Tag Archives: Tencent

January 31, 2025 · 20:44

In the mind of creativity

It’s always fun to show the shortcomings of Microsoft and others (Not Sony or Nintendo) and as such my mind created a new piece of IP. In this case I had to make a selection of sets (literally) And that setting took a little flight. In the game you start the game as a child (boy or girl) to make it more than cosmetic the boy and girl will have different abilities. Some will be alike, others decidedly different. Both have a disability. They cannot resort to violence or killing. As such stealth is your only weapon. 

I am still deciding if the first level is all in black and white (for the most) and as I saw it (in my mind)  when looking at important items, they become color when you focus on them. 

In the first mission, the intro mission you were taken by hoodlums, the have your sister (if you play the boy) or vice versa. They want you to steal something and only a child can get passed the blocks that would stop a grown man and it would make then visible to all.

As such the mission is simple. Take the item(s) and get out. Of course there are hints that this will never end, so you have your work cut out for you. This sets out the game and is not very remarkable. So lets add the stages. In level one the setting is the location for Rear Window (1954) with James Steward and Grace Kelly. In all it is close to a perfect reflection of the movie with all the people and as such you have your challenge. Stay out of sight of James Steward with his camera and avoid all other people. The achievements a few per level makes you the envy of Hollywood. As such you need to find a way to imply the criminals and you need to set the police on them (another challenge). So whilst you learn the game, we get to see the setting of observation icons (what others see), and we need to set the stage of where Jimmy is looking at. 

Another level is Petra which was used in Indiana Jones and the last Crusade (1989), but at that point both genders have additional powers. So that is what I ended up with after 2 hours of mesmerizing on what could be. Just a larger setting of gaming. So if you are an indy developer and you do NOT develop for Microsoft feel free to use the idea I set out here. In other thoughts I came up with locations. There is Salzburg, Nijo Castle in Kyoto, Grand Budapest Hotel in Görlitz, Duke Humfrey’s Library at Oxford, Ischia island in Italy, Café des Deux Moulins in Paris, Savoca in  Italy, Bruges in Belgium, and a few others. The idea is to set them in sets for of the age stages of the children. 

In this case I haven’t worked out the details yet for powers and the storyline. I want the storyline to have a twist of some kind and let the story unfold. As you are unable to free yourself from the hoodlums in level 1 you will get different missions and locations than if you are free to see the world. The additional setting if you lose your brother/sister you are more likely to become evil. That gives the game a few iterations to replay the game to get the achievements that you might want to get (some completionists are bound to for that goal) and that is all I got in 2 hours. So do you think that some game makers are innovative (not calling out the one I should). There is a business upside to buy it all, but it is murder on creativity and innovation. And the sneaky one (me) thought it was a good idea that after Microsoft bought some company for $69,000,000,000 (all cash), as such I would hand out free IP to others, so that they do not feel deserted (or ignored). that is my sense of humor in action.

Have a great day

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Media

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 23, 2025 · 23:37

The ability to create

That is at time the question is ask myself. You see, I can reengineer something in seconds, that is my brain does. It takes a little more to type the idea (usually in hours) and as such I wondered today if I still had it in me. I created a set of RPG games, from almost the ground up and they could be united in creating a completely new game. But in this case I wanted to create a new ‘action’ game. I really prefer stealth games, but to cleanse the pallet I need to revert to something new. It is hard to make something from the ground up as my brain contains the hundreds of CBM64 games I have played and they tend to get outside of my train of thoughts. Yet the idea of combining these games has merit as it becomes a totally new game. Not to mention that the CBM64 had massive limits and getting those lifted could send a new piece of IP to streaming systems. 

Why streaming systems?
I believe in these systems to entertain people for at least another decade and when they accept Unreal Engine 5 apps, the entertainment level goes straight through the roof. You see in the past I united Iron Helix and Murder on the Zinderneuf to create a new challenge a new game. I had the Amazon Luna in mind as it was the most likely contender, especially when Google dropped their Google Stadia. Then I considered another edition (a highly upgraded version) of Seven Cities of gold. From there I went to boggle my mind and consider a new version of Covert Action. With more memory comes more options. Then there was a setting to create a ‘Where the hell is Carmen Santiago’ with real mappings of wherever the game takes you. So where Microsoft failed and got mediocre games out of, I created a wave of partial originality. And now?

Now it is time to flex the brain one more time to set my (I think) ninth gaming idea to my blog.

So let’s combine Archipelagos (CBM Amiga) and Sentinel (Atari ST). These games were in its time awesome. It had all the trimmings of an addictive game and with the amount of levels quite the long play time. Yet the game was bland, in 1989 that was fine, but with streaming solutions we can have a lot more. So as I see it, the foundations are fine, but there are changes. The idea of an egg leading to an obelisk is one thing, but what if we changed the premise that the Obelisk is still the goal, but there are several ways that we get to that goal. There is the egg, but that leads to a bird (large) and that one needs to be defeated. When we take away the time limit of 90 seconds and we add more challenges as you proceed in the game. Devouring elements like trees (wood), blocks (stone), Ice (water) and fire we get a new setting. As the game grows we get more elements and more issues to resolve. It is in part reengineering, but that was merely one part of it. As we have Water, Wood, Stone and Fire we can get more elemental challenges. Water and Stone gives us the mud challenge, Fire and wood gets us the charcoal element, Water and Wood leads to forests and so on. Wood and fire are insensitive to each other, but mud and fire can interact. As such we get a wealth of new challenges to any archipelago. The trick is to find the right solution to get new options. It isn’t as single dimensional and simple as that. But this is a start and as I work out a few more kinks and alignments, we get a new game. Will it have appeal? Archipelagos did and that was 36 years ago. To add graphics and music isn’t enough. The game needs to be playable and should appeal to a niche of gamers and that has to be enough for a while. You see, players like Ubisoft want a game for everyone. I still believe (and have always believed) that a Game that appeals to all will please no one. That is the flaw Ubisoft never accepted. So as I align more games to make one niche more appealing I feel certain it will work. So how long did this take? Less then an hour. So as 20,100 worked on a few dozen of games. I thought of at least 10 games within a month of considering them. Would they all be successful? I do not know. I merely thought of the game (the RPG is completely unique). And as such I feel that it would hold up as it isn’t a copy of anything created. And they were all created around streaming systems. I believe in that solution as a console. I have nothing against my PlayStation and I will keep ion playing that system, but it cannot survive by itself and Microsoft is losing the edge they once had. So a new contender is needed. I still have faith in Amazon Luna. There is now the Tencent Handheld. It seems to be great, but it is a contender for Nintendo whilst harming the Microsoft market share they have. As such the Amazon Luna is likely the system to have as a streaming solution. 

So what about a unique game? That might take a little longer and there are contenders. Sony has Horizon, Microsoft has Fable and Nintendo has all things Mario and Pokemon. There is still space for more, however when you consider Horizons, the drive and ability to create totally new IP (like my RPG) takes time, effort and some luck. I think I got lucky and whilst I decided to focus on the storyline, there is more to it all. Is there space for a ‘simple’ single playing shooter, or non-RPG is possible, but between the CBM64 and the CBM Amiga over 10,000 games were created between 1982 and 2000. As such the option to create completely original games that fits the mould is rather rare. It becomes possible when the limits of these two systems are surpassed. Yes there is space for reengineering and that would become the first setting for any new game. We could go for ‘Defense of the Crown’ and set the premise to a Muslim side with ‘realistic’ challenges. We could unite games, get us a more challenging version of Covert Action and now not a 1990 Max Remington in the lead, but a more 2100 (year) version setting a more Tom Cruise minded person in this. A game with more electronic events, mobile events and there would still be the need to invade embassies, but we could add a few challenges with a 3D need.

Whilst all are focusing on their IP (which is not bad), Microsoft decided to focus on its system (also not a bad thing), but as the console wars go on with their IP on the forefront of their minds, more is needed and as such new IP (or reengineered) with a more open setting is as I see it a first. You see, gamers want more and as such the streaming systems have a unique perspective to add Sony and Microsoft gamers to their arsenal. Tencent seems to have figured it out and is going for all four systems with their Tencent system. The problem for me is that I have no idea where Tencent is going with their solution. As I saw it they have the option to add 50,000,000 ‘gamers’ and that puts them far ahead of Microsoft. How that goes? Time will tell. 

So whilst I am still focussing on creation, I will have to do that behind the lids of my eyes for now. So have a lovely day and consider what I could come up with in the next day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Gaming, IT

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 16, 2025 · 04:28

Giggling is the better medicine

This morning (around 03:00) I felt the need to check my mobile (a compact version of the invention by James Alexander Bell) or something of the sort. Inaccurate? Perhaps, but everything comes from somewhere. And as we all look towards roots, I looked at the screen and suddenly stopped. You see, I saw a Microsoft header with layoffs pass by. This is nothing to worry about, or new. They are all laying off people, all the big ones, so that is not cause for concern. Microsoft employs 224000 people, so they might cast a few more away. But I had not actually seen the details of the news, as such my trusty Chrome looked at the news of Microsoft and there a few things came up. And the count is important (for later)

  1. We see all kinds of advertisements with the Surface Pro being reduced $300 in one direction, $400 in another. There are all kinds of ‘offers’ but why would you want to discount THAT much? 
  2. Layoffs. We see ‘Microsoft lays off employees in security, experiences and devices, sales, and gaming’ (source; Business insider), ‘Microsoft staff face second round of layoffs as firm continues cost-cutting measures’ (source: ITPro) several sources claim that the layoffs will be small, but no numbers are given. Now this makes sense in light of the ‘redundancies’ at Google, Amazon, Meta (say Facebook) and a few others. Another source gave us “Microsoft plans to pause hiring in part of its U.S. consulting business and said last week that it would lay off less than 1% of its workforce”, still that could be up to 2200 people, when you are one of them percentages really don’t make a difference. 
  3. The information gives us ‘Microsoft’s Gaming Business Falls Short, Despite Activision’, This is fun. You see in 2023 Activision Blizzard had a market cap of A$120.08 Billion. Microsoft only paid 75 billion for the company and in early days I stated that a gaming company is only as valuable as the last game, and in 2022 Activision Blizzard’s annual revenue amounted to 7.53 billion U.S. dollars, as such Microsoft needs this to go on for 10 years just to break even. I warned for that and now we got ‘Microsoft’s Gaming Business Falls Short’, the Information (at https://www.theinformation.com/articles/microsofts-gaming-business-falls-short-despite-activision) gives us also “In the year to June, Microsoft’s gaming business revenue grew 5.8%, well below the 11% target set for the purpose of calculating part of Nadella’s compensation, according to securities filings. (That growth excludes revenue of Activision since its acquisition but includes Game Pass)”, it amounts to the fact that ‘gaming’ revenue is 50% short. Not good news I say. And when others come with complex stories that it has a few more sides. I say revenue is revenue and it is 50% short, that is the part others look at. And Newsweek gives us ‘Activision Hasn’t Helped Microsoft Grow Xbox Game Pass, Says Report’ (at https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/activision-hasnt-helped-microsoft-grow-xbox-game-pass-says-report-2015392) where we also see “Microsoft was hoping that acquiring Activision would lure other game developers to rent its Azure servers, which hasn’t happened” not surprising. Developers like numbers and with a 3:1 margin Sony is a much more appealing choice for the first stage of any development. And the bad news doesn’t end there, we see at TechRadar (at  https://www.techradar.com/computing/gaming-pcs/theres-one-handheld-gaming-pc-that-went-under-the-radar-at-ces-2025-and-its-got-a-secret-weapon-to-beat-the-competition#) that Tencent now released the Tencent Sunday Dragon 3D One at CES 2025, a setting that was (kinda) clear over a year ago and my IP was set to that device and if successful (here’s hoping) it will cost Microsoft a lot more, well at least they bought Activision at $10 per $1 (OK, not entirely accurate, but I’ll go with that feeling). 

So three points, all relate to revenue. Lack of two, lack of innovation in one (spin stories aren’t innovative) and whilst we are ‘given’ ‘Xbox Game Pass expected to make $5.5 billion in 2025’ expected isn’t something that is achieved and there might be more bad news on the horizon, which will set the spin engines to overdrive. To compare, Nintendo reported in September 2024 a Revenue of 276.66B, can you see why I giggle? Microsoft ‘sickofans’ are elated on the optionally coming revenue of Microsoft Game Pass that is merely 2% of Nintendo’s revenue. And that is next year whilst Nintendo is already slaying the revenue dragon. The revenues of Microsoft are likely to lack visibility for some time to come. Some of the reviews of the 2024 Surface Pro aren’t anywhere near stellar (and it needs to be) as such my predictions for the downfall of Microsoft are still achievable. I reckon that when the first AI milestones start failing the domino’s will take a tumble making Microsoft cut more and more meat of their bones. All this whist more and more people see through the presented spin (as I tend to call it) You see, with the promise of tomorrow you better deliver tomorrow and certain parties bought into that and as such when delivery stays short of achieving. The dice get cast in a very different direction. For me it’s easy. I merely have to wait for the predictions too fall short and Microsoft is lacking in more and more fields and as such as Tencent makes larger gains the stage doesn’t just change, it crumbles. I wonder where Amazon is, because with their Luna they had options. I initially designed for that track (merely because Google dropped their stadia) and should Amazon get on top of the Unreal Engine 5, the stage is seeded with Amazon opportunities. A setting Microsoft totally ignored (also they were not invited to my IP clambake). As such I reckon that there will be a hiatus until Microsoft announces more lay offs. And I have seen that before. They will ‘call’ it streamlining and what I see is an empty egg. The shell of the egg looks smooth, but you cannot eat it. In 2023 we got ‘Microsoft outage worsened by staff shortage’, so before you cut your less than 1%, was your staff shortage secured? And when that happens, where are the other shortages? Where one source gave us ‘Microsoft has published a preliminary report into an incident on 30 August that finds insufficient data centre staffing levels contributed to an outage’ and another gave us ‘Microsoft had three staff at Australian data centre campus’, a data centre with 3 staff members? I reckon Microsoft has a few more problems (I reckon planning being one of them). 

So have a great day and consider where you are now and where you optionally could be.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Media

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 8, 2025 · 00:57

Dens, first name Evie

That is the setting where I am. It was the BBC that gave me (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9q78wn9g8zo) where we see ‘US designates Tencent a Chinese military company’ and my first question is “By what evidence?” You see, we can go back to the European tour by Colin Powell, armed with a silver briefcase where he travelled around Europe like a rockstar and that is how we got into the Iraqi war. They had graphics (probably a powerpoint presentation). Then we got the accusations against Huawei. We never got to see any evidence and as I saw it America was afraid to lose the 5G war and they basically still did. Now we get that Tencent is on route to basically throw Microsoft in the dirt and now they are a military complex? To do what? Unite gamers all over the world? And what evidence do we get? The simplistic line “including gaming and social media giant Tencent” Where is the evidence? Then we are given “The list serves as a warning to American companies and organisations about the risks of doing business with Chinese entities. While inclusion does not mean an immediate ban, it can add pressure on the US Treasury Department to sanction the firms.” Funny, Tencent was offered my gaming solution that would bring them 6 billion a year in phase one, after that the numbers become interesting. You see, Amazon had no interest (they never contacted me) and as such the Amazon Luna seems to be out of consideration, Google placed themself outside the scope as they deleted the Google Stadia and I will not let Microsoft near any of my IP (as I personally see them, they are losers that rely on the gods of mediocrity) which leaves Tencent. As I see it, the first stage would get them a nominal annual revenue of up to 6 billion, which is set to 50,000,000 consoles. After that with up to 200 million consoles the ride becomes exciting. I offered it also to Saudi Arabia and Kingdom Holding as they have larger concerns in this and There is a hidden pleasure in me to see Saudi Arabia end up above Microsoft, they are that irrelevant to me. It would also impact Facebook (Meta) revenue, but I cannot say to what extent (lack of numbers and achievable timeline)

A simple setting I saw 3 years ago and no one seemingly caught on. 

As such we see all kinds of wannabe players, but there is no evidence, at least it is not clearly given. And when we get to “In response to the latest announcement Tencent, which owns the messaging app WeChat, said its inclusion on the list was “clearly a mistake.” “We are not a military company or supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business,” a spokesperson for the company told the BBC.” Some might catch on that America is merely trying to to prevent Microsoft to go several steps closer to bankruptcy. So they are setting (in my personal believe) the status for Europe to shun Chinese firms. Yet the larger setting is that they are merely setting up the shop for Tencent to become close to an Arabic and Asian provider to entertainment. So in 2-3 years when Tencent, TikTok and Huawei grow beyond their borders we will see the scared Europeans go overboard and let them into their areas and as I see it Tencent is on the brink of shutting Microsoft out of a population of close to 3 billion people (Asia, India, Arabian nations, Indonesia and Bangladesh) and as such as they get the people on their side Europe with over half a billion people will be joining them as well. Microsoft might be a 3 trillion company but I reckon that in a year with failure after failure, their vaults and coffers will look rather slim-lined. 

And for the people thinking I am bluffing, well, you are allowed to think that, but consider a small setting. Microsoft lost to Nintendo and Sony and all we get all the junk news like that they are working on a handheld computer. The problem is that Nintendo is already there and Tencent is coming as well (exact time unknown to me). So Microsoft is already in third place and it will get worse from there, because you need people in the end and they are somewhere else and now that they are ‘advocating’ cloud gaming with TV’s we need to realise that this require too much bandwidth, as such that ship is sailing fast towards the abyss of failure (as I personally see it). Then we get their Surface pro and the short and sweet is that it is nowhere as useful as what Apple has. I see that as another failure. You see in the 11 years that contraption was around, it did not push Apple from the winning pedestal. No matter how much they spin the story. And when you consider that gaming and tablet as well as the fact that Blizzard and Bethesda were bought for 75 billion. So how much did they make? Nowhere near that much and Starfield was a bust from the beginning. Billions in the Surface pro and that is not paying off either. So how many failures can they survive? And now Tencent is entering gaming with the option to create serious waves. It is the impact of innovation. As I see it, spin gets you nowhere and now the new spin for players like Microsoft is to let the administration deal with the Chinese and with the return president elect Trump Microsoft is cheering as President elect Trump is anti-Chinese. But the trouble isn’t what they have. It is that over 4 billion do not see America as the centre of the universe. Which gives Tencent an option and when (speculative) Tencent will adhere to the stage of Harmony OS, the setting for Microsoft and Google goes down a mot more. You see HarmonyOS joined iOS and Android on the world stage. Yes, it is a mere third place, but every step they make is one that Apple and Google lose and Google has more problems because of the stupidity of the American legal system. They are just slicing pieces of the revenue pie for Huawei to take a bite from and as Huawei grows Google and Apple will lose some market share. And as Huawei and Tencent connect they will both grow stronger. How strong? That is not easy to say, but the small beginning will endure over time and America pushed for this and now it is too late. As the market changes Huawei and Tencent will robustly grow to some effect. Now we get the ‘accusation’ that Tencent is part of the Chinese military companies, which is formally known as the Section 1260H. And that is a nice game, but the others (pretty much all others) want to see evidence as Europe and the Commonwealth will demand evidence. They are seeing what revenue these two players bring and Microsoft merely brought failure after failure. As I see it innovation talks and failure walks alone and when someone will consider the turncoat metrics of Microsoft trying to get whatever they can as their console and tablet fails to do. As for Azure? It is lagging behind AWS (Amazon) by 50%, so don’t get your hope up. Another failure as I see it. So how much revenue is lost over these three parts only? So as the secretary of the Pentagon is not too busy (Miss E Dens) we would like to see the evidence that Tencent is part of the Chinese military. I don’t say it is not, I merely want to see evidence for a change (we never saw the WMD evidence, or the Huawei evidence), just for argument sake.

Have a great day, my Wednesday started 3000 seconds ago.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Media, Military, Politics

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 22, 2024 · 20:41

The end is nigh

Yup, it is. And not in a normal way. There is no demon sprouting on the land. You see Lucifer Morningstar has greed driven politicians doing his dirty work and what is more satisfying than any person digging his own grave? So how did this setting deploy? Well as the DoJ decided that there agenda matters most they are about to force Google its Chrome browser. (At https://www.itnews.com.au/news/google-must-sell-chrome-us-doj-argues-613298) We see “Google must sell its Chrome browser, share data and search results with rivals and take other measures – including possibly selling Android – to end its monopoly on online search, prosecutors argued to a judge” Its always the stupid and greedy that redefines the borders of hell. Anyway, whatever his ‘personal’ reasons are the game is literally afoot. In this instance whist that is considered Europe and the Middle East will select the dollars for donuts option and in this we need to consider the second cog in this wheel. It is given to us by Politico (at https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-china-huawei-ban-2029-5g-networks-government-greens-lawmaker-4g-strand/) which they gave us in July. There we are given ‘Germany goes soft on China, dragging out Huawei ban until 2029’ and this ban will be delayed again and again. Lets not forget that American anti-Chinese actions led to this. And no matter how we feel about it. The Americans NEVER gave ample evidence for any of it. So as one start to ferment the sentiments of how stupid this American administration is, Huawei will add to this. You see Huawei now has HarmonyOS and it has a few other arrows in its quiver. The larger setting for the internet of things was ignored for too long. And as Germany delays, so will France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and the Nordic regions. Like domino stones they will tumble each other. All whilst this administration will find another person to take a metal briefcase to the European leaders like a pop star and we saw that before. So the evidence better be real this time around. Still that will take time and in the meantime we are given by Huawei Central (at https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-matepad-pro-13-2-2025-will-reshape-office-experience-ceo/) We are “shown” ‘Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 2025 will reshape office experience: CEO’ and this is the larger setting. For when Google loses market share, in that same instance Microsoft loses market share as well. The Huawei MatePad Pro 13.2 2025 is now only 4 days away. With HarmonyOS it will be able to connect nearly all other devices. As we are shown that the “Multi-Window enables users to open several apps in split-screen mode for multitasking. One can also swipe an app inward from the left/right edge to bring up the Multi-Window dock. It’s a useful tool for office work, meetings, and more.” That is precisely why politicians should stay away from technology decisions. Basically they are too stupid to see the forest through the trees and in this instance there will be a massive jolt to Google, Microsoft and I reckon that Apple will also see a dip in revenue. Or as some will say “It sucks to be you” to the Attorney General. 

So am I right or am I wrong?
That remains to be seen, but as I see it, the demand for the Google ‘simplification’ will open the doors of HarmonyOS to Europe and for a much stronger setting to the Middle East. And with the uncertainty of the Google stage. Huawei and their data centres. The setting of Google will make a lot of people nervous and that works for Huawei. We were given last year “The launch of the Huawei Cloud Riyadh Region was announced at the Huawei Cloud Summit Saudi Arabia 2023. The new cloud region, located in an STC/Center3 data centre in Riyadh, offers three availability zones. It is the company’s first region in the Middle East.” How long will it take for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to follow suit? And how happy do you think Microsoft will be to do their ‘AI’ work in a Huawei data centre? All this will come to pass (unless someone muzzles the AG). There is a setting to it all and one brick will stumble the next one and the next one. It is the result of the internet of things. And with the Huawei MatePad Pro there is more than just the connectivity. It will slow iPad sales and from there Microsoft will find themselves in more hot waters (some they did to themselves) and the UAE will demand that Microsoft will do its AI work wherever it needs to be and as such Microsoft will enable Huawei even more. All this because someone has anti-Google feelings. For 15 years Google found and created an innovative road. It is not up to the DoJ to reward stupidity to the competitors of Google. They forgot the basics and these settings will now work for China as well. 

And as we see that Politico gives us “Under the agreement, components manufactured by Huawei, China’s leading 5G equipment maker, are to be banned from sensitive core network infrastructure by the end of 2026, rather than by the end of 2025 as previously envisaged, as reported by POLITICO. When it comes to the radio access networks (RAN) such as antenna masts, Huawei components would have to be removed by the end of 2029 instead of the end of 2026. This is a satisfactory outcome for German operators, who were in the process of upgrading these networks anyway, thus limiting extra costs.” You see one thing, but I see that there is no real America by 2027, as such the ban becomes moot. Add to this the expansions that Saudi Arabia is making with the STC. The Saudi Telecom Company is already making waves in Egypt and now it seems Portugal as well all this enables Huawei more and more growth and as Google starts to falter the European politicians will try to divert whatever they can as to not be eaten by their ‘allies’. As the west falls to Huawei and the STC the more hardship America will face. It all started by attacking its own base and by attacking Google they basically drowned their own livestock and  from there the business opportunities they had. Funny for me, not so much for Microsoft who basically let it happen and now that the office suite is under attack (from next week) we will see all kinds of spin by one player on how hard it will be for the shifters. The overt setting was that (an oversimplified setting) the Department of Justice should have stayed out of matters. They hide behind ‘monopoly’ but that game states that all players are equal whilst that setting hasn’t been true for decades. The world had Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Google and Oracle. The others are spinning, making presumptuous presentations on whatever wasn’t real yet and now there will be a tap on the door. How will it end?

I honestly have no idea. The only thing I foresee is that with the breaking up of Google the end will be nigh for those relying on ‘scripted’ settings for the better things that it will bring. Because that just ain’t so. For things to become better true innovators are needed. And the bigger part of those are not in America. The 5 I mentioned has them, but when the For each of those China might have an alternative. Huawei could now replace Google (in part), Tencent with Huawei will be able to replace parts of Apple. As I see it only Oracle has a steady foundation and it all depends on the DoJ waking up what they are about to unleash and still if they do not Credibility towards Google will wane, that much the DoJ already achieved. I wonder if they realise what they are about to achieve. 

The world seems to become more and more Chinese oriented. Well, that is what this administration seemingly wanted.

Have fun with the fallout.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Law, Media, Politics, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 19, 2024 · 22:36

The Christmas sphere

Yup, we all go there, there is no holding us. Still it is not a setting that I would have guessed that the Republicans would enter (perhaps a small oversight on my part). It started on the October 9th 2024 when I wrote ‘Personal Perception’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/10/09/personal-perception/). Today, one of the coolest dudes I know from Uni (Thanks Yoshi) brought this to my attention (at https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/18/24300033/doj-google-monopoly-remedies-search-chrome-android-ai) where the Verge are giving us: ‘US lawyers will reportedly try to force Google to sell Chrome and unbundle Android’. Let me give you a small education. It happens in sports and n business. In uncertain times you keep your strongest players strong (example the Toronto Maple Leafs) and your businesses in pretty much the same order. As such there is an upside to all this (sort of). For Huawei Christmas comes early, as such, I personally believe It is up to Ren Zhengfei to get Merrick Garland (Attorney General of the United States) the hamper of all hampers this Christmas. (See below)

Fair is fair I think. With this sentiment the DoJ will hand mobile supremacy to Huawei and SymphonyOS on pretty much a global level. We are given (in the Verge) “Bloomberg reports that DOJ lawyers will try to break up Google’s search monopoly by targeting Chrome, Android, and AI Overviews.” And the supporting text “The Department of Justice is planning to ask for Google’s antitrust trial judge to force the company to sell off its Chrome browser after the judge ruled the company has maintained an illegal search monopoly, reports Bloomberg.”. It comes down to “Don’t underestimate the woke opponent population to destroy your their own army for you” It is the one reason Sun Tsu forgot to teach his generals among him (the silly bunny). 

As Google gets slammed left, right and in front of them by self centred greedy minded people We need to come to an understanding that Merrick Garland gave China the best Christmas present ever. In the first they took a slippery situation in 2019 to take resources and create Harmony OS and now it is its own solution away from Android and at present is available in 77 language for all 64-bit ARM, x86-64, RISC-V, LinxiISA systems. It is about the solution for smart systems and now as Google is about to be hobbled by its own justice system, the one global solution for nearly all parties. It is the one system that Apple feared, and it was partially secure knowing that Google could counter whatever Huawei could bring. That advantage is about to be gone. Ren Zhengfei had nothing to do but to await the American woke powers to be to become this stupid. And in the end the only America basically cut its own wrists right before the price fight. And that is merely part of it. You see our protection was “Finally, they will reportedly push for “a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were at the center of the case against Google.”” You see it was not for Google, it was for the consumer who relied on stability and protection from the dangers in the mobile worlds, the scammers. I reckon that by 2026 the world needs to become aware of the scammer danger and by 2026 they get more easy access to mobile users all over the world. Google was our protection and I reckon that 2026 will become the year of Huawei (2025 might be a little too soon). And that also reverberates all over the Middle East. A more clear example is given by “In total, we estimate Google’s products support between 4.3 and 10.5 SAR billion a year in economic activity. Over the last five years, the economic activity driven by Google Search and Ads has grown by 189% in nominal terms” (source: anonymous, the mouse we all adore). With this as well as “Google launched a cloud region in Saudi Arabia in November 2023, located in Dammam. The company had been in discussions with Saudi oil firm Aramco about a data center joint venture since early 2018, and plans for a GCP region in Saudi were officially announced in late 2020” If Huawei gets to show pockets of inconsistency (something the DoJ is about to deliver) Google will have a much harder time and with that part out in the open Huawei will get almost easy access to the United Arab Emirates as well. Yup, that was what the DoJ accomplished, all for the good of Huawei. Suck to be radical and woke, doesn’t it?

In addition Bloomberg gave us “Google’s regulatory affairs VP, Lee-Anne Mulholland, said that the DOJ “continues to push a radical agenda that goes far beyond the legal issues in this case,”” gives me the sentiment that Lee-Anne Mulholland underestimated the ego of any woke mind to fumble a technology war. In other news, today I made a desperate attempt to something else and it brought me to the Canadian Consulate (in Sydny, a joke the Canadians will get). It was the most awesome experience ever. Never ever was I so happy to go to any Consulate, I actually left that place with the Christmas cheer in my heart. It took hours to make that feeling fade. 

So don’t think that I am all business (OK, I am all business at present). 

What does one have to do with the other? Nothing really, I just wanted to give you that Christmas cheer can be found in the most uncommon corners of the Universe (In this case in Australia).

So when you consider that the DoJ is pushing a radical agenda you need to consider why and more precise who does it profit. Because it is not the consumer and it is not Google. So consider that these actions are not seen in 2000 with Microsoft and with “the Circuit Court did not overturn Jackson’s findings of fact, and held that traditional antitrust analysis was not equipped to consider software-related practices like browser tie-ins”, now the setting changes. With this they enable Huawei to grab supremacy in all kinds of legal ways and it seemingly will hurt Google. So at that point what do you think will happen to Merrick Garland and his minions?  In those years Microsoft could play the games they did and now They are faced with Huawei and Tencent Holdings Ltd. And in this Pony Ma (Tencent) and Ren Zhengfei (Huawei) are about to get access to 1.8 billion consumers in a move that Google was unable to get. How is that for competitive laws? 

I reckon that the dust will settle around 2028 and the American ago will have to lick its wounds from that. Stupidity is about to end technological supremacy. I reckon they would have called me crazy around 2000. We only have to wait for the political ego to crush their own marbles. What a day.

Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Politics, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 15, 2024 · 00:42

Yesterday’s news

Yup, we all have it. We all see it and sometimes we want to alter the prediction. It is not a biggie, or essential. Yet in this day and age where news is debatable and for the mere reason that we are blighted by anti-Trumpism, or anti-Bidenisms. We merely want some kind of a safe space to unwind. I usually do that be playing a game. At this moment I am all about Horizon Zero Dawn. As I see it the best IP we have seen released in the last 10 years. Over the two formats I have played (PS4/PS5) I found one bug in both versions and one additional bug in the PS5 version. It might have existed before, but I never encountered it. The game also have a few glitches, nothing big. Now the big part is that these are two bugs I encountered in a game that open and that big, it is almost uncanny to experience a game this perfect. But whilst I was playing the game my mind took a side step to an old game named Iron Helix. The game was made in 1993, an early example of a CD-based game, with video elements integrated with conventional 2D maps and controls. A simple pleasure. But in this day and age it could be made in something substantial. The video parts are updated, but this could be replaced with Unreal Engine 5. Now do not think it should include the original ship, but as a homage in the introduction it could be. Now add a objective to it like Salvaging, optionally pillaging (aka liberating) or a few other settings. In this we have the drones to find access and when updating these drones (after a mission) we could get into other places. A simple game from the beginning of the multi media game market could evolve into an actual behemoth. There is no fault by Drew Pictures (the developer). They might have moved on to bigger and better things. Yet there are a few elements in this game that are still rarely found in todays games. The publisher Spectrum HoloByte was ‘dissolved’ in 1998, but someone might still have the IP. And here lies the opportunity for the developer who has a clue (so to speak). 

A game that seems like a mere month of development time (mere weeks at this time, as the wheel doesn’t need reinventing).

That is what the ‘big’ boys like Microsoft seemingly forgot about. The IP is there, the IP when tweaked becomes a new product. No people like Phil Spencer give us things like “Microsoft will release more Xbox games on other platforms – “I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not’””. We were given this mere hours ago, all whilst we were also given “Microsoft is killing off Windows 11 Store’s no-download Instant Games (Arcade)” contradictions and added we were given “Microsoft open to more studio acquisitions, partnering with Chinese publishers” as I see it, they merely need a foothold for services as their hardware is rejected. In the meantime (in this blog) I added near free IP (for non-Microsoft systems) and The innovative designers can have a go at them, whist Microsoft (a personal view) keeps on fumbling the ball. 

I gave the notion of available IP at least 3 years ago. In the meantime we have not seen anything brilliant from Microsoft. OK, the flight simulator is absolutely brilliant. That must be said, but it is for a niche market and rightly so. Yet the larger Microsoft games are dangerously faltering. In this I am referring to Bethesda (Fallout and Elder Scrolls series). We are given “Hundreds of Bethesda video game workers, who work on titles like Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls, are going on strike across the country. Workers in Maryland and Texas are walking off the job, claiming that the company has failed to address their remote work concerns at the bargaining table, and has begun outsourcing quality assurance work without the union’s agreement.” (Source: Inverse). Not a few, the mention of hundreds is a setting that will push back a whole range of projects and That could spell trouble for Microsoft. They bought this software house in 2020 for $7,500,000,000 and I winder what they have to show for it. Trouble is stirring in the houses of Microsoft and I don’t think it ends there. What are seemingly knee jerk actions (might be the impression that the media gives us) and that is never a good thing. So far Microsoft is (as I personally see it) the larger culprit in this. Only yesterday we were given “The “biggest Starfield update yet” is coming next week with over 100 fixes plus graphical improvements for NPCs and space sightseeing”. You see, the game launched over a year ago (September 2023) and we still see these message? Over 100 fixes? And there is Redfall, another Bethesda game where we are given (a year after release) “The story and characters are extremely forgettable, and the environments risk feeling lazy as a consequence of its own gimmick – there’s only so much hazy red skyline I can take. Redfall is technically bland and unimpressive, yes, but that somehow only highlights its unrefined charm.” Two triple A titles and they are both regarded as huge flops. In the meantime I laid out (in that same timeline) half a dozen games here for the innovative (aka non-Microsoft) designers. Half a dozen does not make me better, but I feel certain more creative. And in light of Iron Helix. It is not my design, but I improved a whole range of issues that the makers couldn’t consider in the day they made the game. A 80486 PC with 640KB does not go far, and now we can improve on a good idea a lot, making this an exercise in new IP as it becomes an innovative idea, or altered to the largest degree making it new IP and we could alter a few more parts (including the start narrative) giving us dozen’s of games with a larger prerequisite (optionally on the Amazon Luna, Nintendo Switch or the PS5 or PS5pro) all systems with a track record and that could entice Tencent To seek out the three makers I mention here. So Microsoft can partner with whomever they want, but their presentations might be lacking a few items. Even a few days ago I opted a new niche for Apple (and the Apple Vision Pro) which I made a mere 5 days ago in ‘The easy lesson’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/11/09/the-easy-lesson/). A mere idea, because that was all it was. Yet I got this in less than an hour. So where are the ‘successful’ ideas by Microsoft? Perhaps they filed it on a Solarwinds server?  No matter, Sony can pick up that slack, if not them then perhaps Nintendo, Amazon or Tencent. If all things fails there is a chance that Apple could fill up the gap that Microsoft left. It’s all competitive, true?

Innovation is for whomever sees it and can bring that idea to the others. A wallet is nice but wallets don’t speak and that is the lesson that some never learned. They all believe that ‘money talks’ is for real, but without an idea it becomes meaningless. That is how I see “Microsoft is killing off Windows 11 Store’s no-download Instant Games (Arcade)” and I am not attacking that issue. You try and you could fail. Nintendo did that with the WiiU, but from those ashes the Nintendo Switch was born and that is at present the second best system they ever had. 

Have a great day, It’s Friday here now.

Leave a comment

Filed under Gaming, IT

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 9, 2024 · 21:56

The easy lesson

The easiest lesson is too often forgotten and I fail to see why. This all started with some article on the Apple Global Vision Pro. And in 2009 Timmy the Cook gave us “We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovating. We believe in the simple not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think regardless of who is in what job those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.” Yes, but at that point he forgot the golden rule of managing the ultimate golden Trump card. It is not the orange flavoured person, it is the issue to impress. I merely came upon this idea in less than an hour. It took me the greater part of 3600 seconds to reengineer an existing idea to cater to the Apple Vision Pro. It takes a conversation that Timmy the Cook needs to have with his half brother (Timmy Horton) to sit down and get us all a newly roasted coffee and get them talking. The idea I have is a jump to the side of these people and the other player can create a new setting to impress the entire Apple community. Is it possible? Yes, it is. Actually Nintendo did something similar several years ago, this idea has some reference to it and mostly it will be about the wow factor. It is entertainment in a different direction, but it will be an idea that can wow an audience. This and the freedom that it imposes will give the audience a rather large new setting. It might not be enough, but it gives the current audience a nice boost.

And in this I saw “Demand for Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset is said to be so low that production could be discontinued by the end of the year. According to The Information, Apple is said to have already significantly reduced production of the Vision Pro in early summer 2024.” this is the view we see a few months ago, a view that seems stellar against “Reports suggest that development on Vision Pro began in late 2015, and from that time until WWDC, Apple filed for over twenty thousand worldwide patents and spent about $130 billion on R&D.” And this is the sight we see where Apple missed the ball (as I personally see it). They forgot the first order of business, how to wow an audience. Perhaps Timmy was tired of listening to people in the sway of Microsoft, he has probably heard it all before and the laughable situation is that we have seen this before. You see someone else faced this in 1985 and in two years it turned the ship around. That was an essential lesson. The Apple Vision Pro cannot use that idea (likely too expensive) but it has  another arrow in its quilt. It can do something different and it needs one participant to agree on this. I think they will do it as it is something that hasn’t been done before. In the world of software the one idea that others cannot walk is the path that redefines a market, it has been done before and Apple might do well to consider the path that Microsoft and Ubisoft are unable to walk. It is probably the first time that they are left behind in multiple fields and it took me one hour to come up with this. A setting that seemingly no one decided to walk (Microsoft is likely too mediocre to do it). And it had a larger audience too, you see there is every chance that someone similar “Meta’s Reality Labs Achieves Record Q4 Revenue Surpassing $1 Billion, Driven by Strong Sales of Quest Headsets and Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. Meta’s metaverse arm, Reality Labs, reported a remarkable Q4 2023 with revenue exceeding $1 billion, the highest in its history.” And that is probably the number two player it can entice. So there is a market ready to yield to more than it has and it took me one hour to get the idea rolling, so how many high paying bosses got caught short on this? It merely took an alternative view on the problem.

And in this day and age where we are given “Apple is laying off dozens of employees as part of rare cutbacks at the tech giant that will primarily impact employees in its services division.” and they are not alone. Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, they are all cutting back and whilst some people think that is crazy, the clear path is often sought in any place of appealing to investors. Yet it took me an hour to find a solution (in this case), I got several other ploys created in a day (including one that offered Tencent an initial additional 50 million consoles) and no one figured on why. Well, in case of Microsoft it makes sense, they rarely are on the upside of innovation, no matter how they spin this, they are merely champions of mediocracy. But Apple, they have options. It merely took one guy who can see the elements on look to think “What if we do…” and that was all it took folks. So dream big, imagine big and good things might happen to you when the right people are looking. By the way feel free to ignore the blatant idiots relying on golden words and a simple “I’ll do right by you”, they are useless and only cater to their own needs. 

Have a great Saturday. My Sunday is a mere 155 minutes away.

6 Comments

Filed under Finance, IT, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 25, 2024 · 15:20

When future and past are similar

I made a jump today, it was into the past. Somewhere between the release of Battlehorn Castle and November 2011, I had an idea. A set of quests to ‘automate’ defences and infrastructure in magic. It use actual NPC’s but beyond that, nearly everything went. It went nowhere (as it was not my IP). Yet the idea stayed in my mind. And today I ‘remembered’ the idea I had. 

It can be applied in numerous ways. It might be a DLC for Guerrilla (the Horizon IP), it could be added to any number of non-Microsoft IP’s and it could be added as a simple structure to anything. You see, the IP is sound and versatile as is any good given DLC.

So how did this idea come to pass?

As I revered Elder scrolls (for a long time), the setting of adding to Castle Battlehorn became overwhelming. I found myself wondering how any castle could be without guards. So I set out and created a magical oven, with at the heart the device it replicated. There was a blunt oven (maces) a sharp oven (swords), a range oven (bows) and a guardian oven (Halberts). And every oven needs to be create a few times. Then there was the issue of what materials as used. Iron, steel, or more advanced materials. You needed a forge to create the bars of material and the wood blocks to create the handles. As such, nothing is really made out of nothing (initially) but the setting applies. As you create a more advanced weapon more time per weapon is needed and the machine places it in the basket. A simple weapon (iron, or wood) is about an hour with a maximum of 6 per oven. Getting the weapon in Silver, or gold take more two or four hours. I didn’t want rely on Bethesda weapons to not get them on my back. And as such we now had a near automated weapon system. You needed to be able to forge the master weapon like a iron sword, steel sword or silver sword and the rest was made as long as you had the metals. In the upgraded version I upgraded the machine to require less materials whilst the manufacturing remains the same after that the next upgrade required less time, as such you added to the machines and had a abled guarding setting to your castle.

Then came the kitchens and there the stoves could set out food in bulk for the troops. And with every pen you had, you would add to the specials that the troops would like. A chicken coup, a cow pen, a pig pen and as such the foods would enable much stronger and more resilient troops. The option occurred to create a vegetable patch and as the troops grew, so would the need for more food.

I played with the idea on a few levels and in the end Skyrim was released and I buried the idea in the back of my mind. For some reason the thought got back to me on my morning walk. But in this setting I made a crossover between the bank job in Thief and Horizon Zero dawn (as this is released in 5 days), You see e have the foundries in Horizon for one reason, but what happens if there is a DLC that gets Aloy into a secret location where all is automated. There isn’t a kitchen, but all else remains. Sentries, guardians, servants and the place was all forgotten. Aloy would have to rely on stealth to get things done and that changes the game. She would have to find materials to create hidden paths. And that could be a more sinister task at hand. In the end there needs to be  great reward (like advanced stealth armour) and more powerful weapons. Optionally a more rewarding boon so that the DLC could be in any Horizon game.

I like to think that Guerrilla might like the idea of that DLC to hand to their respectful fans. There are a few other thoughts that I am considering, but out of all of the optional issues is the fact that I created a dozen ideas, all whilst Ubisoft is dropping stock (or better stated their stock dropped). And whilst we see “AJ Investments to go private after Star Wars Outlaws” I merely created over half a dozen IP ideas. Sucks to be Ubisoft. In other news Microsoft stock dropped 7%. They blame their cloud revenue. I say that mediocrity never leads to high praise. I reckon that Oracle largely protected a landslide sell off on Microsoft cloud issues. The creative people rule in almost all IT sides and Gaming has been largely responsible for better IT design from the 90’s onwards. BI people need to realise this and not play the blame game. If they need to blame someone they need only look into a mirror. 

And that sets the creative people apart. Not everything is a sure thing. Nintendo showed us that with the WiiU, it also led to the Switch which blew Microsoft out of the water in half the time that Microsoft needed to make minimum revenue (or more clearer stated, it took Microsoft from 2013 to 2017 to create the revenue which was surpassed by Switch within 18 months) That is the true sign of innovation. I believe that Microsoft is trusting its own spin, all whilst the creative will shoot any spin to smithereens in half that time and there is more to come. As Guerrilla will release the third game somewhere in 2026-2028, whatever Ubisoft or Microsoft had will be reduced to nothing in no time flat. Horizon was the latest true innovative IP in gaming and everything else fades next to it. This also holds true to whatever BioWare will bring in the shape of Mass Effect 5. Even there I had some idea (somewhere in my blog). The problem isn’t merely the bugs we faced in Andromeda (mostly PC) the design was shoddy. There were real moments of brilliance, but I feel that the wrong people tried to make a name for themselves and that went wrong. I set the stand for 5 to include 4 (or Andromeda) to give the fans something to bite into. And that would have created a much larger wave (my personal imagination). Now as we are given that it will not (speculated) come before 2028, people like Guerrilla will get a free reign with optionally gaming fans giving up on their Xbox (yay me). In any event, the set stage as I gave it in 2022 is now more robust as Microsoft has given us too little and Ubisoft has seemingly cancelled more than it released. Now the streamers will have their moment in creating the setting of a lifetime with the optional Tencent or the established Amazon Luna to create a new niche of millions of fans. I foresaw a first phase release of 50,000,000 consoles. With Microsoft only having sold 58 million there is a real state of transfer of gaming fans on a global stage. I envisioned a setting where that streaming solution could grace 150-200 million homes. The Microsoft BI group might want to say that this isn’t realistic, but as I didn’t fight the excellence of Sony or Nintendo. The streaming solution could be next to it, not replacing this. The very first mistake Microsoft made. And now as I have been correct a lot more than I was wrong, I feel certain that the ‘larger’ software houses seems to be ‘placed’ with the Microsoft mindset and we are now shown that it was the wrong mindset from the very beginning. Should Guerrilla also grace the streaming niche I reckon that some players might be going the way of investors of 1929 (read: jumping out of a window, not to be mistaken for a Russian suicide streak).

How wrong am I?

The interesting and valid question. The problem is that the media is not to be trusted. It is filled with stakeholders who need Microsoft to do well and they will downplay the drop of Microsoft. But the truth of the matter is that Microsoft and Ubisoft are seemingly run by Business Intelligence. It makes for a solid core, but excellence (in gaming) is never found that way. It is the creative mind that does that and not to forget the story writers as well. These elements are less seen in the games of today and again Guerrilla is the exception that establishes the rule. As such games of today, software houses of today are grasping back to yesterdays games to make up for that failing. There is also the need to replay the old games (a drive that is not to be underestimated). Yet as far as I can see the horizon, I believe to be correct and should Tencent decide to buy my IP, I will be able to prove it.

Have a wonderful Friday (Vancouver gets to see that in around 3 hours).

Leave a comment

Filed under Gaming, IT

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

October 15, 2024 · 17:18

Approximately 929 years ago

Here we are today (somewhere in 2024) considering the setting of a revamped old game. This train of thought all started when I saw all the messages on the Crusades on social media. We can speculate on the fear of Christians becoming second place after a thousand years, we can think it is a collection of Christians trying to address the wokeness of people. There are all kind of reasons. Is this one of them? I cannot tell. But it got me started. You see, a streaming game platform is the solution in the middle east and that comes with perks. Over time there is a much larger field that comes to pass and Google had options, now there is merely Amazon, yet Tencent is also on its way and as I see it Tencent has the larger gain with adding millions of gamers to their fold and that is merely the beginning. I saw several games that could help this transition. And just now I had another game on the sharp of the blade. 

In 1984 Mike Singleton designed a game called the Lords of Midnight. In its time it was decently awesome and we can tweak this idea into something (much) more. 

The ‘old’ muslim lands reached from the western side of Africa until the borders of Turkey (then named the Byzantium lands). We can resize the game set the markers to a near real 3D setting and change the premise to make it more time based. As such you have a certain amount of time (based on where you are and unite the tribes to set the premise of an assault on any Crusader taken place.

There was (not in chronicle order)

Battle of Aintab, August of 1150
Battle of al-Babein, March 18th, 1167
Battle of Adramyttium, March 19th, 1205
Battle of Agridi, June 15th, 1232
Battle of al-Buqaia, 1163
Battle of Al-Sannabra, June 28th, 1113
Massacre of Ayyadieh, August 20th, 1191
Battle of Azaz, June 11th, 1125
Battle of Ba’rin, 1137
Ambush at Jacob’s Ford, June of 1157
Siege of Jacob’s Ford, August 23rd, 1179
Siege of Arsuf, March and April of 1265
Capture of Haifa, 1265
Battle of Harim, August 12th, 1164
Battle of Harran, May 7th, 1104
Battle of Lake Huleh, June of 1157
Battle of Al-Uqab, July 16th, 1212
Siege of Mahdia, July through October of 1390
Battle of Makryplagi, 1263
Battle of Muret, September 12th, 1213
Battle of Neopatras, 1273
Battle of Nicopolis, September 25th, 1396
Battle of Pelagonia, September of 1259
Battle of Prinitza, 1263
First Battle of Ramla, September 7th, 1101
Second Battle of Ramla, May 17th, 1102
Third Battle of Ramla, August 27th, 1105
Siege of the Isle of Ruad, 1302-1303
Battle of Shaizar, 1111
Battle of Yibneh, May 29th, 1123

There are a few more, but this is the gist of it. The map should reflect the stages of the battles, as such there are several maps. On the ‘normal’ and the ‘expert’ level there comes a larger premise. If every army can optionally merely used one, or even if there is a second time, the second time that army will likely be smaller. It becomes a much more challenging stage.

The C64 version was limited by technology, now we have a much stronger hardware setting and more is possible, even more in the cloud game setting.

Then there is the stage of finding all the flags and shields of the muslim players is another part of the game, not all the towns and tribes had them (as I suspect) and as such the army will lack strength. There are several ways we can add more elements to this game and it could invigorate the pull to Islamic players. There are hundred of millions of optional islamic gamers and the west ignored them and now there are new players and they want an interesting game and the past can be interesting. In less than an hour I saw a collection of upgrades that could be added to a game and as such we can see another element showing us all how some are asleep at the wheel and I just placed another piece of possible gaming into the public domain. Microsoft eat your heart out.

Oh, and to make matters worse. I just came up with two other games that could be intertwined with this game making for a much stronger experience. Whatever will I think of next.

Vancouver will join us in this day in 45 minutes, the rest have a great Tuesday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Gaming, IT

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,