My pal Chett Muzzalupo, owner of independent game store L1 Games, recently posted a great rant that covers Call of Duty Elite, EA Sports Season Pass, digital distribution, and more. He makes some great points that I completely agree with. He also makes some points that are a bit exaggerated. Lastly, he also exhibits great taste by professing his love for Red Dwarf.
Given our recent discussion on the escalating cost(s) of games and our numerous discussions about digital distribution over the years, I wanted to make sure that you saw this video. And to be completely honest, I just like Chett. He’s a cool guy with a great voice.
Kindly watch the video when you get a chance and let me know what you think of Chett’s points.
HELL YEAH SEASON 10!!!!
This dude is 100% on the money.
I don't mind if I don't have a physical copy of a game. As long as I can trust to keep the game for a long time. Also, I don't buy into the online passes. Especially when other companies are offering the same services for free.
1. Elite service, i'm pretty meh on it. I'm not buying. As long as it's not required, it doesn't bother me. I wonder since you get a semi discount on the 20 pieces of DLC (they said they have 20 planned) if you no longer pay your sub if that DLC is no longer accessible? As opposed to the person who paid full price for the DLC.
2. Season Pass is for idiots. There is no value in it. The sports titles are redundant anyway.
3. Rage Online Pass?
4.I think he is missing something about DD. There are some services that do it very well. Others not so. Just because there is a disc in the machine doesn't mean it won't require an online connection at launch or a constant connection for game play. That is a high possibility for the new machines.
I agree with Pachter that it will be 20 years before discs are completely gone. The US market has horrible infrastructure compared to other markets so spinning discs or flash sticks will be here for quite a bit. On the large home consoles at least.
Not disagreeing with Chett. Just wanted to show my thoughts on some of his points.
He forgot to mention: "Don't buy it!" All that talk about "not taking it" and "standing up for yourself" amounts to gamers en masse not buying a product or service. If everyone (or at least a large majority) does this, then the "online pass" model will fail.
I agree with 90% of what he said. My one exception is his assertation that the "video game industry is crumbling." I disagree. It is evolving, not being destroyed. The trick is to have the overwhelming majority of gamers to unite and steer that evolution to a gaming future where we (end consumers) will be in control of where the industry is going and not EA, Activition, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. If we allow those companies to call the shots, we will be turned into little more than cattle for them to drain us and then eat us.
-M
I get to ranting and sometimes I lose track of myself. LOL, I wanted to convey that I don't think the video game industry itself is crumbling as much as I think the retail video game industry is crumbling.
as a collector/Gamer and also as a business owner, it's really disheartening.
Something tells me that you would relate to this guy:
http://www.actsofgord.com/
It's about two generations outdated, but it's still an amazing and hilarious insight to the plight of video game store owners. (Read "The book of" chapters on the left-hand side).
-M
The one thing I have to somewhat (and accent on the "somewhat") disagree with, is that Holly (the real Holly) was played by Norman Lovett. It wasn't until the series 2 finale that Hattie Hayridge made her debut as Hilly (with an "I"… not a typo). The crew entered a parallel universe where everything was equally the same except it was a female dominated society and they meet the female versions of themselves (except the Cat… who's opposite was a humanoid that evolved from a dog instead). Hilly was the counterpart to Holly.
Come season 3, Norman Lovett left the show and Hattie Hayridge took Holly's role. The lure (which scrolls extremely fast at the beginning of the season 3 premiere) says that the crew of the Dwarf just swapped computers before the headed back to their home dimension. Yet… they called Hilly Holly from that point until the end of season 7 when Norman Lovett came back.
So like I said… accent on the somewhat.
Actually, Holly the character never actually changed.
They didn't swap computers, Holly Swapped his own head for one that looked like hers after falling in love with Hilly in the reverse dimension (that they holly hop drive took them to)
Thats what it says in the pre-title Star Wars-eque scroll sequence at the beginning of Backwards. (season 3 episode 1:)
I would have mentioned that the same role was played by 2 characters, But really, I didn't want to confuse those who have never seen the show. I was just stoked to have the pics:) LOL
Anyway, always glad to meet other fans of the show:)
I knew I'd draw you out with this!
I'd be stoked to have the pics too. My friends make fun of my gamertag all the time, but send me a request on XBL. I'm A Judas Rimmer and my motto is "What A Guy".
But seriously… don't ever stop making these videos. Their impact may seem minimal from time to time, but heads are turning and gamers are waking up. Thanks for that.
What a guy!! LOL Love it!
Thanks for the support. I love making the videos and sharing my opinions:)
totally totally 100% agree with him. maybe it's because we are more old school gamers, but I remember those days and I look at the content we get today and what we are paying and it's just stupid but we as gamers are letting them get away with this.
the industry is being driven by publishers who are only interested in $$$, thats nothing new thats just how business works, but it's us as the consumer who need to lay down what we are willing to pay for and not pay for.
if nobody buys online pass at the price you think Activision wont try playing around the price dropping it to see what we are willing to pay? they are testing the waters and other publishers will be watching.
anyway, well said on all points. I am not getting online pass and I have not bought any dlc for the last COD game because I could see where it was going. Nobody has noticed that we are getting less and less maps that ship with release.
I hope more gamers see this crap for what it is.
Elite and Season pass are garbage. Did that dude use to wrestle in ECW as Justin Credible. swear thats him