Gaming BS of the week

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...ion-5-is-a-niche-product-for-hardcore-players

Sony says PlayStation 5 is a niche product for hardcore players

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Sorry I didn't quote this earlier. I was laughing like crazy past 24 hours after reading that bs. And I want drugs they used while stating it.

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https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...perception-that-were-just-a-bunch-of-bad-guys

EA: "I struggle with the perception that we're just a bunch of bad guys"

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Won't comment this myself, instead, let's see what JS says on EA (and other members of the same "religion"):

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says exclusives “ultimately benefit gamers”

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My guess is that he means that Exclusives generate more profits which in turn can be used to keep a game longer alive ...

In my opinion, Exclusivism is merely capitalism 101, so to, because it does generate more profits - but it is huring society. Or niche societies.

My example tale : In one big Genesis forum´I suggested making a comic out of the slides used by Genesis for display during concerts, as nobody knows them.
A fellow fan dismissed that idea with "not necessary, everybody knows these slides."
How come I don't ? Ah, yes, they were in that box set that was sold 10 years ago when I didn't have the money to buy it ... And now it's gone - as an exclusive, of course ! - and will never be reprinted, so to say. And I'm not willing to feed the greed of some speculator with several hundred of Euros.

So, now, since I'm not able to get that box set, I'm excluded from the society of Genesis fans. I will never truly be one of them. And any tme I might put forth the idea to make a comic out of The Adventures Of Rael, people will say : "Not necessary, because everybody knows the pictures already."

So, that's what Exclusivism finally does : Exclude people from groups.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-07-02-digital-minister-margot-james-defends-loot-boxes

Digital Minister Margot James defends loot boxes
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The UK Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries has disputed that loot boxes constitute gambling, and is keen to avoid uninformed regulation against them.
Margot James MP came before the Commons committee at UK Parliament today as part of the continuing inquiry into immersive and addictive technologies -- and loot boxes dominated much of this afternoon's hearing.

One committee member asked for James' thoughts on loot boxes -- "or, as EA rather bizarrely called them, 'surprise mechanics'," he added -- saying that since the publisher spoke to the committee two weeks ago, he and his colleagues have received correspondence from several gamers claiming the monetisation mechanic is a form of gambling.

He also pointed to stricter rules in the Netherlands and Belgium that have seen loot boxes banned in those regions, and asked if the UK's regulatory bodies "need to catch up and recognise that loot boxes are in fact gambling?"

James said there were "a number of assumptions" in his question she didn't agree with, observing that Belgium and the Netherlands have different rules for offline gambling that have influenced their approach to online. While she refrained from going into specific detail, promising to follow up on this later, she stressed that a key difference is the UK's gambling laws largely revolve around whether something is a game of pure chance.

"The fact that other European countries have taken action I think is much more to do with them taking their offline gambling laws online, and our gambling laws are different," she said.

"I would also contest the assumption that loot boxes are gambling. I don't think the evidence I've read from your committee's hearings would support that assumption either. Loot boxes are a means of people purchasing items, skins, to enhance their gaming experience, not through an expectation of an additional financial reward. And also, more importantly, they can't be traded offline for money. So I think there are big differences, and I don't think really it is true to say loot boxes are gambling."

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Okay, till when this ignorance on highest places will continue? Or perhaps it's corruption/lobbying going on?
Stop torturing ordinary people just because you feel like it.

Ban lootboxes already like Belgium did or restrict products that contain those as Adults Only. The fuss is not there to amuse you, it's there because people want you to pass some bill. Make a new law if necessary or plain decide lootboxes are awsome during your mandate then lose on next elections. Whatever you choose, just make a move, pretty please stop stalling.

To movies/series industry in any country: What's the wait for? Make the bloody, "rather bizarre", gambling criticism masterpiece! I wish Chaplin was still alive.

joxer said:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-07-02-digital-minister-margot-james-defends-loot-boxes


Okay, till when this ignorance on highest places will continue? Or perhaps it's corruption/lobbying going on?
Stop torturing ordinary people just because you feel like it.

Ban lootboxes already like Belgium did or restrict products that contain those as Adults Only.

To movies/series industry in any country: What's the wait for? Make the bloody, "rather bizarre", gambling criticism masterpiece! I wish Chaplin was still alive.

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They are not loot boxes but boxes of chocolate if they generate business and tax/vat.

LOL
You do realize gaming industry companies avoid paying taxes more efficient than Al Capone did?


That aside… You mention chocolate. Some cheeky woman from EA recently talked to UK politicians and bullshitted lootboxes are basically Kinder Surprise in digital form (some previous posts in this thread about "surprise mechanics").

Now turn on imagination. A kid, yours or someone else's, stole your card and you're not aware of it.

Case 1: The thief kid enters a store, buys ALL Kinder Surprise "eggs" and you lose, how much money? What amount of $ is needed to buy all "eggs" from one store?
Imagine now that same kid eating all that chocolate. Health hazard? Well, at least the kid won't die from starvation.

Case 2: The thief kid enters a fraudulent phonegame store and buys ALL lootboxes. Wait… No. Tries to buy all lootboxes. There is no cap - the kid spent all the money possible, not just a part of it.
As this is "digital goods", the kid can't eat anything here, instead dies from starvation, so why is anyone even trying to compare lootboxes with chocolate?

See why I've marked words "rather bizarre" in the previous post? And why am I mentioning ignorance, lobbying and corruptionon the highest places?

Paid shills spread from PCGamer to DSO:
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/amd-...ntel-core-i9-9900k-still-the-best-gaming-cpu/

A couple of days ago, the benchmarks from PCGamesHardware’s review got leaked, suggesting that the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X could beat the Intel Core i9 9900K under certain conditions. However, and based on a lot of third-party benchmarks and reviews, it has become pretty clear that the best/fastest CPU for gaming is still the Intel Core i9 9900K.

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Once again, i9 is not gaming CPU.
It's hotel owners' CPU and hotel owners do not play games, they pay for victory in phonegames.

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Speaking about phonegames, I have to stretch something as it's connected to gaming industry:
https://wccftech.com/huawei-hongmeng-os-faster-android-ios/

Huawei Founder Reportedly Says in Interview That HongMeng OS Is ‘Very Likely’ Faster Than Android or iOS

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Whatever. Will it, unlike android and iOS ban lootboxes? I mean if it won't, why should a normal healthy person switch on it?

EA bankrupts a family, Nintendo refund but EA blame the victims for not taking the proper precautions when providing their small children with a game that's deemed appropriate for small children:

'The kids emptied our bank account playing Fifa'

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Full story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48908766

Jim Sterling made a nice video about it on YouTube and makes the very accurate point that if their game needs careful precautions before letting small children play it then perhaps it's not really suitable for small children and perhaps it's time for FIFA to get a mature rating instead of a 3 rating…

Oh Jim Sterling has a new video about EA and he IMO nailed every single part of it. Note that it's not wholly about lootboxes scam, EA has more sins than just lootboxes. Because the same EA for each and every sleezyness fires some PR bullshit that sounds like "killing a baby for $1 is what corporation has to do", here's the vid:

Everyone's aware of my "love" for mmos. Not just mine it seems as a certain company thinks it's time to reinvent mmos:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-07-09-vela-games-mission-to-reinvent-multiplayer-games

Vela Games' mission to reinvent multiplayer games
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Co-founders of new Dublin studio explain how the win-lose structure breeds toxicity and why co-op should not be an optional extra
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"Once the game is only about winning, then someone has to lose. A win-lose game can contribute to stress and player toxicity in the community"

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WTF philosophy is this? No win and no lose in videogames?
Castration won't redefine mmos, it'll turn them into cowclickers. Cowclickers aren't videogames.

As for toxicity, the major reason I played LoL was laughing on cancer wishing cretins and creative new swears. If others' stupidity aren't funny to some, if learning new swear words isn't someone's lifegoal, well, there are always nochat mmos to play.

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Jordan banned PUBG:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...jordan-fortnite-expected-to-be-banned-as-well

Add Jordan to the list of countries where PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds isn't welcome. According to Jordanian outlet Roya News, the country's Telecommunications Regulatory Commission banned PUBG last week, and is currently planning to ban a half-dozen other games, including Fortnite.
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The PUBG ban came into effect on Thursday, and over the weekend the TRC released a statement explaining the action came after a wave of complaints from citizens and authorities alike. However, the TRC said one of its main reasons for implementing the ban was a World Health Organization study that classified PUBG as a violent game leading to addiction and social isolation, further stating that children who play violent games are more violent than their peers.

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Another bs, another WTF.
I play videogames since Bible was written and I'm tobacco addict not because of videogames. I'm definetly not socially isolated and people I know who are, don't play videogames.
If only they said "the game contains lootboxes" then this ban wouldn't be bs.

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Shenmue3 going to Epic Store exclusivity created some fuss recently, I'm it's KS backer and don't care about storefronts as long as the game is released. Epic later promised to refund each end every backer who doesn't like the exclusivity deal so I guess that matter is settled, but an actual bs undermining crowdfunding in general just appeared:
https://www.onlysp.com/shenmue-iii-...ave-to-purchase-pre-order-content-separately/

Shenmue III Kickstarter Backers Will Have to Purchase Pre-Order Content Separately
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Standard and Deluxe versions released through retail sales are not affiliated with the crowdfunding campaign, so will not be included with backer pledges, however, they will be available for sale separately. Kickstarter Backers will receive the Kickstarter version, Slacker Backers will receive the Slacker Backer version. Both have unique content respective to their versions not available in the retail versions.

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First question I had reading this… There's deluxe edition okay, but… What bloody DLC? I don't remember mentioning any of that bullshit in the KS project - I don't back KS projects with DLC plans. Should I refund right away? Okay, won't, but will drop KS a line that future project should have an obligation to disclose DLC scams if planned so someone like me doesn't step on the turd.

But this other thing can't bring out my soft side. KS backers won't receive preorder bonus automatically but have to pay extra for it. Because technically backing a KS project isn't preordering. Although game wouldn't be possible without us backers.
Well this is some serious bs and if this doesn't change, I'll most probably stop backing anything on KS.
To the one on the publisher side who decided to do this travesty: screw your technicalities, nickle&dime your mother and get off my property.

Alrik Fassbauer said:

My guess is that he means that Exclusives generate more profits which in turn can be used to keep a game longer alive …

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Sweeny says that Epic store gets a 12% cut of the sales where Steam store gets 30%. More money to the developers is better for the developers. The competition might mean Steam lowers its taxes, which would also be good for developers. He says exclusives bring in new customers. For example, Sony often has exclusives for Playstation, such as Bloodborne.

joxer said:

Once again, i9 is not gaming CPU.
It's hotel owners' CPU and hotel owners do not play games, they pay for victory in phonegames.

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Pretty good gaming CPU, though. Just not a cheap one.

I think the days of the mmo's is far behind us all. Even Pantheon, which I hope does well, will likely not even come close to the numbers of Ultima Online and Everquest did, back in the day. That launch/initial six month window is pretty nice for most projects, but the following year of release tends to tell the more accurate tale.

SirJames said:

Sony often has exclusives for Playstation, such as Bloodborne.

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Erm… Neverheard.
For all I know (so far), Sony's PS4 exclusives everyone and their mother should play before dying are HZD and whatever Spiderman game from last year. Well, I'll die ignorant fool as I refuse a vanilla icecream because I love coconut.
The rest of exclusives are trash less worth than a lootbox from phonegames.

Carnifex said:

I think the days of the mmo's is far behind us all.

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Not quite. AAA mmos are out, indie mmos are in. While the battle royale is not at the top any more, I've mentioned auto chess the other day in another thread. It started (yet again) as a mod, got extremely popular and now everyone wants their share in it.
The good thing is gaming media stopped spamming the audience with WoW killer idiocies, the bad thing is now they write about any boring mmo that pays them to advertise it.

joxer said:

Erm… Neverheard.
For all I know (so far), Sony's PS4 exclusives everyone and their mother should play before dying are HZD and whatever Spiderman game from last year. Well, I'll die ignorant fool as I refuse a vanilla icecream because I love coconut.
The rest of exclusives are trash less worth than a lootbox from phonegames.

Not quite. AAA mmos are out, indie mmos are in. While the battle royale is not at the top any more, I've mentioned auto chess the other day in another thread. It started (yet again) as a mod, got extremely popular and now everyone wants their share in it.
The good thing is gaming media stopped spamming the audience with WoW killer idiocies, the bad thing is now they write about any boring mmo that pays them to advertise it.

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Did I spell it wrong or have you been living under a rock?

Yeah, see, console exclusives are a much bigger issue to me, as a PC gamer, than Epic store exclusives. I should think we'd all be used to downloading online distribution apps, by now. EA has their one, Ubisoft has one, Bethesda has one, GoG has one, etc, etc. Epic's is quite unique in that it charges the lowest amount of tax. Sure, I was pissed off in 2004 when I had to install Steam to play Half-life 2, but I've accepted that there would be competitors a long time ago and realised that the only way they could compete would be offering a superior service, either to users or developers/publishers. It seems like Epic is trying to do both. Low tax to developers and free games (that Epic is literally paying for) for the users.

As for MMORPGS, let's wait and see what Amazon does.

SirJames said:

Did I spell it wrong or have you been living under a rock?

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Of course I do.

That aside, the next video is not bs. What's bs is that this video is almost 3 years old - and not a single gaming media reacted to it.



Also, thumbs up on it are plain bs. Well, unless you're a develiper joining the dark side.

Shady G2A got some spotlight recently when a few indie devs suggested to people it's better to pirate their game than buy it from G2A (stolen cards and refund costs case). G2A responded:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-07-12-g2a-proposes-key-blocking-tool

G2A proposes key-blocking tool
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But controversial marketplace wants at least 100 developers to register interest before it begins development

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Whatta bad joke. Instead of being silent or something, G2A is trolling. No indie developer has so much $ to track each and every key in the wild just because some ended up listed on G2A.
In any case this whole bs will hopefully be over with soon. Some big companies like Ubi are developing silent activation methods where an end user doesn't see any key nor enters it anywhere. If it works as intended, this will kill all shady sites, not just G2A.
Note that by Germany laws you should still be able to (re)sell your game, so I'm not quite sure how it'll work in such case - but there won't be suspicious sellers where one person sells 38967593478563 of keys for one game.

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Speaking about Ubisoft…

Ubisoft bans XP farming quests in Assassin's Creed Odyssey's story creator
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Coincidently, publisher continues to sell permanent XP boosts as in-game purchases

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I didn't vote Odyssey in out annualy goty because it contains microtransactions in the full priced game. If I did, I'd now feel ashamed.

https://www.pcgamer.com/gears-of-war-5-cuts-all-references-to-smoking-and-tobacco/

Gears of War 5 cuts all references to smoking and tobacco
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Microsoft and The Coalition worked with an anti-smoking organization to make the game smoke-free.

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What about the smoke coming out of smoking guns ?
But I guess that was never implemented - because smoking guns just don't look shiny enough.

"Generally I think I would prefer not to do exclusives but I understand Epic's position with it, and quite frankly they are paying through the nose to build their store," said Jason. "All credit to them, it's fantastic, and we'll take some of their money, thank you very much."

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...is-paying-through-the-nose-to-build-its-store

I still do stand to my point : Exclusivism is good for those who profit from capitalism, but in the end it destroys societies - especially societies of fans.