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Has anyone ever incorporated a machine translator into a chat client?
Perhaps an intelligent one, that adapts to individual users and feedback?
The closest example I can think of, oddly enough, is Phantasy Star Online. Which doesn’t really come close, except in broad intent.
When was it that directors finally realized that it’s not in any conceivable universe interesting to watch someone talk on the phone?
“Hello, George Cabbot speaking.
“Why, hello, Georgia!
“What’s that, Georgia? You say it’s time for some lengthy exposition?
“Oh come now, Georgia. The story isn’t that complicated.
“I see. But Georgia, surely if we really need exposition you can deliver it yourself.
“What’s that? You say it’s better if I just repeat all your lines for you? But whatever for, Georgia?
“What do you mean we haven’t invented crosscutting yet? What about that nice Welles chap?
“Oh, you’re right, Georgia. He is awfully confusing. But surely we can do voiceover?
“Well, all right, Georgia. I’ll tell that to Francine. Goodbye.”
…
“That was Georgia. She said that ADR hasn’t been invented yet either.”
One where every scene makes you think, okay, this is the turning point. It’s all been building up to this. Now everything’s really getting started.
Including the final one.
I wish it were still possible to go into an arcade and wander around, seeing new things, doing things I hadn’t done before in a videogame. Like when the arcade was full of new things like Rolling Thunder and Double Dragon.
I remember what a revelation it was that you could run over and pick up the bat, or duck behind the tires. And any multiplayer was generally cooperative. You watch someone play, you think “hey, that looks neat”, and you jump in to help him.
When Street Fighter II was new, I could just go in and play it the way I’d play Final Fight. It was like a complicated eight-stage boss run.
Then everything became about penises, and today there’s no point even going into arcades anymore. The moment you start up a game, someone more obsessive sidles up to punish you for the affrontery and take over the machine. It would be neat to go out and see some of these new games, like Street Fighter IV and KOF XII, but the novelties have mostly become a thing of nuance. And if I’m not going to be allowed to play them unmolested, and study them at my own leisure, why bother? I’ve got enough things waiting in line to irritate me, without actively seeking them.
The thing is, this is all an aberration. Today the hardcore competitive aspect has gained dominance, but that’s what happens to unchecked hardcore competitive anythings, usually to their eventual downfall outside of that core group that enjoys butting heads. Some people just like to eat their soup without others homing in and pissing in it. I’d wager they would stand in the majority, actually…
Doesn’t help that games are rarely just a quarter anymore. I spend my dollar, whatever, I want to get the most out of it. If I choose not to pay the panhandler, I don’t want to get chased for a block and shouted at. (Which may sound familiar to San Francisco residents.) Maybe it would be different if there were, like, a set fee that you pay going in the door. But on a pay-by-play basis, fuck that.
If there’s a reason that arcades barely exist anymore — well, I’d put this at the top of the list.
The hardest part of anything is getting started. Then once that thing is started, it takes more energy to stop than to keep it rolling.
All right, I’m working, I’m working…
