Gaming BS of the week

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...and-theft-auto-4s-sudden-delisting-from-steam
Rockstar explains Grand Theft Auto 4's sudden delisting from Steam

Rockstar explained it was forced to suspend sales of GTA4 on Steam simply because it's now "no longer possible to generate the additional keys needed to continue selling the current version of the game", given that Microsoft has officially ended support for the Games for Windows Live platform baked into the title.
Instead of removing the DRM notorious for being so horrible Microsoft themself decided to ditch it, Rockstar, the #1 gaming company when it comes to respect towards the PC audience, decided to chop the game's head off.

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https://www.pcgamer.com/the-ssd-was-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-pc-hardware-in-the-last-decade/
The SSD was the best thing to happen to PC hardware in the last decade
Is it?
And would it be if there wasn't SATA3? I mean, you can plug your SSD in an ancient SATA2 PC and will you see any difference? Speaking about standards, isn't PCIe 3.0 even better thing?
If we'll go hardware and not interface, why is SSD better than GDDR5 and modern GPUs? Those won't work without it maybe?
What about UEFI replacing BIOS? Good luck with your 4Tb SSD on BIOS motherboard.
And finally what about Ryzen CPU series? So much bang for buck any person could have hoped for is irrelevant. Oh wait, the article comes from i9 shills site.
etc etc

I'm saying every single new tech with affordable prices was the best thing that happened to PC in past decade. Because of tech galloping forward while getting cheaper more people decided to buy PC and not something else. An article to single out one thing is plain bs.
 
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It is no more or less BS then game of the year, movie of the year or pretty much any other similar discussion. So why label this BS and not your frequently odd commentary on 'great' movies which is even stranger and more adhoc than this article ?

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-ssd-was-the-best-thing-to-happen-to-pc-hardware-in-the-last-decade/

I'm saying every single new tech with affordable prices was the best thing that happened to PC in past decade. Because of tech galloping forward while getting cheaper more people decided to buy PC and not something else. An article to single out one thing is plain bs.
 
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https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...ers-premium-mobile-models-and-western-markets
11 years ago, Bill Wang was working with Perfect World to bring its MMO of the same name to international audiences. At the time, he says, it was easy to launch a free-to-play game in the West.

Wang isn't with Perfect World anymore, having accepted a new role just over a year ago as head of Shanghai-based Giant Network's new US business: Giant Games.

"People used to think there was a big quality gap between mobile games and console games. But today, the gap has gotten much smaller"
The word "quality" gets redefined by former PWE (rotfl) employee who made a CEO.
For all I know there is no HZD, GoW, Spiderman, etc on phones. Nor will ever be.
 
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I'd say, the complexity and quality of mobile games has certainly improved alot over the last decade. Quite probably a bit faster than console games.

So, yeah, I'd agree that the gap is "smaller". I'd disagree that the gap is no longer "big".
 
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Well I believe this is mostly a by product of phone processors improving as well as additional memory. Some phones have more processing power and memory than a pc. Clearly older games (kotr) run without much optimization on mobile devices so no one should be surprise that a phone can have a quality game. The real issue (imho) is interface. Can you have a quality touch interface for a complex game? I haven't tried bg, kotr or whatever on a mobile device but those who have can decide for themselves if it works. I did try one of Jeff's games on android and truth be told i didn't like the touch interface compared to kb/m.

I'd say, the complexity and quality of mobile games has certainly improved alot over the last decade. Quite probably a bit faster than console games.

So, yeah, I'd agree that the gap is "smaller". I'd disagree that the gap is no longer "big".
 
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Yup, the interface is a problem. BG on an Ipad... well, it works, but its awkward in comparison. Let alone trying this on an even smaller screen.
 
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https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...runch-to-some-degree-through-five-month-delay
Back at E3 2019, I spoke with Cyberpunk 2077 designer Paweł Sasko about hitting the game's now-delayed release date as part of a wide-ranging interview.

"We're pretty comfortable we can deliver on this date and not kill ourselves," he told me at the time. "It's a complex topic. We just love this project and we want to work on it. And if someone was to tell me to stop, or that I didn't need to do something, I'd say - I want to make this better. Am I supposed to agree to something that's worse? I won't. I fucking won't do it. I'll never do it. And the guys here? They'll say the same. We won't agree to release something that's crap. Ever.
And then the media learns CDpr is developing WoW killer.
Unless by "not crap" he wants to state their aim is developing mediocre titles.
 
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https://www.england.nhs.uk/2020/01/...g-young-people-into-under-the-radar-gambling/
Country’s top mental health nurse warns video games pushing young people into ‘under the radar’ gambling

NHS mental health director Claire Murdoch has today called on gaming companies to crack down on gambling addiction risks by banning loot boxes from their products.
More and more people who aren't some random pedestrians asked by an irrelevant media outlets about their opinion, people who know their job, are demasking gambling products falsely advertised as videogames.
How many more years has to pass till the law finally reacts?

This above is UK case, but it's not much different elsewhere.
 
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Yup, the interface is a problem. BG on an Ipad… well, it works, but its awkward in comparison. Let alone trying this on an even smaller screen.

This,

The game would have to be the best game I’ve ever seen for me to put up with the limitations of the interface and the small screen area and even then it’s very possible I’d skip it.

Ive given up on mobile gaming. Ive tried several times from easy casual games to Xcom and BG and I just cant get into them. So my mobile device are strictly for web surfing.
 
That's what finally caused me to give my Switch away, it took time, roughly about two years, but I finally realized I just prefer to do all my gaming on my computer. I still have my PSP that I break out on the rare occasions that I'm traveling, but that's the only exception and I seriously doubt I'll ever acquire another console system, portable or otherwise. I'm just a computer nerd at heart.
 
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So my mobile device are strictly for web surfing.
I've started to avoid that.
Not sure if I wrote this before. All of my team at work (different ages) except one who didn't use phone for browsing got our eyesight worsen.
The last live meeting was totally silly. All of us except one at one point (wall presentation) drew out glasses. Two years ago, noone needed 'em.

Maybe I'm delusional and the cause is not browsing on phones, but there is a reason why I think it is. If I read news on the phone for a while and then look away, my eyes produce the same effect as if I watched the sun directly for a few seconds (because sun staring kills some cells in the eye, forgot exact details).

Hopefully this will get researched so we can find out if what I just said is true or bs. ;)
 
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I've started to avoid that.
Not sure if I wrote this before. All of my team at work (different ages) except one who didn't use phone for browsing got our eyesight worsen.
The last live meeting was totally silly. All of us except one at one point (wall presentation) drew out glasses. Two years ago, noone needed 'em.

Maybe I'm delusional and the cause is not browsing on phones, but there is a reason why I think it is. If I read news on the phone for a while and then look away, my eyes produce the same effect as if I watched the sun directly for a few seconds (because sun staring kills some cells in the eye, forgot exact details).

Hopefully this will get researched so we can find out if what I just said is true or bs. ;)

Maybe there’s some truth to that. I’m 48 and had perfect vision for 45 of those years but have seen a decline in recent years. Thought it was just age...But, Maybe.
 
https://gizmodo.com/you-soon-wont-be-able-to-play-eas-official-tetris-game-1841155666
You Soon Won't Be Able to Play EA's Official Tetris Game On Your iPhone

In a stark reminder that you rarely actually own anything you buy digitally, Electronic Arts’ iOS Tetris games will not only be disappearing from the App Store on April 21, but the games themselves will no longer be playable on iPhones and iPads—even if you paid for them.
Players opening either game on their iOS devices are now greeted with a pop-up message that’s also included in the “What’s New” section of both Tetris Premium and Tetris Blitz’s listings in the iOS App Store warning them that the countdown on each title has officially begun
Luckily, you don't buy phonegames. If you pay for anything there, it's lootboxes, am I correct? :)
 
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I should watch all 3 cubes over again. I haven't seen them since they came out but they created enough of an impression I always smile when I see Vincenzo Natali's name.
 
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Nah. Watch the first one, ignore sequels, both were letdown.
 
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https://www.pcgamesn.com/gambling-games-lawsuit
A pair of bipartisan bills introduced in the Washington state legislature aim to protect game developers from class action lawsuits. The bills, introduced in the state’s Senate and House of Representatives, each amend the definition of “illegal gambling games” in existing state law to specifically exclude most videogames.

The amended text would read: “For purposes of this section, ‘illegal gambling games’ does not include online games of chance when played solely for entertainment purposes with virtual items if such virtual items may be used only for gameplay and may not be, per the terms of service of the game, transferred, exchanged, or redeemed for money or property.”

That would certainly include loot boxes, as most games with loot box systems forbid the trade of virtual goods through their terms of service. The reasoning here is similar to that used by the UK Gambling Commission in 2017, when the organisation declared that loot boxes are not gambling as they can’t be cashed out for real-world money. (Though UK sentiment is far from settled, as the NHS mental health director has suggested loot boxes “encourage children to gamble.”)
The (gambling) empire strikes back.

How many years have to pass till the jedi returns?
 
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