E3 2019: Xbox Briefing

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Jun 11, 2019

Filed under: Industry Events 112 comments

I’m not in a position to do full E3 coverage this year with videos and streaming. Instead I’m just going to do a rapid-fire analysis of what I’ve seen so far and what I think is interesting. The Xbox briefing was full of stuff to talk about, so I’m giving it a post of its own.

The Xbox Briefing

I'm John Videogames, and I'm here to tell you that video games are my favorite video games.
I'm John Videogames, and I'm here to tell you that video games are my favorite video games.

I am getting really tired of the standard briefing patter. It’s played out, we’ve heard it all before, and it’s not what we’re here for.

“Video games enable us to realize our greatest dreams by using next gen hardware to allow developers to unleash their creative vision for a shared experience that shows us the true possibilities of what our video game technology has to offer to millions of players around the world that play together and have new experiences where they can express themselves through video games by enabling them to connect with a growing world of video game adventure through the power of interactive shared experiences that show the true creative vision of some of the most passionate developers working in the industry today as they work to bring their creations to life through…”

Ugh. Over time, the information density approaches zero. Eventually you wake from your trance and realize you’ve just watched some dude talk for three minutes to express the idea that “video games are great”.

By all means, share with us why you think your new gizmo is a good idea or what your current focus is, but don’t spend time explaining to the audience of hardcore gamers that video games are good. Stop wasting my time.

All of the press events suffer from a little of this, but I think Microsoft’s show was the worst.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “E3 2019: Xbox Briefing”

 


 

Diecast #260: Islanders, E3 2019, Kingdom: New Lands

By Shamus Posted Monday Jun 10, 2019

Filed under: Diecast 63 comments



Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.

Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #260: Islanders, E3 2019, Kingdom: New Lands”

 


 
 

#29 Blame the Messenger

By Shamus Posted Friday Jun 7, 2019

Filed under: DM of the Rings 35 comments


Continue reading ⟩⟩ “#29 Blame the Messenger”

 


 

Spider-Man Part 18: Jailbreak

By Shamus Posted Thursday Jun 6, 2019

Filed under: Retrospectives 54 comments

Last week I mentioned the character of Screwball and the writer’s stilted and cringey attempts to emulate Millennial shorthand and idioms. It’s interesting to compare that mess to the scene right after Grand Central Terminal where Spider-Man and MJ have an argument via texting. This exchange is bang-on. It’s not just solid from a character standpoint, but also by the way it captures the little nuances of what it means to have a fight through text messages.

There’s a moment where MJ says, “think we both had different ideas about this ‘partner’ thing”, referring to the way they decided to team up without either of them making clear what they expected from the other. She thought if they were ‘partners’ she’d be able to sneak around the hideouts of dangerous supervillains without him trying to stop her, and he thought she would just stay at home and gather information for him.

I am really impressed with Peter's ability to type while leaping around the city.
I am really impressed with Peter's ability to type while leaping around the city.

Spidey replies by shouting, “OH, YOU THINK?” at his phone, but then types a much more measured response. The whole exchange is full of little details like this that make these two characters feel genuine.

We see the entire exchange from Spider-Man’s perspective. On one hand, I kinda wish the viewpoint would shift over to MJ a few times so we could see how she’s reacting. Is she also shouting at her phone in exasperation while typing with restraint? Is she angry? Crying? Then again, not knowing what the other person is really feeling is part of the texting experience, and by trapping us in Spider-Man’s P.O.V. the writer enables us to share in his frustration and confusion.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Spider-Man Part 18: Jailbreak”

 


 

Microsoft’s New Plan for Xbox

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Jun 5, 2019

Filed under: Column 107 comments

This week my column takes a look at Microsoft and their recent move to unify the PC and Xbox ecosystems. Actually, I guess it’s not a recent move so much as another re-commitment to an idea they keep flirting with and abandoning. If they could merge the Xbox and PC into a single group by allowing players to take their library, friends list, and save games with them between platforms, then that would make the resulting PC/Xbox hybrid the biggest console platform.

Back in the 90s and aughts, Microsoft’s grip on the PC market was really strong. You used Windows because everyone else used windows and everyone needed to be able to share documents. Your software collection was Windows-based and switching was difficult. Macs were nice, but they were really expensive and they had trouble sharing files with your business colleagues. Linux was free, but it was still a platform for gurus and it had a lot of the same data-sharing problems.

But today? Most programs are either multi-platform by design or universally available through the cloud. You can do word processing, spreadsheets, image editing, video editing, music editing, file sharing, spread sheeting, and web-browsing on any of these platforms and have a reasonable expectation of being able to share files with everyone else. We’re doing more and more on the cloud, and the OS matters less and less.

The two exceptions to this trend are:

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Microsoft’s New Plan for Xbox”

 


 

Diecast #259: The Witness, Outer Wilds, Survival Games

By Shamus Posted Monday Jun 3, 2019

Filed under: Diecast 58 comments



Hosts: Paul, Shamus. Episode edited by Issac.

Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #259: The Witness, Outer Wilds, Survival Games”