I had an idea on a direction in RPG gaming earlier (in 2021), I kept it in my mind and left it aside. The latest patch by Hogwarts Legacy pushed the thought to the forefront of my mind again.
You see what we now need is a smarter NPC. An NPC that reacts to you, to some extent we are already there. Some games do that, but to a limited degree. So consider two elements Honour and Dishonour. Every NPC will get a value and to the degree it has its own value, an outfit will get a new rating. In this example The Azkaban will carry Dishonour +5 and Honour -8 there is not linear setting and that will set a new stage. Poachers will see you optionally as an enemy, Ashwinders will see you as a ally (to keep track of the example). To the other games this applies to and the larger setting is that your choice of outfit isn’t just to stop cold, shield from heat, and to stop buoyancy, but it will also present you to them. Consider the Crusades. All those people in metal armour, it had an impact. I had been playing with this idea for some time. Why clothing is merely cometic, it can be so much more. Like weapons, there is a strategic side and we never used it to that degree in RPG games.
As I see it, the new RPG will need this, as well as an upgraded economy setting. We have all the elements and now that we have powerful PC’s and a powerful PS5 the hardware will be able to deal with this. The question becomes, who will incorporate this setting first? I reckon that any RPG game lagging by 2026 will have lost interest by gamers pretty quickly.
We need to push gaming forward and this is one direction we can add to the equation.
This started yesterday, I was contemplating yesterdays article. I thought there was no connection, now I am not certain. I have been through a lot, my sternum was cut in half, my heart got a new valve and that was the start of a few issues. One if them is NSW housing stating that turning down an apartment on reasons of heart failure is not enough a reason, even the setting that I am in ICU did not sway them. So as such I have 2 weeks to get the papers in order. My life sucks!
So the dream was weird. It was like in some tropical French place. He was handing out food to all who wanted it. He was in relaxed clothing handing out palm leaves with fish and a side order of rice to all who wanted it. I also joined the queue and I took a leave from him. He said ‘hello’ and ‘welcome. Drinks are on the tables’ I said thank you mr Bowie and I started to turn whilst he continued ‘Mr Bowie is my dad, I am David’ Sorry David, I said and took a step towards the patio with benches and coolers with ice-water and drinks. I took something that looked like lemon based and I was surprised, it was lemon based with rum, sweet and delicious. It went nicely with the fish. The fish was lovely as was the rice.
Whilst eating I was watching the people. They seem overly happy to be in this place. Some of the women were flirty and talking with him, but they kept their distance. His wife was still alive as such she would not be here. So why was I there?
It bothered me, I was still alive. So why was I allowed a look?
Then it came to me you see the EA list is set by the shakers and makers. Those who made the ranks at EA didn’t want that list to change, but the next iteration of gamers think differently, they see different sides and Streaming games will give them that and Apple and Android with their games advertisings will suddenly see a new rankings evolve. That is where Luna and its Tencent opposite can set new strides. It will be at some coin, but there is a chance that it will ruin the day that Apple and Google saw no further then there bankroll. I was stating that this will set a change of 50 million gamers, it could be more a whole lotta more and that is what is at stake. 50 or 100 million gamers who have had enough of advertisement. My line cancels out on 225 million gamers in stage two. If that proves to be correct it would create a streamer player list at the top, followed by Sony and then Nintendo. The question who could it be? A player who set the mark will win
(as long as it isn’t Microsoft) the nice side is that streaming is new, really new and it will not hinder Nintendo or Sony, they have their own niches. This will be a new niche. A new order of gaming, where the happy moments are counted, not the achievements. And face it, can some of the older games even consider achievements?
So this side and the previous article give a more structural soundness. I just didn’t see it that way yesterday. But now I know more, there is always more.
To see this part I need to take you on a trip. First all the way back to September 2020 when I initially wrote ‘Software as a salad’ then to June 2021 when I wrote ‘Clouds for a chance for gaming’ now consider that I know gaming, I have been involved with gaming since 1985. So a few hours ago this image passes me by
So I went on this quest for over three years getting people to get ready to use what was to be added to what is. The situation is pretty simple. Between 1985 and 1999 the industry released over 10,000 games for Atari 600, Atari 800, Atari ST, CBM64, and CBM Amiga. The idea was to take the top 10% which is a little over 1000 games and make them ready for streaming. Now this does not happen over night. Games will need revamping, access to new graphics and music.
A setting that would give the Amazon Luna and/or Tencent holding a massive advantage. Consider that I gave this to the world, all whilst EA gives us a commercial buy three pay for two. A simple concoction where we see exploitation without return to gamers. How is that for progress? How is that a situation for forward mobility? This is just 5 games, so what about the other 995? And this is how you lose a console battle, by not engaging with the audience. By hiding behind what is known, what is secure. A setting that EA knows to well, and they are not alone. So consider ‘Murder on the zinderneuf’, so what happens when it is revamped, rebranded as ‘Zeppelin final flight’? Alike but not completely. When that happens the IP is open to be reused that is the part EA and others forgot about when it is alike but not a copy and there are hundreds of games that can be exploited that way. Software people they never learn. Why is that?
I wonder what it takes for them to consider the lesson that I have placed in front of them for over three years now.
For some it is a beginning of more. I just been in hospital for a week getting chest chiselled in two and replaced parts of my heart. Yet today was about more. Dune the second chapter gets out today and one review was chiseled in stone. You see there were two ‘errors’ with this version. They were not of consequence. The first was the the reference to the emperors army planet. The second is a joke, but the harkonen fans will love it. Yet these two parts do not add up to scrutiny. The movie was raw and refined. The review I saw (whilst I was already stating that I would see it) the review stated ‘Villeneuve brings the action’ need we know more?
I saw in the first movie all the parts that the first two iterations oversaw, but it didn’t come into the equation. Perhaps the second movie will get some if the issues rolling. But the second movie will be on target with ‘Villeneuve brings the action’. That’s all I needed to see, the rest I will know soon enough. But this is a special day, a leap year day. I have considered a few things in the past on ‘How to assassinate a politician’ and recently a few rewrites on Engonos, things are working out for me.
To see these elements in place on several tracks. OK, it happened over a few days. Still the setting to see it all come to fruition on February 29th matters. It might not seem that big a leap, but to do it in a hospital bed and frame the setting in my brain all whilst surgeons are placing a valve there is to see it come to fruition is uncommon and it turns out that the first day of my live starts on a leap year.
Think of it what you will, I will make my own reservations. I have wasted enough time waiting for some sob to call me. I now have defined amount of time left (well sort of) and we do not use the time that we have to ourselves, time matters and that gave me the idea that I will impart on Engonos. Soon more about gaming IP and set to stone what I saw coming well over a year ago.
I talked about this before. At first to fit the larger station of Elder Scrolls: Restoration, but as they are part of Microsoft. It becomes no way Jose, so I instilled it in a new RPG called Generation. It was not some Bethesda clone, it was totally different and I put a lot on it on this blog (go find it if you care). So here I was pondering a few things. And as I was setting a few thoughts out which flows from the setting of cogs and balances in gaming (a previous story) I gave the indirectness a new side.
Consider that this game is too large to play in one lifetime, so we get a second and even a third generation and that is the start of a new corner of RPG IP.
So lets take a look at the next generation, the daughter. The offspring gets the mean of the parents. As such it is ((30+20)/2), but with dexterity something else happens. It is still ((15+35)/2) plus 50% of the difference as the woman is stronger in this field. So the daughter gets additional Dexterity, Intelligence and Creativity. The son would have gotten additional numbers in the other field, neither get additional agility as they are both the same for the parents. So there is a balance and over time these traits go up. In other fields like mapmaking it is about creativity, art and leather skills (original maps were created on vellum), this also allows for new settings to use creativity. You can have a McGyver and that allows for weapons (basic weapons) to be created in the field. And until your creativity is up, you will see and collect rope and leather, but until your creativity is high enough, a sling will never be the result. This allows for other weapons and it helps to season other skills too. Scribe skills are there to infuse map making, allow you to recognise books of value and read lore. But in this the skills of the parent will to some degree transfer to the child, something never done before. So over three generations you will have created a much stronger character if you marry right. And here is the kicker. I believe in checks and balances. Getting a too strong character limits the play, but a partner that is not all out in those fields but is an awesome butcher or fisherman allows for food to be gotten easier, as well as get more value from the skinning of a fish or a deer (I love my Bambi burgers).
The indirect path has never been optimised and it is a niche in gaming that is screaming to be explored. And when you combine the elements you get to see that none of the others have any of this in their games. Over half a dozen gaming IP added to a blog. I give Guerrilla software a pass as their series is all new IP, never seen before and the others? I will let you decide.
Have a great day, my Friday starts in 200 minutes, in Vancouver it isn’t even 2am yet.
That is a setting I pushed myself into. You see, as I was revamping the issues of RPG, I found another way to use the IP of Vint Cerf in a way no one considered before. I came up with this as early as June 10th 2023 in ‘How to ping a delusional mind’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/06/10/how-to-ping-a-delusional-mind/)
This game me a jolt to say the least, but the issue of grinding kept on banging in my mind. There is an upside and a downside. The upside is that grinding can get you some yummy equipment early in the game which gives you an edge, the downside is that too much of any game becomes an exercise and will no longer be an experience. That downside is actually a lot less fun, more detrimental to fun then anyone is willing to admit to. So The option is to have a different kind of seeding. It should prevent grinding (to some degree) and grinding will stop to some degree.
The idea is that any party evolves, the evolution happens over a period of 3-5 days, but I will come to that later. The hoodlums could be brigands or any kind of foe. In the first stage they reappear in a place you have already visited. In stage two there will be an entourage as well as a ‘leader’ and he (or she) will be stronger, that leader will have an entourage so if the first stage is 5-7 people, they will add anything between 3-8 additional troops. Now a few days later we get to stage three. A boss is added (as well as a boss chest) and now we see a difference, all the previous people will gain strength and abilities, or skills. Now we have ourselves a clambake and an actual challenge. Over time (depending on how often you hit that place, the skills of these foes increase, the larger extent is that with the revamped IP of Vint Cerf this now becomes more than a simple exercise and over time these elements makes this game a challenge at every turn. Now the ‘respawn time’ is (as I see it) 3-5 days per level and that time depends on how close it is to a town and to a decent road. The closer to both the quicker the respawn time and when you hit that place again no matter how evolved the foes were, the counter goes back to zero. This implies that hitting places at stage one soon becomes a waste of time, chests are only respawned from stage 2 and a boss chest in stage 3. Even as some elements respawn with some level of randomness, skills and attributes are increased by 1 for every attempt. As such every foe gets one extra point in one element and skill after every attempt. It stops grinding. Consider that every time you try a place, the opposition, every member is either stronger, more stamina, more stealth or whatever they gained with every visit. Soon you are up against the deadliest of people, not a good choice to make. This setting requires that there are enough places to loot (beyond the story places).
So we have an increasingly clever pool of opponents, we have revamped how they fight and where they fight and now I have found an option against grinding. Now I need to consider another option to loot and we are off to the races (I had one and wrote about it, but I am not completely convinced it was the best path to take).
In all this there is a spindle web to consider. You see a story in any RPG is not enough, you need yarn to spin the story, and there is the irritating voices that Bethesda gave us. I am NOT having a go at them. In 2011 it was what it was, but now we can do more. You need a pool of gossip, gossip that might be true, it might not, it might even be a trap. No matter how we see it a different, a more 2025 approach is needed and I am still working on it. There are two parts, the first is what you hear, the second is that you don’t hear the same thing all the time and more important that it changes per game you play. As such you might hear much different things your neighbour hears. There I need to make sure that the idea cannot be replicated (so what your neighbour hears will not work for you). Gossip is a real conundrum, but could leave you with a clue or an advantage. You see Richard Garriott had a great idea in Ultima 3 (1985), the tip gets you a tip. So what happens when you tip the local innkeeper? The cleaning lady? So you need a system that can create 1000 gossip clues and they are linked to a location. Wherever the gossiper lives, or close to where that inn or gin-joint is. I believe that pre-seeding is the best way to go, with a flag to activate the story. It is another way to start side quests but it should not take centre seat, it needs to be some side option at best. In that setting the traps are also an idea to get people to a place where a much stronger force tends to be (happy birthday to you, silly death comes to you). Making the trap a real challenge to say the least.
Still got work to do on all this, but I have made a decent inroad in gaming that others have never addd to their system. So yay me and it is time to enjoy Saturday, except in Vancouver where it is only Friday early evening. Enjoy the day wherever you are.
That is what it at times amounts to. A line of presentation, although in gaming it is called storylines and narration. You see, I have been pondering a few things. We cannot ignore a game like Skyrim and the weaknesses it has. I am not attacking Skyrim. It was released on 11.11.11 and two generations later, it still feels and plays awesome. There have been so many additions and now we need something new. The problem is that we need something really new, not just another version and that got me thinking. To see this we need to take a little historical journey. According to ‘history’ the one of the very first Spymaster was Akashi Motojiro (1904). I personally doubt this for the simple reason that the art of war was written 500BC, implying the Chinese did nothing with chapter 13 for over 2 millennia and that is as far fetched as it will ever get. Sun Tzu gave us the following categories of spies:
Local spies
Inward spies
Converted spies
Doomed spies, and
Surviving spies.
But no one (at present has incorporated that in an RPG game. Until now it wasn’t really possible to add this. As such the side quest could be to evolve a spy network. The narration would be upgraded and when you consider the settings of balance, you could teach espionage to one and assassination to the other, the operative part is balance, a sort of detente in RPG gaming. Still the player would get benefit of both. Now consider the implications. Not merely the quests for each type of spy, the setting of learning the scrolls of espionage Ould be added and you would gain another side to the game. Bethesda relies on the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild. It is something that others need to avoid, but the beginning could be an eye catcher to any gamer. Now consider that a similar stage could be applied to the Hashashim, who were the dread of crusaders in the 11th century, they were the foundation assassins. There is of course the Ninja from Japan, all options to consider in a new RPG game, to set yourself apart rom the others, and as (according to some sources) the next Elder Scrolls is 2 years away, the early bird that chases the new frontiers can care themselves out a very nice slice of that pie.
Narration That is merely the gameplay, but the larger stage becomes the storyline, the narration if you like and that is the golden threat of any solid RPG game. There are more sides and I wrote about those lines on May 30th 2022 when I wrote ‘Creating economic sides’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/05/30/creating-economic-sides/). You see, the stories are one, but there needs to be the creation of a balanced economy or the game becomes weak. You see poverty around you, all whilst you have hundreds of thousands of credits. And it is not direct, it is the indirect influence that drives the game forward and these storylines could have a similar approach. Consider 3 locations. One has espionage, one has assassination and one has commerce. They all have their own advantages, but to some degree drawbacks too. You might benefit from all, but only to some degree and it only goes as far as the good will you create. Making choices does that in one direction and takes them away in another direction. It creates a form of balance and makes the game very much replayable, because one impact hits a region different from another. Sides too often overlooked. We might remember Fable where one area was in poverty, or in good standing depending on the actions you took, yet we can take that in a much larger and different directions as well. Until now it was not explored (no negativity implied), however the new streaming systems as well as the new consoles allow for a much stronger and larger play system, larger scenarios and larger areas. And we might think that this is the solution, however without a more verbose storyline and much more profound narration that is not going to be an option that survives. Only two months ago we were given “Starfield’s lacklustre exploration and lack of depth, with players feeling that the game becomes dull and tedious.” I never played the game, so I do not know. But I can understand how this came about and it evangelises my idea of bolder and better narration and story lines. No matter who does it, they need to get ready for a much larger storyline in all kind of directions. The linear storyline is pretty much at an end, but that is my point of view.
I believe that the next large RPG game needs to set new boundaries and set an entirely new way to narrate a game, more of the same will not get far in 2024 (or 2025 for that matter).
This happens and I know it has happened to me as well. I see a path, I see a direction, but I am seeing it too early. You see, as I am learning more and more about a programs called Final Draft I see more and more potential there. Their YouTube step makes perfect sense. 66,000,000 active YouTubers and all needing direction and organisation in narration makes perfect sense and the fact that Final Draft wants to get a piece of that pie is logic. Yet for some time I have seen that Final Draft is also starting to become important in writing the narration of games. RPG especially but it is not confined to RPG. As gaming franchises evolves that connection merely strengthens. There is one problem, the numbers don’t support that move yet. As such a player like Final Draft might back off, correctly seeing the fact that it is still too early. Yet the larger station isn’t merely that they are too early, the optional station is that they are the only one available and as such the game makers need to see that Final Draft might be the only real solution.
So what is missing? That is harder to explain. You see it isn’t merely the narration, it is keeping track of ALL the interactions that Final Draft is currently missing that becomes the centre axial in narration software. You think it is easy, but it is not. A prime example is Horizon: Zero Dawn and Horizon: Forbidden West. Now they have a new problem, the passing of Lance Reddick last year is leaving them with a gap, one that will be monumentally hard to fill. In addition Lance is one important reason that made the game great. So now they are looking at what could come net and now a program that shows all the interactions becomes a lot more important.
This is not for all games and not for all options, but it is a strategic part that is not available anywhere. Consider A game like Assassins Creed. 2 and Brotherhood are all about Ezio, but what happens when another renaissance times game needs to come? Having the interactions would become essential. We can rely on other sources and that makes sense for now. But as franchises grow, as games make it past game 2 having clear records of these interactions become important. I reckon that there is another part I saw (optionally) missing is also applicable to gaming (but way beyond that stage). We need to see where we go next and that also implies that developers of resource materials (like Final Draft) need to see and scan a much larger stage of deployment. Gaming makes sense on several fronts, but not initially and not if the numbers don’t support it. Consider one game Hogwarts Legacy. You might think ’So what?’ What is important is that this game sold over 22,000,000 copies. They can make a second game in a different time (and that makes sense), but having the interaction stage will opt these developers to use Final Draft to keep track of all interactions and seek what would be required down the track. Yes, we can scan, we can ‘remember’ but in the end having a record is the best and that is where Final Draft could also shine. The larger stage becomes that gaming and Hollywood are more and more intertwining and as such there is a natural path for a player like Final Draft as it holds 95% of all scripting solutions. Yet this number changes when we consider that gaming crosses borders like no other and now that the Middle East and China is coming to play n this field as well gives us the light that another source of development materials is required for gaming developers and as such Final Draft is pretty much the only serious resource that needs to grow beyond what it currently has. It is natural to think that it doesn’t have to and that is fine.
There is also the basic and natural thought for Final Draft to think ‘Why should we have to?’ and I get that. Yet consider that Final Draft is also presumptively responsible for a series like The Big Bang theory (12 seasons) and so many others. Now seeing all interactions in some display starts making sense. I am not talking about the Character Navigator. I am talking about a graphical display on a character and all the characters they interact with, with the added stage of two characters and where they interact. For some characters in 12 seasons it becomes important to light that up, but in gaming it becomes important to the narration stage. What characters did Kratos (God of War) interact with over 5 games. For a lot it is limited to one game, but that is also often because there was nothing to keep proper track of things. I reckon that the future of MMO and other RPG games will see a massive shift in streaming games, it becomes important. As such it might be early in some cases, in other cases a player like Final Draft can remain the only player in town, or relinquish the field for another player to grow a market segment. Final Draft has nothing to fear from any contender for a decade to come, but what after that? Microsoft was in the same stage. One source gives us “Windows has dropped to a historic low of 57.37% market share in the U.S. desktop OS market, a far cry from its all-time high of 92.37% back in January 2009” this was march last year. In less then 15 years it lost a marketshare of 35%. Now the circumstances are very different. But what the setting is in 10-15 years is unknown to me and most others. So a developer can head of the danger, or take a chance. For Final Draft it is unknown. I am not playing some fear card. The simple truth is that for games the numbers aren’t there yet and I would agree with that. What no one knows (and what is being silenced) is that a new player like Tencent Handheld also needs to grow and it will find the tools for all the games they need. Narration is the next big thing in gaming. Look at all; the games you know and optionally love. They ALL have narration. So how many of those have become franchises? Now wonder how important narration and proper recording of narration becomes if there is a part three in the making (or more). The bigger the franchise, the more important the narration becomes, that is a simple truth and lets face it. We all want to be ready for when the game becomes a success. Hogwarts Legacy is an example. It was the first game and it sold 22,000,000 making it the most successful game of 2023. So a second game is a natural thought. Where it goes from there is up for speculation. What is important that there is a gap and Final Draft is the natural choice for anyone taking narration serious. The other part I saw missing was time lines (I will let you figure that part out yourself). I shouldn’t do it all, should I?
As I wrote 22 hours ago, I had an idea. To see this idea, I need to give you one of the few images I saw.
It is an image of Olympus. The intro of the game God of War 3 gives us a little more, as does the game. Yet in the intro stage my first thought (my day one of the game) how awesome it would be to actually walk there. So no doors, no hindrances just walking around Olympus like one of the servants, that sparked the idea.
Now we get to the ‘now’. You are a greek in the Byzantium empire. I made mention of these places yesterday. The stage is not merely that you are a person. You are shaped by your house gods and the game starts with an old woman. She is travelling and she passes near the village where you live and she sees you. She is an oracle of Dodona and she beckons you over. Then you get the questions on ho the house gods are. This decides where you end up, that field is close to that town. She hands you an old heirloom, it was always meant for you (the key to the game) and she ALWAYS tell you to go in NW direction (and it always leads to a small cavern). As you enter the cavern, there is a small alcove that opens due to the heirloom (but it could look very different game to game). And in that small opened niche leads to a small bronze mirror. With the heirloom that mirror turns into a gateway straight into Olympus.
Now this is where things changes. That mirror is always in the same place. Some atrium for servants and beyond that it is all dark and silent. You can wonder for hours (Olympus is big) and you can start to make inventory of what you see and learn.
The heirloom will only react to one place and that is where the first god comes in, one of the house gods. Male house gods will be seen through a ring or bracelet, female house gods through a necklace, bracelet or earring. It depends on the gender of the character you are playing.
In that room you get the first steps. The waters will always run, but the place still has some kind of protection (against intruders), the place has oil reserves (for lighting) and over time as you get a better grip of the place, you will learn about how Olympus ticks. As the first stage is completed Olympus comes alive. You will get to learn how you how to re-engage automatons and as you activate more automatons they get back to the job of repairing, cleaning and adjusting.
In the game you will learn about EVERY god on Olympus, but due to the house gods, not all paths are available to you. There is a Zeus, a Poseidon and a Hades part of Olympus. And the gods have chosen sides. There are fewer on the side of Hades, but he also adds additional parts to the game. In the game you will ‘recover’ art, you will recover books and writings and so on. It has RPG sides and a massive learning side. I am contemplating to add the setting of adding the ability to learn Ancient Greek in the game. When you consider all the elements you can dismiss it, or consider that this has never been done before. And with that we create history. The concept of learning through games is not new, but on this scale and in this way has never been attempted before. And consider that the God of War Franchise has sold over 66,000,000 copies. I feel certain that every gamer at some point considered walking on Olympus themselves. Now consider that we have one path, but when you finally get to Heaphestus you can unlock an additional path as well as the path to the sections of Hades and the gods aligned with him. I reckon it is meant for streaming systems, but I am not writing off the PS5. A game never seen before, would it work? Haters will say no and now considered how many new IP Microsoft made. I placed 3-4 in my blog, that is the second part of the equation. The haters and the pretenders all claim and do not deliver. I have been delivering ideas and concepts non-stop. Some will work, some will not, but the spark of creativity gave you all that was. What muses could they rely on? I am not sure which muse is watching over my back, but I will share what my mind sees. It is the only way to make progress. A lesson Microsoft never learned, that is why they will lose.
Enjoy the first day of the week, my second day is less than three hours away.
That is the weird but very apt question. Of course I could ask Laura Vandervoort implying if she wants me (my delusional side in action). Yet this is not about women, this is about gaming. It is 2024 and internet congestion is starting to become a much bigger issue. As such, if Amazon with its Luna wants to stand out and equal if not surpass Tencent with its handheld, it needs to reformulate some settings. I truly believe that Gaming as a Service (GaaS) has the future, but the brains behind this are too much about the monthly fee and when congestion hits that monthly fee becomes a problem. Tencent with its handheld has a solution, now Amazon needs to find a roadmap to set itself apart. They cannot rely on player like Ubisoft to figure things out, it will be too late for them.
Now consider an upgraded and remastered version of some of the Commodore 64 greats. Fort Apocalypse, Wizard, Jumpman, Wizard of Wor and so on. You might find that amusing, but you only have to face one wall of congestion and it suddenly doesn’t feel that weird anymore. Now each of these games was less than 354Kb in total. Now with upgraded graphics (and much better sounds) it will easily fit a 2Mb marker. Consider the controller now with an SD card slot and a 64GB card is less than $15. Now consider that the controller is the fat client. It will use the servers, but in some cases it can download a partial frame and a whole host of games can be played from the controller. Not Ubisoft games and not many ‘new’ high tech games (or whatever they would call them) but others could be downloaded and other games could be downloaded whilst you play. It is a larger station to consider. In the age of congestion, the one that allows you to play is the winner and Amazon needs a real win. Microsoft is spinning the fact that they are losing. They made arrangements with Ubisoft. So what happens when Microsoft desperately wants more? Amazon better get ready because if they are not, it all goes to Tencent and they are at present in a stage where they could get millions of gamers, all because some were asleep (OK, Google walked away from this).
The larger setting that we see (at https://www.androidauthority.com/amazon-luna-1170676/) is only part of it. They are set on relying on monthly prices and that is good. The moment that players and families will have to consider $12 for Netflix or $10 for Amazon Prime, Amazon will lose members. The controller is either $70, or $83. So what happens when people get the one time additional $10 for the fat client version, they need to buy their own SD card, but it comes with a free setting of these ‘download’ games and as that list improves the people will select the Amazon equation. You can all go into denial that this will never happen, but a setting where bills are strangling you, that $10 can given you dozens of games and a gaming setting that families can afford. Yes, when they cannot afford one, they cannot afford the other either. But there will be a large group of people who can only afford one. And that will escalate. Now take congestion in the mix and people are paying for something that cannot be delivered for whatever excuse the telco gives us and in Australia Optus has had its share of excuses, so much so that there is a senate hearing on Optus. And it is the first one at present. I reckon that soon enough others will have their congestion and outage issues, this might be the year it comes to blows all because too many were sitting on their hands and it is not merely Australia. EU and US will have their own issues soon enough. In addition to that Germany and France have massive rural area’s where the minimum bandwidth is seemingly an issue. That issue is seemingly and there is no real open data. Those who have the issue are (as I personally suspect) hiding this. As such a fat client solution could decrease bandwidth pressures and allow people to game there, at least those lacking a console or PC.
As I personally see it, going fat is not the best way, but it is an option into the future, so how about it Laura ;-)?
Now consider the Amazon solution with dozens of awesome remastered games added to the mixture? As I see it it is better than what is now, the Microsoft spin only holds water for so long and whilst too many are following that Microsoft cult, Tencent with its handheld is about to gain real gamers globally and that was what I always predicted. They question becomes which of the two is gaining the additional 50,000,000 gamers the quickest in phase one? When that part becomes reality Microsoft will have lost another battle, all set to meaningless banter like ‘We have the most powerful console in the world’ which is not a lie, but Nintendo with its weakest console surpassed them with great ease and now Tencent is about to become the next favourite taste of gamers. Amazon has options but it is not clear for how long. They are establishing themselves, yet outside issues like congestion will halt them for some time and this is the kind of game that standing still get you to lose the race.
Enjoy this Thursday, the first weekend of the year is only a day away.
Lawrence van Rijn - Law Lord to be 