The difference between Sony monitoring and Microsoft monitoring is that Sony doesn't force it upon you. Let me explain:
The voice and text features are optional. You don't need to use them, and you are not being recorded/monitored at all times.
Microsoft on the other hand, have the Kinect - which monitors pretty much everything: what you are saying, how you are saying it, your body language, heart-rate, what clothes you are wearing, what food you eat, what pictures you have on the wall, what music you listen to, what TV shows you watch, how you react to adverts, etc etc etc etc (I could go on, but you get the idea). Not only do you have to buy the Kinect with the Xbox, but there is no doubt that Microsoft will try to force it into every game they can - and they'll most likely reintroduce the policy where the Kinect has to be connected in order for the system to work. It's inevitable.
I don't get how people can based their console purchasing decision on "what their friends are buying". I get the WHY, just not the how.
I mean, obviously one of those people in the group of friends would have had to make that decision, which means everyone else is just following along like sheep.
Or does it work differently? Is it an endless cycle where friend A is buying it because friend B is - friend B is buying it because friend C is - and friend C is buying it because of friend A. Who made that initial decision - or did they all just expect each other to buy that specific console, and that expectation stated it off.
What if a group of friends buys a console they really don't like, just because they are expecting all their friends to get it?
I guess I'm lucky because I don't have to deal with all this crap. I mostly play singleplayer games anyway, and ALWAYS make my own purchasing decisions based on my own wants and interests - not other peoples.
- Confirming a new CoD game is not news. They come out every year and the same time. It's expected. That's like announcing Xmas is confirmed for next year. It's pointless. It would only be news if CoD/Xmas was cancelled.
- Microsoft are full of shit. And shit like this is why I can't take them seriously and don't believe a word they say. Hammering hot fire-pokers into my eyes would be a better experience than playing on an Xbox. Any Xbox.
- Sony have missed something. They've missed the rest of the world. US-only in this day-and-age is bullshit. Speaking of which, that console competition GS is holding that you keep mentioning follows that exact same US-only bullshit. We're not living in the 19th Century any more!
As an animator I can say that there is no way that animation that similar is coincidental. They have most certainly reused something. Most likely they reused the motion capture footage and tweeked the animation from there.
Reusing animation isn't a problem. It's a common occurance, especially in the games industry with all the various animation cycles (walk, run, climb, attack, etc). Sucker Punch used the same movement animation in inFAMOUS that they had made for their Sly Cooper games.
The issue is that they have reused an entire set-piece/scene. That's just lazy and uncreative writing. As an animator, there is no way I would reanimate from scratch the same scene I've already made. I'd just reuse it and tweek it if necessary.
I don't think that EA cancelling F2P C&C made them unpopular. Nobody was really interested - most people want a true Generals sequel, not another crappy F2P game.
Although shutting down the dev was a bit much. So that might have made them a little more unpopular.
Microsoft will introduce digital game-gifting when they bring back their "no used games" and "all games must be fully installed on the system and the disc is now useless" policies/features. So you won't have to wait too long.
If you can find them you should watch all the video features she did before becoming the host of GSNews. And by watch them I mean you should pay attention to what she is saying, and not just oggling at her lustfully.
Yes, Jess is a very attractive young woman - and while some do, I wish more people could see past that and see other sides to her. I don't want to step on anyones toes here, and I'm certainly not trying to be a "White Knight" or anything - but I can't be the only person sick of seeing creepy comments like "I only come here to look at Jess".
- I've never put a CD in my PS3 and never used the system to play music either. So not surprised the features are dropped. They need to cut manufacturing costs somewhere. Might as well cut out tech that's practically pointless.
- I'm not bothered about Titanfall. It's still available on PC if I ever become interested enough to try it out (which is not likely). Plus, first-person games belong on PC along with strategy and simulation games.
- I plan to upgrade my PC soon so I can start buying PC games again. And when I do I will have to get into the Witcher series. Those games are beasts and need super-computers to run them, so it will be a good way of testing a new gaming rig.
- I use Steam mostly for indie games / smaller titles - while bigger games I usually get on disc.
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