Greetings. Been while since I last posted. Between classwork and becoming a streamer at our affiliates Casualbros, I've not been writing much, and I apologize for that. However my streams did bring up a good topic to expand on because of what I had been streaming.
That of which. is old games.
I've been streaming several old games. From my ongoing Silent Hill series, to a heavily modded Oblivion, to even NES games, And it begs the question as well as its been asked once or twice "why not something more recent?"
Why not indeed. Its going to sound extremely "googles" for me to say some of these things but I am going to anyway. Its because these games never feel like a chore to play. These old games. cause they are complete and untainted, its never wearing on my conscious if I should be enjoying them. Modern games I truly feel guilty any time I find any enjoyment in them, cause what they are vessels for, usually the latest scam attempting to become market commonplace. Its a moral conflict as an adult, "do I just blindly accept these horrible changes and mindlessly enjoy the games like so many do? Or do I try to change things for the better and try to stop these scam vessels from gaining ground?" and it depresses me to think how we got here. Because with games of old I didn't have to make this choice. The games were just "games" as it should be.
So it comes to no surprise that I go back to old games and modding old games to keep them fresh rather than play new. I know this is becoming very tired/blue in the face on this blog, but the thing stopping modern game from being good is the fact is their modern games. Those AAA+ 4star "Brollywood" production budgets that deem the game a failure if it didn't sell over 5 million games, everything wrong with gaming today. I personally long for the day gaming leaves the mainstream eye again, but that will likely never happen, or at least not without some massive changes.
Regardless I sit back in my chair, much like a angry grandfather in his rocker, and reminisce about times of old. However its not all negative, amazingly from my streams I've found many support my views about the direction the market is going, gives me some hope. And if you ever wish to join these discussions first hand. be sure to visit sometimes.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Random Musings of a Gaming Generation
Happy New Year to all, I hope your holidays were safe, enjoyable and of course, fun. Apologies for the lack of content over the holidays, we need holidays too!
That aside. This is going to come off as a lot of ramble... At this time of year, like in the November/December period, I usually stop to look at upcoming games, or the games coming out for the holidays and such. At this time of year, 2-3 years ago, I sat here and browsed through the upcoming ps2/xbox/GC game lists and would usually see at least 10 or more games on the upcoming lists for the year that I'd have an interest in. Today I sit here looking at the upcoming lists for the year, and see barely a handful, if even that.
It just makes me wonder how did we ever get to this point? Looking back over a decade ago at last few generations of games, there are many games I look at fondly, and am proud to own. Ever since the PS360 generation, there is not a single purchase I can look at proudly... Instead I look at these titles and think of how much cut content DLC or disc locked content is in the game, and how we will never own a complete game.
Steam had an awesome holiday sale, as they usually do. My wallet is on life support because of it. I look at the 30-40 odd games I bought during the sale, and they all had one thing in common: Every single title is at least a generation old, if not older, and contains no Withheld Content/Disc Locked Content. Guess what? Those old games, like Neverwinter Nights 2, are still going to be far superior games to anything comparable in the same generation from the current gen. Why? Simple.
1) They are complete games.
2) They have no scam DLC
3) They contain LAN play, or options to run a server. Using NWN2 as an example, the game's shining point is multiplayer and custom content/3rd party mods/3rd party created content. All of which *gasp* IS NOT COMPRISED of nickel and dime scam DLC.
Lets look back at the current PS360 generation. Has there been a single complete game released, at all, for the 2009-2010 period? At all? Just one?... I for one am unable to think of a SINGLE MAJOR TITLE that does not contain withheld content/disc locked content DLC. Every single major game released in the last period was prevented from becoming great games by the fact they were loaded with enough cut/scam content to leave a nasty taste in the mouth.
I used to have a saying applicable to MMORPG's, especiallyfree2play free2pay MMORPG's:
"The only thing preventing MMO's from being great games, are the fact they are MMO."
There are a lot of MMO's out there, which, if the core game were made into a single player WITH optional multiplayer game, or a multiplayer game that could be hosted via dedicated 3rd party servers... would be a lot better game than they are in the MMO form. Yes, you do lose the huge fantastic persistent world of most of these games... and you lose the 'crowd' and high population... but if you consider that a large percentage of these games are populated by BR's with terribad english, nothing of value was lost at all.
Now I have to amend that statement somewhat to apply to almost any current, and upcoming gen major title.
"The only thing stopping any modern game from being a great game is the fact it's not a complete game."
The era of DLC potentially had a lot of promise. It was a way for developers to fix bugs discovered post-master. It was a way to deliver ADDITIONAL new content. The potential was there, everyone saw the promise it held. But what it should have been, and what it is are always two different things. So far the DLC era has been an excuse to allow for developers to release unfinished games such as Fallout: New Vegas (day one bugs, anybody?) with more cut/withheld content in the pipeline to come. It's also been nothing but a convenient vessel for developers/publishers such as Bioware to release chopped up bits of games such as Dragon Age and the upcoming Dragon Age 2... Announcing DLC even before the game has shipped? What do you think you are? An MMO?!
We understand that devs and publishers have to earn money. Fine, nobody wants to work for free. But, while you (devs/publishers) may believe that your work is worth $100+ per title... We, the gaming public, believe otherwise. So far you have given us more and more reasons to not buy, or to pirate your games, than to buy your games. Of course you're going to stand up on your soapboxes when you're only able to afford one Ferrari this year instead of two and scream that piracy killed the gaming industry... But, more and more gamers who didn't grow up during the DLC era are looking back at the quality we used to have, and the unfinished crap released as finished games today... and wondering what the hell went wrong.
Where did we go wrong indeed? How did such a promising vessel (DLC) for quality turn into nothing but a vessel for cash scamming/grabbing without a care or pride for the game itself? Even on PHONES now, you have 'in-app' purchases... which is... yep... more scam DLC. More and more games on the iPhone App Store are now coming out as PAID titles WITH a 'premium' cash shop inside. Gamevil and Capcom I'm looking at you here. The fact that the scam DLC era has moved to PHONES is beyond sad.
So, happy new year... I'm sitting here looking at the upcoming release lists for the year and trying to spot complete games being sold. Someone let me know when they see one. It looks like I may finally be able to save money, as all the cash grabbing, DLC scamming companies like Bioware, Capcom, Bandai Namco, EA, Activision and many more... are just so drop dead insistent on pushing away my business by choosing to not sell a complete game.
I don't know whether if all of this cash bleeding is deliberate foolishness or if they just truly, honestly do not get it. Do they honestly think that people have money hidden away somewhere, or a money tree in the backyard and by using the current dlc scams/cash bleeding tactics they are... that they're actually going to somehow magically get access to this hidden stash? I've ranted and hated on the scams they pull many times but often I am also left seriously wondering: Do these companies HONESTLY not get it?
People aren't really hiding or withholding cash the way you companies withhold content... Most gamers have a budget set aside for X number of games a year. They WON'T spend more than that budget allows simply because it's outside the budget. If a gamer had $120 put aside to buy 2 games in the upcoming quarter, and then he realizes both games he wants are unfinished/chopped up games with cut content... Do you honestly think he's going to continue to spend the $120 on both games and then SOMEHOW magically pull out MORE money to buy all the cut content DLC? Sorry, that isn't the case... What the guy is going to do is going to weigh up the two games he wanted, buy the one he wants more, and then buy the cut content... So out of that $120 he was going to spend, he would have spent $60 on one of the two games he wanted, and then maybe an additional $20-30 or maybe even $40 if it's a Sucktivision game on the cut content... and just go without the other until the budget allows or it falls into the budget bin. So out of $120 that he would have spent on two complete games, one company has lost out completely on a sale and the other company has gotten maybe $100... indeed the lion's share of his gaming budget, IN ADDITION to leaving a nasty, scammed, bitter taste in that gamer's mouth which most likely is going to deter him from buying any future titles from that same company.
At the end of it all, the gamer loses out because he had to pay more for less, and got scammed/burnt... The company may have 'won' by getting him to spend $100 on one game instead of $60... But they lose the war in the long run when the gamer decides to stay away from X company due to being burnt by scam content the first time. Rather than keep the gamer happy and constantly coming back for more and more new titles, you bleed them so hard on ONE sale, you'll get your pound of flesh, and then they never come back.
Penny wise, pound foolish. Do these companies honestly not get it?... It boggles the mind sometimes.
I wonder how it will be next year... Or will we be in the age of paying $20 for a title screen and $5 for the ability to Press Start, and then an additional $5 for the ability to begin gameplay... and $10 to save your game. When the PS360 generation dies, is the next generation going to require you to pay $1000 for a console, and then pay $20 to even be allowed to turn it on, and another $20 to create an online account to use the console at all... and then another $20 to be allowed to insert the disc, and from there... another $20 to see the title screen?
I know for a fact I will not be buying into the 'next gen' of gaming. I also know an increasing number of people are starting to feel the same way. I suppose it's a good thing that there were so many quality games released in the last few generations... With this current gen sucking more and more, and the future looking bleaker and bleaker... it's a great time to go back and play the older titles I put aside as a 'I'll get around to this someday'.
That aside. This is going to come off as a lot of ramble... At this time of year, like in the November/December period, I usually stop to look at upcoming games, or the games coming out for the holidays and such. At this time of year, 2-3 years ago, I sat here and browsed through the upcoming ps2/xbox/GC game lists and would usually see at least 10 or more games on the upcoming lists for the year that I'd have an interest in. Today I sit here looking at the upcoming lists for the year, and see barely a handful, if even that.
It just makes me wonder how did we ever get to this point? Looking back over a decade ago at last few generations of games, there are many games I look at fondly, and am proud to own. Ever since the PS360 generation, there is not a single purchase I can look at proudly... Instead I look at these titles and think of how much cut content DLC or disc locked content is in the game, and how we will never own a complete game.
Steam had an awesome holiday sale, as they usually do. My wallet is on life support because of it. I look at the 30-40 odd games I bought during the sale, and they all had one thing in common: Every single title is at least a generation old, if not older, and contains no Withheld Content/Disc Locked Content. Guess what? Those old games, like Neverwinter Nights 2, are still going to be far superior games to anything comparable in the same generation from the current gen. Why? Simple.
1) They are complete games.
2) They have no scam DLC
3) They contain LAN play, or options to run a server. Using NWN2 as an example, the game's shining point is multiplayer and custom content/3rd party mods/3rd party created content. All of which *gasp* IS NOT COMPRISED of nickel and dime scam DLC.
Lets look back at the current PS360 generation. Has there been a single complete game released, at all, for the 2009-2010 period? At all? Just one?... I for one am unable to think of a SINGLE MAJOR TITLE that does not contain withheld content/disc locked content DLC. Every single major game released in the last period was prevented from becoming great games by the fact they were loaded with enough cut/scam content to leave a nasty taste in the mouth.
I used to have a saying applicable to MMORPG's, especially
"The only thing preventing MMO's from being great games, are the fact they are MMO."
There are a lot of MMO's out there, which, if the core game were made into a single player WITH optional multiplayer game, or a multiplayer game that could be hosted via dedicated 3rd party servers... would be a lot better game than they are in the MMO form. Yes, you do lose the huge fantastic persistent world of most of these games... and you lose the 'crowd' and high population... but if you consider that a large percentage of these games are populated by BR's with terribad english, nothing of value was lost at all.
Now I have to amend that statement somewhat to apply to almost any current, and upcoming gen major title.
"The only thing stopping any modern game from being a great game is the fact it's not a complete game."
The era of DLC potentially had a lot of promise. It was a way for developers to fix bugs discovered post-master. It was a way to deliver ADDITIONAL new content. The potential was there, everyone saw the promise it held. But what it should have been, and what it is are always two different things. So far the DLC era has been an excuse to allow for developers to release unfinished games such as Fallout: New Vegas (day one bugs, anybody?) with more cut/withheld content in the pipeline to come. It's also been nothing but a convenient vessel for developers/publishers such as Bioware to release chopped up bits of games such as Dragon Age and the upcoming Dragon Age 2... Announcing DLC even before the game has shipped? What do you think you are? An MMO?!
We understand that devs and publishers have to earn money. Fine, nobody wants to work for free. But, while you (devs/publishers) may believe that your work is worth $100+ per title... We, the gaming public, believe otherwise. So far you have given us more and more reasons to not buy, or to pirate your games, than to buy your games. Of course you're going to stand up on your soapboxes when you're only able to afford one Ferrari this year instead of two and scream that piracy killed the gaming industry... But, more and more gamers who didn't grow up during the DLC era are looking back at the quality we used to have, and the unfinished crap released as finished games today... and wondering what the hell went wrong.
Where did we go wrong indeed? How did such a promising vessel (DLC) for quality turn into nothing but a vessel for cash scamming/grabbing without a care or pride for the game itself? Even on PHONES now, you have 'in-app' purchases... which is... yep... more scam DLC. More and more games on the iPhone App Store are now coming out as PAID titles WITH a 'premium' cash shop inside. Gamevil and Capcom I'm looking at you here. The fact that the scam DLC era has moved to PHONES is beyond sad.
So, happy new year... I'm sitting here looking at the upcoming release lists for the year and trying to spot complete games being sold. Someone let me know when they see one. It looks like I may finally be able to save money, as all the cash grabbing, DLC scamming companies like Bioware, Capcom, Bandai Namco, EA, Activision and many more... are just so drop dead insistent on pushing away my business by choosing to not sell a complete game.
I don't know whether if all of this cash bleeding is deliberate foolishness or if they just truly, honestly do not get it. Do they honestly think that people have money hidden away somewhere, or a money tree in the backyard and by using the current dlc scams/cash bleeding tactics they are... that they're actually going to somehow magically get access to this hidden stash? I've ranted and hated on the scams they pull many times but often I am also left seriously wondering: Do these companies HONESTLY not get it?
People aren't really hiding or withholding cash the way you companies withhold content... Most gamers have a budget set aside for X number of games a year. They WON'T spend more than that budget allows simply because it's outside the budget. If a gamer had $120 put aside to buy 2 games in the upcoming quarter, and then he realizes both games he wants are unfinished/chopped up games with cut content... Do you honestly think he's going to continue to spend the $120 on both games and then SOMEHOW magically pull out MORE money to buy all the cut content DLC? Sorry, that isn't the case... What the guy is going to do is going to weigh up the two games he wanted, buy the one he wants more, and then buy the cut content... So out of that $120 he was going to spend, he would have spent $60 on one of the two games he wanted, and then maybe an additional $20-30 or maybe even $40 if it's a Sucktivision game on the cut content... and just go without the other until the budget allows or it falls into the budget bin. So out of $120 that he would have spent on two complete games, one company has lost out completely on a sale and the other company has gotten maybe $100... indeed the lion's share of his gaming budget, IN ADDITION to leaving a nasty, scammed, bitter taste in that gamer's mouth which most likely is going to deter him from buying any future titles from that same company.
At the end of it all, the gamer loses out because he had to pay more for less, and got scammed/burnt... The company may have 'won' by getting him to spend $100 on one game instead of $60... But they lose the war in the long run when the gamer decides to stay away from X company due to being burnt by scam content the first time. Rather than keep the gamer happy and constantly coming back for more and more new titles, you bleed them so hard on ONE sale, you'll get your pound of flesh, and then they never come back.
Penny wise, pound foolish. Do these companies honestly not get it?... It boggles the mind sometimes.
I wonder how it will be next year... Or will we be in the age of paying $20 for a title screen and $5 for the ability to Press Start, and then an additional $5 for the ability to begin gameplay... and $10 to save your game. When the PS360 generation dies, is the next generation going to require you to pay $1000 for a console, and then pay $20 to even be allowed to turn it on, and another $20 to create an online account to use the console at all... and then another $20 to be allowed to insert the disc, and from there... another $20 to see the title screen?
I know for a fact I will not be buying into the 'next gen' of gaming. I also know an increasing number of people are starting to feel the same way. I suppose it's a good thing that there were so many quality games released in the last few generations... With this current gen sucking more and more, and the future looking bleaker and bleaker... it's a great time to go back and play the older titles I put aside as a 'I'll get around to this someday'.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Holiday Woes and Joys
First off I hope everyone out there is enjoying their holidays. Been pretty decent here, got to see my sister and nephews, pigged out on plenty of holiday feasts, been genuinely good. Now its a time for a run down of holiday gaming.
The Good: Steam Christmas sales are in full swing, this being the first one I've ever partaken in, I feel I am like a small child again buying all these massive numbers of games for cheap. To those that never have been around for a steam year end sale, it honestly is incredible. quite literally over a thousand games all for %ages off to same degree, many to the point of "absolute steal". I've already scored many games I've been meaning to pick up due in part to these sales. Of course there were some absolute fails I skipped too. (Assassins Creed for $15. honestly a good buy, BUT I remembered that it would have the same shitty DRM as 1. and that makes it not worth even .50$)
The Bad: How am I not surprised the bad would come from a console yet again. I bought Borderlands GOTY ed. on whim only to get it in the mail and read the cover to receive a very disappointing shock.
"Voucher for all 4 dlcs included"
This was partly my fault, I should have read closer, but come the fuck on, a Voucher!? Why did you think I held off buying this game in the first place Gearbox? Cause I quite frankly wanted digital backup of the game with everything included, so in case say I need to grab them and PSN happens to be down (or even more likely, I decide to get the game back out in around 5 years and PSN support for the game has already been pulled/shelved) I can just pop in the disk and install them.
I know the logic for this, "Vouchers can't end up on a used game shelf." well frankly to that I say "fuck you". Just cause you want to curb used game sale, everyone, including those that never-very rarely have ever traded in games, get to suffer. This is NOT how you do it guys, be prepared to just piss off more gamers.
The Good: Steam Christmas sales are in full swing, this being the first one I've ever partaken in, I feel I am like a small child again buying all these massive numbers of games for cheap. To those that never have been around for a steam year end sale, it honestly is incredible. quite literally over a thousand games all for %ages off to same degree, many to the point of "absolute steal". I've already scored many games I've been meaning to pick up due in part to these sales. Of course there were some absolute fails I skipped too. (Assassins Creed for $15. honestly a good buy, BUT I remembered that it would have the same shitty DRM as 1. and that makes it not worth even .50$)
The Bad: How am I not surprised the bad would come from a console yet again. I bought Borderlands GOTY ed. on whim only to get it in the mail and read the cover to receive a very disappointing shock.
"Voucher for all 4 dlcs included"
This was partly my fault, I should have read closer, but come the fuck on, a Voucher!? Why did you think I held off buying this game in the first place Gearbox? Cause I quite frankly wanted digital backup of the game with everything included, so in case say I need to grab them and PSN happens to be down (or even more likely, I decide to get the game back out in around 5 years and PSN support for the game has already been pulled/shelved) I can just pop in the disk and install them.
I know the logic for this, "Vouchers can't end up on a used game shelf." well frankly to that I say "fuck you". Just cause you want to curb used game sale, everyone, including those that never-very rarely have ever traded in games, get to suffer. This is NOT how you do it guys, be prepared to just piss off more gamers.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Are they even trying?
Being American (hey don't hate me, I didn't want to be born here either) and it being November, my thoughts as any good American turn to Thanksgiving and of course even further to Black Friday, the special day of the year where you can score deals on so many things that over half of the cumulative sales for all American retail for the year are made on that day alone.
Now Video games don't usually do HUGE savings like other products on Black Friday, but they still do try to at least entice a bit usually, so I was keeping an eye on gaming retailers for anything interesting. The biggest one being watched, like them or hate the, of course was Game Stop.
Well finally their ad was leaked and I don't know about you but, unless you like Sports games it was extremely lackluster. Even COLLODOOTY people got nothing for them in this sale. Which bares to me the thought "are they even trying?" or did they just slap together a shitty sale just to make sure people can't say they didn't have one?
One thing is for sure, GameSTOOP doesn't get any money from me this year, and I actually am quite happy with that. They are a horrible company with industry ties and the less money I give them the better. This ended up less an article more a rant but maybe yet amazon or steam may redeem this pretty poor showing for Black Friday goers, I'll try to keep readers posted.
Now Video games don't usually do HUGE savings like other products on Black Friday, but they still do try to at least entice a bit usually, so I was keeping an eye on gaming retailers for anything interesting. The biggest one being watched, like them or hate the, of course was Game Stop.
Well finally their ad was leaked and I don't know about you but, unless you like Sports games it was extremely lackluster. Even COLLODOOTY people got nothing for them in this sale. Which bares to me the thought "are they even trying?" or did they just slap together a shitty sale just to make sure people can't say they didn't have one?
One thing is for sure, GameSTOOP doesn't get any money from me this year, and I actually am quite happy with that. They are a horrible company with industry ties and the less money I give them the better. This ended up less an article more a rant but maybe yet amazon or steam may redeem this pretty poor showing for Black Friday goers, I'll try to keep readers posted.
Is Nothing Safe From Scamcom?
The app in question is called Capcom Arcade. It's effectively a miniature attempt at recreating Microsoft's Game Room for XBLA. A virtual arcade with old and beloved retro classics from yesteryear, when games were great, and games were not vessels for scam locking and cutting of content for the sake of bleeding cash from the customer. The app is a Free* download from the App Store. That's the good part.
Unfortunately that's the only good part.
The app may be free to download, and in Scamcom's own words, they intended it to 'simulate the experience' of going to an arcade in the days when arcades still existed. So to allow for this to happen, guess what... Every game BA DUM TISS... costs tokens to play. You are given 3 free tickets for free plays per day. That entitles you to play any of the 4 games currently featured. On offer are Street Fighter II (the original World Warrior, not Champion Edition), 1942, Ghouls and Ghosts and Commando. All of these are great, great titles in their time, and their value has not diminished today. These are retro classics that really should be played by everyone.
Just don't use this app to do it.When your 3 free tickets run out, you can go to the virtual counter and 'purchase more tokens' to play. Guess how?... Yep, $0.99... lets just say one dollar... per ten tokens. That may sound cheap as games back in the day were a quarter a play, but... That was at the arcade, that had running costs and all that. This is a freaking iPhone game... Having to pay per play on a freaking PHONE GAME is beyond ludicrous. If paying per play isn't your thing, you can always 'buy the arcade machine' for $2.99... which gives you unlimited plays.
So lets see now... For this 'free' game... In order to actually 'own' it, and play it as much as you like when you like, you have to shell out a total of $12. A small amount for a console or PC title but a very princely sum for a mobile app. Not even Street Fighter 4 for iPhone cost that much and SF4 is a VERY worthwhile purchase. Additionally, true to Scamcom's asspain cash bleeding norm nowadays... Included are also a number of 'special features' aka cheats for each title. Back in the days of yesteryear, cheats were unlocked by completing the game, or by entering in a button combination of some sort. In today's scam locked content age, they are unlocked only by Visa or Mastercard. Each 'special feature' costs another dollar, and there are 2 available for SF2, 3 for 1942, 4 for Ghouls and Ghosts and 3 for Commando. So to own this little Free* app outright and to own every aspect and feature of it, you must shell out the RIDICULOUS amount of $24.
Again, to all the blind, brainwashed sheep going BUT IT'S OPTIONAL bla bla yadda yadda spare me your tired old rhetoric. The cheats may be optional but that is HARDLY the point. The point is they EXIST in a cash locked form, that they are even ALLOWED TO EXIST IN THIS FORM, should be a crime in itself.
Oh... Did I mention that even if you were to pay said princely sum... The app contains ADVERTISEMENTS, that cannot be disabled?... Words fail me at this point as to how low Scamcom have fallen in their attempt to scrape for the tiniest nickel from anywhere they can get it.
It's good however that the app is indeed a free download from the Appstore. On the Appstore, you are unable to review or comment on an app until you have purchased it. Free download means anyone can get it and review. Do feel free to get it and give it a one-star review, decrying this poor scam attempt for what it is and deny Scamcom any money from it.
For those of you with a jailbroken iOS device and feel like they absolutely must play the games in this form, there is a CCC.plist file in /var/mobile/Applications/CapcomGame/Preferences that controls the level of scam content locking. Edit the file to look like the example below, and everything shall be laid bare to your whim. The best part? Scamcom saw $0.00 from it as they so rightfully deserve. All is right with the world indeed.
PS: Please do NOT ask me how to access the file. Those with jailbroken iOS devices should know how to access the filesystem. If you don't, it's not my job to teach you. Level up your Google Fu and you will get there, young grasshopper.
*aka the 'Freemium' model. Should be called Feemium. There is no free.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Steam is "causing the death of PC gaming"
There are articles as of late false propaganda being spread as of late by retailers that steam is causing the death of PC gaming. Here, here, and here to cite a few. The claim is that steam has a monopoly on PC gaming and it will usher in the collapse of the market.
Do you remember a time when pc games at brick and mortar stores were more than one shelf stuffed in the back?
Do you remember when they tried to stock the latest and best pc games always?
Do you remember when they bothered to price their pc games fairly according to age and popularity?
I can only answer yes to the first one myself and even then that time was so far back its really reaching into my memory for it. Truth of the matter is this, the gaming industry wanted pc gaming to die along time ago, they seriously tried to kill it.
"But why would they do such a thing?" you ask. Simple. PC gaming, unlike consoles, has freedom.
If anything steam was what saved the PC industry from dying and companies do not like that one bit. So do not believe the lies retailers are spewing about steam killing the PC industry. If you want a more accurate headline here's one.
Steam hurts our console game sales so we can only afford one Ferrari this year instead of two, BAWWWWWWW.
Do you remember a time when pc games at brick and mortar stores were more than one shelf stuffed in the back?
Do you remember when they tried to stock the latest and best pc games always?
Do you remember when they bothered to price their pc games fairly according to age and popularity?
I can only answer yes to the first one myself and even then that time was so far back its really reaching into my memory for it. Truth of the matter is this, the gaming industry wanted pc gaming to die along time ago, they seriously tried to kill it.
"But why would they do such a thing?" you ask. Simple. PC gaming, unlike consoles, has freedom.
- There are communities, large ones, that can mod the game freely, adding days/weeks/months of playtime onto a game. Companies didn't like this one bit, if you are still playing X game even months later how are they going to make you shell out $60-100 every 3 months for their games?
- Full blown piracy exists on the pc. If something is unfair or overpriced, people just steal it. A guy who charges $50 a bottle of water in the desert will get robbed. The open piracy forces companies to be competitive and honest, and they don't like that one bit.
- PC gamers, not trying to start a flame war or insult people, but seriously are generally more educated. they can sort deals from scams, and can patiently wait a market out. Well how is a company supposed to
scamearn record profits when dealing with people like that?
If anything steam was what saved the PC industry from dying and companies do not like that one bit. So do not believe the lies retailers are spewing about steam killing the PC industry. If you want a more accurate headline here's one.
Steam hurts our console game sales so we can only afford one Ferrari this year instead of two, BAWWWWWWW.
Friday, October 29, 2010
The New Face of Advertising; YOU
Now I've never been one to play EA's Need for Speed series, so if not for a friend that does this little nasty new development may have slipped by my sights. He was playing the legitimate demo and soon ran across this and sent me a pic, followed by many wtfs, and the like.
Seriously EA? Are you god damn serious? So to even get to play all of what should be used to "entice me to like the game" I have have to advertise it like a virus for you? Whelp I know what game I'll never buy, and such applies to any other games that do this in the future. This is seriously a new low, but to be quite honest I am not all that surprised.
After all game companies have spent years creating a private army that would defend them to the death in the use of Achievements/Trophies/New Hats. This just seems to me more as a test/cash on that investment. I mean if they can get some stupid joe average to advertise for them, why wouldn't they? All I know is that this will end up driving the rift in the gaming culture even wider, but then, is that so bad? Let the fire and brimstone come, maybe then we can see a reset to the industry that is so desperately needed.
Seriously EA? Are you god damn serious? So to even get to play all of what should be used to "entice me to like the game" I have have to advertise it like a virus for you? Whelp I know what game I'll never buy, and such applies to any other games that do this in the future. This is seriously a new low, but to be quite honest I am not all that surprised.
After all game companies have spent years creating a private army that would defend them to the death in the use of Achievements/Trophies/New Hats. This just seems to me more as a test/cash on that investment. I mean if they can get some stupid joe average to advertise for them, why wouldn't they? All I know is that this will end up driving the rift in the gaming culture even wider, but then, is that so bad? Let the fire and brimstone come, maybe then we can see a reset to the industry that is so desperately needed.
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