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I am sure there are plenty of people who run EVE Online (or other MMO-type games) and then another game to play while their ships are flying/their shops are crafting/whatever.

MMO type games that have time sinks are the only reason I can think of, though.

about 22 hours ago on Alienware 14 review

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Your post was very evocative of Sony’s PR from past generations.

1 day ago on Microsoft's Don Mattrick defends Xbox pricing: 'We're delivering thousands of dollars of value' 2 replies 20 recommends

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I believe the closest Apple store to anyone in my family is about a 12 hour drive so the genius bar wouldn’t help me out too much, but thanks.

1 day ago on MacBook Air review (13-inch, 2013) 5 recommends

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This is bordering on the ridiculous claims that Sony was making about their “Emotion Engine” and Cell processors.

1 day ago on Microsoft's Don Mattrick defends Xbox pricing: 'We're delivering thousands of dollars of value' 2 replies 31 recommends

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If you are a Sony fan, how can you say this is “borderline unacceptably priced” when the PS3 came out at the same price?

Because that price was a huge stumble for Sony and is one of the main reasons that Sony lost marketshare in that generation?

2 days ago on Microsoft's Don Mattrick defends Xbox pricing: 'We're delivering thousands of dollars of value' 1 reply 27 recommends

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“Normal” people don’t even know what factors make the “best all around computer”. They just view the web, watch youtube, use Word, do their taxes.

That said, I wouldn’t recommend a mac laptop to any of the “normal” people in my life because then they would all expect me to explain to them how to use OS X, since they are all used to Windows.

2 days ago on MacBook Air review (13-inch, 2013) 1 reply 8 recommends

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Flickr got doomed not because they tried to stuff everything in, but because they didn’t make any updates to their service at all for 5+ years…

2 days ago on Instagram to get Vine-like video sharing on June 20th, says TechCrunch

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There are plenty of software tools that disable USB and CD writing (or even reading) while allowing for keyboards and mice to work. Symantec Endpoint even does it.

2 days ago on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden used banned thumb drive to smuggle documents

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agreed. or at least a separate feed inside the main app.

2 days ago on Instagram to get Vine-like video sharing on June 20th, says TechCrunch 1 reply 1 recommend

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If Instagram comes with a video sharing service like Vine and gave its users the ability to share these videos inside the same stream of photos then Vine will be in big trouble

If Instagram integrates videos inside the same stream as photos, I would probably stop using Instagram – at least if the videos autoplay and break into your music, as they do on Vine. 90% of the time I look at instagram, I am waiting in line or on public transit or whatnot and listening to music while glancing at some photos. I have no interest in watching videos during that experience, and would actively hate it if the videos interrupt my tunes.

2 days ago on Instagram to get Vine-like video sharing on June 20th, says TechCrunch 5 recommends

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It’s not difficult to disable all ports, however.

6 days ago on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden used banned thumb drive to smuggle documents 4 replies 1 recommend

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It sold in excess of 50 million in how long, though? These came out at the end of 2012 and have sold 8 million according to wiki (that 6 million figure was according to vgchartz) already. I’d imagine they will keep selling well until the next Pokemon game comes out, Nintendo games, and Pokemon in particular, doesn’t follow the usual “the most sales are in the first week” pattern, since it takes awhile for parents to come around to getting that game their kid wants, and there are always new kids turning 8 or whatever age is prime for Pokemon.

6 days ago on A link to the past: why Nintendo won't make games for smartphones

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The flaw in your argument is that the people that you are trying to give a taste of the old classics either:

1. already know about the old classics and also know they can get them on Nintendo’s devices. (the nostalgic older people)

2. don’t know about the old classics, and would find them less appealing compared to more modern fare (young people who have managed to never seen the old nintendo games)

young kids do not want to play SMB3 on their phone. only old people who remember SMB3 want to. and, since SMB3 on a phone will be a lackluster experience compared to games designed for touchscreens, it wont convert new users… the only thing it will do is give a segment of the nostalgic audience of older people a “well, that’s good enough” feeling.

6 days ago on A link to the past: why Nintendo won't make games for smartphones

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I don’t think “best” is quite the same as “versatile… can be used in creations in various media”.

Batman certainly wins there, but at the same time he has never really had the complexity of a Humbert Humbert, Holden Caufield or Jay Gatsby… those characters can’t be exploited in as many media as Batman, but does that make them “worse”? Batman is certainly probably the most flexible comic book character, but I’ve never seen a Batman comic, or movie, that had the depth that Lolita, Catcher in the Rye or the Great Gatsby have.

Now if you just mean “best omnimedia pop culture character”, sure, it’d be a short list of contenders… Batman, James Bond, Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Charlie Brown… not too many others.

6 days ago on 'Man of Steel' review: finally, the Superman we deserve 1 recommend

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People always say this, but it takes a limited view of what games can be to think that, in my opinion. If you are making a beat em up, sure, boring. But I think it would be very interesting to make a Superman that explored situations he actually faces in the comics… like, the power plant in Metropolis is about to blow up… that won’t hurt you, but how can you interact with the environment to stop it from melting down and thus saving the city. Do you fly in to the reactor and try and freeze it, or do you try and rip out the core and fly it into space, or maybe there is a clogged pipe that you can scan for with xray vision. Then, say there are multiple things going wrong in the city at once, how do you juggle the situations and save everyone at once? Like, a train going off a track, a fire in a building, a helicopter crash. Then various world elements that you can manipulate with super strength, vision, heat rays, freezing breath, etc. How can you combine the various world elements… maybe you can pick up the train safely and scoop the helicopter with it, and for bonus points, use the rotors to break open a water tank, which puts out the fire.

Kind of rough examples, but what I’m getting at is a Superman game should be more about challenging you to do what Superman does, which is saving people and trying to be everywhere at once, rather than a tradition combat oriented game. Then you could layer in more and tougher challenges, then add in super-foes who have their own game mechanics… I could easily see a fun Superman game being made, with creative people behind it.

6 days ago on 'Man of Steel' review: finally, the Superman we deserve 1 reply

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Read All Star Superman

6 days ago on 'Man of Steel' review: finally, the Superman we deserve 2 replies 1 recommend

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Can they give me a single reason not to sell Mario and Zelda on iOS? even a not-so-good one?

Because they feel a significant number of the 31 million people who bought 3DSes so far might have skipped it if they could have gotten their favorite franchise elsewhere? And 3DS sales are what is driving the company back to profit (in the article, they mention Nintendo expects to make a $1 billion dollar profit this year).

I would also imagine that, to make a GOOD Zelda or Mario game on iOS, you need to have a team working on it. And that’s a team not making games for Nintendo’s own platforms. Which hurts them in the long run.

7 days ago on A link to the past: why Nintendo won't make games for smartphones 1 reply 3 recommends

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The difference is that video games are a billion dollar, growing business, not a shrinking one like comics. The above point might make sense when the video game industry is a lot different than it is today, but right now, not so much…

ALSO, Nintendo does license the heck out of it’s characters, I still see tons of Pokemon spin-off stuff, Zelda stuff, etc.

The thing is about smartphone games is – it’s hard to make a good one. I imagine Nintendo would rather have their people working on games to try and help the Wii U bounce back than focus on smartphone games, at this point.

7 days ago on A link to the past: why Nintendo won't make games for smartphones 2 recommends

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But many kids aren’t growing up right now with nostalgia for Nintendo games.

I dunno. Nintendo has sold 31 million+ 3DSes. The recent Pokemon for the DS has sold 6 million copies. That is still a decent number of kids playing on Nintendo franchises.

7 days ago on A link to the past: why Nintendo won't make games for smartphones 1 reply 2 recommends