Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Valve's biggest Multiplayer game, like ever, Team Fortress 2 is now free to play! No limited leveling, no tokens, just FPS action. Of course there is still the hats and junk you can buy/trade but that's no different than what I get and I bought the damn thing. Oh well, power to the people!
Dead Space 2 on PC was getting a raw deal when it came to DLC, it would not be coming to the platform. Fast forward to yesterday and an announcement that, thanks to a hacked saved game, you can at least have all of the weapons and suits. The assets were already in game but were simply bypassed for PC owners.
The save game has since been removed due to copyright violation and EA will likely rant and bitch about the PC userbase being a bunch of thieves. Well EA, you wouldn't let us purchase the DLC and it was already included in the game, what do you expect? Perhaps it was not purchasable due to a lack of built-in protection against this very hack, but why not simply give it to us for purchasing that game? Good PR is worth far more than you would have netted in sales on the DLC overall.
The next PC patch for the game will do one of two things: Completely remove the DLC content or unlock it. EA will have a chance to show the world its true colors then.
The save game has since been removed due to copyright violation and EA will likely rant and bitch about the PC userbase being a bunch of thieves. Well EA, you wouldn't let us purchase the DLC and it was already included in the game, what do you expect? Perhaps it was not purchasable due to a lack of built-in protection against this very hack, but why not simply give it to us for purchasing that game? Good PR is worth far more than you would have netted in sales on the DLC overall.
The next PC patch for the game will do one of two things: Completely remove the DLC content or unlock it. EA will have a chance to show the world its true colors then.
Bandwidth hog is a common term thrown out to it's touted 14% of users that are responsible for 83% of the internet usage here, but no mention of who those people are. Are these businesses making a living via the internet and paying them for the privilege? What about those paying full price and using less than a GB a month? How many mom and pops are using it for eBay, e-mail and the occasional video chat with family and yet are paying for a premium account. There are tiers of usage for a reason; if I am paying for the fastest internet it's so I can use it, not because I have an excess of cash and need to give it away.
I use Steam for most of my gaming purchases and I would have to stop using it almost altogether. The game F.E.A.R for instance is a 17GB download and it took less than 24hrs to get, what about the rest of my month? Youtube video's come in 1080p today, how many of those could I view before I'm paying 25 cents a minute to watch? Apple iTunes updates are 250MB, Linux distro's sail over a gig, Windows patches and service packs add up and Cloud apps and storage will also cost you dearly for usage. This is the future of the internet, they see it and are setting the gouge tax in motion before it hits mainstream.
It's no surprise that this comes on the heels of the introduction of Netflix to North America. Bell, Shaw and Rogers are all in bed with Television conglomerates and the $8 a month all-you-can-eat plan of Netflix sure looks a hell of a lot like doom to them. HD movies will eat bandwidth very quickly and since the CRTC can't just throw Netflix out of the Country, it penalizes the users instead. Antiquated business models run by greedy curmudgeons are in control of your network and taking lessons from Ingsoc. This conflict of interest company model needs to be separated or perhaps trumped by businesses like Google Fiber.
The decision to go to UBB was set to begin March 1st but has since been delayed thanks to the Federal Government's decision to step in and review the CRTC's policy. Konrad von Vader, err Finckenstein and the boys still have the option to nice-it-up a bit and spin it to look good for businesses, so we are not out of the forest yet.
Each episode is set to be released one a month for a five chapters total. I pre-ordered this series a while ago as I am a fan of Telltale and their fantastic adventure game design. The series can be purchased at a 10% discount on Steam.
Hogwash! That's what I say to that and yet I read a Cracked article on video game addiction and I see there is a method to the madness. Many may think that they just like games and the addiction part is simply reality and work aversion, this is partially true. A more advanced look at Behavioral Game Design at Gamasutra is referenced within the article and while it is more explanatory, it is also as dry as my MMO fund. The Cracked article is more jovial, externally referential and juvenile so you can expect it to be a better read.
Dipping into said article I can now understand the reasoning behind many design decisions on MMO's and, well, pretty much every game being made on the planet today. You are left feeling like chattel, bought and sold with every new released game. I pondered if gaming design was always so; Pac Man is definitely about repetition and reward, Space Invaders - not so much on the reward side. Like Pong it's more about overcoming adversity, even if it is computational adversity. Doom deathmatch had no ranking system, no perks, no rewards aside from killing your opponent and yet it was amazingly addictive.
Then I asked myself is anything in life not a qualifier, on some level, of this addiction process? Well there's work, but I'm definitely addicted to living in a heated house with running water and full of toys to play with. Toys that are addiction as well, they help me forget that I can't buy more expensive toys. There is information on the world and it's happenings but it's really just another carrot to keep you in the game. Stories are either about people, places or things that you want to be, go or buy or about people, places or things that you have it much better than. Sex is also a carrot and reward system, want to feel awesome for at least 30 seconds of your miserable day? Yes please!
You can apply these rules of addiction to everything, sins and virtues encompassing. It seems that life itself is an addiction, full of addictions. Gaming is no different and these methods can be applied to anything, such as webpage articles.
Dipping into said article I can now understand the reasoning behind many design decisions on MMO's and, well, pretty much every game being made on the planet today. You are left feeling like chattel, bought and sold with every new released game. I pondered if gaming design was always so; Pac Man is definitely about repetition and reward, Space Invaders - not so much on the reward side. Like Pong it's more about overcoming adversity, even if it is computational adversity. Doom deathmatch had no ranking system, no perks, no rewards aside from killing your opponent and yet it was amazingly addictive.
Then I asked myself is anything in life not a qualifier, on some level, of this addiction process? Well there's work, but I'm definitely addicted to living in a heated house with running water and full of toys to play with. Toys that are addiction as well, they help me forget that I can't buy more expensive toys. There is information on the world and it's happenings but it's really just another carrot to keep you in the game. Stories are either about people, places or things that you want to be, go or buy or about people, places or things that you have it much better than. Sex is also a carrot and reward system, want to feel awesome for at least 30 seconds of your miserable day? Yes please!
You can apply these rules of addiction to everything, sins and virtues encompassing. It seems that life itself is an addiction, full of addictions. Gaming is no different and these methods can be applied to anything, such as webpage articles.
Another fantastically funny series they have on tap is The Minecraft Experiment which, even if you haven't played the game, is a hugely entertaining look at the phenomenon that is Minecraft.
The new Battlefield Play4Free closed beta is active, those who were lucky enough to get a code should run for the website now before it's gets hammered to death!
...and the PC community sounds a collective a-duh-uh! Cevat Yerli from Crytek, makers of the system destroying game Crysis, explains that game makers are limited by the success of Xbox and PS3 when developing new games. The envelope could be pushed farther if games didn't have to be retrofit to existing console technology and we would see what today's "next gen" could really look like.
I'm paraphrasing here, the original CVG article has what was actually said, but what is also stated is the obvious: PC is not the dominant platform. So until we as consumers make it so, we can expect "last gen" games until Sony and M$ decide to roll out their new products.
I'm paraphrasing here, the original CVG article has what was actually said, but what is also stated is the obvious: PC is not the dominant platform. So until we as consumers make it so, we can expect "last gen" games until Sony and M$ decide to roll out their new products.
Once again, Michael "Bend over and take it already" Pachter has blown his mental wad all over himself in an attempt to seem useful. Seems his ideas about Call of Duty becoming an online monthly pay option are completely false, assuming you believe Activision's CEO Eric Hirshberg.
I really have little use for Pachter as all he ever predicts is the fall of gaming. Why do so many want to get off the WoW teat? That monthly charge they're paying for! Companies switching to this model, especially for something previously established as free, can expect flak and discontent from even paying customers. WoW is an anomaly as can be attested to by, oh, every pay-per-month MMO released since. You can stop expecting that billion dollar monthly cash cow and understand that the baby boom curve is on the decline and reserved for a single champion - and that's not you.
I really have little use for Pachter as all he ever predicts is the fall of gaming. Why do so many want to get off the WoW teat? That monthly charge they're paying for! Companies switching to this model, especially for something previously established as free, can expect flak and discontent from even paying customers. WoW is an anomaly as can be attested to by, oh, every pay-per-month MMO released since. You can stop expecting that billion dollar monthly cash cow and understand that the baby boom curve is on the decline and reserved for a single champion - and that's not you.
Hmm, methinks there's just a tad more selfishness in there than meets the eye. Steam is becoming the distributor of PC games - period. Retail shelves are sparsely PC populated and you can expect all but the biggest AAA titles to never appear to begin with. If Steam wasn't so efficient at what they are doing, they wouldn't be as popular as they are.
With what little they sell in the stores, their obvious reason for the push is that it's a market without a slice for them. They refuse to sell, or even stock PC games because of the lack of sales and yet complain about the wanton PC sales online. Steam is popular due to convenience and things like the weekly and specialty sales that happen all of the time. When was the last HALO 3 half-off special you ever seen in a retail store? Won't happen.
Digital distribution is the future of game sales and we won't be needing your brick and mortar tomb for much longer.
Fans of R.U.S.E. will be receiving new content, dubbed 'The Manhattan Project', for free. As the name implies, you can expect explosive action on three new maps and two new multiplayer modes. The release date hasn't been confirmed yet, but expect nuclear fun soon.
Some great multiplayer action there for what would barely buy you two pints these days.
2K announced that no patch or DLC would be coming to PC, and that's final. Well it seems that's not final as 2K has reversed it's decision. PC users can expect a patch that will update the game to meet the console version and will release the Protector Trials for free. Minerva's Den may be a different situation though as significant additional development is required. 2K's story on why the PC was initially skipped states that the patch and DLC were simply broken and they were unable to fix it within the alloted product timeline. You could argue this is not 2K's fault and taking big business into account I can see how that happens, but that doesn't make it ok.
Companies need to own up to their products and patches should be priority one. You made the product, you sold the product, you are responsible for the product. You don't get a free pass just because the next "big thing" is in the pipe. I can understand DLC, it's extra, but leaving your product in a broken state is unacceptable - even for the currently less-lucrative PC.
Bioshock 2 was not one of these cases but fixes were necessary as can be attested to by the patch that the console version received. At least it's coming and 2K expects to have the final patch and the Protector Trials ready for certification in December. They should be commended for reversing their decision but bigger commendations should go to the PC gamers who managed to get 2K's attention with enough interest to reallocate resources (and money) to finishing most if not all of what they started.
DOSBox will be receiving VooDoo 1 and hence Glide support so you can finally play those classics that have been long-lost due to lack of support. Granted, there are not too many DOS-based glide games to be played, and compatibility is not yet perfect. Screamer 2 and Extreme Assault have been sitting on my shelf forever silently scoffing at my expensive SLI rig's inability to run a 13 year old game, but no more damn you! The new version is not officially finished yet, but expect it to be baked in on next release.
PC Gaming in jeopardy indeed!
GearBox understands that the negativity surrounding DNF and the wait that has ensued will be upon their shoulders, regardless of the fact that they were not the ones responsible for any of it. Although you could call this press control, it's nice to see the company trying to right the wrongs of their predecessors. It also makes you wonder what the Game Stops of the world did with that money for the last decade.
What the internet wants is the GameTap system of paying a monthly fee for all you can eat. Seriously, they know it, we know it and they know we know it, which is why they won't give us what they know we know we want. We know what they want, we won't give it to them because they know we know that they know we will eventually get what we want with or without them. Simple enough?
I actually wish them the best of luck. I want them to succeed for no reason other than proving the validity of the technology and the equity that the proper price model will bring. Then hopefully Steam will jump in, do it right and give me access to the hundreds of titles I already own through them. Go Onlive!
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