Tag Archives: MSFT

Here’s what I learned from CheckPoint S3E4.

I’m a little late with this post, as I’ve been busy trying to relearn everything I forgot about Linux server administration.

  • Graham and Kathleen are rightfully smug for the US-in-general forgetting Canada Day. Now, moving on…
  • Square Enix continues its string of out-of-touch decisions by deciding that, instead of developing a Final Fantasy VII remake with modern 3D technologies, its time would be better spent by making Cloud’s SOLDIER uniform a pre-order bonus for Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. But Graham has a point, nostalgia can make up for a lot of sales.
  • MSFT announced an algorithm for match-making that takes into account the ratings and reviews that other players leave about you using the Xbox Live match-making system. The more negative ratings you receive, the more likely you are to be paired up with players with negative ratings like yours. It sounds like a decent way to split up griefing and trolling users from those wanting to just play the game and do so without feeling the need to use racial slurs and so on. Graham’s remarks are right on; if the system works as intended, perhaps there’ll be a bit more self-reflection among the Xbox Live players.
  • Dwarf Fortress hitting version 1.0 in 2033? Half-Life 3 confirmed.
  • Ars Technica comes up with some great information about the prices of console systems at release versus prices adjusted for inflation. While the Xbox One’s launch price is roughly half a gas tank more expensive than the Xbox 360’s launch price adjusted for inflation, it’s important to note that it’s still a difference of half a gas tank. I don’t really consider myself a social being that drives errywhere all the time, but that’s still something to think about.
  • Douche AsstrickDon Mattrick left MSFT and joined Zynga. Going from being the boss of the division that believed that the Xbox 360 was the offline version of the Xbox One to being the boss of a company that preys on consumers’ wallets with pay-to-win games that are borderline addictive. But oh wait, that was Xbox news. And Kathleen got a Dwarf Fortress joke in that needles the Xbox brand again! HEYOOOOO
  • The way to get a game that glorifies drugs classified in Australia: find/replace drugs to vitamins.

Here’s what I learned from CheckPoint S3E2.

  • Graham is totally Canadian. That’s not the worst thing ever, but it’s apparent in the opening splash.
  • Kathleen’s takedown of EA Sports’ Ignite engine missing the PC market is pretty well summed up. EA, of course, is oblivious to the sports titles that fall under the genre of simulations rather than sports titles such as Football Manager. Also, the FIFA franchise was a PC title as well, right?
  • DayZ ripoff couldn’t secure a trademark for its horrible, horrible game so they’ve renamed it? Why not just throw in the towel at the same time? Graham realizes the truth: that this was the whole point of the game and they should really give up at the same time. JUST STOP.
  • An iPad game that skirts past the censor as a ‘spiritual’ orgasm simulator. Seriously. I felt bad hearing that sentence Kathleen.
  • Prey 2 absent from E3. Bethesda has barred it from releasing any news because it’s just not ‘up to snuff’ according to Graham. I wish it were. There are a lot of folks that I know of who would be purchasing a Prey 2 day-one sight-unseen because of the experience they had with the first title.
  • Vlambeer is sick of getting their games ripped off in a medium where games are ripped off on a normal basis, so they’re livestreaming development of the title. You can watch over a guy code over his shoulder so you can have the satisfaction that the mobile development company thought of a game first before it was ripped off. But when they make higher quality games than their competitors, aren’t they going to win anyway? Kathleen seems about as excited about it as I am.
  • Don Mattrick is a moron, but he did announce the Xbox 180, where the Xbox One’s ‘groundbreaking’ DRM and feature set were being removed in favor of retaining the current model of disc-based games. Graham points out that MSFT’s lack of communication is what started the whole mess and that going back on its word hasn’t changed the fact that MSFT’s communication, led by Don Morontrick, is still not as clear as it should be.
  • Kathleen brings up Sony’s ruined, pending and probably already shot viral video campaign that basically demeans the Xbox One’s DRM restrictions as a reason to consider a PlayStation 4. But with a required bundled Kinect, there’s still the sticking point that will drive some consumers to the PS4 over the Xbox One. And the price, too.
  • Free-to-play fighting game with premium character selection sounds like the worst thing ever. I wish the Killer Instinct reboot wouldn’t exist if I had to pay multiples of dollars for a character like Riptor. (Seriously, though: Fulgore it where it’s at.)