ThunderPeel2001

I'm not so sure. The X/Y 0,0 co-ordinates are surely arbitrary, and if anything they'd allow for easier to understand code if games scrolled right-to-left.

Very interesting! As Twig points out, it's actually written top-to-bottom, right-to-left, though. And horizontal right-to-left is used on signage. Also, my replicas of the original Japanese Speed Racer comics are read from right-to-left, too.

I guess Ron doesn't talk about his personal life in public -- but he's had such an interesting life, I wish he would! Also, I hope he's happy. He does seem pretty grumpy/sad whenever he's been filmed.

Nothing. This just looks more interesting than Wasteland, and seems to have a much better UI. More detail: The idea of having all the text appear in a box on the screen, just like in the original game, seems like a really odd choice to me. And it was really jarring when I played the gameplay video in fullscreen. Plus, on a slightly different note, I am a little concerned that Brian Fargo is letting the backers shape the game too much: Don't like clicking on keywords? Don't worry, we'll write dialogue for every one! But otherwise, I'm definitely interested in seeing how Wasteland 2 comes out.

Ok, we're getting side-lined here. My point was simply that it's highly unlikely they got $76m in money from the sale of HE. It was much more likely that a large part of the sale was given to them in shares (which they would not have been able to sell). But that doesn't mean they didn't get some money from the sale, of course -- possibly even millions. I just don't know how much that would last him. Maybe he's doing just fine, and he likes being a nomadic developer, as you suggest. I'd personally trust your impressions from working with the man, than what was printed about him in the press, though.

So, as soon as computers were invented the whole of Japan started reading their horizontal text from left-to-right? Wow, that's amazing. Thanks for the history lesson, Twig!

Er, because you claimed that Ron made millions from the sale of Humungous, and insinuated that Shelley Day had lost $38m in six years. You also asked me specifically where $76m could have gone. Remember? (Quote: "The money from the sale had to go somewhere, and where else would it have gone besides to those who owned the company?") You don't need to act like a dick about it.

According to that quote, the change from having to read Japanese horizontally from left-to-right is considered recent -- something that was born out of the everyday use of computers and the internet. I don't think Western influence was so prevalent in the early 80s. Also, Japanese books continue to be read from right to left, even today. Anyhoo: According to Wikipedia, the first side-scrolling platformer was a Japanese game called Jump Bug -- but it doesn't say which direction it went in! Edit: It was multi-directional, but many levels went from left-to-right! Man, this is confusing. I think I like the ScienceTM explanation best.

Here's some ScienceTM on the matter.

The shares would most likely not be liquid, as you don't want people cashing in tens of millions of dollars in shares in one go for obvious reasons. Mark Zuckerberg is considered a "billionaire" for example, thanks to the shares he has in Facebook, but he doesn't actually have anything close to that in his bank account.

Is that a guess you just dressed up as fact? Because I'm pretty sure Japan was around during the beginning of video games.

This totally got me, since it didn't really feel like part of the game. Annoying!

You liar! It's not unlocked yet. Boo!

If it was just to do with the direction we read and write -- then do other culture's games would go from right to left...?

It certainly feels like there's an interesting story there. I've never heard him discuss what happened with Shelley Day, for example (I wonder if they were together or just business partners?). You could well be right, but I seriously doubt they sold their company for $76m in CASH -- usually stocks and shares are part of the deal. It's also interesting that almost everyone from HE left shortly after the acquisition -- which indicates that they weren't bought for the team, but for the properties (otherwise they would have been locked in). It's even stranger that they were free to make a company that directly competed with HE. Again, usually the acquirer will insist on a clause of the sale being that they can't do that for a set period of time. The whole thing smells like an interesting story to me!

It's likely to be far more complicated than that. I'd be amazed if they got all that in actual cash, and nothing in shares.

Chrome works fine for me!

Never-the-less, that's what the game currently is.

You know, it's quite the opposite. The thread has massively died down since you made your post -- So although nobody is directly responding to it, I think people may have read it and taken it on board.

Me either. I guess that's why I didn't do it. What are you basing this on? Her previous videos are now part of some university's curriculum, including law schools. Also, this is completely besides the point. *sigh* No academic work contains subjective views. They may make arguments based on presented evidence, but that's not the same as declaring something as "crap". You seem to be deliberately ignoring everything I'm saying just so you can try and make your point stick, or drag this conversation into other territories. I said everything that needed to be said here, and I don't think I can make my point any clearer, so we should probably just move along. If you still don't understand my point, and wish to discuss things further, PM me.

Woohoo! Free X-Com!

Did anyone notice the gigantic painting of the Scientist's level in the latest DFA video? I really want to see all the level artwork in one big go like that!

That's a really bad excuse for not picking up the phone! I guess the difference with internet news is that they don't need the whole story before it goes to print: They can just quickly publish an update once somebody else finds out how EA responds.

Hmm. I'm not sure about that. Humongous Entertainment was sold to GT Interactive for $76 million, yes, but Gilbert's co-founder, Shelley Day, was later jailed for trying to fraudulently get a loan for $1.5 million. (If she'd actually gotten $38 million from the sale of HE, I think she probably just would have used her own money :-/ ) Did Ron ever talk about that stuff?