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Software ‘community’ … Mac vs. PC

For those that don’t know, I’ve used Mac, PC, and Linux interchangeably for a long time.  Having one of each at home for a while.  However; my main machine has been a windows box the whole time.   I recently moved to using a MacBook Pro as my main machine for work.

It’s made me get ‘deep’ into the system instead of just using it for specific things or testing.

I will post some other thoughts later, but one thing that just came up to me again this weekend has prompted this post.

I’m really amazed at the difference between software available.   On Windows, the open source community had really embraced the platform, and not only could you find any open source software that you wanted in a pre-compiled binary for Windows.   But there was also just a ton of free software just for Windows out there as well.

On the Mac, it seems that the open source community has abandoned it.  While the Mac is BSD at it’s core, the X-system is subpar, as it doesn’t fully integrate into the OS unless the application has been ‘aqua-fied’.  But very few projects have bothered to do this, like they have for Windows.   Which leaves you using fink or macports to compile the software natively, and having a very bad UI experience.

At the same time, there is a ton of Mac specific software out there to be had, but it feels to me like the Windows community 15 years ago, where everything is shareware, instead of freeware.

Shareware on the PC really died off in favor of open source, or straight freeware.  Yet on the Mac it reigns supreme, with any potential software I want to use costing me $10-15

It really boggles my mind, simply because the Mac ever since OS/X has really been embraced by the programming/technical community as ‘the desktop machine to have’ … yet it doesn’t have an according philosophy with the applications that run on it.

Game Review: Metroid Prime 3 - Corruption

It’s been a while since I did a game review, and I have a few thoughts I want to share on the game that I am currently playing, Metroid Prime 3 - Corruption on the Wii.

Personally, I am enjoying playing the game, because I am invested in the Metroid Prime storyline. I played the first two versions of this game on the GameCube. So I’m really enjoying getting another chapter of the storyline be fed to me and learning more of this universe.

However, had I not played the original two, had I not been hooked already … I think the game would be driving me nuts. In general, I think the problems fold down into two main issues:

1. It’s the exact same game engine

   Here we are, 5 years later since the original Metroid Prime. I know that the Wii at it’s heart is actually not much different than a GameCube. Fine. But come on, they are using the EXACT same game engine with the same bugs. Most annoying are the broken doors. 80% of the time when you shoot a door to open it, it doesn’t actually open, leaving you moving forward and back trying to find the magic distance that causes it to open. It was annoying in the first game, it sucked in Echos … but why does this bug still exist 5 years later on another system?

2. The interface, with the Wiimote, is broken

   I’m sorry, but the Wiimote was not designed to be used like this. You don’t just aim by using the Wiimote, but you turn left and right using it as well. You might think this works. But it’s broken. The biggest problem is that to turn, instead of aim, you have to aim the Wiimote near the ‘edge’ of the screen. That would work well; except, if you aim too far, you leave the sensor bar and the game doesn’t know what to do. This is a major issue in large battles when you are panicking and moving around quickly.

   It seems that the coders realized that this method was going to be jumpy and wild to control, so they slowed down the response of the Wiimote, making it ‘trail behind’ your actual movements, so that small movements don’t make you jump around. It was a good compromise, but it leaves the controls very sluggish. You end up being much less maneuverable than you would with a normal controller. It then seems that the coders realized this … so what did they do? They made you a tank. It seems like you can take TONS of damage compared to previous games, because they realize you aren’t going to be able to dodge effectively, and that you will be standing there taking tons of damage while shooting back.

So in summation? It’s a good game, but the controls just do not work. This ‘aim to turn’ concept just seems broken, at least in this incarnation. If you loved the previous Metroid Prime games, go get it, the storyline is wonderful. But if you haven’t played them … you are better off with something else.