ps. I am currently building a small shrine featuring Azuredreams,Crytic Cat,Gatsu and Autarch(even maybe shadow) in my front yard as I have particularly enjoyed their comments.
ps. I am currently building a small shrine featuring Azuredreams,Crytic Cat,Gatsu and Autarch(even maybe shadow) in my front yard as I have particularly enjoyed their comments.
ps. I am currently building a small shrine featuring Azuredreams,Crytic Cat,Gatsu and Autarch(even maybe shadow) in my front yard as I have particularly enjoyed their comments.
Carry on.......I will get more popcorn.
Just make sure I look hot.
You heard him..he wants his staute to be the one kept on fire.
ps. I am currently building a small shrine featuring Azuredreams,Crytic Cat,Gatsu and Autarch(even maybe shadow) in my front yard as I have particularly enjoyed their comments.
Carry on.......I will get more popcorn.
Just make sure I look hot.
You heard him..he wants his staute to be the one kept on fire.
Yes. Something always burning bright. A light that will bring hope to the downtrodden. For great titty justice! And bacon of course.
ps. I am currently building a small shrine featuring Azuredreams,Crytic Cat,Gatsu and Autarch(even maybe shadow) in my front yard as I have particularly enjoyed their comments.
Carry on.......I will get more popcorn.
Just make sure I look hot.
You heard him..he wants his staute to be the one kept on fire.
Yes. Something always burning bright. A light that will bring hope to the downtrodden. For great titty justice! And bacon of course.
Gatsu.I will install a narrow beam light that highlights your furrowed brow which conveys your intense thought and foresight. Since the thread has taken a "green" slant I will off course make sure they are solar powered LED lights.
I will be sticking with the PS4. Will I get an xbone? maybe down the road. Aside from all the DRM issues, I can't count how many times I saw a PS3 only title and said "Man I really would like to play that!" Most of the stuff that is available for Xbox will be available for PS so the choice is pretty simple for me. At first I was worried I would have no one to game with if I got a PS4, but then I realized I don't really game with a whole lot of people online that much anymore... maybe a dozen at the most. I also realized that there will be probably be many more PS4 owners on this site than there are currently for PS3. That will be nice to see more equal console usage here on this site.
At any rate, I think everyone just needs to respect people's choices over console preference. It's a good time to be a gamer! Next gen goodies will be out soon and we will all be 'oohing and ahhing' over all the new shiny games.
I will be sticking with the PS4. Will I get an xbone? maybe down the road. Aside from all the DRM issues, I can't count how many times I saw a PS3 only title and said "Man I really would like to play that!" Most of the stuff that is available for Xbox will be available for PS so the choice is pretty simple for me. At first I was worried I would have no one to game with if I got a PS4, but then I realized I don't really game with a whole lot of people online that much anymore... maybe a dozen at the most. I also realized that there will be probably be many more PS4 owners on this site than there are currently for PS3. That will be nice to see more equal console usage here on this site.
At any rate, I think everyone just needs to respect people's choices over console preference. It's a good time to be a gamer! Next gen goodies will be out soon and we will all be 'oohing and ahhing' over all the new shiny games.
If you're looking for some PS4 folks to game with, head over to 2Old2Resist and 2Old2Playstation.
Family share was not a timed demo. Once again MS PR should have jumped like mad when that first leak of the 24-hr check came out. Screw your big reveal, you need to get ahead of this and fast. They didn't and have suffered severely for it.
I don't know if it was someone here or not but whoever said they showed us all too much stick and not enough dangling carrot has it correct.
Family share was not a timed demo. Once again MS PR should have jumped like mad when that first leak of the 24-hr check came out. Screw your big reveal, you need to get ahead of this and fast. They didn't and have suffered severely for it.
I don't know if it was someone here or not but whoever said they showed us all too much stick and not enough dangling carrot has it correct.
I agree MS isn't devoting enough resources to the PR but I wonder if it is even possible. That original postbin blog article is a good example. It was repeated several times on many gaming news sites and not one of those sites responsibly investigated the dubious source. Then even on this site, individuals repost at different times passing it on to another set of people who are just finding out about it. It's worse than putting out a grass fire with your feet.
That this dubious news source was ever used at all is a result of poor marketing and a lack of a communication plan by Microsoft. I can only guess that MS expected to do an Apple-style reveal and have people salivating for the XboxOne. The issue with that is that no one that Microsoft used for its press circuit possesses the level of charisma as Steve Jobs did. Jobs' communication (and leadership) style is extremely well documented and praised for its ability to inspire the desire to accept change.
From a business standpoint, Microsoft dropped the ball completely. They went for a blue ocean strategy for the next generation of gaming consoles and failed to adequately support the strategy with the necessary communication plan. They should have known that they needed to communicate the benefits more openly and clearly. That they didn't is a failure of the launch team. Hopefully, it will be a learning experience for them, and they can do better through-out the console's life cycle.
As a gamer, I'm not ready (and I doubt I ever will be) to go towards a service-based model. I'm product oriented; I buy something so I can use it however and whenever I damned well please. I'm not terribly fond of the new Office 360 either, for the same reason. I don't want to waste money on a service for what I used to buy as a product. One time purchase, and that's it for 5-8 years. I view gaming the same way.
That said, I'm all for digital. I don't need to buy physical media. Diablo3, World of Warcraft: Pandaria, heck even my copy of Microsoft Office 2010 were all purchased as digital versions. My issue with the service model Microsoft (and undoubtedly Sony) want to move towards is that I don't see the benefit to myself as a customer.
I'm not sure I'll buy either a PS4 or an XB1 this time around. If I do, it'll be as a late adopter. I'm more concerned about the use of the cloud as a source of processing power. I'm frequently a late adopter so I can buy the [i]Platinum[/i] editions of games for $19.99. Even less expensive than used. My concern is that once a game gets old enough, if the use of the cloud was integral enough to the game, would the company shut-down the resources used by the game, effectively making the game useless or unplayable? In a service-based model, you consume the game and put it away in a few weeks or months, and the company can shut everything down. The majority of the customer base won't care. That's what I'm waiting to see. And I don't mean how Halo2's multi-player servers went dead with the original XboxLive. I mean the ability to play single-player games. If I still haven't played Mass Effect 2, though I own it. If I did the same with a service-based game, it either means I never buy the game at all, or I become a dis-satisfied customer when what I bought no longer works by the time I get around to it. Either way, that's a recipe for an 1980's style of gaming industry crash.
As a gamer, I'm not ready (and I doubt I ever will be) to go towards a service-based model. I'm product oriented; I buy something so I can use it however and whenever I damned well please. I'm not terribly fond of the new Office 360 either, for the same reason. I don't want to waste money on a service for what I used to buy as a product. One time purchase, and that's it for 5-8 years. I view gaming the same way.
I think you misunderstand the original One plan, or misunderstand "service based model". You weren't being charged any subscription fee to use your games, which would be a service model. So it's not the same as Office 360, which is a pay per year model. I think you're mixing metaphors here. You could use your Xbox One games for 5-8 years, or however much longer after that, at no extra cost.
As a gamer, I'm not ready (and I doubt I ever will be) to go towards a service-based model. I'm product oriented; I buy something so I can use it however and whenever I damned well please. I'm not terribly fond of the new Office 360 either, for the same reason. I don't want to waste money on a service for what I used to buy as a product. One time purchase, and that's it for 5-8 years. I view gaming the same way.
I think you misunderstand the original One plan, or misunderstand "service based model". You weren't being charged any subscription fee to use your games, which would be a service model. So it's not the same as Office 360, which is a pay per year model. I think you're mixing metaphors here. You could use your Xbox One games for 5-8 years, or however much longer after that, at no extra cost.
See, that's what I don't agree with: the writing is on the wall with Microsoft's stated goal of being the one box in the livingroom, and Office360. Perhaps if they had been clearer with their communication and vision from the get go, and not use the communication model they did (which I would describe as "muddled") then I wouldn't have had cause for concern in the first place. Had they just said "Steam for consoles is our vision" and explained everything clearly and [i]explicitly[/i], perhaps with case examples and diagrams, then all this wouldn't be an issue.
I'm all for digital; it's a far more socially responsible method of distribution. No physical media to print and ship reduces the carbon footprint of gaming. Great!
But it's that Microsoft's other business decisions demonstrate a desire to move everything to a service-based model that irks me. I know it's ironic, given that as an accountant all I do is provide service to clients, but I dislike the model as a customer. At least in things that fall under 'Entertainment' as a line item in my budget.
I'm still not convinced that the use of cloud computing for processing power means that I will be able to continue playing a game 5 years down the road, or further, because I can't believe that the publishers won't have to pay a fee for games to use the service. At some point, it doesn't become worthwhile for the company. Unless the XBL gold (or advertising that on the dash apparantly, it's been a long time since I even turned on my 360) is the revenue model Microsoft plans on using to fund the operation of the cloud. In which case, my fears would be unfounded. Oh, that's right, they didn't mention that in vision of the future, did they? And that's my issue right there.
As a business trying to create change, they forgot the change management part of their business plan. It's not surprising that it backfired. Honestly, they should have seen the reaction coming and had a better plan to communicate their vision. Quite frankly, they deserve whatever tinfoil hat theories those of us with reservations create because in the absence of information people tend to create their own truth. Fortunately, I was never a Day 1 purchaser for either console. I didn't buy the 360 until Halo 3, and seeing as I haven't even played Halo4 yet, I'm not sure Halo5 will be selling me a console this generation. I'll wait until November next year, see how things have shaken out and let observation of the consoles in the wild inform my purchasing decision. Honestly though, until the current generation, I purchased all of the systems anyway. I'm not really a hardcore fan of either.
Family share was not a timed demo. Once again MS PR should have jumped like mad when that first leak of the 24-hr check came out. Screw your big reveal, you need to get ahead of this and fast. They didn't and have suffered severely for it.
I don't know if it was someone here or not but whoever said they showed us all too much stick and not enough dangling carrot has it correct.
Yes, but even then family-sharing was borked, since it would be only one person at a time who would be able to benefit from your library. I got the feeling that some were thinking that FS would apply to all members in their household, say for instance, mum, dad, three kids all playing a game that would've been bought once.
And it is still not clear to this day if a gamer-couple for instance would've been able to play the same shared game together, as in guy buys game, girl (or lgbt-partner) downs FS-version, both game together using the same title. It could very well have worked that way, but I never found a clear answer to that.
I am down for 100% digital, not the half assed Xbox One version. I was actually thinking to myself today, what if the Xbone came out when I was a 12 year old? I was too young at that age to buy any games for myself and solely relied on my parents or gifts. I could just see my mom's face after being explained how the trade in and family sharing system works. You see, my mom hasn't a clue about anything electronic. Do you know what she would tell me after the "deer in headlights" wore off? "I don't get it, why don't you buy a Playstation instead".
Cryptic, prettu sure he's also talking about the trucks burning gas to carry the discs to their stores.
Also recycling is largely futile, except for aluminum. It costs more for the extra trucks and gas, and people to sort recycling than you will save by doing it.
If I were a Mod in this forum and was careless about sticking my neck out, I'd caution the topic was going too far off topic with the whole recycling issue. I'd recommend starting a new topic just for that.
sorry, I think you're wrong. And considering you have no backing for your conspiracy theories, I feel I have the same validity in my opinion. With Office, you have no reason to purchase anything else. With a game system, you're always purchasing new games, which puts money in their pockets. It's not the same animal, at all.
And Deep........ I believe this forum is called "Off Topic"........ :)
And Deep........ I believe this forum is called "Off Topic"........ :)
True but even within the Off Topic Forum each Topic's original subject should be the subject at hand for each reply. Simply from a moderation perspective, it makes it easier to keep track of conversations while looking for hot spots. I.E. DRM is the discussion but someone starts getting all political. That's just one simple reason and I am sure there are many more.
Even with this OT discussion, a moderator wouldn't suspect our candid and upbeat discussions on DRM ;) were turning into a discussion about staying on topic and moderation. That's all from me on this OT.
sorry, I think you're wrong. [b]And considering you have no backing for your conspiracy theories[/b], I feel I have the same validity in my opinion. With Office, you have no reason to purchase anything else. With a game system, you're always purchasing new games, which puts money in their pockets. It's not the same animal, at all.
And Deep........ I believe this forum is called "Off Topic"........ :)
Conspiracy theory...you keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
Emphasis mine, of course, and this is why we can't have nice things. Here, a crash course in conspiracy theory:
Believing that the government is hiding aliens at Area 51: conspiracy theory
Believing that NASA faked the moon landing: conspiracy theory
People interpreting something differently than you based on the same available information: Not a conspiracy theory.
Indeed, it just makes you come off like a condescending bag of dicks. Which I don't believe you are or really intend to be portraying yourself as, so I'm just going to point it out in the hopes that it will help you be a more effective communicator.
I understand your position and the position of the majority here on 2o2p: I can see how what was proposed by Microsoft is a good thing for the industry and as gamers. At the same time, I see where Cryptic and Azure especially have concerns regarding the always-on model. Even the stuff about the always-on Kinetic is a valid point of view, and not a conspiracy theory. It's wide open to hackers, if not Microsoft. But then, so is every webcam in a laptop. Besides, after doing a study of Big Data, let me just say that it info from Kinect if used in a super-secret, we-know-who's-watching-so-we-can-target-ads-specifcally-to-you is moot. It's completely possible to do that already based solely on the gamertag(s) logged in. Using video to figure it out is just a waste of bandwidth.
I can respect that you believe I'm wrong, heck I'll even concede that the balance of probability is in your favour to that. However, without explicit information on how the business model is to be supported along the value chain, my concern is still well founded and based on rationaly analysis of the information provided. It's a blindspot in the information to which I generally tend to assume that the outcome will result in the maximization of profit for those involved in the value chain – and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a business, after all. It only affects me, and whether or not I choose to buy in. I've come to learn with the patch cycles of WoW that I'm in the minority. I'm not a consumer, I'm a customer, and that's ok.
DEEP_NNN wrote:
FYI, the Azure Cloud MS is touting is 'supposed' to expand and shink automatically to demand. There are spreading the server farms around the world to reduce latency issues as well as downtime.
Cool beans and good to know, though it's not surprising. Indeed, it just re-inforces the idea that if publishers need to pay for the resources used by their games (not un-reasonable, proper reimbursement for resource usage is a sound, reasonable and sustainable business model) that publishers will cut-off games sooner. This belief of mine is predicated on the well established, oft-maligned by publishers, habit of gamers to consume content quickly and move on to the next "Big Thing". Hence what I refer to as a service-model. It's where gamers have already moved to in the consumption of gaming media. It's just the industry can't monetize and be appropriately compensated for trend. Microsoft's XB1 model would allow the industry to do so, and it's not a bad thing. It's just not likely my thing.
FYI, the Azure Cloud MS is touting is 'supposed' to expand and shink automatically to demand. There are spreading the server farms around the world to reduce latency issues as well as downtime.
As for carbon footprints, whether it's recycled content ( which still requires energy to produce as well as recycle, transport) or digital download, both end up played on the server farm, which is where the most energy will be consumed, so I think that arguements kinda 'drogreden', or put to rest (?). It's not the real issue...if we're wanting to save the world...
BTW how big is a 300,000 server bank? Are they putting the whole thing in one location? Not near the coast, fault lines, sunami, nuclear plants I hope? Oh, or tornado alleys/hurricane lanes...or a glacier crawl...
I would definately think the XBlive fees would support the servers, not the publishers...it wouldn't be solvent otherwise.
As for carbon footprints, whether it's recycled content ( which still requires energy to produce as well as recycle, transport) or digital download, both end up played on the server farm, which is where the most energy will be consumed, so I think that arguements kinda 'drogreden', or put to rest (?). It's not the real issue...if we're wanting to save the world...
BTW how big is a 300,000 server bank? Are they putting the whole thing in one location? Not near the coast, fault lines, sunami, nuclear plants I hope? Oh, or tornado alleys/hurricane lanes...or a glacier crawl...
I would definately think the XBlive fees would support the servers, not the publishers...it wouldn't be solvent otherwise.
The issue of the carbon footprint of the servers is moot. The first question that should be asked is: "will the servers be used for the cloud computing under both alternatives?" If the answer is "yes", than the resource usage of the server farms is not a revelant difference. In this case, the only thing that matters are the resources consumed in the production, transportation and storage of the physical media, as those would be the only differences.
Generally, server-farms are starting to be located in northern climates, where the cost of cooling naturally lower due this thing called "winter". Lower average temperature lowers costs of operation of server farms substantially.
just wanted to drop by and say sorry for my ranting - I was having a bad morning. I didn't mean to take it out here. I'm just tired of people speculating and acting as though it's a foregone conclusion. Truce!
I get that. While to a lot of people, this may be "just gaming", it's also our hobby to which we dedicate a great deal of time, and effort (especially theorycrafters and people like DeepNNN that make awesome maps for the community). Personally, I blame Microsoft's communication director that was incharge of the XB1 launch and E3.
Personally, I hold out hope that when I'm ready to buy a console for the next generation, that a mass implemented digital library of games will reduce the distance between developers and gamers. To a degree, this has already happened with mobile gaming, and as much as I loathe Apple, I have to give credit where it's due for creating current smartphone climate that made it feasible.
I realize that my interpretation of the information available is heavily filtered through my point of view, which is based on a gaming industry marketing report I had to do last year. I had to analyze the gaming industry from the point of view of Apple entering the space. The conclusion I came to and defended successfully was for Apple to wait for the next generation and come out with a Steam-type console that made everything available digitally. At the time I was researching it, I made a post here about how digital licenses for games could be sold on a marketplace directly from users to other users, cutting out the middleman, and having a portion of the sale go back to the developers/publishers. All the research I had pointed to publshers wanting a service-based instead of product based marketplace, I just refuse to give in.
And a service-based industry isn't even bad, it's just not the best value for money for me. I don't consume content quickly enough. The benefit would be no more annual iterations of sports games or COD though, just gradual release of minor updates until something truly revolutionary is ready. Yet the publisher would still get revenue on an ongoing basis from those playing the game. That's pie in the sky type speculation, though.
Good read and the author didn't make outlandish claims or try to stab anybody. For me, it mirrored what I imagined. Someday MS Engineers may tell us the whole story. Probably after many of us own one.
Aww shucks....
Just make sure I look hot.
Yes. Something always burning bright. A light that will bring hope to the downtrodden. For great titty justice! And bacon of course.
Gatsu.I will install a narrow beam light that highlights your furrowed brow which conveys your intense thought and foresight. Since the thread has taken a "green" slant I will off course make sure they are solar powered LED lights.
I will be sticking with the PS4. Will I get an xbone? maybe down the road. Aside from all the DRM issues, I can't count how many times I saw a PS3 only title and said "Man I really would like to play that!" Most of the stuff that is available for Xbox will be available for PS so the choice is pretty simple for me. At first I was worried I would have no one to game with if I got a PS4, but then I realized I don't really game with a whole lot of people online that much anymore... maybe a dozen at the most. I also realized that there will be probably be many more PS4 owners on this site than there are currently for PS3. That will be nice to see more equal console usage here on this site.
At any rate, I think everyone just needs to respect people's choices over console preference. It's a good time to be a gamer! Next gen goodies will be out soon and we will all be 'oohing and ahhing' over all the new shiny games.
If you're looking for some PS4 folks to game with, head over to 2Old2Resist and 2Old2Playstation.
We're a friendly bunch.
Mostly. :)
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/21/on-xbox-ones-social-network-canceled-family-share-demos
Family share was not a timed demo. Once again MS PR should have jumped like mad when that first leak of the 24-hr check came out. Screw your big reveal, you need to get ahead of this and fast. They didn't and have suffered severely for it.
I don't know if it was someone here or not but whoever said they showed us all too much stick and not enough dangling carrot has it correct.
That this dubious news source was ever used at all is a result of poor marketing and a lack of a communication plan by Microsoft. I can only guess that MS expected to do an Apple-style reveal and have people salivating for the XboxOne. The issue with that is that no one that Microsoft used for its press circuit possesses the level of charisma as Steve Jobs did. Jobs' communication (and leadership) style is extremely well documented and praised for its ability to inspire the desire to accept change.
From a business standpoint, Microsoft dropped the ball completely. They went for a blue ocean strategy for the next generation of gaming consoles and failed to adequately support the strategy with the necessary communication plan. They should have known that they needed to communicate the benefits more openly and clearly. That they didn't is a failure of the launch team. Hopefully, it will be a learning experience for them, and they can do better through-out the console's life cycle.
As a gamer, I'm not ready (and I doubt I ever will be) to go towards a service-based model. I'm product oriented; I buy something so I can use it however and whenever I damned well please. I'm not terribly fond of the new Office 360 either, for the same reason. I don't want to waste money on a service for what I used to buy as a product. One time purchase, and that's it for 5-8 years. I view gaming the same way.
That said, I'm all for digital. I don't need to buy physical media. Diablo3, World of Warcraft: Pandaria, heck even my copy of Microsoft Office 2010 were all purchased as digital versions. My issue with the service model Microsoft (and undoubtedly Sony) want to move towards is that I don't see the benefit to myself as a customer.
I'm not sure I'll buy either a PS4 or an XB1 this time around. If I do, it'll be as a late adopter. I'm more concerned about the use of the cloud as a source of processing power. I'm frequently a late adopter so I can buy the [i]Platinum[/i] editions of games for $19.99. Even less expensive than used. My concern is that once a game gets old enough, if the use of the cloud was integral enough to the game, would the company shut-down the resources used by the game, effectively making the game useless or unplayable? In a service-based model, you consume the game and put it away in a few weeks or months, and the company can shut everything down. The majority of the customer base won't care. That's what I'm waiting to see. And I don't mean how Halo2's multi-player servers went dead with the original XboxLive. I mean the ability to play single-player games. If I still haven't played Mass Effect 2, though I own it. If I did the same with a service-based game, it either means I never buy the game at all, or I become a dis-satisfied customer when what I bought no longer works by the time I get around to it. Either way, that's a recipe for an 1980's style of gaming industry crash.
I think you misunderstand the original One plan, or misunderstand "service based model". You weren't being charged any subscription fee to use your games, which would be a service model. So it's not the same as Office 360, which is a pay per year model. I think you're mixing metaphors here. You could use your Xbox One games for 5-8 years, or however much longer after that, at no extra cost.
See, that's what I don't agree with: the writing is on the wall with Microsoft's stated goal of being the one box in the livingroom, and Office360. Perhaps if they had been clearer with their communication and vision from the get go, and not use the communication model they did (which I would describe as "muddled") then I wouldn't have had cause for concern in the first place. Had they just said "Steam for consoles is our vision" and explained everything clearly and [i]explicitly[/i], perhaps with case examples and diagrams, then all this wouldn't be an issue.
I'm all for digital; it's a far more socially responsible method of distribution. No physical media to print and ship reduces the carbon footprint of gaming. Great!
But it's that Microsoft's other business decisions demonstrate a desire to move everything to a service-based model that irks me. I know it's ironic, given that as an accountant all I do is provide service to clients, but I dislike the model as a customer. At least in things that fall under 'Entertainment' as a line item in my budget.
I'm still not convinced that the use of cloud computing for processing power means that I will be able to continue playing a game 5 years down the road, or further, because I can't believe that the publishers won't have to pay a fee for games to use the service. At some point, it doesn't become worthwhile for the company. Unless the XBL gold (or advertising that on the dash apparantly, it's been a long time since I even turned on my 360) is the revenue model Microsoft plans on using to fund the operation of the cloud. In which case, my fears would be unfounded. Oh, that's right, they didn't mention that in vision of the future, did they? And that's my issue right there.
As a business trying to create change, they forgot the change management part of their business plan. It's not surprising that it backfired. Honestly, they should have seen the reaction coming and had a better plan to communicate their vision. Quite frankly, they deserve whatever tinfoil hat theories those of us with reservations create because in the absence of information people tend to create their own truth. Fortunately, I was never a Day 1 purchaser for either console. I didn't buy the 360 until Halo 3, and seeing as I haven't even played Halo4 yet, I'm not sure Halo5 will be selling me a console this generation. I'll wait until November next year, see how things have shaken out and let observation of the consoles in the wild inform my purchasing decision. Honestly though, until the current generation, I purchased all of the systems anyway. I'm not really a hardcore fan of either.
Yes, but even then family-sharing was borked, since it would be only one person at a time who would be able to benefit from your library. I got the feeling that some were thinking that FS would apply to all members in their household, say for instance, mum, dad, three kids all playing a game that would've been bought once.
And it is still not clear to this day if a gamer-couple for instance would've been able to play the same shared game together, as in guy buys game, girl (or lgbt-partner) downs FS-version, both game together using the same title. It could very well have worked that way, but I never found a clear answer to that.
Death to GameStop
I am down for 100% digital, not the half assed Xbox One version. I was actually thinking to myself today, what if the Xbone came out when I was a 12 year old? I was too young at that age to buy any games for myself and solely relied on my parents or gifts. I could just see my mom's face after being explained how the trade in and family sharing system works. You see, my mom hasn't a clue about anything electronic. Do you know what she would tell me after the "deer in headlights" wore off? "I don't get it, why don't you buy a Playstation instead".
MS should have gone all in.
Either way is the short end of a really stinky stick.
I suggest knuckling under with a pc till the new consoles come out in 5 or 6 years from now. They are gonna be SWEEEEEEEET!
Cryptic, prettu sure he's also talking about the trucks burning gas to carry the discs to their stores.
Also recycling is largely futile, except for aluminum. It costs more for the extra trucks and gas, and people to sort recycling than you will save by doing it.
If I were a Mod in this forum and was careless about sticking my neck out, I'd caution the topic was going too far off topic with the whole recycling issue. I'd recommend starting a new topic just for that.
sorry, I think you're wrong. And considering you have no backing for your conspiracy theories, I feel I have the same validity in my opinion. With Office, you have no reason to purchase anything else. With a game system, you're always purchasing new games, which puts money in their pockets. It's not the same animal, at all.
And Deep........ I believe this forum is called "Off Topic"........ :)
Even with this OT discussion, a moderator wouldn't suspect our candid and upbeat discussions on DRM ;) were turning into a discussion about staying on topic and moderation. That's all from me on this OT.
Conspiracy theory...you keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.
Emphasis mine, of course, and this is why we can't have nice things. Here, a crash course in conspiracy theory:
Believing that the government is hiding aliens at Area 51: conspiracy theory
Believing that NASA faked the moon landing: conspiracy theory
People interpreting something differently than you based on the same available information: Not a conspiracy theory.
Indeed, it just makes you come off like a condescending bag of dicks. Which I don't believe you are or really intend to be portraying yourself as, so I'm just going to point it out in the hopes that it will help you be a more effective communicator.
I understand your position and the position of the majority here on 2o2p: I can see how what was proposed by Microsoft is a good thing for the industry and as gamers. At the same time, I see where Cryptic and Azure especially have concerns regarding the always-on model. Even the stuff about the always-on Kinetic is a valid point of view, and not a conspiracy theory. It's wide open to hackers, if not Microsoft. But then, so is every webcam in a laptop. Besides, after doing a study of Big Data, let me just say that it info from Kinect if used in a super-secret, we-know-who's-watching-so-we-can-target-ads-specifcally-to-you is moot. It's completely possible to do that already based solely on the gamertag(s) logged in. Using video to figure it out is just a waste of bandwidth.
I can respect that you believe I'm wrong, heck I'll even concede that the balance of probability is in your favour to that. However, without explicit information on how the business model is to be supported along the value chain, my concern is still well founded and based on rationaly analysis of the information provided. It's a blindspot in the information to which I generally tend to assume that the outcome will result in the maximization of profit for those involved in the value chain – and there's nothing wrong with that. It's a business, after all. It only affects me, and whether or not I choose to buy in. I've come to learn with the patch cycles of WoW that I'm in the minority. I'm not a consumer, I'm a customer, and that's ok.
Cool beans and good to know, though it's not surprising. Indeed, it just re-inforces the idea that if publishers need to pay for the resources used by their games (not un-reasonable, proper reimbursement for resource usage is a sound, reasonable and sustainable business model) that publishers will cut-off games sooner. This belief of mine is predicated on the well established, oft-maligned by publishers, habit of gamers to consume content quickly and move on to the next "Big Thing". Hence what I refer to as a service-model. It's where gamers have already moved to in the consumption of gaming media. It's just the industry can't monetize and be appropriately compensated for trend. Microsoft's XB1 model would allow the industry to do so, and it's not a bad thing. It's just not likely my thing.
FYI, the Azure Cloud MS is touting is 'supposed' to expand and shink automatically to demand. There are spreading the server farms around the world to reduce latency issues as well as downtime.
As for carbon footprints, whether it's recycled content ( which still requires energy to produce as well as recycle, transport) or digital download, both end up played on the server farm, which is where the most energy will be consumed, so I think that arguements kinda 'drogreden', or put to rest (?). It's not the real issue...if we're wanting to save the world...
BTW how big is a 300,000 server bank? Are they putting the whole thing in one location? Not near the coast, fault lines, sunami, nuclear plants I hope? Oh, or tornado alleys/hurricane lanes...or a glacier crawl...
I would definately think the XBlive fees would support the servers, not the publishers...it wouldn't be solvent otherwise.
The issue of the carbon footprint of the servers is moot. The first question that should be asked is: "will the servers be used for the cloud computing under both alternatives?" If the answer is "yes", than the resource usage of the server farms is not a revelant difference. In this case, the only thing that matters are the resources consumed in the production, transportation and storage of the physical media, as those would be the only differences.
Generally, server-farms are starting to be located in northern climates, where the cost of cooling naturally lower due this thing called "winter". Lower average temperature lowers costs of operation of server farms substantially.
just wanted to drop by and say sorry for my ranting - I was having a bad morning. I didn't mean to take it out here. I'm just tired of people speculating and acting as though it's a foregone conclusion. Truce!
I get that. While to a lot of people, this may be "just gaming", it's also our hobby to which we dedicate a great deal of time, and effort (especially theorycrafters and people like DeepNNN that make awesome maps for the community). Personally, I blame Microsoft's communication director that was incharge of the XB1 launch and E3..gif "21")
Personally, I hold out hope that when I'm ready to buy a console for the next generation, that a mass implemented digital library of games will reduce the distance between developers and gamers. To a degree, this has already happened with mobile gaming, and as much as I loathe Apple, I have to give credit where it's due for creating current smartphone climate that made it feasible.
I realize that my interpretation of the information available is heavily filtered through my point of view, which is based on a gaming industry marketing report I had to do last year. I had to analyze the gaming industry from the point of view of Apple entering the space. The conclusion I came to and defended successfully was for Apple to wait for the next generation and come out with a Steam-type console that made everything available digitally. At the time I was researching it, I made a post here about how digital licenses for games could be sold on a marketplace directly from users to other users, cutting out the middleman, and having a portion of the sale go back to the developers/publishers. All the research I had pointed to publshers wanting a service-based instead of product based marketplace, I just refuse to give in.
And a service-based industry isn't even bad, it's just not the best value for money for me. I don't consume content quickly enough. The benefit would be no more annual iterations of sports games or COD though, just gradual release of minor updates until something truly revolutionary is ready. Yet the publisher would still get revenue on an ongoing basis from those playing the game. That's pie in the sky type speculation, though.
I understood a few words in this article:
http://www.giantbomb.com/xbox-one/3045-145/forums/why-does-the-xbox-one-have-a-hypervisor-and-what-i-1437760/
Wait, they're not going to bury all those unsold Xbones next to all those ET-cartridges in the Nevada-desert?