Microsoft patents in-game guides, video help

Didin't nintendo do that first?

I'm somewhat skeptical about how well the developer made guides will fair. Most of the time user made guides trump any of that paid-for crap. User made guides can be really detailed, informative, comprehensive. They can also be quick, simple, straight to the point. Paid-for guides tend to beat around the bush just for the sake of filling up pages, miss out on important information, are almost never updated and eventually become outdated. User made guides are often updated by the creator, a third party, or are replaced with a new user made guide.

if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

^+10
I was never expecting to see this.

Originally posted by DXR88:

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if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

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Originally posted by DXR88:

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if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

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Nope, just to see what the unlockables are

p.s.
only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8

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Originally posted by DXR88:

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if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

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Nope, just to see what the unlockables are

p.s.
only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8

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Most of which are in the game and are described....

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Originally posted by DXR88:

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if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

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Nope, just to see what the unlockables are

p.s.
only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8

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Most of which are in the game and are described....

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Yes, but not always. Ever try tracking down the last few pigeons in liberty city without a map? How about the last few flags in Assassin's Creed? It would take you forever without a guide.

It would be nice if PS3 added a feature like readyboost...where you can use an fast USB drive as extra memory to run the web browser...then you wouldn't need any special stuff; people could just go to PSN/IGN/etc...

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Originally posted by DXR88:

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if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

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Originally posted by ZippyDSM:

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Well whats the point of a closed OS if they can;t make you go through it?

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Originally posted by DXR88:

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if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

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Nope, just to see what the unlockables are

p.s.
only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8

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Most of which are in the game and are described....

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Yes, but not always. Ever try tracking down the last few pigeons in liberty city without a map? How about the last few flags in Assassin's Creed? It would take you forever without a guide.

It would be nice if PS3 added a feature like readyboost...where you can use an fast USB drive as extra memory to run the web browser...then you wouldn't need any special stuff; people could just go to PSN/IGN/etc...

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I am very puzzled by the actions of the US patent office these days.. surely the words "similar to xxxx method" proves pre-existing technology that is essentially the same?
That is usually enough to get a patent thrown out, or used to be when we lived in the real world, not the US fantasy island we are currently exposed to.

Originally posted by scum101:

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I am very puzzled by the actions of the US patent office these days.. surely the words "similar to xxxx method" proves pre-existing technology that is essentially the same?
That is usually enough to get a patent thrown out, or used to be when we lived in the real world, not the US fantasy island we are currently exposed to.

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The original goal of the patent office was to promote the development of new ideas by protecting the rights to those ideas, and thus making the development a good investment.

The current goal of the patent office is to protect corporate interests while stealing from the creators.

If you are a big corporation who does not patent an idea, and someone comes along and starts making the same thing, you can take them to court and either force them to stop making it, or to give you royalties.

If you are an individual or the owner of a small business, and you have a rock-solid patent, and some corporation starts making the same thing, you can bring them to court, but you will loose. This has been shown time and again...microsoft even seems to take pride in their ability to crush a company who steals from them, while at the same time crushing those who they stole the same code from.

The patent office is just another part of the US government...and the US government's goal is to go against the will and well being of the people whenever possible.

Originally posted by KillerBug:

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The original goal of the patent office was to promote the development of new ideas by protecting the rights to those ideas, and thus making the development a good investment.

The current goal of the patent office is to protect corporate interests while stealing from the creators.

If you are a big corporation who does not patent an idea, and someone comes along and starts making the same thing, you can take them to court and either force them to stop making it, or to give you royalties.

If you are an individual or the owner of a small business, and you have a rock-solid patent, and some corporation starts making the same thing, you can bring them to court, but you will loose. This has been shown time and again...microsoft even seems to take pride in their ability to crush a company who steals from them, while at the same time crushing those who they stole the same code from.

The patent office is just another part of the US government...and the US government's goal is to go against the will and well being of the people whenever possible.

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People seem to be overreacting to this. Many games already included their own guide system in one way or another. Chillax.