I saw a report from CNET News that Microsoft has banned a whopping one million players from Xbox live for using "modded" consoles! One million is quite a number, and the timing is simply extraordinary. The CNET news article suggests that the bans were pressured by Activision, due to pirated copies of Call of Duty appearing on the internet before the game's actual release. Sure, I can see that happening. Call of Duty is a very popular title that will make both Microsoft and Activision quite a lot of money. However, there is more to this story.

With the extensive Xbox Live ban comes a huge wave of banned Xbox360 consoles showing up on Craigslist and Ebay. Someone who is looking to purchase a pre-owned or even a "refurbished" Xbox360 console really should get a written guarantee that the console is fully operational, including on Xbox Live. Otherwise, you can get burned. That is, unless you don't give two hoots about Xbox Live as these banned consoles will still work to play games offline. But that also means no game updates and no downloaded content, too.

For Microsoft, this timing couldn't be any better. First they can claim the morale high-ground for fighting software piracy. And second, all those people who love to play online over their Xbox360s, but got banned, now have to buy another console... just in time for Christmas!

It makes me wonder just how many of the 11.6 million Xbox360s sold in North America actually represent its "installed user base" and how many of them represent a second or maybe even a third purchase by the same player? That's totally crazy, but this isn't the first time Microsoft has issued Xbox Live bans, and sadly some gamers have more debt than brains.

Arclayn MoonSword

Cross posted to Late to the Party.

I have a college degree in computer science.  I sought the degree because of my interest in video games.  All video games are run on computers and the games themselves are built by engineers as well as artists.

I really don't know how interested my LJ readers are in actual technology, but I do know that most video game periodicals, both in print and online, are full of misinformation about technology.  Many publishers enjoy kicking up speculation to get their audiences excited.  That helps get readership numbers up.  However, no matter how "authentic" an article within such periodicals seems "true" one must remember that most of these periodicals are written by English majors, not computer experts.  Often times, the information is half-correct which only makes matters even more confusing.

It doesn't help that some video game manufacturers love to play what I call the "tech spec" game.  It's a marketing strategy where PR reps will talk meaningless statistics to the press in an (usually successful) attempt to excite a crowd to buy a game system.  Every game system manufacturer does this to some extent.  Sometimes, a marketing team will invent a cool sounding, but ultimately meaningless technology "buzz phrase" to promote their product (*cough* "Blast Processing!" *cough*).

If there is something that anyone has read about video game technology, and would like expert clarification on,  let me know.  I can write an LJ post or a Late to the Party article on it.  I guess the best way for anyone to leave me a request is to leave a comment on my last written post here on my LJ, or you could leave a comment on my latest article on Late to the Party.

I'm not going to make some ridiculous claim of being "truly unbiased".  The irony is that kind of talk is all matter of opinion, anyway.  What I will do is try to give as fair an assessment as I can.  Despite my best intentions, I expect that these topics will eventually hit some fanboy/fangirl's nerve.  I am not doing this to "get at" anybody.  I'm simply tired of the rumor-mill driving gamers' senses for years upon years.  For that, I remind everyone that ultimately it's the games that are truly important!  It is why we are gamers!  But for the record, I do play games on nearly every major platform, except for those that are financially out of my reach...  No thanks to this global recession and my shrinking income!  Also, I am a rare breed of gamer who willingly (and enjoyingly!) crosses cultural boundries to play games on both consoles and PCs!  (GASP!)

In summary, I do have a professional computer technology background, so what I will do is try to have my information straight, instead of regurgitating popular opinion.

Arclayn MoonSword

P.S. Just a little fun trivia...  Can anyone name from what video game devices that the two pictures are from?  I admit the 2nd pic is really vague and certainly the more difficult of the two.

As mentioned in a previous post, I am really looking forward to Dragon Age: Origins.  For starters, it's a game made by Bioware.  Also, it is the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate... the really awesome RPG made for PC, not the hack-and-slash knockoff (known as Dark Alliance) for 6th generation consoles.

I recently received an e-mail from Impulse Driven regarding the upcoming release of Dragon Age.  In it, there are a bunch of offers, including pre-order offers for a higher-tier deluxe-edition of Dragon Age, if I'm willing to shell out an extra $15.  But what caught the attention of my "WTF radar" is a little note that the deluxe edition includes a level called "Warden's Keep"...  while supplies last!

Say what?  This is a digital download, meaning computer data zips over the internet from a server run by Impulse Driven to the customer's computer.  There is no "supply limit," here.  It's exactly like copying files.  It doesn't matter how many times a file is copied, the original stays intact.  As such, physical supplies for digital data, and thusly the game, is virtually infinite.

So what's up with this "while supplies last" garbage?  I can only speculate, but I think I have a good idea of what's going on.  Ever since Bioware was bought out by Electronic Arts, it's been nothing but bad news for Bioware games.  I won't reiterate the whole DRM nonsense that plagues Mass Effect, as I already covered that in a previous post.  Electronic Arts probably placed a contractual limit on how many times "Warden's Keep" can be sold through Impulse-Driven.  This may also apply to other digital download services, too.   In doing so, they artificially raise the market value of the deluxe edition product and also artificially drive up demand.  It's total crap, because by the very nature of the product and delivery system, there are infinite supplies.  To suggest otherwise is simply wrong.  To try and inflate demand and value in this way is beyond wrong.  But from a marketing perspective... why not?  More people are rushing to buy the game and an extra 15 smackers is spent for each copy.  Truly devious.

Arclayn MoonSword

Cross Posted to Late to the Party.

I have not posted in some time, and I am not inspired to discuss any one topic in length. So today, I offer a bunch of unrelated thoughts...

Recently, the Dungeons and Dragons official MMO was relaunched as a free to play game in North America. Those in Europe, who still have to purchase subscriptions, are not missing much. I sampled the game for a few hours and concluded it is quite terrible. Why is my elf swinging a rapier like a baton? Why doesn't the dungeon master actually say something other than what is already obvious? Oh I can go on and on about what's wrong with this game, but I'd rather not. Did the guys at Turbine get anything right? The writing is good, which is a rarity among free to play MMO games. The 3D modelling and textures are good too, when not animated (q.v. rapier/baton reference). Beyond that, not much else. The boys and girls at Turbine could take more than a few lessons from Bioware and Blizzard.

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The wine project is an attempt to create a work environment within Linux/Unix that can run Windows software, including DirectX video games! While wine is not perfect, it is improving over time. I recently learned that this project is (supposedly) now working well with Mac OS X Leopard (that's Mac OS v10.5 for the Mac-uninitiated).

The notes on WineHQ's wiki regarding Macs are quite ambiguous. It doesn't help that there isn't a distributed binary for Mac, which means you have to download the source code and build it yourself. That is certainly NOT a task for just anyone, even someone who is "computer saavy". Even IT specialists (like myself) cringe at this prospect. All is not lost, however. Macports does make the build, install, and management process a bit easier, but you still have to be comfortable with the Terminal bash shell. You also need to read the online documentation very carefully.

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I'm really looking forward to Dragon Age: Origins. Bioware is to Western style RPGs as Square-Enix is to Japanese style RPGs: Win and awesome! Last May, Bioware announced that they won't be using Securom with Dragon Age!  I guess Electronic Arts (Bioware's owner/publisher) did learn a thing or three about how to properly treat a paying customer!

Arclayn MoonSword

One of the top games I am looking forward too, hopefully coming out this year, is Starcraft II.  The original Starcraft is likely the longest running and supported single video game ever.  You can read my rationalization here.

Blizzard Entertainment is the creative crew behind the Starcraft, Diablo, and more famously the Warcraft series.  They have been among my most favorite game development groups for many years, even since before World of Warcraft.  Every game they have made for PC has been made of win and awesome!  Yes, I even enjoyed World of Warcraft although I quit playing that well over a year ago.  No doubt this will also amaze many of you...  I still have my job, and I still have my dearest significant other.

Getting back on topic...  Starcraft II looks really good, just as I always expected from Blizzard.  However, more recent news on Starcraft II, reported at Dailytech.com have me contemplating just what is Blizzard doing?  The short and simple is that Blizzard is dropping LAN support for Starcraft II.  Rob Pardo, VP of game design, was quoted saying, "... we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy."

"The best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience"...?  I don't buy that.  No internet game service can improve upon the latency of a LAN.  Pure mathematics, there.  Also, I have never been a fan of Battle.net.  It is the one and only sin that Blizzard ever committed.  The system has a history of being at the mercy of hacks and cheats, and the player community is infected with immature l33t15m.  I'm glad to hear that it has been upgraded, but that is little condolence to the fact that Starcraft II multiplayer play will be forced upon Battle.net, when all I really want is to play the game with my significant other over my home network.

"safeguard against piracy"...?  Aha!  Now we're cutting through the Public Relations BS and getting to the true heart of this issue!  Piracy!  I have no doubt that software piracy has a negative effect on game sales, and that game developers have a right to protect their intellectual property.  However, there is a disturbing trend developing.  That trend is a policy that assumes that every copy of the game will be pirated.  When features are removed, or unreasonable Digital Rights Management protections added to the product (*cough* Electronic Arts *cough*), it ultimately punishes paying customers and does little to nothing from dissuading professional pirates from being pirates.  It's the paying customer that ultimately suffers.  As I am a loyal fan of Blizzard who purchased legit copies of all of their PC games, I do feel a bit like I've been slapped.

Now, don't read too deeply into this.  I still expect Starcraft II to be made of win and awesome.  Hell, the promo videos certainly are!  Especially the cinematic trailer!  It's just that Starcraft II now looks to be a bit less awesome than originally expected.

Arclayn