Patents and You!

Ah, been a while.

So I've been reading up on some of these news articles on how Microsoft is suing Datel and their new cheap alternative controllers known as the Wildfire. Or is it the Turbofire? I can't quite tell, since on their web page it gives a link to purchase the former, and it leads me to the latter. Great way to give the feeling of quality, really.

Anyhow, for a price of $29.99, you get this controller that looks pretty much like the authentic first party peripheral. You also get a nifty Turbo programming option to which the site itself boasts that "single shot pistols in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, become lethal, fully automatic weapons that can empty a clip on an enemy in a second!" As a competitive gamer, this concept is purely disgusting, but that's not the point of this blog.

The issue of course being this lawsuit, and more so the community comments that have appeared in response to said claim. Many of the more vocal gamers have voiced, astonishingly enough, disgust towards Microsoft taking action against the European based company. They're being a bunch of no-good greedy piles of dirt trying to monopolize the market. How could they ever consider such a thing?

You kids (you must be kids, I'm being demeaning at the moment) all need to shut up and think. Or in this case, stop thinking the way you are right now. Yes Microsoft is rich. No, they cannot stop trying to get money. For Microsoft is a business, as amazing as that may seem. Businesses run on pure, undiluted love for the consumer and address their every need, of course. Ah, no they don't. They care for your wallets and whatever feeble contents they might hold. Because they need it. A business is created not solely to serve you the consumer, but to also make the people of that business money, and thus, a living.

So one can argue that Datel is just trying to make a living too. That's quite true, and they have every right to try and do that. However, it should be encouraged that they try to do so by not stealing. Their controller, whatever it's called, is just that, an example of stealing. Unlicensed, and bearing a distinctly similar appearance. Nothing is going to Microsoft, for what is essentially their stuff. Does that sound wrong?

If not, lets put it this way. You all make a book. It's a pretty cool book. So cool, in fact, that I grab a copy, rename all the characters and slightly change their characteristics and their environment while still keeping the story as intact as possible. Then I release it as my own with a marginally cheaper price tag and rake in a hundred times more sales than your book. Are you going to sue me? Bah, stop being greedy.

No really, you all need to stop acting like these companies are evil giants trying to steal all your money. They're just people trying to get money by actually doing something about it. Freeloaders should never be supported, yet you're all crying them out to be the small guy looking in. If none of you see a problem in this, then I fear for this world. It cannot operate on the basis you all seem to expect it to. And yes, I do mean that. It's not just some textbook emotion stirring conclusion thrown in to make me look wise.

One last note, Microsoft going for a monopoly? It's their dang product, they'll do whatever they dang well please. That includes selling it to all you whiny people.

A Complaint Against Complaints

I'm tired of hearing that magical word in the video game world. I'm tired of the pursuit of fair gameplay, and the countless errors the so called fixes bring about. I'm tired of people whining nonstop over certain weapons or moves, and bemoaning the ineffectiveness of others. Everyone is doing it. I'm doing it. Nerf this, buff that. Balance, balance, balance.

What people fail to realize however, is that this is a problem brought upon them by themselves.

Humans, by nature, want more. None of you can honestly say to me (thank goodness for the Internet and it's textual methods of communication) that you wouldn't like a bit more variety. Just one more gun please, maybe one more perk. Oh could I get a new projectile with that? Thanks.

Yet for some reason we seem to never realize that you can't fix a game by adding more stuff to be broken. Add a new character? The whole spectrum of balance is altered. New player class? You've just made another one utterly useless. No, you balance video games not by adding, but by reducing. Less variety, less chance for something to be undesirable. This is especially true for shooters, to which these days comprise of nothing but class based warfare. Get rid of the player classes outright. Make every player start with the same weapons, same ammo, same stats, and make them scavenge from there. This will let you concentrate on only the weapon balancing, and will ensure at least a semblance of balance no matter how badly you screw things up there. This is the method of the video game Doom (had to mention it), which I'd like to boast is now 16 years old, and still has a fairly large gaming community. Of course this doesn't mean emulate Doom, but it makes a great example as to how simplicity lasts.

However, I realize that we'll never be able to go back to the basics in gaming. While some will wholly support it, the majority will cry saying that things just aren't modern enough anymore. I suppose it's all human nature, and we all know how easy that is to fix. Oh how much I would love the day we would be able to nerf cell phones.