Why I think games have gone down the gutter!

Source: Bungie to sell Destiny ammo packs for real money “Grinding for purple ammo packs will soon become a thing of the past, if VG247 sources are to be believed. Update: Bungie has denied it’s to allow players to buy ammo packs, telling Game Informer, “We’re not doing that.” Original st…” Source: Source: Bungie to […] ...To receive more of these posts, you should follow my new blog, over at wordpress, the link is: http://ift.tt/1OW5DGs

Sonic: Lost World, Other ‘Past Sega Titles’ Head to Steam | Digital Trends

“Sonic: Lost World will be among many “past Sega titles” launching for PC platforms via Steam in the coming months, publisher Sega announced this week.” Source: Sonic: Lost World, Other ‘Past Sega Titles’ Head to Steam | Digital Trends I know that I keep sharing old articles like this, but I just found out about […] ...To receive more of these posts, you should follow my new blog, over at wordpress, the link is: http://ift.tt/1ZWabqL

Rant: Checkpoints in Video Games

It’s that time of the month again, where I need to get something off of my (mostly) hairless chest (better there than my head), and this time I am going to be ranting about games that use checkpoint, and use them sparingly, and especially thos who defend it over quicksaves/quickloads. I will be mostly talking […] ...To receive more of these posts, you should follow my new blog, over at wordpress, the link is: http://ift.tt/1A668Jc

My argument against digital games

My argument against digital games If you’ve been following my blog for quite some time (precisely none of you) then you’ll know that I hate digital and DRMed (That includes Steam!) games with a passion! I much prefer getting a physical, DRM-free (or disk-check) product! “But why?” I keep hearing people whine at me. This […] ...To receive more of these posts, you should follow my new blog, over at wordpress, the link is: http://ift.tt/1gDlSKI

Guys, there’s a new Tony Hawk game coming out… and it’s a mobile game…

Guys, there’s a new Tony Hawk game coming out… and it’s a mobile game… When I started hearing that Activision were working on a new Tony Hawk game, I got super exited, it could be Activision’s chance to bring Tony Hawk back to it’s glory days! Close to it anyway! There weren’t many details about […] ...To receive more of these posts, you should follow my new blog, over at wordpress, the link is: http://ift.tt/1cqqPBx

Oh no...

Remember that article I put up last month about my theory of the new Mortal Kombat on PC being DRM Free?

Well, I have a bit of bad news, I found a photo of the EU version of the game, look at the top right corner of the box...



"Requires Internet Connection to Activate"? This only means one thing... it uses Steam...

Why the f*ck did they makes us wait a f*cking month just to re-release the Steam version!? Why did they need an extra month to bring it out!? They already had the box art, and I assume they had the system requirements, a summary from the Steam page, and some screenshots, so what made them delay it!?

I am sick and tired of the PC platform DRMing every game these days! I promised myself that if Mortal Kombat Komplete game is DRM-free, I would stick with the PC for at least little longer, otherwise, I'm getting a PS4.

Sure, console game run slower, run on a lower-resolution, and aren't moddable, but they have one important factor to them that, for the most part, PC games no longer have: Game ownership!
You actually own your games, you're allowed to trade them in, buy a game used, and best of all, you will not be dictated by publishers! To me, the basics have higher priority than luxuries, sure, modding is fun, and I love my games to go 60+fps, but if you don't own any of your games, what does it matter?

I'll still get the occasional DRM-free (or dick-check) sports games and Telltalle games titles, like I always did, assuming they remain DRM free, and maybe the occasional indie off of GOG.com, and of course a bunch of oldies from the late 90s and early 2000s, but for the most part, I am done with the PC, it was once a fantastic platform, until Valve entered the scene with it's Steam, and corporatized it, turning into a measly rental service, turned it into the equivalent of a dictatorship!
Valve have made some gems, don't get me wrong, but the sad thing is, when Valve go, I won't be able to revisit any of their games (except for half-life 1), treasured memories of their games will remain just that, memories, never to be revisited...

If I ever find a game that doesn't use any of that DRM, I'll be sure to post them here, for those who feel the same way as me...

-Cobra!

(Yet another) Rant: Steam, and similar DRM/Corporate schemes

If this post gets at least one reader (which it probably won't, let's be honest), controversy might follow, Steam fanboys will keep nagging and trolling me, throwing at me insults and complaints without taking 1 look in the mirror. (a.k.a. Steam) They all seem to do. I'm not trying to create a spark or trying to get an angry mob after me, I just want this off my chest, I am only laying out the facts for you, you can choose what you think of it after. As the Oracle from the Matrix once said: "You have already made the choice, now, you're beginning to understand that choice.".

I ranted here previously, about digital download games. Well, since then, my opinions have changed ever so slightly, I'm okay with services like GOG, not as a replacement to physical, but as a companion, for indie games and such! On the other hand, I don't think I'll want to buy any physical game that uses Steam, Origin or UPlay DRM ever again!

I'm not going to complain about Origin and Uplay, it's pointless, as, let's be honest, Steam inspired them, they're just copies, Steam is the real culprit! It's not just Steam either, it's it's fanboys, I'm sure there exist Steam users who are smart, and know what they're talking about, I have a few freinds who are hardcore Steam users, and they're okay.
Most Steam users I've seen online, are a bunch of stupid, hypocritical, inconsistent ar*eholes! I'll get to them later...

Steam and similar DRM don't accept used sales. Now, I've seen a lot of PC gamers complain about the Origin, Uplay and the Xbox One (the latter not anymore) for doing this, when Steam has the exact same restrictions!

Steam requires an online verification to install games, Steam requires an online check-in every week or so (not as bad as Xbox One, but it still means you're screwed if you lacked internet), it blocks used games, and companies have full and total control over what you can and can't do with your games. They can even just take the game away from you, without reason, and you can't have a say in the matter, and you can't sue them either, because Steam have made it so you can't do that!

I am willing to bet that this the main, if not the only reason more publishers have become interested in the PC, it's a publishers wet dream to have full control over the consumer! Steam, and similar "services", makes that dream come true!

When buying a physical game that uses Steam DRM, as my friend once said to me, and he makes a good point, the code inside is more valuable than the disc, the disc is useless, you don't even need it to install the game, you can enter the code without the disc inserted, Steam will register it, and download the game. Once the code is used, you're just as well burning the game, it's that useful!

Worst of all, people want their physical games DRMed, which makes no sense whatsoever! Do these people want their physical games to become useless after the code is used!?

Steam also does nothing to stop piracy, it's very easy to obtain a cracked .exe of a game, and a cracked client, even Gabe Newell apparently said that pirates are a "non-issue" (but used sales are!?), so all the Steam DRM does is forbid buyers from sharing their games, and it eliminates used sales. In other words, it punishes the good paying consumer!

You see, my point about the physical/digital debate is game ownership, where you own your games on physical, but not digital, it turns out, you don't even own the game when buying physical, at least not if it has Steam, Origin or Uplay DRM. They're licensed to you, and you know a fascinating fact about Licenses? They Expire! They are not permanent things, they can expire over-time, or it can be revoked from you for any reason. So esentially, when you buy a game from Steam or Origin, you're only renting it, because you can't keep it forever, can you?

Don't believe me? You can read the Steam Subscriber Agreement.
Like probably the majority of youse, I breezed through it thinking it wouldn't concern me, and accepted, but give it an actual read, you'll be shocked at it's contents! More specifically, read sections 2.A and 2.F.
Actually, Don't bother! I've done it for you! I've even highlighted the important parts, because I'm nice!

2. LICENSES

A. General Software License

Steam and your Subscription(s) require the automatic download and installation of Software onto your computer. Valve hereby grants, and you accept, a limited, terminable, non-exclusive license and right to use the Software for your personal, non-commercial use (except where commercial use is expressly allowed herein or in the applicable Subscription Terms) in accordance with this Agreement, including the Subscription Terms. The Software is licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Software. To make use of the Software, you must have a Steam Account and you may be required to be running the Steam client and maintaining a connection to the Internet.

...and here's section 2.F:

F. Ownership of Software

All title, ownership rights and intellectual property rights in and to the Software and any and all copies thereof, are owned by Valve US and/or its or its affiliates’ licensors. All rights are reserved, except as expressly stated herein. The Software is protected by copyright laws, international copyright treaties and conventions and other laws. The Software contains certain licensed materials and Valve’s and its affiliates’ licensors may protect their rights in the event of any violation of this Agreement.

You can say what you want about Microsoft, and I'm not a fan of them either, but at least their Games for Windows games doesn't require an online activation, you only need it to play the game online (You can create an offline profile), and even then, the key is tied to the physical copy, not on any account. By the way, I've tried this with Street Fighter X Tekken, I turned off the internet, and installed it, and right enough, I had no problems installing and playing the game! (Where as Steam, which is clearly superior, reuqires online verification just to install it and you can't do anything with your Steam games)

If you don't believe me read this!

They even reversed the Xbox One's DRM policies after complaints. What has Valve done when people complained to them? Absoluletly nothing!

It's ironic as well, Microsoft are bad guys and Valve are gods!? Sure, Microsoft have their slip ups, but at least they make up for it later on, Valve just bury their problems and pretend they don't exist, fooling the unsuspecting consumer, and it seems to have worked!

I've seen Steam users complain that the Xbox One stops the ability to share your software, the fact you are screwed without internet, and that it restricts it's audiences to the very rich! When Steam has the same restrictions, when I see someone complain about Steam for the exact same problems, they seem to always put the blame on the user, and defends their precious Steam!

For example, when someone complains that they can't share their games with another user, or use the game on another machine/account, here's a comparison of what the average steam user says:

Xbox One: "Microsoft are a bunch of cheap, greedy b*stards! They just want more money, by treating us like criminals, taking away out freedom, and kills game ownership!"

Response to someone saying the exact same thing about Steam: "Fuck you! Do you want to give the game to another person and cheat the developers out of their money!?"

How many times have we heard both of those kind of comments from "PC gamers"? I see them a lot! They can't have it both ways! Are used games good or bad? Make up your mind!

Also, in response to the latter quote, which I get a lot myself, I only give a DRM-free game away if the other person isn't interested or ever plans on buying the game, either that, or I accidentally buy a second copy of a game new. (which is rare, but has happened a couple of times.) Either way, it wouldn't make a difference to sales whether or not a gave it away or traded it in...

Steam users also seem to talk about installing games anywhere as an advantage, which is a very poor arguement! You can do the exact same thing with a DRM-free physical games, and every download client on this planet, in fact, I'd be scared if you weren't able to do that with Steam!

What's that? Steam has an Offline mode? Well, you need be online to go offline, having online as a requirement in order to use a feature you're only going to use when you can't get online... It really defeats the purpose, doesn't it? Also, I'd like to see youse try to install a disc game offline, you can't!

Steam does achievements and leaderboards? So does Games for Windows, and even Raptr, which is an overlay for games, does something similar. I'm not fussed about achievements anyway, they're nice, but they're not something I need.

Really, the only great thing about Steam is it's workshop, it makes installing mods much easier, and you can easily uninstall them, that, I have to admit, is awesome!

That however, doesn't make up for everything bad about Steam, if I have to give up my digital right to make installing mods a bit easier... I'll stick with the traditional method if you don't mind...

I think everyone needs to wake up, and realize the PC is not the awesome platform it used to be, Valve are not the gods of gaming, they are killing the physical market, they are allowing publishers total control over us behind our backs! They are turning the PC platform into a corporatised rental service, if Valve were any better than EA or Ubisoft, and want to prove it, they would put an end to it all... because right now, getting a PS4 or even an Xbox One sounds quite appealing...

I used to love Valve, I have many memories playing the Half-Life games, and as much as I'd hate to admit it, I had fun with the Portal games and Team Fortress 2, but they're destroying the very market that made them...

I just hope that Mortal Kombat complete edition won't have any DRM, in fact, I reckon there's a chance, I might do another blog entry about why right after this, yeah, some good news to drown out the bad, I'll see youse then!

-Cobra!

Rant: Download games, and why I don't like them.

Please read the full article before responding! I'm always getting people making arguments I've addressed in the article itself, so please try and take everything in, I know it may be hard if you disagree with it, but please bear with me!

This topic has been really bothering me, I personally don't like downloading games, because I've had almost nothing but bad experiences with downloads, I much rather get my games on disc, despite the DRM PC games have these days, it's good to have a game on your shelf.

Me and my friends have been having a debate on which is better, I prefer physical, like I said, so does my friend, but he seems more than willing to switch to digital when the "digital age" comes, I will personally be dreading it.

Before I start, I want too point out that people complain about the PC and Xbox One when it was planned to have DRM for blocked used games, saying you can't share or trade games in, yet people embrace downloads, which have the EXACT same restrictions? To me, that's like, for lack of a better analogy, going against hanging because it kills people, but supporting hung, drawn and quartered! It makes no sense!

Most of the time, digital games cost more than their physical counterparts, especially on consoles and handhelds, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is £5 cheaper physical, physical games sound like a no brainer, doesn't it? Well people are downloading the games anyway, Animal Crossing: New Leaf broke records on the e-shop...

It baffles me how stupid people can be, you spent £5 more for essentially more for your money, not just the fact you get no case or cartridge, you can't share that game with others, or even give to a friend when you're finished with it, or trade it in! Also, when the 3DS gets discontinued, and the e-shop servers go down, you better hope you still have it installed, otherwise, good luck trying to play it again!

Even if you prefer downloads, you can't justify the higher price, and the fact you can't share or trade in that game!

Everyone I've talked to always mention virtual console, "What about virtual console?" they ask, well, they couldn't of brought up a worse example. Virtual Console is the best example of why digital downloads are bad, half of the 3rd part companies, most notably Sega, have all taken their games down from VC, they always tell me "Well, Sega are ar*eholes!", which isn't the point, the point is, they've done it, and nobody's stopped them, they have full control over what you can and can't get. Heck, I'd be surprised is anyone who bought their VC games got a refund or anything from it. Sure, they're only old games you can buy the originals of anyway, but it shows the power publishers have over the consumer.

If a company decided to stop manufacturing a physical game and stops selling it, it's still very much possible to track down a copy of that game, if a company decides to stop selling a digital game, it's gone forever...

That's exactly why companies are trying to switch to digital as soon as possible, companies, especially publishers, want full control over the consumer, they want to call all of the shots, and they want us to just take all the crap they will throw at us, digital downloads gives them the power to do that!

Not just with virtual console, but with downloadable Nintendo games in general, the game is tied to the console, and not any account, so if you accidentally lose or break your 3DS or Wii U, all your games go, too! Unless you bother with spending days of contacting Nintendo, and they shop you bought the console from, in order to either get a refund, or move the games over. This isn't come rumour I've heard, I can vouch for it, I have a story to tell youse: My brother once had a Wii U, he (or should I say out mum) bought Lego City Undercover from the e-shop, £50 it costed us! It turned out he didn't have the space for the game, the Wii U only has 25GB of space, the game took up 26GB. If Nintendo are going to be shoving digital games down our throats, the least they could do is provide enough memory for games, but I digress.

He cancelled the download for the game, and bought the physical copy for Amazon, which I may point out was £10 cheaper, it even included a little figure! He got it, played through it, etc., no troubles there.

He later on took his Wii U back (I still have mine) to get himself a laptop, he was later on charged for the digital copy of Lego City Undercover, despite not fully downloading it, my mum is trying to contact Nintendo for a refund for the game, but was told they needed the serial number of the console, but we no longer had the Wii U with us, so we couldn't give them the serial number, it would've made more sense to ask for the Nintendo Network account, but whatever.

We have to contact the store where we bought Wii U from to get the serial number, that was a couple of days ago... still no refund.

Already, getting a refund for out digital game has been a LOT more hassle than if we wanted a refund for a physical game. All you need for them is a receipt, and even if that's lost, you can trade it in used and get something for it.

In summary, we payed £10 extra for a version of a game that you can't play, or get a refund for... I'm so looking forward to the digital age!

That's another thing, space, not so much with PC games, but consoles never have the space to store enough games, AAA at least. Sure, digital games can save shelf space, but not much, the Wii U for example can barely hold 1, and anything by Sony or Microsoft could hold maybe 3 or 4, not much at all, is it?

Even with Sony and Microsoft's consoles, once the console is discontinued, and servers go down you better hope you have your digital games installed, otherwise, good luck trying to play them again.

PCs can probably hold quite a few, I'll admit, the PC is probably the best platform for downloads, the download clients still have their problems though:

Steam (as a DRM, not as an indie game store) I think is overrated, don't get me wrong, Valve make terrific games, I love the half life and portal games, and Team Fortress 2 is good fun, but people don't need to suck up to them! Steam isn't as great as people make it out to be, in fact, when you think about it, it's no better than Origin, a client made by EA, the greediest company alive! Steam doesn't allow used sales or trade-ins, and you need online and a code to validate games, meaning those who lack internet are screwed! Steam has an offline mode for already-validated games? So does Origin! Steam has discounts all the time? So does Origin!

Like Origin, Steam games are more expensive than their physical counterparts, not as expensive, but it's still bad. The sad thing is, the US PC market appears to have abandoned physical games for good, which is kind of depressing. For the curious US gamers, yes, Europe still has a physical market, with companies even releasing their DLC in the form of download codes in cases!

Another PC download client I'll mention is GOG.com, to be honest, I kind of like GOG, it's almost like how Virtual Console should be, while I would still rather get the games on discs, I can live with GOG, their games have no DRM, and they go for very good prices, usually under $5, let alone pounds! If there's a game I can't find physically, I wouldn't mind getting it from GOG.

I guess that would conclude my rant, it's off my chest, and I feel much better after letting it out! Before, I go I will mention a benefit of downloads, the only one I can see: Download markets are good for indie gamers to get popular, I suppose I wouldn't mind getting an indie game digitally if it means supporting the developer. Who knows, maybe it'll lead to a physical version in the future, like some indies have.

However, I think it's possible for indie developers to release physically as well, there exists services like Kunaki and Cafepress, who offer to make and distribute physical games for free. They do, however take away from any sales made, but from what I've heard, so do services like Steam and Desura. With that said, you can start physically selling your game with zero money on you, if you do that alongside your digital releases, then the way I see it, in the worst case scenario, you'll make a bit of extra money. Some people have said that would "punish" those buy it digitally, but I don't get how it would, could someone please explain it to me...

If you're games successful enough, you won't even need to do that, there are publishers in Europe and Oceania, such as Merge Games and Lace Mamba, who specialise in releasing popular indie games physically, DRM-free, with any extras, such as the soundtrack and a Steam gift-key, to give to a friend. Popular Indie games, such as Limbo, Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy and Awesomenauts, all have physical versions for sale on Amazon (I have a feeling Don't Starve is around the corner as well, seeing how popular that is, so I'll wait to get that). They're cheaper than if you were to buy the digital equivalent of the stuff on Steam, and also, you can have the games on your shelf! So if you haven't got the games, I'd say their worth a look.

When I make my indie games, I of course hope to have the latter happen to me, but most likely, the former will happen, I'm fine with that.

So I guess this actually end on a high note, maybe if there's an indie out there I'm genuinely interested in getting (apart from Super Meat Boy, Pro Wrestling X and A Hat In Time, but a physical version of the former exists, and latter 2 will have physical version coming out), I might consider getting the game digitally, if it means supporting the developers, and if they release a physical version later on, and I like the game, I'll be the first to get that!

Rant: IOS, Android, and other Smart Phones

Before I begin, chances are, I won't have anything to report on next months Retro Diary, yeah, I was thinking of making on, but one cousin is Living in Australia for a month, and the other is too busy with his job, and they're the only one who played games with me, so I'd have nothing to report.

Okay, this is just a small rant, just to get this off of my chest, I'm very sure many will disagree with me on this subject, but I have to get this out there, I can't contain it anymore.

Why? Why are people so obsessed with Smart Phones, to me personally, they're boring, inconvenient, useless and overpriced.

With the exception of a few friends, eveyone I know checks their phone every 5 seconds, or are just completely glued to the screen, it doesn't matter what situation they're in, their phone is always their priority. When they're talking to friends and family, on their phones, when a good TV show or a film is on, they're on their phones, the apocalypse is happening, they're on their f*cking phones! In fact, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if someone is viewing this on their phone!

I see people on them everyday, on the Bus, on the Train, in College, etc. and I always hear that annoying ringtone that pretends to be an old phone, you guys know what I'm talking about, and that annoying sound when someone gets a text message! urgh! I'm sick and tired of hearing it!

I actually once saw somebody on their Iphone in front of a PC! Why don't you use the f*cking PC!? Phones to me, are just watered down versions of PCs, it has half the stuff a PC has, but crappy.

What on earth do they do on them!? Are they on Facebook? Twitter? That's all I see on them, surely they must get bored of them, I mean don't get me wrong, Facebook and Twitter are good, but I check them like one or twice a day, if even that, not every 5 seconds!

I remember once Red Dwarf was on TV, always a good laugh, well, except when everyone in the room is too busy with their phones, they even said to me they're watching it, bullsh*t! They got off in the middle of the episode, and asked what had happened...

I recently got the first 2 series of Chucklevision on DVD, hoping to watch it with someone I know, you see, the best way to watch a comedy, is to watch it with other people. However, They were on their Iphone, playing Jungle Run 2 throughout the show, the show wasn't funny because I was the only one really watching it...

Even in the cinema, someone I knew had their phone under their jacker secretly on it while the film was on, disgraceful!

They also treat it like it was the only thing in the world that mattered to them, when the battery's running low: "Quick! Get the charger! This is an emergency!"
I mean come on! You can live a little without your phones, you did years ago, why are you so reliant on them now!?

In my opinion, phones should only be there for emergency purposed, and not to take over your social life, oh wait, they are "social", aren't they? They have Facebook and Twitter(!)

The only use I could have with an Iphone or Android, is the ability to go online outside your home, for example, I find a game in the store, great condition, price seems good, I could go on Amazon and eBay and compare prices. Nope, as far as I'm aware, you need a router or wi-fi to go online. Purpose: Defeated!

I wouldn't be surprised if the phones eventually turned everyone into zombies, and caused a zombie outbreak in the world.

Can anyone last 5 seconds without checking Facebook or Twitter on their phone!? Put them the f*ck down, and actually do things with other people! It'd be worth it in the end, trust me!

That concludes my rant! I'm glad it's out, I feel slightly better now!

Rant: Free to Play games

Ive recently read an article which said that Peter Moore, the same pr*ck who killed Sega as a hardware company, had said that Free to Play games are an "Inevitability".

If that's going to happen, then gaming is going to suck, I can tell the industry will fall apart, alot of people, including myself, hate Free-To-Play game, or at least the idea, I'm here to rant on it, because just like my last rant, I just want to get it off my chest, it worked last time, I hope it does this time.

For those who have no idea what Free To Play games are ("Oh, NOW you're explaining what they are!?", you might think.), they're games which are free to play, hence the name, but, to do anything cool, or at time to even progress in the game, you need to give the company who made the game money.

I'll get the (minor) positives out of the way, it's cheaper, but you have to constantly pay.

Also, I suppose Peter Moore makes a point, just not a good one, he said you can enter stores, browse around and looks at stuff for free, but if you want to but something, you have to pay for it, that's true, but he's talking about 2 different things, that's the whole point of stores, to go in a buy what you like, and one of the things you buy in stores, are games. The whole point of games, are to be played, and enjoyed.

Let me give an example of a "Free-to-play" game, there's a Facebook Sims game, called "Sims Social", don't get too exited, because they have this energy system in the game, you get 15 energy, and each activity costs about 3-5.
How do you get more? You've guessed it! Give EA your money! Otherwise, you have to wait a whole day until you "rebuild energy".

With the Sims 3, however, you pay £20 once, and you have access to the whole game without paying a single penny more, unless you'd want the buy expansion packs, but that's besides the point, and you'd be addicted to the game too, I was addicted to the demo on Origin, and am getting the full game, you know, paying only one.

Speaking of, Demos are a far better way to get people to play a game for free, you get, say a level or so for free, but just pay about £20-£40 more, and you get the rest, simple as that.

Heck, I'd even go with Episodic games, like Telltale games do, you pay a small amount per episode, or wait until the end, like I do, you can buy a DVD which has the entire season for about £10-£20.

Where's the fun in that!? I don't want to be constantly giving money in order to do anything in the game, I don't know about youse, but I don't find constantly getting forced to give money, fun!

I'd much, much rather pay £20-£40 quid for a game I can play from start to finish without having to pay anyone anything, or get interrupted for any reason, wouldn't youse?

In fact, I personally would rather play any game that I paid for rather than a Free game, but that's just me.

It's like watching a movie, you get the film itself for free, but every chapter, it gets interrupted asking forcing you to give money to watch the next chapter, That would just suck the fun right out of the experience, wouldn't it?

The same thing happens to games, the Sims Social would've been a fun little game had it not have constantly prompted you to pay them to continue playing, or to get anywhere in the game. Sure, you don't pay much, but that's not the point, it's the fact you have to do it in order to progress, it's annoying.

Also, in the long run, if you're addicted to a free-to-play game, you'll end up paying even more than you would a mainstream game, so at the end of the day, a mainstream game would not only be better, but cheaper too.

What's more annoying, is that more and more games are becoming free to play, World of Warcraft, Team Fortress 2 and DC Universe Online being examples.

Unfortunately, I don't have much else to say about the subject, I've slammed into the writers block at full speed, I have absolutely no idea what to say next without repeating myself.

The bottom line is, if the industry will be full of free-to-play games, I'll stop playing them, I'll still have some awesome retro games to keep me occupied...

I doubt that will happen, though, to be honest, because alot of people hate free-to-play games.

I reckon, if anything, episodic gaming will be future, at least I can stand that, once they are companies like Telltale games, who do it properly, throughout the year, 5-6 episodes are released, you get the choice of either getting each episode for a small fee, or wait until they're all released, a year or so later, and get the DVD of the entire season.
Sure, I prefer full games, but I think episodic games are a good way to get about as well, unless you have to wait years per episode. *cough*Sega*cough*Valve*cough*

Rant: Video Game Companies war against used game sales - My opinion

These days all I hear is about games companies attempting to combat used games, and I'm getting sick and tired of it, I, as well as many are totally against this, so I decided to make a rant on it, just to get it off my chest.

What's wrong with people buying used games? I mean, you don't see 20th Century fox throwing a fit over people buying used DVDs, or WMG making a big deal out of people buying used CDs, do you?

So why is it such a big problem for games, what makes the games industry so important, the industry's even bigger then the movie industry now, which means generally, you would make more money out of games than movies, so you'd think games companies would be the last companies to be complaining about used game sales, wouldn't you?

Once companies finally combat used games, the industry is just going to fall apart, game stores would end up closing, the idea of lending a game to a friend would be gone, and if you get these consoles and eventually feel nostalgic about them and want to play them again, touch luck, ya can't!

Also, this would mean people would need a constant internet connection to play the game, what about those who don't have an internet connection, and parents who are concerned about their children going online, and don't give them access? they're customers too you know, a 3rd of the world still lacks an internet connection, so that would estimate companies losing a 3rd of their sales.

Take the music industry for example, CDs still take up about 60% of music sales, and I bet a majority of those people did so because they lack an internet connection.

Also, there's that problem with broadband cutting off on you, and just going slow, it happens to us a lot, what if that happened when you were playing a game? Would it cut off, I imagine.

Going into more detail with buying used games years after, they're several problems that totally eliminate any possibilities of playing a game years later for nostalgia without modifying or hacking the console, one thing is that the game would no longer be in production, so they can't play the full game, and plus, the internet service would be down, meaning even if they managed to obtain a new copy, they can't play it.

Speaking of hacking and modifying consoles, people are already planning on doing either or both when the new consoles come out, from an company's point of view, they would end up wasting money on overcoming their problems, when that happens, people would overcome that and so on and so forth and ending up wasting more money than you would probably make by eliminating used game sales anyway.

Have youse noticed that the two companies that are trying to eliminate used games the most, aren't even games companies, Sony and Microsoft, and yet the only actual games company on the hardware market; Nintendo, aren't fussed by it all? or haven't said anything on the matter? At least nothing against it? I'm just saying... that raises a few more points I want to make about different matters, but I don't want to trail off the subject, so, maybe for another rant?

If you ask me, to get more people to buy used games, I think the idea is rather than punishing those who buy it used, reward those who buy it new, rather than convincing them to avoid getting a used copy, convince them to buy a new one. For example, give them exclusive content, or create a premium account for your game's online service, and give new copy buyers free trials, or even better, give them it free period, that would convince me to buy a new copy!

That way it's a win-win situation, people can still lend copies to their friends, people can still play them in retrospect, yet if their friends want to get it and want the full thing, they'll get a new copy, and if they get a used copy, they'll get the premium account.

Not only that, but it would help maintain your reputation, or even raise it, making it all more profitable in the long run, think about that guys... forget it, it's not like they'll ever read this anyway!

Going into more detail on something else I mentioned earlier, if used games are no more, then game stores would be as well, as most stores get their profits out of used games. Most of youse who read this blog will probably know that I prefer to do thing digitally as little as possible, meaning, I'd rather get a physical copy from a real store, with physical money. So as you might have guessed, I'm not happy about this, usually, I would by from Amazon, but only because it's cheaper, but whenever I'm out, if there's one nearby, I'd go into a game store and browse around and maybe buy something, I love doing that, instead of knowing exactly what Amazon has, I'd love browsing through game stores and seeing what they have, that feeling will soon go and we'll have to stick with boring old Amazon!

Also, again, what about those who don't have the internet, they're customers too, and once game stores close, how will they get their games? Answer, they can't, so again, a big chunk of potential customers have been lost, so game sales will go down, eventually maybe even entirely ruin the game industry.

Alright, maybe that wasn't my most angry point end with, but that's my rant done, and I actually feel a lot better now that's it's off my chest, I hope someone's learnt a thing or two, making my research for this rant worth it.

Bottom line: I couldn't be more against it if I tried, but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it, it's happening, and for that, I send my condolences to used media, you've served me well, you were always there when I didn't have money for a new copy, and provided people like me the benefit of retro gaming, awesome games, arguable for the most part better than new games, but for far cheaper. I will miss going into a store and buying an old game used, I will have to cherish those memories, as I soon will never be able to create any more...

I have a few more things I need to get off my chest related to gaming, but you'll have to wait another time, or if you're lucky, it won't come at all...

Gamestation Rant

I'm not doing this to view whore, or anything like that, I'm really am p*ssed off at these guys!

In my early days as a Retro Gamer, being laughed at and all, and no store were selling them, that was until I discovered Gamestation, and they had a whole wall dedicated to Retro Games, and was so exited, I practically ran over and went to my knees, and slid over and looked at all of them, seeing if any caught my interest, for a year or so it was all good, the games were at a reasonable price and they worked fine.

... that was until recently, I'll give you the whole story, I once bought both Enter the Matrix and Matrix: Path of Neo for Xbox out of Gamestation, Enter the Matrix worked just fine, but Path of Neo was f*cked up, the audio was delayed in FMVs, some sound didn't play at all, it loads way longer than it should, even when the police officer shouts "FREEZE!" in the training mode, it took 5 minutes to load that, and the game couldn't load beyond the first level where you're trying to escape from the Agents at Neo's workplace, I bought another copy off EBay, a promotional one no less, and it didn't have these problems, so it wasn't the game itself.

I took it back, they got the disc cleaned, and guess what, it still didn't work, so I took it back again, and traded it for Halo: Combat Evolved having to pay an extra £4, due to the price being higher, and you'll never believe this, it didn't even have the disc inside the case! I spent a total of £6 for an empty case, I wasn't having it, so I took it back, and got Fable: The Lost Chapters, luckily, that worked just fine, so that was settled, I forgave Gamestation for that.

but then afterwards I took it back, I bought faulty game, after faulty game, after faulty game, and I kept falling for it every time, so I decided to give them one last chance today, and bought Sega Worldwide Soccer 97 on the Sega Saturn, I was surprised they even took Saturn Games on trade in, so I bought it, and guess what... it didn't work!

That's the last time I buy ANYTHING from those arseholes! They don't even have the decency to check if the discs are inside the cases, let alone if they work!

In fact, they don't even check if the case itself is in good condition, as in can it keep the game inside, I once saw a copy of GTA2 on PS1, and the case was the worst I've ever seen, but that was the only game that caught my eye at that point, so I picked it up, and the disc fell out the bottom!

If you were to snap a disc and sell them the smaller or most hazardous half, whichever is worse, with no case, scratched to f*ck, I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if they'd still sell it!

With that said, you're probably hoping that trading in games aren't so bad, I mean, if they'd accept anything, you can make money easily... right?

Sorry, no, they aren't much better in that department, my brother offered to trade in 6 games to save up for football boots, most of them fairly new at the time, and they only offered him just £5 for the lot, he declined, and I don't blame him. Worse even, I remember being in Gamestation once, and I overheard some guy trying to sell some retro games, and they shooed him away, saying they didn't take Retro games, despite having a whole WALL full of them!

Also, they're a bunch of stupid f*cks, I once bought WWF Warzone and WWF Attitude for Nintendo 64, for only £2 I might add, the labels say they were SNES games...

Ok, first of all, neither game was released for that console,
Second, the cartridge size difference is MASSIVE,
and third, it had the N64 logo ON the cartridge, how could they've missed that!?

When I went to the checkout, the guy there said "Sorry, I can't find a price on these SNES games.", I think this a good time a que a facepalm, don't you think?

Frankly, it's the worst store I ever visited, they're a prime example of a company that cares nothing about user satisfaction, but only for money, honestly, you'd be better off going to car boot sales, at least the games you buy there HAVE the games in the cases and, for the most part, WORK!

Oh how I wish for a proper store that sells retro games, one that actually checks if there's a disc/cartridge inside the case, if there is one, and if it works, if there's a store like that in Glasgow, could you PLEASE tell me about it?