Tag Archives: Nintendo Switch

April 21, 2025 · 18:53

Time testing

We all do that at times, especially when we are about to make a financial commitment. And today I got my test (partially). The setting comes from 1996 when I got my Nintendo 64 and Mario Kart 64. I was not the first on that track, but that track never stopped amazing me and I got plenty of value from a game that costs me $79 at that time. 

In time I bought more of these titles. The GameCube edition, the Wii edition and that was it. I stopped from getting it on the initial Switch, but that was merely as my funds dried up (low bank balance), we all know what that feels like. Yet this time around the kart fever sets in strong.

See what you are about to face (at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq4uCJDwO9U)

The sites you see are phenomenal, and I get that some will say “I’ve seen this before in brand X” and that might be true, but to see it all interactive, see it all in a family setting and set to Nintendo IP is a whole new experience. 

Screenshot

Some of these other games (not naming names as there is nothing wrong with them) have one, two or three of these parts. Nintendo’s version has them all. Courses and knockout in the ring, or on ‘real world’ driving between tracks and the larger setting is that you can have 4 teams with up to 24 players, a definite first and it goes on and on and on. Consider that the kids can have game-chat and chase each other on this game, or merely play together with family members. This game has it all. 

I reckon this is the first reason in a while to get a console because of a game and that is not nothing. It shows Nintendo is still the unquestioned gaming champion out there. As such in June 5th the console comes out and there is the option to have the console with the game for $80 dollars more, which means that either the console or the game gets a nice discount. As I see it, this is a game changer for Nintendo. Apart from all the stuff they released with the switch, they are adding levels of innovation that hasn’t been seen since Sony released the PS3. Don’t get me wrong, the PS4 and PS5 were excellent products, but the gaming increase that we saw from PS2 to PS3 was pretty much amazing and the move from Switch to Switch 2 is showing a lot more that that. I actually didn’t think that my gaming universe could be rocked to this degree, but Nintendo pulled it off. So get ready because the moment of rocking your world is a mere 6 weeks away. 

As I see it, get ready for Nintendo to move markers to awesome and it will be a hard pill to swallow for Sony (Microsoft is no longer relevant), because Nintendo is flexing its gaming muscles and they have become awesome. At present the total lifetime sales for Sony’s PS5 has now reached 76 million units, I reckon that it will take for the Nintendo less than 13 months to equal that number, a setting we saw, we also partially expected this, but to see it due to one game is a new experience, but there you have it and that is a first day release product. I wonder what more they have in store for us. Time for me to find some dineros.

Have a great day and take some time to play a video game, any video game. Smell the roses through your controller and see what’s out there.

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April 5, 2025 · 16:09

A political game

You know the setting for President Trump with his tariffs are out there. As only 4 hours ago we got word (via Reuters) that another $5 trillion has been wiped of the markets (at https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-stress-graphic-pix-2025-04-04) we saw another piece of news at NBC (at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nintendo-switch-2-pre-orders-us-delayed-trumps-tariffs-rcna199729) giving us ‘Nintendo Switch 2 preorders in U.S. delayed because of Trump’s tariffs’ and my cogs started to think. The population of Seattle is around 4,018,762. Now if only 10% wants to get a Nintendo Switch 2 (I reckon that number is much higher) we end up with 400,000 Washingtons wanting that novel contraption and as such the option for Vancouver to get an additional 2 billion in revenue seems clear. And a smuggling game emerged from my brain. The setting is around the interstate bridge ad connect that to a classical game named Frogger and the setting is near complete.

In this setting we get the frog to make it to the other side. Now we change the setting to:

Here we see the interstate bridge, like frogger (now in a north south setting) we move from truck/car to truck/car, the slow vehicles get its there and the fast vehicles get us there faster. And there seems no real challenge and the blue rectangle is the part we see in the game, so the game scrolls. 

Now we get to the border, the guards move from left to right (the don’t care about the Canadian side), if the guard spots you you are royally screwed and you are out $800, if not you pass and you gain $1500. Now on the way back you get by taxi, but here you can skip from taxi to taxi as they pass, if there is a Maga cap in that taxi, it is yours and when you wear the cap for a second trip the border patrol ignores you when you wear a Maga cap. The task is to smuggle as many as Switch 2 consoles as possible. And you can team up, each their own game, but the scores are shown I reckon 2 (or 4 in true Switch 2 mode). In higher levels the guard move faster and the gaps between cars/trucks increase a little. So, we should thank President Trump to give us a lovely smuggle game. We can improve the game in many ways, like adding fentanyl shipments, which gives us a bonus bump (like times 5), so that the profit goes to $7500, however if you are caught you are stopped for 30 seconds and that is where the opponents get 30 seconds of optional gains. There are a few other things you can do, but I leave that to you. I hand over this idea to the clever Canadian with programming skills. It is an Australian ‘Gudday’ to our Canadian brothers and sisters (the she-form of the male can program just as good as the man can). 

How life can throw you a bonus? Well here you have it and there is not a Trump in sight to stop you. And as I go to enjoy the weekend now, I dream of desperate traders throwing themselves off buildings as their fortunes melted away among the trillions in market value. Trump might have stated ““Hang tough,” he urged his followers on social media. “We can’t lose.”” (Source: BBC), but the desperate and greed driven never hang tough, when the reaper comes reaping, the greed driven become suicidal. A simple lesson from life (1929 to 1939, the great depression where 7% committed suicide). 

So have a great day and when the stocks bite, pray you have a Canadian son/daughter who can program. This me having a spell of additional dark humor.

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April 4, 2025 · 02:47

N is for?

That is what I saw yesterday. Nintendo. I remember the Switch presentation and that was awesome and as I predicted, it overtook 3 yeas of Microsoft in a mere 14 months. At present they have sold over 150 million consoles, which is 500% of the Microsoft consoles sold, which also represents twice the amount of the Sony Playstation 5. That’s innovation at work, that is pure gamers joy. And now (say yesterday) they introduced the new console, the Switch 2 and it was pure joy to see buckets of innovation added to a great console. Its almost like watching the evolution of Playstation 1 to Playstation 2 all over again. I feel so giddy at present.

Let that not be the stopping power of wannabe reviewers with YouTube headlines like ‘Nintendo Switch 2 Is Disappointing’, ‘Nintendo Switch 2 Hands-on: An Exciting, Costly Sequel’ or ‘Nintendo Just Confused Everyone With The Switch 2’, these voices don’t matter. First off the presentation was clear. Three executives showed the Nintendo Switch 2 clearly and gave us buckets of innovation. First there is the chat button, where you can chat in the game with friends, or out of the game with friends. For parents there is a parental control for younger player, so they thought of almost everything. You can group chat in game (like Mario Kart World), every friend (up to 4) their own character and pose at times together for the in game picture. Then if you decide to include the camera (extra accessory) you can appear in the game at the bottom with audio, which has been given the option to reduce noise, so just the voice comes through. Clarity in its best form. As a Sony lover I am sad that they are overtaken by Nintendo and that trend will continue only with a much larger gap between Sony and Nintendo but that is the effect of true innovation and I am not sad for one second. I have my Switch 1 next to my PS5 and that is fine. 

So why is that good?
Because in 2002 Nintendo gave me Metroid Prime, an action adventure for the GameCube and now 23 years later that same game (remastered on Nintendo Switch) still gives me the buzz. It is gaming perfection and it still gives me chills to see these worlds, designed for a 40 MB memory system with a smaller drive system then either Sony or Microsoft had. It relied on on cards with a max of 32GB, which is still a lot more than a DVD. Now it gives us twice that on the game cards (up to 64GB) and the Switch 2 comes with 256GB of storage, a lot more than the predecessor. And that is before you consider the added settings of joy cons that can now be used as a mouse as well. The joy cons will now attach magnetically so there is no no sliding and the allows for in game changing as I see it. They also have a larger screen (7.9-in LCD screen, 1080p up to 120 Hz with HDR10 and VRR), but there is more. When you play it in the dock on the TV, 4K becomes possible (4K at 60 Hz via HDMI with HDR10 and VRR). All powerful innovations. And then Digital Foundry also gave me the setting “The Nintendo Switch 2 will apparently be able to handle Unreal Engine 5. Full article with Digital Foundry podcast with their source.” That means that my solution will now also with on Switch 2 giving them a handle on 50 million additional consoles, in a direction they never considered, sorry for the Amazon Luna, but first on in gets the jewelry. That is the power of innovation.

There is of course more, but I only have seen ‘clips’ for that and we get the setting that there is a lot more to have and Nintendo pulled it off, as I see it, Nintendo is about to become the king of gaming in several fields and Sony has its challenge ahead of them, because the Nintendo outsold the Playstation 2:1, so Playstation needs to look the other was (away from Microsoft) and focus on what Nintendo is bringing us in 8 weeks. I reckon that it will be possible for Nintendo to beat the first Switch and get up to 200 million consoles sold, which beats the Nintendo DS (154 million) and defeat all time rules PlayStation 2 with over 160 million sold, Nintendo Switch 2 is about to crunch records. I reckon that they will get there in under 2 years. Because that gives them Christmas 2025 and Christmas 2026 to beat these records and by what I saw in the presentation that will be very much possible. So, is there a downside? Yes, a minimal one. You see the Switch 2 requires the microSD Express card, the old one will not work. It is a minimal negative one especially as you consider all the extras you get right off the bat.

So I reckon that these bad boys will drop in price as well, because with 200 million more clients, prices drop fast. So whilst the world minus America gets to enjoy the Switch 2, America gets to grind their teeth, that is also the effect of tariffs, on the upside I just gave Nintendo the idea where they can get 50 million more systems sold. Oh and there is the one element I left out, the price. It is stated to be £395.99 (I used the UK price to not confuse the different dollar prices). That loser consoles (Microsoft) is still £479.99, the PS5 is £379.99 and the PS5pro is £699. So Nintendo did a great job giving us so much innovation at a competitive price. As a giggle I offer how Microsoft is setting the GamePass setting whilst most of the gamers in the world will go towards the Switch 2 pillar with their Nintendo eShop. 

So whilst America will go insanely jealous and negative on the Nintendo, they can blame the guy at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, United States for that setting. There is no reason why Nintendo needs to accept 10% tariff whilst the world is willing to accept the Nintendo right of the bat. That too is the game of gaming. 

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July 30, 2023 · 08:20

It started with a book

Yes, I have something for you the game developers. There is however one catch, this is for developers that make games exclusive for Amazon Luna and/or Nintendo Switch. Under those conditions this IP is free for you, no Microsoft allowed. I stated that I will aid in their downfall anyway I can and handing IP to developers in other regions is fine by me, optionally the Tencent handheld can be included in this deal.

This all started a long time ago, it was just a dream, an idea that involved time travel. In my mind it could have ben a movie, but then some time back I considered that it could make a game too. A stealth game and the burning of the Quran brought it back to the forefront of my mind. You see, we have lost a lot due to fires. So I came up with Quantum Theft, a stealth game (with a catchy title). In this game you are an entrepreneur in discrete entry and removal operations. Yet in this day and age, you will be found, unless they do not know that there was a theft. So in comes the time traveller (you) and you get to sack places. But there is a catch, you can not get caught or it is back to the start you go. You need to sneak into a place, replace the items and you only get 1-4 hours to get the job done. No save games in between and as you are a better thief you will get better gear, more options to loot and more options to gain fame. The introduction is the Library of Alexandria. It caught fire some time ago (48BC) by Julius Caesar, who swore to me that it was an accident (as if).

As you see the mage of Desperados above, there are similarities, the view so that you can see where people are looking, but in this game the colour is also important. In 48BC slaves would look and ignore, until you become a hazard to them or their masters and they would shout for help and the guards tends to not be so nice, so not being seen is important. The game would be larger, like Aloy in the Horizons game. I wanted to set a tradeoff with gender. The female character is more agile, but cannot force doors, and she carries less but be faster whilst carrying stuff. The male can force doors, carry more but be less agile, so they can have very different routes in the game. The game will take on elements from the original Tenchu game (PS1), as such guards and slaves have different routes every time you start again. In the first 2 levels you get the introduction, but you still have set targets. Also every stage, you look the part of the time, as such you blend in, but I wanted to have a few extra elements there. In ancient Greece colours mattered, as such I wanted to exploit that part in the game, also the senatorial robes would be excellent to fend of the guards, but I still want it to be a challenge. 

The first two levels are

  • Library of Alexandria – 48BC
  • Athens and Piraeus – 86BC 

The second level has streets and houses, there will be more chaos and you need to take heed on how to proceed. You kill anyone, you change the timeline and the game resets, you get caught, the game resets. You get trapped, the game reset. You need to copy the item, so that the timeline remains intact, remove the original and get out. This is a game of pure stealth. 

In the first to levels it will be about getting scrolls, amphoras and figurines.

Then we get to the real levels and I came up with the following

  • Constantinople – April 1204 (4th Crusade)
  • Florence February 1497 – Bonfire of the Vanities (what gave me the idea for this game)

Florence will add a new setting, books and paintings. Under the cloak of stupidity worn by Girolamo Savonarola the people decided to burn books and paintings that they deemed secular. This level will also have a lot more places and more people, the challenge becomes harder. 

  • Iconoclastic Fury 1566

This will be a different challenge, you see this happened all over Belgium and the Netherlands. But you only get two stages. Instead of relying on the same area this level could by in Zürich, Copenhagen, Münster, Geneva, Augsburg, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Maastricht. As such you get two locations to loot. 2 out of 8. A setting that has never been done in gaming. You have to first in some fields and this is one. 

  • French Revolution, Paris 1791
  • Kristallnacht, November 1938
  • Nazi Plunder, Berlin Fire Department, March 1939

In the last three levels all stops come off, both have masses, armies and you need to remain unseen, but by that time you should have a fair amount of upgrades aiding you in that process. This is merely 8 events I singled out. There was the burning of Rome (64AD) when Nero (aka Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, also know as that fat fuck) decided to have a little fire, the critics are not all on the same page as for what the reasoning was. I still remain that he was an arson driven little shit, but that is me, always seeing the good in people.

There were plenty of other events like the great earthquake of 1906 which redesigned San Francisco and that list goes on. What matters is that the stage as I wrote it here has never been done before and there is a lack of stealth games, even though the Horizon series shows that there is appeal to that kind of game. There is even an additional upside, but that is still int he works. When you play those on the Amazon Luna, the idea is to be able to put the scrolls to your Kindle so you can actually read the scrolls you ‘saved’, the paintings and statues you can see on your Luna and might have a link to more too. Like your safe-house where you can admire the art you saved. Just a thought, but this is something I thought up in hours (and some will not see this a an optional game), on the other hand, Microsoft hasn’t had an original idea for some time now, but they buy for billions and they seemingly have nothing to show for it. Now the Amazon Luna and Nintendo Switch (optional the Tencent Handheld too) get a gaming idea that they didn’t have to pay a penny for, life is hard for some and for some fresh roses are delivered at no cost at all.

By the way, Microsoft reported a slowdown in growth of parts of its business recently, lets see if we can add more bad news to their future by giving all other systems great games. If they can match it, they can go right ahead, they paid all those billions haven’t they? So where are their great games? Me laughing out loud now.

Enjoy the weekend, its almost over.

 

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May 15, 2023 · 17:03

Innovation in action

That is where we are, this happens and I end up being surprised, to a degree I had not expected. To see the full part of this, I need to take you back to 2022, where I wrote about a new version of racing game, a way to use Google Maps to create global race tracks. Some disagreed that this could ever work, but today I got the surprise of my life. 

I got to see innovation in action. The idea I had brought to light. Now, let’s be clear. This version has a different setting, but the same approach and I feel certain that Ollie Tyler has never heard of me, as such it is ALL him. This is how innovation works and that is why Microsoft will never amount to anything but through hype creation and spin. I personally hope that Ollie runs to Nintendo who has over 122 million Nintendo Switch units sold. At $2 per game that could end up being a massive amount of money for Ollie, he would be set for life. In addition he could offer it to Amazon Luna as they lack racing games. The part I love is that innovation will flourish with the people who embrace it, who at times use engineering to create art. As such I say Well done Ollie, well done.

So my day is ending on a high. I might not end up with anything, but this is one of several IP settings that come to light. Now that this is clearly in the open, it is time to talk to talk to Tencent Technologies, Mohamed Alabbar, Emaar Properties and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. You see, when several IP parts connect these people will end up with billions (I will get a slice of that cake), but in the end these are solutions that Google and Amazon left lying on the floor all whilst they were all about contracting economies. And my side? Several IP sides that I wrote about a long tome before these IP parts became a reality. I am not a programmer, but I have vision and I see the vision evolve all around me and that is good, especially when Microsoft is not invited to the table. Let them hunger for scraps, it is all they deserve in light of their gaming wannabe perspectives. 

Enjoy your day.

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April 1, 2023 · 18:54

Focal and blinders

We all face them at times, I am no different. The problem is when is what what. Let me be a little more clear, in my case Microsoft is an issue, as I personally see it, if they buy Blizzard, they will need $92,000,000 of profit a day just to break even with the purchase of 3 houses (Mojang, Bethesda and Blizzard), now this is not set correctly, they bought Mojang some time ago, as such the amount is a few million less, but it is not less by much. They already crashed Redfall PS5, which they are allowed to do. They are allowed to do whatever they need to with what they own. Yet, consider that the PS5 has well over 30,000,000 consoles in the field and they allegedly need $92 million a day, does the act make sense? So am I concentrating on a focal, or a blinder. Consider that a blinder lets you NOT see in a specific direction. We attribute all kinds of ‘evil’ towards Microsoft, are they blinders or are they seen as the result of a focal? That is actually a lot harder to answer than you think. When is one could also be the other.

As such I have been concentrating on my two IP projects. Project Graveyard and Project Cluster. Two very different software and hardware IP settings. They both fit the Amazon Luna and optionally whomever buys the Google Stadia, which is why Kingdom Holdings was on my radar. One will be a decent downfall for Microsoft the other no less, but also takes the steam out of Facebook, and as such Amazon was the logical path to take and not just merely logical, Amazon was about to get a whole new range of revenue because of it. Yet I try not to be smitten by either blinders or focal (no matter how much fun they are). As such I saw the appearance of Tencent on time and even as several players are willing to ignore Tencent, I cannot and I will not. Tencent has seemingly the ability to unite gamers. In addition it allows China to grow in one additional industry where Americans thought they would not exist and now Microsoft in particular will have a problem because of the required $92 million a day will become a nose grounded with an anchor around the neck of American economy. And there are plenty of nay sayer spinners on the internet. It is all Microsoft and they are all getting on top of things. So lets have a go at that list 

1. Microsoft would acquire Mandiant to solve their solarwinds issue
There was one news cycle and then suddenly it went dark, there was no more news. I raised it in ‘What we hope for’ on March 7th 2022 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/03/07/what-we-hope-for/). It became part of Google and it is a Google solution now. After that Microsoft and cyber solutions went a little dark on the matter.

2. Microsoft had a new Tablet to WOW the world. No, it didn’t never got close to the Apple iPad and it got even less close to the iPad Air, two devices that were more able and had a larger following and it still does. It still has a lot more to offer, but the spinners came with the ‘with the keyboard it was a more complete laptop’. No, it was not and it will never be that more. I saw people howling with agony as they saw failure after failure on their Surface. I still see some people trying to spin that thing. A $1650 solution trying to win over a $500 iPad, all whilst Apple has the more versatile device.

3. Microsoft has the cloud solution, Azure. Smell it, it smells nice. Which is laughingly the biggest loser of them all. In clarity, Azure is not bad, it lacks and it has no business in gaming. Azure is the Microsoft solution and after 3 years it is nowhere near ready to take on the AWS (Amazon Cloud solution). Last month someone wrote (not me) “Azure is more costly. Azure is the finest alternative for a robust Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider and even a Windows integration. If a company needs infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) or a wide range of tools, AWS may be the ideal option”, so where are the SAAS and GAAS comparisons? And when I look, there is always a hidden issue where the people are promoting THEIR solution, no matter whether it involves AWS or Azure (Google is falling behind too much). At the moment the marketshare of AWS is a lot larger and in some reports it seems like Google cloud and IBM cloud are underreported. What matters is that this is another field where Microsoft is not ahead. 

4. The Microsoft gaming console is the most powerful in the world. It might be true, but the weakest console of them all (Nintendo Switch) surpassed the Microsoft sales numbers by a lot and did it in half the time Microsoft with their X/S console were in the field. Even now, these numbers of X and S series consoles are aggregated, the loss is that defining. They are way behind  the PS5 with their X series console, but it is the most powerful in the world. In addition the PS5 has a whole range of next generation titles that goes into the dozen and the Microsoft console is lacking there, even after two years it is still lacking in Next generation titles. 

I will ignore issues 5,6 and 7. 4 fields where Microsoft will need to do a lot better and for years they were not able to do so. So where is that $92 million a day profit coming from? I cannot see it, can you? And that was merely to claw back the investments on gaming alone. Amazon is hungry and they are driving their AWS (and optionally their Amazon Luna too) making the pain for Microsoft larger. Apple has a firm grip on their devices and even as we might not like Apple, their devices are solid and Microsoft has no chance of driving a wedge there. And as I see it, they already lost the console war. In that environment Microsoft is bleeding revenue all over the field, their books are red with blood and red ink. And for their security I have not seen an alternative for Mandiant (owned by Google). So where are they now? When will we see another Solarwinds? It is not a given, but they lack in cyber security, so I fail to see how they will stop the next wave. 

And now the battle field changes further, Tencent is about to arrive, I merely wonder if that was one of the reasons why the E3 was cancelled (I honestly do not know). If Tencent arrives, it arrives with more options and more settings than the Microsoft console field will allow for, no matter how that plays out, it makes the Blizzard $65,000,000,000 a massive anchor around the neck of Microsoft and it will hurt them, no matter what ideas they have. Tencent has been funding a lot of Unreal engine 5 stuff, as such they could wow the gaming community and if they are going the direction I am speculating on, it will hurt both Microsoft and Amazon to a larger degree, in this the pain to Apple remains unknown, or it might be minor. And that is all before some figure out that Project Cluster will enable a lot more than anyone considered, it was meant for that, to be ready for national 5G implementations. How many of them did that off the bat and how many (implying Microsoft) stated “We will get to that when it is ready”, it is the short term focal point of a quarter by quarter BI person. In this none of them have a real long term focal point and that is why Tencent is a danger to them all, they are focussing on 2025 and 2026 (the year Microsoft allegedly collapses).

So is Microsoft my blinder? Is it my focal, or did I see the stage for what it was one that offers great options for some and not that much for others. They limited their abilities by hanging an additional $65,000,000,000 anchor around their necks. I am calling it as I saw it. Perhaps I am wrong, you tell me. I gave you the numbers and the works, you can do your own research.

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February 1, 2021 · 03:46

Intelligence, Business Intelligence

The stage we see is the stage that is presented by all kinds of media. This time (apparently) it is not about slapping the media (alas). The stage is rather large and has a few corners that we consider and there is a lot to be considered off. 

The first part of the thought had been out within me for a while, I made more than one mention in the past, but not in relationship to Gamestop, I did made them in consideration to Nintendo. There is an active game that implies a relationship between hedge fund managers, a share of analysts and short selling. We accept the words by Larry Beinhart who gives us “it does not mean we are entering a new age where the power of Wall Street will be truly challenged”, yet the short selling remains an issue. The larger stage was (in a previous stage) where Nintendo would not make the ‘expected’ revenue, yet they were smashing it again and again, quarter after quarter, the short selling stage was set and it happened over the back of Nintendo, now we see that they are till breaking records. So when we see “A few of the little guys – with lots of time on their hands and access to online trading tools – told lots of little guys that if they all bet on GameStop by buying shares, the price would go up. That would force the short-sellers – who thought they had fixed the race – to also buy in order to cover their bets before the prices went even higher. This indeed pushed the prices higher. That was exciting and profitable and more people heard about it and jumped in”, yet this stage where some step in and block the short selling game, which in some views is not some form of gambling, but a setting to ‘rig’ the playing field is now under fire through social media, and the hatred that the amateur has towards hedge funds will not stop any day soon. As such the article (at https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/31/the-gamestop-affair-was-not-about-class-resentment-or-revenge) does not open a door but to some extent a gaping wound, and there is every chance that it will get worse.

Here too is the stage where I am part of the problem, a lot of us are, because we see short selling not as an art, but an emotional blemish on those who do perform we put emotion in the stage in stead of taking it out. I know that I am not exempt from that stage, yet I am aware that I am in this stage, for me Nintendo was the trigger, the attack on those who do perform and there is the problem. We are what we feel and I feel Nintendo did an amazing job (making Microsoft their bitch for one), and it is that sentiment that is basically part of the problem. The stage is not merely the hedge fund, it is the analyst who uses THEIR algorithm to set the stage and it is a two step stage that me, myself and I as well as plenty of others do not trust. You see, I never trusted the Nintendo dip of March 16th 2020, they were breaking records, they smashed past Microsoft and their online stores were raking in the cash, one could ague that rakes were designed, just to gather the Nintendo money, they were doing that well and now, nearly 9 months later they nearly doubled their value and well over 300% from 2017 when the Nintendo Switch was launched, and they have currently sold almost 50% more systems than the lifetime sales of the Xbox One, which had 5 additional years. In this I see pride, and a little of vindication on the lack of intelligence (read: stupidity) by Microsoft, and weirdly enough there aren’t that many short selling games involving Microsoft, as such the ‘game’ involving Gamestop shows a different game. A game that is speculatively set up against the smaller players that do not have the global support that a player like Microsoft seemingly has, but that could be my emotion speaking and I am upfront about it, because I am trying to properly inform you (well at least to some degree). 

And it is here where we look at the article by the Economist (at https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2015/11/10/a-companys-battle-to-show-it-was-a-victim-of-abusive-short-selling) 5 years ago. There we might notice the headline ‘A company’s battle to show it was a victim of abusive short-selling’, yet who noticed “the shorter can buy new shares more cheaply to settle with the lender, and pocket the difference, less a small amount of interest. Those who make their living this way do markets a big service, by seeking out and drawing attention to mispriced shares”, so whilst we consider ‘drawing attention to mispriced shares’, is anyone taking a larger look at the analyst and their arbitrary designed profile syntaxes? Is the stage ‘who is likely to loose value’ or is it ‘who is more susceptible to a short sell attack?’ And who has the goods that could prove either? We see that the short sell attack is thwarted on Gamestop, but gamers are a dedicated emotional bunch under the best of conditions, other players might not be that lucky. So who is looking at the Business Intelligence analyst?

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October 12, 2020 · 20:43

When we reconsider

We reconsider at times, we all do. It is not merely a stage of changing of minds, it is a stage of giving a game another chance. In my case it is F1 2020. The last one I had was F1 2000, a game that I got with my PS2, I am not much of a racing fan, but I enjoyed the game to some extent. The ‘some extent’ is not to be mistaken with some critical view of the game. I do not have one, I like racing to some degree, I am not a lover of it. It’s a simple stage. Another game I had was Project Gotham 3, it came with my Xbox 360. That game I loved, it was fun, the F1 game is less fun, more of a simulator, till it is a nice challenge to have and at times we reconsider getting the game, so after 15 years I am willing to get another F1 game. Some go with statement like ‘cleansing the palette’, some go with ‘something else to devour’, some people (like me) never thought negative of the game, merely saw it as something that was not their cup of tea. Yet we all get to a stage that we want to try tea again. It is partially natural. For me, in part it was the stage where F1 2000 was actually a good looking game, I merely was decently lousy in racing. And the F1 game was a decent simulator. That in position to the fact that Project Gotham Racing III was more fun, slightly less of a simulator. Yet this is not about the F1 game, it is about FIFA. The BBC introduced me to ‘FIFA 21 review: ‘The virtual, beautiful game is passing off old as new’’, as well as the Verge giving us ‘FIFA 21 Is Limping Toward Retirement’. Now we should all accept that it is one hell of a test to prolong a franchise, even as soccer is one of the most favourite sports in the world, renewing it for 20+ years is still a massive task. Now, we can all go Monday morning quarterback on the makers, but in the end, I wonder if anyone could have done the job the way EA did. Now, I am not blowing their horn, they have a marketing department for that. In addition, I support their view that loot-boxes is not gambling. I have always supported that side, even as they clearly have made a few mistakes, the fact that they were made is open to debate. And even add the UK gives us “The Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport (“DCMS”) has launched a call for evidence on the impact of loot boxes in video games to help it determine whether they should be classified as gambling products” I still have a personal nagging that this is is a rigged setting. 

Even as we see things evolve, we see a larger stage the is not explored, which is partially an option for discussion. Yet the stage is still in the open. Like the F1 game I looked at, others look at FIFA in a similar way, I am not a FIFA fan, I am an NHL fan and the disturbing part is the here in Australia, the game still cannot get ordered, which is an optional EA play push and a Xbox Billing wish. 

I get the stage that this is, not many Australians have a preference to Hockey. I played it when I was younger. Hence, my interest (and my delusional dream that San Jose, Ottawa, Edmonton, or Calgary calls me that they are in desperate need of a goalie and my name came up), who has not had that thought? Which soccer player does not want to be able to bend it like Beckham? There is a weird interaction with sports games, especially the one we really prefer. We go for the annual setting, but there too EA dropped the ball more than once. It is their right to drop it, but it seemingly gets them in the situation they are in now.

And the stage of sport games is larger than we consider NHL21, FIFA21, Madden NFL 21, EA UFC 2020, Rugby20 2020, F1 2020, NBA 2K21, PGA 2K21, a stage that is a lot bigger than we realise and even if we are not a great fan of some games, EA and others had the option to change the stage and get a much greater following, but they set the game to an event of capture the dough. We can all be or become Monday morning quarterbacks, yet what will this resolve?

We are in what I call a clear stage to reconsider, the gamers and the makers. This is not about sport games, yet this is the larger stage of gaming and to set the what is new, and the why renews. A stage the gaming seems to overlook again and again, As I personally see it it comes with the marketing field who increasingly limits the scope ‘How to acquire new money and how to get as much of it as we can’, it is a natural setting for marketing and that makes sense. But if gaming leads, it is time to set a very different stage. Even as some as in the setting of ‘What if that does not work?’ Nintendo faced that with the WiiU, yet that led to the Nintendo Switch, a system that broke all their records and pushed the Microsoft console from 2nd to 3rd position and as Switch is in 2nd position, still growing its markets, still growing after 3.5 Years. 

It is time to reconsider the plays that are currently being made.

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August 31, 2020 · 13:31

The console stage

I made a claim last week and I forgot to follow up (my bad), and here it is. I was watching on the games out there in the past and games that might have a lovely return. First is the Sentinel. It caught my eye on the Atari ST in 1987, I played it them and I got the remake in my fingers on the PC in 1998, complete with the addictive music by the one and only John Carpenter. I believe that this game would be a nice asset on the Google Stadia (or Sony/Nintendo console), it is a game that you can play, put down and play again when you feel like it. Each of the systems can outdo the PC 1998 graphics without impeding on playability. I believe that the Ultima RPG games, but now with a Elder Scrolls first person look would be another game that could rise to fame (again), the important part is that games 4,5,6,7a and 7b would be one great game, a station that evolves as you play and they set a much larger stage that has not been achieved EVER. As such each of these systems could bank on a million fans almost overnight when properly transferred. And that is only the top of the chart, the state we see when we take the games that were not entirely at the top of the charts (like Paradroid) and we tweak those, we get a whole new range of games that would be out there for a renewed chance of more and more gamers. Another setting is seen in Mega-Lo-Mania, the game was good, not great, but it is set on too limiting a setting. It should be improved on, especially as RAM and hard drive are no longer an issue. The same could be said for forgotten Ubisoft gem Conquest: Frontier Wars, there are a few tweaks suggestions, but for the most, the skirmish part is all that is needed to give thousands of gamers fun for many many hours, and it could be ready for Google Stadia, Nintendo Switch et al quite quickly. I reckon that the Nintendo is especially interesting as it has no real space management games of that magnitude and it allows people to play by themselves and online against one another. Two stages that are easily achieved, Ubisoft does have the knowledge to run out to those fields (and they can use any win possible). In that same stage, who could forget 1989 addictive game Archipelagos, made by Astral Software? I reckon that in its original shape it is slightly too dull and too shallow, but the stage was good and when we consider other games from that era and we can spice things up a bit, the stage changes it from better than average to really good. It is not really a fair setting, because the original was better than ‘better than average’, but it was a game designed on a system lacking resources and as such improvements and additions are an option, yet there is a stage where we see that the 80’s and 90’s gave great creativity on the lacking stage of hardware, and as such we see that there is a whole range of games that can be revived on these systems. 

Yes, we all want new IP, but lets not forget that great IP remastered is still a good place to start and a lot of it is up for grabs and for those not up for grabs, the original makers could get a new lease on life and an additional pay check for the IP they know really well, gamers and game makers both seem to forget that part.

A stage that is in motion, and could set the console wars to another stage, the actual and factual stage where it does not matter how powerful your system is, it becomes a setting on who offers the most fun and that part has been forgotten to the largest extent, I wonder why?

For me, I still remember the many hours I rejoiced playing Fur Fighters on the Dreamcast, the PS2 version sucked, but the Dreamcast edition was massive fun and I still wonder why that game never made it to PS3 or XB360, now that most of the games can make it to a wider selection, I wonder if anyone will pick up the treasure trove before it is too late. Or perhaps the original makers will consider the larger stage that is now open to them.

2021 could be a great year for gaming and not just the new IP, golden oldies could be a genuine important stage for all systems willing to step into that mix.

 

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June 20, 2020 · 21:38

Multiple rulers

We have a ruler at times. A ruler so we can see whether the size measures up to the setting we held ourselves to, and a size to what we hold others. We are all like that, and sometimes we use more than one, it is almost like we set a standard metrical and then another one to get the inch setting. There is one stage we avoid; not on purpose, but the stage we set because we did not think of it. That is the stage that I found myself in this weekend. Anyone who has a Playstation 4 (or better) has either been playing the Last of us part 2, or has been contemplating playing it. There might be the smallest group that did not (and that is fair) but that group is really really small. It started in 2013, a (small) player named naughty dog, famous for Crash Bandicoot and a few other titles, had an idea and made that game, that game was titled The last of us, we might not have realised it at the time but gaming history was written that very moment. They made the game that heralded the end of the Playstation 3 on a high. The game was graphically, musically and technically at the very top of gaming, do not take my word for it, the game got over 200 game of the year awards, which is a record by itself, so when it was remastered for the Playstation 4, I did not hesitate to get it, now there is the second part and what I have seen so far is blowing my mind (again). It als gave me the idea to come up with the two ruler rule. So far the only three passing that standard are Naughty Dog, CD Project Red and Bethesda. This does not mean that others are not good, some are great. Yet to fit this measurement you need to be better than the best. I believe that those makers could have turned their game into a movie and it would be as groundbreaking and as appreciated as the game. As I see it CD Project Red did that by getting the Netflix the Witcher made. OK, they cheated by getting Superman to play the lead, but still they got it done and it is every bit as amazing as the game was. Excellence is transcendental (or so I believe) and I feel certain that the Last of US (both 1 and 2) would make amazing movies/mini series. I played part 2 to some extent and then I remembered (I thought back to the first one) and I decided to play it again. Even now, 7 years later, the first game is as overwhelming as any new game is, yes, the second one surpasseds the first one by a fair bit, but both of them leave most others in their wake, the games are that good. This is not bad for the others, there will always be rocksteady, there will always be rockstar and they will endear the gamers in their own way, there is no doubt about it, yet when we see the bullet point memo people at EA and Ubisoft, they are done for. The few franchises they hide behind will not help them, even now, their games at 70%-80% reduced rate are a debatable buy and that is not a good place to be in. When a two billion company like Ubisoft gets passed over by what some regards as small studios, we need to realise that gaming has been on the fringe of technology since the 80’s. Some people decided to give the thought that gaming too is iteration (like every year an Assassins Creed game), some exploited other means, some good and some bad, and before some think that Ubisoft is all bad, they did bring us Assassins Creed 2 (and brotherhood), Far Cry 3, AC Origins, Watchdog 2, The Division and a few others, when we look past the iteration, we see that they make good games, if only they were properly tested and vetted before release, it is the largest flaw that Ubisoft brings us today. And it is getting noticed more and more as we take notice of games like The Witcher and The Last of Us. Wecan add games like Elite Dangerous and Subnautica and the remastered edition of System Shock (hopefully 2020), we see that the original ideas are still there and they are wiping the floor with the iterative wannabe’s. You see the stage is changing and gamers are not completely aware.

We see the created hypes and we see how Microsoft is hiding behind the marketing cry ‘the most powerful system in the world’, yet they got defeated by the weakest system of them all (Nintendo Switch) and as Microsoft hides behind the hype screen we are all missing the larger point. As 4K gaming hits the front yard of many gamers this holiday season, they tend to forget that the games will be twice the size and so will the patches. In this situation consider that in places like Greece and Turkey a Ubisoft patch will take up to a day (estimated), a day per game downloading a patch. The UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Italy and a few others have better connections, yet in these places in Rural areas their internet is not great, so the long term view of the approach that they are currently holding is that they will not be in a great place. Yes, France, Spain and Scandinavia the connection is well above decent, yet is that the same in rural areas? In France it is not and I just set the pulse point on millions of gamers who will be in an extremely agitated state soon enough, yet not if Ubisoft continues as it currently is. And we need to review that too. A game might seem amazing, yet in the 4K life, patches will be increasingly larger and larger. So what do you think will happen when a patch is not 38 GB, but 70 GB? How long until gamers lose their shit over this, because the second time it happens might already be enough for the gamer to demand a refund, and with some places having the 7 day purchase option in place, that cooldown will be enough to end the lifespan of places like Ubisoft, Electronic Arts and Activision. Yes, I get it, others will be in a similar place, but consider keeping a list of all your games and all the patches that come through, who will win the patch race agitation list? 

Yes, we get it Bethesda will also be in a bad place, yet RPG games like Skyrim are too great and will always have patches coming their way, yet overall when I look back at the games like Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4 the amount of patches have not been overwhelming. As I see it one breakpoint patch has had more to download then the sum of nearly all Bethesda games, that is the station we see, yet we forget that the station we face is nothing more than a small way station, the stations we are about to hit are proper terminals with larger needs. We need to measure what was and what will be to a much larger extent and use two rulers, the size of the game and the size of the patches, whilst we tally the number of patches. Breakpoint was regarded by gamers as the most disappointing game of 2019, 38GB of patches later and it is still up for debate, as I see it, they no longer have any freedom of movement, gaming will change but not in their direction, the games will need to be better and their infrastructure is not ready, the patch notes give a clear indication of that. So yes, we will see a console war, but we will see a lot more than that. Santa Monica Studios, Naughty Dog and a few others are ready and they make Playstation games. The people at Microsoft are not ready for the issues that sme games bring and their Azure cloud is useless at this stage, it is about innovative gaming, the iterative clowns have no place being here. We are about to see a console war and Microsoft could soon end up in 4th position, so when we consider the big three, who else will surpass them? Their marketing hype of the most powerful console for sale, and they forgot that they still needed good games to stay in that place, with less than half a dozen exclusive games, the pickings are slim for Microsoft, to see that you needed an additional ruler, a different stage of measuring. Just like the measurement of power, there are two ways of measuring it, all whilst the elements for both formulas were readily available, too many players were looking at one formula and forgot about the other one, and that is what the limelight will show at the end of the year and when that limelight shows bright, we will see that some players are done for, one ruler would not have shown it, they all focussed on the revenue and they forgot that revenue is hindered by the resistance that patches bring, these players forgot or basically ignored the danger of large patches and now that they are 26 weeks away from a new standard these players will panic, they will panic more and more and let marketing do the fight of the public arena all whilst it will merely stop activities for a few days and some patches required months. Now, we accept that both Sony and Microsoft have that house of Pox looming, but as I see it, Sony has more alternatives and in this fight, the one with alternatives is the most likely to win. In all this there is strength to any marketing endeavour, but its flaws are there too and once your board of directors start to earnestly believe the stories they tell, they have already painted themselves into a corner. 

 

 

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