I hate those new game consoles and their internet needs
 

Yup, ranting... But seriously who designs these things and their $%$#% interface?

I bought an Xbox One for the boys... (admittedly I also wanted to try Forza), but mostly it's Minecraft and Start wars Battlefront for them... I'm really annoyed at the internet connectivity requirements, not to mention the $%#$% interface...

Example. It supposedly came with Forza - except not really, it's a download. That took 2 days (the console is not near the Wifi router). Not great. Every time I turn it on to try more of that game (once a week?) I cannot play. I first must download an update !!! There is no refusing the update. Download NOW or else go $%$ yourself.. Nice design. I'm NOT going online to play - just me and AI. Does not matter !

Tonight, the kids wanna play Battlefront (they played it last week and it worked fine)... Turn it on.. Game no workie... Apparently lost internet... So no internet no play ??? Fix that.. Try again... A-ha !! The console needs an update - 1.2 Gigabyte !!! 30 minutes later (download, install, reboot 5 times), it comes up, the kids are excited... Nope, now the *controller* needs an upgrade (I kid you not). A ha... Reboot, kids are excited... nope... The Game needs an update... 20 more minutes.. Now login for a split screen co-op game.. Nope, you need 2 profiles! (not so, they played together under one profile before). Go to EA, create one, try again, nope.. Third attempt of same choices, worked. Why ???

Meantime, during the interminable downloads, I tried to stop it from asking for a password each time it runs... Ah, forgot my microsoft ID - OK that one is one me... Send a code to phone... input code. No good, Try again... Good, Enter new password twice - no match... Guess what : there is *no* backing out of this dialog box ! If your 2 passwords do not match, you are stuck there attempting to enter password #2 which will never work if you muffed password #1. Reboot, new code, try again...

It works now.. I think the kids fell asleep though... Seriously, I'm not exagerating any of the above. Same with Forza which wants a 30 minutes upgrade whenever I fire it up. We are not going online. Playing against AI only. It should launch and run everytime, like their WiiU.... Ugh !!

Of course I sold this, this morning.... So I might be more grumpy than usual...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1449973698.jpg

I'm still a video game (cough simulator cough) junky.

A few years ago I finally got a decent rig built by another pelican which could finally handle acceptable modern graphics.
Oh yeah let's rock!
Wallet out and ready to roll.
Then I found out Steam and all this other inter-connectivity b.s. took over the market.

Oh well. :(

For $30, you can get a hard wired connection that goes through the houses electrical system. Takes the wireless out of the mix. I've got the one below. Works great.

TP-LINK TL-PA2010KIT AV200 Nano Powerline Adapter Starter Kit, up to 200Mbps - Newegg.com

Part of the deal is that they want to stop piracy, so the internet thing is to make sure you paid for what you're playing.

Yeah, it is much worse on the Xbox One than it was on the 360. I just got one myself (Forza is rad) but I am able to hardware mine so less issues...

Wait till you try to upload the newest patch at Christmas time...
It isn't so bad if it is played alot, but ours isn't....

I have been in the video game industry for ~25+ years.

The first title I worked on was Mortal Kombat for NES.

Consoles suck, there, I said it.

I get the **** for free and I told my kids, no more consoles.

Build yourself a PC gaming rig and get a STEAM account. Welcome to Steam

Wait for the summer sale and load up on content.

Partial list of titles I've worked on.

Scott Jenkins Video Game Credits (By Year) - MobyGames

Shrinkage is a part of it but the bigger driver is revenue.

If we can charge $59.99 for a AAA title and not manufacture retail product and keep the GOGs as profit we will.

It's $5.00 COG for everyone to build the product, add in defectives, returns, royalties (for 3rd party), excess inventory markdowns, and we are talking a more realistic exposure of $15-20.00 per sold in unit.

Digital distribution eliminates all of that.

Most of these games are "live services" as well so you can count on them requiring an internet connection going forward. I doubt there will much offline content for games.

Ah - first world problems. I'd definitely prefer driving a 911 over playing FARTza ... I'd be pissed too! How old are the offspring? Have them figure it out.

G

Steam offers some good titles at a good price but it's all ultimately about data collection, building a profile about you and your habits and then selling that data to scumbag marketers who just want to spam the hell out of you or otherwise hawk crap to you that you don't need or want. it's the Google model of gaming - big data all the way. I can't stand it. Eff them. I don't use steam at all although I did love playing Portal I & II on it when I got them as gifts a couple of years ago, I've been totally turned off by their "big data" model once I learned about it. The two founders are former big data guys from Microsoft FYI...

The internet requirement for a lot of games drive me nuts now - Blizzard is a big promotor of that. Shame. I'll always get a console-based "standalone" (no internet required) game as a first choice.

It's so muddy now - I wish it were simpler (like "you buy it and it's yours" - everyone understands this). Unfortunately software is mired in pages of legalese that nobody reads and even fewer people care about. It probably doesn't become more of an issue because most software becomes obsolete so quickly anyway. The whole industry seems to be a mess but it's got lots of money and demand behind it so it barrels along seemingly recklessly...

Thought: Do We Own Our Steam Games? | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Do you know Alan Pavlish?

I'm actually kind of jealous. My son can, at a moment's notice, logon to the Playstation Network and play video games with his friends. School night, evening, morning, doesn't matter. The only time I had that luxury was when I could have friends over, subject to parental approval of course.

BTW, sorry about your 911. That's probably going to sting for a while.....

I know the name, never met in person.

"Owning" your software went out the window a long time ago.

You are buying a license to use it.

It's not just software, it's pretty much anything that can be digitally distributed, music, movies, etc...

They need the internet connection to complete the brainwashing feedback loop.

I rather play monopoly :rolleyes:

Amazon is bringing me one today. They boys use my 360 which is old enough to not have wifi. Santa is getting them Xbox live, so I've got to get service to the Xbox...

Windows 10 is the attempt to do the exact same thing to your PC. :(