Random News Update

I had a breakthrough in game design for my RPG yesterday. I hope this turns out well.

I successfully trained a cashier in kiosk, the first cashier to do so, in three days (faster than expected, to be sure. Most trainees are given at least a week or two).

I just finished a drink my roommate and I made up, the Kall of Kahloohoo (Vodka, Kahlua, and Yoohoo, and named after Call of Cthulu if you didn't get the reference). It knocked me on my ass. Plus, it was delicious, and I don't like coffee.

The last four US Virtual Boy games are estimated total cost $260 that I don't have. That will have to wait a bit. I need a new stand, too, which I haven't found separately. The only way to get them soon is be lucky enough to find them in a thrift shop again.

For people who loved Donkey Kong Country 2, remixed, remastered and redone music from the game is now available for your enjoyment.

Link here for story and youtube video.

Torrent here if you just want it now.

Ironbeard Still At It

I just got a hold of a demo of this game. I then proceeded to play it for 2 hours, which is something I haven't done with a demo since Metal Gear Solid back in 1998. I'm really liking it, and will likely post impressions on this game when I get it.

Piracy Addendum

Well, what do you know. Try any harder, industry, and every last customer will leave you for greener pastures.

Design Talk Commentary

The big picture to take away from the speech itself is this: a very possible future where technology is quite disposable, and sensors everywhere influencing our behavior. The speech itself shows real examples of current trends that already have this paradigm, and where it could lead. Let's discuss this.

The idea is pretty sound, and also a bit scary. First of all, those paranoid conspiracy theorists that talk about world domination through social engineering would be partially right. Only, it's not the government, but corporations competing for mindset and dollars. I'm not so sure of a few examples he gave, but certainly business would want to have a say in people's behavior.

The points and rewards programs work. I've seen this personally; most of the clientele at my workplace are repeat customers with reward cards, and the more they spend, the better the rewards (easy enough to understand). Better yet, the casino just added a higher tier customer (giving us 4) with even more extras (the list is really long, even getting their own exclusive clothing line). Seeing this applied everywhere business happens is no surprise, as any advantage one corporation gets, the others have to follow or fall far behind.

For some situations (namely, the insurance example), this might not be so bad. It might really work in your favor if you already live a healthy lifestyle. Personally, I don't need anyone to tell me how to live (unless my behavior is endangering me), but don't mind the idea of incentives. I am already under surveillance for many of my waking hours, so that isn't really new to me (what's unsettling is when people know who you are, and you don't even know what they look like).

All in all, it's good to at least consider the possibilities, as nobody really knows what the future holds.

Piracy

You know how it goes.

Really, there's not much to see here, as this happens all the time. Some new digital rights management scheme fails in a day, and piracy ensues. I understand the need for a company to protect its intellectual property, and to make money from the product they spent thousands and thousands of dollars and hours to make in the first place, but DRM, as it has been, is far beyond a flawed approach. The mantra goes nowadays, "You only hurt the real customers who have to go through all the hoops to get your game to work. The pirates circumvent all your protection, so they don't have any of the hassle." This is entirely true, yet we see this situation repeated ad nauseam in the entertaiment businesses as a whole.

The typical response goes a little like this. The argument presented ignores a lot of things, here. First, nothing is said about the legitimate customer. I've seen personal accounts of DRM so invasive that people who buy the game have to pirate it anyway because the game doesn't work, and pirates fix it. That shouldn't be a part of the playing of a game; the game to get the game to work. It's not a matter of inconvenience, it's a matter of even being able to play the game they bought. This should be a sign of a broken system, yet people are actually defending it. Secondly, who says a game must be bought before you get to play it? Why not a trial period, a demo, or even shareware (remember that)? What happens when I go over to a friends place and play the game over there first? I didn't buy it, but I'm playing the game. If getting an idea of what you're buying into before you buy it is criminal, I'm not interested in legal activities. I like Tycho's statement in the news section: "Pirates always win, on a long enough timeline. Honestly, the timeline doesn't even need to be that long."

Being exclusionary only hurts the image of a notoriously exclusive hobby.

I Love These Commercials

Not much to add, other than, "Enjoy!"