the CD) or if you get them from any other source that requires getting you a physical CD. They're not charging you for the demo, Amazon is charging you for:
-Having a business person arrange the sale of the item
-Having someone enter a new product into their database
-Guessing how many they'll be able to sell and buying that from the distributer or publisher
-Covering losses in case they guess incorrectly
-Having the CD's shipped from the manufacturer/publisher to their warehouses
-Rent on said warehouses
-Building an ecommerce infrastructure capable of selling you the CD.

The only place you've ever gotten free demos is off the web, a practice which is quickly diminishing because the fact is that companies have been losing money by paying all of the costs for development, bandwidth, and so on.

If you have to complain about buying the CD from Amazon, then you're not its intended market. The sales on Amazon are for people that can't or don't feel like buying the magazine w/ the demo (or don't know about it), and don't have a fat internet connection to download it for free once it's released. It's coming out on the CGW CD soon, and will hit the web for free soon after that.

And even if they only charged for demos, then so what? These companies don't owe you anything for free. If you don't like the business proposition (give us $X for Y) then don't take advantage of it. People that insist that the world give them a free ride amaze me. Companies don't exist to give you shit for free -- they exist to turn a profit and compensate their owners/shareholders.

Game publishers (like EA) get attractive terms by offering exclusive (or near-exclusive) presence on gaming magazine CD's because it increases sales of said magazine. Therefore, like a lot of demos out there, the publisher does not want it distributed for free *quite yet* while they make money through other sources.

BTW, I'm a young guy, I'm just one that is actually informed of what I'm talking about. Too many people (including some in this thread) keep bitching and moaning without understanding the realities of the industry and its business mechanics, and most of the time they're bitching about things they wouldn't be if they had a clue. Congratulations, this is probably you.

-Scott

I garauntee you that Halo will (eventually) come to PC (and Mac). They have been saying this all along, and Microsoft understands Bungie's loyal Mac and PC following.

They do, however, want to use this as a selling point for the Xbox, and have always said that the Xbox version will precede PC and Mac versions by 6-12 months. This is actually a tactic that many have used recently -- having a window for a game where it only appears on 1 platform (Xbox in this case) for X months before it opens up to all platforms. This lets console manufacturers tout it as "Only for Xbox" for the 6-12 months it's true.

Then again, they may be discounting PC/Mac altogether as a previous poster said, and be considering 'Only for Xbox' to be a statement applicable to the console world.

-Scott