As mentioned in the introduction, Windows 8 encompasses two UI styles within one product. Windows 8 on mobile devices and tablets is akin to Dr. Jekyll: a tortured soul hoping for redemption. On a regular PC, Windows 8 is Mr. Hyde: a monster that terrorizes poor office workers and strangles their productivity.
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Minnesota Wild | 31,345 Air Miles in 2013 | 9 Back to Backs
Not sure if he's insulting Windows mobile or not, but my gf has a Windows Phone and we both absolutely love the interface. I plan on getting a WP8 phone at some point in the future. Far better than Android and iOS, imo.
People always rag on it for apps, but some people seriously just complain to complain. I have friends saying that same thing, and I look at their phone at they have like 150 apps and use about 10. Blows my mind.
not sure if he's insulting windows mobile or not, but my gf has a windows phone and we both absolutely love the interface. I plan on getting a wp8 phone at some point in the future. Far better than android and ios, imo.
People always rag on it for apps, but some people seriously just complain to complain. I have friends saying that same thing, and i look at their phone at they have like 150 apps and use about 10. Blows my mind.
Not sure if he's insulting Windows mobile or not, but my gf has a Windows Phone and we both absolutely love the interface. I plan on getting a WP8 phone at some point in the future. Far better than Android and iOS, imo.
People always rag on it for apps, but some people seriously just complain to complain. I have friends saying that same thing, and I look at their phone at they have like 150 apps and use about 10. Blows my mind.
wait... are there even Window 8 phones out yet? I didn't think so...
ah, I see it now... Windows 7.5 had some 8 features and the 8s are just recently coming out...
Read the article, tho... he isn't really trashing the mobile version of window 8. he is trashing the desktop version something fierce.
As much as I love iOS6 I don't want it on my laptop. Why MS would want the same OS on phones as well as the desktop is beyond me.
If I were to make Win 8, it would be continuing the trend of simplicity. Re-design the "Start" menu and force people to learn to use the quick launch. Cut the old Start menu apps area and simply launch applications. Make install/uninstall as easy as it is on OSX and most phones. Hide a lot of the technical behind the scenes crap that 99% of users don't ever need to see. Do a better job of eliminating the nagging and crap pile-up in the bottom right corner where programs keep installing. Do a better job of managing startup applications and processes so garbageware doesn't pile up.
There's a lot of opportunities for streamlining and modernizing Windows 7 while making it more efficient and robust...no need to completely overhaul the interface and run dual operating systems.
It feels like a proof of concept, doesn't it? Like they're testing it for mass consumption? But then they released it.
I have heard that Windows wants to do small annual iterations like OSX. That's a smart idea, but they need to pare the OS down and get a rock solid foundation first. Win 7 was VERY close but needed to be streamlined. Win 8 is a disaster.
I will say if they can drop the price of Windows down to $30-40 that could go a long way. OSX is free (well you need a Mac) and the 18-24 month upgrades are $30 or so. I like that a lot more than a new Windows version every 3-5 years that requires a fresh install and costs $100.
Windows 8 was a 39.99 download when it came out. Not sure if it still is but I know they had it at that price on their website. The want to have the same OS on mobile, desktop, etc. is obvious - they're highlighting the ability to move from one piece of equipment to the other and being able to see and work on the same material (sky drive).
Saints Row the Third is freaking amazing... didn't play the first 2 so I don't really understand a lot of the background of the game... but it's so damn entertaining.
Basically it's GTAIV with less morality and more humor.
Saints Row the Third is freaking amazing... didn't play the first 2 so I don't really understand a lot of the background of the game... but it's so damn entertaining.
Basically it's GTAIV with less morality and more humor.
Never played 1, but 2 was great as well. Less story than 3, but still very worth playing, especially given how cheap it is.
In other news, I'm loving my Vita. PS+ really made the adjustment easy. My only legit complaint is the pricing of the Sony proprietary memory cards... They are WAY *****ING CRAZYTOWN overpriced. But, it is what it is.
Finished Bioshock last night. I marathoned the last few levels because it was just so much fun and I HAD to beat it. Fun as hell. <3 using stuff like plasmids. I just wish the sound code was better. Seems like it had too many odd limits for simultaneous sound effects to mix.
So it's on to Bioshock 2 now... annnnd... I has a complaint. not about the game, because I've barely played any of it yet. No, I have a complaint about how hard it is to just get to a point where I actually CAN play.
See, with Bioshock 1, I told steam "hey, I wanna play this, download it and lets go" so I go do something for like 5 minutes while it downloads and then I just get to jump in and go.
With Bioshock 2, it's download and then start jumping through hoops, because in addition to Steam, which itself is DRM (albeit very unintrusive for the most part), Bioshock 2 also comes with "Games for Windows Live", which was apparently Microsofts dismally failed attempt to do what Steam was doing a couple years ago.
So I download Bioshock 2, fire it up, select singleplayer and the games for windows thing pops up and tells me I need to create a profile... okay I guess, I'll do that, so I click the button and it minimizes the game and opens a browser (internet explorer of course, ignoring the fact that Firefox is my default browser) and takes me to the xbox live signup thing since I guess GFWL and Xbox Live are the same overall system? Whatever.
Anyway I notice that it just wants a Microsoft ID, so I decide I'll try my hotmail email and password and what do you know, it works. The system assigns me an arbitrary gamer tag that I actually thought sounded clever, and that was that. This is the only part of the whole procedure that went the way I wanted it to.
So I get back into the game and try to get things going there, and it starts to cough up crap about patches and whatnot. Okay, game patches are good, right? Well it's not updating the game. It's updating the GFWL DRM. It's at this point that I start to gnash my teeth and just get really annoyed and started to mentally compose this post in my head.
So after what felt like forever, it finally updates the DRM and I get back into the game for like the third time, expecting to finally play, and then I get hit with the ACTUAL game patch. Click, start waiting, use the sheer power of my rage to tear a phone book in half. Okay that last part didn't happen, but that was how ticked off I am at this point.
Finally gets done updating and I get back into the game for the fourth damn time. I give it my email address and password and I hit sign in and.... "Games for Windows Live Client has Crashed"
...
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!?!?
No, it's not kidding me. I restarted the game and it happened again. So I fire up firefox and start googling about the issue and I find a solution online because apparently this is a rather common problem. So I download some part of GFWL that apparently does not come with Bioshock and does not get downloaded through the patching process and I install it and I reboot my computer because that's what all MS crap makes you do when you install it.
So the computer restarts, I'm ready to explode out of sheer rage, so I fire up the game for like the 6th time and finally, FINALLY, I get to SEE THE SINGLE PLAYER MAIN MENU FOR THE FIRST TIME.
So I set up my controls and whatnot and all my preferences and played the first couple of minutes but I was so damned pissed off that I could not enjoy it.
I mean GOD DAMN, why did they make it so ****ING HARD just to START PLAYING THE GOD DAMNED GAME????
****!
In the time it took me to download it through steam, configure all the GFWL ****, and fix the ensuing crashes, I bet I could have logged into a torrent site, found an appropriate torrent of Bioshock 2 that's cracked, downloaded it, and played the first level. And I'm not endorsing piracy, I'm really not, but you know damned well that the pirates have an easier and smoother experience than a lot of legal, paying customers like myself at this point.
Why do game makers keep treating their paying customers like criminals?
About time we get a rant from you Avder. Oh how I've missed them.
Anyway, ordered my Macbook Pro today. Thought about getting the new one with Retina display but didn't think it was worth the extra $400. Went with the 13 inch screen with a 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost. Didn't get the extended warranty either as it cost $250 for 2 extra years of coverage (you get a one year warranty by default). Also got an education discount on it of $100 since I'm a student.
I've almost beat Final Fantasy. Over 20 years since the first time I played it. Now if I could beat Super Mario Bros (first game I ever played), that would be even more impressive.
I've almost beat Final Fantasy. Over 20 years since the first time I played it. Now if I could beat Super Mario Bros (first game I ever played), that would be even more impressive.
Wait, Super Mario Brothers.... 1? The very first one? You've never beaten it?? Never???
Nope. Closest I've got was getting to the end castle and running out of time over and over. I think I was 4 or 5 when I got the NES and after SMB3 came out I barely played the first one anymore.
It's funny how I never like to cast magic because I don't want to waste MP. It's like that in ever RPG I play. Luckily they've moved away from that for the most part.
Man I really need just a good solid game to get into, the last one I think I played was probably Oblivion. That was like 6 years ago. Wow.
I tried Skyrim but I just became uninterested within an hour or so, any suggestions?
Fallout 3 is made by the same developers and is the same formula as Oblivion, but just set in an alternate post-nuke era future. Kind of cool.
And Fallout New Vegas was a pseudo-sequel made by another studio that improved Fallout 3 in pretty much every aspect but main story. Side quests, side characters, exploration and a lot of other stuff is quite a bit better than FO3.
Otherwise, maybe Borderlands/Borderlands 2? Dead Island is pretty good. Deus Ex Human Revolution is awesome.
Man I really need just a good solid game to get into, the last one I think I played was probably Oblivion. That was like 6 years ago. Wow.
I tried Skyrim but I just became uninterested within an hour or so, any suggestions?
Play Skyrim more. Moar. Moar. Moar.
If you want a great FPS single player. May Payne 3. I can't pump this game enough. Absolutely majestic. Its like watching a movie. And its got some good length to it.
If you want a great FPS single player. May Payne 3. I can't pump this game enough. Absolutely majestic. Its like watching a movie. And its got some good length to it.
It's funny how I never like to cast magic because I don't want to waste MP. It's like that in ever RPG I play. Luckily they've moved away from that for the most part.
I'm like that too unless the spell is cheap as hell.
Hell, in Diablo II I went to great lengths to make sure none of my characters EVER needed to use mana potions except in the heaviest of combat.
Because I not only hate spending mana beyond my regeneration ability, but I hate spending CASH as well.
- Get as many powerful guys as possible and as few magic casters (but you still need one).
- Fight early and often to build up experience and strength.
- Drop tons of cash on the most powerful weapons possible for the fighters.
- Drop secondary cash on armor for the weak players.
- Repeat until the guys just decimate the enemies.
Playing FF, I can see just how far we've come. So much of it is broken. But the game is 25 years old so I can't complain too much.
I liked a lot of the ideas in FF13, but the execution was terrible. I like not micro-managing my players, but it felt too hands-off. Story was terrible, no strategy, no puzzles, no excitement.
And really since the PS era, we've gone from Final FANTASY to Final Sci-Fi. I'd really like to see a return to that. No more guns and space ships.
Back to FF, holy crap the Chaos Shrine is annoying. I can't save at all so I need an hour of uninterrupted time to go through it. I've tried three times now and keep having to re-start because I get interrupted.
