Sony and Microsoft rumoured to restrict used games. Blasphemy? Not even close...

 I know I haven't kept up with the blog much lately, but with good reasons (moving, doctor visits, work, you know...life......................) But there's one topic I feel that needs to be addressed, and though not completely major to some, it's a perspective that needs to be looked at carefully.

 

So... Next gen consoles are (rumored) to be restricting used games you say? 

Good.

Think I'm an ass for thinking that? look at it this way, currently new games are running at $60 a pop, compared to $30-40 from a few years ago. why? used game stores (i.e Gamestop, Just Press Play, etc.)... Why is this significant? prepare to be learned.

We'll use Gamestop as an example (seeing how they're the most popular/widespread). Notice that Gamestop keeps their new games section limited and small. They make a maximum of $0.89 profit on new games, so why go big on it? Say you beat a game and don't wanna keep it anymore (or whatever reason), so you decide to trade it in. Gamestop gives you, say, $15 for it, right? They then turn around and slap a $40 price tag on it, and then advertise it used for $40 vs new for $60. great deal isnt it? not how you think though. Gamestop just made ~120% profit and the developers of the game didn't see a penny.

Look at it from a developer's POV for a sec. On average, 1-out-of-3 games that are developed today actually support the developers. What do Imean by that? Developers only profit from 1/3 or less of the actual number of game sales for 1 individual game. Now, imagine 500,000 total copies of a game are sold in a year. It's safe to assume that approximately 160,000 were sold as new copies. At $60 per game, developers only saw $9,600,000 instead of what should have been $30,000,000. think $9,600,000 is enough though? with payroll, equipment, publishing fees, etc, youre looking at a roughly $25 Million budget, and just lost money. ($16,400,000 loss in this case over the course of a year... idc who you are, $16,400,000 is A LOT...) This bit of info, btw, is exactly why THQ went under, Nintendo cut the "Nintendo Power" classic magazine, Capcom has been cutting close to bankruptcy, Square-Enix has been treading carefully and spent almost 3 years staying silent, and also why you constantly see so many DLCs for games now, including Mass Effect 3's infamous release-day DLC...

Now look at it another way. over time, developers regain profit, and once again can afford to make quality games again. $60 for new games suddenly become $40 again (or about $45 to adjust for inflation, but whatever) and games are once again worth the price tag.

Now, where does that leave us, the consumers, in this console war? Do we upgrade to the Playstation 4 or Xbox "720" (or whatever they're gonna call it) and bite the bullet on the price of a new system with the restrictions? Abso-fucking-lutely... And besides what I have listed above, look at a real-world (outside of gaming) perspective on this.

According to Forbes in 2009 (I believe that's the year anyway), the video game industry has a decent impact on the world's economy (similar to how smartphones have an impact on it) due to worldwide trading from major publishers. Just remember, in that regard, that not every company is from one country/location. Like Bethesda Studios (Dishonored, Fallout 3, Skyrim, etc) is based out of Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Square-Enix Ltd. (Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts, etc.) and Capcom Co. Ltd. (Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Street Fighter, Lost Planet, etc.) are based out of Tokyo, Japan. And Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA Sports/EA Games) (Madden NFL series, FIFA series, Crysis, Mass Effect, etc.) is actually based out of 2 locations, Redwood City, California, USA and Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Just to name a few.

Keeping that in mind, it's no wonder why the global economy relies in part of the video game industry (obviously among PLENTY of other industries, but it's still a good portion) to help level out the economy, and this is a step towards recovery. Don't get me wrong, it's FAR from an overnight effect, but just remember that everything takes time for both an adjustment period and a financial effect. This is a step in the right direction, assuming consumers/gamers (such as myself) don't try to counter it too much, because otherwise, things will begin to backfire and nobody neither side will benefit at all.

Is it a risky move on Sony and Microsoft's part? No question. 

Is it a small (maybe even microscopic) effect on both local and global economic recovery? Absolutely.

But just remember one major thing, and it's something that most Americans fail to realize on a consistent basis... Every small step counts. If, for a political example, 75% or more Americans want the president out of office for whatever reason, they can do that. All it takes is a phone call, and your opinion will be counted. Once enough people make that call, then it will go to the government, and action will follow. HOWEVER, many, if not most, will shrug it off and think something along the lines of "eh, I think we need a new president, cause this one is screwing things up, but I'm sure other people will make a stand or something and change will happen, so it's all good..." (aka, not doing anything because they think that other people will do it instead so their "tiny little voice" wont make a difference...) and it doesn't work that way. Why? It's more or less like an ant colony. If you see just a couple ants walking by, it's just...eh...whatever... but when you see a whole army of ants coming towards you, you pack up your picnic and get the fuck out of there... In this case, it's not just one or 2 voices that speak out, it's an entire fleet of voices that they would be worried about.

 Now that we've gone a bit off topic, lets bring it back to the gaming industry.

 Put the political example into play here. Yes, you could switch the government with Sony and/or Microsoft and still have the same thing play out, but in this case, again, remember when I said that it would backfire on both sides simultaneously. Sony loses millions, Microsoft loses millions, and remember, both companies don't focus ONLY on video games... Sony Entertainment (which is also responsible for several major movies and movie studios, as well as media equipment for both residential and big/small businesses) would suffer all around if that were to happen, and Microsoft (who obviously runs Windows operating systems, which you're probably using right now to read this blog, among other services such as Windows Phone 7 and 8, Microsoft Office programs for all businesses, as well as supporting colleges, universities, and other post-secondary institutions) would take a decent hit as well. 

At this point, I do have to say a few things. 1) No, I don't work for, or in any way affiliate with either company... 2) I'm not saying to buy either system if you don't actually want them... However, I am saying that if you refuse to get either system for the sole reason of restriscting used games, then 1) you're kind've an idiot, and 2) you have to look at it from every angle. So it might make a decent dent in your wallet, alright, THAT I understand more than you might think, but look at it long term.

 Also look at the past. I mentioned earlier that games used to be about $40-50 just a few years ago. Why? For one, the economy didn't fucking suck so bad... But for 2, companies could afford it. People were going out and buying new over used more often then they are now for whatever reason they had. Now, Gamestop's stock alone jumped up by about 10% within one year around 2010, then leaped another 20% over the course of 2011. As of 2012 and so far in 2013, it's dropped back to normal from the rumors, and they adapted smart phones and Apple *gags* products, which goes against what Gamestop stood for for all these years. Gamestop refuses to sell any next-gen games if this gets implimented for the new systems, and it further proves that Gamestop doesn't actually want any new games anymore. Just Press Play though, for example, will gladly sell next-gen games though, and don't resort to going outside of video games. So this actually opens another idea. Will this open the door for new video game based companies? Maybe, and not only would that idea create new jobs, but it would also add to supporting more small businesses, thus expanding even more down the road. 

Even if all this didn't make much sense to you, just leave with this in mind: There are MUCH greater benefits down the road if/when Sony and/or Microsoft impliment the restrictions on used games. Would this ban all used games? nope. But there will be a fee of some sort to access a used game. This not only benefits the developers and the publishing companies, thus benefiting the gamers themselves, but it also adds an extra step towards piracy, which has lately become a significant issue in the industry itself. All I'm saying, in a nutshell, is to give it hope, and don't completely count it out. There's always a reason a method behind a company's madness, and in this case, it's to benefit all sides of the equation. Now get back out there and game your ass off!    

 

 

 

 

(Tags: Sony, Microsoft, Play, Station, Playstation, 3, 4, 360, 720, Xbox, used, games, video, gaming, game, gamestop, just, press, play, new, restrict, ban, ps3, ps4)   

Heart, Determination, and Accepting That Everything Has a Purpose

So, I was browsing around Reddit as I do regularly, and came across this comment (listed under /r/bestof) and got to thinking about my own past...

First off, here's the post: http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/rr0bl/im_not_really_sure_if_i_should_ask_this_question/c47zg09

Reading through it, it reminded me of what I've been through over the past 5 years alone... Admittedly, it's nowhere NEAR as bad as mushpuppy had it, but being homeless for, fortunately, only a year, it gets REALLY hard to have a positive outlook on life...

Going back a bit to my own life, in 2001, only days before 9/11, I lost my grandfather to cancer. He was really the only one who saw the potential I had in life when nobody else in my family saw even a hint in it, and always encouraged me to smile through the bullshit and never forget my heart. Sadly, it took until my uncle, the only other family member that really cared about me similarly to the way my grandfather did, passed away to truly see what my grandfather and uncle were always pushing me to do. Why did it take so long? I let myself get caught up in my family's crap...

Just a little side story/rant I need to explain real quick on what happened with the event of my uncle's passing to make it so drastic that it made that much of an effect on me.

It was early July, I had returned to school from a short summer break (I was living on campus of a post-HS school in Pittsburgh, PA) and got a call 3 hours after returning from my dad. He informed me that my uncle had passed 2 weeks ago (yes, legit, 2 weeks later...) and didn't want to tell me until after I had returned from Maryland on my 4 week break so I can get settled in and shit... After 2 hours of snapping all shit for him lying to my entire family, telling them he already told me and that I had requested that nobody else mention it for a while just so he can tell me himself the way he saw fit... Hell, he called me ON HIS WAY BACK FROM THE FUNERAL...

But I digress.... (sorry, i had to let it out...)

Anywho, at this point I had finally realized that it was time to do things on my own, after several hours of sitting in the dark, thinking about how many other bullshit stories and lies I was told over the years, and came to the conclusion that I've been raised based on lies, and I never had any need to follow my own heart until now. Almost ironically, only a few months later, I met who is now my fiance', and we decided to live together roughly 7-8 months later.

As if the constant reminder of my grandfather and uncle's passing, both my fiance' and I lost yet another family member, and everything freefalled from there.

Just over the past few months in itself, we both have gone through major financial issues, living with an old friend who turned out to just use us the whole time, and now we live in an apartment that my own family put money towards to get us started. The best part? They flat out lied about multiple things about the apartment that now puts us in an even deeper financial rutt...

Backtracking to me being homeless, and I won't bore you with the details on why unless anyone wants to hear it, let me know and I will make this little paragraph an edit instead.

During the year I was homeless in 2009, I had almost given up all hope on anything shaping up. Keep in mind as well, that at this point I just turned 19 and got kicked out only 10 days AFTER my 19th birthday... I eventually met someone who really showed me that, despite the full amount of bullshit, life always had a meaning, and to never give up fighting no matter what happens. (and this was coming from a guy with multiple injuries and mental conditions, and also gladly called himself a walking pharmacy at the time and has fully accepted his borderline insanity, basically...)

Some of you may actually know this guy too lol...

Long story short, with my own little back story, and MushPuppy's as well, always remember to follow your heart and find your passion. Never let go, Never give up, Never surrender.

The moment you lose hope, is the moment you lose sanity... Always remember that someone, somewhere will always have it better, no matter what situation you're in, but also that someone, somewhere, will always have it MUCH worse too... If you keep with what you're passionate about, and always follow your heart, no wall is too much to climb... Everything happens for a reason, there's no doubt about that, but never forget it. The reasons may not be obvious all the time, but they will be before you know it...

Think of it this way... Imagine of the total douche of a boss you have had died YEARS before you met him. How different would your ENTIRE life be AFTER the moment you met him?

Once you realize that things will always get better at one way or another, you will then realize that life is never worth giving up, and everything is worth fighting for.



~In Loving Memory~
Wilbur Shaw sr. - R.I.P. 2001
Butch Trantham jr. - R.I.P.  2010
Walter Weihrauch - R.I.P. 2011
~Never Forgotten~

Who you are and what you learn.

So, I've been seeing a lot more articles on bullying in schools, and most of them are basically doing nothing about it. In fact, a common mindset I've noticed in quite a few of the articles have been along the lines of "eh...it'll blow over..."

Bullshit.

But I've also been thinking of an interesting solution...

A friend of mine is in online classes for college. One of the things set up is a message board (forum) for the classes. What if public schools became more like these? Now, understandably, it'd be next to impossible to get it passed due to people saying "oh, well, the kids need peer-to-peer relationships in person, not online" for a good number of reasons I'm sure you can come up with on your own, along with the obvious issue of a lot of homes unable to afford internet (although some home school programs will actually pay the internet bills, so if that could be set up too then there ya go...)

But assume for a minute that public schooling suddenly changed to a mixture of home schooling and online colleges. Class discussion and lectures would take place on a message board, where everyone can get their point across, everyone can fully understand the material (along with the easier ability to take notes, and also more effectively at that), and of course, as mentioned earlier, the idea of bullying would nearly cease to exist. I'm sure that some way some kids will still find ways to pull it off, but it also would be a stupid idea to even try because of the monitoring and moderation of the sites, and since Facebook and Google+ want to incorporate everything into everyones lives, there will always be proof of the act, so it would be much easier managed.

Kids would also be able to judge people only on their personalities, and by judge, I mean more along the lines of getting to know people, not only by their ideas and participation, but also by the way they show their personalities as well, being that most kids wouldn't feel the need to bottle up their own selves into a shell. There would be no shell to break out of eventually because there wouldn't be one there to begin with.

Everyone would be able to participate and interact the same ways as they would in person, but you would also see somewhat stronger friendships because they wouldn't be self concious about anything, since if they were to hang out in the "real world" (for lack of better words) they would do so because they would have already gotten to know each other by who they are, not what they look like. You would see more and more people hang out with more similar personalities and ideas, rather than people who have conflicting ideas and personalities, leaving behind those who may actually get along with them better, but they wouldnt know since theyve judged those people by looks alone.

Now, i have to go back to the educational side of it as well. This idea may just help the education system in America too. Less and less kids would be falling behind, and it would be so much easier to help those who still need assistance. Anyone with a learning disability wouldn't have to be hidden in the back corner, afraid to slow down the class in any way, or anyone who doesn't understand the material wouldn't have to feel like they're in the same situation as well. Everything would be in plain text. No misunderstandings, no misinterpretations, and no missed material. On top of that, taking notes can be as easy as a simple copy/paste if needed, then spending the time to put it in your own words later even to make it easier to understand. 24/7 access to any and all material, tests would be much more convenient and much more accessable for each individual to actually test their knowledge. Worst case scenario, just have a designated test location monitored by the instructors themselves.

I'm more than certain that there's other, easier things that could be set up, but there's a foundation for ya...

Using something like this would 1) lower local school district taxes, 2) save the district a lot of money, 3) severely lower, at worst case, the acts of bullying, 4) help students learn much more effectively, and gain access to further help when needed in a much easier and more convenient way, and 5) well, theres really way too many "pros" to list, but im sure you get the idea by now...

Why not at least try a system like this? Why not at least make an attempt to make some home school programs take this into effect to see how it works out?

....oh yeah.... the state would be losing money....

...wait... NO IT WOULDNT!!!!!

The state, hell, the whole country, would be SAVING a lot of money... no major utilities, no constant maintenance bills, and so on and so forth... not only that, but it would even make full benefits of the current, shitty school budget cuts...

also less drop outs, and long term, a BOOMING economy...

But what do I know, I never got the chance to graduate my high school.... must make me retarded or something, idfk...

Just think about it for a bit....

Dreams and Creating a Future for Yourself

Got to thinking lately about dreams. Not the ones you get when you sleep, the ones you hold on to and look up to towards the future. The so called "American Dream," consisting of a 2 story ranch house, white picket fence, married, with 2.5 kids, a cat and a dog as pets, a 2 car garage, with 2 cars to fill it, a 9-5 job, and a stay-at-home wife. Does anyone realize how unbelievably boring that would be if everyone reached the american dream? No businesses could stay alive, as everyone would be working consistently 9-5, rush hour traffic would be HORRID.... But I digress...

My "American Dream?" Easy (and more obtainable) by comparison... Hold a decent job that I enjoy, and, hell, I'll be suited to have a 1 story house, subdivision even, something simple...SIMPLE........

I guess a part of it is that I'm getting tired of fighting all the time... I'm EXTREMELY happy with my life, don't get me wrong... I'm engaged to a woman who is quite simply the greatest person I've ever met, and I can't wait to finally tie the knot officially, we're living together in a very nice apartment, I have a completely non-average family, which makes things interesting to say the least, a few friends, but close nonetheless, just everything is simple, but not easy... I'm tired of fighting through every inch of whatever life puts in my way, I'm tired of having money as a major issue, I'm tired of living with a fucked up back at age 21, which has been a consistent problem for roughly 5ish years or so, and only recently had ANY notion of what's actually wrong with it, but of course, no insurance yet so that'll have to wait for a while...

Is it so hard to ask for just a decent amount of hard earned cash every month to pay the bills, and have at least a little something left over to play with?

My point being, never mistake your own personal dreams with the ones you hear about so much. Live your life they way YOU want to, not how others live theirs, or want you to live it... This idea of an American Dream has almost butchered this country in itself... People get so caught up in living in poverty, that when they see the opportunity to change the situation, they don't. If you wanna call bullshit on that, by all means, go for it, but understand one thing, some (not all) of the people who are given that opportunity blow it. Maybe not by losing the opportunity, but by buying everything thinking they're so rich it hurts, and spend everything they get, and COMPLETELY forget what bills are...

But why mention all this?

Everyone has a chance to take these opportunities, whether it be a high paying job, knowing people in high places, running your own business that has serious potential, but most will let it fly right past them. The culprit is right under your nose for why people let it go. Hell, you see it every day on TV, News Papers, Websites that sored news around, Radio (AM, FM, Satellite, Pandora, Last.fm, etc.), Billboards, Advertisement Posters, even sometimes in restaurants.... So what is it that we never notice? Social Expectations...

Popular things, famous things, things that were made famous by popular people, you name it, that's what's wrong... Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the advertisements and stuff are evil, I'm saying the way the general public perceives them, and act upon them is the problem, which also leads to the sections about the American Dream itself...

Always remember to BE YOU!

A constant, and sadly repetitive thing that I've witnessed over the past few years is that people no longer live past high school... Whatever happened to "College is where I start my life" ideas and "meh, I'll never see most of these people after HS so I'm not worried about it" ideas?

Honestly, so many people need to learn to grow up...

I'm not against having fun, I just don't personally see a need to be all like "ZOMG!!!11!!1! THAT FAMOUS DUDE IS WEARING DERPISTER, AND DERPERCROMBIE & FINCH! I MUST WEAR IT TOO!!!!!11!1!!1!11!!!1!11one!!!"

That's where the problem lies in modern society, people cant think for themselves, and it's insane...

My homework for you for the next....however long you want....look around you for at least the next few days. Notice how so many people are upset about their living situations in any way, shape, or form, and ask yourself these questions (because I can almost guarantee you'll get smacked for asking them.....):

1) Do they live in something better than a box?
2) Are they doing ANYTHING, or planning ANYTHING to make their current situation rank up to their ideals?
3) Do they seem like they've given up on their dreams? Or have they given up on the popular "American Dream" and got upset about it (emotion levels may vary)
4) Are they working hard to achieve their dreams? (or at least, do they look like it in any way?)
5) How many "toxic" people do you think they may be associated with that are holding them back from their potential?
6) Are they even TRYING to reach their potential?
7) Did you ask any of these questions to yourself yet? No? How do you expect to achieve your dream if you don't even think about questions like these?

oh wait....

you may be a victim of the "American Dream Syndrome"...

So please, do yourself a favor and never forget the following... I mean, you don't wanna end up like this chick...

_______________________________________________________

Never let anyone decide who you are. You will always be you, and who you let influence you will ALWAYS be on your own hands. You will never accidentally associate yourself with anyone, so always remember that the only person you should ever listen to is yourself. If you have a passion for something, embrace it, take it, and run away with it so nobody can ever take it away from you. Never stop bettering yourself, seeing how nobody is perfect, always strive for perfection even knowing you will never reach it. It's the only way to ever achieve the best you will ever be. Follow your own dreams, not someone else's because "it seems so much cooler than yours." No dream or life goal is ever better than anyone else's, as it is YOUR OWN PERSONAL DREAM. No dream ever needs to be evaluated for awesomeness by anyone else. Strive only to achieve what you want to achieve. You are you, so always be you...

_______________________________________________________

"Greatness consists in trying to be great, there is no other way" - Albert Camus

Opening the Minds of the Narrow Minded

My name is Tyler Shaw. As a 21 year old who has been living on his own for a good number of years, I've learned more than most will learn their entire lives. I can say that honestly, looking at the direction this world is headed, and it's sad to say that the blind really do lead the blind...

I am a gamer, a techie, an aspiring IT professional (preferably a Network Administrator at some point), never away from my phone (HTC EVO 3D atm), never alone, always trusting, hopefully trustworthy (knowing full well that title can only be placed by others), and of course, and all around sarcastic smart ass.....

I have been told on multiple occasions that I tend to "open the minds of the narrow minded" in certain cases depending on the topic given, hence the title of the blog...

Always a deep thinker, and make people think. It's what I'm best at, It's what I enjoy. As the saying goes, people only use 10% of their brains, I like to aim for a good 70-80%...

Enjoy my thought provoking posts in the very near future. Who knows, you may learn a thing or two...