The Business Side of Video (Space) Games EXCLUSIVELY ON IDLE THUMBS

[N1njaSquirrel]

Well, shows what I know.

 

So... NO FREEZEPOP?! I'm out. Fuck this shit.

 

Anyway, that's also a good reason to ask for more money. Whatever. I'm still annoyed because I don't want to own a stupid console but I want to play this game more than most games that will be released in the near future.

 

I'm pretty sure Freezepop is somehow related to Harmonix. I think a member works there, so it's not out of the question. Same with Anarchy Club.

[Bjorn]

Well, shows what I know.

 

So... NO FREEZEPOP?! I'm out. Fuck this shit.

 

Anyway, that's also a good reason to ask for more money. Whatever. I'm still annoyed because I don't want to own a stupid console but I want to play this game more than most games that will be released in the near future.

 

Just reading the name Freezepop got Super Sprøde stuck in my head.  Which is not a bad thing.

 

 

throw your undies on the stage.....shop at targhey...

[Justin Leego]

I'm pretty sure Freezepop is somehow related to Harmonix. I think a member works there, so it's not out of the question. Same with Anarchy Club.

 

Yeah, Kasson Crooker does, or at least he did for a good while.

...Yep, he's in!

 

Jeff Ward ‏@fuzzybinary 23h

In honor of the Amplitude announce, I'm listening to the @symbionproject (and other Kasson) tracks that were written specifically for it

[Twig]

Dang, that's cool.

[N1njaSquirrel]

So the fellas who made Towns has officially stopped fixing and updating the game: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/05/07/towns-called-malice-development-of-city-builder-ends/

 

I never played it, but it seems bad business sense to just stop working on an unfinished game. I wonder if their next game (if they make a next game) will be a success. Apparently there was talk of a Towns 2!

[Dewar]

I bought Towns cause it looked cool and Dwarf Fortress like, I played it for about 30 minutes, and then went back to DF. It wasn't horrible, it was just meh.

[Bjorn]

That's one of the very few games I have bought on the promise of what it might be.  I had really given up on it already. 

[shammack]

Slightly off-topic, but if you thought Towns looked cool and then were disappointed by what it actually was, I recommend checking out Gnomoria. It's the first Dwarf Fortress-like that I found accessible enough to actually play.

[tegan]

Nintendo talked about some of the stuff they`re doing to expand today. First up, they're doing a Skylanders sort of deal with little character figurines that can be read by the Wii U gamepad's NFC reader or an NFC reader accessory for the 3DS, where the figurine characters will carry over traits across multiple games. Teg predicts: the 3DS accessor comes bundled with Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby and interacts with Pokémon toys. All of the other Pokémon remakes came with weird experimental accessories (GBA wireless adapter and Pokéwalker) and Pokémon is immediately suited to the idea, so why the hell not?

 

 

 

Also in the news: a Mario Kart 8 smartphone app meant to share videos and rankings, plus the Wii U is getting another much-welcome system update to make it boot 20 seconds faster this June. Hooray!

[Professor Video Games]

So Microsoft is going to start selling a Kinect-less system. This is crazy right? Wasn't their entire UI built around that thing? It basically means the Kinect is dead as there's not really a compelling reason to get one, and now Microsoft is left with a console that's the same price as the PS4 but from what I understand, less powerful. And the PS4 is already the popular choice. Sales numbers aside, this console has been a total disaster from the start. Good grief.

[Justin Leego]

Could be a genius move though. The convenience of Kinect is the reason you go for the more expensive SKU, and the intended reason you go for the Xbox One as an all-in-one entertainment center in the first place. The cheaper option now appeals to "core gamers" by jettisoning Kinect and selling at the same price as PS4.

 

At the same time, there's a ton of cash to be collected while advertising MS' own video content to Netflix and Hulu Plus subscribers, willing to consider a One now that streaming isn't part of Xbox Gold. I know Phil Spencer has been banging the drum for reshaping the XBO as primarily a gaming machine, but I can't see their in-house TV content projects going away too soon either.

[feelthedarkness]

i can't see this as anything other than good news. granted i don't have and don't have plans at the moment to buy a new gen console.

[Murdoc]

So Microsoft is going to start selling a Kinect-less system. This is crazy right? Wasn't their entire UI built around that thing? It basically means the Kinect is dead as there's not really a compelling reason to get one, and now Microsoft is left with a console that's the same price as the PS4 but from what I understand, less powerful. And the PS4 is already the popular choice. Sales numbers aside, this console has been a total disaster from the start. Good grief.

That's what I thought to and I honestly think the kinect is pretty cool, Kinect only games aren't my thing, but by having it as a standard peripheral was cool because it'd allow developers to experiment with it's usage. Not to mention the possibilities with a kinect and a possible future VR head set.

 

Pretty much every cool feature XboxOne was announced with has been gutted thanks to the Internet, I just don't see the difference/appeal of the platform now, it's a box that plays games like every other box that can play games.

[feelthedarkness]

I think "a box that plays games" is what the majority of people have demonstrated they want. 

 

Though I agree they backed off too hard on some of their idea, however I don't think the Kinect was a great idea. It's been hashed out a million times a million places, but if you need to develop for more than one platform you can't prioritize unique hardware. 

[JonCole]

I don't know much about how it works, but everything I've heard suggests that the Kinect is pretty key to navigating the Xbox One's UI. I wonder if/how they'll adapt it to better accommodate a growing audience of Kinect-less users.

 

Frankly, I'd be a lot more likely to buy an Xbox One if there was a Kinect-ful version for $400 in a year or so. A $400, feature-reduced version to match the price of a competitor is not a compelling offer to me.

[Bjorn]

Pretty much every cool feature XboxOne was announced with has been gutted thanks to the Internet, I just don't see the difference/appeal of the platform now, it's a box that plays games like every other box that can play games.

 

Pretty much every cool feature XboxOne was announced with has been gutted thanks to the market and bad decisions by Microsoft.  The Internet didn't make them go with a Kinect-less sku, buyers choosing a competitor did.  Microsoft failed to communicate the original advantages of their design, and instead communicated something that sounded like corporate's wet dream for control (I'll admit there were some cool possibilities to the always on One).  It's not the Internet's fault that Microsoft PR did a shitty job, and couldn't even communicate clearly what the features of the platform were for the first few days after announcement, giving conflicting and contradictory answers.  And consumers did have legitimate concerns about the death of rentals and the inability to give, lend or trade games with friends. 

 

As for the Kinect, my current living room setup literally cannot support one (using a projector and there is no room above or below screen to mount a Kinect), which rendered the One a non-possibility for me.  As long as it was mandatory, I couldn't even consider buying one.  I'd still go with a PS4 first, but in a couple of years when prices are down I'll consider one.

[Winnipeg Fats]

high five for projector bros.

 

Yeah I don't have a room for a kinect either. This is welcome news.

 

MS needs to find a better way to differentiate itself.  Being a cable box that watches you back was never going to be it in a gaming market.

[feelthedarkness]

i really think they should have focused on the always online part, and pushed to make the ONE a console Steam. 

[Zeusthecat]

I feel kind of weird about this. As frustrated as I felt at first about the direction they were going with the Xbox One (i.e. an "all in one entertainment device" that you can play games on instead of a machine built primarily for gaming), the non-gaming Kinect integrated stuff would have probably been the number one reason I would have eventually picked one up since the PS4 seemed to be offering more of the video game centric stuff that I wanted. So I guess this is all moot for me at this point. I went ahead and purchased a PS4 to serve as my next gen video game playing system and unless the Xbox One ends up with a ton of awesome exclusives, the integrated Kinect stuff would probably be the only moderately attractive thing about that system.

[Professor Video Games]

Regarding the Kinect, I think they went overboard with what the capabilities really should have been in the first place. The Wii sales crash should have made them realize that the whole motion control thing wasn't going to be a selling point (and doesn't make for many good games) and the Kinect never really demonstrated why it was worth $100. The most important features don't require all that fancy hardware. Just give the thing a mic or two for voice commands, and a decent camera for video streaming and maybe facial recognition. Personally I would have been ok with an extra $25-$50 for that. Instead they stuck people with a $100 device that can see my pulse and track up to 8 (or whatever) skeletons simultaneously...pass.

[Winnipeg Fats]

I was a 360 guy last generation first and foremost.  The online (at launch) was infinitely better, the controller was better, the price was lower, XBLA was interesting and developed into something really cool... it just hit all my buttons (mind the pun).

 

 

It just feels like every thing that MS changed from the 360 to the ONE has diminished those qualities relative to their competitors.

 

At this point I have to stick with my PC for gaming.  Project Beast is the only thing I've seen so far that's really looked like it could be a compelling argument for a new console.

[JonCole]

Weirdly enough, the main thing that still has me set on a PS4 is the value of PlayStation Plus versus Xbox Live Gold. It's pretty great that on day one of buying a PS4, I'll already have at least 4 or 5 games just because of PS+. No such thing is or likely will be true of the Xbox One since Games With Gold is, at least at this point, totally worthless to me.

[JonCole]

Wow, lol Microsoft has made the Games with Gold program for Xbox One require an active subscription, just like PlayStation Plus -

 

http://www.gamefly.com/news/article/230318/microsoft-announces-june-xbox-live-games-with-gold/#axzz31ddslNem

 

Not that I think that's a horribly bad thing, it's just that Xbox reps have said that the reason they have had super old games on that service is because they had to work out these really special deals that would allow people to keep the games. Emphasis on keep. Yet another reversal that flies in the face of significant PR efforts.

[SilentBtAmazing]

I see this as mostly good stuff. FWIW we do use the Kinect features in my household but I agree most of them could be accomplished with just voice control.

The only camera game we play is Just Dance and that's more of a rare party game.

As a day one percher of the xBone I will say the thing that surprised me most was how much I enjoy having a super expensive Roku that wakes up when I talk to it. Not $500 worth if enjoy but still.

[Ucantalas]

So... Nintendo announced for Canadian people that there is going to be a special Mario Kart 8 event on May 31st in Toronto and Montreal involving actual kart racing and the chance of winning a Blue Shell trophy. That's cool, but not what I want to talk about...

In this same message, they want people who can't make it to either Toronto or Montreal to make "#IJustKarted" a thing on Twitter.

Social media is weird, games are weird, games and social media are gross.