Category Archives: Gaming

July 6, 2022 · 21:31

The responsive thinker

I got called out again. It happened during the day and there was a little too much profanity in the words, as such I assume it was an American. It was in regards to an article I wrote in April called ‘Creating magic’. The article (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/04/07/creating-magic/) is about the ‘magical drink’ called Giggle-water that mades its first appearance in Fantastic beasts and where to find them (2016). At some point (after the third movie) it dawned on me that this drink might not be wholly imaginary. You see, in the past Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) was used by dentists. Now we have fruit-sugar (or fructose) with the formula C6H12O6. Now if we can connect a nitrogen to one of the oxygen parts we are in the clear. But it will not be that simple. 

I reckon that we need something like a strawberry of raspberry vinegar to get traction and that is me assuming a whole lot. I haven’t looked at chemistry since 1987, so its been a while. But if we can get that link working than this would be the added element to an alcoholic drink and we have the making of Giggle-water and with the hundred of millions of Rowling fans out there, there is a definite market for this drink. A drink that hundred of millions will try just for the hell of feeling less muggle? Oh you won’t need an egg timer to watch that line form. It is a little fun, because it was the Butter-beer bar in New York that gave me the idea of a printable display, so it is only fair I do something for that audience. 

As such the created idea for Giggle water. And it is only that, an idea. You see I was a decent chemist when I was young, but I saw the appeal of explosives a lot more than I saw the interest in Esther (a COOC joke), any chemist will get that one. So the idea of giggle water seems sound, but in the end only a real exploratory chemist will know (the offensive writer was no chemist, that is a certainty). As such I felt that a response was essential.

I never claimed it would work, if so, I would sell the idea to a player like Coca-Cola or Heineken. And I never did that, but perhaps someone over there in their free time can make the idea work. As such if one of these two players comes up with a workable solution, will their stock double or triple overnight? I honestly do not know, but then I did not care in the first place. I am still busy considering a new data format, a new database structure (an open one) specific for Augmented reality registration and searches. You see, when this market comes to a race, someone would want all that data protected, not everyone mind you, but corporate players would want that and that requires a new data format. I reckon it would be a combined matching system of MySQL with a Btree+ thumbprint, optionally with a linked blockchain element. As the number of AR elements increases the Btree+ element will become more and more important. Consider the benefits of the Btree setting and it foundation (it has downsides too), but an iterative search that illiminates 50% with every step. In year one this does not make sense, but by year three you are looking at a database with millions of AR elements. So consider 1,000,000 – 500,000 – 250,000 – 125,000 – 62,500. In 4 steps (less than 0.03 seconds) the database would have reduced the search by 99.93%, as such 0.07% remains to be searched. I think that is worth spending a little time on, don’t you think so?

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July 4, 2022 · 18:21

Awaiting new life

That is what we at times hope for. Some want to play the Last of Us on every Sony console, some want to return to the years of glory of master sergeant, we all have these moments. I am no different. I reckon my love for Spy vs Spy started in the 70’s when I discovered Mad Magazine. It took on new heights when the game came out on CBM64 in 1984, I think I got the game in 1986. I got an amiga version much later, but always the game was pretty good in embracing those who loved the comics. So when I recently learned that a later edition was cancelled because someone forgot to “ask the rights from DC Entertainment which owned the Spy vs. Spy IP.” OK, that was stupid, but it could be a windfall for DC Entertainment. Consider what we can do now. We can Make the game 3D, we can offer multiplayer on pretty much any system, we can select the intelligent NPC and above all, we can see the fun that the comics brought. We can have several modes. Starter, intermediate, Expert and actual Spy. We can set the stage a little different, we can have 6 and 8 options. With optional second window. The 6 and 8 options are different. We need to have at least one active trap and up to 5 or 7. We need one disarm scanner with options up to 5 or 7. So you can play offensive or defensive. And it becomes a challenge with 8 traps, so one trap is optionally never detected or used. The player decides and by selecting the NPC to be aggressive or passive it will select its traps and detectors (machine learning), then we can add the option of location and even if we include the levels we had in the past, we can add (or unlock additional stages). There is an option to play with two and the screen will be similar to the one we had in the past. We could offer a wink to Splinter Cell and add the Russian embassy level (adjusted for the new Spy vs Spy game experience), and there are so much other options to add. This would work great on the Nintendo Switch too. So this could be a new DC title on Sony, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Nintendo Switch, Netflix and whatever contraption Microsoft has. To be honest, it has been a while since we saw a game that was out on ALL hardware and the game does have options in my mind, but I am biased as my love for the characters never faded, not since the early 70’s. I reckon it merely awaits new life for the person with the guts to try this, optionally DC Entertainment might add this to their to-do list. There could even be a screensaver mode. Just select both sides to be NPC and watch how the machine learning mode kills itself. I wonder if anyone ever considered that?

Another day, another game in the limelight. And there is so much more good stuff, almost forgotten, but not by all, I hope to introduce you to some more. Yet soon it will be time to introduce the grandson of Hades to the adulterers and the punishment that could still exist today. It was not merely the fact that Medusa took the vow of celibacy, the fact that she committed adultery against Athena and the duties bestowed on her. And as we move, we return to the cave that still exists, but not in Greece, it is a cave on the mainland of Turkey, north of Cyprus. Sarpedon, now known as Incekum Burnu. So what happens when a new adulterer is added to the fold? What if the shortsighted lust of a girl, making one claim and then sleeping with another man. What happens when her reward is immortality as another Medusa? I wonder how dark I can make that story and what additional handles I could create.

Have fun. Oh and I apparently upgraded my house, the rains in Sydney gave me a free swimming pool, oh joy!

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July 3, 2022 · 21:51

Appeal to the lazy

There was a man who suddenly reached out. Making claim that he was wealthy and important, which was the first red flag. You see important people assume that others know that they are important. The only thing I had to do to get $10 million was to admit that my IP wasn’t real. Well there are two problems, one is that people offering me $10M usually do not have two coins to rub together, the second part is that I am not some grifter. I worked hard to get the IP I have (if brainpower represents hard work), the second part is that if I would be willing to send over the IP, he would sign an NDA and give me free of charge a value estimate. So how stupid does that dodo think I am? This is why I set the IP to encryption and place it on 4Chan, in the first I can prove that I uploaded them and if it gets to October 1st, well over a dozen people will see the puzzle and if they solve it, the IP is theirs. If I can’t cash in, I will make it public domain and let the fates show who is worthy. And with close to a million people a day posting, my posts (which I put there with a  Japanese profile) will welcome the stuff of legends. The 5G, the setting of consoles and several other IP are there and protected. It is like trying to find a needle in a mountain of needles and as the encryption is one that requires a human touch, I doubt any AI (or claimed AI) can find it. The first step in avoiding a trap is to know what the trap looks like and no AI faced this before, so whomever tries to dissect EVERY picture will face a task with billions of images and that is if you do not stumble upon some Russian encrypted images first. It will be fun watching the witch hunt from a distance, way distant as my systems have never been on or will go on 4Chan, to avoid some trail. 

What is interesting is the approach they made, like it was their bread and water, like it is all they live for. I actually do not know anyone (at last not alive) who makes their cash swindling. They are usually caught early in whatever scam they perform. So it might be a new player, or someone only pretending to be a grifter, there is option three that this person is really good, but the talk I had did not reveal a person overburdened by intelligence. And going by the setting that I put a niche market valued at $1B-$5B online for the quick Public Domain players, his setting is even weirder. He was apparently not aware of what I had done. This basically means that this man had not done his homework. And speaking of homework, I saw some news that involved Saudi Arabia. In one place we see ‘Mizkif cancels Saudi Arabian sponsorship deal after Twitch conversation with Hasan’ and it is here “Fans were quick to criticise Mizkif for initially agreeing to the sponsorship.

Going live on Twitch mere minutes after the information leaked, Mizkif claimed he knew nothing about any country’s controversies.” Now I have no issue with anyone cancelling getting paid, but consider “Hasan filled Mizkif in on Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Yemen Civil War, along with its various domestic conflicts.” The few facts:

  1. Iran is actively involved.
  2. Houthis have stopped UN support to people.
  3. Houthi’s use children in their war.

And in finality, Saudi Arabia only got involved when their help was called for by a legitimate elected government. Are there errors that involve Saudi Arabia? Most likely this is a war, errors will be made on both sides, Yet the western media have trivialised Houthi drone attacks on Civilian targets in Saudi Arabia. They trivialised the actions by both Houthi and Iranian players on Yemen and on Saudi Arabia. I wonder if this Hasan told Mizkif all that. I would accept a sponsorship and create these news-cycles on YouTube, but I reckon that Google and the media would make sure that almost no one ever saw them. The game is rigged and it implies that some players have a bigger goal in mind and it is not the Yemeni people. After 8 years not that many Yemeni people remain. And the article ended with ““I’m not doing it, I didn’t know the realities of what it was,” Mizkif proclaimed.” Another player not doing his homework. And that I all I have on this situation. Mizkif made a choice and changed his mind. Fine! Whether I agree does not matter, it was his choice to make. An other person, named Asmongold from that environment gave us “After learning more about the Saudi Arabia Fortnite sponsorship that fellow OTK founder Mizkif accepted but later backed out of, Twitch streamer Asmongold says he would take the deal regardless of the controversy—as long as he didn’t have to travel.” You see, Mizkif loses out now and Asmongold optionally steps in. I do not believe that this has anything to do with ethics, or standards. If that was true, several banks would lose billions in revenue, Wall Street would have to bar Goldman Sachs and a few other players. Yet that does not happen, does it? So why do we attack Saudi Arabia at every turn? Because they are an Islamic nation? Islamic nations represent well over 25% of the planets population, in addition christian nations have committed genocide 15 times over, how many cases of genocide can you show for islamic nations? Not that many I guess. Yet in the meantime I will continue creating more IP. I will show show this man who called himself Arthur that being a grifter is the loneliest and least rewarding stage of life. And whilst we wonder what one does with the other, consider that the media seemingly decides who is worthy, a choice that you were denied, as such my 4Chan solution is just fine. They can only stare in the distance when it slips by and that is more rewarding than the fake $10M offered. Remember a promise and an empty sack is worth the empty sack. A crude but decently wise stage we should consider.

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July 1, 2022 · 20:41

Foundations

We seem to forget about foundations. You see we all have the essential need to play. And some like replaying the same games. We see what the Amazon Luna offers and we have seen these games before on EVERY other console. Not all mind you, but the Ubisoft games, Resident Evil and several others. Now there are plenty of people who want to play them again and there is nothing wrong with that, but these are all games that are driven to achievements. It is like every gamer is getting ready for Gaming Olympics. Now for some this is fine, I reckon that not all are like that. I am not a Chess player, but the streamers are uniquely qualified for games like Chess, Checkers, Backgammon and many more. Streaming offers the ability for those at home to engage in play with either the NPC system, or another player. Both Stadia and Luna have the ability to set that right. I am still in the mindset that either would do well with games like Millennium 2.2 and Paradroid. Games that allows for a single person just to have fun. Even now, as I am contemplating these games, whilst watching the very first Rambo movie. I hadn’t seen it for close to 2 decades. A time when Sylvester Stallone was actually young and innocent. And we can consider he was actually young and innocent once, or he would never have been able to play Corporal Weaver in Antz (LOL). I see the same kind of games, the same kind of challenges, but games that allow for the simple pleasure of play, which games are like that? I think that Skyrim was one of the last games that allowed for that. Oh, and there is Lumines. I am not closed minded, there are too many games with a time ticker, a pressure point and that is fine. Yet sometimes we merely want to play and forget about time. The two games I mentioned fill that bill for me, and I reckon that they would fill the bill for many others. A game that could use an upgrade in graphics and in play style. The asteroid bug would be fixed, the game would be more appealing in todays environment, I would add layers so that you cannot jump SolaGen power options.

The game has a few other sides. Optional need for additional life support settings. In the old version where there was only 256Kb Ram and the game fitted a 700Kb diskette. Now we can do so much more. As such there are plenty of additional sides to the game that allow for a much more interesting stage of playtime, you merely need to stretch your imagination the smallest of amounts.

Another setting is Paradroid, the CBM64 version was too basic, too little resources, the Amiga version was a lot more challenging and a lot more rewarding and could offer even more with todays equipment, the IP is out there and it is open (as far as I know) and that is merely two of a whole truckload of gaming pleasure. Playtime needs to be treated seriously or those stating that they are there for the gamers are merely there for their own ego as I personally see it. A setting that is open to both Amazon Luna and Google Stadia and whomever creates this game could even consider the mobile stage. And all this could escalate to serious settings when you add several of the Microprose titles. A dozen titles optionally ready for anyone to implement a remaster and a reengineered version. 

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June 25, 2022 · 16:30

Where the wind blows

It seems simple enough, yet the stage of the blowing wind was for most of the day in my mind and I did not know why. It was when I sat down when the image occurred. I wrote about the arcane houses. They are:

  • the Floating house (water)
  • House of Chimes (wind)
  • Monks of the Sulphur Cave (fire)
  • House of Bones (earth)

Yet in all this, how do they recharge? They can recharge slowly (like a point per minute), yet if we add elemental points like resting in water, swimming or in a shower the water element will got +10 a minute, when we add 1-2 elements (discussed later we can add factor 2 or 3. Wind is found in any strong, but also a wind-weave, fire by the fire and earth resting on the ground (directly), so you sleep less comfortable. You see, it is nice that Bethesda had their potions, but I wanted change. And this is how I get it. So when we see the direct approach, we could see a wet scarf or hoodie give us factor 2 for wind mana, we could swim, we could walk in the rain and we could wash for factor 3, so 33 per minute recharge. And we might need up to 1200 of mana recharged, so this is not immediate or direct, but consider that from a water source, you can recharge whilst you fight. Wind is direct and more powerful in windy place, but that is not the case in a cave, or at times in a ruin. But if we have a webbed weave we get more out of what is around, then there is a wind chime which is noisy but gets us factor 3 and when we get to 45 per minute, we can gain strength fast. Fire, torches are direct sources for the monks of the sulphur cave, but to illuminate that, we could get a necklace or ring made from sulphur and when touch it to fire we can really light up the tally. Earth is the hardest until you make a cloak of the death, a cloak made with ground bones. It protects, conceals and gives you factor 3 like that. It was the parts I had not considered and the arcane has its own rules and it could develop into something more, remember you will only be a member of one house, but then there is the generation gap, so the next generation might inherit some of the previous one. All set to a now larger station. 

An RPG path now developing in places we have not seen before because Bethesda adhered to you can do it all and my game needs to be generations larger, as such other limitations come into play. But it will be something that is new, not seen before and showing Bethesda the short end of the Microsoft stick is just a little too appealing. So here we go and for my next trick (soon to be released) there will be a setting of setting of discrimination, because the cogs have not experienced religion and that too needs to be addressed and they need to interact, or anti-interact with arcane houses, so wish me luck (I will need it) to set the next bit to paper. 

Have a great Saturday 

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June 23, 2022 · 21:16

Where to now?

That is the question, I have an idea for tomorrow. But about that tomorrow. Today was a day of changes. A day of ups, downs and all around ideas. But the one stuck in my mind is not coming forth. I had been too focussed (or is that obsessed) with the implementations in a place like Eaton Mall (Toronto). And that was not all. You see, in spacious the implementations are easy, but what in a place where space is at a premium (Harrods, London) How to get it there? There are several options, but there are two stages. The first is the augmented reality, the second is the 5G part. They are not connected as the Augmented Reality will work just as well on 4G. It is the additional parts of the 5G that are the optional challenge. At some space it is too short, not overly too short, but that many signals are what I did not completely consider. Consider a mall, where they are not set up spacious, the idea is that the idea for 6G (Yes, I am that far ahead) or optionally 5G+, but in 5G I have other concerns, they aren’t problems, they are merely concerns and they might be unfounded. Yet as we see a place like Harrods, we have similar space issues in places like Paris and Amsterdam. As such it is always good to mull technologies a dozen times over, tested in real spaces and see what problems I will be facing and check whether they are real challenges, or merely unfounded concerns. The important part is to see the difference between the two. It is clear that malls like Eaton Centre (Toronto) will not have these concerns, but a mall that wants to offer the same and it is in the compressed space of Harrods, the technology test needs to work in both. You see Harrods is comprised of 90,000 m2 selling space. In that space there are over 330 departments and every department has its own selling needs. Even as you think that this is a mere 272 square meter space, most likely in several cases less than 200 square metres. The fact is that they are one shop, but is it all you want or need? And other national malls have a similar setting The Dutch have Vroom and Dreesman, Bijenkorf, The UK has a few more. Debbenham (the  ones that remain) and s such there are larger malls all over Europe that have a similar setting and I do not see it as greed to service all 118,433 malls, I merely see that they should have equal chances, even as I focus on the larger players I spoke about in earlier stories. The mall setting is much larger and there will be some filtering at some point. But I prefer that to be as late and as small as possible. You see, being first also means that others can start reengineering what I put forward and get a larger crowd. Now, I do not mind, because there are plenty of players out there more clever than me, it is the state of things and it is natural. Only the true delusional thinks that they are the absolute best. So if I can set the worry to less than 4% I would be really happy. Should one come with the 98% idea and it falls under an innovation patent than they would win. I have no issues with that. I merely want to make the playing field as small as possible for the others. It is not greed, it is to make my idea count for a longer time (as long as possible). 

This is the nature of things. It is not merely to have an idea, but to test it against all odds and in all manner of ways. That is the larger stage we need to consider. Any creator of idea or invention must do so. It is not merely games, not merely hardware. It is all kinds of creation, it must always be tested. I reckon that painters and sculptors go through some similar process. In all this we are all alike, but not the same. So I reckon that we need to adhere to this stage on all matters.

If only to properly critically test the ideas we have. I have gone through this a dozen times, and a dozen times for every idea I created. This is essential, as an idea needs to survive the initial scrutiny. The buyer will always find something and it is important to see the larger stage of what they see and how it affects them. As such the consideration of Harrods becomes important. It is fine to see regent street, to see Yorkville, 5th avenue (New York), Kalverstraat (Amsterdam) and we can go on from there. You see, a good idea stays a good idea, but it all comes down to the value. And properly and critically considering your idea is the difference between a $250,000 payday and a $25,000,000 pay day and that difference can be that large and we all want the larger amount. Not because we are greedy, but because if we can get the larger payment, it shows that our idea was structurally sound. And from that sound setting more will come through, the buyer will see that part and here we see that players like Google and Amazon are really well versed in testing structurally sound settings. Sony people there have been doing it for a decade and there is a business sense. If they can find 5-8 issues that aren’t covered you end up going towards the 250,000 payday a lot faster than you think. The more artistic it is inclined, the more degrees of freedom you have, as such you have some with games, but you still need to have your ducks (geese too) on a row. Because when they designate you as the goose it will not be about running, but being able to stand your ground. And we all see that setting and some (business types) will hide behind a created catchword, a hype setting or a ‘cool’ claim, but in this games are a lot harder to stage when you are in the setting of ‘Business Intelligence’ trained people who do not understand the overlap of technology and art. They weren’t around in the early years and as such the CBM-64, the Atari ST and the CBM Amiga were able to launch hundreds of games and some made it, now it gets ‘tested’ and too many do not make it, whether they call it GamePass, or make some other claim. I reckon that plenty of these games would not survive the scrutiny of a GamePass environment and that is the problem. You see, the Wii Galaxy might have been a failure but it resulted towards the Nintendo Switch which was a homerun and then some. If you are not willing to lose, you will never win big. That is not my philosophy, it is a setting that has been tested over time and it relates to that weird Sun Tzu notion of “The supreme art of profit is to gain profit without cost” the most ridiculous of settings that might have the smallest notion in some fields, but not in gaming and not in innovation. Innovation is all risk, massive cost and a whole lot of sweat. But the winner gets to be alone at the top for decades and that makes it worth it all. Nintendo has gone that route more than once, as did Sony. Perhaps Microsoft started that way, but it was glazed over by wannabe’s and not by visionaries. Apple is also an innovator. Their Air products (Mac books and iPads) show that and the Surface has no option but to see the gap against Apple increase. Yet here too there is a danger, their successes are only as good as the current product. Google has a winner with the Pixel 6, will they with the Pixel 7? No one knows because the competition is fierce (Apple and Samsung). In this day and age it will be the economic affordable one will win, yet no one knows at present where the Tesla Pi will end. E will not know for 12 month and that is the larger setting. You see it will arrive AFTER Pixel 7 and whatever Apple will offer. So Tesla will have an advantage, but how much? It will be anyones guess and I cannot say what it will be. I reckon that with the exception of the inner core of the Tesla Pi team and Musk himself no one can. That is how it is and anyone making another claim is lying to you. Yet these people matter, they too test all what is out there and all that can be set against them, that is the market and there we see that the slogan “The supreme art of profit is to gain profit without cost” is a freaking joke. And if we see that, we see how short sighted the steps of Ubisoft (and some others) have been over the last 5-10 years. 

All this needs to be set in focus, in focus of what you design and what field you are designing in. I am delusional enough to go ‘nah nah nah nah nah’ against players like DARPA, but that is me, always happy to take the slack side. Because those who dare can optionally end up with a little more information than they had before. Optionally enough to see whether they stand a chance and that is also how the game could be played. Not the path of Thomas Cranmer as some like to play it, some are willing to take a page from one of the jesters that Francesco Dandolo had. They were good at jokes and they had specific skills too, skills that Francesco Dandolo made good use of. And there lies the rub. Where diplomacy is used to gain Business intelligence is a path, but a dangerous one. Verification is often near impossible, so people do not go there, but that does not mean that the path is out of bounds. Consider the people who rely on what their bosses told them “Fake it until you make it” It is all good until someone sees through that. And I personally believe that Sony and Nintendo saw through Microsoft and the gains their Xbox360 made we lost overnight when Don Mattrick stated “we have a product for people who can’t get online, it’s called Xbox 360” and within 24 hours the Xbox One was destroyed, as I personally see it, simple shortsighted greed of Microsoft and they are still suffering, their mistake was that big. And they made a few more since then.

So when I created the solution that could sell well over 50 million consoles I was making sure that Microsoft was not ever part of that deal, they screwed up enough and to be honest, when it comes to the choice of $250,000 and $25,000,000 I chose the larger amount. It is not greed, merely common sense. And I approached that same principle on the 5G and AR solutions I created. A setting that did not require some form of alien technology, it merely required common sense and critical thinking. I tend to live by “via ad sapientiam requirit scientiam” which does not help us in this case, so I might have to alter it into “via ad sapientiam requirit cognitionem et criticam cogitationem” (the path to wisdom requires knowledge and critical thinking) critical thinking makes all the difference and I see that, I saw that, but I like many others ignored it for a little too long. I still have time, but I also see that the ideas when not critically looked at will have the day one flaws we all would prefer to avoid. 

And that is where to now becomes a stage by itself. Through critical thinking and through analysing what was overlooked, because only the delusional overlook nothing. We can merely hope to avoid most traps, we hope to avoid all traps but that is only possible in 1 out of 2500 cases and those numbers are not betting odds, only the fakers think they can avoid wrecks they create at that point.

Have a lovely day!

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June 23, 2022 · 06:24

A pussyfooted warning

Yes, we all like to give out warnings, I am not different. Yet is my warning valid? It seems so, especially when I see what is out. It is addressed to Amazon and Google (mostly Amazon). You see in 2022 we get the generic information “This list will expand over time, and you can gain access to more games by subscribing to more channels. For example,  you can also access nearly the entire Ubisoft catalog via the Ubisoft Plus channel” but it is the wrong information. What will be released in 2022? Why would people get happy on a Ubisoft release list? It is now a mediocre software house with less than stellar achievements. Do you really want to rely on that player? And we are also given “The second title, an MMO called New World, managed to gain a lot of traction in the November 2021 early access period, but it’s not yet available on Amazon Luna. It is, however, included in GeForce Now.” Really? You rely on two titles? I have given you both a list allowing you for a dozen titles in 2022 alone. You can hide in high water, but you do not even have a submarine simulator, so you will drown there. The people are making up their mind at this stage and this is not a time to desert your system. Even as I boasted an option of 50,000,000 consoles. Do you think they would consider it if you are asleep at the helm? They will leave you for dead and Google Stadia is not developing anything, so all they seemingly have is Ubisoft. Amazon needs to wake up and add manpower to the kettles and get the coal into these furnaces, because the currents will overtake them and beach their solution like a bad habit. Mother Nature has no sense of humour and casually put you to death. Forbes is even worse. It gives us “A remake of the first Dead Space will arrive in early 2023, while a brand new Monkey Island game is slated for release later this year.” And in addition we see “Those are part of iconic franchises that are being revived over the next year or so” ‘being revived’? How lame is that? Is this the message your gamers are waiting for? Yes, if it is part of something bigger, but if this is it, Amazon will leave the race of the streamers pretty quickly. They had half a dozen options including bolstering a true gamers social network, but they seemingly folded leaving it all to Microsoft, meaning gamers can only rely on Sony and Nintendo to fill their gaming needs. They are good, they are great! But they are two and more is always better for the gamer and now seemingly these large houses feel more more comfortable leaving it in the hands of Microsoft, which in my eyes is not a solution at all. 

They had 2 years to pull ahead (and I am not talking about my 50M console solution) I gave some warnings in October 2020 and that is as early as I saw that Amazon had the option of being the winner here (Google decided too early to not be a developer) hence there was only Amazon and its Luna, but over two years we have seen the repeated lack of games, the reliance on Ubisoft and games that were already on other systems. Now, this is part of the start, but the start also implies you set out the strengthen the dikes of competition counters. Yet is seems to me that Amazon has given up, it is not doing anything until it is too late. Like giving the bull a doze of valium so that the rider will be ‘safe’ but is that what the audience expects? A place that has (seemingly) a 2021 revenue of $470 billion, and here we see that 1% of 1% is $47,000,000 a setting that could give them 3 new AAA titles, or a dozen of revamped titles. One percent of one percent and it also approaches my solution for 50,000,000 to 75,000,000 additional console sales. But that is much more strong and realistic if there are better and more unique games on that system. So two percent of one percent of what they got last year puts them on the map and heading toward the sunset of winners. You tell me why these places do not take the gaming community serious, because relying on Ubisoft is not the way to go. I will let you wonder how serious Amazon and Google are about being a player in the gaming market, because at present it will still rely on Sony and Nintendo and I am happy with these two consoles, I would be more happy if these two woke the fuck up and consider that gaming is out evolution and they have an advantage for now, yet when Netflix gets ahead of them they might as well pull out and start crying in a corner, because they did this to themselves.

Have a great day!

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June 19, 2022 · 21:55

The cool kidz

We all heard it, we all are aware of it, yet what makes a kid a ‘cool kid’, what makes a game a ‘cool game’ one would state that this is by public demand, by public indication. Yet what is true indication? What is indication that is not badgered by trolls, by marketing department and their minions? Do you? I certainly don’t. Social media and public opinion are so far apart you can park China between the two views. The views on public request (demand sounded too harsh) and public indication are factors of transparency and as we know social media is many things, transparent is not one of them. And thus we get to the question at the start, what is a ‘cool kid’? You might want to think that this is about kids, but it is not. 

This all started months ago and I was reminded of it today. You see, sometimes we just want to relax and play a game, a mindless game, a simple game and that is how my mind wandered back to 1991 and Sierra-on-Line’s ‘Jones in the fast lane’. I will grant you that the game could use an upgrade, a new view, new names perhaps 1-2 additions, but granted the game was close to perfect. The idea that you can just spend some time chilling playing a simple game is to a lot overwhelming. I thought I was alone, but over time I have seen a whole range of people seemingly desiring a game like this. You see, there is nothing wrong with a lot of games, but it is about the chase, about the achievement, about the hunt. I reckon the only exception was Ubisoft when they gave you the tour of AC Origin with the expansion and all the places to visit (like a beer maker). It was not about running, it as about seeing how much there was in that game and it was awesome. But time have shown us a whole range of games that a players like Google (or Amazon) could add to their systems, but they are all so hung up on replicating what the PS4 and Xbox One already have, why?

In this Nintendo is equally a contender, but they have their own setting of these games and they are doing great. Is that not the larger setting? How come Nintendo blew away Microsoft? Because their games were cooler? Higher resolution? No, the games were what the people wanted and that banked them an annual revenue for 2021 of $16.534B, a 37.34% increase from 2020. Did anyone consider that this is due to more than a really good console? And the additional news is that Nintendo generated approximately 42.6 percent of its gaming software revenue via digital unit sales. You still think I am kidding? Streamers have options, but if everyone looks in the same direction, they all miss out. The idea was that one of my IP could secure  well over 50 million consoles. One source now stated (one I actually trust) is that I was 50% too low with my estimation, and it was not some version of Jones in the fast lane, but it would be unique to streamers and Amazon has the lead as Google decided not to develop its system with software solutions. I am willing to debate this as a mistake of 50% is rather large, but in my favour, it works in my favour, so screw it.

In all this there is the setting of what do the Cool Kids want, but no one is digging on what decides what a cool kid is, and with the Nintendo revenue they all (Sony included) are looking in the wrong direction. They are all mesmerised by public opinion, all whilst no one verifies the transparency of that danger, especially whilst there is no clarity on what public indicators are. Where those indicators are and how they can be tested on the actual population? These are questions, I have no answers here, merely the fact that it needs to happen before Microsoft does something stupid again and pushes everyone in the wrong direction, like lemmings to an abyss. Which would be a shame and in this I sided with Amazon Luna (for the obvious Google reason) If they alter and expand on what they have they could have it all and as soon as the first evidence comes out proving me right everyone will adjust course to get some of the crumbs of that revenue pie, but if I am correct the one taking the lead will remain in the lead and merely cluster more gamers to their side and I expect that this is merely the beginning. 

So lets start again, when did we accept that we needed to have Game X on platform Y because that is what the cool kids want? Consider the definition “Trendsetters, often in reference to hipsters; those worthy of emulation.” How is emulation of a trendsetter based on a 5 year old game a cool kids exercise? Resident Evil 7 (2017), Aragami (2016)? Yes they were good games, but emulation 6 years later? Amazon is as guilty as Google is here and they need to up their game, or change entirely. It is up to them what they do, because Microsoft is casually taking up people hiding behind their Game Pass and when people are in one camp churning them is a lot harder than you think in gaming. Oh, and when you considered to follow some virtual Cool Kid and you learn you are duped, what defence will you rely on? I reckon none at all.

So no matter where you game, as long as it makes you happy that is fine, but I personally believe that gamers are missing out in a few ways and in part it is the lack of broader substance, they all run after another Far Cry, an Elden Ring, or whatever is shouted as ‘the cool game’ and there are plenty that are actually cool, but do you really think that a $109 game is sold less than a year later for $29, because it was supercool, or because it was too buggy for its own good? I let you be the judge of that. 

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June 13, 2022 · 23:30

What? Already?

It actually started with a demo, one by Arkane (the makers of Dishonoured). They are giving the Xbox population RedFall. A game to be released somewhere in 2023. The demo was pretty awesome. No doubt about it. Yet certain things started to nag me from the beginning and this is PURE SPECULATION. I saw the setting of 4 players and the demo clearly states that this can be played alone. Yet the setting reminded me too much of a game named Evolve. A bland setting to say the least. Yet the people of Arkane have proven themselves, no doubt about it, but they are now part of Microsoft and Microsoft is all about team play, all about more people in a game. So I reckon that at some point it might be possible on what would have been a 94%+ game, Microsoft needs will diminish it to a mere 80% game. This is speculation, and you need to accept it. The game is a year away and so much could change. But it got the gears rolling and it was only an hour later that I came up with what I would call a shadow player. If I am correct It could change the game for either Amazon or Google (whomever buys my first IP bundle), I will add it to there. Microsoft is not invited to that party, they can falter and fail all by themselves. 

If I am correct (and I might be) this will change the game in a few ways and it allows pure solo play over a lot of games. You are still allowed to invite friends, that I fine, but it will be YOUR decision that count Microsoft has taken enough from you, as I see it. Time to give games back to the gamers, not the data collectors. 

It is an optional fictive setting, but if I am correct the streamers are about to offer a much larger stage of play and that is the first stage where streamers will set themselves apart. It is time for the next generation to become self-aware (as the phrase goes) and I think I have what it takes. 

So get ready to see your streamer to give you an edge you never had before in gaming. That is not on either Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. It is merely the shape of things to come and in this Google and Amazon could get the advantage they need to push Microsoft to the background (as we tend to do that). A new age is coming and I am overdue for some serious snoring. See you all tomorrow.

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June 9, 2022 · 22:16

The party of what was

We have this at times, we go back in time to remember the party we were at, the party we gave. There is a reason for it. It can be sentiment, lust, desire, achievement there are hundreds of reasons why a party remains in memory forever. A party is for most the easiest to see, and there is a second reason. It is a setting where the crowd remembers you, the crowd was part of it, you either distinguished yourself, or you were distinguished by others. It is the crowd that is an essential element in all this. It is part of the multiplayer appeal, or at least that is what I believe is the case. I play single for myself, for my own needs, for my need for joy. I am not a racer of routes, not a shortcut maker of cleverness. I walked through Oblivion and Skyrim for hours, enjoying the perfection that Bethesda created. I see solution after solution that is all about feigned perfection. It is about showing a crowd how perfect you are, but is that a truth? A reality? To present ones self as clever is not a presentation, it is deception. That is the side that I going wrong in too many games. Whilst I focussed on giving the gamer a good time, others are setting the dressing to pretend the gamer is much better than he or she actually is. I have been brooding on this, you see it is the game Elden Ring that brings the real gamers to the surface. I am a real gamer, but I was never that great in action games, I learned that the hard way in Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3. I still have these games. They are beautiful, but for me not something I can hope to conquer. I feel no shame, I have my own speciality and I have achieved plenty of game completions over the 40 years I have truly enjoyed gaming. From the VIC20, the CBM64, the Atari ST, the CBM Amiga, N64, CD32, SEGA Megadrive, Playstation, Xbox, SEGA Dreamcast, the PS2, Gamecube, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and the PS5. I have seen and enjoyed gaming to the largest extent, but when the Xbox360 came things changed. This is not the fault of Microsoft, in this they are innocent. There was a push for achievements and to get them any way possible and I was the same. I wanted (for the most) all the achievements, I was not an online gamer, so I missed out on several achievements. I think it is what ‘saved’ me and even the Sony group has that issue. You are not a gamer until you get the platinum achievement. There is something wrong with that notion. It is like a new dimension of workforce adhering to the Wall Street stage of ‘Greed is good’, it is not, it really is not. I think the stage of Nintendo Switch to do away with achievements was wise, a lot more wise than most of us realise. Ask yourself the question, are you driven by achievements or to have fun? Do you enjoy walking in the world you play in? These questions have been bugging me for some time now. The Bethesda games brought it to the surface and to some degree the Ubisoft games too. Guerrilla pushed it into overdrive with the Horizon games. It matters, it really does because the wrong setting here could break streaming games. In the games I designed for streaming I think about rewards, not achievements. The Luna keys were part of that. Silver keys to the game you get them in and gold keys to unlock something in 5 games that you have at that point. Rewards are more satisfying, rewards are a token of achievement, a point where we all will get, but not having it on every profile matters. It stops the wannabe’s, it heralds those who are and it gives to those who attempt and overcome. We want to be the gamer that has it all, but why? You see there is so much to gain from replayability, there is so much to get when some options are only there for the arcane, for the shadow dancers, for the brawlers and it is possible we will not become all of those to the degree of perfection, but the inner feeling of what we get done is overwhelming and I believe that achievements undermine that. Now, this is nothing against Microsoft (I slapped them often enough), Microsoft brought achievements and it is a great idea, but game makers and others seem to have subverted the concept, that is how I see it and it took me a while to see the Nintendo Switch step as the great step it was. Yet I understand that achievements are important to some, so how to embrace the idea and make it better? The keys are part of an optional solution, but only in part. So to look at the party of what was is also a way to see the side of what might be. I have no idea if I will solve it, it might be up to someone else to do that, but it needs to be done. We need to go back to the old days to when gaming was pure it was about the gamer getting to places, not others judging the gamer on how he got there, how fast and in what way. We lost something there and we need to find it again. The streaming stage will push gaming further, but it will also push weaknesses and corruption of the gaming mind further. Gaming is about checks and balances and we seemingly ignored the balancing act. I have done that as well and now my mind is making up the consideration and the tally of balances missed. How it will fare? I cannot tell at present.

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