When did we get so cynical?

Maybe a better title would have included something about online trolls, but I think that would have come across as too negative.  Trolls aren't that bad... online trolls are a fucking epidemic.

There's this whole new generation of people that live to argue, and in doing so, they discover the internet and something (wholly predictable) happens to their brains.  They LOSE THEIR FUCKING MINDS with the power of being able to infinitely argue (even if they don't actually have an opinion on a subject) and to remain anonymous to the world at large.

I watch a lot of forums and the fans therein, and without fail, every few months or so, there is at least one new fan that signs up, and immediately wants to tell everyone there why they are wrong for what they think.  Not that they're wrong because they've misinterpreted something, or taken something out of context, or because they have created a set of events in their mind that never happened.  No, they're wrong because they have an opinion that doesn't agree with whatever this Argument Person thinks.  And of course, THEY could NEVER be wrong for what they think...  That's just unfathomable.

I've watched everything from people trying to say that the way we played games in the past was wrong because it was more difficult (I'd absolutely LOVE to know their opinions on Zombiiu and its controls that actually take your eyes off the screen in an attempt to create false difficulty) right on up to someone saying that genres don't actually exist because people have differing opinions as to what makes up said genre...  because that's logic.  [/sarcasm]

It's something of a pet peeve of mine to dismiss the opinions of others.  Their opinions are valuable to them, and when you dismiss and demean them, you are often dismissing and demeaning the person that believes them.  It's rude, childish, and immature to say the very least.  It's completely assholish (not really a word, I know, but you get what I'm saying) at its worst, and it needs to go away.  Unfortunately, the only way to do it is to ignore them.  It truly is a case of the only way to win is to not play the game, because these people don't need a reason to argue or even an actual point.  All they require is a response.

I saw an interesting graphic recently:

This perfectly describes the situation that these people create.  You can't beat them, you can't win, you can only leave them to their game and go play something else, preferably with a new chessboard, because who wants a playing field covered in shit?

So, Titanfall...

Anyone that knows me very well at all, knows that I refuse to give certain game companies my money anymore.  As a consumer, I feel it's not only my right, but a responsibility to speak to these companies in the only language they seem to understand - money.  I don't part my wallet for several companies, and one of them is EA.

I was a little interested in Titanfall, so I did what I usually do and waited until I could purchase it used at Gamestop, and so I finally got to play what EA would have you believe is the game of the fucking century.  It's fun.  Period.  Full stop.

The first thing that happened was an expected one - server glitches.  Seems every new game that comes out kills the ever loving shit out of servers in the first few weeks - and this was no exception.  After a few hours of playing Enemy Within, I checked the servers again, and hey, look at that, back online.

Anyway, the campaign (if you can accurately call it that) is basically playing as both sides of whatever space conflict we are a part of (I honestly have no idea what most of the story is, because they literally do all of the plot points as recorded voices over your headset as you play)  and they have 10 missions each - which will give you a feel for the game itself pretty well.  So, the campaign is the tutorial albeit an extended one.

Once the campaign is over, Titanfall is just deathmatch with mechs.  Now to some, that is game nirvana, and hey, if you like it, this is probably the game for you.  There are some truly exciting moments and some pretty cool gameplay to be had.  Me, not so much.  I'm not a team deathmatch kind of guy.  I kind of want to do it every now and then - and I usually get my fix in GTA online, where I can also do a shit ton of other things in between that occasional desire to team deathmatch.

If your ultimate online gaming experience is killing the other humans online with you in a virtual capacity, Titanfall is your huckleberry.  If you're too young to get that reference, fuck you. If you want more plot or story, I'd skip this one.  It's truly a case of whatever floats your boat.

Multiplayer done right. GTA Online

So, I purchased GTA V a couple of weeks ago, and since I didn't have internet at home, I was unable to partake of their online offering, though I'd heard many tales about how good it was, how bad it was, and how many problems there were with what probably amounted to server overload.

Yesterday, I got my home internet turned back on.

I cannot even properly express how incredible GTA Online is.

That was easily the most fun I've ever had in a multiplayer environment, with Left 4 Dead a distant second place.

The online Los Santos is amazing, and there is so much to do.  For the first time in a very long time, I lost track of time, and I didn't get to bed until almost 2 am.  I regret nothing.

I only knew it was as late as it was because my significant other came out of the bedroom (she'd been asleep for several hours) and told me she was hungry.  One quick trip to Jack in the Box, and I was back in the sandbox - but realizing that I was only going to get about 4 hours of sleep, I relented and put the game away.

Let me see if I can try to lay it out, realizing of course that I can't give this the proper emphasis to get across how insanely fun it all was.

First up was the character creation screen.  A couple of adjustments and there was my character on a plane flying into Los Santos, to be greeted by Lamar (one of the lesser characters in the story mode).  I created a female character, because why the hell not?  My gamertag makes it obvious that I'm male, so it probably looked a little weird to a few folks, but who cares?  I was playing a female protagonist in a GTA game!  I might've enjoyed that a little more than I should have. Oh well.  Onward.

Lamar took me to a street race - obviously a thinly veiled tutorial, but I came in 3rd, so it was cool.  I did notice a lot more wrecking in the online world than in the story mode, but I think that's to be expected from human players when compared to AI NPC's.

After the street, Lamar got a call, and asked me and the person standing next to me if we were interested in a job.  We both accepted, and we were on our first heist, holding up a liquor store.  My partner in crime got gunned down by the cops because we took too long (I intimidated the store clerk by shooting the bottles behind him and he moved a lot faster to empty the register).  As I tried to leave the store and get into my getaway car, another player came running up to my crime scene, and began shooting at me with the cops!  I made quick work of him, but the police then killed me.  I still managed to get a screen that stated I'd completed the mission, because I did manage to rob the store, even though I got killed trying to escape.

I then respawned, and followed Lamar's directions over my phone and GPS to an NPC that had another job for us - stealing drugs from a rival crew.  My cohort and I accepted again, and made our way to what was obviously a drug deal going down, where we killed everyone then stole their drugs, and drove back to our employer.

After that, things got interesting.  I was alerted that I was now able to choose missions for myself, and encouraged to explore the world.  Which I promptly did.  I noticed no lag, no loading problems, and I really did press the issue, trying out every option that I could think of.  The quick job function on my phone worked great, I was able to accept invitations to missions from others I'd been playing with.  I turned on the passive function so I wouldn't be killed, because people will gun you down, as is only right in a GTA game.  I banked my money in an ATM, used part of the tutorial to claim a default car, and put insurance and a tracker on it.  I played a survival with someone named ActorKurtRussell, and we managed to survive all 10 waves, for which I got an achievement.  Somehow, I doubt he was really Kurt Russell.  If it was, that guy is one hell of a gamer.

After all of this, the real bottom line is this:

I had a BLAST playing this game.  I can't wait to play it again.  If you take nothing else from this post, take that.  Because you can take it all the way to the bank, in Los Santos.

What happens when you refuse to understand what you've done wrong?

Microsoft has a severe disconnect with not only their fan base, but also with reality.

They've changed a lot of the restrictions that were initially non-negotiable on their next gen console, the xbox one.  They've reversed course, not only on things like the ridiculous always on internet requirement for their DRM and their used game policy, but they've also reversed course internally, with all of the major changes in not only who manages which departments, but in how those departments are approaching the future.

It all sounds good.

There is still, however, a problem with their approach to this next-gen of gaming.  There is still a disconnect with the people that buy their products.  They still aren't thinking of the fans.

Bear in mind that all of these changes only came about after ENORMOUS initial resistance on the part of the company.  They were doing everything they could to force people to bend to this line of business, and by god, they weren't going to give up these profit margins, no matter what.

It's lead to more than a couple of bad decisions, not the least of which is the new Kinect camera.  Yes, you can turn it off now, but why is it still required?  Why are you still, as of this date, looking at a price tag that is a hundred dollars more than the competing console (Sony) for what is apparently the inclusion of a peripheral that no one is actually interested in?  I have a lot of gaming friends.  You know how many of them are excited about the new Kinect camera?  0.  None.  Nada.

Microsoft is STILL trying to hold to something that no one wants.  It's almost as if they're saying, "well, we'll get rid of all of this other stuff, but damn it, you're going to take that fucking camera."  I mean, when you look at it, WHY?  Why is this damned thing so important to them?

Maybe, it has to do with what the camera is capable of.  For anyone that doesn't want to read all of that article, it breaks down to this: "The creepiest part of the Kinect demo was when the system used a combination of the RGB and IR cameras to detect my pulse rate just by looking at my face. Not only that, but the system could tell when I was smiling and/or looking away from the screen and tell which of two controllers I was holding, even as I handed one off to the demonstrator (a process the PR rep said worked by "magic")"

Note, that the tech guy reviewing the hardware resorts to 'CREEPY' as the best description of the features.  That should tell you something.  Frankly, with the camera on and keeping track of your emotions, they would have a pretty large database pretty quickly about how people react to their games, and what they like more.

You know how internet cookies try to read your habits by which sites you visit?  Imagine a company trying to read YOU by how you react to any given situation while you are playing your games.

Sleep tight.

Going home again... sort of.

Gone Home is a game that recently launched, and while it doesn't have all of the fanfare of a triple-a title, this game deserves your attention.  Especially if you are like me.

What I mean by that is, an older gamer, who remembers games being like wonderlands.  I remember playing old point and click, first person games, before the FPS genre was created.  Games were all about exploration, and discovery.

People created worlds for you to enter and explore, and experience as if you were there, and it was up to you to figure out what you were looking for.  Curiosity drove these games.  It was necessary.

So many games today have no need for curiosity, they shove their narrative down your throat as the player, and while some stories can be enjoyable despite a predominantly linear experience, the need to explore is mostly nothing more than an excuse to find more ammo/gear to move on to the next battle.

Gone home is different, as I suspect, the Fullbright Company is different from most developers.

I will offer no spoilers.  To do so would be tantamount to telling everyone how Breaking Bad ends an hour before the last episode airs.

Gone Home is worth your money, and your time...  provided you are curious enough.

Give them a look.

The (false pretenses) petition...

Microsoft would have you believe a lot of things.

The would have you believe that they only ever wanted what's best for gaming, and not to encompass too many kinds of entertainment at once.  They would have you believe that they care about 'core gamers' and that their recent change of course on the xbox one is how they show this, by listening to what gamers want.  They would also have you believe that THIS PIECE OF SHIT is real.

Take a good look at that petition.  Do you see anything wrong there?  Because I do.  I mean, I've heard of people trying to pull this before, but frankly no one has ever been so blatantly obvious about it.

Let's look at a couple of excerpts:

1. The opening

 
1. Petition by
   David Fontenot
   GA

This was to be the future of entertainment. A new wave of gaming where you could buy games digitally, then trade, share or sell those digital licenses. Essentially, it was Steam for Xbox. But consumers were uninformed, and railed against it, and it was taken away because Sony took advantage of consumers uncertainty.

We want this back. It can't be all or nothing, there must be a compromise.

So, when was the last time you heard a gamer talk/write something like this?  Think about that.  Your average Gears of War/Modern Warfare player doesn't even THINK along these lines.  I know this because I know a lot of THEM.  You know what they were complaining about?  DRM (Unnecessary), Always on connections (Unrealistic), and used games (unpopular).  The text in parenthesis is the actual reaction to the policies that Microsoft was trying to implement.  And the fact is, it wasn't steam for xbox, it was more like big brother/EA origin for xbox, and frankly, no one wants that.  At all.

Okay, another excerpt:

2. Supposed petition signers

Javier Marcano HARLOW, UNITED KINGDOM

I don't want to pay 400 - 500 for a console that essentially looks prettier but does the same exact things current gen does.(SHOT AT SONY) MS was just trying to pave the way towards the unavoidable digital future all consoles will follow, if not this gen, then next generation, being innovative just as they were last generation with Xbox Live. (PRAISE FOR MICROSOFT)  Granted, I didn't agree with all the policies brought forward but at least I understood the end goal and it wasn't as such a big deal for me. They said their stuff straight forward and took the heat while Sony innovated nothing, changed nothing and helped feed peoples fear that change is bad and that it's good to pay again for what you already have and can do. Sony said what people wanted to hear and only later revealed the truth of their policies in small interviews after E3.(PRAISE FOR MICROSFT AND A SHOT AT SONY) Who is the better company? The one that says things upfront in front of the world or the one that lurks in the shadows about the reality of what it's bringing forward?(PRAISE FOR MICROSOFT)  It's sad so many gamers are so short sighted.(YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS FOR NOT BUYING MICROSFT'S OBVIOUS BULLSHIT)

So, after reading this tripe, does anyone NOT believe these guys are getting regular paychecks signed by Microsoft?

Really - they were just being innovative, not greedy?  They were just trying to drag us ignorant neanderthals into the inevitable next iteration of gaming?  How condescending and utterly obvious can you be at the same time?

Yes, Microsoft, we totally believe that petition is real, and I've got ocean-front property right here in Arizona to sell you too.

(Not so) Free to play games...

Does anyone remember arcades?  You know, those locker room smelling, dusty, grimy, sawdust floored dens of iniquity that our parents hated and loved at the same time?

Why the mixed feelings?  Well, because they knew they were going to shill out some cash when we saw one, but at the same time, for a few quarters they could leave their kids unattended (yeah they did that in the 80's and 90's) and get some errands run, or some shopping done, or whatever.

The reason I bring up arcades is simple.  Developers have figured out how to get back to the money making scheme that arcades represented.  Bear with me.

You see, for 25¢ at a time, I could play a game, right up until it got hard enough that I couldn't, but alas, I could continue for another 25¢.  And I did so readily, pumping in quarter after quarter.

Want to take a guess as to how much I spent on games like Donkey Kong, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat and Tekken?  I would put the estimation in the thousands.  That's not exaggeration on my part.  I'm being literal.  Now, want to know how much I payed for Street Fighter X Tekken?  $19.99

This is the problem facing developers today.  They can charge you one price for the original and like so many gamers, I'm only interested in a select few DLC offerings.  I certainly don't buy all of them, and I'm certain that I'm not the only one, so that $19.99 (that went into Gamestop's pocket not Capcom's since the game was purchased used) is all I will ever spend on that game.  Let's say I go all out, and pay full price and even preorder (Tomb Raider was awesome, by the way), even then I won't necessarily buy the DLC, so that $59.99 is all they will ever get from me.  EVER.

The money men (check any of the developers' CFO's out and see if they are actually gamers) know that this business model is limited, because you will usually only get a single purchase per customer.  This is unacceptable to them.  They want you paying again, and again, and again, for the same content.

It's just like being in the arcade again.  Yeah, it only costs a quarter, but multiply those quarters by several years, and you start talking in terms of thousands of dollars.  Multiply that by millions of customers...

Yes.  THAT much money.

And make no mistake, companies like Zynga aren't charging you quarters.  They're charging dollars upon dollars.  EA got bit in the ass with their approach to Dead Space 3, and layoffs ensued because the customer s spoke out, and didn't even hesitate to let EA know that they thought this was a bullshit way to deal with loyal patrons.  OF course all anyone wants to talk about is how outrageous it is that EA was voted worst company 2 years running.  Maybe instead of making excuses, they should take a step back and realize that people aren't nearly as stupid as they thought, and that we DO know when we are getting screwed.

I know.  That argument is WAY too logical.  It has no place in the Game Business world.

The fact is, the gaming companies that are using this business model are no longer nickel and diming you, or even quartering you - no they're now 5 and ten dollaring you.

Let me know how that tastes, because I want none of it.