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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) created a post

Sep 23, 2020  
Power Moves Out Of Necessity



An Essay On The Recent Acquisition of Zenimax Media and Bethesda Studios by Microsoft


Before this week it looked like Sony could do no wrong as they made the final sprint towards the release of their next gen system. It’s funny how quickly things can change in a week.

 First there was the monumental fuck up that was the PS5 pre-orders, which included but are not limited to; times that pre orders are going live not being clearly stated, each retailer apparently having totally random respective times that pre orders went live and pre orders seemingly being in stock until the point when the customer goes to pay at the checkout screen when they are told, ‘sorry buddy, not today!”

 Then there were the rumours, followed swiftly by the confirmation that the PS5 will indeed NOT be backwards compatible with anything pre PS4. Why is this something that is so difficult to do? This means that plenty of your favourite games from generations past, including titans such as the classic Hitman games, Silent Hill 2, the entire MGS franchise prior to Ground Zeroes, will spend yet another generation stuck on old hardware that is getting continuously older and harder to maintain.

 For years people have been begging Sony to introduce a service similar to GamePass, which has been a huge benefit to Xbox and PC players for a while now.
They listened… sort of.
The PlayStation Plus Collection was announced which includes a meaty array of huge last gen exclusives, including Uncharted 4 and God of War. The caveat is that while GamePass includes brand new first party releases added to the service on launch, as well as a respectable back catalogue of exclusives, the PS Plus Collection does not. Apparently it is ‘not financially feasible,’ for Sony to adopt this practice.

 Following all of this, Xbox then makes one of the most industry-shaking power moves that we have seen in the last decade, by announcing that they are purchasing Zenimax Media and by extension all of the studios under that umbrella, including Bethesda Softworks, Arkane Studios, id Software, Machine Games and Tango Gameworks. Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down.

 Now before you go and place a panicked pre order on an Xbox Series X, it has been announced that not all games from these studios will be exclusive to Microsoft systems. Instead this will be something that will be decided on a case to case basis and PS exclusives Deathloop from Arkane and Ghostwire: Tokyo from Tango will still be released as exclusives on Sony’s console. However, Microsoft did spend 7.5 billion dollars on the acquisition and you can bet on the fact they are going to want something for their money. If they can manage to claim Elder Scrolls VI, or Fallout 5 as a Microsoft exclusive, it could shift a lot of the market back to Xbox. The most likely candidate in my opinion for a MS exclusive, is Bethesda’s announced new IP; Starfield. It is already highly anticipated and will most likely be a huge seller when it drops and if Sony folks can’t get their hands on it, I can see many people making the jump to Microsoft.

 I have written before about my issues with exclusivity on either side of the console war, but I also understand the industry well enough to see that it is a necessary evil and in this cut-throat market, this is a clever investment. I really appreciate Xbox making a big move like this as quite frankly they had to do something major in this vein to even be in with a chance of winning the next generation. It’s good to see that they are refusing to go down without a fight. They really need a boost like this if they want to have any chance of catching up with Sony in the next generation.

 The only hitch in this whole plan is that had they done this five years ago, - before disappointments like Prey, ESO, Wolfenstein: Youngblood and especially Fallout 76, - this would have been ten times more effective and mind-blowing. As of today, it seems more like 2 companies that are both on their respective backs trying to help each other up.

 Overall, I think this is a good thing for the industry as a whole. I think that it will drive more intense competition, which will in turn result in better games. As a gamer, I think I would be way more upset about this if I hadn’t just built a decent gaming PC where I can play any Microsoft exclusives anyway, but I still think that it will ultimately benefit the individual gamer also by forcing more competition between developers and therefore a higher standard of games. I do think that it will encourage people who were originally going to just buy a PS5 to at least consider getting both consoles. This will have an effect down the line when MS starts announcing Xbox exclusive Bethesda titles etc, but we’ll see how much of an effect it ends up having at launch.
      
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Dean (6926 KP) rated Mini Projector in Tech

Jan 23, 2020  
Mini Projector
Mini Projector
Home Audio & Theater > Projectors
5
7.0 (6 Ratings)
Tech Rating
Large picture area projection (0 more)
Noisy (2 more)
Sound quality
Some ports didn't work?
Disappointing
Well this is a shame I got this through the giveaway competition. I've tried to give it a good test but it didn't fare well.
The good thing is the projection area can be very large and still fairly sharp in focus. It recommends up to 60" but could easily get closer to 80" TV screen size equivalent. Any bigger and the image wouldn't be as sharp or colourful but if you don't mind that it could take up a whole wall. The HDMi port works so you could connect it to your sky box, xbox, dvd player. The sound quality from it isn't great though as it's only a small device, unless you also connect a speaker. It can be a little noisy as well during operation.
Unfortunately the microSD card and USB ports don't appear to be working on this unit? I tried a couple of cards and a USB card reader but nothing worked. This would be handy for viewing photos. It also has an AV port for music. It does come with a remote, HDMi cable and an adapter that would work with a camcorder or even a Wii console.
The power cable isn't particularly long but once charged it can be used cordless. It doesn't really have a stand to help if you wanted to project onto your ceiling.
So it really depends what you are going to use it for. Plug your xbox in for wall size gaming, or your phone via HDMi to watch Netflix, YouTube etc. I don't think it's something you would use for serious movie watching if you care about the sound quality as well unless you connect headphones or a speaker as well via the phonejack.
  
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Chris Carr (78 KP) rated the Xbox One version of FIFA 19 in Video Games

Jan 3, 2019  
FIFA 19
FIFA 19
2018 | Sports
4
6.0 (8 Ratings)
Video Game Rating Watch
Looks like football .ultimate team & playing online (0 more)
Pay to win .rewards are dia .defense system is a joke (0 more)
A love hate relationship with FIFA
I bought FIFA late this season after buying FIFA every season since day one ..I'm disappointed in that the coins I built up in FIFA 18 dosnt follow on into FIFA 19 .defense system gets worse every season can't seem to defend to save my life .transfers are utter rubbish especially if like me your starting mid season other players are just out to make coins & asking stupid prices for consumables it's going to take something special for me to change my love hate relationship with FIFA I like to play sports on Xbox. seasons are short as it is so when FIFA 20 arrives in September garented EA sports will forget FIFA 19
  
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Maxien Gorry (74 KP) rated Youtube in Apps

Jan 4, 2020  
Youtube
Youtube
Photo & Video
9
8.7 (47 Ratings)
App Rating
Easy to navigate (4 more)
Option to stream to tv
Option to stream to Xbox
Subtitles
Fast forward by tapping screen
Too many ads (1 more)
Cost of YouTube Music
One stop shop for videos
I use YouTube every day for music, TV shows and tutorials. Mostly for tutorials and music.
Its simple to use and navigate and I especially like the 'history' option for when I want to view an already watched video.
Being able to fast forward and rewind quickly just by dou ke tapping either side of the screen is a great feature for the tutorials I watch and the su titles help for tutorials that aren't in English or if I need to watch with the sound muted.

I feel YouTube Music is expensive for what it is, there are other more competitive apps out there that are far better.