Sho wish Nintendo was this smart.

Microsoft selling Kinect-less xbones.

Well, they’re definitely throwing us some bones now. It’s ironic that after all the anti-consumer remarks about how people “don’t like not diggin Xbone” could fuck right off, they’re actually taking…. baby steps in a direction to please their audiences. Even then, their real feelings haven’t changed.

To be clear, as we introduce this new Xbox One console option, Kinect remains an important part of our vision,” said Spencer. “Many of you are using Kinect for Xbox One every day. In fact, more than 80 percent of you are actively using Kinect, with an average of 120 voice commands per month on each console.

It’s amazing how manufacturers are trying their best to blow off any supposed assumptions about their “new direction”. Nintendo with the 2DS saying “We still want to make your eyes bleed”. Even then, they’re showing that they are willing to compromise if it meant breaking that bread.

Nintendo, on the other hand, is going on the path of wasting money on software to “show the value of a touch screen”. If they failed to show it with the DS beyond menu navigation, trying to force the innovation in damn near every genre isn’t going to cut it. Has the touch screen been useful for any game beyond mobile crap and RPGs?

Microsoft is mistakenly optimistic

Say it isn’t so!

Funny how the one company that is the pioneer of KILLING video game consoles is suggesting that everyone who keeps harping on about the inevitable onslaught  of “mobile gaming derp” should shut the fuck up, cause the console is here to stay. Or maybe it’s to get on the hardcore’s good side.

The problem is with consoles that still cost an arm and leg, there really isn’t much life left. People are not going to be able to afford gaming for a pretty long time. I think I saw this on a random Sonic forum with some guy saying games will be exclusive to which white people in the future. And…shit, look at the times now. If you ain’t well off, that’s gonna be a tough reality to face. We don’t live in a world where several millions of people can afford $500 consoles. Never have, actually. Consoles that cost over 300 usually fail more often than not. I can’t recall anytime that the opposite ever happened.

Priorities are changing rapidly, and no one is going to want to spend anymore than they want on video games. And developers/publishers can get a little too damn greedy when it comes to games. The rampant DLC controversies over the last 7 years is a testament to that. How can they convince anyone to buy their overpriced games when many have to work 2 jobs merely to put food on their tables?

And the GTA5 feels like heavy-handed hype. This is the first time I’ve read news of a game selling in money and not copies. Everyone went around saying GTA5 sold 1 billion copies in mere weeks, but that was just their money margin. The actual copies sold is around 16 million, which is fucking amazing, don’t get me wrong, but pointing out GTA5 means dick to everyone else. Capcom is in terrible shape as of this moment (rightfully so, I might add), as well as Square. 38 Studio recently shut down, Atlus is acquired by Sega which only delays their death, the Free-to-Play model of business is coming under fire (rightfully so, I might add), digital game sales are at an all time low (every success seems frontloaded as it all comes crashing down eventually), Nintendo is in a bad position all around with the Pii U getting ass raped sideways, it’s all just coming down so rapidly. I’ve never imagined, despite all the E3 hypes, that gaming would be in such a state as it is now.

But…. we want to applaud mother fucking GTA5 for keeping consoles alive? Right, right. I’m all for optimism because I’m running out of franchises to enjoy fast. Every 3D fighter I’ve come to enjoy has fucked the pooch for all I know, marginally enjoying DOA5 for voyeurism and not the actual fighting, Sonic is dead to me and every real Sonic fan out there, Nintendo is literally raping Zelda and Pokemon for all it’s worth, there’s no Timesplitters 4, Yakuza 5 won’t be localized, every RPG and 2D fighter is an animu shit fest nowadays, Platformers are going the way of the dodo, and the most enjoyment I have found out of this generation…. were fucking retro collections of ancient PS2 games.

 

But for the sake of reality and sanity, there isn’t much life left for gaming on consoles because the economic environment has completely changed and game companies do not want to adapt to them for their own business health or consumer convenience, but would rather stick to their ideologies and DLC practices rather than thinking of how to offer money saving alternatives to the broke mother fuckers that out number the rich. And Microsoft is numero uno on that department just looking at their previous policies on Xbone. We had to give them HELL just to make them change it, and they make some “exclusive” Xbone for their employees in retaliation. Gotta love the maturity from the company.

Putting Computer-centric practices in the Arcade-centric environment has destroyed the foundation of the video game console. Sony and Microsoft have worked very hard and destroying this foundation all for the sake of money and competing against foreign (to gaming) companies in the departments of social media and mother fucking tv! Microsoft doesn’t give a fuck about games or game consoles, and everyone knows it. Those who don’t are the hardcore nut riders who demand the return of DRM policies that would kill gaming faster than Gabe Newell could with terrible controllers.

8th Generation will be the “TV” generation.

Sony has just filed for a “Playstation TV” trademark.

Ok, so that’s all 3 8th Gen consoles with “new” tv functionality as their selling points.

I have not researched in-depth what these tv features do. All I ask is why? Why tv features? How is this partial to my gaming experience? How does it enchance my gaming experience?

Truth be told, it’s not supposed to. I’m assuming that Sony and Microsoft have both gotten into gaming in order to convince gamers to buy architecture that is not at all designed with video games in mind. It seems that since Sony’s other media outlets have all failed, and the playstation sector is the only one that matters anymore, the company has decided to dump all their other media outlets into the Playstation brand to revive interest in their other sectors by trying to grab up the hardcore gamers in supporting them. Microsoft is an even bigger mystery. Their whole conference was about TV functionality and maybe a little Titanfarce… and CODogs. You’d think they’d be interested in promoting more computer functionality as they are a software company that develops OS’s for PC. Why TV functions? Maybe Apple has some tv shit coming out and Microshit wants to compete with them? Who knows?

Nintendo has no idea why they’re including “TVii”. The only thing I’ve seen from Pii U on tv functions is the equivalent to a handheld Picture in Picture mode (which is faulty in itself).

It is confusing to most people as to why there would be a higher focus on tv functions than games, but considering that PS3 owners actually spent more time watching movies and using non-game functionality, it’s become apparent that investing in tech unrelated to video games is more beneficial to certain companies.

This is why these damn things are so expensive now. Not because gaming tech is more expensive, but because these manufacturers are bloating these things with shit unrelated to games. But it’s become clear that they’re not interested in games. Even Nintendo seems to have lost their way (Sakurai seems to be the only sane one despite his BS over the last few years). And if the statistics for less games played starts growing, expect to see no gaming consoles from Sony or Microsoft out of the baseless assumption that “gaming is OVER, it is the era of TV!”. It’s the 80s all over again.

Shadow: “Ultimate Victory!”

Heard this from work. Don’t take to heart yet.

CNN: Well, apparently, Obama tries to prove his blackness by shooting down Xbone’s Kinect features of surveillance. Big Brother says Microshit cannot use Kinect’s surveillance technology without cooperation or approval by the government themselves.

Now… this means one of 2 things.

1. Either Microshit ditches the Kinect bullshit entirely.

2. Microsoft becomes Google junior and does collusion’s with Obama’s NSA whores.

If they take option 2, Microshit can no longer hold onto their privacy hype.

If 1, they might actually sell the damn thing.

3 Things I learned from E3

1. Shit be expensive!

I’ve learned that I am not wealthy enough to afford such exquisite and classy entertainment known as a video game console. Even the handhelds are well over $200!  Anyone who could afford these devices could crush me with their morbidly obese wallets. My broke ass is unworthy of video games.

And here I thought that in an economy this fucked up, games would be cheaper than a home computer. But woe is me. The economy is not fucked. My job is fucked! Instead of thinking about my own entertainment, I must instead focus on important things like rent and food, especially with my greedy ass roommates whose ass looks like 2 pigs fighting under a blanket. Video games are no longer a priority in my life.

2. Video games are not about video games.

I’ve learned that the hottest thing about gaming is not about the next killer fighting game (KI3), but about irrelevant features such as TV and…TVii. Instead, this new generation of gaming is more so about social media such as playing and recording your progress to share with friends over facebook. More so about how you get to watch TV in more inconvenient ways such as sports programming. Instead of reaching over to pick up a remote and change the channel, you can instead scream at your television like an asshole to change the channel.

I had to stand back in awe of how voice command, something I could only see on tv, is going to be used only for the tv! Only a video game console could provide me of such a glimpse into the future… of entertainment! I’m astounded that the Xbone acts as a personal Pay-Per-View device with it’s necessity of requiring multiple viewers to pony up each per gaming and/or movie viewing pleasure.

Not to mention just… talking about what I’m doing in a video game with screen names over the internet. Instead of a real social gathering where a group of friends could curse and scream at each other while playing games, social media can allow me to filter out profanities and instead view more mature and classy quotes such as “OMG I TOTALLY PWNED TEH BOSS!” It’s so grand to hear about someone else’s accomplishments, just like on Facebook.

3. Nintendo is oblivious.

I’ve learned that Nintendo, whom I once thought was a company that was concerned about your satisfaction, is actually a company dedicated to the evolution of gameplay. Instead of making more interesting worlds and bold new characters, Nintendo instead focuses on the almighty” gameplay”, a factor which never attracted people to video games in the first place! But this is a bold new venture to evolution! Perhaps the reason the hardcore are so attracted to Nintendo is because of their desire to “evolve” gameplay by using strange contraptions and gadgets, things that might hamper or disorientate your ability to actually play the game and thus alienate  your desire to continue playing. But then, I would not be able to appreciate the surprising value of hard work that went into the product, even if I want to shit on it. Liking something is not the reason I should invest in Nintendo. It is only to witness the evolution of old content via gameplay exclusively. This mentality even creeped it’s way into Sega’s house of developers if Sonic’s Lost Mind is a clue.

But ultimately, I’ve learned that video games suck now because developers don’t care about video games. They set goals for themselves to create technological and gameplay achievements instead of the one goal they should always stick to. Achieving customer satisfaction which would ensure long term gains. But n their minds, I guess they’re thinking “one less nigga to worry about”.

VICTOLY AGAINST MICROSHIT!

Apparently, they’re removing the DRM.

This could be a stunt to get people to buy Xbones, but who knows? After that Army statement, they pretty much had no choice less they risk WORSE PR than ever before.

Unfortunately, nothing has been said about the Kinect, which was the actual issue here. Considering this is a company that hypes up how much they love your privacy, that is still a potential risk.

But hey, progress is progress. I assume they’ll probably put that shit back in after Xbone gets enough positive press with some firmware update or so.

I wonder how many selfish 3rd party devs will jump ship now? Sony is going to get megalithic support now.

And that… price…

*pisses myself with laughter*

WOW! The United Kracka kingdom actually decided to give Nintendo a break! The Xbox One is SOOO bad, they decided to buy a FUCK LOAD of Wii U’s off of Amazon! Those online tax lobbying bitch asses shredded cheddar, and all they had to do was wait for Microsoft to completely FUCK UP any chance of people buying their premium, low quality, industry standard pushing trash!

And Nintendo did NOTHING! How’s that for pathetic? The only way people will buy a Wii U is if another competitor pulls an EVEN WORSE move that scares everyone off!

Way to go Nintendo, you are now the lesser of 3 evils!

Alright. Stick em in, my dear bitches.

Xbox WORN! Mattrick on backward’s compatibility.

Oh you!

“If you’re backwards compatible, you’re really backwards,”

This despite the fact that Xbox 1111 has the same goddamn CPU as the original Xbox. X86. Bah, I’m sure some techodrone is foaming at the mouth reading that and screaming “IDIOT!” several times at his monitor. Let me guess, it’s a “completely different version of the CPU chip not related to yadda yadda”.

At least let this rep come out and explain why instead of mouthing out the middle finger to everyone who’s more than likely pissed off about this. Xbox One has to be the most hostile console ever developed. So many strict policies on used games, online accounts, and Kinect devices, shit!

How does any of this benefit the customers in any way? When you make a product for the consumers, they need to assess the needs of the customers. Gaming customers want stable machines to play games for more than 3 years, they want a variety of games (hint hint Nintendo), they want backward’s compatibility, they want online to play with people across the world without a catch. This is how the Wii succeeded where the other consoles failed. But nowadays, console devs are so caught up in stupid features like “TV” and “development software” that they completely ignore the needs of the customers. And Mattrick’s comment about Backwards Compatibility speaks volumes about them not giving a shit. But hey, since when does Microscopic care about anything but handing their customers magnifying glasses to suck their dicks more easily? They only have the worst customer service in the whole-wide world, their operating systems fuck up so often, and their game consoles took the PS2 strategy and basically mandates a re-purchase every 3 months or so.

It doesn’t assess ANYONE’S needs except Microshits. Everything this console needs involves deep pockets. You need constant internet or else you forfeit a gamer tag and need buy another one, need a gamer tag for different Xbox’s or you need to rebuy your game collection just to play your shit again, need a functioning Kinect device and hope it doesn’t fuck up or pay for another Kinect, increase your internet bill just to log in EVERYDAY for your tag to stay available.

Xbox One is based around anxiety and revenue generation. In a capitalist society, you need people to remain virtual anxious and in some form of fear if you’re going to convince them they are flawed people that they need to put down just enough money to buy your products. There’s so many weight  loss commercials to give a fat ass a heart attack. Make people feel ugly without make up. Make people feel stinky with out a special brand of soap. Make feel unhealthy and guilty with diet bars. Xbox WAR!? Make people feel irresponsible by requiring they log in every day just to keep their accounts active. Make sure they follow all the little rules carefully or risk taking a hit in the pocket book. It’s nothing more than a free tax machine (but it’s YOUR FAULT for not being attentive to it’s needs).

This is an “exclusionary” game device as it looks and sounds more and more like an expensive computer, just with more taxes than usual. In this recession, Microshit can’t appeal to anyone except upper-class crackas who don’t mind being watched every moment of their life.

Ain’t nobody gonna buy this piece of shit except the dumbasses on Gaf, Faqs, and YT. I mean for what? A stroke at a premium price? I know this bitch is gonna cost up to like 700 G’s or more.

Microsoft already lost this generation.

Microsoft will charge fee for secondary installation.

Kinect Required.

Wow. Really? I mean, it’s bad enough that the Durango or whatever the fuck they’re calling it is an attempt to block out used games, but charging people to use the same fucking game on a different Durango!? I can just see failure rates turning people off. Microsoft has purposefully unstable game consoles that demand re-purchases, and poor customer service to boot! If you buy a shit load of Durango games, but your durango fucks up, you have to buy an new console, and REPURCHASE ALL OF YOUR GAMES! So that’s like the normal unit price + the grand total of your entire Durango game collection + the new tax laws for violent video games in the works (which I’m positive will make up like 80% of the hardcore’s collections) + the price of a Kinect device…

Shit, PS4 sounds sexier at this point, despite the lack of BC. If only Sega didn’t sign up with Nintendo’s piece of shit device.

Fuck it, Microsoft is just shooting themselves in the foot this generation. There’s no way in hell they can succeed with all of these factors alone. I don’t give a rats ass what the hardcore dipshits think or say, their optimistic “you haven’t even tried it” bullshit can hang the fuck up for the summer, this is insane.

And requiring a Kinect device? Well it isn;t that a coincedence? I mean, since the device will now actively monitor your activity during play time, Microsoft honestly believes spying on gamers will do anything for the government?

And in this economy, only the stupids will buy this crap. How’s that “COMPUTER GAMING” working out for yah “master race” bitches?

Cheers fuckers!

Always Online, always off target

So, not only is Microsoft a eugenicist/population control company and using illumiroom and kinect to spy on your ass, they’re now hijacking your ability to play games that are used. It’s basically confirmed at this point that next box will have built-in DRM. Orrrr it’s a publicity stunt where the rabbid and pretentious “IQ” havers will go “Good! There’s no DRM can you now stop with the bullshit rumors!?”. Yes, those people cream themselves at wanting others to be wrong.

It’s hard to believe, but gamers actually have some damn sense. In the wake of Microsoft’s NWO policy, some folks are speaking out.

Here’s a nice list of damn good quotes from gamers over the net.

“that’s just a big problem with gamers in general, it seems. Too many are far too willing to defend any terrible thing a publisher does with some of the weakest excuses I’ve ever heard. Why? We don’t owe these companies our blind love and devotion just because they put out games for us to play. Our love and devotion should be reserved for those companies that go that extra mile to do right by us.”

-mjc0961 on the subject of Durango’s “Always Online” policy.

“That, my friend, is the MAGIC of shareholders! 😀

You see, they don’t give a shit about your product. They just give you money and ask you to grow in order to get that money back + growth! So they want you to grow more and more and faster and faster and they don’t give a rat’s ass what you have to do to make your profits go up so theirs go up.

They basically hijack your company and force it to make more and more and more profits, regardless of your wishes for your product, and there will be hell to pay if you can’t make your stock value go up by at least a quarter of its previous value by year end…

This is what’s causing companies to go evil, be anti consumer, use sweatshops in china that employ kids, and crash themselves.”

-gamegod25 on shareholders (probably explains Iwata’s constant stream of apologies… and Wii U).

“A man chooses. A slave tweets his support for every choice“

-Jim Sterling on Nintards.

“The thing is though that I think the gaming industry as a whole is banking on the increasing rise of gamers who have never known anything but being exploited sheep. They pretty much rode the storm out, ignoring the complaints of gamers whom they realized would be coming back for their products no matter what they did… much like a Junkie does with an abusive dealer when there is nobody else to get their fix from. The big comment made by the publishers nowadays seems to be that there are a number of young 20-something gamers, starting to make their own money in substantial enough quantities to be a marketing force, who have never known anything but exploitation. It’s easy for them to look at their angry elders, mostly 30 to 40 something Gen Xers, and be dismissive because for them this is how things always were, and they happen to be used to it. What’s more for “Generation Y” there is a relatively bright future ahead as they are coming into their own when the Baby Boomers are retiring. The recession and sociological realities that decimated Generation X aren’t as big a deal for them, and they generally don’t worry too much about the cost of luxuries, especially in the future.”

-Therumancer on Hardcore gamers in general.

“I think the gaming industry as a whole is pretty much looking towards this generation and that attitude as it’s big salvation, and truthfully I am beginning to think that predictions of a crash might be premature simply because most of them are based on consumers from “our” generation getting fed up with this and how we’re starting to wise up and turn our back on the practices. That doesn’t consider what happens when a conditioned Generation Y hits the market and props it right back up. Like any new generation they outnumber us, and truthfully the industry doesn’t care at that point if they lose our business or how loyal we were, or how integral to their development or becoming a big business like this.”

-Same

“The core cause of the current big publisher collapse that we’re seeing in slow motion occurring right now is that publishers aren’t scared of the consumers. That’s right, I said it. In the past, publishers were worried about sales not making profit due to not getting the word out well enough. They were scared of us so they did their damdest to make sure that they were looking to earn customer loyalty because they could not afford to do so.

Today though? Not happening. Publishers not only aren’t worried about earning customer loyalty, they expect it and demand it by essentially threatening us. They put review embargoes up, institute always on DRM, threaten to cancel accounts for consumer exercising legal rights, hack up required game content to sell piece meal, etc. because they think they hold the power. Publishers used to serve the role of providing marketing and promotion for developers and their products, now they actively hinder those efforts because they think people will buy the crap anyways. They think customer loyalty and income is some unlimited resource that they can constantly pull more out of with no recourse to feed their bloated business model.

Let’s be blunt: NO. IT’S. NOT.

It’s going to happen soon as indie markets start getting more refined and crowdfunding holds steady, putting out quality games for far cheaper and earn that loyalty that big publishers realize they don’t hold the power that they think. It’s time to make the big ticket publishers afraid of us again. It’s time they earn that loyalty instead of expecting it. And if they can’t? Screw em. Despite what the US Congress thinks, no business is too big to fail. The funeral pyre of the burning shreds of their business will be lovely during a clear, starry night.”

-LordLunder being Boss.

“Right off the bat, people have to stop thinking of Microsoft as a game company, I also think referring to the xbox as part of Microsoft’s gaming division or saying Microsoft even has a gaming divisions as a whole is oxymoronic as Microsoft has a MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT division and that’s a completely different thing.

Ever since the first Xbox was released it has been Microsoft’s intent to provide a content distribution system that is accepted as a standard device in a living room simply because pcs never really have been and the end goal of this strategy has always been to become a MAJOR PLAYER in the digital distribution market with each console offering more and more functions besides gaming.

The issue is that Apple beat them to the punch”

-Kael Arawn on Macroshits.

“Do you have any clue how excited most media company would be by the concept of a locked down media distribution system for home use with even a portion of the xboxs current market share? I guarantee you there’s a lot of music executives getting rather excited by the prospect right now as it offers drm control ON ALL stuff sold via the network, and Microsoft would be looking to please the people who own IP rights on this type of stuff now more than ever as making fat stacks of cash for selling other peoples product on your own digital distribution networks is a very lucrative industry practice just ask valve.“

-Same, on Media industry assholes.

“I think the problem is most of these executives likely either get their information from “focus” groups that mainly consist of well to do kids or parents of said kids who don’t realize, or care, that high speed internet connections are not the norm. Or the groups consist of non-technical people who don’t realize that they might not meet those bandwidth requirements because they think think any internet connection is enough. So when asked if they would be fine with an always online system they just say “Sure sounds fine”

-Spyre2k

“The gaming industry is in such a titanic climb right now that they’re about to stall straight into a nosedive.“

“I think the reason they have that kind of attitude is because they are banking on sales from the kind of people who will buy the console because it’s all shiny and new rather than for any other reason. There are some people who have to have the current generation, regardless of how good or bad it is.”

-Legion, on Apple fanboys

“The games industry seems more like our banks, water, gas and electricity suppliers. Constantly screwing us over because they know they can get away with it. They show very little desire to actually keep us happy as consumers.”

“I still can’t grasp why people keep buying those things when their old ones break. I understand people not wanting their gaming libraries to be inaccessible but somewhen people should realize that they are basically being shafted just so MS can save 5 cents per console for solder.
And chances are that BS like this will get even worse next gen, as they don’t seem to have to fear real consequences and people will just buy a new one if their system fails.”

-anonymous on 360’s failure rates.