At this point, you cannot even buy a full AAA game outright on launch-day. You are instead offered a framework of minimal features, and are expected to pay again a few more times for 'expansions' and 'DLC', which are just code for 'the rest of the game'. Let's not forget loot-boxes, micro-transactions, GB scale day 1 updates, data harvesting stores, always online requirements, and the death of the second-hand market.
Those are side-effects of game prices that haven't kept pace with skyrocketting development costs. And we consumers must bear a large part of that blame, whether we want to admit it or not. Everyone wants a AAA game with the crazy development costs that now entails, but we still want to pay the same $60 that we used to pay back when AAA development costs were a fraction what they are now. So developers have had to find other ways to monetize their games beyond that initial $60.
Personally, I would be fine paying $120 up-front for a game with no microtransaction bullshit. But most consumers would balk at paying more than $60. But then, they would also complain if the developers tried to cut corners on development costs. So development costs keep going up and up, and yet the retail game prices remain the same. So something has to give there.
I've got a decently powerful PC that I can play games on, but typically I use it more for coding and web browsing. When I actually want to game, I more often than not use one of my consoles. I don't have to worry about compatibility, whether or not this game runs well on my PC or whether or not I need to upgrade, and I can just sit back and play it on my couch without having route an HDMI cable around the room or anything.
I'll one-up you here. I have a full-on gaming rig PC, and even *I* still play most of my games today on my Xbox X. It's so much simpler, more reliable, and less hassle than dealing with the quirks of PC gaming. Sure, my 1080 ti PC can offer slightly better graphics options on my 4K TV (with the notable exception of HDR, which PC developers still seem to have a weird aversion towards). But is that slight graphics upgrade worth all the glitches, headaches, and quirks of dealing with a PC? Not usually.
I can just load up The Division 2 on my Xbox One X and it works. The graphics settings are already all optimized. No worries about loading up whatever special third-party store or launcher each individual game requires. Voice chat, social features, and matchmaking are all automatically taken care of. No third-party software to deal with, no driver updates or issues. It just works.
No marketing department ever won an award for "It's like the last generation, but better." So yeah, fuel up the Hyperbole & Buzzword Train and get ready for a ride.
A "next-gen" console with an old-school platter drive is a deal-breaker for me. There is no reason, in a 2020 console, why they shouldn't have 2TB+ SSD drives (or at least offer them as an option). There is only so far you can optimize a platter drive (and MS pretty much reached this wall with the Xbox X). At some point you have to bite the bullet and move on to SSD. No one wants long load times anymore, and the technology has gotten cheap and reliable enough now that there is really no excuse for using spinning magnetic discs going forward.
Hey asshole, contrary to what the mainstream media would have you believe, the vast majority of cops are decent people just trying to do their jobs. They don't want to ever have to shoot anyone, black or otherwise. And they get little to no thanks for a job in which they routinely have to deal with the biggest scumbags and nastiest situations that our society has to offer, so the rest of us won't have to.
So fuck off with your SJW fantasies of hordes of racist cops roaming the streets just aching to find for a black person to murder.
Don't like cops? I've got a very simple solution for you, snowflake. Just abolish them in your city. I'm pretty sure there isn't any law compelling your city or county to have a local police force. So just get rid of them if you hate them so much, then see what happens. I'm sure utopia will follow.
The Mythbusters did an episode on this several years ago. The short answer is yes, futzing around on your phone is just as dangerous (or close to it) as driving drunk. So don't do it, moron.
And also, on a related note, to my old roommate: No, weed doesn't make you a better driver. That's why we always hid your keys, idiot.
You're the one who's pretty "detached from reality" if you think there is any partisan divide between politicians being corrupt self-interested scumbags.
Yeah, I'd be willing to trade Fortnite for the hilarity of watching his-lordship's pampered ass be thrown out of his high-class public housing for good. Better learn to code, Harry.
But in the UK, there's never been the level of free speech that would make you invulnerable from being prosecuted for, say, blaming the Jews for everything.
No, but there was certainly a time when the idea of *criminally prosecuting* someone for making a joke video of himself teaching his GF's dog to do a Nazi salute would have been laughable. And there was most certainly a time when no police officer worth his uniform would have even *considered* just turning his back on evidence of a large group of men raping underage girls out of fear of being called a racist if he were to act on that horrible evidence.
The UK has never enjoyed the robust free speech protections of the U.S., it's true. But there was at least a time when they weren't FUCKING BATSHIT INSANE.
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The funny thing is that it never occurs to the idiots calling for this that this laws, rules, and precedents they're setting could one day be turned against them.
Just ask Robespierre. One day you're using the guillotine on your enemies. The next, your enemies are using it on you.
We're just getting started. China and Russia have already banned most VPN's. You can bet that New Zealand will be the next to ban them (purely to protect their citizens from white supremacy, of course), followed by an EU-wide ban. Canada and Australia will follow. How long after that before some opportunistic politicians in the U.S. try to follow suite?
No, we most certainly can't all agree with that. The vast majority of cops are decent people just trying to do their jobs. Every day they have to deal with some of the shittiest human beings on the planet, so that the rest of us don't have to. And most of them--despite getting regularly beaten, spit on, attacked, screamed at, and threatened by said shitty human beings--will never murder anyone in their entire careers.
You try being a cop for a while and see if YOU can maintain that level of professionalism, loudmouth. It's always easy to play armchair quarterback on every police shooting when you're not the one having to go out there and put YOUR life on the line every single day, isn't it?
Anyone able to translate for people who're not interested enough to understand jargon nor follow the life of some game creator?
Translation: He had the temerity to actually publicly admit that he voted for Donald Trump instead of Her Divine Holiness, which makes him racist-sexist-homophobic-puppie-kicking-worse-than-Hitler.
Do you know what TERF stands or? The "R" is for "radical", as in not part of the mainstream movement.
I would hardly call Martina Navratilova a "radical." Until about 5 minutes ago, she was considered a popular mainstream lesbian, a moderate feminist, and a darling of the LGBTQ community. Now suddenly, she's being called a Nazi-transphobe "radical" for daring to suggest that boys have a penis and girls have a vagina.
Slashdot Mirror
Those are side-effects of game prices that haven't kept pace with skyrocketting development costs. And we consumers must bear a large part of that blame, whether we want to admit it or not. Everyone wants a AAA game with the crazy development costs that now entails, but we still want to pay the same $60 that we used to pay back when AAA development costs were a fraction what they are now. So developers have had to find other ways to monetize their games beyond that initial $60.
Personally, I would be fine paying $120 up-front for a game with no microtransaction bullshit. But most consumers would balk at paying more than $60. But then, they would also complain if the developers tried to cut corners on development costs. So development costs keep going up and up, and yet the retail game prices remain the same. So something has to give there.
I'll one-up you here. I have a full-on gaming rig PC, and even *I* still play most of my games today on my Xbox X. It's so much simpler, more reliable, and less hassle than dealing with the quirks of PC gaming. Sure, my 1080 ti PC can offer slightly better graphics options on my 4K TV (with the notable exception of HDR, which PC developers still seem to have a weird aversion towards). But is that slight graphics upgrade worth all the glitches, headaches, and quirks of dealing with a PC? Not usually.
I can just load up The Division 2 on my Xbox One X and it works. The graphics settings are already all optimized. No worries about loading up whatever special third-party store or launcher each individual game requires. Voice chat, social features, and matchmaking are all automatically taken care of. No third-party software to deal with, no driver updates or issues. It just works.
No marketing department ever won an award for "It's like the last generation, but better." So yeah, fuel up the Hyperbole & Buzzword Train and get ready for a ride.
A "next-gen" console with an old-school platter drive is a deal-breaker for me. There is no reason, in a 2020 console, why they shouldn't have 2TB+ SSD drives (or at least offer them as an option). There is only so far you can optimize a platter drive (and MS pretty much reached this wall with the Xbox X). At some point you have to bite the bullet and move on to SSD. No one wants long load times anymore, and the technology has gotten cheap and reliable enough now that there is really no excuse for using spinning magnetic discs going forward.
The one studio whose content remained stubbornly in poor quality SD on Netflix long after everyone else had moved over to HD.
I never thought I would live to see a movie that would humiliate Mark Hamill more than The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. But then I saw The Last Jedi.
Hey asshole, contrary to what the mainstream media would have you believe, the vast majority of cops are decent people just trying to do their jobs. They don't want to ever have to shoot anyone, black or otherwise. And they get little to no thanks for a job in which they routinely have to deal with the biggest scumbags and nastiest situations that our society has to offer, so the rest of us won't have to.
So fuck off with your SJW fantasies of hordes of racist cops roaming the streets just aching to find for a black person to murder.
Don't like cops? I've got a very simple solution for you, snowflake. Just abolish them in your city. I'm pretty sure there isn't any law compelling your city or county to have a local police force. So just get rid of them if you hate them so much, then see what happens. I'm sure utopia will follow.
The Mythbusters did an episode on this several years ago. The short answer is yes, futzing around on your phone is just as dangerous (or close to it) as driving drunk. So don't do it, moron.
And also, on a related note, to my old roommate: No, weed doesn't make you a better driver. That's why we always hid your keys, idiot.
You're the one who's pretty "detached from reality" if you think there is any partisan divide between politicians being corrupt self-interested scumbags.
Yeah, I'd be willing to trade Fortnite for the hilarity of watching his-lordship's pampered ass be thrown out of his high-class public housing for good. Better learn to code, Harry.
No, but there was certainly a time when the idea of *criminally prosecuting* someone for making a joke video of himself teaching his GF's dog to do a Nazi salute would have been laughable. And there was most certainly a time when no police officer worth his uniform would have even *considered* just turning his back on evidence of a large group of men raping underage girls out of fear of being called a racist if he were to act on that horrible evidence.
The UK has never enjoyed the robust free speech protections of the U.S., it's true. But there was at least a time when they weren't FUCKING BATSHIT INSANE.
The funny thing is that it never occurs to the idiots calling for this that this laws, rules, and precedents they're setting could one day be turned against them.
Just ask Robespierre. One day you're using the guillotine on your enemies. The next, your enemies are using it on you.
Quick Robin, someone is disagreeing with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Youtube! To the Batmobile!
You've had one hit game. You're not a cultural revolution, snowflake.
I'm pretty sure the punch a commie remark was a parody of the Left's infamous "punch a Nazi" meme.
But I'm going to throw out a radical idea here and advocate that it's not okay to go around punching either one.
So two wrongs make a right, I presume?
Oh yes, it's the Right that's obsessed with race and gender.
We're just getting started. China and Russia have already banned most VPN's. You can bet that New Zealand will be the next to ban them (purely to protect their citizens from white supremacy, of course), followed by an EU-wide ban. Canada and Australia will follow. How long after that before some opportunistic politicians in the U.S. try to follow suite?
LOL, it's your side who goes there, not us.
No, we most certainly can't all agree with that. The vast majority of cops are decent people just trying to do their jobs. Every day they have to deal with some of the shittiest human beings on the planet, so that the rest of us don't have to. And most of them--despite getting regularly beaten, spit on, attacked, screamed at, and threatened by said shitty human beings--will never murder anyone in their entire careers.
You try being a cop for a while and see if YOU can maintain that level of professionalism, loudmouth. It's always easy to play armchair quarterback on every police shooting when you're not the one having to go out there and put YOUR life on the line every single day, isn't it?
Oh yeah, the Chinese are famous for their love of Africans.
Translation: He had the temerity to actually publicly admit that he voted for Donald Trump instead of Her Divine Holiness, which makes him racist-sexist-homophobic-puppie-kicking-worse-than-Hitler.
I would hardly call Martina Navratilova a "radical." Until about 5 minutes ago, she was considered a popular mainstream lesbian, a moderate feminist, and a darling of the LGBTQ community. Now suddenly, she's being called a Nazi-transphobe "radical" for daring to suggest that boys have a penis and girls have a vagina.
But...but...Orange Man Bad!
No need for new spacesuits. Gender is just a social construct.