Tag Archives: Video games

March 19, 2025 · 20:50

Ubisoft a shadow?

That is the setting. Of course the setting at this moment is that the NDA’s have expired and we get legions of ‘fans’ giving their view on the game. As I personally see it, I will wait until the real reviewers come out to play. As I see it there is a danger from Ubisoft. They lost 75% value and I stated this a few times, the last critical view was on July 7th, 2020 when I wrote ‘Death of the creed’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2020/07/07/death-of-the-creed/) There I stated “I see a game that is shoddy on several fronts, but I do realise that I was watching something that had not been released yet. However, the stage I saw is in line of what AC had become. Yes, it is a game, as was Odyssey, but when you realise that not one fort on the planet had thousands of arrows, their aim was not that great (especially as they cannot shoot things in the night that moves), we see a much larger lag in gaming and a lag in the AC series.” After that AC Mirage was released and that was a good game (I think it was) and I enjoyed every minute in that game. But the AC range has had its failures, or as I would prefer to call it, shoddy approaches towards the wrong setting. I know that is my view on the matter, and not everyone agrees and not all the ‘super glitches appear on every system (as far as I know), but there is a larger setting to wait until the real reviewers have had a go at that next game. I don’t mind buying a game, I mind spending my money the wrong way. And waiting for real reviewers is that first step.

I am not a negativity blaster, I merely want to see the real deal and wannabe influencers and Ubisoft approved reviewers will not get me there, not whilst Ubisoft is on the verge of bankruptcy (losing 75%-80% of stock value does that) and the news in other settings, like hearing news of buyout by Tencent and several other options. I mentioned this in ‘A repetitive bashing’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/03/28/a-repetitive-bashing/) where I stated “I also warned all last year that their next two products better be beyond good and Watchdogs: Legion was, the other (AC game) was not” we are now in a stage where apparently AC Shadow is likely to be the last straw they have. As I always stated “A game to appease everyone, is a game that pleases no one”, but that is merely my view. The fun part is that I created several gaming IP, so Ubisoft only had to take notice. That doesn’t mean that my views are better, but I created several original gaming IP’s and Ubisoft is merely flogging the same horse again and again. Perhaps they are out of ideas? 

So, what is the view on AC Shadow? I don’t have none at present. I will take a better stance when the real reviewers have had their look, as such I will know in a day or two if I will buy the next AC game. And there is no AC Harry within me. The games I loved were the First AC, AC2, AC Brotherhood, AC Black Flag (but I don’t consider that an AC game), AC Origin (my personal favorite) and AC Mirage. So will AC Shadow grace my gaming shelf? I will know no later than Sunday.

So you all have a nice rest and optionally run for the gaming shop in several hours (here it arrives in 11 hours). On the off chance that it will be a great game they will house the two game that were required, this will drive up the price of their Ubisoft IP and I saw articles (unproven) that implies that they are about to move certain IP into other ventures, it read like they are about to pull a Bad Bank setting, not unlike Credit Lyonnais (1994) if I remember correctly, there were more and what Ubisoft is doing is perfectly legal and accepted in the business world. As such there is nothing stopping them from doing so. 

How the rest of the month will go? Time will tell and most likely the real reviewers. Have a great day. And try to ignore the hard times we are introduced to news by digital dollar chasers.

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March 11, 2025 · 11:41

What the mind remains digesting

That happens to us all, especially the dreamers and the creators. As such yesterday’s blog is still on my mind. It reflects on Ubisoft as I see negative articles appear on a game that is not released yet (AC Shadows). It is said to be a whopping 125 GB, which is rather large as Skyrim and Fallout 4 don’t go that far. There are several reasons where this could be the case, but I digress. You see at present I have no intention of buying the game pre week 3. At that point the real reviews will have been out for some days. Let’s be clear AC Mirage was a wonderful game and for the most a real AC game. I loved it. It was a pleasant surprise from the disappointment AC Odyssey gave me. Ubisoft just didn’t listen “A game that is mean to appease everyone will please no one”, a rule I find to be the cornerstone of gaming. You see the Business Intelligence dude (or dudette) thinks different. In their terms they think that AC is 50%, add a little Prince of Persia you get an additional 10%, add another part from another successful game and another 10% is added and so on until they get to 100%. But the reality is that the stealth, the true AC part is diminished. Almost like adding water to the wine and at some point you can never tell the real taste of water or the real taste of wine. That is my firm believe. Let’s be clear to add sides that complement a game to a next version can make the game better, but it needs to be a unique setting that complements the original. That is what I intent to write and add to Hogwarts Legacy. So in that Trent what if we add to the beast setting, not copy (perhaps in part), but add to the story. As such I saw two parts. What if the next version adds jobs to the game. (3-5) per house. And they do overlap, A house has (lets say) 5 jobs. Two unique and three sets one in another house. That applies to all houses and you get each house with 2 unique jobs and one job shared to any of the three houses. That creates the achievement “A true Hufflepuff”, or the other three houses. 4 achievements right there. 4 play throughs, and in my example (in the connected story) one job is a wand-maker, A student of Olivander. Now the wand needs a core. We have unicorn hair, phoenix hair or dragon heartstring. What if there was a fourth one? The 4th one, requiring a Graphorn horn. There might be more, but that is a mere instance of what I thought. As a student you’ll learn how to make a wand (leading to the achievement “Wand artisan” and the obvious second one Wand-maker master (when you make a successful wand) with a graphorn horn. It isn’t that simple. You see, now all beasts create the right part, we could see a mere 1% successful Unicorn hair. With proper attendance by food, brushing the 100% success rate goes up (2%) and as you create a better understanding of animals and who they are combines with the success rate another 100% (4%). When you are not using that hair (so we get golden unicorn hair) they can be sold for the usual 120 knots (or sickles) we get something worth galleons. Galleons can only be exchanges at Gringotts or a comparable bank, the Galleons also represent a second part (I get to that) because all jobs have that distinction. Some at a smaller pace. I just created an economic state all in one go. This is what I believe that is what some developers miss (no assault on Avalanche Software). And the setting intensifies as we get specific jobs. No matter what you chose you will have a different goal. As we get to chose from the ministry jobs, the locations (France and Germany come to mind), you could become an Auror you could get specific options, and as such can increase your ‘fortune’, I see the aurora as a specific Gryffindor and Ravencroft job. 4 play throughs with very unique settings. It makes a person want to replay the game. I thought the very first location, the castle of Percival Rackham. The idea that it is a goal to restore that Castle, which required to set in place charms so that the people avoid it as well as a few other settings, the appearance of the ruin that all see and when you get close to the house, the ‘real’ house. Another idea was to add the French and German locations due to the Newt Scamander documentaries (me laughing on the inside) gets us two more settings, so in that case Avalanche gives us the near perfect setting. That haunted village could be part of the next story. Perhaps the third act is around Durmstrang. And if the French episode connects to Beauxbatons, than Durmstrang (believed to be in Sweden) gives us the fourth act in Stockholm (or Oslo). Four acts all carrying part of the story, all giving us parts in Exploration, Battle (example: Ice giants) and Beasts. It could add to the lore to a larger degree as these elements are added. The four acts will get us to the fifth act (the deserted village) and that can get us a few more versions. Some will want to believe one version, or another version, but in the end we are all given all the facts as portrayed through acts one through four. The idea to have additions of stealth like an animals or a plant has merit here. As I see it, the truth is always according to the truth of one, the other or insight of self. Although the spells are all there, we can get a few more spells from each of the other three houses. 

I got this in a little over a day, so it seems fair that tinkering is required. On the offset that my view of the 25 months is given, the new version allows for a lot more than 25 months of joy. And if someone wants to embrace the 11 unique jobs that the game gives it will be a lot more than 25 months. If the first idea (the portal) allows for the 2 games to be united, the stage of a near everlasting wizarding world epic tale will be the achievement of a lifetime, to be more precise Avalanches lifetime. According to Statista 44% is an avid fan and 53% is a casual fan, as such 30 million copies will not come close to the amount of optional copies sold for the next game. There is every chance that this game has the ability to break nearly all records. I reckon that there is little chance to break the records of Pokemon and that is not a bad thing. To break the stage of 50-100 million copies is close to amazing to say the least. Then there is the lore that needs to be created. A stage not easily done to say the least. 

Look at me go, a mere day (perhaps 2-3 days to seed the idea on November 27th 2022) and we have ourselves a chase. The others (for example Ubisoft and Bethesda) to get ahead where they never got and Avalanche to let them see their tailpipe as they sloughed ahead in gaming. And Warner Brothers to sit in the stands enjoying the race where the others come short by a lot.

Not a bad day for me, I got to hand over creative exclusivity to Avalanche Software and the rest (like Microsoft) seeing again and again what they missed in the first place. Have fun you all.

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March 10, 2025 · 10:35

After 25 months

There was a need to address the losers at Wired (especially Jaina Grey) who ‘hid’ behind “The game is mid at best, and its real-world harms are impossible to ignore.” I got the game at day one and let week I decided to play it for the fourth time. This time it was up to create a Gryffindor character. I call him Peter Manticore. Of course most of the cut scenes remain the same and again I see that after 25 months the game never waned its magic. The game kept its addictiveness, If anything, it respawned the magic of the wizarding world. This time around my nice reward was the fourth time that I got towards the Jackdaw character and four times I got a adjusted character story. In this case headless nick came to the aid of the main character. As such I got the challenge in a missing heirloom of Olivander (Ravenclaw), a visit to Azkaban prison (Hufflepuff), the graveyard chase (Gryffindor) and Scrope’s assistance (Slytherin). A setting I always wanted in RPG games and Avalanche delivered. As Wired goes, the utter BS of a 10% rating is the folly of a lifetime. This game is ten times any game Ubisoft has delivered in the last 10 years, so there.

After 25 months there is the larger premise that this game still rocks. Yes, a lot of the puzzles are set and the conclusion is the same, so that is not against Avalanche, that is on us. You see, the premise that this game can entice any player is the setting of a lifetime. It is what real gamers love. And the setting of the surrounding Hogwarts is merely the icing on a delicious cake. I never had the limited edition (with the floating wand) and that doesn’t matter to me. I am a little miffed that the free download of a deserted village (PC only) but that is the price of a console. So, I hope that this part will be included in Hogwarts Legacy 2. Still there is a rather large desire (by a lot of people) that this will be placed in France, and I think it is due to the Ministry of Magic expansion in Universal Orlando (as well as the Newt Scamander movies, a true Hufflepuff he is). Whatever we get, the Harry Potter fans (that teenager from Gryffindor) will love it, no matter the setting they get. We are given from several sources that “Warner Bros. has confirmed that Hogwarts Legacy 2 is not only in development but is a top priority”, a statement for fans to live towards. I would speculate that there is a chance that WB is setting the stage not only for the game, but to see this added in the HP world in the opening in Abu Dhabi in 2026. As such the fans will get their Christmas present a little bigger than imagined, optionally with a bucket of cherries lined in that cake as well. But the last part is pure speculation from me.

The fact remains that the game sold over 30 million copies, at $69 per copy that makes a little over 2 billion. And after 25 months that number strikes true to the game makers. As such the wannabe triple A designers are frothing at the mouth to learn what they did wrong (Ubisoft), as such Avalanche software has the inside track to surpass everyone. Yes, the franchise is part of this and that is part of the charm. Millions of fans could suddenly walk through Hogwarts and watch the space as the movies never let them and that counts for something. 

As such my idea was to create a portal (thank you Universal), one that connect these two games. The older person gets to travel back to a younger self and complete the first game (if you only now have it), it would be a little extra stuffing to let Wired know that they had it wrong by 99.9% and consider that this never has been done before. Another reason to do just that. There is an additional idea, what if the first game sets the parameter for the second one? If you were a Hufflepuff student you would be alerted to Helen Thistlewood. As such the Hufflepuff student would get Helen Thistlewood as an ally. In other houses, she would become a dangerous adversary. It would only be fitting that the other houses would have a similar setting on another place with other characters. This too has never been done. 

There is nothing like the spark of inspiration to see what you are creatively be possible to enhance anything and this were my ideas and I happily offer them to Avalanche, free of charge (thank you Kenneth Branagh). It isn’t merely the spark. It is what that enables you to do. To that effect, I also wrote something on November 27th 2022, called ‘It starts with options’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/11/27/it-starts-with-options/) and that is something I can leave to Avalanche software (as well as JK Rowling) as well. The story is everything. This is particularly important to realize in RPG games. Creativity for enjoyment to the gaming community, a setting too much ignored be nearly all. I once stated to Ubisoft “A game that appeases everyone, is a game that pleases no one”, I still believe that to be true, especially in gaming. Ubisoft never heeded my words and on September 26th 2024 we were given “Ubisoft’s board of directors launches investigation into problems in the company” and I gave them my take 2 years earlier. As such I don’t expect a lot to be done. The fact that Avalanche showed them up with a game that blew whatever Ubisoft had to smithereens is enough ‘evidence’ as I see it. And my evidence? I still get a hooting fine time with a game I played three times before over the last 25 months. And it still gets to me. What is what I call a near perfect game and I rate the game 92%, a little higher than most and I accept that it is due to the fact that I am to some extent a HP fan. But the game this large and being this close to flawless takes a massive amount of love towards the game and the developers delivered on this. That is something that should be clear. 

Good games are becoming more and more a rarity. I believe it to be due to these game makers ‘relied’ on their Business Intelligence ‘assets’ and tried to appease their audience. Yet the truth is that true gamers are not privy or aligned with ‘influencers’ they like their quiet gaming world and they are for the most solo players. This game delivered and whilst others are so prone to appease gamers, they forget that their adversaries are creating sound chaos on everyone but them. The safest way is to ignore all of them and create the phonebook where the real fans are. (Not sure how to do that) but that is my take on the setting.

So whilst we wait for Hogwarts Legacy 2, I will enjoy my 4th play through of the first game. I reckon that this will keep me busy for another 50 gaming hours, especially as I know most of the challenges that are coming my way. That too is part of the RPG world, especially as we play the game more than once. 

Have a great day and try to enjoy a game, a book or a movie today.

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March 8, 2025 · 01:05

Remake

That is what we think. In movies, in TV series, in books and also in games. Yet the question becomes have we ever considered an evolving setting? 

That thought came to mind when I was considering the political settings we currently face. So in comes an old acquaintance all the way back from 1985. It was the Balance of power. I had the Atari ST version, but it originally came from the Macintosh. It was created on a system with 512Kb of RAM, all whilst the Atari ST had 1024Kb of RAM. These were simpler times, but the software was remarkable, even for those days. So now we have PC’s with a lot more (4000 times more). The PS5 has 16GB of ram and the BlueRay can hold so much more than a 800kb floppy. 

That was merely the hardware, the setting of 1985. There no longer is a simple setting of bear versus eagle. The world is a lot more complex. Big corporations have global power, The simple setting of Russia versus America is gone. There is now the Commonwealth, the Arabian nations and there is China. It is governments versus corporations and all versus chaos and anarchy. So what happens if the game gets updated to include all these parameters.

So the ‘media’ is all about whitewashing using sports. So what happens if these parameters are included? What can we see when these thousands of elements are included? There might not be an actual AI yet, but the LLM’s with deeper machine learning could set a proper larger stage to test and use in the new Balance of Power. All set on actual premises. So what happens when this game actually include the extremists and what could the game dish out against the user who decides to become a president, a monarch or a CEO of a large company?

What can we make in the complexities of media and political charged players? Consider parts of the CCG Illuminati, created by Steve Jackson Games in 1980. What if the game has both elements so that any choice could evolve? The question becomes is there a market for this game. In 1985 the game sold over 250,000 copies. It was a time when almost no one had a computer. So what becomes of an evolved setting? I have no idea, in those times there were little games, the thousands of games were only starting to get developed  in 1985. So could a game like that work? I am merely one curious gamer. The connected setting is not merely can it be done, but could it work to a larger audience. 

A game where we can set the stage and can see if something is set in stone, or could it evolve if certain political players are not included? How could we consider if a technocracy could not exist, or the reverse. Could it become the only way out?

All questions we might ask and what happens if there is a game that gave you a likelihood of certain evolutions. 

All nice questions, but there is a larger stage. What happens is that LLM is in the cloud and you merely download a copy of the evolving parameters. In this what happens when we add a second game (for example) the setting of a game like the 4th protocol, based on the movie/book with Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine. What happens when we add an MI5,FSB,CIA element? We try to remake the wheel, but what happens when we create an element that uses the same data file? We could look at different stages all based on the same data, so the second game would have all the people in place, it merely adds the names the other game doesn’t use, but it all fits the nearly same pattern. You see, all these players (Microsoft, Google, IBM, Amazon) are creating their own ‘AI’ version. But what happens, when we do the reverse? One data set allows for evolutions in games? It was never done before because these systems were not in existence. Now we have the power, the data space and hopefully the inclination to create a new type of game, and this could fit all the formats. It is merely an idea but there is a larger need to create a unique game. At present we largely get more of the same and someone needs to think out of the box and create something new. 

So, this is just an idea and perhaps the idea might not work. Yet I believe that systems like this allow someone to totally create something new and never seen before in gaming and it could lead to a new level of RPG games. I made mention of this 2-3 years ago. What happens when NPC’s in games create their own intelligence? I gave the setting in them, but there is a larger need. Something needs to learn NPC how to become more intelligent, so that we don’t get the laughable AC Unity crowds. NPC’s that keep on walking in the wall and intelligent responses in a game. You can either create a more intelligent NPC, or you can let the NPC evolve through LLM’s and that is where we need to go. An evolved remake of the Balance of Power is merely the setting that could work and create another game in the process as you prototype solutions. It is just a thought to have the weekend.

Have a great weekend, it’s Saturday now and 7 hours until breakfast (for me).

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February 13, 2025 · 04:10

The enemy of fun

We all hate advertisements, we do. We merely have been lulled to sleep to accept that these things happen. My initial setting for the new IP was to benefit in game-line advertisements and now I see that ‘Valve Doubles Down On Banning Forced In-Game Ads In Steam Games’. As such I say “Yes! Someone else figured it out too”. It feels like some level of vindication. You see, I thought I was alone in this, but Valve is not a simple gaming location. It is the original place of Half-Life and that is the game that set the tone in the two thousands and is now worth billions. 

They set the tone and are now doubling down on “Banning Forced In-Game Ads”, which fells me feel vindicated, and it is the fourth element that I heralded in my IP, four parts that set my console setting apart. Games, social media, no ads and collective cohesion. All parts that make any console great. So I am feeling mighty good (a little less as I never was able to see it), but the overwhelming feeling that I was right all along makes it up to some extent. The article phrases it as “a customer gets blocked after a certain amount of playtime and has to pay to continue and keep their progress. These types of monetization are considered predatory and are not allowed in Steam games.” Exactly how I felt about it. I’ll be honest there is space for some advertising, because it allows for unification of people, but not on time lines and not in games. I was adamant in this. And lets face it, to set the space to unifies one group of over 500 million gamers (among others) was the idea I tried to sell Kingdom Holdings. 

You see, to get access to over 50 million Muslims in past one and up to 200 million during phase two was overwhelmingly appealing. You see Kingdom Holding had in 2022 $13.6 billion and my solution allowed it to speculatively grow it by 50% in phase one would be appealing to any investor and whilst they are in whose main interests are financial services, real estate, tourism and hospitality, media, entertainment, petrochemicals, aviation and technology. To grow the setting of entertainment by that much in what I see 1 swoop and gather the view of millions would be seen as interesting to people like Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud would seem interesting (apparently I was wrong), and in that same setting neither was Andy Jessy seemingly interested to grow his business by an expected 50 million consoles during phase one. So I must see things wrong. Yet the vindication now shown by Valve gives me the idea that I was right in more then one way and such there is a doubt within me. What am I missing? 

So on one hand I saw what Microsoft missed all along (they miss a lot) and others (like Google) stepped out of that field, so I am wondering what I am missing. The numbers are speaking in my direction, the elements are in my favor and as Unreal Engine 5 gives rise to the option on one branch we see a near complete setting. In that same setting we would see that there are 32.5 million small businesses in the United States, and a growing number are Muslim-owned. I lack specific numbers as I do not even know whether they are collected. Yet in this one source gave me that around 2020, Muslims around the world spent a total of two trillion U.S. dollars across the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, fashion, travel, and media/recreation sectors. The largest market for Muslim consumers is the halal food and beverage sector. It expectedly grows from 2 billion to 2.8 billion in 2025 (Source: Statista). As such the growth of that nature is nearly unprecedented and I tired to handle a level of unification and here was my solution that enabled it. So I am in doubt, on one hand my predictions are coming through in several ways and on the other hand it seems to be missed by the two (optionally three) people who are on the forefront of it all (Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud and Andy Jessy/Jeff Bezos), so what am I doing wrong? Oh, and I went through one of the purest players in the world, the gamers. You see gamers can ‘infect’ their enthusiasm on the audience around them, I have seen that happen for over 30 years. 

So what was I doing wrong? Are there players who are walls around these people? If they cannot get a slice, no-one can? Well there is one player they never thought of. It is Ma Huateng, CEO of Tencent and Tencent is hungry for more markets and America with their anti China sentiment played (hopefully) right into my hands. The idea that I am that much right cannot be a simple ‘delusional’ setting as some say. To much went my way of thinking in this. 

So what does it take for some people to see that there was more than laying off around 14,000 managers to reduce costs and improve operations, I get that trimming is at times required, but what do you do when you are offered a simple upgrade of billions in the first phase? Tell me, and I see if I can around that. And now there is another path (hopefully granting me my coins) and I have been brooding over this for almost three years (one does what one can).

But in the end, my blog has had the goods that long, so there is no setting of “You are telling us that now?” There was a clear indication (mailed to them too) and the blog has the three years of stages online. My only defense so that some cannot make claim to “other sources” I feel that I did the right thing, but did I? The is the question I ask myself. You see, if only I see it, it can be called delusion, but more and more things out there (also in print) show that I was right all along. Now that we see the Valve story out there in Hot Hardware (at https://hothardware.com/news/valve-bans-ingame-ads-steam) and several others show that my train of thought was correct all along. 

That was the little nag that was keeping me awake this Thursday (at 03:00). Try to have a great day today. Me? I am walking into Mordor as a challenge, so how happy could I be?

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February 11, 2025 · 04:32

There is always a script

It seems that we are decently obsessed with series and movies based on video games. And there is plenty to be seen. In 2024 we got the first setting of the serialification (this might not be a real word) of the game and now applauded series Fallout. And there is plenty to applaud on this series. You see, this first season got 12 wins & 73 nominations. As such it was recognised on a global scale. So Fallout has broken the mould on a few levels. We will soon see a second season of The last of us. And there are a few more coming. There are mentions of Beyond Two Souls, a game based on the exploits Ellen Page (now Elliot Page) and had contributions of Willem Dafoe, Kadeem Hardison and Eric Winter. The game was quite excellent and I look forward to seeing the result on TV. 

And what else?
That is what this blog is about. You see, there is a game that was released in 2014, the title was Infamous: Second Son. I rated the game as average. I still do. Yet it was gameplay that hindered the high score. Metacritic gave it 80% (I gave it 75%). The game starts really good, it is after the first fight into Seattle that the issue starts. The game is too linear for a game of this style, there was initial an issue with the side missions, something that was fixed, but the linearity and the fact that the second power was too strong that made me give the rating as low as I did.

Still, the game had amazing sides too. The story was amazing on nearly every level. The power that you receive in the beginning was awesome. The other powers are really good too, but neon (second power) was overly strong. I would have switched Neon and video around and adjust the story (more like tweaking) and it would shape into a massive hit for the Sony studios. The funny part was that when the game came out I had never heard of this person named Banksy, as such the graffiti could be a nice edge on the storyline. 

Is that it?
Well yes, it is the recognition that the game had amazing properties that could easily turn into a TV series. For the horror/terror fans there is the notion of Prototype where Alex Mercer (you) is the target and the goal is finding out what happened. I particularly liked the achievement to drive over 65536 infected people and that is quite the grind. The story is captivating and the presumed special effect could be next level. There are legions of other games that could glue people to the TV and as ‘Hollywood’ seems to be running out of ideas the gaming solutions could propel them further. And as Sony is also streaming programs to the people they might look into the games they have. As I see it, plenty of options there. And that is the golden ticket for some. These games are propelling the stages to TV for a lot of actors and actresses. A setting that seemingly have been overlooked. And me? I am still watching whether Shogun will come to Blu-ray to Australia. (And a few more). So we should expect a new level of interaction between TV and gaming. I wonder who will bring it and what they will bring.

Have a great day.

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February 10, 2025 · 12:11

Time is on my side

That is always the question, that is until you set the records up for public viewing, then it tends to go your way nearly automatically. So even as I gave you all the setting that I was right, there was more. You see, more then two years ago I wrote ‘Girdle your loins’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/11/30/girdle-your-loins/) and that was AFTER I wrote part of the solution to a few people. I wanted to give it to Google three months before this, two days before they cancelled the Google Stadia. OK, they had that right and whilst leaving billions on the floor they walked away. Amazon (Andy Jessy) had the email less than a week after that and he never got back to me, which is also his right to do. Then whomever it got to (at Kingdom Holding) got the message and they never cared, or saw it as important enough. But now after more then 2 years (more like three years ago) when I saw the shift of sands changing a moment arrived (this morning) when I saw that I was right all along. So whilst people like Tim Cook (Apple) and Satya Nadella (CEO Microsoft who was never invited) are complaining about the harsh options are left with. I say, you left billions on the floor, so stop complaining. I gave that very same ‘warning’ to Sergey Brin, but he at least had a decent excuse when they dropped the Google Stadia.

So what is bringing this about?
Well, this morning when I was reengineering (in my mind) certain CBM64 greats, my mind fell over a message that I never saw coming. You see in 1986 I bought a Commodore 64 game named ChipWits (by EPYX), it was a great program with the option to program a robot with instructions and whilst the programing through icons wasn’t terribly new, on a CBM-64 it was at the very least innovative, as such I loved it.

Now back to today I considered that it was a great way to introduce this and add Machine Learning icons (and optionally LLM icons) to this game and give it a fresh start. So as I was thinking about a few things, I looked up the cover (see above) but what I found was also a reference from the original programmer Doug Sharp, and together with Mark Roth he is making a reboot.

Now this part is important as he probably started this around the time I made mention of this option (in my blog) that some true innovative minds got there all on their own. So Tim Cook and Satya Nadella take notice. This is what ACTUAL innovation looks like they got their on their own and they created the next iteration of gaming. They didn’t have to buy it for $100,000,000,000. They got there on their own $0.02. 

So why is this?
Well, in the first it was about me (it often is) and I foresaw this coming three years ago. In three years what ACTUAL innovation have you seen coming from Microsoft? I created a picture that left the ‘buyer’ with a starting revenue of $5,000,000,000 a year. So that is what. I recognised the field, I set the markers and I seemingly came out on top. The second phase would have been at least a fourfold of the first phase of my solution and If you look at all the great old games, you see that a lot is now coming. My favorite was Elite that on the PS4 is almost a thousand times bigger than the vector images of the CBM64 with a fleet massively bigger with billions of star systems (against the 256 planets on the CBM64) that is true innovation and David Braben deserves all the credits he is due, which is a lot as this was the very first serious game I saw on the then great BBC Microcomputer System, and I didn’t have to sob for long as it come to the Commodore within 2 years after. 

So when my mind went spiraling into reengineering mode, I got the idea three years ago for a bigger stage and I reckon that 10% of over 10,000 games that were published on Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Atari 600/800 and Atari ST should make farming for games lucrative. I got to 10% of 10,000 games with 50% reduction for IP protected games left me with 500 stellar choices, the best of a great gaming era and those captains of industry (Brin, Jesse, and Cook) never saw it, as such they left optional billions on the floor. I negated telling Nadella as there is no use in breathing life into a near extinct Dodo. They made their grave of mediocrity on their singular motion, or perhaps multiple motions of failure.

As I mentioned there are still a few options for Kingdom Holding but that is up to them and perhaps they are already pursuing this with Tencent Holdings Ltd. The next new player in the gaming sector soon enough. I reckon that is the moment that Microsoft either abandon its gaming platform or sells it to Tencent (as I personally see it). So that $100,000,000,000 anchor around their neck will be a lot less comfortable than a silk (road) tie.

For me? I doubt there is anything in it at all for me, but as I said, the realization that I was correct all along might help me to feel my other idea’s for a few coins to afford a new retirement plan. And the feeling that I was correct all along is just too satisfying (especially when seen against the Captains of Industry who never seemingly saw it). Even if I never end up with anything. This is a clear win to me. Others will state that it is always like that on the hindsight. They would be wrong, as I documented this and other ideas going be to before 2018, there are records. So there 😛

Have a great day and enjoy the stormy weathers I see happening overhead now (actual rain).

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January 28, 2025 · 03:17

No stopping the reengineer

Yup, It is as we see it. When you are able to reengineer there are a lot of issues that your brain is trying to work out. I started yesterday and in a few hours I thought through a new selfie stick. The one I have now is good, but it was meant for more, for the selfie filmer and as such it is a little too bulky for the noob selfie maker that I am. I reckon I have about a dozen selfies collected over the period of 3-4 years. Not much to write home about, yet I feel the a selfie stick is essential for nearly anyone, as such I came up with a new selfie stick. And in the gaming section I reengineered Infamous: Second Son. The game has issues and a few more seem to crop up on the PS5. I rated the game as average when it was released. Let me explain.

The game starts AWESOME. It hit all the right spots and the smoke power was pretty unique to say the least. It doesn’t show it’s tail until the second act comes into play and the laser power comes into play. That power was too strong and after that the game becomes too linear and slightly dreary. And it was a shame, the elements of the game are awesome, the storyline is good and the setting (Seattle) is also a strong setting (My introduction towards Seattle). The game has a great setting, it was the linearity that mostly got to me.

The second setting (a mere idea) was the switch of power 2 and three switching. So the TV power first and Laser third. When the larger fight starts (concrete) the game sizzles. The idea that the power is used to repair the city and make it like before the conduits (Bio-terrorists) came to Seattle. 

It requires some switching in the storyline but for the most the story lines could remain in the act the are meant for. The smaller issue is the linearity of the good and evil powers and to mix them up all over town. There would be a little more requirement for the game, but those were the heart-line of the matter. There is the additional setting that with the TV powers you would get a larger setting towards stealth and that was optionally missing in the game. The setting that after the first act you could subdue your opponents in stealth and there would also be the added tension that the enemies would be massively more powerful against the TV power and that could spell problems for the gamer if they rely on stealth too much. All small things but it would set the game from a 75% (I think that was how I rated it) to a solemn 92%. As ‘glitches’ go, the fact that the troops at tomes seem to merely run back and forth and not much action from there. The second thing I noticed (now) was that you see troops with blazing guns (when they are a little further from you) yet no bullets and no tracking (of ammunition), but this is a minor glitch. 

I think it pays to do this as the game is worthy of the update that comes and to get the rating that much higher would be worth it, it would also mean that it optionally gets a streaming update for the Amazon Luna and like kind systems. 

The Banksy part of the game is awesome and still fun after having completed the game at least three times (I only learned of Banksy after I had completed the game). I also ‘thought’ through a setting for a 4th Infamous which I blogged about a few years ago. There I also set a new premise to the powers. You see, I grew up with the teachings of Mendel and as such I thought that the game could be set to two phases, the first is that Delsin gets his powers (like you play), but now he get a girlfriend and he gets busy (as mentioned in the Incredibles) the setting is that he has the choice of 4-6 girlfriends (three good and three evil) and the child will be the 4th game and his or her power will be based on the powers of the parents and that gives us a whole new range of replay choices. And as the child selects good or evil will also set the powers the child has differently as well as the karma settings of the game. It was a thought that kept me awake for hours, but in the end I found the setting that would be a productive one. I also set the stage that the New Second son would also set the premise of the meet and ‘greet’ and the actual sequel would be in Vancouver (as It is close to Seattle) the game would be close to be playable but now we have a new goal as the child will have predestined powers and as such the game needs a second antagonist to make sure that certain game elements would remain possible and that takes a few cogs to work overtime so that the inherited powers are usable and an interaction with the second protagonist would still be a challenge. 

Just my skull making the candy for gaming. Well that is it for now have a great day.

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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.

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January 3, 2025 · 13:37

Changing the question

That is an old setting that has been around for over 30 years. It comes from either market research or politico logy. You see, that setting was given as “If the answer does such the mines not match, change the question” and it has been used in all kinds of media for decades. As such I get to the article in question (at https://insider-gaming.com/ubisoft-far-cry-7-and-maverick/) we are given ‘Ubisoft wants to change the ‘Far Cry formula’ with Far Cry 7 and Maverick’. I found the setting hilarious. You see, we have AC odyssey (2018), AC Valhalla (2020), Far Cry 6 (2021), The Division, (2016), Ghost Recon Breakpoint (2019). That is a mere 5 titles that (as I personally see it) flopped because of shoddy programming ad even worse play testing. I personally see Far Cry 5 as a failure as well, but I have a few personal resentments against it, and I will not hold Ubisoft to blame for that. A stack of failures where the price of these titles drop by over 40% within the first month. It got to be that bad. Riddles with auto assumptions in these games to a much larger effect. As such when the article gives us “It’s understood that both games have had a significant overhaul to their movement systems, too, including the addition of tactical sprinting, sliding, vaulting, and more. Seemingly, this is due to both projects originating from the same game and sharing similar movement mechanics, with the similarities of both games bleeding into one another.” Well, in the past a lot of movement mechanics were blamed, but I saw that as shoddy programming. And as we look at blunder after blunder, the issue isn’t the system, it is the programmer, the director and the play testers. These three sides should be intertwined in creating a top product and they weren’t. As such I will not touch any Ubisoft product until I see a proper version and properly assessed. YouTube influencers are useless as I see it. So as I see it see it, the quote “Ubisoft is seemingly trying to break its own trend of chasing trends, and Far Cry 7 (or whatever it’s called) and Maverick seems to be a step in the right direction, albeit a considerable risk.” Should be seen as a proper one, but I for one see the larger danger in ‘chasing trends’ because gamers are not trends, they need to feel the comfort of a game and that results too often in more of the same. As such we might see AC Odyssey as a part of a revolving trend, but the auto assumption comes in play and the gamer gets into too many ship battles on day one, all whilst the serious setting of ships battles were that they happened seldom and with large gaps in between, all whilst the predecessor (Origins) was a solid product. 

Then there was the breakpoint failure. With a headshot resulting in the ping of a Triangle and the helmet flies up for over 30 feet (I remember headshots in 1982 playing out differently) and that ping was not part of the equation, neither was the flying helmet. Then there are all kinds of other settings that made little or no sense. All whilst gamers want to see ‘some’ level of ‘reality’ in that. The games had become a joke. No actor of any level could fix that (in this case Jon Bernthal). Ubisoft obscured their own view to the entire world. As such the answers never fit the bill, so they changed the question and most people will accept that software was the cause. As I personally see it, Ubisoft had much bigger concerns, solid programming being the first issue to address, when in doubt watch Assassins Creed: Syndicate, they are on Youtube. Flying carriages, I asked Tinkerbell and she denies every pixie dusting any carriages, she also reminded me that carriages cannot have happy thoughts. That is merely one setting, one of dozens why Ubisoft is phasing out of the gaming industry. I am not a sceptic thinking it should all be 100%, I have seen my share of stuff floating on air. But for the most when it doesn’t hinder the game, it doesn’t bother me, when carriages go awry in air, it becomes an issue and the waves of panicking NPC’s in AC Paris is just a little too much of a shift in playability. So, yes they can change the question, but gamers have a long memory and they have upset too many of them. As such as I foresee it, there is a setting that makes the Ubisoft stock go down another 25%-35%. Remember that in 2021 it was €84.60, it is now €12.86, that is already an 80% drop and it could get worse. The next released title tends to be the instigator. As such it might depend on Assassins Creed Shadows how this plays out.

Have an awesome 2025 this January.

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