Useless gaming news & chatter

[Mandella]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-cheating-on-your-income-taxes-can-lead-to-prison-1426256598

Second Life player goes to the slammer.


Better declare that HEX income, Schild, haha.

Hell, that may still be worth it. Four months minimum security, probably time off early for good behavior, and he still keeps the bulk of the money (which was legally gained, so it's his, short the tax part).

And he has an guaranteed interesting dinner conversation topic for the rest of his life...

[Speedy Cerviche]

guess that depends on if he gets shanked or not.

[Yegolev]

Alternately, do all of those things except the part about not declaring the income?

[Paelos]

If he declares the offshore account and the income, he has no issues.

Pay your taxes people, they ALWAYS find out eventually. It's nigh impossible now with the way bank accounts work to hide income without some friends in high places. And guess what? If they find one thing that's fraud, there's no statute of limitations on them ripping your life wide open. You're never safe from fraud.

[Paelos]

Hell, that may still be worth it. Four months minimum security, probably time off early for good behavior, and he still keeps the bulk of the money (which was legally gained, so it's his, short the tax part).

And he has an guaranteed interesting dinner conversation topic for the rest of his life...

He has to amend his returns. By the time the interest and penalties get done, the bulk of that money is going bye-bye.

[Miasma]

I thought they offered some sort of semi amnesty for those hidden accounts a couple years ago.  Pay your taxes, a smaller fine and they won't burn you to the ground.  I guess he rolled the dice and chose not to take advantage of it.

[HaemishM]

The article said he went with the amnesty thing and filed amended tax returns, but fucked himself when he didn't declare the income from Second Life.

[Selby]

The article said he went with the amnesty thing and filed amended tax returns, but fucked himself when he didn't declare the income from Second Life.

Yup, not completely honest.  If they find any evidence of fraud after you were supposedly completely honest with them, they come back even harder and with a fiery vengeance.  It's best to admit you screwed up the first time and acknowledge it all, saying "oh yeah I forgot about that part..." after you were supposed to be honest gets you in major trouble.

Which is why I never wanted to handle my ex-mother-in-law's tax situations.  She was always doing shady things and not paying here or there, hands off that mess!

[Paelos]

NOTE: The IRS will almost never throw you in jail for working with them.

You get thrown in jail for ignoring them, playing rinky-dink lawyer games with them, or just outright lying to them.

[Mandella]

Alternately, do all of those things except the part about not declaring the income?

Well, yeah! I wasn't defending his business model, only commenting on how light the sentence seemed.

Of course, it's not me going to jail.

And to further comment, if the article is remotely correct it looks like the dummy kept trying to hide things after he was effectively caught. The dummy.

[Torinak]

Hell, that may still be worth it. Four months minimum security, probably time off early for good behavior, and he still keeps the bulk of the money (which was legally gained, so it's his, short the tax part).

And he has an guaranteed interesting dinner conversation topic for the rest of his life...

He has to amend his returns. By the time the interest and penalties get done, the bulk of that money is going bye-bye.

Anyone know if those penalties will include the massive penalties for willful violations for failing to declare foreign accounts (greater of 50% or 100K per violation)? If so, he may not end up with much of anything, or even owe a lot.

[Cyrrex]

Why aren't we talking about how this guy supposedly made a bunch of money on Second Life?  How is that even a thing?  I must have missed something somewhere along the line, because SL is something I've heard almost nothing about over the past 5 or 6 years.

[rk47]

Why aren't we talking about how this guy supposedly made a bunch of money on Second Life?  How is that even a thing?  I must have missed something somewhere along the line, because SL is something I've heard almost nothing about over the past 5 or 6 years.

Cuz no one here considers it a game? More like a ...social online meet up world where you can manufacture custom avatar accessories like dildo, anal plugs, even retractable penis to wear for a real cash.

[Trippy]

Why aren't we talking about how this guy supposedly made a bunch of money on Second Life?  How is that even a thing?  I must have missed something somewhere along the line, because SL is something I've heard almost nothing about over the past 5 or 6 years.

Umm Google "Anshe Chung". There was a period of time where the media wouldn't shut up about her.

[Falconeer]

Paper, Please. Collector Edition.

https://www.gamersedition.com/product/papers-please





 

[Jeff Kelly]

Who are the people that decide that everything has to be like Dark Souls now? Last week has seen at least two separate threads (one on GAF and one on another site I can't recall at the moment) where people complained about Pokemon being to easy and that it would great if it was more difficult and gritty. I get that those people probably never really experienced anything truly difficult until they stumbled upon DS and are now a bit drunk on the realization that difficulty can be fun. The current hive-mind idea that everything has to be more like Dark Souls up to and including a game aimed at kids and preteens is getting a bit ridiculous though. That's like claiming that 'My little Pony' needs to be more like 'Game of Thrones'

I'm also a bit tired of everything even remotely odder or more difficult than the average game being called the "Dark Souls of x". Metroid Prime 2 being called  "The Dark Souls of the Metroid Prime saga" or Zelda: Majora's mask being called the DS of the Zelda series are two of the more egregious examples. We're now at a point we've been before when everyone demanded that games need to be more like 'Call of Duty' and now most games are actually exactly like Call of Duty so 'be careful what you wish for' I guess.

It also makes discussing the merits, shortcomings and generally the mechanics of games that much more tedious since all complaints - even legitimate ones - are only being met with 'just get gud'. You can see it actually with Hotline Miami 2 where a lot of legitimate complaints people have with the game (like enemies killing you from off screen with no chance for you to actually see them) are being met with 'you only have those issues because you are not hardcore enough for the game' replies.

I'm dreading the release of Bloodbourne a bit in that respect. The game can only lose. It probably won't be 'just like Dark Souls' enough for the crowd that really loves Dark Souls and the chance that it will be a significant step in any other direction is slim since there's not really a debate about what DS did great and what it didn't anyway. It will dominate the duiscussion in the upcoming weeks though.

[tmp]

So, DS is the next Ninja Gaiden for people who never played that one?

[Paelos]

Gritty is the new brodude.

[Jeff Kelly]

I'd really like something like 'inside the actor's studio' for games.

Right now everything a game does is rationalized by a certain fraction of the fan base as being intentional and by design and something the designers always wanted to do´right from the start. That sentiment is wrong of course but right now you can't for example even discuss something like Dark Souls or Monster Hunter being obtuse and very inaccessible wiithout people justifying it as 'intentional' and being an 'essential part of the game experience'. Even though it touches parts of the game where nothing would really change if the games simply explained their core mechanics better without you needing a wiki or extensive FAQs to play it.

I wonder how people would discuss those games if they for example knew that something came to be like it is in a game because the developers simply couldn't be bothered or if more people knew that the difficulty of those 'classic' arcade games was mostly so you'd put more quarters into the game not that dissimilar from how free to play works today.

Right now fans tend to turn everything a game they love does into gospel even if changing certain aspects of it wouldn't really change much.

[Paelos]

No company should allow their developers to tell the truth about how they design. Because admitting the disdain they actually have for their customer base, and their total ineptitude in the production process, would be business suicide.

[Teleku]

So, DS is the next Ninja Gaiden for people who never played that one?

Ninja Gaiden is the next Ghost N Goblins for people who never played that?

 

[Falconeer]

Who are the people that decide that everything has to be like Dark Souls now?

Who are the people that decide that platform shoes are back in style?

You know the answer.

With all that said, you should read Schild's 2009 review of Demon's Souls to get some more light about it. Demon's Souls, not Dark Souls, is where the legend begins, and to think that what made that game actually LEGENDARY is not deliberate would mean not having a clear grasp on what set it aside and why. Bloodborne won't lose no matter what as long as it's not a shitty game. The Dark Souls 1 and 2 have already been a step back from what made Demon's Souls special but this didn't hurt it at all. "Discussions will be dominated in the upcoming weeks" but who cares? And ultimately the "gritty" that is often evoked these days doesn't have that much to do with just the D*Souls games. Aesthetics is an interesting topic, and I believe that lots of the things you are complaining about don't really have much to do with one game series, while instead with an evolution of style, taste, preferences, of everything in the past ten years. Game of Thrones is a kind of gritty that owes nothing to D*Souls but wouldn't have been made in a TV show ten years ago. Same for Walking Dead. Or they would have been made very different.

Take movies: the 70s were gritty, but the 80s and the 90s not so much. Why?

When it comes to gaming, I believe lots of the most recent popularity of "hardcore" is a consequence of all the handholding we've been exposed for the past ten years, as tutorials have become huge part of all games and the dumbification of gameplay has become another staple of the 2000s. After enough years, a generation who could only shop for flats starts demanding for platforms. And while handholding was important to globalize gaming and increase the mass-appeal, now "specialists" are tired of being taught things they already know. So Demon's Souls was liberating and cathartic, and to a way lesser degree the same is true now for some people for games which out of contingency (not enough money to make a tutorial) or deliberate choices go for a less user-friendly approach. The DayZ explosion comes to mind. Impossible ten years ago, and not a consequence of D*Souls.

Anyway, the problem are humans. They ingest, digest, and poop it all (and vomit some) into a cream of generic transient likes and dislikes, only to start a new cycle before they have even finished wiping their arses from the previous one. In short, I understand your irritation and can empathise with it but it's ultimately your fault for caring about what the internet says about anything and giving weight to discussions that are weightless and not representative of much. Despite what you say, for a game that seems to be so influential, there's surprisingly very few things like Demon's Souls. Sure, I can see one hive mind lobbying for harder and grittier games, but there's many more pushing for the opposite and they are still winning.

[Maven]

Hey, platform shoes are always in style! Damn it.

I'm a fan. 

I am not surprised that someone deep into video games would minimize / ignore the complaints of others by telling them "Well, I <like / enjoy / can deal with> <poor mechanics / bad art / inhuman difficulty>, so the problem must be with you."

[Lantyssa]

Platform shoes are an abomination on the level of square nails.

You should feel bad for liking them.

[Falconeer]

New video of EVE Valkyrie. I don't believe this will ever come out, but the video is fantastic.



And Maven, I minimize Jeff complaints because while it seems like he doesn't enjoy the tone of certain discussions happening somewhere else, it's not like gaming is really going where he's afraid it's going. Seems like he's complaining that SOME people on the Internet called him names for playing Pokemon, not that companies are quitting to make Pokemon games. And to that, I say "why do you care what some dudes, actually a minority of dudes, think?"

Seems to me you are kind of comparing my behaviour to the typical cyberbullism where nothing ever matters and everyone steps over other people's issues because "who cares!" and "not my problem!". Since I'd hoped you knew me better at this point, you should know that I assumed Jeff complaints weren't particulary intense in nature or personal issues that he cares a lot about and are very emotionally meaningful to him. Also difficult to associate disagreeing about games genres to any form of systematic oppression. But if he meant any of that in that fashion, then you know I'd like to know more about it and I'd certainly apologise for missing the point entirely.

I am a big fan of platform shoes too, by the way. I hate when they go away and all those who used to buy them say they were ugly and "what was I thinking?!" only to get them again when society says they are in style again. Over and over. I didn't say Jeff sucks. I just said he seemed to care too much about other people's opinion especially in a time when he can actually buy all kind of shoes and games he likes and the worst that can happen to him is that some idiot will call him "carebear".

[Lucas]

"Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders" is now on GOG (together with, among others, Loom and The Dig, which were already available on Steam, anyway):

http://www.gog.com/game/zak_mckracken_and_the_alien_mindbenders

I can't really express how much I love Zak Mckracken; I remember my 11 years old self coming back from the store back in 1989  with my copy for the Atari ST, and stare in awe and anticipation at the colourful cover and that newspaper (National Inquisitor) page replica inside, which I couldn't really understand because it was in this strange language called english. It was also my "real" introduction to the "SCUMM" system, since I hated (and still do) Maniac Mansion.

[tmp]

So, DS is the next Ninja Gaiden for people who never played that one?

Ninja Gaiden is the next Ghost N Goblins for people who never played that?

 

Fuck Ghosts N Goblins, I was suppressing the memory 

[Jeff Kelly]

I'm not complaining and no one has called me anything for playing Pokemon (probably because I don't play it). It wasn't even meant as a slight against Demon's Souls or Dark Souls because I'm not hating those games. I don't really get why my reply struck such a cord with you that you had to step in and defend Demon's Souls honor. I simply claimed that a sensible discussion of such games is now impossible because of people getting very defensive about any and all perceived slights against their beloved franchises and you went on to prove my point by seemingly getting very defensive about those games.

We are in useless gaming news and chatter and my contribution wasn't meant as anything more than useless chater in the first place.

My problem doesn't lie with games being difficult, I grew up on arcade games of the eighties. It also doesn't lie with people liking difficult games because more power to them. I also don't have a problem when people express their wishes and hope that more games come out that offer the same or similar challenges because why not. The more and the more diverse games come out the better.

A trend I noticed though is that a certain very vocal fraction of people  don't really want more games that are challenging - like Demon's Souls was challenging. What they want instead is that existing franchises become more like Demon's Souls or Dark Souls. This notion has become so ridiculously canonized now that those people regularly derail threads about existing or upcoming releases by making it all about how franchise X should be more like Demon's Souls. The flip side is that any discussion about those games quickly turns into a dick measuring contest about which person is the most hardcore and who is able to finish the most games on the hardest difficulty settings.

Which would be alright if it wouldn't regularly be used to police and shut down discussions by claiming that those games are flawless and that every issue you have with a particular game just comes from you not being hardcore enough. Which ultimately helps no one because the majority of the market doesn't care and never has and will continue to buy the big AAA titles. All they manage is to alienate the faction of players that are on the fence but who are by and large enthusiastic enough that they engage in the discussion. Pushing those games even further into their respective niches instead of making challenging gameplay more mainstream.

The Pokemon thread just struck a cord with me because of the ridiculousness of that claim.

[Kail]

I'd really like something like 'inside the actor's studio' for games.

With the rise of stuff like crowdfunding and the popularity of game streams and social media, I think we're seeing a lot more of this kind of thing.  It's just not centralized or organized.  For example, here's a bunch of System Shock 2 devs streaming a playthrough (as part of their Underworld Ascendant kickstarter push)
http://www.twitch.tv/otherside_entertainment/b/629633697

[Rendakor]

I'm not complaining and no one has called me anything for playing Pokemon (probably because I don't play it). It wasn't even meant as a slight against Demon's Souls or Dark Souls because I'm not hating those games. I don't really get why my reply struck such a cord with you that you had to step in and defend Demon's Souls honor. I simply claimed that a sensible discussion of such games is now impossible because of people getting very defensive about any and all perceived slights against their beloved franchises and you went on to prove my point by seemingly getting very defensive about those games.

The problem is that you're trying to discuss Pokemon (or whatever) on internet shitholes.

[Velorath]

Last week has seen at least two separate threads (one on GAF

Found your problem.

Edit: Also, after six generations of Pokemon games and countless releases, I don't think it would be a bad thing for someone if not Nintendo to do a more difficult Pokemon-style game with perhaps a more adult aesthetic.

[Cyrrex]

I am not sure if I am following this conversation correctly, but let's get this out there right now:  Demon Souls is objectively great, and anyone who doesn't think so is just wrong.  It doesn't mean you have to like it.  It is possible to dislike something and still recognize it as great. 

And also, while all the DS games are "gritty", and I personally love their grotesque brand of grittiness, it isn't even remotely that fact that makes them great.  It could be cel shaded graphics full of ponies and rainbows, and it would still be great.  Hell, that would probably make them sell better than they already do.

[Yegolev]

I'm not sure if this is the actual origin, but Demon's Souls was not the origin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPspfM8S2fU

[Falconeer]

Oh I know about King's Field, but Demon's Souls is the "origin" of some of the harsh (heh) gritty stuff we discuss these days. While King's Field was definitely not a common game even back then, it was less uncommon in its days than Demon's Souls when it came out fifteen years later.

About Jeff Kelly, you started with:

Who are the people that decide that everything has to be like Dark Souls now?

No one.

Then you went on with:

Last week has seen at least two separate threads (one on GAF and one on another site I can't recall at the moment) where people complained about Pokemon being to easy and that it would great if it was more difficult and gritty.

Two separate threads on two different message boards represent what, other than a very small number of irrelevant people?

Without going on with too much quoting, I didn't mean to dissect your posts -as much as I didn't mean to defend the D*Souls games as I didn't think you were attacking them-. I tagged along with you on the Useless Chatter wagon only to tell you that, in my opinion, you were yelling at the moon. Not even the moon, just a very tiny photograph of the moon pinned on the wall of one of your favourite bars.

Ultimately you say:

Which would be alright if it wouldn't regularly be used to police and shut down discussions by claiming that those games are flawless and that every issue you have with a particular game just comes from you not being hardcore enough. Which ultimately helps no one because the majority of the market doesn't care and never has and will continue to buy the big AAA titles. All they manage is to alienate the faction of players that are on the fence but who are by and large enthusiastic enough that they engage in the discussion.

Seems to me that you are saddened by the poor intelligence of your conversation partners on gaming websites, and their baseless, brainless, arrogant statements on what is supposed to be good and what is not. I don't mean to be snarky, but I really don't get it: seriously?
I also don't mean to summon Maven by saying "this is fuckin videogames and videogame people!", because no it's not like everything can pass since this broad community is mostly idiotic, and I strongly believe that shit that is NOT OK has to be called out. I'm the resident SJW here, am I not?
But people's tastes, dick contests about who's more hardcore? People not being objective about good and bad games? Who cares? Why do YOU even care?

[Signe]

What???



Yum!