Random

Did we need a study to prove people like free stuff?

I wasn't able to find out what information was actually presented to the two different groups, what choices they were given. Were they given two scenarios for online play that were identical and asked if they'd prefer it to be free or subscription based?

How come the source article lacks the very information that prompts a discussion beyond the obvious 'people like free stuff' conclusion?

This is not a SEGA peripheral, just a product they are offering on their website. Consider this a marketing relationship, rather than a SEGA branded item.

Now that that's been said, I'll wait until this comment is absorbed and no one understands the differneces, including the article author. Blog-er-ific.

Dumb headline given what bricking means for consoles/handhelds.

While highly unlikely, I would love to see Tiny Tim have a featured unlockable track. Oh what a plucking good time that would be.

No matter how fast a developer wishes to push product out, it still runs through Publisher QA, and a final pass at Microsoft Cert QA before going live. So if people are playing the blame game, it should cover all groups for not spotting it, particularly Microsoft.

As far as future proofing goes, I think console owners are now experiencing what PC users have been dealing with for years. Welcome to the party.

Stop the imaginary presses, a pre-release debug kit crashed on demo.

I think EU gets to keep the name, given the amount of time foot connects to ball in their version over the US version.

I think the original posting seems to imply that people have friends that would normally engage in multiplayer split screen games. Before I met my gaming friends (through work), my social group did not participate in my hobby. Some liked games, but weren't interested in the competitive elements.

I think now that Online gaming is more available, it offers more opportunities for people like me to play with people who have similar interests. I think the 'normal' person may perceive this as anti-social behavior, but I feel I am connecting with a lot of different people I normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to meet.

I'll never forget getting verbally assaulted by an old housemate for not joining them when they went out to the bar. I don't see much of a difference in connecting with a random person within a bar environment, someone I normally wouldn't have met if not for our shared interest in drinking, than meeting someone in an online game, through our shared interest in that game or experience.

Looking at console titles, the online games offered are pretty much frag fests that don’t offer a ton of time to stop and interact with the other side. I think games like WoW can be a welcome addition to someone’s social experience. Just don’t go overboard and replace the game life with real life.

I think better tools and more QA time is a good idea, but the real change would be in a realistic development schedule. As games get more complicated, the development times haven't really changed, people are still looking to publish an 18 month dev cycle. Not suprisingly we're seeing more bugs and more delays on products. I guess in this case, it could just be the growing pains of a new console, but I still feel this is an ongoing issue within the game's industry outside of the 360.