Hangout The Games Hangout Thread

[kkck]

I really hope the rumors about the new xbox are less than accurate. While I understand why companies would be desperate to fight against piracy what they are suggesting is a attempt against privacy and the billion dollar used game market. Anyways, just a while back I was reading about how microsoft was patenting software so that web cameras would be able to scan the area you are in and find things which infringe copyrights and count the amount of people watching a movie (so that they can restrict the movie if there are too many). At that point I realized the world was insane and also that cauterizing my laptop's web camera was not in fact insane. I barely even tolerate the fact that I can't play starcraft II without internet, I don't think I would ever buy a console that goes as far as the rumors suggest (at least until other saner options are unavailable). My biggest complain though is that standard multiplayer (as in 4 people in a room playing together) is dying at large. If the rumors are true then wii u would be the only console out there that would keep an actual normal non online multiplayer experience.

 

[Jammin]

I really hope the rumors about the new xbox are less than accurate. While I understand why companies would be desperate to fight against piracy what they are suggesting is a attempt against privacy and the billion dollar used game market. Anyways, just a while back I was reading about how microsoft was patenting software so that web cameras would be able to scan the area you are in and find things which infringe copyrights and count the amount of people watching a movie (so that they can restrict the movie if there are too many). At that point I realized the world was insane and also that cauterizing my laptop's web camera was not in fact insane. I barely even tolerate the fact that I can't play starcraft II without internet, I don't think I would ever buy a console that goes as far as the rumors suggest (at least until other saner options are unavailable). My biggest complain though is that standard multiplayer (as in 4 people in a room playing together) is dying at large. If the rumors are true then wii u would be the only console out there that would keep an actual normal non online multiplayer experience.

I don't put a huge amount of stock in those particular rumors just yet. Mainly because in the world of video-games consumer loyalty is such a big deal. I feel like that would be a feature that fans would backlash against and would get stripped out. And even if it was there I think game companies would opt out of using it like most games do with DRM's on PC.

The tech is there but most companies are more concerned with getting fans to like their games and feel positive about the developer, than they are the potential problems of piracy.

I don't to much game pirating anymore but I personally find a constant internet connection as a requirement to be a huge pain in the ass anyway. Especially when things on the gaming company's end break down so damn often. Anybody else remember what a nightmare Diablo III's launch last year was because of it's online requirement? I was seething with rage that whole time. The fact that I couldn't play single player because Blizzard decided to buy used servers from some yard sale made me want to resort to physical violence. I can't even image what my reaction would be if a whole console did that.

 

[riki]

Here is new information about the PS4's social feature. You can share opinions with your friends while playing a game. It will supposedly cost 40,000 yens ($400) when it comes out in Japan this winter. That is 10,000 yens less than the PS3 (20 GB) when it first came out.

In other news, Ouya will release a new console every year according to the company CEO.

Last and not least, Ubisoft announced that a new Assassin's Creed game will be out between April 2013 and the end of March 2014 (I'm leaning toward the latter or end of the year). The game will take place in a new time period, which means a new lead character.

 

[kkck]

I don't put a huge amount of stock in those particular rumors just yet. Mainly because in the world of video-games consumer loyalty is such a big deal. I feel like that would be a feature that fans would backlash against and would get stripped out. And even if it was there I think game companies would opt out of using it like most games do with DRM's on PC.

The tech is there but most companies are more concerned with getting fans to like their games and feel positive about the developer, than they are the potential problems of piracy.

I don't to much game pirating anymore but I personally find a constant internet connection as a requirement to be a huge pain in the ass anyway. Especially when things on the gaming company's end break down so damn often. Anybody else remember what a nightmare Diablo III's launch last year was because of it's online requirement? I was seething with rage that whole time. The fact that I couldn't play single player because Blizzard decided to buy used servers from some yard sale made me want to resort to physical violence. I can't even image what my reaction would be if a whole console did that.

Well, if companies were concerned of things in that particular order consistently then I would argue things would be a tad different from what we see nowadays. I mean, it is a known fact that multiplayer games(and not online multiplayer but rather as in games you can play with people in the room) sell more than other games however games with multiplayer which can only be played online and no normal multiplayer are becoming increasingly more common. Companies are growing increasingly more worried and more importantly desperate as far as pirating goes and the attempts to control this are getting increasingly more extreme. This is something I am not particularly optimistic about. Companies will certainly try to make their consoles and games less prone to pirating with increasingly extreme measures and in turn there is no single device on this earth that is unhackable. So they get increasingly extreme measures to fight something against which it is impossible to win.

starcraft II is the perfect example of this. Blizzard went well out of its way to make the game require constant internet connection to play it the way it is supposed to and they completely removed the option to have LAN games. What was the result? The game is pirated just about as much as it would be otherwise and the game was hacked so as to have LAN games anyways. Starcraft has a full blown professional league in korea and even they complain about the lack of lan feature (playing online has had negative impact on some professional matches) they still do nothing about it. You would think blizzard would care a tad more about the professional league of their game (although if I do recall they did have some good reasons to be pissed at them). seriously, how dumb is it that starcraft II does not allow for LAN parties?

 

[Jammin]

Well, if companies were concerned of things in that particular order consistently then I would argue things would be a tad different from what we see nowadays. I mean, it is a known fact that multiplayer games(and not online multiplayer but rather as in games you can play with people in the room) sell more than other games however games with multiplayer which can only be played online and no normal multiplayer are becoming increasingly more common. Companies are growing increasingly more worried and more importantly desperate as far as pirating goes and the attempts to control this are getting increasingly more extreme. This is something I am not particularly optimistic about. Companies will certainly try to make their consoles and games less prone to pirating with increasingly extreme measures and in turn there is no single device on this earth that is unhackable. So they get increasingly extreme measures to fight something against which it is impossible to win.

starcraft II is the perfect example of this. Blizzard went well out of its way to make the game require constant internet connection to play it the way it is supposed to and they completely removed the option to have LAN games. What was the result? The game is pirated just about as much as it would be otherwise and the game was hacked so as to have LAN games anyways. Starcraft has a full blown professional league in korea and even they complain about the lack of lan feature (playing online has had negative impact on some professional matches) they still do nothing about it. You would think blizzard would care a tad more about the professional league of their game (although if I do recall they did have some good reasons to be pissed at them). seriously, how dumb is it that starcraft II does not allow for LAN parties?

I think both StarCraft II and Diablo III are both examples more indicative of Blizzard's philosophy than it is gaming in general. The huge MMO success of World of Warcraft greatly effected they way they make there games and it shows.

Not every company works that way though. Take Gearbox for example. They designed Borderlands 2 specifically with offline multiplayer in mind that was one of their stated development priorities. So that aspect of gaming is not entirely forgotten.

 

[kkck]

Dunno, I don't see any coherent reason for them to think a game like starcraft II would benefit in any way from making it the way they did. At least my own impression is that I do not get anything of value from the game having to be consistently online to play. Removing altogether the option from lan is by all intents and purposes unrelated to their MMO.

I am not saying that the standard multiplayer is lost, all I am saying is that the trends are against it. How many games are released with no standard multiplayer nowadays and only with online multiplayer?

 

[Schabrak]

Blizzard became greedy, D3 turned out to be shit, most hope is lost. That's the short form of what the community thinks.

Taking LAN out of a multiplayer game can only be execused as greed. Players will always find some way around the protection, especially the pirates, so fuck Blizzard for that shitty game and fuck them for their current approach towards gamers.

 

[kkck]

Well, it is not just greed. They have a right to sell their product at whatever price they want and to not want to have it pirated however that is not the issue I am pointing out here. Its the actual damage honest and decent multiplayer is taking due to the sheer desperation to stop pirating. The measures do nothing to stop pirating at large and have a negative impact on regular gaming experience.

 

[Schabrak]

Look at what it lead to with Ubisoft. Of course it's okay for them to make maximum profit, but in the end, the damanged ones are for the majority, those that actually buy the games.

The majority doesn't care for your anymore once you bought the product, unless they release further DLC down the line. Look at EA killing the old multiplayer servers for two, three years old games. The ability to put two consoles together to play co-op or normal multiplayer is dead now, it worked great with the x-box/ps2 in some cases.

 

[riki]

The rumored PS4 will be bundled with a new "evolutionized HD EyeToy" called Dual Camera.

One of the new PS4 games is supposedly Killzone 4.

 

[benelori]

Would anyone want to try some Star Wars: The Old Republic? There has been a free to play option for a while now, so if you want to check it out, let's get together and kill some

 

[shaheer]

Would anyone want to try some Star Wars: The Old Republic? There has been a free to play option for a while now, so if you want to check it out, let's get together and kill some

star wars knight of the old republic? kotor? Now this brings back some good memories.. but nah cant really play it online my net sukz so much that some times i cant even get skype voice from a caller.
campaign play and story mode play is the only option i have
I wish i could play it though

 

[Uriel]

Would anyone want to try some Star Wars: The Old Republic? There has been a free to play option for a while now, so if you want to check it out, let's get together and kill some

Link? </lazy>

 

[Schabrak]

www.swtor.com

Played the beta, but I don't have the time to play it again, even for free.

 

[benelori]

star wars knight of the old republic? kotor? Now this brings back some good memories.. but nah cant really play it online my net sukz so much that some times i cant even get skype voice from a caller.
campaign play and story mode play is the only option i have
I wish i could play it though

Yeah...it is a continuation of that...somewhat...it's an MMO though, and Bioware opted to make it, instead of kotor 3...kotor 2 was my favourite, I spent ages playing that game, with mods, without mods etc...

There is a piece of news though, and Obsidian(the developers of kotor 2 and Fallout: New Vegas) are trying to get in talks with Disney owned Lucasarts, to make a new Star Wars game...if that will happen...

 

[Black Hawk]

only 9 Days more and so much information already on the market, What can Sony still present, when every was ist inside of the "Orbi" already spreading around. And also with the some amazing game like Cyberpunk 2077 already, been on the internet as the first Game that is strictly for new xbox and ps4.

What i personal like on "Orbi" (Ps4) is the grafikchip 2,2 GB only Video memory and 8 Gigabyte main memory.
Also that they have and AMD Bulldozer 3,3 GB Quadcore processor inside. Everything still comes from amd. To comment the rumor of the new Camera i heard also, this should be a part of the new art of gaming in some kind of games. 3 3.0 USB ports and 2 eternal ports.

bad release is earliest 2015​

I can´t wait to see in 9 Days what Sony present to us in a big Show again?

 

[Jammin]

Something interesting to add to the discussion of anti-piracy measures in the next gen consoles. One of the measures rumored for the next XBOX is an internet based method for blocking used games.

In a recent poll done by Gamestop some suprising numbers came up on the issue. Apparently 60% of polled gamers said they would not buy a console the blocks used games. While GameStop is a used game seller, therefore makeing this poll seem a little suspect. Kotaku actually ran it's own poll which pretty much confirms those numbers.

 

[kkck]

Well, the measure is just plain dumb... doesn't it limit using a game to just one console? It wouldn't just affect "used" games, it would prevent you from taking your games to your friends home... I guess they could do a login thing which would allow you that but that only works if you have an internet connection (which perhaps means they actually want you to be connected to the internet 24/7). while wifi is readily available in the US and Japan there are plenty other places where it is not necessarily as standard.

Polls are reality are not necessarily on par though. Once the PS4 or xbox 720 are out people will definitely have to consider whether the inconvenience of security measures are worth not getting the game.

Overall I don't think destroying the used game industry will actually be something which the companies have to concern over. As far as we know selling used games is not something over which developers or console makers profit from. They profit from selling to people who buy new games. Provided the measures don't affect those who buy new games regularly there is no reason for them to give a damn about people who buy used games or people who sell used games.

 

[Jammin]

Well, the measure is just plain dumb... doesn't it limit using a game to just one console? It wouldn't just affect "used" games, it would prevent you from taking your games to your friends home... I guess they could do a login thing which would allow you that but that only works if you have an internet connection (which perhaps means they actually want you to be connected to the internet 24/7). while wifi is readily available in the US and Japan there are plenty other places where it is not necessarily as standard.

Polls are reality are not necessarily on par though. Once the PS4 or xbox 720 are out people will definitely have to consider whether the inconvenience of security measures are worth not getting the game.

Overall I don't think destroying the used game industry will actually be something which the companies have to concern over. As far as we know selling used games is not something over which developers or console makers profit from. They profit from selling to people who buy new games. Provided the measures don't affect those who buy new games regularly there is no reason for them to give a damn about people who buy used games or people who sell used games.

It's true the numbers in the polls are unlikely to be strictly accurate on who would actually refuse to buy a console with such measures, since a great exclusive launch game (or 100 other factors) could come out and change peoples minds. But polls like this one do give an accurate reflection of opinion on the issue.

If public opinion of a console is affected then it's very much something that should worry a console manufacturer.

I think it goes deeper than the annoyance and impracticality of a constant internet connection for most people or that it shuts down used games sales (which is a something lower income gamers use a lot of because they are cheaper) or that it also shuts down any possibility of game rental services (such as gamefly). While these issues do matter I think the biggest thing is that it's insulting to the consumer.

A console manufacturer is asking that people pay $300-$400, which is not an insignificant amount of money, for a console and then they turn around and treat gamers like a bunch of thieves.

If I went into a furniture place and bought a chair. And the sales person was like "Now your only allowed to put this in your house, your can never move it, never resell it; and we're putting a digital tag on it to be sure." I'd be like "@#$@ you @#$hole, I'm shopping across the street!"

 

[kkck]

Well, they are insulting a particular group of consumers, the ones that don't buy new games. People who do buy new games at large won't be made out to feel like thieves.... The greatest inconvenience they will suffer is being unable to take their game and use them on a friends house.

Then there is also the issue that in regards to video games there is at large a rather small selection of consoles. If sony and microsoft implement any of the security measures mentioned earlier the only option left will be wii U. Even if customers simply rule out the console with the most restrictive security measures that still rids the buyer of 33% of his available options. I don't think someone who wants a PS4 would ultimately not buy one under this scenario.

Just look at me when I bought starcraft II. I had to choose between playing starcraft II and tolerate the fact that those assholes made the game thinking every customer out there is out to rob from them or I could have as easily not played.