Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@kyleforrester87 You caught me red-handed!

@andreoni79 The thing is, that would probably be more effective as well...

@kyleforrester87 Is the jam reference from Eddie Izzard?

@JohnnyShoulder nah I'm not a fan. My mum is though, you could ask her?

@mrsforrester was that an Eddie Izzard reference?

@Thrillho no use @ing her, she got got permanently banned for foul language a while back.

Today has been a terrifying day. Woke up with the most intense head pain of my life, unable to rest. Completely unable to move, shivering, everything aches, and even medication only helps a little.

Honest to God thought my body was finally having all it's injuries catch up.

@Knuckles-Fajita that's a hangover bro

Random question how many people would enjoy a rebooted forbidden Siren Game with VR

@kyleforrester87 Surprise, I dont drink.

Hard to be hungover when you never touch alcohol.

@RogerRoger Im at work until midnight...

Has anyone else read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier?

It’s a book covering the development of games and each chapter focuses on a different game. I’m about halfway through and it’s covered Obsidian and Pillars of Eternity, Stardew Valley, Naughty Dog and Uncharted 4 among others.

It’s an easy read but interesting how varied it is game to game. The thing that made me mention it was the feedback for Outer Worlds so far. It’s interesting in the book how it talks about how such trailers are made with the idea of a “vertical slice” where one small section is made almost in its entirety to showcase. Some games end up almost nothing like those demos/trailers as well but it’s also nice how great feedback can galvanise the developers again.

Well worth reading.

@Kidfried Yeah, he's a great writer and actual journalist which is sadly a bit rare in the gaming world. It always seems out of place seeing one of his in-depth piece on Kotaku sandwiched between "the best ducks in gaming: ranked!" and "video game music performed with steel drums has changed my life" (one of these is a real article)... but I'm not sure where else he could go.

There is quite a bit in the book I already knew from his articles but it's still a good read.

So I am going to a small.Gameing Expo today in my town today. I was planning on going to this for months and I figure with the events going on in my life currently it will be a nice distraction. Not sure right now if I will pick up anything but you never know at these kind of things.

Dreams beta when?

@BAMozzy Continuing from the Outer Worlds to not derail it. There are still a few exclusives for Xbox though, that aren’t on PC. Halo 5 isn’t on PC, so MS agrees a little. I’ll note that I think it would be better for Xbox sales if they did this more, but as a consumer I’d rather they just put it all PC. I have a good computer and that would give me access to everything they make without buying an Xbox. I’d love for Halo 5 to be on PC personally.
You do make some good points though, and I’m inclined to agree some of that of the games they publish on PC more so now, but think there should be more of a balance like with Halo 5 (for business. Personally I say put it all on PC.)
After the launch, console hardware does become profitable though (even if not the main source of it by any means), and there are different benefits to having a lager install base for Xbox too. Aside from their exclusives, their store isn’t likely to be used for third-party and other games, they’ll all be on Steam, which people use a lot more for PC gaming. The Xbox Live subscriptions is also lost too. The individual games might make less profit, but they encourage Xbox as a whole to make more profit in multiple ways.
I’d disagree on the Apple comparison, as the companies and different focus on games makes it non-comparable. I think there’re not just in different ballparks, but different sports there. Similar to the other things as well, but I do see the point as I mentioned earlier.

@Jaz007 I wouldn't be surprised if Halo 5 does come to MS PC's at some point in the future. For someone like you, it maybe great to have access to all the games without having to buy a console every 5yrs or so and can just upgrade your rig but there are also a lot of people that prefer to game on console. Some may like both PC and console - like to game on a PC sometimes and prefer a console at other times don't have to buy some games twice. Some people don't like spending all day on a computer for work and then their leisure time on a PC so having a console to play any MS games (not just some because some are PC only) is not great either - just like preferring a PC but forced to buy a console to play MS games is not great either. Its understandable with Sony as they only have Playstation.

I know Consoles can be profitable in other ways but you also get a LOT for the subscription options too - 4 free games a month with Gold, download and play games with Game Pass and lets be honest here, the annual cost of Gold is often covered with 1 month's worth of free games - let alone the other 11months and exclusive discounts that you can take advantage of. It maybe 'annoying' to pay the cost of a AAA game for a years worth of online access but you do get a lot of games (48) for 'free' with that - 24 of which are totally free regardless.

It looks like Streaming could well be part of MS's plans for the future. That could mean you can play your MS games on the go on any MS Windows 10 powered device by just signing into your MS account. That could mean that you could play on PC, mobile or console with just a single purchase and probably part of Gold subscription or some other 'premium' subscription - inc any free games you get as part of Gold or buy via MS store discounts - cheaper for Gold customers too. Maybe if you have Game Pass too, can play any of those games on the go too. Point is, MS are trying to merge their gaming into one big amalgamated part of MS - not separate sub-sections with different games, different users etc. They appear to be trying to make 'Hardware' just the tool you use to play games of which MS will make a console with set specs for those that want the cheapest and/or easiest way to access their games but if you are part of the MS ecosystem, regardless of device, then their games will be available for you to play.

As for profits on console, which may increase over time - until they have to cut prices again to be competitive, the fact they have a massive target audience from Day 1 means they can sell 'millions' of games straight away rather than have to build up console numbers to get decent sales whilst the prices are at their most premium. If Gears 5 is a launch game for example, it may help sell consoles at launch - but those on PC who probably wouldn't buy a Console anyway can buy it too and all those 'Sony' gamers that wouldn't buy an Xbox but have a PC can buy it too. If it sells PC's, they get money too for Windows 10...

Apple may not have been the best example but it was just an example of an OS ecosystem. I don't know if Android has an ecosystem but it may be like buying a game on your Huawei android smart phone and also playing it on your android TV or Android Tablet without having to buy it again and your game progress, achievements etc are carried over to each platform because you have just one android profile. Another example is Netflix which you can sign in on any device and carry on watching series, have your favourites saved etc because you have just 1 Netflix account and don't need separate accounts just because you now want to watch Netflix on a different/new device.

Sony does do something similar - although its more hampered by hardware specs. The Vita and PS4 are linked and if Sony were to make a much more powerful handheld hardware, capable of playing any 'new' release - even if its limited to say 720p or 1080p, you would be annoyed if Sony made you buy games twice (Console and Handheld) - especially if you buy digitally - physical is more understandable as a handheld with a Bluray drive probably won't be very 'handheld' at all - certainly heavy and would be a big drain on battery running a bluray drive. It could 'reduce' the number of consoles sold because some may just opt for the handheld option as that fits their lifestyle better - some may buy both because of the advantages and others may not buy the handheld because the software isn't unique enough. But for Sony it makes sense to make games run on both rather than trying to make quality unique games for two different platforms. The time it takes to make games, you would get 'fewer' games on each - A dev making games for just 1 would take them out of the equation for the other so you reduce your exclusives to both devices or you can release them on both, keep the number of exclusives high on both, keep the gamers happy on both platforms, maximise the number of users you can sell to so more chance to recoup your investment costs etc.

No solution is 'perfect' for everyone. Abandon MS PC gamers and you cut off a large market and make those people unhappy but maybe don't sell more consoles, make games for PC and Xbox separately, cut down the quantity on both and make both groups unhappy, Make games just for PC - might as well just stop making the Xbox completely, make games for both equally, maybe lose a few console sales but sell a lot more games, as well as improve the online experience for both as you have a much larger online community too. They still have 'console' exclusivity and people still have to buy into MS to play - whether that's PC or Console so MS still 'win' too...

@Thrillho yes I read it and really enjoyed it....I gobbled it up in a week or so. I found the general narrative of the book very interesting and now I think of "very good games" as little miracles. M favourite story was the Dragon Age one for the details. So interesting.

Anybody remember an old ps2 game that Sony made called lifeline.

@RogerRoger Actually I did. Givin the fact with what I have been dealing with the past week it was a nice distraction. I managed to pick up a Street Fighter II arcade marquee as well as a few games, and met a YouTuber that my son and I enjoy. All in all it was a great day and was much needed