deanb

It doesn't matter if tablets run the exact same games you get on consoles, what matter is that they can run games. I don't know how else to phrase this. You are weird and niche in that you like to play AAA games, and will become only weirder and nicher still. Console games will have their place, just like Grand Strategy does, but it's likely not going to be at this peak again because phones/tablets/laptops provide games "good enough" for a large majority and at a significantly reduced price point. There are people that will pay £40 for Uncharted 4, but there are many more people who will not. btw I think today marked the first day a game has seen a simultaneous release on X360, PS3, PC, PSVita, Android and iOS so it's not too unlikely that BL3 would see a tablet release. Though I'll reaffirm that's not the point. But I wouldn't be surprised EA wouldn't be putting their flagship racing titles on phones if they weren't seeing a lot of people picking up stuff like Real Racing (which EA themselves picked up) on their phones.

If you delay one state wouldn't you have to delay them all? Spoiler effect and all that.

First point is a big part of this I think. And it'll especially hurt Nintendo (Who have already had their value drop and lowered their upcoming forecasts, despite having a new console coming out). Wii came out, people bought it, played it a bit then moved on to the next thing. Which is seemingly tablets. As for the second part remember that the console has pretty much one use (two if you count Netflix & co), a PC and tablet can do much more which is a big part for many people (And the software and games are cheaper). Angry Birds is becoming more attractive than Mario though. Mario can't boast the kind of figures Angry Birds can, even combining his 50+ games over 25+ years. And that for a lot of companies (and their investors) matters. Many people question why would they buy a $200 system and a $40 game when a $1/free game is providing them with just as much fun. T-Mobile didn't use Mario for their did they? The main advantage Nintendos systems (and thus their games) is that you'd feel okay handing a kid a 3DS over an iPhone (he says as someone who regularly has kids playing Lego 4+ on his phone) I think this is a big one worth pointing out. The problem is where consoles have evolved to providing stuff on top of gaming like the current addition of Netflixing, but tablets have managed to step in during this generation and fill that void and then some too. And PC's have been doing it forever. With SmartTVs n AppleTV's n Google TVs n all that coming out it's going to make consoles a bit obsolete for the secondary functions. But that has the benefit of consoles potentially focusing back onto gaming some more than they have done the past few years. Yeah don't get me wrong, you're going to struggle to have Call of Duty on a tablet, but if you're someone who isn't console gaming for the "AAA", then there's plenty other opportunities out there for you on much more appealing/cheaper devices. As Jay has linked, why would you pay £35 for Angry Birds on your console, when it's only 69p on your tablet/phone? Tablets eat at the edges, the core, the guys that have been there from day one, will likely remain, and sales of stuff like COD will likely continue going up. But the non-AAA games, the games that can be put on phones and tablets, the gamers that only have £300 to spend/justify on a device, they're likely going to go away from console gaming. Hence the reckoning we'll likely never see quarter billion consoles again. Well when they can upsell iTunes apps, sure they'll recommend anything. Don't forget the reaction there was to the PSPGo. It's just as good a gaming device as the PSP, but I doubt you'd see one being recommended over a PSP purely because there's nothing to be made on it. Thing is there's not many huge downwards trends. But a lot of the non-AAA has subsided/vanished (whereas they boomed at the end of last generation as consoles became £70), and last generation tablet PCs ran XP and were aimed at business use. Digitally downloading your games was also considered a bit of a joke. There's a lot of uncertainty; don't forget at the end of last generation going off history n what not people thought the Wii was going to bust given how weird it was (and Nintendo's continuing decline) and here we are with it the best selling console of the past generation. As for PCs, I don't think it'll be like last time. PC's have gotten very powerful and I think a large reason we're not seeing consoles so soon is because they're struggling to make them on-par and still be consoles. Moore's Law is exponential, any consoles in R&D now will be comparatively obsolete before they hit the shop floors unless they are priced as high again as the PS3 was.* I don't pay too much attention to the growth of phone/tablet guts over the years but they're already quad core (and the screens output far in excess of current consoles too, though Next Gen has UHD) Sure video games market will grow, the point put forward though is that specifically the console market won't. It's worth reinforcing my viewpoint for myself (and I'm pretty sure it's that of the article too) isn't that consoles will up n vanish forever, but that their role within gaming, and general presence, is going to diminish as other platforms rise and stake their claim, tearing away it's limbs one by one. *If I continue with stuff here it'll likely expand into a topic we already have a different thread for.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57542502-94/google-ties-apple-with-700000-android-apps/

I bought a hot water bottle. I think it will be a good purchase.

I think given how GTA IV came out they want to make sure all is well before releasing it out on PC. I doubt they'll neglect it altogether though.

Wait it doesn't? I kinda assume that with their inclusion in the advert that the game would feature them.

Oh Jack Black was in there. I only recognised Downey Jr n FPSrussia.

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/mcvs-lauren-wainwright-english-libel-law-and-the-gaming-press-why-this-stor PAR have done a bit of an expansion on the topic, though here it's more of a "British Libel Laws 101 for non-brits".

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/180342/What_Would_Geralt_Do_Witcher_2s_Approach_to_Choice_and_Decision.php An interview up on Gamasutra with CDP about the decision system in Withcer 2 n stuff. Good look at morality systems and how they can affect gameplay and story.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-29-assassins-creed-3-fuelled-by-in-game-micro-transactions AC3 to have micro-transactions. No official word, but it's assumed to be for he multi-player.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20116548 Greek journalist arrested for publishing a list of 2000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts. With a slight twist in that the list he published isn't the first time the Greek government has seen it.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/halloweensale_2012 Halloween Sale. I'd actually wait on a fair few of those btw. But the Cthulhu/Breath of Death pack is always worth grabbing in a sale. And Vampire Masquerade I guess but I've found it to be a pain to get running.

There is a lot of live action trailers of late. Also I assume I'm meant to recognise more than two of those?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-29-borderlands-2-xbox-360-virus-spreading-deleting-player-saves So there's a bug/virus going through the X360 version of the game that's wiping player saves when you play online against affected people.

Tis the season.

http://www.tomshardw...mance,3331.html Toms Hardware benchmarks for a variety of games. Some games run faster, some run slower, many have no change and Sleeping Dogs doesn't work unless you run it on medium settings (which would imply there's something not working right in DirectX 11.1) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=31878314 - and here's a tool that lets you turn the legacy icons into Live Tiles (as far as I know, not used it myself)

I'm just gonna throw this out there, but has Metalcaveman actually tried putting a US address in? If it flags it as fraud then no loss. When it goes through, then hooray cheap game that activates on Steam.

But you're only using the address to dupe Amazon, you're not making a wholly new account, you're still paying with your card and your proper billing info.

Sometimes if the billing address doesn't match what the bank has though the charge won't go through. It still uses your card details, just need a US address on your account: http://savygamer.co.uk/2012/10/16/hotline-miami-pc-4-18/

Just get a random address, it's a digital item so it's not like it's being posted anywhere.

http://pressxordie.com/2012/10/28/of-daughters-and-dishonored/ - An article.

So I guess Eagle Vision got expanded upon in AC3.

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/10/consolation-prize/all/ The title is sensationalist, but the general takeaway of the current era of console gaming is at a close, and I do agree that I don't think we'll see it near quarter billion consoles again. Too much eating at the edges, why spend £300 on a new console when you can get a £150 tablet? That's not me saying one is better than the other, but certainly for many of the not-so-core gamers it's an option that is there, especially when a tablet has much more uses than a Wii U or what not would, on top of gaming. And for the bit-more-core-than-most can splash out a bit more and pick up a gaming PC which has massively matured over the past few years, especially in ease of getting all the goodness out, like Big Screen n Workshop for one (the sales don't hurt either). Normally I'd be mentioning streaming gaming too, but that's looking shakey at the moment. Guess we'll see what Sony make of Gaikia. But yeah, consoles need to change, and fast. Selling digital games for £59 is not cool. Also a big selling point of late is that they're not for games, but for Netflix n iPlayer too. There's next to no F2P too, or much variation in pricing. A lot of the exciting stuff at the moment is on PC and phone, where it's cheaper to put out a riskier game (especially with Kickstarter to fund that risk). So yeah, thoughts. The article actually has good content if you can get past the title.

New trailer from a few weeks back. Shame destruction in new game is pointless as you can't build, destroy, then reverse the save. Also it's due 8th March next year.