BlackListedB
-
Posts
1677 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
56
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by BlackListedB
-
-
Cnet magazine IIRC, latest issue covers in brief, the most notable advances in 20 years to now, 2015, since 1995, think of it, I mentioned before, but it's safe to say Windows 95 and Intel Pentium, 200 and over Mhz processing ushers in the modern advent of computing, and all evolutions since are re-thinking those 20 years of electronic advancements.... and since April, 10 years of YouTube!!
Hell, yeah! I am celebrating YouTube a bit late with some new comments there tonight! Look for it! haha
Oh, and AMD fans, remember ONE SOCKET TO RULE THEM ALL!!! (???), yes, for a time, one socket could allow AMD or Intel,... or OTHER
-
The book Jacked shed the most light, and astonishingly, Hot Coffee leads to and indicative of even more secretive nature Rockstar North followed with the public and industry back-lash. I remember from my experience, the outrage over killing hookers to get back cash spent on 'favors', this sparked the US violence concerns when Vice City GTA was the latest, we heard game pundits say you as game player are open to what game activity, in this regard, you under-take, not mandated by game plot, and there really was no nudity or cursing, this all followed in the wake of the outcry, Rockstar deciding they were coming under fire anyway, but they did under-estimate the USA legal matters and game industry, but with admiration for adult action USA Hollywood, including TV of course, Miami Vice the most obvious example.... Scarface was readily hinted at within Vice City as well.
I feel they should have at least worked more openly with the USA games industry, but they seemed to this day closed off from that avenue, in large part at least.
-
Found what if memory serves is PC Gamer for Sept 2015, saying August 2015 issue gave GTA 5 for PC a 92% review, oddly low perhaps, BUT.... the main thrust of the back page articles currently in the long standing PC only gamer magazine revolve around their favorite user mods thus far..... and we had figured Rockstar would be closing down GTA and it's other games (RDR) to user mods, fearing cheating mostly invading it's hard built online communities... cheating and various other attempts to corrupt the normal gameplay and not offer other players a shared experience.
Worth noting if you're in the shopping mood near a news-stand
-
Sam and Dan Houser's new way of running Rockstar studio, dubbed Rockstar North primarily, an outsider from World and USA game maker politics found out the hard way, your own way doesn't always work best.....
HOT COFFEE as a hidden mini-sex game unearthed July 20th 2005 this month in history caused the most angst and difficulty for the somewhat fledglinged company in all of it's history.
It didn't help that Rockstar even as DMA with GTA's first introduction...pre-introduction of it's top down classic... courted
Controvesy that was rather contrived at the time, due to connections and an idea that word of mouth rumor could aid the game growth outside of the normal avenue of advertisment.
I was reminded of what Hot Coffee represented and it's now 10 year discovery thanks to a new USA Terrestrial DTV broadcasting channel part of our local CBS channel expanding (for the first time) to TWO channels on digital broadcast (former restructuring of analog UHF and VHF TV airwaves to digital convention)
That channel is called 'Decades' and took some time getting going, for more then a month it had no sound and offered VERY old black and white programming, much of what it still does, but with main host Bill Curtis, hosts and hour dedicated to World events that happened on 'this day in history'.
The HC report they had was condensed with not as much on Rockstar and the Housers or the real story of Hot Coffee but how it effected video games evolution over all.
As I started this article, I mention the origins of Rockstar and DMA don't take into account video ratings as they stood for years prior.
Their main mission was moving video game evolution beyond where it had even been, but didn't do themselves ANY favors by staying 'clothed mouthed' and secretive, in fact the backlash against GTA putting them as 'deer in the headlights' made them more secretive then ever, and that sadly continues to this very day!!
I was there watching Rockstar evolve prior to San Andreas even coming out, and I remember flat denial that Hot Coffee was there, this was confused by what we, even as outside fans knew, and the idea of user mods, and Patrick who found the hidden code, basically accused of creating a mod, rather then finding one the studio created, this was the perception without his input, which put the spotlight back on Rockstar and exactly what was Hot Coffee embedded within GTA SA
-
Is it safe? haha
I ask that of all downloads and dental patients.
There was one of the most amazing glitches in GTA V where if you fell off into the water at times (only in multiplayer that I remember) you would sink to the ocean floor and never drown. You could walk back out of the water and sound would return IIRC, but you could also walk to the very depths of the 'ocean floor' which I nearly did, but it seemed as massive a gaming mountain as those on land! (it appears like real underwater mountains in many locations around the landmass. While using scuba gear exploring, the same thing basically, the shark showed up and attacked. I was able to avoid the shark in one instance where I swam away at speed and then up and down as fast as possible, changing depth, this seems to avoid a line of sight for the shark
Tips you can use. If anyone knows more about the water glitch, reply in GTAV section prefered. For GTA III, the water is the worst graphical element of the game, but at this time, Rockstar North had JUST formed from the ashes (to put it one way, not literally) of DMA. The team was not experienced at 3D improved graphics and by now with GTA5, they're just coming into their own (compared to other studios who were jumping on 3D before Rockstar/DMA were
-
Well, yes, I have to admit, I started over again mainly as a result of playing offline with tons of XBOX repair units, I have something like 6 20GB XB HDD units, I've been trying to sell, but also before completing GTA V I've gone into different profiles for each system (I was buying used Xboxes AND Playstation 3 units, and I'll likely take in a used Xbox1 or PS4)
I don't know exactly what prompts doing it over so early into the 100 or so mission story line, but part of the reason is my main game play .. I explore nearly endlessly, and as you know, that means UNDERWATER as it does on every mountain and hill. Getting to know the geography in hopes it's like the back of my hand at some point. But I also feel the plot and cut scenes do account for the most action in the game, more buildings being closed off and far less chaotic action then in past GTAs (improved AI to blame)
Anyway, yet to get the PC version, it's likely to continue for me... and I took a long long break from GTAOnline and have to delve back in with both feet!! hahaha
-
I actually made filming (camcorder) references to GTAforums that were intended to express my opinion squarily and get uploaded to YouTube where fair rebuttel can happen in an online context where everyone can express themselves in the fairest way possible, but largely I never did upload those. I was always hoping someone could reverse the harsh decision against me there, and the main hope still resides in the annual pole where 20 people (a tie) voted for me as most missed member.
I'll take the time here to say, THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT guys-gals! It does mean the World to me. I may never meet you in person, but a friend is a REAL person just the same, someone who values your input!
BTW, Scott...welcome back, I joined only after much malignment at GTAForums, 9 plus years accounting for nothing to some of those a**hats! Anyway, The people with a REAL chip on their shoulder are staff with ban hammers and a bad attitude, I found NONE of that here, though there has been some judgemental replies... I warrant that perhaps to youth.. but I'm more then twice your age, nearing 50, I can tell you honestly, I would never forsake the fun of video games as they evolved for some other past-time, like golf or fishing, F-that! You're never too old to have fun, and I grew up in the age of video games REALLY evolving from expensive coin op to home computer versions, and as far back as the late 70s with the first APPLE II PLUS machines I was keenly interested in what they brought to the table
-
Tommy Vercetti most famously voiced by Ray Liotta left me thinking like a lot of fans to Rockstar's decision for famous voice acting AND real musical artist licensing to breath a giant breath of fresh air into the GTA franchise, but like many of you, it's not only interactive video gaming entertainment that moves me, it's also music and film. I was already a slight or casual fan of Ray Liotta's intense characterizations, but like a few actors, he's not the only or first to do something and then move on, never to take a personal moment to look back on their work, some are even made very uncomfortable by watching themselves in such a manner, however, with a cartoon or animated film, or as in this case, a game is much the same case where only your voice and it's myriad of inflection influence the character as such.
http://www.gtagaming.com/news/comments.php?i=1777
I'm posting this blast from the past to express that I still hope the test of time for video games and the body of work might coax a retro-active response from Ray Liotta and others about their work, and get a chance to look back on the impact.
Let's keep hope alive.
I'm all for actors and artists getting revered for their life in the arts, Lifetime achievement awards and anything similar, preferably of course.... BEFORE they pass on. That way they can share in the celebration. David Letterman's talk show host career ending was much like this type of event, though may never happen for someone like Ray who's something of a character actor, he has been cast as the leading role plenty of times, and I like to think GTA; VICE CITY is in that caliber exactly!
-
USA audiences, like me, stayed up to watch our own version of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, that was David Letterman starting on NBC, running for 11 years, and then in 1993 thereabouts, going to CBS to add to his legacy of thousands of shows, and memorable moments, for a glorious total of 33 years.
The gap tooth Prince of Late Night as he was known early on, is stepping down to concentrate on life with his son and wife, spending more quality time at home, HOWEVER, he joked that this may not be the last we hear from him. I tend to think that to be the case. I remember him joining the late Bob Hope for one of his specials in the 1980s, and though his schtick was the same, he felt well removed from the confines of his show, yet it was just a sampling of comedic genius, which is, quite frankly... NEVER ENOUGH!!
God Bless you, David Letterman, you've impacted all of pop culture more then mere words can say!
[image] http://www.tvweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/late-show-with-david-letterman-title.jpg[/image]
-
I don't know how to title this different then the main body of content, but RDR according to a Tweet email heads-up I got, says that RDR is up for it's 5 year anniversary, half a decade. 2010.... as well as the first sets of added value content, embellishing a game that some felt was too big for it's initial offering of things to do, a fairly vast map invited other additions and weapons as well as a complete new take with Undead Nightmare, nothing like that which has ever graced GTA as a franchise.
Rockstar San Diego did so well, most of us have clamored for another full sequel or prequel. It's also worth noting the general release (since it covers 2 years between consoles with additions) the game was supposedly in development for a few years before hand, perhaps dating back to 2005 in reality.
It's been too long for me to recall the source, but it did also have some fall out where programmers wives of the SD branch had complained to the press about the horrible job hour pressures, which of course, we hope isn't something plaguing the programmers constantly for our benefit!
The bad press doesn't get discussed much because the GTAF stance has been not to offend Rockstar themselves, apparently I was told they got word from some of the staffers who guested at times or visited GTAF over their long history as a forum (forgive me in mentioning as well)
As a result the real story of how the games came to be remains clouded in rumor mostly, but we do know there's a clear evolution from Red Dead Revolver, which merely scratched the surface, and I'm excited to see how GTA and RDR can evolve as the tech just keeps getting better!!
-
It was no joke for Sony who lost 100 American greenbacks per unit as they started implementing BluRay without compromise (for a lesser SKU as suggested in the press and by consumers) It was in reality, the right move to counter the lesser contingent supporting HD-DVD, however, HD-DVD I can tell you from personal experience in use, it's no worse for wear as far as HD films go, it's just that BluRay has proven more effective at doing more then movies! haha
As an aside, if you love quality audio as well as video, help find and support what's out there in the catalogs for Super Audio CD from Sony and the DVD Audio format, if you buy a Panasonic brand player, you're likely to get DVD Audio decoding, if you buy Sony surround equipment, you should be able to decode SACD, both stereo and surround. DVD-A or DVD Audio is the better choice like BluRay however, as it simply does more then SACD can! They both sound fantastic for pure HQ digital audio though. The sad fact is the public went ape for streaming portable MP3 codec music, while it's severely handicapped by compression. SACD and DVD-A look to do away with that and offer the highest digital quality possible that I know of.
Then there's DTS alongside Dolby Digital.
DTS started in theater surround as a sync'd disc along with the motion picture film projection, but it became adopted standard for DVD as well, so you'll see it used for high quality film on disc as well as plain DTS audio CDs, they do not play any other audio tracks however, DTS takes up ALL the available space!
-
1
-
-
You're right about the time line in regards with Sony's commitment to BluRay via Playstation 3, setting a precedent for optical disc introduction via PS2 and 3, Blu Ray was the major cost, costing Sony $100 USD per unit because they couldn't get a sell through price consumers were up for as Panasonic learned some years before with the original 3DO (Goldstar, now LG, made their own version of 3DO hardware)
$599 I believe was the original SKU retail price.
Nearly a year after Microsoft Xbox360 with plain-jane DVD-ROM
What locale are you in where there's no HD retail?
Did you have access to HD-DVD prior? (Xbox expansion drives were oddly supporting non-gaming only)
I'm most happy that BluRay can be used for HD expansion based on it's size I suppose.
With PC's graphics cards offering capability for the new format, I imagine, should be somewhat easier for PC home theater users then those who want stand alone
-
1
-
-
I didn't see this was so dated a thread, but I try and do my online character as close to myself as possible, since I'd like to envision an alter-ego if you will, impose yourself into the virtual game environment, that said, however, I still do everything I would refrain from in the actual World. As for how characters behave, most of their characteristics I assume you've gleened from the plot cut-scenes, since they could have any number of modus operandi that appearance belies
-
1
-
-
BB King... aka Blues Boy, has sadly passed on, PBS station giving more to the story then I first heard informing of his demise.
BB King has been an institution of American Blues guitar and vocals. He was not only big in stature, but MASSIVE in influence. Words of reflection in the news by way of Facebook and Twitter came from Eric Clapton, Mike McCready (of Pearl Jam), and others, but the good side is his tenacity at performing and setting an enduring example and influence.
He lived to the age of 89, and for several month was off the road suffering from the effects of his diabetes. He was in hospice and died in his sleep.
I expect a number of tributes, and I'd expect all guitarists to have some feelings on the matter. In his book, Don Felder told of seeing BB King ... just barely, in the 1960s, at the end of the decade, if memory serves, and the large influence it had on him... Not only was Don Felder a key Eagles guitarist for many years in their heyday, but he ALSO TAUGHT a young Tom Petty guitar!
-
This is worth sharing, Good news and some bad... as a new standard on top of HDef as we know it, a new player and RECORDER?!?!? Is required for UltraHD playback of movies and that means a spendy deck and possible media available to take advantage of it. The UHD sets aren't terribly expensive given the cost of original DVD and flat screen sets. HDTVs and scalers for example.
I remember it well, being a home theater nut with no cash to invest. Prices for HDTV started at $6000USD and went up from there!! Scalers were required for getting content input looking good on the TVs from a myriad of sources.
Anyway, the upshot is it's backwards compatible. But I wonder if this means an attaching BD Ultra drive for Xbox One?! (I bought two HD-DVD externals just to get a power adapter I needed, and both of them worked as it turned out! haha)
-
I can get the email PW part of GTAForums, but I snuck on twice before, and it's not something they really take lightly. You have to get a legitimate staff assist, and I did once I was unbanned originally thanks to Waddy, Yep, that Waddy... Tim Waddington. He's contacted me both at GTAChronicles and Xbox Live and we're still on each other's XBL friends list, but he's a very quirky guy, not too talkative and long Absent without Leaves... hahaha
I noticed some old names on GTAF just checking the official forum section, and it could have been by my own absence that some members came back, but I honestly NEVER got the hostility angle. I wanted everyone to be in agreement that GTA was one if not THE favorite game we all shared in common. It makes no sense to be a hater and not relate on any level.
To add, someone within that little group of Bad Apples making life terribly difficult, and the cause for all the high blood pressure, he opined to me that I must gain his respect. That's the absolute wrong way of thinking. You give respect out of being a good person, despite how / or what you think about others, you can't know a person until you've walked a mile in THEIR shoes, and most will NEVER really know how that person feels or adjust to life, they can't expect to know that person from their inner-perspective. You can earn respect, but don't expect it! haha
-
2
-
-
I priced eBay and local store Microcenter cards for PC, the most expensive is nVidia's top Non Titan card (which MC doesn't carry) the 980GTX with 4GB of GDDR5 Ram, the other option for far less is a card using 4GB of DDR3 Ram, that maybe GDDR3, but it doesn't help with info on the retail boxes. Some if not most cards only have 1GB of GDDR5 and a 128 bit memory bus. I wish we could move past that bottleneck, somehow there's some engineers who don't see it being a continued set back....!?!?!?
Anyway, prices for cards I'd consider up to that major hot nVidia 980 are $70 to $560 at present.
Typically a GTX Titan sells for $1000, unless you can find it cheaper! A report in the press I also looked at says that nVidia is proudly showing off yet another GPU core successor, what that means is even the best of the best will be yesterday's news eventually!
We're waiting for Skylake and new Core i7 Intel CPUs, but this article suggests within a year, new nVidia GPUs as well!!
-
I paid a trip to the local based Microcenter store last night, checking their extensive magazine rack, among the three magazines worth your time is PC GAMER's look and play back of GTA 3 for PC in all it's former glory
The review is somewhat short, and as you expect, the bases are covered but the reviewer says the game itself has not aged while and nearly discourages others replaying it, well, we know that's poppycock, really. We're always feeling a bit introspective about GTA and Rockstar's rise to glory.
The article also touches on the key plot points related to game mechanics and how the genre setting 3D GTA3 set a precident for moving forward with the franchise, and some of the blame and most of the inventive styling, not the least of which was opting to license REAL music, something Sam Houser suggested and I feel their BMG Interactive connections and experience played a key. He doesn't deny at the time, it was ultra spendy to license big name artists, and still is, but in the context of the age of their company and output, it was a way to really enhance areas that lacked, and you'll find that holds up while re-visiting the games.... all with varied soundtracks.
The author mentioned 8-ball's 'Guru' but not his passing. He mentioned the other big name voice talent hired for the game as well... but the article is the extent of 2 pages, but suggests it's a pre-cursor to a more in-depth GTAV on PC article I'd expect next month.
==============
The other two magazines might be akin to Off-Topic here, but really are of interest to serious gamers. GAMEStm magazine's cover story is Can Nate Drake Save Next Gen?!? That's a mighty big proposal, but I wouldn't doubt the continued inventive and attractive Naughty Dog's Uncharted and Sony's hand at kicking it all off.
Retro Gaming magazine, one worth your time, but VERY hard to locate, their COVER STORY as well centers on Lemmings this time, and of course, that is DMA's major success story pre-Rockstar Games, but not to be relagated to forgetting... Lemmings key inventions led to the whole idea of an Open World game construct with as many things on screen at one time as possible, This was what the book Jacked points out in the evolution to GTA and the similarity mentioned before... State of Emergency also coming just prior has similarities I think shared with GTA3, and Vice City in appearance, and also PSP's The Warriors which also takes inventive ideas to expound on, one of which is AI that allows characters in game to join you, but are not actual people.
This AI ability comes into large play with GTA San Andreas and gang recruiting, which was still flawed but very interesting in it's plot effectiveness
-
Maybe, but I see it only as 6 degrees of Separation
-
Well, I have to post this because it's almost synonymous in all of gaming with Rockstar's landmark San An, last hurrah on Playstation 2 and original Xbox!!
San Andreas is a new action film opening VERY SOON, and though there's actually no connection to the game, it's related, still....ain't it?!?!? hahahaha
Dwayne Johnson fans will be sure to see this one, aka The ROCK!
I think if you love action cinema, this summer's Mad Max and San An should fill the bill... until STAR WARS!?
-
Guys, I'm pretty sure we did do a speculation starter thread for PC or laptop gaming results with GTA5 for PC, but I had planned to see what Intel delivers next for a new build up, and sale of my original H55 based Biostar/CoolerMaster rig. I had bought a used 8800 nVidia Geforce Ultra that turned out to be near DOA, works but with tons of artifacts on screen. Could get repaired, but by now, fairly out-dated.
The other morning (VERY early) I went out to restock my drinks, and as I was coming in, had a feeling I should check the dumpster (by the door actually!) and sure enough, someone had thrown a PC in, partially cannabilized, as it turns out in setting it up for testing with it's missing parts coming from my own over-stock... I found the CPU alone is worth $200 on EBay!!!!
The machine is an HP Elite desktop, in poor shape case wise, but basically a bare-bones build since the interior parts remaining were the mobo, PSU, and wiring... sans SATA cable and optical/HDDs.
After a good cleaning, I fired it up and ran spec check software, turns out due to one bad fan, they seemingly tossed the rig away!! The model has a 6 core 2010 dated CPU, the Phenom II x6 1100T model, that's 3.3Ghz and 6MB L3 cache, according to the software, it has a 3MB L2 cache, maybe accounting for the higher pricing on eBay, compared to other Phenoms. I normally would stay with Intel, but this affords either a build of the 6 core CPU AMD system or selling it with other gear to build another rig. I'll likely offer it for sale and build it as I go... until it sells.
DDR3 in four slots allows only 16GB maximum, but still not bad, Firewire support, 6 SATA slots, plenty of USB (no 3.0 on this one though) and 460-480 watt power supply. The CPU is 128 watts IIRC so it's the higher of the two introduced (95 watt for the lower power version) and according to CPU-World in multi-threaded apps like GTA5, the AMD might even out-perform a lesser Core I7!! Their comparison states that the Core i7 might out perform the AMD with single threaded applications, however.
I actually had a enough spare DDR3 to fill the board with 6GB of 1333Mhz RAM.
Just need the right PCI-express graphics for this bad boy. The 1050Z Hewlett Packard originally shipped with a BluRay drive, and I still have the first recorder (Pioneer) that I bought, so even that can go into the system (a standard LG multi-recorder as well). Who ever had the system last managed to bend the upper half of the casing trying to remove their hard drives and opticals and the closing panels and front were missing, but all in all, not to shabby a find for FREE!
The PSU or Power Supply Unit is HP factory branded OEM with the system, and lacks two 6 pin graphics card power plugs, however, I did find it had one that had never been used (originally an ATI Radeon HD6670 was shipped with this)
-
One of the earliest memories is hearing there was some secret location along the top of the map, I loved exploring these open World games, and GTA3 really helped define a direction not only for the series, but reinvent the premise with a better scope on reality and the underworld/crime world.
It also defined how you played the game in it's future variations.
So much has come out of the making of GTA3, it's a watershed moment in video game history!!
-
Commercials for the film are more frequent then ever, and Bounce terrestrial HDtv (SDTV?) network is airing the 1985 Beyond Thunderdome this weekend, if not already... I assume there's a bit of a tie-in promotion?! haha
Sorry to double post, but I am anxious to see this do well, it may well be the last one George Miller helms and has written. It's started off as a story spec script long before even filming began, as I understand it, based on a germ of an idea George had. I don't know how fond he is of this classic cult favorite, but I would love if Mel Gibson would reprise if not cameo in the film, he really owes his career to the Mad Max franchise, however, he's starred in The Bounty, Tim, and Gallipoli as well, around that time.
-
I am waiting for the new Intel CPU rollout and pricing, and hoping to sell a few of my old PCs and laptops, but I did check the closest store, the controversial TARGET shopping center (controversial because of data breach and firings likely resulting from the fallout in the aftermath of that data breach)
Target had 4 copies the day after release when I checked, upon two other return trips in the last week, they have two remaining PC copies, but no where is there a price listing, is it $60 USD comparable to the console new releases, or higher or lower?
Uncharted set for 2016
in Gaming
Posted
Saw some of the HQ or HD demoes over the weekend for Uncharted's return to new consoles, It's looking that backward support for PS3 won't happen, but some demos appear rather lackluster, I'm thinking they could manage graphics that were somewhat watered down, shall we say.!?!?
I'd like to ask what you think of the long demos shown thus far and the rather long wait until next year for the next game? I love to see the returning cast, must say. Though I hold my breath about how long key lead characters can be reprised.
I think they hit a home run from the get go, and introducing new characters and keeping old favorites is fantastic, however the long demoes I felt were too much spoiler so I tempered my viewing!