Åsmund Skjæveland (from FIX) wrote this on his weblog some time ago. I think it is a nice round-up of our long-gone debate on the whole "WHOA! NASA’s on Mars!" ordeal;
"More future. Big deal. Our space program amounts to… driving remote-controlled little buggys on Mars. Where are the space elevators? Where are the wheels? Where are the lunar bases? Where are the far-side telescopes? Where, oh, where, are the death stars? This future sux."
With this in mind, read Dave Kosak‘s review of The Mars Spirit Rover where he slaughters the game due to latency, poor gameplay and more:
(Excerpt)
The problems start right out of the box. I’m normally a fan of extensive documentation, but the rover’s 14,000-page manuals and contingency instructions felt excessive for the casual gamer. Especially for a mission that’s basically derivative of the old Lunar Lander videogame from the 70s. It’s as if NASA was looking for a way to justify the 800-million-dollar-plus retail price (yes, it’s even more expensive than Steel Battalion for the Xbox). "Look guys," I said, chucking a heavy binder to the floor, "this isn’t rocket science."
The JPL guys shifted uncomfortably. "Yes … it is," they replied.