Tag Archives: gaming

December 26, 2023 · 16:01

Utter brilliance

Yup, I agreed from day one, but to see this reenforced is never a bad thing. The game was initially released in April 2022, as such it is reaching its second birthday. I got it on day one and I was happy as might have ever been. You see, I still remember the first game, which was in display in my DVD shop of choice. I thought it looked cool and I played it for a moment. I suddenly felt a tap on the shoulder asking if others could play. Right there I had lost 45 minutes and I rushed to get it then and there. After that I spend serious more time on my PS2. Over time I got the other games too, but LEGO Star Wars was always shining a little more.

As such when the Skywalker Saga came out I rushed to the shop on day one. I never completed the game, but I did clearly see that this game was a lot more then the previous versions. This all comes to the surface as I started to play it again on Christmas Day. Now (boxing day) I am a little over 50% of the entire game. The game is that big. Suddenly I realise that this isn’t a race. This came is a marathon. A one of its kind and it is clear it is brilliant. There is so much to do, there are so many levels and so many playing locations that it boggles the mind. Metacritic only gave it 82%, but I personally believe it should be given a 90+ rating (91%). For any game to keep you interested for close to two years and give that much playability is just insane on several levels. I personally believe that any Star Wars fan should have the game and any SF fan should consider it. The game at present has a little over 5 million copies sold, but I cannot see the source materials. I believe that it would be close to double this and the makers deserve it. It is by far the best LEGO game ever. It is by far one of the best games ever seen. Only to be surpassed by high res games like the Horizon series, Hogwarts legacy and optionally Skyrim as well. To be on that level takes a very special design team and they delivered. Even now there are additional things you can buy for a few dollars (character sets). They aren’t essential because the game allows you to get 380 playable characters, so there is more then enough. The game has several challenges and puzzles giving you a minimal grinding feeling. There is some grinding, but as I stated minimal. 

As such in the second wave around I now see the game as a work of absolute brilliance. I think that no matter what console a person got this Christmas, if they liked Star Wars, they will love this game. And for a game that is on systems as little as $15-$25 (online price) that is an investment worth every penny.  

Consider that a game like this keeps you busy for months, how much would you pay for that? To be honest I had most LEGO games (not all) and the Jurassic version is the worst one. The others are fine. A game that is not about bloodshed, but keeps the younger player busy for a long time. What parent could resist adding that game to the surprise stocking? 

I have written about hard topics and soft topics. I do believe that an article like this is essential at times. We can all write what we believe on day one, but to be able to do this after well over a year when it still has value is a little rare. There are more games worthy of this (Skyrim being one), but in that regards the load of games deserving that fate is rare, it is slim pickings in the long term gaming achievement. A setting we seldom consider. And Warner Brothers doesn’t have that many games out there to begin with, to hand us something this legendary needs to be remembered. Especially to all the gamers looking for the next big thing. The simple question ‘Did you consider something from April 2022?’ Should be out there and it shows us all whether this is a gamer or a console fashion seeker. OK, I will allow for some gamers to not like Star Wars, that is fair enough. They do exist, it is rare but it happens. 

Some are all about racing, some are all about sport games and they might not like LEGO games. But consider the Star Wars Range and the Harry Potter range and you get 2 games that will keep you busy for a very long time to come and lets face it. 1 (or 2) games keeping you busy for months. List the games that honestly did that you, that list will end up being a lot shorter than you imagined. 

Enjoy the day (optionally gaming).

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December 23, 2023 · 21:39

Currencies

This is not about money, well not in a real sense. I saw an image and suddenly an old idea came to mind and whilst I am watching everyones favourite Christmas movie (Die Hard), another thought came to mind. A friend just gave me the best Christmas present in a very long time. It is time to return the favour (sort of). As such I have something that is a freebee for any Tencent technology and Amazon Luna indie developers. A word of warning, this is not for everyone. This is not some a game for every player. Some will not like it, just like ‘Welcome to the rapture’ and it matters, because it not drenched in blood or actions. This is a different kind of game. This all started with watching the old Thunderbird movies and seeing Babylon 5. A thought got to me, what if we make it more ‘real’ when I had the thought the PS4 was new and it had nowhere near the powers it needed to be. So in this game we ‘work’ for a living, as such it is not a game for managers (internal lol accepted). So the setting was that we start being an intern on a space station (like the European space station) or Thunderbird 5. We are orbiting this planet and we have to use equipment to complete missions of all kinds. That results in credits and optional super credits, which gets us the funds we need for the second part of the game. These funds will enable us to do space walks and now the second part of the game kicks in. Space walks come with a camera and now we get the option to photograph earth, the space station and other things. The idea is to give the player a sort of photo mode in 4K with the option to save the photos and send them to our USB. Now consider that we have a 4K setting of the earth, a rotating earth and with the camera we can get a decent clear image of the country where we live. We can see the moon in much clearer view and so on. But this is not enough. I saw the setting that if we get all three done above a certain level, we get a promotion. From there we go to the moon. Consider moon base Alpha (or the moon base from 2001, which also gives us the next space station first as well). We learn more equipment, actual equipment and we get to do more and earn more, especially earn more credits and walk on the moon. Now you might think that this is boring and for those addicted to Fortnite, it might be, but there are more gamers, millions more and they just loved walking around the fallout ruins, or walk in Cyrodiil and this game is for them. See it as the part Starfield could not deliver on. A track of achievements that are done with the camera. I also want to set a larger field where we get choices and the choices made c lose certain doors, but open up different doors. For example, the camera allows for espionage missions, but it could close the door on one station and open the door on another one. Just a thought. 

From there we go to a deep space station, like the Coriolis space station (Elite Dangerous), or a station alike Babylon 5 (or the Inner space space station). This now becomes a much larger challenge, not only is it more challenging in missions, but there are more photo missions to complete. In this completing them yields large rewards, but not all missions are easy to get, or to get to. 

Now these two elements are not enough, but you can’t expect me to do everything for you, can you. You see, the entire photo mode part is undersold too often and it can be taken to another level. Yes, in 4K we can make the most amazing images but no one seems to take advantage of that, as such I thought it was a nice idea to use it and what looks better in 4K then space objects? The idea is also that as you unlock the next level, all previous levels remain available. Your clones are send ahead, you are not. As such soon you get to push more and more credits but there is a limit, only 50% gets send to a previous station and 25% to two stations back, so half, or half or half and so on. It stops those doing the minimal and getting ahead that way. Also in the setting of a B5 station, you also need to upgrade your quarters, so that you get access to more of the station and better space walks. 

This was the idea as I had it, but the 4K photo mode was too new when the thought came to me. Also there are a few more sides to all this, but that is for another day. Now consider that parents of RPG games get one side, but the idea of a non violent game with educational sides will have great appeal and in a streaming solution this game will appeal, not to all but to well enough. And it took me less than two days to come up with it (I spend nearly a day mulling this over in 2014), as such consider all the things Microsoft isn’t coming up with and they just spend $100B, now consider we get messages like “Expect new updates “roughly every six weeks” in early 2024” regarding Starfield, a game released on September 6th 2023. So, not only was the game incomplete. Even months later there is now some indication that gamers had merely a beta to play with. When you consider all the parts not there and consider what I basically designed in 2014, how asleep are these people? 

In the meantime there are all kinds of issues (some regrettably) that a game like Starfield has and has been showing for some time. This game was in development for 5 years. Now my part would not have been easy, but they didn’t rock it, so now it is a freebee for indie developers. And when they put out a superior game on those two systems another nail in the coffin of Microsoft appears. So how does it feel for them to mess with our safe space?

No idea how they feel and I do not care. I am off learning a little more and setting the stages for Final Draft 12 today and tomorrow. Have a lovely day, the 24th is now merely a few hours away for me.

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December 7, 2023 · 01:00

Charlie Tango

Yes, it is an expression, but not the one you expect. As I was thinking of the new RPG, the one that will cause distress to a power like Bethesda, a new thought came up. You see, In the first I upped the intelligence of NPC characters in the game, all due to a brilliant idea by Vint Cerf. I don’t think he ever thought of the application I came up with, making this an innovation patent at the very least. It was up to the setting that is in the now. A new type of character. A stage where we consider the existence of SMPC (Self Managed Playing Characters). The idea was simple. A stage where you could activate a new type of character and as such give it powers and strengths and it becomes a Self Managed Playing Character. I had the idea before, but not to this degree. As such the game becomes more and it becomes to some degree self reliant. Now, lets be clear a self reliant game is dangerous, it could go into a direction the players never considered, but is that bad?

So as such I considered how to improve on it. So consider a Skyrim setting. You make friends with the Riverwood trader. Now we have all kinds of things that we can do to upgrade merchants, yet that is not the same. Consider this in a stage like the smith at Solitude, Beirand. Now consider that to upgrade this NPC you need to own a house in Solitude and you need to increase the link (friendship). When these settings are satisfied the smith will work at 1/3rd of YOUR smithing skills. After a while it will be at 1/2 of your smithing skills. These settings could be increased with skills. As such it would be increased with 10% and later 20%. Not every smith will allow for this and some will require missions to do this. When it is all done the NPC becomes a SMPC. This could be a tradesman, an artisan, a politician and so forth, it will set two things in motion. Replayability of any game employing this and as this is an ability that has limitations (1 SMPC per 10 levels), as well as location settings and certain skills. For example a court mage could never become one until your arcane levels are above a certain point. But the benefits are also massive (a later thought). As I am redesigning TESVII: Restoration to be more generic and optionally Public Domain soon, those developers (exclusive to Amazon Luna and Sony) will get a new lease on life, optionally giving Bethesda more hardship. 

And there is a larger stage in the works. You see I have no intention to make a knock off of Bethesda and I have already published several articles on this and now I am adding the SMPC styled characters. It also interacted with another idea (already published) and now we see a better stage of any game, so whilst some are redesigning the same game, I decided to make something so new it will be irresistible, especially to die hard RPG gamers (optionally I am delusional here). But consider that this one new game (by whomever makes it) has at least 5 new settings we have never seen before in RPG gaming, that is the settings that I am going for. All because Microsoft decided to buy and force us into a direction we never wanted to go. So good luck with that idea. And now another thought makes it here and optionally changes RPG gaming in a new direction.

What a lovely mid-week I have had, its Thursday now. Enjoy your day.

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November 5, 2023 · 20:15

The second confirmation

Today I saw the second confirmation. China is now ahead and I am unlikely to ever see a dime of this IP. This is OK, but in that same setting neither will Microsoft and that makes me happy somehow, it shows that I was ahead of them by well over 3 years. It also shows that statement I made (several times) that Amazon and Google were dropping the ball, now the field gets to be a little clearer.

I gave some of the load in ‘Girdle your loins’ on November 30th 2022 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/11/30/girdle-your-loins/) even as I mentioned there and in pieces over the two years before that that I was onto something, but Amazon rejected my offer and now as I see it Tencent Technologies is close to complete to get at least 50 million subscriptions, surpassing Microsoft almost overnight and trivialising (to some degree) the Amazon Luna. Google had already vacated the area, but now the game changes. If Tencent is able to keep the consumer trust, they will become the new top three players in Gaming and GaaS. You see, I made mention that the ‘G’ was gaming, and I saw today that several indie developers are on the mark with what I predicted. Microsoft spinning their Xbox360 arsenal, all whilst they left billions on the floor and it is starting to show, the moment the numbers on the Tencent Handheld start to flood the market, now with the Middle East squarely behind this, their 50 million will grow to over 150 million and that was the simple setting no one saw, or too many were willing to ignore in favour of their own ego’s. I don’t have an ego (well, I might be in denial there). I saw the solutions and I saw a few more, so I can lose some IP, I have more, but the larger benefit is that once the others see what they are losing out on, they will want some of the other IP and that is my meal ticket. They can of course wait until it is too late and hand even MORE to China, but that would be on them. The fun part was that Google had a larger option to win this all, they left it on the floor. I know why, and that does not matter. It was THEIR call and they were allowed to do what they did, but now we see another field that will soon be in the hands of China and all the US crybabies will not matter. The thoughts were clearly online, clearly in Public Domain and everyone can see how they fell short. I feel good. Really really poor, but good.

And for those in doubt, when was the last time you left 25% of the population of this world on the floor as an optional consumer base? It is a simple enough question, it was not really that hard. 

Enjoy Sunday, a full working week ahead for you.

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October 29, 2023 · 00:05

War never changes

I was about to look into something that bothered me in Saudi Arabia when news hit me. That news stopped me in my tracks. You see it is 15 years ago today that Bethesda launched Fallout 3. I had never forgotten about that game, I even missed it to some degree. Fallout 3 after Oblivion was a massive step forward and together they were the start of Skyrim. As Bethesda became a Microsoft subsidiary, Elder Scrolls VII: Restoration became lost to them and I started to push that game in parts towards public domain. But there was one part that was never part of this. The introduction and Fallout 3 reminded me on how important the introduction was. The entire introduction is seen in Vault 101. A simple but strong setting to get you into the game, to start the narrative and to give away a clue or two. I had forgotten about that part, I had forgotten on the importance of a start. In Dune (the book) the beginning is given to us as “A beginning is the time for the most delicate care that the balances are correct.” In the 1984 movie we hear “A beginning is a very delicate time” both are correct. I had never forgotten either, but I see that I overlooked parts of that. I didn’t in the movie I create ‘How to assassinate a politician’ or the TV series ‘Keno Diastima’ in both those settings the introduction is the start and the beginning are the connected prequels. There I have that space, in gaming you do not. In Restoration the game in the very beginning reflects back to Oblivion, a game too often overlooked. Bethesda did a really good job (until they became part of Microsoft). 

As such there were solutions. As a separate game it becomes a different puppy and that had be going. The entire setting is no longer on the elder scrolls list, as a separate game you need to set a different schooling and I did a dissimilar introduction, but now it becomes a much larger station. So what happens when we create not one, but three introductions? When we create introductions for the choices made we get a new gaming setting. We create a smaller infusion of longevity and that is the first step to LTG (Long Term Gaming) that is the stuff that streamers (Amazon, Tencent Technologies) require. Streaming relies on at least 2-3 LTG games and Microsoft has two, when we take those options away by creating a real LTG, we get a new setting, we deprive Microsoft of revenue, something they desperately need after spending $69,000,000,000. Soon they will be haemorrhaging all over the place and denied revenue is one, the other I keep for later. Those two will push Microsoft over the edge and I am driven to that because they invaded our safe gaming space by pushing THEIR needs on all gamers at the expense of everyone else. That angered me, they did nothing wrong in the legal sense, but they did in the spiritual sense and when Tencent technologies and Indies programming for them get that IP (as I am making it public domain) the Game pass loses value, especially as they denied certain games to be there in year one. The greedy will be served, that is what I always believed and now I am making it a reality. And as Microsoft seemingly invested $13,000,000,000 in genAI there shores are stacking up and a few more bad news (like missed revenue and less customers) will set their doomsday clock to 0:01, which works well for me in this case. As I said once before, I will hand my IP to Saudi Arabia for 35% of the value, before I will let Microsoft near it for 165% of that value and making a lot of it public domain works well for me, I might not get a dime of that, but Microsoft cannot make exclusive IP claims when it was published and that is the part everyone forgets about. You see “Software patents for computer-implemented inventions are treated as typical patent applications and must pass the same tests of novelty and inventiveness.” You see, when something is on the internet or a blog, it fails the novelty test. Microsoft will have to share space and cannot claim anything. I open the space for indie developers and they can go wherever they want to go and with thousands of indie developers in China, Tencent technologies will have an advantage and that mean more trouble for Microsoft.

They were warned, but they were eager to ignore everyone to the request of their board of directors. In the end they lose 5 times over. Apple took the tablet, Amazon the Web systems (AWS), Sony took the console, Tencent technologies is about to take streaming services (GaaS) and Google is biting into their office revenue (not as much as I hoped, but still). Bleeding on 5 sides and I will (hopefully) add two points of pressure. In the end their $82 billion investment will come up short. Yes GenAI is all the rage, but it needs a pedestal to grow from and that pedestal is vanishing fast. I wonder which banks will buckle first. Wall Street is at present obsessed with AI, but soon they will realise that this setting needs a platform top start from and the Microsoft platform is waning that much is a given all over. I wonder how long they will be able to keep the spin up. At some point these banks want evidence and if FTX is anything to go by, a lot of banks are starting to get worried, not in the least by my speculated weights of banks with too much US treasury bonds. We see the news on how 10-year treasury  bonds are a green light, but are they really? When that goose sparks a lot of people will be without savings and I fear that that moment is not too far away, giving more added pressure for Microsoft to perform. Consider that the ‘investments’ requires them to make AT LEAST 4 billion just to pay for the interest. Now consider that the media gives us that they made 198.3 billion USD, you would think that this is a no brainer and I would agree. Now consider that they lost 5 times over (6 if you include Bing) to competitors. They are still making some money, but the numbers aren’t adding up. Bing currently has a market share of 3.02%, which is nothing. There are too many cost issues that are not registering as I personally see it. So when we look at the whole picture, they are seemingly bleeding all over and the numbers cause me to show question marks. So am I wrong? I could be, but Microsoft has become too big, everyone is shouting against Amazon and Google, but they stay silent against Microsoft and they just got a new bigger player. 

War never changes the premise is sound, but you win the war by changing the stage the other one is stepping on, or you diffuse its support systems and the others all forgot one thing, the population is a support system in this war and Tencent Technologies is about to come into this field, Amazon had options for several years. They squandered it on I know not what. Now Tencent Technologies optionally with Huawei will get a larger stage to work from, all whilst the Microsoft stage is shrinking. As the middle East turned to China, Microsoft lost even more and that is what too many are trying to be in denial of. I wonder what Microsoft loses by the start of 2024, it will be something but I have no idea what they will lose at present. 

Enjoy the weekend.

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October 27, 2023 · 08:45

The added chapter

In continuation of yesterday’s part. I did more mulling (or brooding) on the setting of the case file. If you consider that the case file is a collection of three mini games, the first thing I considered that three did not make the cut, so I came up with two more mini games. That led me to two considerations. The first was on the setting of ‘evidence’ the second was on progression.

Danger One
The first danger was that you get too much of a “then I went there, then I did this then I saw that”. I need to consider another path. Almost like a diary, but with changing premisses. 

Even as we adhere to some setting we can start with the date, the action and the location can be programmable. As such, we get more than a dozen versions of the first element which contains the action and location. From there we get (as illustrated) 4 versions as a start that describes the event we ‘just played’. That part is set with actions and clues. The clues (hints we uncovered) are set to text parts and these elements make up for a chapter in the case file. The problem here is not that it is too detailed, it becomes what elements are required. On the other hand, if I set the larger wheels in motion, the re-engineer will solve the setting. 

Complication One
The 4 versions are the four versions of the text, it might be that ChatGPT can ‘solve’ it all making the solution easier to get up to two dozen versions and that is ‘painted’ with the writer style that is selected. So that every case-file has a different artsy approach resembling the thriller and espionage greats of the past. 

It is rather invigorating, trying to engineer a new solution from scratch. With the IP I made it was somewhat simple, now that I am getting to the nitty gritty part of the bottom layer, I need to set a different premise. The original solution that had 3 64KB mini games now becomes a lot more connecting. Each mini-game will not merely be larger, it will also give us more properties and more parameters to consider, to implement and to keep on the side to make the story work (or make it more of a story). 

From there I will need to consider the elements to make it a framework. As such it is not a framework, but a setting to create a framework for each case file. When I get that I avoid replication to a larger degree making it much more long term, or at least longer term. You see the case file is merely one side of the appeal. The cases need to have the appeal for the whole game to remain interesting, not a connection of repeated actions. The idea to enhance the original was for me a trigger to create a better game, the case file was merely an extra. Yet the idea to make it a way to connect your gaming to any other mobile solution (for the case file) will add to the larger interest for gamers and that could also be set to enhancing the gamer profiles of gamers (if the gamer desires). There are still several parts to dig into. The first is to let the gamer set the connections and data collectors in place. That gave me a few ideas to enhance the game further. The second was to set the game in a ’24 hour’ setting. 

Consider this example. Even as we see that action one and action two are interchangeable in the beginning, the setting past the second timeframes is that we could see different information in time frame three. When we add to the fact that action one and action two gives us different data we get a different and larger frame to work with, yet I also believe that any upside needs to receive a downside. We get on one side, but we are through that way denied other intelligence to work with (sorry for sounding cryptic). It becomes an altering frame within the game and now we get a new premise. We can create cases with altering time constraints. It adds to the dimensions of gaming enthusiasm. Adding the two ‘mini games’ was’t the challenge, it was how t fit it into the frame for players. Getting the introduction levels to get the first two ‘tools’ to teach the players what to do, then we get the ‘main tool’ and in the second intro mission we add one tool and in the third mission we add the second tool and after that the real missions start giving me a lot more challenges to upgrade the game from what was into what could be, but that is for soon enough.

Enjoy the day.

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October 26, 2023 · 09:25

The case file of linked technologies

That was the setting I was in yesterday. I love linked technologies. My first real interaction was connecting my Gameboy Advance to my Gamecube and in a game, the game boy was the map to the game I was playing on the Gameboy. This was neat (dorky but accurate). In the past I wrote about parts of this, but in a slightly different setting. In this case I am in the process of remastering IP (making it new or optionally innovative IP). The stage is that a game (or games) use a connection to something like ChatGPT to create case files based on writing styles like Chandler, Le Carre (an essential writer in my view), Desmond Bagley and Alistair McLean. That setting as the case file is merely a short story will not impede on the original writers. 

So why does this matter?
You see, games tend to have the EXACT SAME narrative. This is not on the games, but evolution is where you could create it. You see, even as Restoration has some alterations towards the narrative, this game requires a different approach to be a bigger hit. You see, the group of people who are gamers and are also bookworms (or enthusiast readers) is rather large. Another cluster that Amazon, Google and Microsoft missed. As such Amazon with the Luna and Kindle will have an advantage. That is until Tencent Technologies creates such a setting, or partners with Alibaba or Amazon to do the same thing. You see, what happens when a game you love creates (through ChatGPT, or an alike) create a case-file (read: narrative) that you can read and send to your friends, or place on your profile so that others can read these narratives. That makes the ChatGPT essential. Thousands of case files, similar but not exact copies. That create new waves, new interactions and new fans. All options that the larger three missed (a few times over). Now we get the narrative to a remaster all missed. 

You see, streaming games need to evolve and bring more to the game. They will never replace the Nintendo or the Sony consoles, but they will be a brother to the other two and that is where the larger gains can be made and that is where I am looking and the larger three are all missing the boat. Well, Google dumped the Stadia, so they aren’t even in the game anymore. But the larger setting with Kindle can create a double whammy, especially when you consider how small some margins are, that sets up all kinds of new connections and create new evolutions in gaming and I am all about evolving gaming, as I get better or more inclusive games, me, myself, I and all other gamers win and winning is the marker we all accept.

All innovative directions the big three either ignored, rejected or never saw and it is not about the Kindle. You could set this to a PDF. The setting is that you add to any profile to make the profile more, not more advertising, but more profile we all win and that is the second tier of creating waves. Let the game push all sides of gaming, not merely the game, or the narrative. As I personally see it another side ignored by the two remaining players (Amazon and Tencent Technologies). Now to be fair Tencent is new to this, but they are more and more in a position to take up a massive chunk of gaming marketshare and if they do it well, it is fine by me. I as a gamer win (other gamers too) and that is what I am after. More and better games, not Microsoft or Ubisoft iterations, but more and better games. 

So whilst we see iteration after iteration, gamers hunger for more and that time is already now. So, lets see what time and innovation will be brought to gamers and readers alike.

Enjoy the day before Friday.

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October 20, 2023 · 00:32

The gig is partially up

Yes, this happens. Even to me and Microsoft apparently figured part out, part I had hoped to include in the sale of my IP, IP which might now be made public domain. I refuse to let Microsoft walk away with it all. You see, I made the second (or third mention) in ‘Ring around the currency’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/12/25/ring-around-the-currency/) on Christmas day 2022, almost a year ago. I had seen how gaming went and I made some calculations. Between 1985 and 1999 the systems Atari 800, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga had a little over 10,000 games. I reckoned that if you took the list sorted by rating and you take the top 10% you end up with 1,000 games. Now we get that some still have IP protection. I reckoned that if we set that marker to 50% (really high) we still end up with 500 games, a lot more than Amazon or Google had. The others are fair game, no IP protection and these games could easily be transformed for cloud gaming. Going from 64KB to 1MB-15MB is still a good gig and these games were really fun and addictive. A system with 500 games (merely one of three pillars). That is what the seemingly bright people at Amazon missed and I was laughing most of the year, knowing that my giggles were temporary at best. It was one part that ensured 50,000,000 consoles and alas Kingdom Holding (with Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud) were not taking the bait for billions in revenue. Neither was the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia who was driven to eSports. But I thought ahead of the pack. You see eSports people get there by training and the younger they are the better they become and these games set up my and the next generation, so the new generation could do worse than train on these games. Still that was not my focus, it was a focus on fun. The fun I had through decades of joyful gaming. Not hopping like a kangaroo in FPS games. I also saw the option to reengineer some games (like Defender of the Crown) to be a little more realistic and more Arabic driven, a combination of that game with a focus of the 1st Crusades. Show the current generation what Islamic life in 1095-1291 achieved. And that was not all, many games were up for grabs, rejected and forgotten. As such the creation of a large coffer of games would propel any console and that was the setting I set out to do, but it was only one of three pillars. I tend to make the other two pillars public domain soon enough especially as my retirement in Toronto is now no longer a reality. 

There were several other games that required remastering in the new setting. There was Knight Games on the CBM64, and setting this with a Saracen style might appeal to a lot of Arabic gamers. The nice part was that I had played most of those games and I would be able to recall plenty of details and plenty of gaming sides, even improve on some of them. A setting that was never considered in those days. 

All this came to the surface when I saw ‘Phil Spencer Teases the Revival of Older Microsoft Franchises’. It came with ““With Game Pass, we have the ability to maybe pick a couple of franchises every year and almost do a ‘revisited’,” Spencer explained. Although he clarified that it was not an official branding term, he expressed the potential to recognise the significance of these games in gaming history and make them available through Game Pass.”

Yes, that was the setting that gave me pause to think. Spencer does not think in small settings and as I make this now public domain others will come and see what they can have. You see Microsoft has committed 69 billion, as such making sure that all these games get multiple contenders all vying for a piece of the pie makes the slice for Microsoft smaller and that is not the only thing they will face. So all who read this, if you develop games, see what old games you could purchase, get the IP for or register the new gaming IP. It will be the first disappointment for Microsoft. They will have to share the pie with many others. The other side is that these people could get a slice of the game through the new Tencent Technology handheld. Another mess they never banked on. I had hoped to keep ahead of the curve, but it seems that this is no longer an option. The only thing left is to make these steps as expensive as possible for Microsoft. They invested to get a mile, so if I can make the setting so that they merely get a furlong it will be a good day for me, or at least a better day than it was this morning. So here you see it, this is what Amazon and Google missed. Well, it was one of three parts they missed and I wonder if someone over there will wake up at some point. 

Enjoy the day, I will enter Friday being decently grumpy today.

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October 18, 2023 · 02:19

Unwinding

This article is not for the faint of heart. One could argue that there is something wrong with me (there always has been). I just had the craziest idea and if you reject it, that is okay. I have a hard time accepting it myself. You see, we are in a stage where we are nothing more than a puppet in a show that we do not want to watch. We are made to watch it, as such we need to unwind.

So here you see Watchdogs: Legion. A good game, but a game that could have larger stages. You see, Ubisoft made the map and the environment and there is nothing wrong with that. Yet to offer some stage to unwind, a new system came to mind. 

You see, there is an evolving setting where Ubisoft could release the option to enhance ANY game they have with user created DLC options. If anything Bethesda has shown just how creative users could be and Ubisoft might spin that in a new direction. You see, people have had enough of certain clowns and that is where my creative mind came into play.

I chose Watchdogs: Legion, because the environment fits. Now consider that you are a new character. The character is a seal hunter. You are shown in shoddy clothes wielding a spiked bat. Now you have to stop is disperse 10 Just Stop Oil protests by clubbing the protesters to death (just like some do to seals). Lets be clear, this is just a game. The higher level is that you need to do this before the protesters can create too much financial damage. 

You think it is bonkers and yes, to a degree it is. But the media is no longer trustworthy and as the photo-mode comes into place with you showing off the protesters you killed, people might stop to consider just how stupid these protests are. For Ubisoft it is a win-win. They sell more games, they create a DLC creation kit that allows to make user created IP for the games they own and we get to blow off steam because we arrived 90 minutes late at a job as some protesters were dancing in front of a bus. If enough hay is created with photo mode and these protesters have to consider just how much stress they are creating, they might decide to select donuts for dollars. So these protesters might go a new direction, but the story, the song and the dance remain the same. Seeking limelight in the wrong way and for that we have a solution. A spiked bat to release the stress they inflicted upon us. 

Next could be Karen hunting In San Francisco or Chicago. The options are endless (well for as long as Ubisoft has location games). Yet the underlying setting is there too. You see, we love our games and some love the settings of the Creed in Italy, Egypt and now Baghdad as well. Yet when you are done with the 25 hours in Bagdad, wouldn’t it be great to test the DLC from another fan? I am not sure of the technical possibilities to get that done, but when you consider 3 Watchdogs, at least 5 Assassins Creed, several Far Cry games. I might not have liked them all, but they all have a well pronounced fanbase and as such a DLC creator might be Ubisofts ticket to get additional revenue. It will be limited to PC, I get that, but when the DLC is good enough, perhaps Ubisoft might make some of them additions to consoles as well. Just a thought. 

I have enjoyed Wednesday now for 2 hours. The middle of the week is here. 

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October 12, 2023 · 01:22

The Bagdad butcher

I gave you an impression 5 days ago and now it is time for the review. I hadn’t planned it because of certain facts, but as I got a 20% discount, the option was decently good. As such I will go back to the article ‘Where is the Fata Morgana?’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/10/07/where-is-the-fata-morgana/) where I gave you all impressions of the game. Now that I have played it, it is time to give you the lowdown. The first part is what I saw from the reviews. The graphics are phenomenal. The setting looks good and it feels smooth. 

So now about some of the other views. One view was “A richly constructed world and a pared-down gameplay experience refocusing on stealth and assassinations don’t save a game that is largely just okay”. I disagree. I have slammed Ubisoft and I slammed the Assassins Creed franchise basically since before Unity. This game they got mostly right. 

So what’s mostly right?
This is a setting we do not see directly, but we do see it indirectly. There are a few settings in the beginning that are questionable (optionally not wrong). I saw 2-3 glitches, but they do not stop the game. There are a few settings that are up for grabs. The game has a larger setting towards stealth and I like it. Those who go in fighting (like AC Origins) end up being dead, plain and simple. The NPC intelligence needs an upgrade. I got away with a little too much and it is purely due to the shoddy intelligence of the NPC, it does not break the game and it does not hinder the storyline. There are upgrades to the game and the approach to intrusions have been upgraded, which is good. The overall game is decently satisfying. I also like the way that they have upgraded tools and how you can make weapons more powerful. I especially like the setting that you get to choose WHAT way you want to make these tools more powerful. All these elements contribute to making this Assassins Creed a much more interesting game than the previous game. 

Some gave the critique that the story is bland, the characters are too shallow. I did not have that feeling as I was playing the game and the voice of Shohreh Aghdashloo is sublime. Perhaps my only issue here is that the AC Master should have looked more like the actress, less silver in her hair. With Basim it is a different story. I did like the voice and the character, but his voice seems to stay more neutral during the game. Consider that I just climbed walls, killed over 30 guards (I killed nearly everyone in that prison, just for the fun of it) and then I meet up with the others and I am not even out of breath? This and the NPC part are small issues. None of them interfered with the ability to have fun. At this point I have no idea how much more issues, or glitches I will face. Yt I do believe that those who liked the first two Assassins Creed’s will find a game that they will enjoy. If there is one thing I would change then it is that artificial narration to be switched off from the start. So when I play the game again (very likely to happen) I might set it to Arabic (with English subtitles) to get that authentic Middle Eastern vibe going. 

I have slammed Ubisoft plenty of times. This one they got right (mostly) and that needs to be said too. Beyond all other things I do believe in fairness.

Enjoy the day.

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