-
From a very old IRC log...
2002-06-17 02:50:31
<Kaki_Z> Hobba Hobba Zoot Zoot!
<dokidoki> Hobbit Hobbit Zoo Zoo!
<Kaki_Z> Habit Habit, Zort Zort?
<dokidoki> Ribbit Ribbit, Zork Zork?
<Kaki_Z> Rabbit Rabbit, Zonk Zonk?
<dokidoki> Zabet Zabet, Honk Honk?
<Kaki_Z> Zobba Zobba Hoot Hoot?
<dokidoki> Gobba Gobba Toot Toot?
<Kaki_Z> Zinga Zinga Zang Zang?
<dokidoki> Blinga Blinga Bang Bang?
<Kaki_Z> Super Kingka Meha Meha?
<exedore> stop it! this sketch is getting too silly! +P
(apologies to Zabet :) -
Avast, ye swabs!
2002-06-06 02:11:33
Did you hear about the sexy pirate movie? It's rated 'Arrrrrr!'.
(yes I got that from Baby Blues)
That PS2/FFX ripping thread reminded me of copy protection schemes/issues I've heard about over the years.
- In the old "Silent Service" game, if you ran an illegal copy, the captain's pants would fly over his head. (I never saw it, just read about it. O_o)
- A C64 game that a friend of mine bought long ago wouldn't run. We copied the disk, and applied the protection patch, and the copy ran. -_-
- I read about one game that hid the protection code in a sound file. Cute.
- The programmer of "Rainbow Islands" for the Amiga spent considerable time on the protection code for the game. He did things like use the contents of one disk track to encrypt the contents of another, cyclically. His boss even gave him an "uncrackable" bonus. It was cracked within a couple of days.
- More recently, "FADE" technology was put in a game I forget the name of. If you played a copy of the game, the game would reduce your accuracy, and make the bad guys harder... stuff like that. I read a good point on a devgroup that the player might actually blame it on the game and not the copy protection, and spread word that it's a bad game.
- The makers of Spyro: Year of the Dragon did a better job of it. (There's a good article about their protection schemes on Gamasutra) They managed to delay the cracking of their game by a few weeks. (Most of a game's sales are within the first few weeks, so that was a Good Thing) What happened was that, like usual, the crackers "cracked" the game and released it. After cracking a game, they don't usually play it very much and go on to the next challenge. However, Spyro: YotD had additional copy protection checks later on. So people could play the game a little, but a crystal (or whatever) they needed to continue was missing. But there was also a fairy who said something like "You shouldn't pirate games, Spyro!" So anyway, a lot of people wasted CDs, and the crackers were rather annoyed since they had to crack the game multiple times before it worked. :) (after which most of the sales had been made) -
Wan wan. Wan wan wan.
2002-06-04 21:45:51
Still planning AN writeup... I'm slow.
From http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52901-2,00.html :
"There was a U.S. software company that developed a WAN (wide area network) product and tried
to sell it in Japan," Adams said. "On the packaging, there was a flowing stream of text: 'WAN WAN
WAN WAN.' Unfortunately, in Japan 'WAN WAN' is the sound a dog makes, similar to "bow wow" in
the United States. No one would buy a serious product that advertised itself by barking at you.
The boxes were shipped back to the States."
(The whole article is interesting/amusing. That URL is page 2 though. Page 1:
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,52901,00.html ) -
Finally, dokidoki has come back to Anime North!
2002-05-24 02:01:29
AN time. Leaving in 8 or 9 hours.
Those who I know'll be there offhand: Aokakesu, Adequate, Aluminum, Otaku Prod., TRZ...
So I got GTA3 PC yesterday... Some kid ahead of me in line was denied it because he didn't have ID. He didn't look of age, but even if he was... If I'm running a store and you come in with a *skateboard*, I'm gonna check your ID. (as your purchases warrant -- unless you're Tony Hawk :) The woman after him was buying some CD-Rs... "Do I need ID?"
It runs better on my new machine at work than at home, so I'll have to work late in the next couple of weeks. :)
I took the advice of a FAQ that said you should find the hidden packages and other stuff before starting the "story" missions, since as the game progresses, people start hating you and places become unsafe to go looking for stuff. If you walk along the subway track, there'll be a building you can jump to to get a flame thrower. mwahaha. Not much juice, but I just reload a saved game to use it again. (later in the game I imagine you'll be able to purchase more) One thing that still works properly from PS2 is that you can jump on the hood of a police car, and he'll just drive you all around the city! It doesn't work with a taxi, since they drive faster.
I tried wrecking my car in my own garage to see what would happen. If you go out and go back in again, it's good as new. I thought that only happened if you save the game, but it seems your personal garage is like a free Pay'n'Spray. (well, maybe not the spray part. I guess cops still recognise you) I read that someone drove a boat up on shore, and used a car to push it into his garage! (that must have taken a while) Then they saved the game, and it crashed when trying to reload it. :)
See you after AN. -
bye bye bugs
2002-05-22 03:24:57
E3 time. Bosses gone. Hopefully good news when they get back.
Fixed some (non-critical-but-annoying) Weakest Otaku bugs. Added convenience thingie to interface. Hope it goes well at AN.
Saw Spider-Man. Too tired to give comments, except "unga good movie".
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