Category: Editorials

Free Steamy Sundaes: October 20 Edition


Today’s Free Steamy Sundaes is brought to you by caffeine, toxic consumer advocacy, and viewers like you. I don’t know how to casually introduce a new column I had the idea for while shopping for a new coffee grinder, so I’m just going to refer to Free Steamy Sundaes like it’s been going on for weeks and you’re all very familiar with it. So naturally everyone knows that this column is a weekly list of free to play games and demos that released on Steam last week.

Not Massive: Humble Monthly Increases Prices, Substantially Decreases Value


Humble Monthly is rebranding as Humble Choice and that can only mean one thing: Higher prices? Check. Lower value? Double check. Holding current subscribers hostage? Triple check.

Humble Monthly is a pretty damn good deal if you look at it. $12 per month or $132 per year for ten games per month is crazy. Add in the fact that they offer some otherwise expensive titles like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot and you’ve got an even better deal. Don’t like the games? Sell the keys and you’ll probably make back more than what you’re buying them for.

But Humble Monthly is changing. Starting in a few months the service will reboot as Humble Choice, a cynical marketing decision to make it seem like you’re getting more while stripping away value and increasing prices. The basic package will now cost $14.99, a $2 increase per month, and give you three games to choose from out of that month’s selection. Yes, you are going to pay a roughly 15% increase for 70% less product. If you want something closely resembling the Humble Monthly bundle, you’ll have to pay $20 per month and even then you don’t get all of the games. Current subscribers will need to remain subscribed in order to keep their “classic” plan in effect.

Everyone wanted to know how long it would take IGN to flip the table and start gouging Humble Monthly and it looks like the answer is two years. The most entertaining part of this announcement is seeing Humble’s PR people try to spin this as even vicariously resembling something pro-consumer.

Food Reviews: FPS Gaming Supplement


Those of you who read MMO Fallout know that I’m a hardcore gamer with hardcore gamer needs. Coffee? Forget that casual nonsense, I mainline Red Bull and Mountain Dew via IV drip 24 hours a day. I’ve had six heart attacks in the last forty five seconds, but you wouldn’t know it while I’m 360 no-scope headshotting scrubs and getting those chicken dinners. Are chicken dinners still a thing? Time to floss dance.

Anyway, I had the opportunity to score a sample pack of FPS gaming supplement in devastated dew flavor. This isn’t a sponsored article, but it absolutely can be. First thing I want to say about this packet is that it tells me I am absolutely going blind. Maybe it’s just the small print but I can’t read the back of the package without a magnifying glass. Actually it might be the lack of focus from not having FPS in my body.

So you mix the package with 8-12 oz of water. Since I’m not a baby, I decided to use as little water as recommended. I also chose my toxic consumer advocacy mug to drink this out of, since I thought it would be funny that if FPS kills me that my death be somewhat related to a SidAlpha product. Some fuel for those Kotaku “the gaming industry just got a little better” articles that would no doubt follow.

This stuff doesn’t look great.

But how does it taste? FPS Devastated Dew tastes a bit like flat Mountain Dew that someone dropped battery acid into. It starts out on the sweet side but you quickly get kicked in the teeth with a very bitter aftertaste that digs deep into your throat and nestles in the back of your tonsils and refuses to go away. It has the same bitterness like chewing on the rind of an orange, and I’d hate to call it painful to drink, but it is. It really is.

I understand the bitterness since the ingredient list is just a ton of bitter components and no sugar, but it doesn’t change the fact that every time I burp I get the taste of stomach acid in my mouth. It probably doesn’t help that against my better judgment I forced myself to drink the entire cup.

So how well does it work? I will admit, pretty well. It does exactly what it says it does and I found myself more energetic, better focused, and video games. Also video games. Don’t judge me.

Video games.

Google Gives Us Another Reason To Have No Faith In Stadia


Google Stadia is one of the few places where your money would be better invested in Enron stocks or Zimbabwe currencies.

Now, those of you who read MMO Fallout will know that I consider Google Stadia to be a multi-million dollar scam. Here you have a company selling you a service where you are forced to pay monthly in order to access games that you have to pay full price for as part of a service whose quality wholly depends on the reliability of Google’s servers as well as their connection to your home. What happens when Google decides to shut down Stadia? Product director and accessory to fraud Andrey Doronichev refuses to answer the question and has consistently dodged the question because we all know the answer: You lose access to your purchases for good.

“I hear you. Moving to the cloud is scary,” he said. “I felt the same way when music was transitioning from files to streaming. I still have all my old CDs in the garage… although it’s hard to find a CD player these days :)”

Maybe it is if you’re in the Google echo chamber, but I was able to find a CD player at just about every store I went to outside of the grocery store.

I tacitly endorse people avoiding Google Stadia at all cost, and for a simple reason: Google doesn’t care about its products. It doesn’t care about you as a customer. It treats its products as “experiments” and will readily abandon them and shut down services at a whim, because they no longer feel like doing that anymore. And the people who put money into that product? Google couldn’t care less about ripping them off, it just moves on to the next “experiment” funded off of eager customers.

Don’t believe me? In 2019, Google shut down or announced the shuttering of:

  • Chromecast audio
  • Google Realtime API
  • Youtube video annotations
  • Google notification widget
  • Google Allo
  • URL Shortener
  • Google+
  • Inbox by Google
  • Data Saver Extension
  • Cloud Messaging
  • Youtube Gaming
  • Areo
  • Blog Compass
  • Google Jump
  • Google Trips
  • Works with Nest
  • Youtube for 3DS
  • Youtube Messages
  • G-Suite Training
  • Google Daydream
  • Google Clips
  • Google Bulletin
  • Google Fusion Tables
  • Google translator toolkit
  • Google Correlate
  • Hangouts on Air
  • Fabric
  • Hire by Google
  • Google Hangouts
  • Daydream VR

And we’re supposed to have faith that Stadia will be run for years to come?

I don’t trust Google Stadia because I don’t trust Google. I don’t trust when they say they’re in it for the long haul because anything they could say to reassure me has already been used to lie about previous, now defunct products. I don’t trust that Google won’t suddenly lose interest in the product and then abandon it at a moment’s notice. And what good is the promise today that they are going to keep it going in two years when they sadly announce that it’s coming to an end?

It’s worthless. Google’s word in supporting its products is worthless.

[NM] Nintendo Snubs Blizzard, Ignores Overwatch Switch Launch


After the dismal week that Blizzard has had, it’s hard not to pile on to the company while they are down. In that vein, let’s talk about Nintendo snubbing Overwatch.

To set up this story, Nintendo had a big event planned for Overwatch’s launch on the Switch which was yesterday (October 15). The event in New York City was supposed to be massive, we’re talking hundreds of people showing up with the first 150 having an opportunity to meet and greet various Overwatch voice actors. Very cool. You actually had to RSVP to the event in order to get a chance at meeting the people behind the characters.

And then on October 14, Nintendo cancelled the event with no explanation other than that the event was cancelled by Blizzard with no explanation. Since then Overwatch launched. You wouldn’t know it from reading Nintendo’s social media accounts because the company has just completely ignored that one of the largest games in recent years has come to its system.

Obviously this conclusion takes some extra reading in order to come to, but it strikes us as weird that Nintendo who are insanely eager to showcase any big release on their systems (their Youtube page is covered in launch trailers) would completely ignore the launch of a game as big as Overwatch. No tweets, no trailers, no acknowledgement whatsoever. You’d think Overwatch was some Unity asset flip coming out on the system, but even those get some recognition by Nintendo.

Maybe someone at Blizzard should learn a lesson about hospitality.

 

[Video] Wasting Time #1: Beetle Hunter


Today’s Wasting Time piece is in the form of a video long play (as long as you consider nine minutes to be). It is a first person shooter that is completely free and the project of what appears to be just one guy.

Check it out, the only thing you have to waste is your time.

ArcheAge Unchained Is Here For You Pay To Win Haters


ArcheAge Unchained is here and the servers are already being pounded like a Salvation Army drum.

Unchained has been in the works for a couple of years now and aims to provide a different service for ArcheAge players who wish to avoid the pay to win aspects of the main game. As a buy to play game, Gamigo has promised that Unchained will not allow you to buy your way to power. Starter packs begin at $25.99, although you might be better off waiting for a couple of days until the initial rush dies down.

Source: ArcheAge

[Video] Not Massive: Postal 4: No Regerts Trailer (Press Copy)


Update: It’s out right now.

Would you please sign my petition? It looks like Postal is finally back for a full sequel.

MMO Fallout was sent a link by a guy to a currently unlisted trailer for Postal 4: No Regerts. The trailer showcases some random scenes from the game, but includes some information on the plot:

Several years have passed since the events that devastated the once proud town remembered as Paradise. The only two to walk away from the cataclysm unscathed, the hapless everyman known as the Postal Dude and his loyal companion Champ, drive aimlessly through the scorching deserts of Arizona looking for a new place to call home. After a fortuitous gas station rest stop ends with their car, trailer home, and the rest of their worldly possessions stolen, all the Dude’s seemingly got left to his name is his canine cohort and his bathrobe, and neither of them smells all that great. However, on the horizon, the duo glimpses an unfamiliar and dazzling town that beckons to them. What untold prospects lie within? Fame? Fortune? Maybe a bidet or two? Edensin awaits.

POSTAL 4: No Regerts is a satirical and outrageous comedic open world first person shooter and the long-awaited true sequel to what’s been fondly dubbed as “The Worst Game Ever™”, POSTAL 2! (No third game is known to exist.)

Postal 4: No Regerts follows the satirical violence that has been a theme of the series for the past twenty years. The first Postal released in 1997 as a top down shooter that inspired a lawsuit from the United States Postal Service. Postal 2 launched in 2003 as a first person shooter on the Unreal 2 engine, and later spawned a multiplayer expansion as well as a full single player expansion (Apocalypse Weekend). Postal III was built by Russian developer Trashmaster Studios and it wasn’t good. The game has been disowned by Running With Scissors who actively encourage gamers to not buy the title. Postal 2 received a second expansion in 2015 in the form of Paradise Lost.

The trailer appears to be set to coincide with the release of Postal 4 in Early Access, which means that release should be right around the corner. The trailer was uploaded on October 8, but since MMO Fallout was not included in the mailing list we have no idea when anyone in the press actually received it. Video description currently leads to a nonexistent store page.

Rant: Blizzard Robs Hearthstone Player Of Winnings To Appease China


Another day, another Activision subsidiary acting in a heartless, sociopathic manner.

The Hearthstone 2019 Grandmasters took place this week, and very likely the only thing the public will remember of it once all is said and done is that Blizzard once again kowtowed to an abusive dictatorship because that sweet, sweet cash is just to hard to pass up. Oh and depending on who you ask the Chinese public is one of the only things keeping the dreadful Overwatch League capable of presenting any numbers to rake in those sign on fees.

In case you’ve been living under a rock or more likely sleeping for these past six or seven hours, Blizzard is taking some blows to the noggin after how they handled one of their competitors in the Hearthstone Grandmasters. Pro player Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai went on an interview in which he shouted “Liberate Hong Kong! Revolution of our age!” In case you’ve really been living under a rock, feel free to peruse this BBC summary of the last few months.

Blizzard’s response was to immediately act like the regime it bowed to and take out not only blitzchung but any witnesses within reach. The company released a statement that not only has Blitzchung been removed from the Grandmasters and banned for one year, but that his winnings will be forfeited for offending the dear leaders of China, and as the only other people on screen at the time of the statement, the two hosts would be fired as well.

“Effective immediately, Blitzchung is removed from Grandmasters and will receive no prizing for Grandmasters Season 2. Additionally, Blitzchung is ineligible to participate in Hearthstone esports for 12 months beginning from Oct. 5th, 2019 and extending to Oct. 5th, 2020. We will also immediately cease working with both casters.”

Yea, the guys who dove under the table to hide from the comments? They need to be punished for their…crimes. Blizzard justifies the firing by pointing to this provision of their player agreement, and sure. Why not. They also zapped the VOD from their website so people (read: China) might not hear the offending words.

Engaging in any act that, in Blizzard’s sole discretion, brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image will result in removal from Grandmasters and reduction of the player’s prize total to $0 USD, in addition to other remedies which may be provided for under the Handbook and Blizzard’s Website Terms. 

Is Blizzard within their legal right to fire the player? I’ll give a 99% vote of confidence that yes if brought before a court that Blizzard would come out victorious. Obviously the company knows that their decision won’t go down well considering Tencent owns a stake in Activision and this isn’t the first time Blizzard has flushed its integrity down the toilet to appease a violent dictatorship. They have completely silenced any direct response to the article. This hasn’t stopped the Hearthstone Reddit from blowing up in anger and announcing that they are quitting the game.

I’d like to leave Blizzard with a thought, like Andy Rooney might. The world will move on but in three weeks you will be hosting Blizzcon. If you thought your employees shouting “do you not have phones” was embarrassing, just wait until people get up to that microphone and start grilling them on the really tough questions.

Oh and to the game bloggers who might be drafting up those articles to put up a defensive wall around Blizzard and China. You’re being watched.

Otherwise I have no opinion on the matter.

Editorial: Writers Guild Holds Game Award Hostage, Nobody Cares


The Writers Guild of America has decided to take the video game award portion of its show hostage, and who the hell cares?

In case you weren’t aware, the Writers Guild of America has a video game category of its award show that shows the respect and acknowledgement to great writers in the industry and frankly I can’t finish this sentence with a straight face. In reality, the video game portion of the Writers Guild award show is about as fair as the annual “Hideo Kojima is my best friend” award that Geoff Keighley hands out at The Game Awards every year. Take a gander back at the last ten years of the WGA awards show and you’ll see a common name pop up: Sony.

Yea, Sony and a small handful of other developers are the only people who qualify to be considered for a WG award because to be considered you have to be a Writers Guild writer, and since Sony is generally the only competent writer in the bunch, they have won roughly eight years out of the last ten. After all the Writers Guild Awards is all about recognizing talent, and that means telling those subhumans who don’t pay union dues to take a hike and go [expletive deleted] themselves. Oh and you folks who want to be in the union, good luck getting any representation or respect from your union leaders.

What has the Writers Guild done for video game writers? Two things: Jack and squat. The Writers Guild does not do anything on behalf of video game writers except demand those monthly checks, and furthermore doesn’t even allow them to vote as a full member of the guild because video games aren’t real writing in their eyes. What the Writers Guild wants is dues. They want more dues, and they are holding an award hostage that 99% of the gaming industry doesn’t care about hosted by an organization that many developers/publishers don’t respect, until it gets more cash money. As stated to USGamer:

“There won’t be a Videogame Writing Award in 2020; however, the category will be reinstated when there is a critical mass of videogames covered by the WGA in order to provide a meaningful award selection process.”

Translation: We’re not getting bribed enough to show a paltry amount of attention and hand an award out once a year.

It might seem like I’m angry about the whole ordeal, but I’m not. If anything this move will lose the Writers Guild what few video game centric writers that they have, whose only reason for staying in the union is because that’s what made them eligible for the award. Hell, maybe more of them will realize what a gigantic waste their union dues have been and they’ll make sure to warn other writers not to funnel money into a protection racket.

The Writers Guild is angry that the video game industry is massive, bigger than television and film combined. Not only is it massive, but because the unions ignored the industry during its early formative days as inconsequential trash, it is now too big for the union to put their boot over its neck and demand a ransom. There are hundreds of other game awards that have more prestige, respect, and attention than the Writers Guild. I’m confident that few outside of Sony’s studios care much to check in on the Writers Guild submitting its latest “Sony’s check cleared” award.

Hell even Sony barely seems to care. I took a gander at the websites and press releases for the games that won awards, and good luck finding Sony flaunting their Writers Guild award in promo material. Given the flurry of incoming referrals I see on a weekly basis, MMO Fallout’s editorials have more acknowledgement in the gaming industry than a Writers Guild award.

The Writers Guild pulling out its video game award is like a Twitch streamer who averages three viewers announcing he’ll no longer be streaming because Twitch doesn’t acknowledge its biggest supporters. Nobody. Cares.