Two German states have drafted a bill which would ban all video games which allow a player to inflict "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters". This would mean a ban in all FPS games along with almost all MMORPG's in Germany, crippling the nations gaming economy and closing many German Counter Strike teams.
Germany already has the toughest game restrictions in the world and GoW has already been banned in the country but these new laws take the ban to a whole new level. The new laws come as a consequence of an attack on a school by a Counter Strike player which ended in his suicide.
If one thing comes from this, it makes Jack Thompson look like a pussy cat!
Companies, particularly public companies like Microsoft, need to grow.
i mean its pretty simple, they spent close to 30 billion in acquiring activision, they thought they'd make it bk no problem, and that didnt happen.
its just shit that because of MS's miscalculation alot of people lost their jobs.
They are going to use AI for a large portion of the game development process. Upper management need bonuses and the shareholders need more money. So, people will lose their jobs.
They shouldn't have bought any studios. Some is okay...but they went on a shopping spree...stupid
The better question is why did Microsoft buy publishers for a service they were subsidizing they knew couldn't support.
And why are so many websites trying to make people feel sorry for Microsoft instead of truly criticizing the fact they are closing studios and killing jobs that would have been fine if Microsoft themselves hadn't gotten involved.
Quit feeling sorry for Microsoft and start feeling sorry for the industry and the all the gamers who are actually losing out.
THIS IS MICROSOFTS FAULT.
The first thing that happens after any major acquisition or merger is a consolidation of the whole new portfolio, which includes cutting any excess, bloat or portfolios that don't fit the larger MO of the big boy. So far, it's been par for the course with Microsoft and that's why gamers have been so against this acquisition. Tango Gameworks is the beginning. You think Microsoft wants to pay to keep small timers like Ninja Theory in business?
There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that Microsoft will improve any of these studios, but plenty to suggest that they will get rid of what they don't need and hold onto the IP. The real agenda of the acquisition was always to acquire The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Fallout, Call of Duty, Candy Crush etc. that will create millions in passive revenue stream for Microsoft regardless of where the games release. Microsoft simply wants their cut.
Because of Games Pass Microsoft has no interest in investing in new IP which is risky and requires creative talent they can neither nurture nor manage. Game Pass has also not grown in the way Microsoft expected it to, even post acquisitions. Therefore the logical thing to do, without serious money makers to release, is to cut as much cost as possible.
"They want you to believe the devs under them are super stoked to work generative AI into their processes," continued Gaider, "but I assure you what they took as excitement was really a veiled wail of despair not unlike the time that team was informed of their new 'really cool' live service mandate.".
I think anyone with some common sense knew this, im glad i don't support their games anymore, what a sh!t company.
I said this yesterday. AI isn't what we want when it comes to crafting artistry. Alas, these soulless corporate morons don't care about their work, only about cutting corners as much as possible.
Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.
This ship was never meant to sail, this ship was made from the get go to sink as fast as possible. It almost feels that they want to lower the standards of quality in the industry so that they can fit in
Xbox has no soul and Phil has no confidence, and it's impossible to say either do when they killed Tango and Arkane Austin.
Everything they've said since has only made them look worse to a point that they're actually less competent than Embracer.
Whe you release something like the series S and expect it not to hurt your business model, and developers have to have parity with games. Then you know Microsoft don't care. Series s is the final nail that broke developers,
But they probably wont let you hunt for any endangered or protected animals.
I forgot to mention on the article, it also bans development of the "violent" games so how will this affect the development of Crysis?
Viva La Revolution! If I lived in Germany I'd be going nuts.
I'm all for keeping games like GoW, Rule of Rose or Mahjong from minors. Right now in germany its a little bit like porn. Its allowed to be sold if the one buying it is 18 or older. You arent allowed to show it to minors thus having public ads for it is forbidden too.
Lets constuct an example with porn. Watching porn disturbs kids into rapists. Thus porn is responsible for all the rapists here in germany. The only effective way is to ban porn in germany and prohibit the filming of porn.
So everyone owning porn would be criminal ( including politicians ).
So if politicians would play as many video games as they watch porn we wouldnt have to face the threat of a ban here in germany
lame
right now it is only possible to ban a game if it violates our laws. Most famous example is Caste Wolfenstein which would violate the restriction of showing nazi symbols (only exception for that restriction is art and documentaries).
If a game/movie/book features simply violence it is added to the index which means it can still be sold if you are 18
more on the topic here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...