Yeah has happened to Alan Wake. Now they decided to just remove the song to hopefully not have to be delisted again.

I’m glad Rockstar is taking the route of trying to only get songs that they won’t have to remove down the line. Should be the move forward for all games. Wish same would happen for racing games too. Would rather have knock off brands over delistings.

I’m tired of games getting songs removed, so I am actually glad Rockstar and hopefully others are going the route of trying to only get songs that won’t end up having to be removed down the line. Not cool getting an update getting a song removed.

I know how capitalism works… I was just sharing my thoughts on the situation of a company knowingly adjusting the algorithm in a positive direction for one demographic but a negative for another showing a clear awareness of impact. Not sure why you are so worked up about tiktok getting criticized too. Whatever.

Uhhh… I don’t think you got my point for why I also included Facebook and Twitter at the end as examples of domestic companies also willingly allowing harmful societal trends.

Money being a reason doesn’t absolve and provide a convient out and let companies do whatever they want without consequence or criticism. I put them all in the camp of willingly selling out a worse society for profit, and whether a country sees that as a win for them or not doesn’t change that.

Fat PS3 are still the best console design.

I remember reading that China’s version of tiktok more promotes stuff like sciences to kids. Then for everyone else they get degeneracy of stuff like stealing KIAs, licking grocery store items, and now black out challenges.

It would be interesting if how the algorithm is tuned for China and the rest of the world was available. Makes me wonder if it’s intentional to try to make society a worse place with inventive uses of pushing certain trends on international versions of tiktok instead of filtering them out.

Stuff like Facebook and Twitter are insane too so it’s all self sabatoge at this point, but tiktok has seemed to become the trend setter.

All people have to do is keep their mouth shut and people will create a positive image for them. So many open their mouth and then break the illusion showing how unhinged they are.

Their trailer with esports people had me going who even are these people and why would I believe anything coming out of their mouths when they are the equivalent of infomercial sales people with them being paid to be in it. Is it really the best way to market a game?

Tiktok could make the algorithm and how it functions openly visible so the international community stops criticizing them over it, since how it performs being mysterious is what is making them have to defend itself. All algorithm based social media for that matter.

I like how companies not being profitable never stops people there from paying themselves millions of dollars.

They can’t even make a mouse that doesn’t double click after a year. Dumbass.

Patience is a virtue

Yeah, when I did the 3 month trial I felt pressured to make the most of the subscription so I put aside some games I had planned on playing that I already had. I didn’t find myself needing game pass since I already had enough games so I never renewed once the trial ended.

Never really understood why companies like Twitter can have thousands of employees for what the product is.

My desktop which I got hooked up to a monitor and also a TV, so I switch between the two depending on if I want something super responsive or a cinematic couch experience.

Been also supplementing that with my Steam Deck where I can pick up playing the same game and continue my progress with a handheld.

I see YouTube style as the ones that are formulic with the plea to like and subscribe segue to sponsor and the obviously algorithm driven increased lengthen followed by the same tired robotic plea for interaction which is pretty much every big YouTube channel or wannabe big channel.

Doesn’t help that search pushes up those type of channels and shoves smaller channels just uploading content just to share something.

I’m pretty lucky not liking most YouTube style content these days, so don’t consume too much of it like I used to. Lot of the creators feel like AI with the same phrase of if you are new to the channel like and subscribe and ring the notification bell…blah blah blah. And then drag out info that can be said in a minute into a 10 minute long ramble for the algorithm.

YouTube these days is more for music or checking out a part of a game I’m stuck on these days from a creator with like 1 sub putting up a 10 second long clip that gets straight to the point. Those guys are the heroes over the 5+ minute long uploads of the same content in comparison that has you have to dig into the comments to find where to skip to.

I was playing the demo over and over before I finally got the full game this year.

Social media that requires an account to view stuff aren’t worth even visiting.

YouTube is unwatchable for me without sponsorblock so I’ve liked the newpipe forks that include. And on desktop I love freetube because it goes further and lets me block channels.

PS3 is my favorite too. I love that era of gaming. I emulated some I missed out on like Asura’s Wrath, Shadows of the Damned, and Lollipop Chainsaw and they really hold up well still with the art style chosen being more cartoon than realiatic for its time. And I’ve hopped in for short sessions in Red Dead Redemption.

You also don’t get what you pay for when it comes to mobile. Had some games get delisted so it’s not even downloadable anymore and even though I kept it on my phone I can’t run it because it fails the license check. Mobile game isn’t worth spending money on.

Best mobile games are Nintendo DS games that are completely touch based, which end up feeling like native experiences such as Kirby Mass Attack.

Caused me hand pains playing handheld with the switch that it became absolutely necessary for me to get grips to make it usable. Terrible ergonomics.

I thought Mako was great too. I played with mouse and keyboard so maybe game pad controls were clunkier in comparison?

First game in the series despite very rough clunky gameplay is my absolute favorite. The story hooked me with the sovereign reveal and the plot is the best of the three entries. And the music felt the best with how atmospheric and less Hollywoody it was, so added to the scifi other world vibe. And I liked how the lighting was darker in places like the Normandy adding to the feeling of being in space.

Yeah, same goes for Apple and Google. People just look at cuts, but these companies do pay their employees well and the cut they take may be a large part of it, and they branch out to other things like Apple with Vision Pro, or Google and their many failed projects like Stadia. Companies that run on razor thin margins can lead to Amazon or Walmart working conditions. The treatment of devs is more the publisher issue with the company not taking care of their own employees.

Could cuts be better for creators? Yes. But, just fixating on cuts is a very simplified metric, and even Epic has shown themselves their inability to dedicate resources operating on the cut they are now that is losing them money and still years later struggling to be nothing more a worse fanatical or humble bundle with a launcher. Which tends to lean towards if you want to offer low cuts being a more simple key reseller storefront is more realistic than trying to maintain an ecosystem off of it and profit, since making a feature rich launcher is turning out to be much harder than thought.

I personally don’t have an issue with Google or Apple doing it. Even GOG does it. And given the state of other launchers it seems more expenses may be necessary than thought to make an ecosystem that is feature rich, pay their employees well, and branch out into other ventures that might not pan out for a long time.

And when it comes to places like Steam or Android it’s not in a locked ecosystems either like Apple, so people aren’t locked to one store like with the PS5 or Nintendo Switch. But, yeah it could be lower, but it just one part of a larger issue.

Citing this article that is upset about lack of Apple support but is silent on lack of Linux support from other launchers while probably using an iPhone that locks out everything compared to Android is funny.

Point is that the alternative isn’t even trying to be a legitimate option. It’s like wanting better streaming options for videos and blockbuster popping up and removing videos from being available on other steaming options.

There’s nothing that can be done when other companies don’t even bother with the new competitor being a billion dollar publicly traded company taking a monopolistic strategy. They aren’t even trying except throw money around to remove options. For there to be competion that is good for consumers the competion has to actually try, but they think just talking about cuts that don’t matter to consumers and taking a monopolistic approach to games is going to bring people who actually spend money.

All these cuts talks are useless when the company hasn’t even proven to have an sustainable actual business model with it not turning a profit. And given trends of other businesses that promise low prices then raise them is one of the least reliable ones. I’m not sure why you are simping for epic and defending them when my point is they aren’t even a good option worth defending like you are. It’s like defending a Walmart that showed up in a town despite all their strategies being more red flags.

I get pushing for gog or itch. But some company just existing doesn’t merit defending if they aren’t bringing value. The defense of them hasn’t been earned. Their end goal seems more suspicious to me. An option just popping up doesn’t entitle it to being defended if they haven’t earned it.

And Epic is a billion dollar company making stuff like unreal engine yet can’t scrap together a launcher that doesn’t feel like it is from decades ago. Or chooses not too. Can’t even put in Linux support despite community efforts like heroic launcher.

You can’t put out a shit product and then cry about why people aren’t buying it. It doesn’t work for any market. Can try to coerce people with monopolistic practices of trying to deny product availability, but that’ll only get you so far.

If anything if your argument is that it is hard then that just seems to bring to question of maybe a low cut actually isn’t realistic if a company wants to make a feature rich launcher and platform if even a billion dollar company is finding it hard to accomplish. But, it seems to me epic is only choosing or only knows the approach of trying to buy their way in and not want to “waste” resources improving anything else and banking on consumers not being able to resist not buying a product epic paid to only be available on their launcher.

That steam didn’t have features is like comparing steam from decades ago. I don’t feel like that is even a valid defense anymore when new smartphone companies are expected to come with a feature filled OS as opposed to pre smartphone expectations. Same for any other products be it televisions, monitors, etc.

Barriers can be brought up, but if someone is introducing the equivalent of a dumb phone to the market to compete against a smartphone and expecting to make money for just existing and only bothering to try to corner the market with removing products then no wonder things are playing out the way they are.

I default to safari with an adblocker for YouTube and bought the sponsorblock extension so can autoskip stuff too.

And even then the same sales around the same time seems very lax with games often going on sale for pre-orders for a steam key that Steam games never get at launch. Most my Steam games are purchased from other storefronts than steam with more frequent sales and faster price drops.

Epic hasn’t given me a reason to buy from them. Fanatical, humble bundle, gmg, etc I find better if the only selling point is price with them having more consistent sales, bundles, and choice of platform.

Epic has done more to make me not consider them an option with their foray into the market being removing Metro Exodus near launch and taking monopolistic approaches to taking the approach of denying games from being sold on other platforms. Not just steam but GOG too with exceptions only being given to owners of the platform.

Monopoly on a platform that they don’t own? That being Microsoft? Then seeing how epic isn’t even profitable on the launcher side and is a loss leader while their launcher is barebones it raises the question of what cut is actually realistic that allows a company to have a feature rich launcher and branch out into stuff like Linux, VR, and Steam Deck.

Current state feels more like Walmart expanding into new territory and trying to lure people with low prices, but isn’t sustainable with the main goal just being expansion.

I don’t watch twitch, but on F-droid for Android there is an app called twire that might be worth checking out.

Makes me think of a Walmart opening up in a town and people arguing that the residents should buy from there because it’s competition. Company just existing doesn’t make it good.

This reads like an epic ad that expects people to buy from epic for just existing. Like arguing people should buy from the new Walmart that opened up in their town because it’s competition.