Many actually believe what the Media says about Nintendo being in serious trouble. I never did because I do my own research and employ facts and logic. (And I'm sure the Media HATES it when people do that too...) Anyway, despite their claims of Nintendo being a sinking ship, Amazon is telling a different story...
After disappointing financials, the media has been keener than ever to portray the Kyoto company as a fading force – a former giant in crisis. Amazon certainly doesn’t see it that way. “I think Nintendo have this imposed on them and it’s driven by a lot of the media, and the media drives perception,” continued Patel. “Nintendo are getting a lot of bad press and PR and as soon as anything negative is out there it’s a media frenzy. It diminishes what they’ve actually done. If you look at 3DS as a format, it has done very well last year – had that sort of performance been with Microsoft or Sony, my personal opinion is that everybody would be thinking ‘wow, what a fantastic job’. Because it’s Nintendo and they’ve been embroiled in this negative PR frenzy, everyone thinks it’s a dying format. It’s absolutely not.”
And...
So while the media continues to give Nintendo a difficult time, even with the relative success of 3DS, one console that has apparently escaped such criticism is Sony’s PS Vita. Patel has concerns for the system. “Vita is struggling, absolutely, in terms of the market segment,” he tells us. “Firstly I think that the price point is too high. I think the compatibility with PS4 will give it a bit of a kickstart and Vita will have a better year, I just don’t know whether it will meet the expectations Sony had with Vita.”
SOURCE: http://www.edge-online.com/news/amazon-uk-on-the-next-gen-race-nintendos-plight-microconsole-rumours-and-accidental-leaks/#null
^^^You see, I told you there was bias in the News Media. :P
And this is actually pretty typical of game industry coverage in the Media for the last 15-20 years. Whatever Sony does and succeeds in is a business miracle. Anything Nintendo does is evil or never going to work. That has been the mantra with these bums since I was a teenager. Despite their claims of the Big N going down, it never happens. Their 1st party franchises and their dominance of handheld gaming have kept them alive and profitable for a long time. Despite smart phones, iPads and Sony all getting into portable gaming, they still dominate that market. I don't expect it to change anytime soon since the 3DS is awesome.
Nintendo makes mistakes like any other company (No blood in the SNES release of Mortal Kombat, Virtual Boy, N64 sticking to cartridges, not advertising the WiiU more agressively, et al.) but, they aren't going anywhere.
As far as I am concerned, Nintendo is the only hardware manufacturer that is really innovating these days. The WiiU has kept me fascinated and looking forward to new titles. I wish more of them would be coming from a 3rd party company instead of just Nintendo themselves but, I had similar complaints about the N64 as well. I am surprised that I didn't have that complaint with the GameCube. I'm not surprised that I didn't have that complaint with the Wii since it became the console of choice for gamers and companies looking to make a profit. It did have over 1,200 games released for it in it's lifetime...
PS4 is (so far) just a technology upgrade to PS3 with a few interesting features. I like the idea behind the share button and the touch pad on the controllers. The games, sadly, aren't any different from what came before. I'm actually quite disappointed in it's line-up of launch titles. Not a single one of them was even remotely interesting to me. How does that happen? You have nearly 80 games at launch (which is far more than most launch line-ups) and I am not interested in ANY of them? WTF, Sony? You have never had that much of an EPIC FAIL with me before. Why start now? BTW, $400 is too much. Get the price down below $300 (and more interesting games) and we will talk.
As for the XBOX One... Well, if you follow this blog, you already know of my very negative opinion of that device. It costs too much ($500?! WTF?), includes features I don't want and I suspect that M$ will try to help the NSA to spy on me with that machine. That is no way to separate me from my hard-earned cash, Microsoft. Even worse, there's nothing interesting, or overly distinctive from the PS4 in it's game library so far. WTF? During the Console wars between SNES & SEGA Genesis, there were a LOT of exclusive titles on both systems. Nowadays, that just doesn't seem to happen as much. That makes all the consoles seem like they are the same as any other. There's no real difference between them. Don't copy people, Microsoft. INNOVATE!!!
Personally, I don't really like Microsoft as a company anymore. The 360 had way too many problems for a consumer product that would cost buyers several hundred dollars at retail. The games were pretty much identical to the PS3 library and the only franchise I knew of that was XBOX exclusive is the same one that attracted me to their first XBOX console: Halo. Despite liking that franchise, I am still not interested in ever having an XBOX 360 in my collection. Chances are good there will be a 'greatest hits' package with all of them on some future platform that's worthy of owning in a few years anyway. I won't go into my complaints about Windows because you can (and probably will) have those exact same complaints about any other operating system on any machine.
So, in conclusion, the Media is as full of shit as ever. Take anything they say with a grain of salt.
- Lord Publius
Monday, February 3, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Penn Jillette: Mistrust of Government Is a Beautiful Thing
In this video, Penn Jillette of the magician duo Penn & Teller explains...
1.) Why Government should NEVER be trusted...
2.) What exactly Libertarianism is...
3.) Why it's not fair to label someone as Evil 99% of the time, including politicians you disagree with...
I've been *quite* guilty of calling politicians evil, both as a whole group and certain particular individuals. I've done it many times in this blog and it will probably happen many more times. However, what I think I haven't made very clear is that I don't believe many of these politicians (or 'politickin' pezzonovante' as I normally call them) started out as evil. It seems to me that many of them get seduced by the Dark Side (i.e. drunk with power) or wrapped up in party politics. And that is also why I fully support term limits for EVERY kind of elected office.
Furthermore. I have never believed that anyone elected to be President of the United States ever wakes up in the morning and says 'How can I fuck over the American People today?' An asshole like that would be easy to spot, no matter how much the media tried to make him look like a golden Greek god with their spin machines. The problem is that these people are all Human and like any of us, will make mistakes. And when you are the Leader of the Free World and responsible for the well-being of millions, you will invariably screw up somewhere along the line.
All that being said, I don't like President Obama even talking about executive orders, let alone signing so many of them. In my view, that is NOT Constitutional. It also seems to undermine the checks and balances that are designed to keep any one branch of government from dominating the others. I don't care if he hates the GOP with every fiber of his being, he was elected to work with them. If he can't do that, then he needs to find another line of work. The same goes for any Republican President who might hate Democrats.
- Lord Publius
1.) Why Government should NEVER be trusted...
2.) What exactly Libertarianism is...
3.) Why it's not fair to label someone as Evil 99% of the time, including politicians you disagree with...
I've been *quite* guilty of calling politicians evil, both as a whole group and certain particular individuals. I've done it many times in this blog and it will probably happen many more times. However, what I think I haven't made very clear is that I don't believe many of these politicians (or 'politickin' pezzonovante' as I normally call them) started out as evil. It seems to me that many of them get seduced by the Dark Side (i.e. drunk with power) or wrapped up in party politics. And that is also why I fully support term limits for EVERY kind of elected office.
Furthermore. I have never believed that anyone elected to be President of the United States ever wakes up in the morning and says 'How can I fuck over the American People today?' An asshole like that would be easy to spot, no matter how much the media tried to make him look like a golden Greek god with their spin machines. The problem is that these people are all Human and like any of us, will make mistakes. And when you are the Leader of the Free World and responsible for the well-being of millions, you will invariably screw up somewhere along the line.
All that being said, I don't like President Obama even talking about executive orders, let alone signing so many of them. In my view, that is NOT Constitutional. It also seems to undermine the checks and balances that are designed to keep any one branch of government from dominating the others. I don't care if he hates the GOP with every fiber of his being, he was elected to work with them. If he can't do that, then he needs to find another line of work. The same goes for any Republican President who might hate Democrats.
- Lord Publius
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Another crash like 1983?!
I saw a link from Cracked.com today for an article called '5 Reasons the Video Game Industry Is About to Crash.' Sadly, the author is probably not wrong.
The reasons listed (re-written in my own words) were as follows...
5.) CEO's with no knowledge of game design are making creative decisions.
Actually, they know enough to make bad decisions. They look at market trends and use that to decide which games are made. That's why everyone and their Grandmother made a First-person Shooter after Doom unleashed Hell on Earth. That is why everyone made space shooters after Space Invaders and Asteroids began draining quarters from circulation. That's why everyone glutted the NES libraries with Platformers after Super Mario Bros. made that console such a huge success.
So, why is no one taking a chance to change the paradigm again? Why is the industry stuck on RPG's and 'Call of Duty' clones? See #4...
4.) Budgets are so big that companies have become risk-averse and stick to 'guaranteed money-makers'...
And that is why there's a new Call of Duty game every time you blink... and why they all stink. I haven't played a single title in that franchise since World at War was released in 2008. I thought the quality was suffering back in those days, not to mention being sick of games that were set in either WW2 or the modern day War on Terror. It gets old. These 'new' settings they've used with the not-so-distant future aren't impressive either. It's been done to death. And it got done again here because some CEO thought that would sell after seeing Deus Ex make money for it's publisher. Lame! I don't want more games with Terrorists for bad guys or some kind of Cyberpunk geek fantasy! I am over that shit! Give me something new!
At this point, I'd be happy just playing an old Puzzle game, and I found one that does the trick. I'm actually surprised that it hasn't become a timeless classic/perennial favorite like Tetris. I'll discuss it in another blog sometime soon.
3.) Reviewers are being manipulated into giving good reviews to games they know are shitty... Or, they are just seeing/playing what the developer wants them to see and play.
As the old saying goes, 'You can't spell ignorant without IGN.' No publisher is going to send their games to reviewers who bad-mouthed their previous title(s). After all, you want GOOD advertising for the product you're trying to sell. Contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as bad publicity. Just ask automakers whenever the media gets wind of a major recall on one of their models. That heavily damaged (or even destroyed) the reputations for quality that Chrysler and Toyota once enjoyed.
Also, the reviewers are not playing the whole game, just the parts of it that the developers thought were the best. The level designers are also usually in the room with them giving them tips on how to get through said level. Again, Lame! How can they tell me about the game's difficulty if the freakin' designer is right there holding their hand through the whole damned gameplay session!
2.) The game's design (not to mention the hardware on which it will run) is CONSTANTLY changing, which makes developers have to re-work the code, art assets, et al. many times before release.
That's why Aliens: Colonial Marines looked much better in the previews that were released a year before the game hit the shelves. This is also why games on consoles usually never look as good as they possibly can until the very end of the system's life. Sadly, by that time, the next console has hit the shelves and the old one is forgotten.
It's happening right now with the PS3. Now that PS4 is out, it seems that PS3 is almost an untouchable. I bought 5 PS3 games from Amazon around Christmas time and the combined cost for ALL of them was about $70. 4 of these 5 came from signature PlayStation franchises like Ratchet & Clank, God of War and Twisted Metal. That has never happened with Nintendo games. Halo 4 still costs nearly $40 on Amazon right now. So, why are PS3 games so cheap now? The console might be 7 years old but, the games still look and play beautifully...
Oh, well... At least I get to add to my collection for rock-bottom prices. :)
1.) The industry treats the talent like a cheap and easily expendable resource, often requiring 60-80 hour work weeks when the game's development cycle gets into 'crunch time'.
'Crunch Time' is that last 20% of the time set aside for a game's development, which is also where 80% of the work is done. It is very stressful. I remember hearing a story about how Atari's CEO Ray Kassar once told his company's programmers (who were only asking for their name to be in the game's credits and a small commission) that they weren't very important, which is why some left and founded Activision. His exact words, according to legendary game designer David Crane, were "You are no more important to that game than the guy on the assembly line who puts it together." Bullshit! Those guys on the assembly line wouldn't even have a job without the designers making the games! Not hard to see how Atari made the bad business decisions that led to their downfall and the Great Crash of 1983, huh? Arrogant Ass...
Anyway, if you look at the games Activision made for the Atari 2600, you'll see the programmer/designer's name is usually on the label. That is especially true with David Crane. He's the man who made Pitfall!, the world's first platformer. Say what you want about Activision as a company today but, once upon a time, they were something truly special. They were to the Atari 2600 what Rare was to Nintendo's Cartridge-based systems.
Anyway, the industry hasn't learned from that lesson. The crunch time and poor treatment has driven away the talent in droves. They go off to other related industries where they make much more money for much less work. Why write code for MMORPG's when you can write simpler/easier code for automated monitoring systems on an oil rig for MUCH more money? Why create realistic-looking animated 3D character models for games when you can do the same in a small production company making TV commercials AND MAKE MUCH MORE MONEY that way?
Even worse is that many of these talented people are in my age group: Late 20's and early 30's. At that time, you want to settle down and start a family. How can you start (and keep) a marriage and family if you're constantly working 60-80 hours a week?
There are times when I get mad at the fact that I couldn't get into the game industry after graduating from college in December of 2008. I graduated at the worst time because that's when the economy went to Hell and everyone (including the once-seemingly invincible entertainment industries) started feeling the pinch. No one was hiring so, I joined the Army instead. As much as I don't like the Army, I do have to admit that I haven't been asked to do a 60-80 hour work week since I graduated Basic Training in February of 2010.
Either way though, it looks like BOTH occupations are very anti-family in one way or another. It's not necessarily intentional, either. The Army does try to help soldiers with families but, like all government programs, the results are mixed at best. Maybe not getting into the game design business or making a career out of the Army is a blessing in disguise? If you asked me (or, just about anyone, really) to give up on ever getting married and having children for ANYTHING, let alone a truly demanding and unsatisfying job, you are going to be severely disappointed.
----
So, is the industry headed for one hell of a downturn and a colossal shake-up? Most likely, yes.
Is this a bad thing? Probably not.
Any industry that treats customers/reviewers like idiots and their employees like serfs (or, at least, makes them feel that way) is doomed to experience a SEVERE market correction. It won't be like 1983 but, the industry is almost certainly in a LOT of trouble. Why else would hardware sales be so low across the board? Why else would big companies that survived 1983 (Activision, EA, et al.) have to rely on churning out crappy sequels to once-great franchises just to pay the rent? Reading that article was actually kinda depressing to me...
After 1983, Nintendo came along and saved the industry with the NES. They did it by offering to buy back unsold product from retailers, actually offering a good product (such a shocker, I know...) and, they marketed the NES as something more than just a game console. Hopefully, Nintendo will be able to save us again. While everyone else is suffering from 'Terminal Sequelitis', the quality in their games has been consistently high. Even if it's not them that pulls the industry's fat out of the fire, I still expect them to survive. They've become the 'Walt Disney of game companies.' I find that to be funny since Disney does make it's own video games.
Of course, this could also be an opportunity. Like 1983, the industry has become cluttered with too many similar products (i.e. too many games in the same genre copying each other's design choices) and just entirely too much product. $50 to $60 per game is a lot of money for most people. Thanks to reviewers being bought off/manipulated, we can't depend on them to tell us if the game is any good or not. (After all, you can't spell IGNORANT without IGN...)
So, what would I like to see in a market correction?
1.) A few different console makers...
Nintendo stays. Period. Without them, the industry would not be what it is today.
Microsoft, however, needs to go. Any company that sells flawed hardware and charges me for online services when the competition is free SHOULD go away. If it was anyone else but Microsoft, the XBOX brand probably would have gone away.
I'm on the fence about Sony's PlayStation brand. They made the PS3 difficult to program for, which I think is a mistake. (So did Nintendo with the N64, which they later admitted was a mistake.) That machine can do some really wonderful things. If they hadn't made it so much of a pain in the neck to work with, it might have beaten the XBOX 360 in sales. Developers would have stuck with them since PS1 & PS2 practically printed money for them.
While there are things about the PlayStation brand that I do like, most of those things are easily doable on other consoles too. How hard is it to make a game console play DVD & Blu-Ray movies? How hard would it be for someone to transfer/port those PlayStation exclusive franchises that I love (God of War, Twisted Metal, Ratchet & Clank, et al.) over to a new platform? SEGA didn't seem to have much trouble porting Sonic the Hedgehog to other people's consoles...
2.) A return to the hardware market of a few old legends...
Speaking of SEGA, I'd LOVE to see them start making consoles again. I recently had an idea where a few former console makers (namely SEGA & Atari) team up with some dynamite 3rd party game developers (particularly Namco and Capcom, despite their cash-flow problems) to form a new company that goes on to make a console of their own. Plus, any franchise those companies have will become exclusives to that console. That means that Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man are all on the same system. I wouldn't have to wonder if the next game will be available for a certain system or which system will have the better version for the multi-platform releases. They will all be right there on their own company's console. It could work!
3.) Less worrying about franchises and more worrying about delivering an awesome game experience... Especially in crowded/neglected sectors of the market like sports titles.
There is also another golden opportunity for the sports games side of the market. The Madden franchise has gotten pretty damned trite in the last few years. SEGA made a LOT of very popular sports franchises on their consoles, many of which are sorely missed.
Imagine if the SEGA Sports franchises from the Genesis era came back into existence and made a Baseball game that was actually interesting... Or, how about a good Basketball game that didn't depend on NBA licenses or some kind of 'street'/in-the-ghetto theme? I might actually want to play that kind of game.
Of course, if SEGA really wanted to impress the masses again, they could just make a 3D Sonic game that DIDN'T anger players so much. How hard can it be to do a *GOOD* 3D Sonic game? The 2 Sonic Adventure titles on the Dreamcast (which were later ported to competing systems after SEGA left the console market) were considered to be good. What happened?
Anyway, that's my 2 cents.
- Lord Publius
The reasons listed (re-written in my own words) were as follows...
5.) CEO's with no knowledge of game design are making creative decisions.
Actually, they know enough to make bad decisions. They look at market trends and use that to decide which games are made. That's why everyone and their Grandmother made a First-person Shooter after Doom unleashed Hell on Earth. That is why everyone made space shooters after Space Invaders and Asteroids began draining quarters from circulation. That's why everyone glutted the NES libraries with Platformers after Super Mario Bros. made that console such a huge success.
So, why is no one taking a chance to change the paradigm again? Why is the industry stuck on RPG's and 'Call of Duty' clones? See #4...
4.) Budgets are so big that companies have become risk-averse and stick to 'guaranteed money-makers'...
And that is why there's a new Call of Duty game every time you blink... and why they all stink. I haven't played a single title in that franchise since World at War was released in 2008. I thought the quality was suffering back in those days, not to mention being sick of games that were set in either WW2 or the modern day War on Terror. It gets old. These 'new' settings they've used with the not-so-distant future aren't impressive either. It's been done to death. And it got done again here because some CEO thought that would sell after seeing Deus Ex make money for it's publisher. Lame! I don't want more games with Terrorists for bad guys or some kind of Cyberpunk geek fantasy! I am over that shit! Give me something new!
At this point, I'd be happy just playing an old Puzzle game, and I found one that does the trick. I'm actually surprised that it hasn't become a timeless classic/perennial favorite like Tetris. I'll discuss it in another blog sometime soon.
3.) Reviewers are being manipulated into giving good reviews to games they know are shitty... Or, they are just seeing/playing what the developer wants them to see and play.
As the old saying goes, 'You can't spell ignorant without IGN.' No publisher is going to send their games to reviewers who bad-mouthed their previous title(s). After all, you want GOOD advertising for the product you're trying to sell. Contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as bad publicity. Just ask automakers whenever the media gets wind of a major recall on one of their models. That heavily damaged (or even destroyed) the reputations for quality that Chrysler and Toyota once enjoyed.
Also, the reviewers are not playing the whole game, just the parts of it that the developers thought were the best. The level designers are also usually in the room with them giving them tips on how to get through said level. Again, Lame! How can they tell me about the game's difficulty if the freakin' designer is right there holding their hand through the whole damned gameplay session!
2.) The game's design (not to mention the hardware on which it will run) is CONSTANTLY changing, which makes developers have to re-work the code, art assets, et al. many times before release.
That's why Aliens: Colonial Marines looked much better in the previews that were released a year before the game hit the shelves. This is also why games on consoles usually never look as good as they possibly can until the very end of the system's life. Sadly, by that time, the next console has hit the shelves and the old one is forgotten.
It's happening right now with the PS3. Now that PS4 is out, it seems that PS3 is almost an untouchable. I bought 5 PS3 games from Amazon around Christmas time and the combined cost for ALL of them was about $70. 4 of these 5 came from signature PlayStation franchises like Ratchet & Clank, God of War and Twisted Metal. That has never happened with Nintendo games. Halo 4 still costs nearly $40 on Amazon right now. So, why are PS3 games so cheap now? The console might be 7 years old but, the games still look and play beautifully...
Oh, well... At least I get to add to my collection for rock-bottom prices. :)
1.) The industry treats the talent like a cheap and easily expendable resource, often requiring 60-80 hour work weeks when the game's development cycle gets into 'crunch time'.
'Crunch Time' is that last 20% of the time set aside for a game's development, which is also where 80% of the work is done. It is very stressful. I remember hearing a story about how Atari's CEO Ray Kassar once told his company's programmers (who were only asking for their name to be in the game's credits and a small commission) that they weren't very important, which is why some left and founded Activision. His exact words, according to legendary game designer David Crane, were "You are no more important to that game than the guy on the assembly line who puts it together." Bullshit! Those guys on the assembly line wouldn't even have a job without the designers making the games! Not hard to see how Atari made the bad business decisions that led to their downfall and the Great Crash of 1983, huh? Arrogant Ass...
Anyway, if you look at the games Activision made for the Atari 2600, you'll see the programmer/designer's name is usually on the label. That is especially true with David Crane. He's the man who made Pitfall!, the world's first platformer. Say what you want about Activision as a company today but, once upon a time, they were something truly special. They were to the Atari 2600 what Rare was to Nintendo's Cartridge-based systems.
Anyway, the industry hasn't learned from that lesson. The crunch time and poor treatment has driven away the talent in droves. They go off to other related industries where they make much more money for much less work. Why write code for MMORPG's when you can write simpler/easier code for automated monitoring systems on an oil rig for MUCH more money? Why create realistic-looking animated 3D character models for games when you can do the same in a small production company making TV commercials AND MAKE MUCH MORE MONEY that way?
Even worse is that many of these talented people are in my age group: Late 20's and early 30's. At that time, you want to settle down and start a family. How can you start (and keep) a marriage and family if you're constantly working 60-80 hours a week?
There are times when I get mad at the fact that I couldn't get into the game industry after graduating from college in December of 2008. I graduated at the worst time because that's when the economy went to Hell and everyone (including the once-seemingly invincible entertainment industries) started feeling the pinch. No one was hiring so, I joined the Army instead. As much as I don't like the Army, I do have to admit that I haven't been asked to do a 60-80 hour work week since I graduated Basic Training in February of 2010.
Either way though, it looks like BOTH occupations are very anti-family in one way or another. It's not necessarily intentional, either. The Army does try to help soldiers with families but, like all government programs, the results are mixed at best. Maybe not getting into the game design business or making a career out of the Army is a blessing in disguise? If you asked me (or, just about anyone, really) to give up on ever getting married and having children for ANYTHING, let alone a truly demanding and unsatisfying job, you are going to be severely disappointed.
----
So, is the industry headed for one hell of a downturn and a colossal shake-up? Most likely, yes.
Is this a bad thing? Probably not.
Any industry that treats customers/reviewers like idiots and their employees like serfs (or, at least, makes them feel that way) is doomed to experience a SEVERE market correction. It won't be like 1983 but, the industry is almost certainly in a LOT of trouble. Why else would hardware sales be so low across the board? Why else would big companies that survived 1983 (Activision, EA, et al.) have to rely on churning out crappy sequels to once-great franchises just to pay the rent? Reading that article was actually kinda depressing to me...
After 1983, Nintendo came along and saved the industry with the NES. They did it by offering to buy back unsold product from retailers, actually offering a good product (such a shocker, I know...) and, they marketed the NES as something more than just a game console. Hopefully, Nintendo will be able to save us again. While everyone else is suffering from 'Terminal Sequelitis', the quality in their games has been consistently high. Even if it's not them that pulls the industry's fat out of the fire, I still expect them to survive. They've become the 'Walt Disney of game companies.' I find that to be funny since Disney does make it's own video games.
Of course, this could also be an opportunity. Like 1983, the industry has become cluttered with too many similar products (i.e. too many games in the same genre copying each other's design choices) and just entirely too much product. $50 to $60 per game is a lot of money for most people. Thanks to reviewers being bought off/manipulated, we can't depend on them to tell us if the game is any good or not. (After all, you can't spell IGNORANT without IGN...)
So, what would I like to see in a market correction?
1.) A few different console makers...
Nintendo stays. Period. Without them, the industry would not be what it is today.
Microsoft, however, needs to go. Any company that sells flawed hardware and charges me for online services when the competition is free SHOULD go away. If it was anyone else but Microsoft, the XBOX brand probably would have gone away.
I'm on the fence about Sony's PlayStation brand. They made the PS3 difficult to program for, which I think is a mistake. (So did Nintendo with the N64, which they later admitted was a mistake.) That machine can do some really wonderful things. If they hadn't made it so much of a pain in the neck to work with, it might have beaten the XBOX 360 in sales. Developers would have stuck with them since PS1 & PS2 practically printed money for them.
While there are things about the PlayStation brand that I do like, most of those things are easily doable on other consoles too. How hard is it to make a game console play DVD & Blu-Ray movies? How hard would it be for someone to transfer/port those PlayStation exclusive franchises that I love (God of War, Twisted Metal, Ratchet & Clank, et al.) over to a new platform? SEGA didn't seem to have much trouble porting Sonic the Hedgehog to other people's consoles...
2.) A return to the hardware market of a few old legends...
Speaking of SEGA, I'd LOVE to see them start making consoles again. I recently had an idea where a few former console makers (namely SEGA & Atari) team up with some dynamite 3rd party game developers (particularly Namco and Capcom, despite their cash-flow problems) to form a new company that goes on to make a console of their own. Plus, any franchise those companies have will become exclusives to that console. That means that Sonic, Mega Man and Pac-Man are all on the same system. I wouldn't have to wonder if the next game will be available for a certain system or which system will have the better version for the multi-platform releases. They will all be right there on their own company's console. It could work!
3.) Less worrying about franchises and more worrying about delivering an awesome game experience... Especially in crowded/neglected sectors of the market like sports titles.
There is also another golden opportunity for the sports games side of the market. The Madden franchise has gotten pretty damned trite in the last few years. SEGA made a LOT of very popular sports franchises on their consoles, many of which are sorely missed.
Imagine if the SEGA Sports franchises from the Genesis era came back into existence and made a Baseball game that was actually interesting... Or, how about a good Basketball game that didn't depend on NBA licenses or some kind of 'street'/in-the-ghetto theme? I might actually want to play that kind of game.
Of course, if SEGA really wanted to impress the masses again, they could just make a 3D Sonic game that DIDN'T anger players so much. How hard can it be to do a *GOOD* 3D Sonic game? The 2 Sonic Adventure titles on the Dreamcast (which were later ported to competing systems after SEGA left the console market) were considered to be good. What happened?
Anyway, that's my 2 cents.
- Lord Publius
How to minimize the NSA's abiltiy to spy on you
Wiith the recent revelation that the NSA is using smart phone apps and social media, I have compiled a list of the apps/sites known to provide them with metadata. Enjoy!
The programs that help the NSA to spy on you...
Angry Birds
Brightest Flashlight
Candy Crush Saga
Google+
Pinterest
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-29/nsa-spying-on-apps-shows-perils-of-google-candy-crush-.html
Truth be told, the NSA collects more data than they can possibly filter through or store long-term. That being said, I am VERY glad that I don't have a smart phone, play silly games on Facebook, or use inferior social networking sites like Google+ and Pinterest.
- Lord Publius
The programs that help the NSA to spy on you...
Angry Birds
Brightest Flashlight
Candy Crush Saga
Google+
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-29/nsa-spying-on-apps-shows-perils-of-google-candy-crush-.html
Truth be told, the NSA collects more data than they can possibly filter through or store long-term. That being said, I am VERY glad that I don't have a smart phone, play silly games on Facebook, or use inferior social networking sites like Google+ and Pinterest.
- Lord Publius
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Battlezone Comparison video
Battlezone is one of my all-time favorite games from Atari. It's also one of those Atari 2600 ports of which I own multiple copies. (5 of them, to be exact. 1 is complete in the box.)
Anyway, the Gameboy and Atari 5200 versions are crap. The VIC-20 and MS-DOS version were surprisingly good for such primitive platforms. I still prefer the original Arcade and Atari 2600 versions above all others.
- Lord Publius
Anyway, the Gameboy and Atari 5200 versions are crap. The VIC-20 and MS-DOS version were surprisingly good for such primitive platforms. I still prefer the original Arcade and Atari 2600 versions above all others.
- Lord Publius
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Topics for new episodes of Penn & Teller's BULLSHIT!
I've been a fan of the series 'Penn and Teller: Bullshit!' ever since I discovered it in college. If you haven't seen or heard of this show, you are doing yourself a disservice. It has been described as 'South Park meets 60 Minutes' by some critics, probably because the hosts, magicians Penn Jillette and Teller, speak rather freely on the issues explored by the show. They examine and tear apart just about ANYTHING you can imagine: Feng Shui, Environmentalism, PETA, the Death Penalty, the Bible, the Vatican... NOTHING is too sacred. In fact, if you have a 'sacred cow' of some kind, chances are good they did an episode where it was carved into steaks. While I don't agree with every opinion of theirs (i.e. their episode on the Bible was flawed in it's approach), I still find their point of view quite fascinating and worthy of my interest.
Sadly, they stopped making the show in 2010. While it went out with a bang, absolutely DESTROYING this BULLSHIT myth about vaccines causing autism, I still want the show to return. I've also developed a list of topics for the show. Hell, I'd host it myself. Anyway, here's my list for new episodes... And the reasons why these topics must be explored...
Topics for new episodes of Penn and Teller: Bullshit!
1.) Army Weight and PT standards
They haven't changed since 1942, even though the Sciences of Biology, Medicine and Health have made enormous gains since that time. Also, if athletes coming into the Army straight out of High School are having trouble passing the PT test, then, something is fundamentally wrong here.
2.) The Military's 'Rape Culture'
The Military is dangerous, especially if you're female. Since the Military is a 'boy's club', women are routinely harassed, disrespected in all kinds of ways and often sexually assaulted. Even worse, these assaults often go unpunished by the Chain of Command. This is why I will NEVER let any future daughters of mine EVER go anywhere near a recruiter.
3.) (Hollywood) Celebrities coming out of the proverbial closet
Do people really need to know that some actor or musician is gay? I personally couldn't care less.
4.) Celebrity worship (especially in the Media)
Why do people place so much emphasis on the opinions of famous people? Being famous does not necessarily make you an expert on anything in particular. #3 and 4 should probably be combined.
5.) Bias in the News Media
Think the Media is giving you accurate, unbiased information? Think again.
6.) Family Law in America
Men are often being forced to pay child support for children that aren't really their children. That is BULLSHIT.
6.) New diagnostic requirements/grading rubric for 'Autism Spectrum Disorder' in the DSM-V
Lumping anyone who is 'neurologically different' into one broad category with it's own 'spectrum' just to simplify paperwork from Healthcare providers and Insurance companies does NOT help treat these patients. Also, there is a huge difference between an Aspie and someone with Classical Autism. Aspies are the 'weird genius' kids in class. Classical Autistics, due in no small part to our flawed educational system, are lucky if they ever learn to read and write on any level.
7.) Obamacare & Government Entitlement programs
Another HUGE government program intended to make people's lives easier instead makes them MUCH worse and threatens to destroy America's economy. Why is anyone surprised this could happen? It has happened before with the New Deal and the Great Society plans...
8.) The NSA
The agency charged with protecting America's freedoms from foreign threats has itself become a threat to those freedoms. How did this happen and what can be done?
9.) Labor Unions
They were created to protect the worker from unsafe working environments and business practices designed to screw them over. However, they already did that DECADES ago and now just drive up costs for the producers, which get passed on to us consumers. And that is why so many American manufacturing jobs were outsourced overseas.
10.) Hillary Clinton
The very definition of 'career politician' incarnate. She's probably one of the most polarizing figures in America today. Liberals think she's an Angel and everyone else thinks she's the Devil. So, what are the facts here? Is she the Devil or just someone who's (possibly) incompetent and corrupted by power?
11.) Education
Specifically, Common Core and the No Child Left Behind Act. 'One size fits all' solutions don't work.
12.) Making money from people's grief...
Selling 'miracle cures' to parents of children with a special need, self-help courses for mentally disabled/neurologically different people, et al. This one and #6 are very personal for me.
13.) Failure of the New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina
As a New Orleans native, this one is also very personal for me.
After Hurricane Betsy struck and flooded NOLA in 1965. The Federal government had the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers build a system of levees to protect the city from another disastrous flood brought on by a Hurricane. 40 years later, that Hurricane came... and the levees failed. How and why did this happen? Who exactly is at fault? What can be done to make sure it never happens again? (And why did Penn and Teller never make an episode on this topic?)
14.) Political Parties
Ever wonder why our leaders can't get anything done? Why is it always one side or the other trying to dominate and force their views on others? Why is it more about getting their way rather than doing something to help the American people? Because of Political Parties and the pack mentality that goes along with them.
15.) Organized Religion
Now, here's a topic I know Penn and Teller would love...
People blindly following a Pastor's lead, lack of critical thinking, some religions adopting policies and traditions that are CONTRARY to the beliefs expressed in their sacred texts... All of this happens in Organized Religion. I personally would use the Catholic Church as the example/poster child/whipping boy here. That is the organized religion that is most familiar to the viewing audience in America and much of the Western World.
16.) Scientology and other cults
Speaking of organized religions... Scientology is not only obvious BULLSHIT, it's also a dangerous cult. Members are not allowed to leave. When they do, the 'Church' of Scientology essentially declares them an enemy of the state and tells other members to do physical harm to the people that left. They also neglect children, often refuse to let members see doctors and have their own fictional Space Navy. Sound too crazy to be true? I would have thought so too if it hadn't come from a former member that grew up in that crazy cult.
If anyone has any good ideas that should be added to the list, let me know.
- Lord Publius
Sadly, they stopped making the show in 2010. While it went out with a bang, absolutely DESTROYING this BULLSHIT myth about vaccines causing autism, I still want the show to return. I've also developed a list of topics for the show. Hell, I'd host it myself. Anyway, here's my list for new episodes... And the reasons why these topics must be explored...
Topics for new episodes of Penn and Teller: Bullshit!
1.) Army Weight and PT standards
They haven't changed since 1942, even though the Sciences of Biology, Medicine and Health have made enormous gains since that time. Also, if athletes coming into the Army straight out of High School are having trouble passing the PT test, then, something is fundamentally wrong here.
2.) The Military's 'Rape Culture'
The Military is dangerous, especially if you're female. Since the Military is a 'boy's club', women are routinely harassed, disrespected in all kinds of ways and often sexually assaulted. Even worse, these assaults often go unpunished by the Chain of Command. This is why I will NEVER let any future daughters of mine EVER go anywhere near a recruiter.
3.) (Hollywood) Celebrities coming out of the proverbial closet
Do people really need to know that some actor or musician is gay? I personally couldn't care less.
4.) Celebrity worship (especially in the Media)
Why do people place so much emphasis on the opinions of famous people? Being famous does not necessarily make you an expert on anything in particular. #3 and 4 should probably be combined.
5.) Bias in the News Media
Think the Media is giving you accurate, unbiased information? Think again.
6.) Family Law in America
Men are often being forced to pay child support for children that aren't really their children. That is BULLSHIT.
6.) New diagnostic requirements/grading rubric for 'Autism Spectrum Disorder' in the DSM-V
Lumping anyone who is 'neurologically different' into one broad category with it's own 'spectrum' just to simplify paperwork from Healthcare providers and Insurance companies does NOT help treat these patients. Also, there is a huge difference between an Aspie and someone with Classical Autism. Aspies are the 'weird genius' kids in class. Classical Autistics, due in no small part to our flawed educational system, are lucky if they ever learn to read and write on any level.
7.) Obamacare & Government Entitlement programs
Another HUGE government program intended to make people's lives easier instead makes them MUCH worse and threatens to destroy America's economy. Why is anyone surprised this could happen? It has happened before with the New Deal and the Great Society plans...
8.) The NSA
The agency charged with protecting America's freedoms from foreign threats has itself become a threat to those freedoms. How did this happen and what can be done?
9.) Labor Unions
They were created to protect the worker from unsafe working environments and business practices designed to screw them over. However, they already did that DECADES ago and now just drive up costs for the producers, which get passed on to us consumers. And that is why so many American manufacturing jobs were outsourced overseas.
10.) Hillary Clinton
The very definition of 'career politician' incarnate. She's probably one of the most polarizing figures in America today. Liberals think she's an Angel and everyone else thinks she's the Devil. So, what are the facts here? Is she the Devil or just someone who's (possibly) incompetent and corrupted by power?
11.) Education
Specifically, Common Core and the No Child Left Behind Act. 'One size fits all' solutions don't work.
12.) Making money from people's grief...
Selling 'miracle cures' to parents of children with a special need, self-help courses for mentally disabled/neurologically different people, et al. This one and #6 are very personal for me.
13.) Failure of the New Orleans levee system during Hurricane Katrina
As a New Orleans native, this one is also very personal for me.
After Hurricane Betsy struck and flooded NOLA in 1965. The Federal government had the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers build a system of levees to protect the city from another disastrous flood brought on by a Hurricane. 40 years later, that Hurricane came... and the levees failed. How and why did this happen? Who exactly is at fault? What can be done to make sure it never happens again? (And why did Penn and Teller never make an episode on this topic?)
14.) Political Parties
Ever wonder why our leaders can't get anything done? Why is it always one side or the other trying to dominate and force their views on others? Why is it more about getting their way rather than doing something to help the American people? Because of Political Parties and the pack mentality that goes along with them.
15.) Organized Religion
Now, here's a topic I know Penn and Teller would love...
People blindly following a Pastor's lead, lack of critical thinking, some religions adopting policies and traditions that are CONTRARY to the beliefs expressed in their sacred texts... All of this happens in Organized Religion. I personally would use the Catholic Church as the example/poster child/whipping boy here. That is the organized religion that is most familiar to the viewing audience in America and much of the Western World.
16.) Scientology and other cults
Speaking of organized religions... Scientology is not only obvious BULLSHIT, it's also a dangerous cult. Members are not allowed to leave. When they do, the 'Church' of Scientology essentially declares them an enemy of the state and tells other members to do physical harm to the people that left. They also neglect children, often refuse to let members see doctors and have their own fictional Space Navy. Sound too crazy to be true? I would have thought so too if it hadn't come from a former member that grew up in that crazy cult.
If anyone has any good ideas that should be added to the list, let me know.
- Lord Publius
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Random Thoughts on collecting for Atari 7800, Jaguar and other old systems
- The guy who wants to sell his Jaguar stuff to me wanted $840. That's for the Jaguar console, Jaguar CD attachment and 35 games. I don't know what all the games are. There are doubtless going to be a lot of titles that I *DON'T* want.
- I told him that was too much. He tried to lower it to a mere $800, thinking that would help. It didn't.
- I suspect he also wants full retail or whatever he paid for the stuff. Excuse me while I laugh for a few minutes...
- Anyway, that is not going to happen. I hate saying it but, most Jaguar games were crap. The only ones I want are the ones on my list. Most of those I have had before in years past. That's how I know they are good and worth owning again.
- I tried to tell him that all I really want was the few Jaguar titles on my wanted list and the console itself. He said he'd call me back. I haven't heard from him since that conversation took place 2 (or more) weeks ago. I'll probably hear from him again but, my stance is not likely to change. I'm not buying things I don't want.
- He mentioned that he didn't want to get stuck with games he didn't have a system for and I just had one word to respond to him: ebay.
- I wonder if this guy got the impression that I was trying to get the complete collection for the Jaguar. Not true. The only console where I want to get the complete library would be the Atari 7800. That console's library is relatively small and quite cheap. As an added bonus, most of the system's titles were pretty good and comprised largely of arcade ports and 1st party titles. Score!
- Also, I'm not 100% sure I will actually keep all of the 7800 games, once I have them. I may just keep the ones I like and sell/trade the others. That might be profitable since the 7800 does have a cult following among retro gamers. Not only will the system play it's own games but, it also plays the old Atari 2600 games too. That's a nice bonus and really helps keep the cost for 7800 consoles from bottoming out like the 2600 did.
- The retro market was hot for Atari games about 10 to 15 years ago but, not anymore. It bottomed out because EVERYONE hopped on the bandwagon and tried to jack up the price.
- While there are plenty of gamers who want to see what those old systems were like, most were in it just for the nostalgia. We had these games as kids and wanted them again. Now, we all have what we want (for the most part) and prices will NOT be going back up EVER. Unlike classic Nintendo and SEGA systems, the graphics on Atari consoles are too primitive to even tell what a character is much of the time. Besides the all-time classics that are constantly showing up in Atari compilations for newer systems, it's unlikely that many other 2600 titles will have an audience with newer generations. They just haven't aged well. So, anyone selling loose 2600 carts for more than a buck or two is out of their mind.
- You can probably say the same thing about many of those early 3D games from the PS1, SEGA Saturn and some N64 titles with the really low polygon counts. They haven't aged well, either. Other than certain classic shooters and RPG's, just how often do you see someone going out of their way to collect old PS1 games?
- The classic Nintendo and SEGA systems of the 8 & 16-Bit era though, had graphics and sound that were timeless... and often cartoonish. So, the NES, Super NES, Master System & Genesis will always be valuable. Atari should be able to get in on that too with the 7800 and Jaguar. Both of those consoles ended up with some really great games that have stood the test of time. The 2600 hasn't been so lucky because of the now-dated visuals and VERY primitive (yet instantly recognizable) sound. The 5200 is reviled because of its lackluster controls. That is a shame since it did have a few good titles but, stuff happens...
- Lord Publius
- I told him that was too much. He tried to lower it to a mere $800, thinking that would help. It didn't.
- I suspect he also wants full retail or whatever he paid for the stuff. Excuse me while I laugh for a few minutes...
- Anyway, that is not going to happen. I hate saying it but, most Jaguar games were crap. The only ones I want are the ones on my list. Most of those I have had before in years past. That's how I know they are good and worth owning again.
- I tried to tell him that all I really want was the few Jaguar titles on my wanted list and the console itself. He said he'd call me back. I haven't heard from him since that conversation took place 2 (or more) weeks ago. I'll probably hear from him again but, my stance is not likely to change. I'm not buying things I don't want.
- He mentioned that he didn't want to get stuck with games he didn't have a system for and I just had one word to respond to him: ebay.
- I wonder if this guy got the impression that I was trying to get the complete collection for the Jaguar. Not true. The only console where I want to get the complete library would be the Atari 7800. That console's library is relatively small and quite cheap. As an added bonus, most of the system's titles were pretty good and comprised largely of arcade ports and 1st party titles. Score!
- Also, I'm not 100% sure I will actually keep all of the 7800 games, once I have them. I may just keep the ones I like and sell/trade the others. That might be profitable since the 7800 does have a cult following among retro gamers. Not only will the system play it's own games but, it also plays the old Atari 2600 games too. That's a nice bonus and really helps keep the cost for 7800 consoles from bottoming out like the 2600 did.
- The retro market was hot for Atari games about 10 to 15 years ago but, not anymore. It bottomed out because EVERYONE hopped on the bandwagon and tried to jack up the price.
- While there are plenty of gamers who want to see what those old systems were like, most were in it just for the nostalgia. We had these games as kids and wanted them again. Now, we all have what we want (for the most part) and prices will NOT be going back up EVER. Unlike classic Nintendo and SEGA systems, the graphics on Atari consoles are too primitive to even tell what a character is much of the time. Besides the all-time classics that are constantly showing up in Atari compilations for newer systems, it's unlikely that many other 2600 titles will have an audience with newer generations. They just haven't aged well. So, anyone selling loose 2600 carts for more than a buck or two is out of their mind.
- You can probably say the same thing about many of those early 3D games from the PS1, SEGA Saturn and some N64 titles with the really low polygon counts. They haven't aged well, either. Other than certain classic shooters and RPG's, just how often do you see someone going out of their way to collect old PS1 games?
- The classic Nintendo and SEGA systems of the 8 & 16-Bit era though, had graphics and sound that were timeless... and often cartoonish. So, the NES, Super NES, Master System & Genesis will always be valuable. Atari should be able to get in on that too with the 7800 and Jaguar. Both of those consoles ended up with some really great games that have stood the test of time. The 2600 hasn't been so lucky because of the now-dated visuals and VERY primitive (yet instantly recognizable) sound. The 5200 is reviled because of its lackluster controls. That is a shame since it did have a few good titles but, stuff happens...
- Lord Publius
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