This generation has seen the dumbing-down of products and services to an outrageous degree and the sad thing is that people are stupid enough to justify it. A company puts out a crap-game and instead of thinking carefully and wisely to ensure a quality product, they just patch it later on if there are problems they feel like dealing with. Why even finish a game to AAA quality if you can just patch it later? Look at some of the terrible games and products that were the result of poor planning, which we as consumers have to deal with:
- a number of multi-platform games made for the PS3 (and some for the 360) in which some were patched later on, and some were given the big Fork You (case in point, EA's/Valve's treatment of patching their PS3 games)
- the strap for Nintendo's controller, which has probably broken more glass and bruised more people than a hillbilly wedding reception.
- Red. Ring. O'. Death. 'Nuff said.
This in reality is bigger then a petty Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo squabble: this
sub-par release of junk just to be sort-of fixed later is the future of
products worldwide... or have you already forgotten about the lead/drugs/werewolves (kidding on the last one) in
children's toys from China? Or how it seems that whole crops of food
are getting salmonella every once in a while, grown from sub-par
techniques? Anyways, back to games.
It's like they just sucker you out of your money, you get upset and then they go "there, there; I'll fix it for you AS MANY TIMES AS IT BREAKS. You don't even have to pay for it, if it breaks the way I say it should break." Wrong! I had to pay for it when I bought it, I'm just not GETTING WHAT I PAID FOR. I lose money on my investment if I have to Wait for a game patch, get my HDTV replaced because of the controller flying out of my hand, or have to wait for a console to return, only to turn around and replace it again in a few weeks.
I don't know if the thicker-headed fanboys (read: people me) are grasping the seriousness of the situation, but maybe if I place the quality level on another product, perhaps people may see the difference. Okie-dokey, here goes:
Let's say Midas sold a new line of breaks and twenty million people bought them, but out of the first ten million one out of three people had their master cylinder malfunction, causing the breaks not to work at all. Now, not all of the three million people who experienced failure actually died, many were just mangled, or were injured. Midas puts out a statement that in fact that it was only 200,000 people who actually were injured, killed or mangled, not three million, and that those 200,000 people were a low enough number to call it "not a big deal and people are blowing it out of proportion". But later on, many people start to complain, news articles start to pop-up out of nowhere stating that millions of people were mangled, or injured. After being outed by a company survey close to Midas, Midas finally puts out a statement stating that they will start up a replacement program to fix the breaks... except they never actually fix the breaks in a manner that will prevent the same thing from happening again.
Identify occult plants in a Lake District shop. Strange Horticulture is a puzzle-narrative hybrid where every identification matters. Get a plant wrong and the story branches toward darker outcomes. The gothic atmosphere is genuine rather than decorative. Proof that cosy games can have real stakes without losing their warmth.
Place hexagonal tiles to build countryside landscapes. Dorfromantik is pure calm in puzzle form. No timer, no failure state, just an expanding countryside that rewards thoughtful placement. The board game adaptation proves the concept translates across media. Now on every platform, it remains the most meditative game in the cosy canon.
Climb a mountain, find feathers, talk to animals. A Short Hike is the case for short games, made perfectly. Every NPC interaction is optional but rewarding. The flight mechanic makes traversal feel joyful rather than functional. Ninety minutes that leave a longer impression than most forty-hour campaigns.
you cant compare this to brakes in a car, at least thats what i think you mean by 'breaks'. Faulty brakes in a car could be life threatening, the ring of death is just annoying, and could never threaten your life.
You need to get over it and realise your just talking about a games console. You didnt have to get one if they cause you this much stress.
I made the analogy because a baby has actually died from the XboX...
http://www.informationweek....
and it caused fires
http://www.theinquirer.net/...
http://www.llamma.com/xbox/...
http://cbs11tv.com/investig...
The 360 hasn't been linked to any deaths yet, but still the 360 is linked to at least one fire.
http://www.engadget.com/200...
So no, it's more than "annoying", it's deadly; and it's stupid to ignore things that can potentially kill people inside of their homes; that's like ignoring that one dude with the hockey mask and chainsaw when he sits down at your breakfast table.
So yeah, I did a *little* research before I wrote this. Not a lot, because it's my blog and no one's paying me; so as far as I've researched, it's true.
And secondly, I just wanted to "drive home" the word breaking (pun intended). On top of that, I didn't want to directly sully Midas because as far as I know they do a great job with brakes. I didn't want to have that word come back and bite me in the buns if this somehow got high on the google charts for some odd reason; so that was my creative solution. Since you put the word down, though, that's out of the window. Since it can't be changed, it just has to stay.
Mark Twain was known to say “Anyone who can only think of only one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination.”
Win, Nugyen, when. Sounds all the same... well, close enough.
So yeah, since you said that, perhaps American educational system might be a little more useful than to make students consume and regurgitate facts without using the thought process to see if something deeper, even if a little, might be there. Next time though, try to see how a word is being used in a story... it might broaden your perspective... although I did spell "then" in the second paragraph incorrectly, but when in doubt, see Mark Twain. :P
I get this from a guy who spells his name "Truplaya". What a world. :D
Ok, fair enough. You find the reliability of the xbox 360 a problem, dont buy one then.
Its not like you might need one to get to work, like you would a car.
Its a luxury item not a necessity, that was my point.
More people die from eating peanut butter or from household accidents in other ways each year than people who have had a 360 set on fire.
many laptops have been filmed bursting into flames too, and a 3G iPhone recently burnt someone when they left it charging; but you dont mention that.
Seems like another fanboy rant to me, but an educated, well researched one.