Useless gaming news & chatter

[Soulflame]

That USA Today article has strong "How do you do fellow kids" energy.

[Trippy]

Ubisoft is going to sell NFT cosmetics for Ghost Recon Breakpoint that are also on a blockchain.  Or something.

I dunno, it seems real dumb and buzzwordy.  Which means they'll probably make a lot of money from idiots spending cash on pants that they don't own and will probably have less than 0 value even while the game is running.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/ubisofts-first-nft-plans-make-no-sense/

From the sound of it they're not even unique cosmetics, just "pants" with a serial number on them, which is what supplies the uniqueness.  Also a history of who owned that cosmetic, because I do want to know if my pants were owned by xXx MuhBalzOnUrFaec xXx or whatever the cool kids are naming themselves these days.

You'll need to setup a crypto-wallet for this, with Kukai and Temple being the supported ones by Ubisoft Connect. Not having used a crypto-wallet before (don't own any Bitcoin or the like) it's all a bit confusing[1] and the Quartz account linkage workflow is a bit wonky[2] but I appear to have successfully claimed / acquired my first NFT[3]. Go me?

Apparently all the M4A1 rifles have been claimed now (limited to 3000). I have less than 200 hours played so I'm not going to be able to attempt to get the helmet (needs >= 600 hours) but I may be able to get the pants (>= 100 hours) if I'm quick enough.

[1] Like how is my wallet's account seed phrase secure if the other side knows it?
[2] E.g. had to go back a few steps to get accounts linked after setting up a wallet
[3] After the claim period ends, it shows in my Quartz account as claimed but not in my actual wallet yet

[Rendakor]

Heh, Ubisoft took their Quartz announcement video down cause it was getting disliked bombed.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/ubisoft-nfts-announcement-dislikes

I didn't think you could see dislikes on Youtube anymore.

[Rasix]

Life.. uh.. found a way.

[Trippy]

The public API to fetch dislike counts is still active so people have written browser extensions and the like to redisplay that info. YouTube has said that API will be turned off in a couple of weeks so enjoy that data while it lasts.

[Trippy]

The Unreal 5 interactive tech demo The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience is available now to play if you have a current-gen console (PS5 or Xbox Series X/S) -- sorry no PC version.

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/wakeup

Here's a video of the demo / "gameplay" if you can't play it or don't want to bother with the (large) download: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izpSH6LUpm4

[schild]

Ubisoft is going to sell NFT cosmetics for Ghost Recon Breakpoint that are also on a blockchain.  Or something.

I dunno, it seems real dumb and buzzwordy.  Which means they'll probably make a lot of money from idiots spending cash on pants that they don't own and will probably have less than 0 value even while the game is running.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/12/ubisofts-first-nft-plans-make-no-sense/

From the sound of it they're not even unique cosmetics, just "pants" with a serial number on them, which is what supplies the uniqueness.  Also a history of who owned that cosmetic, because I do want to know if my pants were owned by xXx MuhBalzOnUrFaec xXx or whatever the cool kids are naming themselves these days.

You'll need to setup a crypto-wallet for this, with Kukai and Temple being the supported ones by Ubisoft Connect. Not having used a crypto-wallet before (don't own any Bitcoin or the like) it's all a bit confusing[1] and the Quartz account linkage workflow is a bit wonky[2] but I appear to have successfully claimed / acquired my first NFT[3]. Go me?

Apparently all the M4A1 rifles have been claimed now (limited to 3000). I have less than 200 hours played so I'm not going to be able to attempt to get the helmet (needs >= 600 hours) but I may be able to get the pants (>= 100 hours) if I'm quick enough.

[1] Like how is my wallet's account seed phrase secure if the other side knows it?
[2] E.g. had to go back a few steps to get accounts linked after setting up a wallet
[3] After the claim period ends, it shows in my Quartz account as claimed but not in my actual wallet yet

Bad trippy

[Trippy]

[Setanta]

I seriously thought that NFTs were a joke. Now I'm starting to think that Wonko the Sane was right!

[Sky]

Elex II got a release date of March 1 2022!

[Trippy]

February is going to be big month for new releases -- get your wallets ready!

A partial list:

Feb 04 - Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Feb 08 - Sifu
Feb 11 - Lost Ark
Feb 17 - Total War: Warhammer 3
Feb 18 - Horizon: Forbidden West
Feb 22 - Destiny 2: The Witch Queen
Feb 25 - Elden Ring

[Hawkbit]

March has Tiny Tina, too.

I'm not sure which to get, HFW or Elden Ring. HZD was my only platinum trophy but I've tried playing it again and just... can't. I'm worried the sequel will remind me too much of the first.

On the flip side, getting my dick kicked again and again in Elden Ring sounds pretty meh, too. Not sure what to do.

[schild]

February is going to be big month for new releases -- get your wallets ready!

A partial list:

Feb 04 - Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Feb 08 - Sifu
Feb 11 - Lost Ark
Feb 17 - Total War: Warhammer 3
Feb 18 - Horizon: Forbidden West
Feb 22 - Destiny 2: The Witch Queen
Feb 25 - Elden Ring

So, elden ring

[01101010]

The Witch Queen? 

[Velorath]

Elden Ring I’ll get. Horizon possibly as a “I haven’t played a game on my PS5 since Returnal” thing.

[Trippy]

No Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart?

[Teleku]

Horizon was great, so I'm in for the follow up.  Elden Ring a priority buy also.

[Velorath]

No Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart?

I was somewhat tempted but I've never bought a R&C game. Just never been my thing.

[Phildo]

Team Total War checking in.  Also in on Horizon and Ratchet & Clank.

[Sky]

Only release I'm currently aware of that I'm looking forward to in Q1 is Elex II (March 1st). HFW is a likely purchase, but not until (if) it's released on Steam.

I'm really stoked for Elex II, every iteration they improve on the Gothic formula and thus far the 2nd in each series (Gothic 2, Risen 2) have been my favorites.

[Draegan]

I'll be buying Lost Ark.

[Khaldun]

I'll do Elden Ring and probably Forbidden West.

[Falconeer]

I am getting all three (Lost Ark, Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West) plus Gran Turismo 7 in March. Where I'll find the time to play them is unclear, but buying them is inevitable.

[Hawkbit]

https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-activision-blizzard-buy-acquisition-acquired

Xbox has announced a deal to buy Activision Blizzard, the company behind Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and many other major gaming franchises.

Announced on Xbox Wire, the deal means Xbox now owns the likes of Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and much more. CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer announced that all Activision Blizzard companies would report to him after the deal is closed.

As expected, Spencer says Xbox will include "as many Activision Blizzard games as we can" in the Xbox Game Pass services. No word has been made about turning the likes of Call of Duty or other mega-franchises into Xbox exclusives, but with the likes of Bethesda's Starfield becoming a first-party exclusive, it feels more than possible.

A separate press release added that not only does this acquisition bolster Microsoft's gaming business, but that it "will provide building blocks for the metaverse." After the deal closes, Microsoft will become the world's third-largest gaming business by revenue after Tencent and Sony.

Microsoft is going to own all of gaming at this rate.

[Khaldun]

I'm sure they're going to clean out the C-suite over there, but it's really just a big clumsy behemoth being bought by an even bigger clumsy behemoth, I'm not sure it'll make a huge difference at the ground level with their product.

[Zetor]

Now they just need to buy EA so they can merge all those AAA shooter franchises together to immanentize the eschaton, or something.

[Soulflame]

Now they just need to buy EA so they can merge all those AAA shooter franchises together to immanentize the eschaton, or something.

Great, now I'm pondering how the requirement for red heifers to be sacrificed to kick off the end of the world may relate back to energy drinks.

Who knew it meant gamers drinking red bull while playing a crossover of Halo and CoD.

[Trippy]

Microsoft is going to own all of gaming at this rate.

Depending on when and how you count Sony is still larger by video game revenue compared to the combined companies though it's unknown how much of Sony's video game revenue is licensing fees which would decrease if / when any of Activision's games go Microsoft-only.

https://www.alltopeverything.com/top-10-biggest-video-game-companies/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_publisher#Rankings

[Sky]

The only gamer who understood!

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-28-ubisoft-gamers-dont-get-what-nfts-could-do-for-them

"I think gamers don't get what a digital secondary market can bring to them," Pouard said.

"For now, because of the current situation and context of NFTs, gamers really believe it's first destroying the planet, and second just a tool for speculation. But what we [at Ubisoft] are seeing first is the end game. The end game is about giving players the opportunity to resell their items once they're finished with them or they're finished playing the game itself."

[Trippy]

Stlll doesn't make any sense since you don't need to use cryptocurrencies to do any of that. And Ubisoft puts so many restrictions on what you can do with their NFTs that they aren't really NFTs in the common usage of the term, currently. E.g. you can't sell your NFTs to just anybody (buyer has to have a Ubisoft Connect account and a wallet linked to Quartz), if your account gets banned you lose your Quartz NFTs, and there's probably a bunch of other reasons Ubisoft can take back their NFTs if they feel like it. The only thing they gain by making them NFTs is they didn't need to make their own marketplace platform.

[Sky]

Finally looking like we're inching to DirectStorage: https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-directstorage-windows-pc-113503431.html

Can't come soon enough, hope it really takes off and kills that ancient bottleneck!

[Trippy]

After 5 long years of intensive development from Nintendo's crack team of software engineers they've finally released for the Switch UI...folders.

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/58092/~/how-to-create-groups-of-software

Hopefully Playstation's crack team of software engineers won't take as long to add folders to the PS5 UI (which the PS4 UI had from the beginning).

[schild]

After 5 long years of intensive development from Nintendo's crack team of software engineers they've finally released for the Switch UI...folders.

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/58092/~/how-to-create-groups-of-software

Hopefully Playstation's crack team of software engineers won't take as long to add folders to the PS5 UI (which the PS4 UI had from the beginning).

Amazing, just yesterday I was browsing through all games and was like "this experience is dogshit, i need a picross folder"

[Sky]

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-rtx-4080-pcb-ad102-ada-lovelace-gpu-24-gb-gddr6x-memory-600w-tdp/

600W and one chart lists the top end card as possibly 850W TDP?

I've got my 3090 throttled to 300W (it will pull ~370 if unthrottled) due to the poor Dell PSU placement right on top of the gddr6x which runs hot already. I can't imagine stuffing double the juice through it, let alone what that would do to your utility bills.

Nvidia needs to have a serious reboot of their architecture. I still prefer them over AMD but it's getting ridiculous, if not irresponsible.

[Cyrrex]

They may as well be announcing their line of eleventybillion80ti cards for all that it matters.