Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Gaming > Gaming News & Discussion

Gaming News & Discussion (Page 11)
Thread Tools
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2011, 11:31 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
And with a new 360 coming in 2012 (supposedly), it'll lag behind, most likely. Nintendo is going with the same formula as the Wii -- I just wonder how well it will turn out this time.
Did I miss something? Everything I've read is the announcement is set for 2012, release 2013.


Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
I hope you're wrong on that. As much as I've defended Sony through the years, I still don't want it to happen to Microsoft.
Neither do I, but reality is everyone is getting destroyed. I hope MS is paying attention (In addition to the PSN outage).


Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
So in other words, it's EA's fault? Somehow that seems...convenient.
But believable, right? Given many of their games have similar competitors, it'd be a notable strike against them if a PSN feature was only compatible with their competitor's products (CoD, NBA2K).

That and they're dicks to begin with.

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
I didn't understand all of the jargon, but even though all he's say may be true, if Sony really wanted cross-game chat, they'd find a way to implement it. It's not a priority.
They could implement it across the board but some titles would be incompatible. That's the way.

Think of it like Live's 100 friend limit. It wasn't just arbitrary (as people thought) but a pre-existing limitation that could only be solved by shutting down support for older (previous gen) titles.

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Good god...Imagine if EA actually had dropped support for the PS3...
Shooting themselves in the foot. It's too late in the gen for that to appreciably affect PS3 sales, though I imagine XBOX would see a small boost. Sony would lose significant licensing fees, though.
     
Jawbone54
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2011, 11:34 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Did I miss something? Everything I've read is the announcement is set for 2012, release 2013.
Yeah, I worded that wrong.

Wind, sails, etc.

But believable, right? Given many of their games have similar competitors, it'd be a notable strike against them if a PSN feature was only compatible with their competitor's products (CoD, NBA2K).

That and they're dicks to begin with.[/QUOTE]

No doubt about it.

They could implement it across the board but some titles would be incompatible. That's the way.

Think of it like Live's 100 friend limit. It wasn't just arbitrary (as people thought) but a pre-existing limitation that could only be solved by shutting down support for older (previous gen) titles.
Disappointing that it has to hault progress. Why can't these things be thought out beforehand?

Did 360 have cross-game chat from day one?
     
Jawbone54
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2011, 11:36 AM
 
Also, I believe it was already pointed out in the forum due to the size of the Wii U's discs, but SURPRISE!

Wii U will not play DVDs or Blu-ray, Iwata says

Wii U does not have DVD or Blu-ray playback capabilities. The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray, such that it didn't warrant the cost involved to build that functionality into the Wii U console because of the patents related to those technologies.
So Microsoft and Sony are pushing harder and harder to be the one device in your living room that does absolutely everything, and Nintendo is content to remain your gaming box that you never use except when large groups of people visit your home. Hrm...
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2011, 11:38 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Disappointing that it has to hault progress. Why can't these things be thought out beforehand?
Now that is on Sony. I can't fault them for not seeing this ahead of time, though.

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Did 360 have cross-game chat from day one?
It did in 2007. I think Party Chat came within a year (NXE?).
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2011, 11:45 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Also, I believe it was already pointed out in the forum due to the size of the Wii U's discs, but SURPRISE!
Yes, this has been beaten to death.

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Wii U will not play DVDs or Blu-ray, Iwata says
The reason for that is that we feel that enough people already have devices that are capable of playing DVDs and Blu-ray
This line strikes me either as cultural differences or a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You know what my first DVD player was? A PS2. Later I bought a 5-disc DVD player, but the PS2 remained in use as a DVD player in another room.

Then I bought an HDTV and a 360. The 360 put out a way better image than the dedicated DVD player on the HDTV. Then I bought an HDTV in the bedroom and hooked up my PS2. It was awful. Eventually I picked up another 360 which when you subtract the cost of a Roku and a dedicated DVD player, makes for a pretty cheap gaming system.

Who uses dedicated DVD players anymore? Old people, poor people, and families with multiple TVs I imagine. The latter is the one most likely to buy a Wii, so I guess the strategy makes some sense.


Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
So Microsoft and Sony are pushing harder and harder to be the one device in your living room that does absolutely everything, and Nintendo is content to remain your gaming box that you never use except when large groups of people visit your home. Hrm...
Yet Nintendo is cool with Netflix streaming. They're just being cheap.
     
exca1ibur
Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Oakland, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2011, 01:21 PM
 
Looks like we have a group of dumbasses taking the claim...

Want a site attacked? Call the LulzSec request line
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2011, 04:28 PM
 
343 Industries Looking to Resurrect the Original Xbox's Massive 'Duke' Controller - Giant Bomb
343 is talking with several folks known for taking forgotten devices and shoving them into formats never intended. As uncomfortable as the old the controller was, the idea of playing Halo again with the "Duke" is too damn cool. So long as the contracts work out, 343 hopes to produce a handful of new-age Xbox controllers, and have them hooked up to kiosks at the PAX-timed Halo Fest.



2K dissolves relationship with Redner PR over DNF blacklisting threats | VG247
Overnight, Redner tweeted and then removed the following tweets:

“Too many went too far with their reviews.”

“We are reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom. Bad scores are fine.”

“Venom filled reviews that’s completely different.”

Later, Redner apologized publicly and privately through emails and direct Twitter messages claiming he “acted out of pure emotion” and that his opinions were not those of 2K Games.

2K Games has since tweeted, and confirmed to various outlets, that it has indeed cut ties with the PR Agency it has used for years.
Well done, 2K. In record time, no less.
     
Brien
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Southern California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 16, 2011, 12:54 AM
 
Why anyone would want to use those gigantic controllers again is beyond me. They were frickin' huge.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 16, 2011, 10:02 AM
 
Thursday News

Crysis 2 ditching Steam not an EA decision; Origin-exclusive titles planned | Joystiq
Initially thought to be a decision involving EA's new digital platform, Origin, it turns out EA didn't really have a hand in its expulsion from Valve's service -- apparently "Crytek has an agreement with another download service" which violates some new rules imposed by Steam, resulting in the "expulsion of Crysis 2 from Steam," according to comments made by EA to Giant Bomb.
I suspect some very lawyery talk going on.


Multiple Wii U Controllers Are a Cost Issue
"Technically, it is possible for the Wii U to support multiple Wii U Controllers," Iwata said. However, this will result in a "considerable" price increase.

According to Iwata, "We're not planning on asking our customers to buy multiple Wii U Controllers."
Eventually one of these ****ers is going break, and people will need replacement controllers. I can't wait to see how this is handled.


BioWare Hacked, 18,000 Accounts Compromised
YOTH
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 16, 2011, 10:03 AM
 
Originally Posted by Brien View Post
Why anyone would want to use those gigantic controllers again is beyond me. They were frickin' huge.
In this case, I think it's tongue-in-cheek nostalgia.

Edit: Also
( Last edited by The Final Dakar; Jun 16, 2011 at 10:36 AM. )
     
sek929
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Cape Cod, MA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 16, 2011, 11:17 AM
 
God those first Xbox controllers were awful, I was barely able to hit all the buttons with my petite hands.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 16, 2011, 11:44 AM
 
The Third Call of Duty: Black Ops Map Pack Hits This Month, Includes Shangri-La Zombies
I'd say I wish they had done this for MW2, but nobody was playing this time last year.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 16, 2011, 02:10 PM
 
For the curious: Top 20 Best Selling Games In Europe In 2010

1 Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard) - 6,277,172
2 FIFA 11 (Electronic Arts) - 5,451,456
3 Wii Fit Plus + Board (Nintendo) - 2,151,697
4 Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar) - 2,436,098
5 Gran Turismo 5 (Sony) - 2,007,907
6 Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft) - 1,904,946
7 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard) - 1,999,337
8 New Super Mario Bros Wii (Nintendo) - 2,158,993
9 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Electronic Arts) - 1,757,628
10 Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (Konami) - 1,607,839
11 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Electronic Arts) - 1,452,738
12 Wii Party (Nintendo) - 1,612,228
13 Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo) - 1,481,350
14 FIFA 10 (Electronic Arts) - 1,985,798
15 Final Fantasy XIII (Square Enix) - 1,116,361
16 Halo: Reach (Microsoft) - 1,176,531
17 Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 1,442,392
18 The Sims 3 (Electronic Arts) - 1,325,483
19 F1 2010 (Codemasters) - 1,111,331
20 Medal of Honor (Electronic Arts) - 1,206,900



Battlefield 3 preorder bonus to be free to all later this year
"I would like to start by clarifying that the Physical Warfare Pack is a time-based exclusive. If you do not preorder Battlefield 3 at a retailer carrying the Physical Warfare Pack, don't worry," the blog post explained. "We will unlock the contents of the Physical Warfare Pack for free to all Battlefield 3 players later this year."
Yeah, this probably won't be amazon.


BBFC: Gears of War 3 has over 90 minutes of cutscenes- Destructoid
...and probably an equal amount of even more frustrating times when the characters put their finger on the earpiece and slow to a walk.
     
KCrosbie
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Nor Cal
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 12:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
The Third Call of Duty: Black Ops Map Pack Hits This Month, Includes Shangri-La Zombies
I'd say I wish they had done this for MW2, but nobody was playing this time last year.
Wow! For the serious achievement completionists, that means you're going to fork out $105 for the game and all the DLC map packs. Let me repeat that: $105 for getting a 1600 gamerscore on that game! That's f'n crazy! What a bunch of shite! The crazy thing is that there are idiots out there who will pay for it just so they could get 100%!
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 09:57 AM
 
Friday News

Battlefield 3 console footage unveiled on latest Fallon | Joystiq


Report: Microsoft *Finally* Has Sold 1.5 Million Xbox 360s in Japan
According to Japanese site Wazap, the Xbox 360 has finally crossed the 1.5 million sold mark in Japan. The Xbox 360 launched in Japan in 2005, but didn't sell a million consoles until 2009. Now it's 2011, and apparently Microsoft has sold another 500,000 in Japan.
Watch your back Nintendo.


Gamasutra - News - Analysis: What's Taking So Long With The Supreme Court Video Game Case?
Justices heard oral arguments for that case last November, but seven months later, they have yet to hand down a decision. What's going on?
If the Court rules for the video game industry, it would be a notable step towards quieting the long-simmering debate about violent games. If the Court rules for California, retailers in that state will have to enact stricter protocols to ensure minors do not buy the games, just as stores do with cigarettes and alcohol – and porn.

It could, in fact, be porn that's holding up the decision.

Edit: Since it's a slow news day

Xbox Live's Major Nelson � LIVE Activity for week of June 6

1 Call of Duty: Black Ops
2 Modern Warfare 2
3 Halo: Reach
4 FIFA Soccer 11
5 NBA 2K11
6 GTA IV
7 Battlefield: Bad Co. 2
8 Gears of War 2
9 Halo 3
10 Call of Duty 4
11 L.A. Noire
12 Call of Duty: WaW
13 Red Dead Redemption
14 Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
15 Forza Motorsport 3
16 NHL 11
17 Fallout: New Vegas
18 Mortal Kombat
19 Madden NFL 11
20 Left 4 Dead 2
     
KCrosbie
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Nor Cal
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 11:05 AM
 
Wow. Homefront is noticeably absent. I guess no surprise there.
     
Stogieman
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 01:13 PM
 
I'm surprised Gears of War 2 is still in the top ten.

Slick shoes?! Are you crazy?!
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 01:14 PM
 
I think it and Halo 3 got a post E3 bump. God knows I actually played some Gears 2 co-op last week.
     
Leonard
Professional Poster
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 01:25 PM
 
I see there's quite a following for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood multiplayer. Didn't know there were that many players.
Mac Pro Dual 3.0 Dual-Core
MacBook Pro
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 01:34 PM
 
     
Stogieman
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 02:27 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
I think it and Halo 3 got a post E3 bump. God knows I actually played some Gears 2 co-op last week.
Whaaaa??

KCros and I contemplated about revisiting GoW 1 campaign for the Insane difficulty achievements. We'll see...

Slick shoes?! Are you crazy?!
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 02:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by Stogieman View Post
Whaaaa??
Trying to get a friend interested for 3.

Originally Posted by Stogieman View Post
KCros and I contemplated about revisiting GoW 1 campaign for the Insane difficulty achievements. We'll see...
I think 1 was harder than 2 and 2 was brutal.
     
Stogieman
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 02:39 PM
 
I agree. GoW 2 campaign was easier because each player could set their own difficulty. You can't do that with the first game.

Slick shoes?! Are you crazy?!
     
Brien
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Southern California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 03:15 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
At this point it's a matter of when, not if. Everyone is up for grabs. Who's left, MS and Valve? Steam getting hacked would be a very bad thing...
     
angelmb
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Automatic
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 04:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by Brien View Post
At this point it's a matter of when, not if. Everyone is up for grabs. Who's left, MS and Valve? Steam getting hacked would be a very bad thing...
Time to dust off the GameBoy and the N64. Safety first.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 17, 2011, 04:16 PM
 
If you like court dramas where douche nozzles lose in the end...
Tim Langdell Loses In Future “Edge” Trial | Rock, Paper, Shotgun
     
Brien
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Southern California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 18, 2011, 05:27 PM
 
Originally Posted by angelmb View Post
Time to dust off the GameBoy and the N64. Safety first.
Indeed. Looks like they brought down some regional phone networks and released ~62k Facebook/Twitter/XBL logins, not to mention hacking the CIA. Somebody is going to prison.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 21, 2011, 10:06 AM
 
Tuesday News

'Halo Anniversary has Kinect integration,' says Microsoft Studios' chief | Joystiq
Now it's worth $40 for sek.


Australia passes $1.9 billion tax break for games industry R&D | Joystiq
What i wouldn't give for a development house to make a M-Rated game that can't be released in Australia.


Report: Skype Coming to PS Vita


Great Ads, If Not Great Games, Coming to the Xbox 360 Kinect
Other neat ad-impregnated features include the ability to say "Xbox Schedule" to have a console send a reminder of a television show or event to a gamer's cell phone,
I don't see why this would need kinect, and I wonder if it means any TV show, or just stuff available on their streaming U-Verse like stuff.


Infinity Ward suit against Activision going to trial | Joystiq
The publication reports that a Los Angeles judge has ruled that Zampella and West's claims against Activision have merit -- complaints of unpaid royalties among others -- meaning the suit should finally be going to court.

The news comes months after a judge allowed Activision's countersuit to move forward as well.
Activision succeeded on delaying the trial enough that it'll start after MW3 is released. Also, given the amount of dirty laundry bound to be aired in a trial, I see this getting settled before anything too unseemly is revealed.


I Saw the PlayStation 3 Wired to Play Against an Xbox 360, but You Won't
At first I lamented that this can't happen, but I thought about it a little bit and then decided it would suck for MS if a free system like Sony got to benefit by having more than double the amount of gamers available by integrating the two. Still, online games with small player-bases really could use it.
     
Jawbone54
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 21, 2011, 12:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
*blank stare*

Why do they feel the need to do this with absolutely every title?

I Saw the PlayStation 3 Wired to Play Against an Xbox 360, but You Won't
At first I lamented that this can't happen, but I thought about it a little bit and then decided it would suck for MS if a free system like Sony got to benefit by having more than double the amount of gamers available by integrating the two. Still, online games with small player-bases really could use it.
I wish there was one, unified console, period. It sucks having your online friends split in half, and each side pressuring you to buy a particular game on each side. That's why I've switched my Battlefield 3 pre-order -- more friends on 360 are saying they've pre-ordered it, while my two closest friends play less often, but both use PS3.

Cross-platform multiplayer will never, ever happen between MSoft/Sony/Nintendo, but it definitely make my gaming life easier.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 21, 2011, 12:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
*blank stare*

Why do they feel the need to do this with absolutely every title?
Because their late generation strategy is kinect centric (and likely their next, uh, next gen strategy), they need to justify purchases by filling out its potential library, and it makes a future purchase of kinect more attractive.


Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
I wish there was one, unified console, period. It sucks having your online friends split in half, and each side pressuring you to buy a particular game on each side. That's why I've switched my Battlefield 3 pre-order -- more friends on 360 are saying they've pre-ordered it, while my two closest friends play less often, but both use PS3.

Cross-platform multiplayer will never, ever happen between MSoft/Sony/Nintendo, but it definitely make my gaming life easier.
Ehh... I think this and last gen have showed exactly why competition is good. (See: Games, controllers, hardware, networking).
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 22, 2011, 11:00 AM
 
Slow news day...


Holy rugged Robin, Batman! | Joystiq

Looks like Eminem.


EEDAR Releases E3 Purchase Intent Results/Awards (Game Sales Potential Research)



The race between MW3 and BF3 might not be so cut and dry.
     
KCrosbie
Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Nor Cal
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 22, 2011, 10:44 PM
 
Gears 3 Horde Mode 2.0 demonstrated

Highlights:

- Every 10th wave is a boss fight
- You now earn cash to build defenses such as turrets, decoys, traps and the Silverback armor
- You can now use cash to buy back into the game after dying
- You can swap guns
- You can give and receive ammo and cash


At least Epic is integrating new aspects into their game modes and not just re-hashing the same stuff. I really like the integration of fortification and boss fights! Should be a lot of fun!
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 23, 2011, 09:51 AM
 
Valve Likes What It Sees in Nintendo's Wii U
Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of the studio that makes Team Fortress, Half-Life, Portal and Left 4 Dead games, tells Joystiq that Nintendo's Wii successor "seems to be a lot more powerful than the previous generation," adding that it fits very well with Valve's own "scalability model." Newell offered his opinion of the Wii U—and his "love" of Nintendo—after his talk at the Games For Change gathering.

Violent Video Games Contribute to Dropping Crime Rate, Study Suggests
The BBC article cites 10 possible reasons for this drop, though the increase in violent video games is arguably the most counter-intuitive. Other possible reasons include a decrease in children's exposure to lead (which can cause behavioral problems) and the spread of cameraphones (criminals are wary of the increased possiblity of being caught on camera).

PSA: PS3 firmware 3.66 incoming | Joystiq
We hope you're ready for improved system stability "during use of PS3 format software and network services," because that's what the just-announced PS3 firmware 3.66 is bringing -- and evidently nothing else of note -- likely any time now. PSN director Eric Lempel writes on the PlayStation Blog that this is a "minor update," though based on Sony's servers and your connection speed, it could be a less-than-minor interruption in your ability to play online.
     
mattyb
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Standing on the shoulders of giants
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 23, 2011, 10:59 AM
 
You should start a thread in the lounge about this, be interesting to see what people there who don't look at the games section think.

Before somebody brings up excrement of course.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 23, 2011, 11:04 AM
 
I have no interest in doing so. The article wasn't convincing and I don't need the ignorant comments that will follow.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 23, 2011, 03:19 PM
 
Call of Duty Elite rewards 'best community in the world' -Destructoid
"We have the best online community in the world and we owe it to them to offer an experience that will not only anticipate their needs but will keep getting better and better every single day,"
"We love you guys, so we're offering you the chance to continue to line our pockets with even more money!"

I hate to know what they'd do if they didn't like us...
     
mattyb
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Standing on the shoulders of giants
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 09:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Call of Duty Elite rewards 'best community in the world' -Destructoid

"We love you guys, so we're offering you the chance to continue to line our pockets with even more money!"

I hate to know what they'd do if they didn't like us...
Unlimited time/indestructable AC-130 glitch.

That gets fixed after three months.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 10:27 AM
 
Friday News


BioWare's Neverwinter Nights forums hacked, EA Account information at risk | Joystiq
In case you week didn't feel complete.


Sledgehammer's action-adventure Call of Duty isn't dead yet | Joystiq
"Right now Sledgehammer's 100% focused on Modern Warfare 3," Hirshberg told IndustryGamers. "We haven't announced the future slate or future plans for the studio. They were originally working on an extension of the Call of Duty franchise into an action/adventure genre and that's a game I still want to play."

Valve relaunching Team Fortress 2 as free-to-play title | Joystiq
Develop has posted an interview with Team Fortress 2 developer Robin Walker in which he says that the company has decided to make the popular class-based shooter completely free-to-play, supported only by microtransactions. Walker says the game has experimented with multiple price points over its long history (including allowing players to play for free during temporary periods) and that making this transition now "feels like a fairly straightforward next step along the 'Games as Services' path we've been walking down for a while now."
I wonder if this run on my iMac.


Lawsuit Says Sony Laid Off Security Workers Before PSN Cyberattack
This complaint, filed in federal court in San Diego on Monday, says Sony dismissed "a substantial percentage" of the Sony Online Entertainment workforce, including many from its network operations. The suit cites a confidential witness as the source of that information. The suit says Sony should have known it was it increased risk of attack because it had experienced smaller breaches in the run-up to the April 20 outage.

PS3 price cut imminent. �179.99? | Games Industry | MCV
I talked a lot of talk the last time round, and in the end couldn't convince myself to purchase a $299 Blu-Ray player. At $199? That's cheaper than an iPod. Gotta think I'd be way more likely.
     
lpkmckenna
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 11:48 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
How crap, that's fantastic!

TF2 runs on my 2008 MacBook with 2 GHz C2D and 9400m GPU. There are occasional audio lag problems, but that's something found in all of Valve's stuff.
( Last edited by lpkmckenna; Jun 24, 2011 at 12:43 PM. )
     
lpkmckenna
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Toronto
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 11:55 AM
 
[deleted duplicate post]
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 11:56 AM
 
I have a (2009?) 3Ghz, so I imagine I should be covered, should i care to attempt it.
     
Stogieman
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 12:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Friday News

PS3 price cut imminent. �179.99? | Games Industry | MCV
I talked a lot of talk the last time round, and in the end couldn't convince myself to purchase a $299 Blu-Ray player. At $199? That's cheaper than an iPod. Gotta think I'd be way more likely.
The 179.99 price in the article is in pounds (£) not dollars. 180 pounds equals roughly 288 U.S. dollars not $199.

I see no PS3 in your future.

Slick shoes?! Are you crazy?!
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 12:26 PM
 
Everybody gets a mark-up compared to us. The 320 GB slim goes for £269.99 now.
     
Jawbone54
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Louisiana
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 06:48 PM
 
Guess they figured out how to cut the costs with this new model. We'll see.
     
Brien
Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Southern California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 24, 2011, 09:50 PM
 
My guess is a $249.99 model and a $299.99 Move bundle.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 27, 2011, 10:15 AM
 
Originally Posted by Brien View Post
$299.99 Move bundle.
gah

I forgot Move exists.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 27, 2011, 10:28 AM
 
Monday News

George 'Geohot' Hotz now using his powers for good, Facebook | Joystiq
Your "Where are they now?" segment.


NBC News section on Xbox dashboard expanded, moved | Joystiq
Funny, I did notice it as I was entering Netflix last night. My first though, of course, was whether you had to pay to see the news.


LulzSec quits, but not before hacking Battlefield Heroes -Destructoid
Lulz Security -- the anonymous group of info-divulging pranksters who have claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks on videogame publishers and government bodies -- has today called it quits. The group claims it had only intended a fifty-day voyage on the Lulz Boat, and declares its work over.
I suppose that's no more random than the rest of their work.


Xbox 360 is halfway through its lifespan, says Microsoft -Destructoid
In an interview with MCV, Microsoft EMEA VP Chris Lewis said "We see [the Xbox 360] as about halfway through" its life cycle.

Lewis did admit that the console "is defying the normal curve you might expect. There's no doubt that Kinect put a huge shot of adrenaline into the business. What we are now seeing is massive swathes of families and younger audiences flocking to it. As you saw at the press conference, we are now in line with what we projected at E3 2010."

Microsoft's sight is now apparently set on so-called core gamers: "What you will see is us using Kinect to enhance the experience and not detract from it. I don't think our core gamers will tolerate anything else from us." Well, he's certainly right about that.
Uh, does this guy think he works for Sony and meant to say PS3? Or is he just really high? Or does he mean before it's discontinued, rather than half-way to next-next gen?

Either way, the most disheartening part is the inability for MS to apparently market itself towards to Core and Hardcore markets. I imagine this guy is full of shit, but if he's not, core (console) gamers will have nowhere to turn to in the coming years.


A frequent topic is how the hell do we get such bug-ridden games. This article goes a long way towards explaining that, albeit unintentionally.
Inside the Seven-Year Labor Pains of L.A. Noire
Throughout, Team Bondi is depicted as a contentious studio populated by exhausted developers perpetually in the throes of "crunch," an industry term and one of its nastier little secrets.

...

Asked to account for turnover that saw at least 100 staff enter and leave the studio during Noire's making, McNamara replied that he thought the figure was actually higher than that.

...

He also doesn't run from anonymous-sourced complaints about his management style, which some called verbally abusive. "Am I passionate about making the game? Absolutely," he said to McMillen. "Do you think that I'm going to voice my opinion? Absolutely. But I don't think that's verbal abuse."
More troubling are the allegations IGN reports of unpaid overtime and manipulated job titles that dumped multiple job descriptions and 110-hour workweeks on some at insubstantial salaries. (The story alleges that overtime would only be paid out three months after the game was completed, requiring everyone to stay in order to be paid for that.)

...

"The expectation is slightly weird here, that you can do this stuff without killing yourself; well, you can't," McNamara told McMillen. "Whether it's in London or New York or wherever; you're competing against the best people in the world at what they do, and you just have to be prepared to do what you have to do to compete against those people."

Crunch is not a virtue. It's poor management coupled with abusive labor practice. Games development is shot through with the attitude that it's OK. We saw it when Danny Bilson of THQ casually remarked on the "thousand-yard stare" of Kaos Studios after two months of seven-day workweeks, making Homefront. (Kaos' ultimate reward: Studio closure, and the project being shipped to Montréal.)
The bit of unpaid overtime is decidedly believable – reminiscent of Infinity Ward and the unpaid bonuses for MW2 (Or EA closing studios before it had to pay bonuses). The industry practically runs off of slave labor (hence my bolding of "best people in the world" bit. They certainly aren't treated or paid accordingly). Oddly, the situation leaves me thinking of Nike sneakers... We benefit on the back of terrible working conditions, we complain that most are too expensive, and most of us will likely keep buying this product willfully ignoring how it gets made.

Personally, I hope these people can find a way to improve their working conditions and pay, but I can't help but imagine that when that happens games will cost more and I'll just grumble about it without a second thought to the reality of the situation.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 27, 2011, 10:45 AM
 
Breaking: First Amendment Trumps California in Supreme Court Battle Over Violent Video Games
The Supreme Court sided with the video game industry today, declaring a victor in the six-year legal match between the industry and the California lawmakers who wanted to make it a crime for anyone in the state to sell extremely violent games to kids.
     
mattyb
Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Standing on the shoulders of giants
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 27, 2011, 11:22 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
A frequent topic is how the hell do we get such bug-ridden games. This article goes a long way towards explaining that, albeit unintentionally.
Inside the Seven-Year Labor Pains of L.A. Noire
Throughout, Team Bondi is depicted as a contentious studio populated by exhausted developers perpetually in the throes of "crunch," an industry term and one of its nastier little secrets.
...
Asked to account for turnover that saw at least 100 staff enter and leave the studio during Noire's making, McNamara replied that he thought the figure was actually higher than that.
...
He also doesn't run from anonymous-sourced complaints about his management style, which some called verbally abusive. "Am I passionate about making the game? Absolutely," he said to McMillen. "Do you think that I'm going to voice my opinion? Absolutely. But I don't think that's verbal abuse."
More troubling are the allegations IGN reports of unpaid overtime and manipulated job titles that dumped multiple job descriptions and 110-hour workweeks on some at insubstantial salaries. (The story alleges that overtime would only be paid out three months after the game was completed, requiring everyone to stay in order to be paid for that.)
...
"The expectation is slightly weird here, that you can do this stuff without killing yourself; well, you can't," McNamara told McMillen. "Whether it's in London or New York or wherever; you're competing against the best people in the world at what they do, and you just have to be prepared to do what you have to do to compete against those people."

Crunch is not a virtue. It's poor management coupled with abusive labor practice. Games development is shot through with the attitude that it's OK. We saw it when Danny Bilson of THQ casually remarked on the "thousand-yard stare" of Kaos Studios after two months of seven-day workweeks, making Homefront. (Kaos' ultimate reward: Studio closure, and the project being shipped to Montréal.)
The bit of unpaid overtime is decidedly believable – reminiscent of Infinity Ward and the unpaid bonuses for MW2 (Or EA closing studios before it had to pay bonuses). The industry practically runs off of slave labor (hence my bolding of "best people in the world" bit. They certainly aren't treated or paid accordingly). Oddly, the situation leaves me thinking of Nike sneakers... We benefit on the back of terrible working conditions, we complain that most are too expensive, and most of us will likely keep buying this product willfully ignoring how it gets made.

Personally, I hope these people can find a way to improve their working conditions and pay, but I can't help but imagine that when that happens games will cost more and I'll just grumble about it without a second thought to the reality of the situation.
This isn't just in the games industry. The company that I work in now stays afloat due to the 'goodwill' of some very skillfull IT people. Everyone is slitting their throats in the IT world trying to be the cheapest blah blah but offering the bestest/most of X or Y. We've signed contracts with several clients that say we can do this and that within this sort of timeframe. If the shit ever hits the fan, I reckon over 50% of what we've sold just can't be done. Basically the top bosses accept the risk.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 27, 2011, 01:21 PM
 
Would your bosses expect you to basically work for free to get these things done?
     
 
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:05 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,