Extra Punctuation: What Kinect Can Do

[SnakeoilSage]

The man's a professional writer. [em]Of course[/em] he's going to have a vocabulary. He could probably even tell you the word's etymology (he studied Latin, after all).

And yes, it is entirely apropos to use 'apropos' in everyday conversation. (And if you're a new EMACS user, you're using it a lot .)

Having a vocabulary means you'll never have to use words like "apropos." Any professional writer will tell you this out of hand.

Apropos comes from French, not Latin. The "s" is silent.

It isn't "apropos" to use apropos in everyday conversation, it's acceptible to use apropos in everyday conversation. If it were apropos, it would be appropriate, which is a different thing entirely.

Finally, if you're an EMACS user, you've lost all right to debate the English language. Any high school English teacher would fly into a spittle-flecked rage if they discovered a piece of work edited in such a fashion, and that, in fact, would be very apropos.

So you've brought up four possible scenarios. Yahtzee is:

1) being a snob,
2) taking the piss out of snobs who think words like "apropos" are esoteric,
3) using EMACS, destroying any crediblity he once had, or
4) using a word he actually uses in everyday conversation.

I'm ruling Number 4 out on the grounds that after four years, this is the first time I've ever seen him use it in a professional article, and he isn't even speaking it.

 

[ewhac]

Dear Yahtzee (he said, as if he ever reads these comment fora):

I wonder if you've taken the time to glance at some of the things people are doing with the Kinect [http://openkinect.org/wiki/Gallery] that do not involve the Xbox.

 

[Al_]

Normally I could care less about this stuff, but I was amused when I discovered the "trick" so I figured I'd let it out:

The title for "AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!!" is fairly simple to remember if you think of it as a pattern of five A's, with an increasing number of capitals, starting with one. After it's all caps, you're done!

To be fair, that's still not the full title., which is of course "AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! ? A Reckless Disregard for Gravity"
At least it isn't as socially an awkward game to mention as "1... 2... 3... KICK IT! (Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby)"

 

[ewhac]

The word's etymology is French, not Latin.

...Which is a Romance language, which means its roots are in Latin.

Finally, if you're an EMACS user, you've lost all right to debate the English language. Any high school English teacher would fly into a spittle-flecked rage if they discovered a piece of work edited in such a fashion.

Not to devolve into editor r-wars or anything, but how would an English teacher (or anyone else for that matter) be able to tell if a given text file had been written using EMACS, or vi, or Notepad, or even using "cat >".

If you see an English teacher flying into a spittle-flecked rage, I'd wager the likelihood was far higher that Micros~1 Word was somehow involved...

So you've brought up four possible scenarios. Yahtzee is:

1) being a snob using words most internet hounds have never heard of.

So look it up! You have a fscking [em]computer[/em] in front of you! What, is Merriam-Webster's site offline? Did Google suddenly stop working? It's not like he's using some archaic shading you need the latest copy of the OED to decipher... (*headdesk*)

3) using EMACS, destroying any crediblity he once had.

Based on the screenshots that have appeared in his videos, I think he's a Notepad user...

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Apart from the space you need to use the thing, i, for one, relax while gaming. Not jump around and do something that would only take a button press. Same with shouting "grenade" to throw a grenade, id rather press a button. Maybe thats my age? Im 34 and rather not shout at a computer to do a simple action. Mostly cos i have neighbors that my not appreciate shouts of "grenade" at 3 in the morning. I like the Forza 4 head turn thing, but is it worth by the kinect for? No, its not.

If it came packaged with the next console, then fine. But it doesnt offer much to me as a product.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

...Which is a Romance language, which means its roots are in Latin.

The individual words from the meaning of "apropos," have roots in Latin. The word itself does not, it comes from the French phrase "on the subject." I figure the closest you can get to it in Latin is "in (on the) sermonem (subject)."

Not to devolve into editor r-wars or anything, but how would an English teacher (or anyone else for that matter) be able to tell if a given text file had been written using EMACS, or vi, or Notepad, or even using "cat >".

By considering how they speak and write normally, with how they "wrote" their essay. Why do you think I spoke up about "apropos?" Who uses that word in everyday coversation if they aren't getting it from a word of the day calander or a computer editor? Would you?

So look it up! You have a fscking [em]computer[/em] in front of you! What, is Merriam-Webster's site offline? Did Google suddenly stop working? It's not like he's using some archaic shading you need the latest copy of the OED to decipher... (*headdesk*)

He said, without a trace of irony. You already used the word incorrectly once so don't talk to me about needing a dictionary. I know what "apropos" means, I know it's easy to look up.

But any editor worth his salt knows its better to use everyday words than to dig up something esoteric just to sound professional, because it draws attention to itself and distracts the reader, especially when you've got a gut-feeling the writer doesn't use the word outside of that once instance. It reeks of thesaurus-hunting.

 

[VyseRogueKing]

Motion controls weren't fun when the Power Glove was released. Advancing the technology has proven that it was never meant to be fun. Can we all get over the gimmicky crap and stick to making mainstream titles better?

And "apropos." Way to use that Word of the Day Calender (fix'd), Yahtzee. Have you ever spoken that word aloud in an appropriate sentence? If not, let's hope tomorrow's word is "pretentious."

If I may be so bold as to throw in my two cents.
Just listen to the way the man talks and it's very easy to see he really likes using some words that not everyone uses. I too use randomly out of place words when I feel like it. Do I use apropos? No. At least not yet but I now have one more word to through into my vocabulary and I will use it where apropos. That doesn't sound right but oh well I'll figure out in time. I'm sure that as a writer he has come across many different words to use in his arsenal and his nature of using creative analogies and the like will build upon itself to the point where he just uses it as it pops into his head.

Also may I say that it's a little hypocritical that you're calling him pretentious whereas you're arguing that he is not the person you think he is because you are aware of a word that most other people are not while citing your knowledge of the subject to ehwac. Not trying to be offensive or anything just throwing it out there.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

And "apropos." Way to use that Word of the Day Calender (fix'd), Yahtzee. Have you ever spoken that word aloud in an appropriate sentence? If not, let's hope tomorrow's word is "pretentious."

*Laughs* I spell calendar wrong all the time, but you spelled it wrong when you tried to correct me, too. None of us are coming out of this unscathed. *Laughs*

If I may be so bold as to throw in my two cents.
Just listen to the way the man talks and it's very easy to see he really likes using some words that not everyone uses. I too use randomly out of place words when I feel like it. Do I use apropos? No. At least not yet but I now have one more word to through into my vocabulary and I will use it where apropos. That doesn't sound right but oh well I'll figure out in time. I'm sure that as a writer he has come across many different words to use in his arsenal and his nature of using creative analogies and the like will build upon itself to the point where he just uses it as it pops into his head.

I will not disagree that Yhatee is an intelligent person. My complaint stems from his decision to use it in favor of more commonplace words. Why not use "on the subject" or "by the way" in his sentence?

If you have taken a professional writing course, you learn that what you write is as much about what you don't say as what you do. Esoteric words sound impressive but distract the reader (as it did me), more so if you don't know what the word means, and adverbs are like nuggets of redundancy. People with large vocabularies don't need big words anyways; that same knowledge gives them plenty of alternatives without resorting to fancier words.

Also may I say that it's a little hypocritical that you're calling him pretentious whereas you're arguing that he is not the person you think he is because you are aware of a word that most other people are not while citing your knowledge of the subject to ehwac. Not trying to be offensive or anything just throwing it out there.

If I were citing my knowledge to ehwac to impress him or someone else, I'd be pretentious, but I was using what I knew to counter his arguements, which I felt were very uninformed. I will admit to patronizing him, though.

 

[VyseRogueKing]

*Laughs* I spell calendar wrong all the time, but you spelled it wrong when you tried to correct me, too. None of us are coming out of this unscathed. *Laughs*

D'oh you're quite right. I guess we both screwed up a little there. ^.^;

I will not disagree that Yhatee is an intelligent person. My complaint stems from his decision to use it in favor of more commonplace words. Why not use "on the subject" or "by the way" in his sentence?

That's just the type of person he is or at least the persona he conveys. At least that's what I think.

If you have taken a professional writing course, you learn that what you write is as much about what you don't say as what you do. Esoteric words sound impressive but distract the reader (as it did me), more so if you don't know what the word means, and adverbs are like nuggets of redundancy. People with large vocabularies don't need big words anyways; that same knowledge gives them plenty of alternatives without resorting to fancier words.

I have not taken a professional writing course but that is definitely a fact I need to take down. And I can see how it would faze readers especially when the purpose of the article was to get the point across.

If I were citing my knowledge to ehwac to impress him or someone else, I'd be pretentious, but I was using what I knew to counter his arguements, which I felt were very uninformed. I will admit to patronizing him, though.

I see. You've seemed to have answered everything and I wholly understand your point. It is a bit unnecessary to have used apropos and that it would probably would've helped if he had gone about a different way of saying it. However, I still hold my stance on that he chose the word out of his mind rather than decided to look it up and said, "Hey, that sounds like a cool word to use." Now you can go on with your regularly scheduled argument with ehwac.

 

[Kegluneq]

I will not disagree that Yhatee is an intelligent person. My complaint stems from his decision to use it in favor of more commonplace words. Why not use "on the subject" or "by the way" in his sentence?

...Because that's not what the phrase 'apropos of nothing' means? It's a more elegant way of saying that something was said or done with no apparent cause, and the expression would be readily recognisable to a speaker of British English. It's only pretentious if you don't know what it means. :/

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Gasp! Yahtzee, saying Kinect has potential? How could it possibly be? It's almost like him saying that Heavy Rain's odd control scheme had potential, or seeing how a variant of game could arouse in others the same emotions he feels from placing a small mass of lead between someone's eyes from a kilometer away with a reasonable rifle!

In all seriousness, the comments related to the use of the word apropos are making me laugh and cringe in equal measure. Someone chose to use a word that is roughly synonymous, rather than exactingly equivalent! Sacrebleu! Oh, how ever shall the world manage to cope? Oh, right, they'll gripe about it on the internet, while pedants like me laugh at their quibbles.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

D'oh you're quite right. I guess we both screwed up a little there. ^.^;

*Chuckle* I think this discussion has cost us all Sanity and IQ points.

I have not taken a professional writing course but that is definitely a fact I need to take down. And I can see how it would faze readers especially when the purpose of the article was to get the point across.

I know that they teach it, but I cannot honestly say I learned it from a writing course. I think I myself learned it from Stephen King's book On Writing. *Laughs*

I see. You've seemed to have answered everything and I wholly understand your point. It is a bit unnecessary to have used apropos and that it would probably would've helped if he had gone about a different way of saying it. However, I still hold my stance on that he chose the word out of his mind rather than decided to look it up and said, "Hey, that sounds like a cool word to use." Now you can go on with your regularly scheduled argument with ehwac.

Nah, I've been bickering on forums all day, I've gone crosseyed.

I will say this though, to discredit my own arguement. I've trained myself to notice words, and I think that mentality made a big flaming mountain out of a molehill. Really, I'm arguing whether one person's use of a word makes him a snob. And I admit, I did it as much smug as I could bring to bear. I think it's best I just drop the whole issue and pull my head out of my own puckered posterior.

And I'll also thank you VyseRogueKing, for being the sensible voice of reason I wasn't. It helped me find a proper perspective.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

...Because that's not what the phrase 'apropos of nothing' means? It's a more elegant way of saying that something was said or done with no apparent cause, and the expression would be readily recognisable to a speaker of British English. It's only pretentious if you don't know what it means. :/

Well in that case he's using slang, old slang and one that has ingrained itself into the modern vocabulary but slang just the same. The same way "pretentious" now means ignorant people acting like they know something, when it just used to mean people trying too hard to impress or acting important without warrant.

Pretty much just invalidates the whole discussion, that.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I don't like the idea of taking your hand off the controller in order to use a pretty big feature of the game.

I think they should make a Rainbow Six kind of game with Kinect functionality. Imagine moving through a building in a wide spread pack, issuing commands through voice control. Then say, 'Taylor, you and Johnson breach the door on the East side, Hibbert, you and I will take the West door, on my mark *count down* - Breach. That would also help spice up the Military FPS scene and give a great sense of immersion.

I'm not buying a Kinect until something a little more mainstream comes along for it. Star Wars doesn't count because I won't actually be holding anything.

 

[PsiMatrix]

Extra Punctuation: What Kinect Can Do

"As much as a depressing number of my commenters might argue, you can't really condemn a game or gaming system just off what you've heard about it. Sooner or later you're going to have to at least check to make sure, or you're no better than Fox News."

Yes you can. As you said way back when it was Project Na-tal; most gamers want to play games to relax, using the least amount of movements between thought and action. One of the blurbs for Kinect is "You are the controller!" and even then, as you yourself say, it doesn't even do it very well.

Besides Fox News would say it causes cancer or makes your testicles drop off just because it may possibly have happened to a guy who in an unrelated incident was also caught cheating on his wife.

 

[Kegluneq]

I think they should make a Rainbow Six kind of game with Kinect functionality. Imagine moving through a building in a wide spread pack, issuing commands through voice control. Then say, 'Taylor, you and Johnson breach the door on the East side, Hibbert, you and I will take the West door, on my mark *count down* - Breach. That would also help spice up the Military FPS scene and give a great sense of immersion.

Hand signals are a pretty important part of those kind of missions, and would be far more realistic for giving those orders than saying them out loud. Ideally, you could hold a particular button to signal to the game that you were going to use hand signals (crouch, probably), then you could use gestures to direct your team members. This could be done one handed, so one hand stays on the controller/gun. That would be immersive as hell but I don't know if the Kinect has the sensitivity needed to reliably see individual fingers.

 

[w00tage]

Yahtzee's comment on actions that aren't peripheral to gameplay brought up a memory. In the earliest days of City of Heroes, characters that chose flight as a power had to actually learn how to fly. The character literally couldn't fly a straight line, couldn't keep their altitude, crashed and took damage, etc.

I missed that time of the game, but it sounds like exactly the kind of thing that a motion controller would make into even more fun than it apparently was.