Australia: The Nanny Nation.

Man. Don't get me wrong. I love Australia. They play some of the greatest sports around (Two codes of Rugby, which are like American Football, except played by people in better shape and without pads, Australian Rules Football... you don't know Aussie Rules? It's the one when they score a goal the goal judge sticks both his fingers out like he's a Old West gunfighter? Yeah, that one)... they are one of the more "Macho" nations out there

But they sure don't like video games.

They just had a decade long fight over releasing games there, that was supposed to end when they added the equivalent of an R rating. (Before, if a game had violence or whatever, the game would be "refused classification", which meant it could not be sold in the country).

Well, the Nanny Nation is at it again, even with the new classification, two new games ran into the Brick Wall that is Australian censorship, with State of Decay being denied classification yesterday, and then today, the news that Saints Row 4 was denied classification today, for amongst other things, the Alien Anus Probe.

Which is just funny, if you ask me.

Australia, you're made up of some awesome folks, you're way ahead of us on some political things (I heard some conservative friends suggest they should move to Australia due to some recent decisions. When I explained Australia's views on these issues, they quickly changed their minds).. but seriously? Come on. I don't have a problem with saying that minors shouldn't play it.. which should be the reason for such ratings. But to say that it would inherently warp adults minds?

Come on. Give your countrymen more credit than that.

((and Aussies, if you need help on Steam, let me know))

Why Sports Games always fall short of the real thing...

This post is going to reopen some barely healed wounds on my Boston fan's sports psyche, but what we saw  Monday night is something that can never be duplicated in video games.

We actively seek out the improbable in real life, and actively abhor the improbable in video games.

Two goals in 17 seconds to win the Stanley Cup.

Ugh.

That hurts so much to type right now, but what would have happened let's say in NHL 13.. you're playing the computer in Game Six of a Stanley Cup finals, up one, and you give up two goals in seventeen seconds to lose the cup, after you've played out all the previous games. Do you shake your head and realize the magnitude of what just happened?

The Hell You Do.

One or more of the following happens:

A) The controller's un-aerodynamic properties are confirmed as it's thrown aside (in rare cases, into a wall, or bounce off the cushions of the couch at high speed). 
B) You hit the reset button on the console.
C) You mutter (either to yourself, to your friends or online) about "comeback code" or the game having it in for you.
D) The game never gets played again.

I have a friend, who will remain nameless, who loves the Football Manager series almost as much as I do, but he has a rule. Should he get screwed over too badly by injuries or freak incidents (either glitches in the game engine, or just things like getting a bunch of red cards in a game), it's time for the "Three Finger Salute" (ie, closing the game without saving, force closing, and then possibly reload).

That's why no matter how much developers try, video games will never cause the same depth of feeling as the real thing. There's no way to cause the joy of the Blackhawks fan who saw the improbable comeback, no way to simulate the pain caused to Bruin fans who had the metaphorical roof fall on their heads (or the joy about something like what they did to the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier in the playoffs.

Aft er all, we see how many bounces, and crazy things happen in a single season, and in the life of a console game, millions of seasons are played. Given enough time and game play, even the most wildly improbable thing is nearly certain to happen, after all.

But maybe it's a good thing that it's at best a pale echo of the real thing. After all, there's enough sports junkies out there without finding a way to give them an artificial fix of the same quality after all.

(XB ONE DRM) Gears of War creator blames Sony, not "Internet Whining" for reversal.

Cliff Bleszinski, the creator of the Gears of War series, is crying big crocodile tears today about Microsoft's reversal. He warns that without locking out used games, that we'll all regret it. More developers will flee to mobile games and PC Games, that we'll see more DLC and multiplayer modes tacked on to games, and that the current market cannot sustain continued expansion of budgets for big titles.

You see, that's the thing right there. The market cannot continue to expand in such a manner. Gears Of War 3 was rumored to be the first "nine-figure" development budget console game (between actual development and media campaign). At such budgets, you are literally betting the company on every release. That is unhealthy, because EVERY company will eventually roll snake eyes, and crap out.

Bleszinski goes on to say the reason that Microsoft reversed course wasn't the result of "Internet Whining" but because Sony didn't go along with the plan. I also have to disagree here to a point. Sure, if Sony went along with it, gamers would have had two options. Accept it, or sit the console generation out. I think at least a percentage of gamers would have sat the generation out, but we had to like it or lump it.

But Sony saw Microsoft's plans and played them like an absolute fiddle. They managed to do something found in both martial arts and smart business. Use your opponents force against them. Sony actually TIGHTENED their procedures (requiring PS+ to play online).. and still got cheered for it, because they were so far ahead of Microsoft.

So, folks on the internet may not have caused Microsoft's reversal (seriously though, wouldn't you love to have been a fly on the wall during the meetings during the time between E3 and now?).. but that's because Sony actually decided to listen to their owners, instead of the publishers dream list.

So, Mr. Bleszinski, with all due respect.. we do not have a problem. YOU have a problem. If you can't find a way to deal with it, do what happens to every dinosaur who can't evolve.

Go extinct.

How Video Games imitate Peanuts...

Here's a bit of a complicated equation for you.

Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the Football, is equal to gamers, EA and realistic game play.

That's right, gamers are Charlie Brown, and every year we get suckered in by EA/Lucy..

"This year's NCAA is more realistic than ever! You'll swear you're watching a game on ESPN on Saturday".

We buy into it warily and approach it, and at first blush, it seems that yes, this is the time we'll kick that football and have a realistic game! The first reviews come in, and talk about how smooth the players move, and how realistic it is..

and you want to believe it. Oh, do you EVER want to believe it. This is the year that NCAA will play true to life, and give us something worth playing over and over and over.

And then you start finding the small things, the glitches, the money plays, the vacumn blocking that makes no sense.

And it ends up, with us, just like Charlie Brown, staring at the sky, and wondering how we didn't kick the football. Yet again.

But we keep coming back. We want to believe.

The demo's out, and I'm trying hard not to play it. Because I know I'll get sucked in, buy the full game, and end up going "AUUUUUGHHH!" and landing flat on my back, wondering how EA managed to pull the football away this time.

Interview with Josh Allen of Gamenikki in Exile: Sexism, Independents and Xbox One DRM Reversal

8 Bit Mind: I'm here with Josh Allen, who is the Editor-in-chief of gaming blog "Gamenikki In Exile"... and we're just having a chat on the news of the week. We're saving the big one for the last question, so hold on for that.


Question One: Feminism, Sexism and Video Games:

8bitmind: Anita Sarkessian, a blogger who writes on issues of feminism and the like in the tech industry, went on twitter during E3 to strike a note of concern about the fact that there was very little positive information for women in video games. Not only were there no real female leads to be found, during a demo of Killer Instinct, a joke was made that the female developer should just "close their eyes, it would be over soon". These alone, were worthy of comment, but then the assorted masses of Twitter attacked her with some of the most misogynist, hateful, sexist posts I've ever seen. Did Anita have a point with her comments, and considering the response to the comments she made, and does the twitter response to it show that the video game public have a problem with sexism and misogny?

Josh Allen: That's...a landmine of a question.

She had a point with her comments. The industry has come a long way - witness Tiger Woods 14 including the LPGA for the first time ever - but it has a long way to go.

8bitmind: Agreed, and for a current view of the industry,, look at the history of the game "Remember Me", where according to the developer, several publishers turned it down because it had a female lead.

Josh Allen: It's still very much a "boys' club," and comments like that in what are effectively public venues don't do anything to make the industry female-friendly for young women who might be considering a career in game design.

On the other hand, I don't think the reaction to Anita's comment is necessarily illustrative of sexism and misogyny so much as complementary of other examples which have been around forever. Many of the same people slamming her in the Twitterverse will be people engaging in sexually loaded trash talk on Xbox Live and comparable services. This isn't something that's coming out of nowhere, in other words; it's just a much higher-profile example of the behavior.

8bitmind: How does the industry fight this kind of thing.. it seems like it's locked into a cycle where people buy "dudebro" games, so companies make "dudebro games", and it's forever perpetuating this view?

Josh Allen:I think the biggest way is with a focus on youth games. Nintendo has historically had the most success with female gamers, and that's because they don't target their core games at specifically male or specifically female audiences. Mario is a brand that has resonated with both boys and girls over the years, and that leads to a situation where 60% of Wii owners are/were female. You can't change the culture overnight with games aimed at older audiences.

"Dudebro" sells because the Tuesday game buyers are dudebros.

What you need to do is start building a gaming culture with the younger gamers who will be your future customers and perhaps your future employees and make games that both can enjoy, rather than dudebro-lite for little boys and Barbie Horse Adventures for little girls. That's not to say there isn't a place for the latter in the market, but up to now, games designed with girls in mind have almost exclusively occupied the horses-makeup-and-boys space.

Basically, it's not an overnight change. They need to start policing themselves better in terms of what they say and do in public, and if there's a desire to get women greater involvement in the industry going forward, that foundation has to be laid with the games that are made today.

Otherwise you'll continue to have a male-dominated space that insists that women who intrude have to "close their eyes and let it happen."

8bitmind: Agreed. The video game industry has a problem, they KNOW they have a problem, and now it comes down to how they deal with the problem.

Question Two: Sony, Microsoft and Independent Games

8bitmind: Independent games (that is, games without a publisher) were already a part of both systems, but with the next generation of consoles months away, it was interesting to see how the two consoles deal with Independent game makers.

Microsoft requires independent publishers to either use the Xbox authoring engine for their game (and to be stuck in the little-used Indie Games sub-area), or to acquire a publisher to be listed in the Xbox Live Arcade.
Sony seems to be more embracing of independent games, featuring them heavily in their E3 presentation, and in more than a few cases, waiving the requirement of $20,000 to release a patch.

How do you see the two behemoths of this generation of consoles handing independent games, and does it supply an advantage due to one or the other?

Josh Allen: I don't think there's a huge advantage inherent. I think Sony featured indies more heavily in their E3 presentation because they didn't have as much in the way of exclusive AAA titles to tout. It's a matter of if you can't have the one you love, love the one you're with.

I think Microsoft will probably continue the approach they've used on Xbox 360, and it may hurt their ability to attract indie developers - which is quite a change from where they were just five years ago - but I think their focus right now is on the AAA titles. Games like Journey on PSN are fantastic games, but how many people walk into Best Buy to purchase a PS3 so they can play Journey? I think Microsoft is banking that if they shift units on the strength of AAA titles, indie developers will come to them because that's where the market is.

I think Sony realizes that having indie developers means having things for their users to play - and the PlayStation Vita has shown them the importance of that so far - but isn't necessarily married to indie games as the lifeblood of the console. Just a way to paper over the cracks in the library.

8bitmind: It's still more than a bit unusual to see Sony to be the one embracing the little guy.

Josh Allen: It is. But remember that Sony hasn't been willing to pony up for DLC exclusives the way Microsoft has in the last five years. So where Microsoft's differentiator is getting DLC first on a time-limited exclusive, Sony's differentiator is having a diverse library of independent games that may not be on other platforms.

Question Three: Xbox One changes their DRM

8bitmind: And finally, the big one.. news today that Microsoft is doing a complete and total 180 on the Xbox One. Gone is the every 24 hour DRM check, and limitations on the sharing of games. It's not all good news, as this means you will need to have the disc in the system to play.

First off, have you ever seen such a radical reconfiguration of a system's requirements in the months before release?

Josh Allen: Never.

8bitmind: Microsoft put their hand in the cookie jar, and when it closed upon them like a steel trap, they decided that they didn't want the cookie after all,

Did they think that they could ride out the gamers dislike of the controversial system requirements, and only when it was revealed in the mainstream press, did they realize "No, NOONE thinks this is a good idea?"

Josh Allen: Without trying to get TOO political about this, I think there's a parallel here between Xbox One and "Obamacare." The White House strategy on "Obamacare" has clearly been that whatever the controversy, once things started kicking in and people see what those changes mean, they'd embrace the changes. Likewise, I think Microsoft felt, at least initially, that they could ride out the backlash and once people saw what was being enabled by the restrictions, that the public would drop its objections.

I think what ultimately happened here is the difference between government policy and trying to run a business. The former can say "This is how it is; deal with it," and wait for people to come around, while the latter is still in the business of making and selling widgets, and you generally can't sell widgets to people who don't want to be sold to.

Microsoft realized that they'd be fighting an uphill battle for the next 3-4 months that would completely overshadow everything else they're trying to accomplish with the console, and decided that discretion was the better part of not getting their ass shot off by Sony in the marketplace.

8bitmind: This probably has to annoy developers who designed their games for an always on connection (I've seen mentions elsewhere that to use the cloud properly to enhance graphics, you need a constant 1.5 Mps stream, which many but not all people have).. is this going to have a knock on effect for games that were designed to use the benefits of the console that just aren't there any more?

Josh Allen: I think to a certain extent what's going to happen is that those games are going to be sold as "Xbox Live required" titles. Future development will probably assess the likelihood that the userbase will be part of the "always on" community. The other possibility is that while Xbox One won't require a connection in order to play, we'll start seeing "Better with Live" branding to communicate to people that, hey, if you connect to Live, this game gets even better.

8bitmind: And the important question: How much damage does the recent few weeks do to Microsoft for this console generation? I said when I saw it, "They finally applied rule 1 of getting out of a hole... stop digging!" That being said, they're still in a hole... aren't they?

Josh Allen: In the long term, I think making this change is going to mitigate a lot of the damage that might otherwise have been done. There's a tendency to believe that those of us who read gaming sites and blogs on a regular basis make up the majority of the game-buying public, but that probably isn't true. There's an echo chamber effect, where we're making a big deal about the DRM and everything else, and a large segment of the population is simply unaware of the changes Microsoft had in mind. Had these policies persisted until launch, I think that could have been critically damaging to the business. Making the change now ensures another news cycle or two of bad PR, but by the time launch rolls around, it's going to be largely forgotten - except by families who buy an Xbox One and don't have a broadband connection to download the patch that removes the 24-hour check-in. That's gonna be an interesting Christmas morning.

You can check out more of Josh's work at gamenikkiinexile.com

Microsoft reverses course on DRM

I'm arranging for a back and forth with Josh Allen, the Editor In Chief of Gamenikki In Exile, and this will be on the burner for it, (look for it tonight or tommorrow) but I just had to comment on it now, while the news is fresh.
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Xbox One DRM has been scrapped. Completely and totally. It's going to function like the 360 did (disc required, no Every 24 hour DRM check)..

That's running the white flag up.. but how much damage has been done?

The Return of an 8BitMInd

One of the problems with running a blog solo, is what we call a single point of failure. I was in the hospital over the weekend, and still not quite 100%, which is why you didn't get any goodness from me over the last week or so.

But man, I'm looking at the variety of news that I missed, and I feel like I missed a month. I'm scrambling to try to get stories up on everything, so for those of you who have returned after the silent running, stay tuned. It's about to get busy.

The reason for the silent running..

sorry for the slow updates, I'm in the hospital for dehydration and leg issues.. I just got my laptop, so we'll see if I can wrap up E3 and some of the other news in the video game world tommorrow.

XB1 to completely ignore the Asia Market for up to a year after release

There's been many moves that I can't understand by Microsoft but this ranks high upon this list.

Xbox One will not be available in Asia at all until the end of 2014, and there are no current plans to release the console in Japan.

Let that sink in. One of the biggest countries in spending money and console use, and they're not going to play at all.

Does that make sense?

I mean, it's not like the previous consoles have done particularly well in Japan to start with, but I mean, if you don't play, you can't improve at all. And you'd think nations with the highest density of ultra-fast Internet connections would be more ok with the "Nearly Always On" nature of the Xbox One.

But, Microsoft has decided they can't win, so they're not going to even try to make Sony spend resources to defend their home market.

How would you like to be in Xbox PR Department right now? It's been nearly a month of agony, punctuated by Sony absolutely owning Microsoft with the low price and relaxed used games announcements at E3.

Nintendo goes the EA route and Sony steps back slightly, continued E3 Coverage

Unfortunately, Sony doesn't have a DRM platform, but it will allow publishers to set rules, we'll see how that goes.. disappointing..

Then we get to Nintendo, which basically stepped away from the E3 hoopla, and went the EA route, sequels.. new Mario Brothers, new Mario Kart, etcetera etcetera. That was enough for a second place finish (Microsoft got buried), but so far, it's Sony.

Sony E3 Press Conference Recap

I was going to say Sony did everything but spike the football on Microsoft....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kWSIFh8ICaA

Nope. That football is thoroughly spiked.

They are going to write business school classes on how Microsoft screwed this up.

New Kingdom Hearts game.
New Final Fantasy (Ok, a revamped Final Fantasy Versus game as a new Final Fantasy game)
Drive Club, Kill Zone, Knack as launch titles
Exclusive items for Diablo 3 (rolls eyes)
The Order: 1866
Bastion follow up..

But the two biggest items coming out of it:

Price $399
No Used Games restrictions.

As my friend John put it: "You know when someone just lays a verbal smackdown of epic proportions that they just stop, drop the microphone and walk away, and the other person can't even pick the mic up to get back at them? Sony just dropped the mic, walked away and had the gamers chanting "Sony! Sony! Sony!"

Was it perfect? No, it looks like PS+ will be necessary to play games online.

But when it comes to who the victor at E3 was? Or who is likely to win the first 18-24 months of the next-gen war? No doubt about it. Sony just blitzkrieged Microsoft.

The EA Press Conference at E3

Or: SEQUELS, SEQUELS, SEQUEL??!?!?! SEQUEL!!!!!!!

Nice to see one of the most under-appreciated games of all time, Mirror's Edge is going to get a sequel.

Plants vs Zombies... as an action shooter... oooooookkkk..

Dragon Age Inquisitor, Fall 2014.. so if they showed this and not the next Mass Effect, does this mean we're looking at 2015 for Mass Effect?


NBA Live is returning.. so we're going to show you a lot of dribbling, because that's what our developers were doing when they made the last two cancelled versions.. thankfully they had drool bibs on at the time.

UFC only on next gen? Boohiss. Although they did make me laugh, with the new feature "Full Body Deformation".. I'd make a joke about the folks making it, but I think I've already hit my quota on those comments above.

Need For Speed Rivals: I'm waiting for them to run out of witty things to put after Need for Speed and make Need For Speed: We're Not Fast and Furious but We're Kinda Cool Anyway.

Star Wars Battlefield? Heck yes. Even if it was just acquired, and wasn't anything more than 20 seconds of snow and ice.

Again, It's rewarmed leftovers, but damn good rewarmed leftovers. a Meh Plus, but only because the overreliance of SEQUELS are disappointing.

Release Date and Price For Xbox One

$499 in November.

Sorry Microsoft, you lose. good Game, no rematch.

Microsoft E3 Press Conference

Or: Foz watches press conferences so you don't have to.

Quick review: Nothing here made me change my mind to stay away from Xbox One. The flaws in the system and the hoopla surrounding it are too much.

Notes:

Free Xbox 360 games for Live Subscribers.. more of a free rental, but it looks like they'll include Halo and Assassin's Creed games, but this hints of damage control.

Dark Souls II: Meh.

Yet another redesign of the Xbox 360. probably known as the Long Tail edition (IE the cheap box to get people into gaming where you can spam them into upgrading to a "real" console.. who knows, it might outsell the Xbox One...

World of Tanks comes to 360. That's semi-interesting.. now get Mechwarrior Online and I'll be really interested.

New Killer Instinct game exclusive for Xbox One. Because the revival of the fighting game craze hasn't quite petered out yet.

Forza 5 to feature "Driveatar" system, where the system will capture your driving habits and upload it to the cloud to be opponents for other people. Because having just the normal AI run you off the road and ruin your race isn't realistic enough.

Quantum Break is being described as "24 meets Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time". Um, interesting... a little at least.

Dead Rising 3 to Xbox One exclusive: Interesting, it's not quite the seller that you would expect such an exclusive to be, but still, interesting.

In short: Meh, to a meh minus.

At least they finally focused on the games, and turned off the automatic footgun. But still, there just isn't enough there to get the bad taste out of the mouth from the last few weeks.

Expect a weekend funspot tommorrow..

I have come down with a more virulent form of montezuma's revenge, andtyping this on a cell phone. We'll have a weekly update tommorrow.

The Monday Blues for June 3rd.

Hey all, Don't worry, the Monday Blues aren't sticking around, but if Friday is the Funspot, Monday is definitely the blues.

Just some quick hits on the video game world:

Fuse seems to have gotten fair to middling reviews and the consensus view is that it has a lot of successful things to it that work well for other titles, yet the game lacks something that would tie them all together in a cohesive package. Sad to see, was looking forward to that one.

Lot going on in the crowdfunding bandwagon, as Double Fine is at it again... this time with a game with a unique hook called MASSIVE CHALICE. What is it, you might ask?

The line is "If turn-based tactics and feudal fantasy had a love child, and that offspring founded a mighty century-spanning dynasty, it would be MASSIVE CHALICE."

Ok, consider my interest piqued. Kinda like Record of Agarest War, with out the very arcane game system, or the anime boobs. That's fine by me. Some will chide Double Fine for launching a new kickstarter, while the previous one hasn't come out, but apparently one third of Double Fine is working on the previous game, which allows this. So, I've pledged, and if you want to as well, the Kickstarter is here:

On the somewhat negative side, looks like the F2P Mech Arena games market is tapped out, as Heavy Gear Assault's kickstarter hasn't gotten out of first gear. Two weeks into a 40 day fundraising campaign hoping to raise $800,000, and they haven't even gotten $40,000. Sad to see...

And finally on the kickstarting side, if no one sees me for a month or so, that's because Shadowrun Returns is on the verge of being released and I'll be playing and/or creating adventures for a month or so. The editor is now out to high money kickstarter backers, prior to general release, and from what I've been reading from folks who've tried it out is that it's very powerful, a bit kludgey, but very useable. How interested am I in this game? I signed up for a contest at GenCon, which gives the 16 competitors four hours to build a campaign using the editor, with prizes to the winner. Kinda like Iron Chef with Trolls and Cyberware.

Let's see.. what else..

Remember Me.. no I'm not asking you to remember me, I'm talking about the game Remember Me, which comes out tommorrow. I've seen a couple places that just LOVE the environment and feeling the game evokes, but the lack of interactivity with the environment is a negative. The best comparison I've gotten is from a friend of mine who got a review copy, and told me "This game won't sell well now, but will be the cult classic of its generation". I guess kinda like Alpha Protocol.. (and yes, I still get into arguments when I defend Alpha Protocol.)

Oh, just a gaming mention that's not quite a video game mention, looks like ESPN has started the six week gambling fest that is the World Series of Poker with a bang, as they will be airing 35 final tables on their video streaming site, espn3.com. Trust me, if you're a poker fan, this time of the year is a bonanza. If the phrase "Well, I had a pocket pair of fours, moved up to trips on the flop, fell behind when the fish pulled a bigger set out of his ass on the turn, but got saved with a one-outer to have quads on the river and scoop the pot" confuses you and or disgusts you.. well.. I'd say you have no poker soul

Taking a week off from the Funspot..

But don't worry, I'll have some thoughts on the Week That Was on Monday.