120°

Gaming: It's Not Like It Used to Be

Lets all take a trip backwards in time, shall we. All the way back to the first time we ever played a video game...

Well, I don't know about you guys, but some of those memories are the fondest that I have. I can remember my dad and I bringing out the good old Nintendo Entertainment System and playing "Sesame Street The Game". I two years old when I started playing it, and I don't think my dad realized what he had done with just this one simple game.

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thewhybutton.com
hennessey864506d ago

For over 20 years and yes it's nice to look back on the classics and memories you have, but gaming is definitely getting better with each year that passes and I hope that trend never ends.

Root4506d ago

I don't know I've felt it's gotten worse

Yeah we have better games, and the tec we have now is amazing but the feeling off certain games just isn't what it was like when you booted up your N64 and played on Banjo, the feeling when you got three Aku Aku masks in Crash Bandicoot or when you completed your first game on the SNES.

DLC, Cut content, high DLC prices, developers ruining games for a bigger audience, developers screwing over their loyal fans, developers lying to us, horrible PR stunts, bad games like COD selling millions while good worth while games get left in the dark, developers going after COD like sales, all this casual crap and how "anyone" can be a gamer when it's a load of rubbish

I could go on

I just felt gaming back then was a lot more isolated and developers knew who there target audience was...there wasn't this whole "please everyone" crap

ape0074505d ago (Edited 4505d ago )

games are getting better in gfx, polish and immersion but when it comes to single player experience, past games are definitely better but there are still great SP games coming, GTA V, Watch Dogs, bioshock infinite, KZ ps4 and MGS GZ

BTW, i see that bioshock, GTA V and MGS GZ hold up very well against PS4 gfx, they still look Damn Good IMO, 360\ps3 gfx are nowhere near as outdated against ps4 gfx as (let's say) san andreas to GTA V

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

hiredhelp4505d ago

Ok well i love the retro days i think many like us retro gamers do if i was to play a ocean game thats right kids OCEAN back then they were making AAA games along with codemasters,activision. I know i couldnt possibly complete a game right off the bat like we possibly could today's gaming.

Now i love todays gaming i mean wow 8bit to 16bit,32bit,64,128bit,and so on we no longer in 2D scroller land we in world today of evolving landscapes open world physix lighting true to life animation.

Now even thoe all that is amazing stuff the gameing industry is changing just like the world but in a bad way as well as good.
DLC cool but at a price huh locked content.... ? Whatever happened to the reward system play game complete unlock stuff make game replayable. Its all to do with easy money.

But hey its not all bad...?

hellvaguy4505d ago (Edited 4505d ago )

Its just blind nostalgia. Games are 10 times better than before. Ive watched everyone of my friends claim gaming used to be so great, but then when we fire up the old NES, they either get bored or frustrated because of the difficulty/save points within 10 minutes flat. Never fails.

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BootHammer4505d ago

I love the advances with newer tech and get psyched for each every new platform launch but the era of old school Nintendo and Sega will always be my favorite.

angelsx4505d ago

I just wana see how will look the games after 10-15 years . . .

profgerbik4505d ago

You said it brother.. I agree with Root, gaming seems to be getting worse and as more markets are open for games to be on it's only become more competitive which will only make it worse as well.

Also games now just aren't as good in a creative sense. Back in the day there were so many new games and they all were doing new things but now everyone is mainly doing the same things being less and less creative each time around.

Just not as many good games being made in mass, as there used to be in my opinion.

Gaming community has changed greatly also since back in the days, people have become extremely spoiled which isn't helping developers at all and limiting their creativity because people only want what they have had, most just seem so afraid of new change.

Fateful_Knight4505d ago

I've been gaming for 33 years approx., so i know exactly how it feels, that sense of wonder and excitement. It still exists every time i start up a new game. The trick it to explore different genres, not just shooters. If there is a game coming out that has a unique hook to it, that makes it stand out from the pack, then pick it up. Realism that comes with advancing tech is a good thing. Gameplay that comes along with that new tech should also be advancing as well. If you primarily do MP then you're going to get less and less of that wonder and exploration excitement. SP is where you'll find it.

Gaming has always been wonderful and will continue to be so. Just choose your games wisely and have fun.

Goodfella784505d ago

ive been gaming around 30 years and to this day i always start and finish a single player campaign before even looking at the online side of the game,to me thats old school habits,and for me that will always be the way,and in my opinion the graphics,physics,speed improves,but you dont seem to find much innovation in gameplay to get really excited about these days......

hellvaguy4505d ago

In 30 years not much innovation? So all games are still 2D side scrollers and no1 plays on the internet huh?

What rock have you been living under?

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660°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
2d ago Replies(1)
2d ago Replies(1)
Obscure_Observer2d ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

2d ago
pwnmaster30002d ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

2d ago
Obscure_Observer2d ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

blacktiger2d ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster30002d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

InUrFoxHole2d ago

He's not wrong but im tracking what youre saying. In this case is should just be MS bad. Thats a lot of people fired

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Tacoboto2d ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing692d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif2d ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing692d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif2d ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

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-Foxtrot2d ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast2d ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts2d ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto2d ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

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Profchaos2d ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

Angyobangyo1d 22h ago

" Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares. "

Just for the record, you clearly you do if you have to vent this hard.

TheExecutioner1d 19h ago

Basically you think like kids when it come to choose between candy or chocolate.

Sonic18811d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

Are you and Anast the same person?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 1d 18h ago
2d ago
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140°

Sony Faces Class Action in the Netherlands Over Allegedly Inflated PlayStation Store Prices

Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation in the Netherlands has filed a class action against Sony for inflating PlayStation Store prices.

dveio2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

My personal opinion:

Manufacturers and publishers have indeed inflated the industry.

From $700 million development costs for games like Call of Duty, to digital (store) prices for games and DLCs, online multiplayer fees on consoles (why can you play Helldivers 2 online for free on PC but not consoles?) or still preventing sell/lend digitally purchased games.

Sometime in the future, this bubble will collapse.

They should know better, but they just can't help themselves and suck even the last penny out of our wallets.

BeHunted2d ago

Because Sony knows people will be forced to pay those prices for single player and multiplayer games, not everyone prefers PC gaming. Sony also has a monopoly on PlayStation digital games. In 2019, they stopped allowing retailers and game key sellers to sell PlayStation digital games, making them available only through the official PlayStation Store

anast2d ago

The Dutch gov. wants a piece of the pie.

Eonjay2d ago

They should be suing the individual publishers increasing the prices to $80 instead of suing the store. There are plenty of publishers still selling game for like $50 with much success (like E33). But this proves that the publishers are the ones setting the prices.... so again nothing changes because they aren't even going after the main offender. How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD? Sony being the number one store in the market doesn't mean that publisher have to charge us an arm and a leg. Again the industry is laughing at us because consumers never get real representation. Just these fake platitudes that are meaningless.

BeHunted2d ago

"How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD"

Because Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly, I can purchase Call of Duty at a huge discount from CDKeys or other gaming retailers. The only way to purchase digital PlayStation games is through the PlayStation Store.

djl34852d ago

Weird, I swore GoW, Stellar Blade, Horizon Zero Dawn, TLoU, etc. were on the steam store....uh.....

BeHunted2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@djI3485

I'm talking about PlayStation games that you can only purchase on PlayStation. I can purchase Steam and Epic games from 3rd party retailers and key stores.

"Sony to stop selling full-game download codes at retailers"

https://www.videogamer.com/...

Killer2020UK2d ago

About time. There is zero fair reason why digitally distributed products that you cannot recoup any value when you want to dispose of them, should be priced higher than that of physical copies that entail all of the costs and the benefits of owning.

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260°

AMD CEO Shares Vision Behind Xbox Partnership and Next-Gen Chip Roadmap

AMD CEO Lisa Su talks about the Xbox AMD partnership, next-gen Ryzen + Radeon chips, and AI rendering tech coming to all Xbox devices.

Read Full Story >>
clouddosage.com
Obscure_Observer7d ago

AMD is really building hype around their unique partnership with Microsoft to help and build an advanced and seamless Xbox ecosystem across all Xbox consoles and devices.

I wonder what she meant by "full roadmap of gaming optimized chips" though? Seems ambitious.

Next year´s Xbox Showcase already looks promising and exciting. Here´s hoping they deliver.

InUrFoxHole7d ago

They had best show 3yrs in a row. Heading for another

VenomUK6d ago

Obscure_Observer said “I wonder what she meant by "full roadmap of gaming optimised chips" though? Seems ambitious.” To me, I interpret this to mean rather than having a couple of X/S products for launch and a handheld there is a longer term plan to release new products with higher specs at timed intervals. I’m speculating of course, but this could mean a spec bump every year or two, so that even if the PS6 or Steam Deck Home is released a year after ‘Xbox’ Microsoft can release an updated model that has a higher spec.

Agent756d ago

But Microsoft forgot the games.

KwietStorm_BLM6d ago

It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever.

Ganif6d ago

Correct.

"Sony's PlayStation 6 reportedly will feature an AMD semi-custom APU with a Zen 5 CPU and UDNA GPU, capable of 4K 120FPS and 8K 60FPS gaming. The console will include X3D cache and advanced AI upscaling technology."

https://www.tweaktown.com/n...

Obscure_Observer6d ago

"It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever."

I doubt that AMD´s CEO would waste her time making this huge and important partnership announcement over a tech that will be 7 years old by the those next gen consoles will be released.

Notellin6d ago

You should have just lead this comment with the fact that you have zero understanding of technology in the consoles and instead have a Toms Hardware online forum level of education.

Obscure_Observer3d ago

"It's X3D chips for console. Everyone knows this. And it's been rumored in the PS6 forever"

I´d told you were on some bs

https://www.pcgamesn.com/wp...

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Agent756d ago

But Microsoft forgot the games

Obscure_Observer6d ago

@VenomUK

"I’m speculating of course, but this could mean a spec bump every year or two, so that even if the PS6 or Steam Deck Home is released a year after ‘Xbox’ Microsoft can release an updated model that has a higher spec."

Very interesting theory. Still not sure how MS would actually make it work.

KwietStorm_BLM6d ago

"I doubt that AMD´s CEO would waste her time making this huge and important partnership announcement over a tech that will be 7 years old by the those next gen consoles will be released."

How old is the tech in consoles? It's not a huge announcement. It's marketing and you know it is.

Obscure_Observer5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

"How old is the tech in consoles? It's not a huge announcement. It's marketing and you know it is."

Dude, what I know for certain is that a tech as old as X3D chips which is actually *older* than both PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, is hardly the reason behind this new partnership between AMD and MS to build new *custom silicon* for next generation of consoles.

And yes it´s a huge announcement since AMD is working closely with MS to co-develop custom SoC which will allow backwards compatibility across all MS´s next gen devices allowing seamless integration between devices and full backwards compatibility across all generations of Xbox consoles.

I also know is that this announcement don´t have anything to do with Playstation and their strategy with AMD for the PS6, so stop comparing the two pretending that you know what´s going on, because you clearly don´t.

If Sony is working on something remotely similar, that´s remain to be seen.

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Fishy Fingers7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

Some odd, deliberate wording, no branding, not 'Xbox consoles, Xbox handhelds' specifically, feels and sounds like they're building towards hardware that anyone can be used or licensed to/by themselves and other manufacturers.

Multiplatform software and hardware 'Xbox/AMD APU'.

Obscure_Observer7d ago

I guess you missed Sarah Bond´s next generation Xbox announcement this week, were she clearly states:

"I´m thrilled to share that we´ve established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices, including, *our* next generation *Xbox consoles*."

But hey, I don´t think you´re entirely wrong, maybe MS will build their own Xbox consoles while licencing other manufactures to build and sell their own Xbox branded consoles. Who knows

BeHunted7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

I think you watched the wrong video. It's below the description, or you can watch it directly on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/kprpRvsOua...

HyperMoused7d ago

Shares vision....we provide chips for money, this deal will sell many chips, we will make lots of money...good vision

Christopher7d ago

The marketing behind this is so heavy that I worry about the actual outcome. Why are they just not showing us the product, why all this talking in market speak?

Lightning777d ago

Probably because the next xbox isn't ready to release yet?

The marketing and rumors seem to be heavy out of no where. The rumor was a 27 release but it maybe it could be 26 new console launch instead.

Who knows.

Eonjay6d ago

There PR is alrways super heavy handed. No one is acutally buying an Xbox as is.
Also it is very early to be talking so much about a next gen console.

Obscure_Observer6d ago

There´s a lot of people interested on Xbox Next and its ability to run games from major stores like Steam.

We know that the PS6 is just around the corner as well, but so far, no news on what it might improve over the PS5 or PS5 Pro.

However, Sony already made public that their priority and actual focus is the PS6. So its not "very early" to talk about next gen when the very console manufactures are talking about it.

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