gamixnow

Personal Reflection on Pirate Games "I love pirate games. I'll play just about anything, even vaguely pirate-themed, no matter how crappy it looks  because  there's just one undeniable fact in this life: pirates are cool. At least the fictionalized version of the pirate is cool. I'm talking about terrorizing the Spanish Main, swashbuckling, drinking Grog, digging up buried treasure, exploring Tropical Islands, and   finding SK skins of both the regular and reanimated variety and the sea shanties. Come on, the sea shanties, it's all great.  So, it's  kind of  a shame that  there are not a lot of games that  try to immerse the player in the pirate fantasy.   When I was  a kid, I was always on the lookout for a good pirate game. One of my favorites and probably the classic example of the Pirate game was Sid Meier's Pirates.  You can't talk about video games with pirates without mentioning that game  cuz  it's the game that codified  a lot  of the trope

Industry Trends "Dishonored 88%, Batman Arkham City 94%, Mass Effect 2 96% - what do these games have in common? It's not just great Metacritic scores; they're all legendary single-player games made by some of the best developers of their generation. Want to know what else they have in common? Redfall 56%, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League 60%, Anthem 59% - all the most recent games from the respective developers, all critical and commercial flops, and all live-service games. So what happened? How could respected names like Arcane Austin, Rocksteady, and BioWare release games this reviled? Hi folks, it's Zaid Ikram, and in a word, it's live services. Instead of focusing on the single-player games they were so good at, these developers were led astray by the promise of guaranteed profit. But as we've figured out in 2024, there are no guarantees in the games industry." Reflection on Industry Challenges "Right now, it seems like all a developer can d

  Analysis of Microsoft's Decisions "So, Microsoft has done something quite rash back in 2021. Microsoft bought Zamax Media, which means they bought Bethesda, which means they bought a bunch of studios that Bethesda owns. And Microsoft decided to close a bunch of them. Among those are Arcane Austin, the division of Arcane Studios that was in charge of Prey, and   Tango Gameworks, who brought us the widely different titles Evil Within and High Rush, both wonderful games for very different reasons. And they're also closing Alpha Dog Games, the makers of Mighty Doom, a mobile game, and Roundhouse Studios." Critique of Microsoft's Management "Hi folks, it's Zaid Ikram, and today on Speed Tool, we asked the question: What the hell is going on at Xbox? So, from a business perspective, let's say you buy a bunch of things that make money, and then you take a hammer  and   you  destroy those things. Are you good? No, you're not. And that's what happene

  Introduction Game companies are constantly trying to bilk the customer out of more money. It's easy to think, "Wow, they hate us," but there's one thing that game companies hate more than the consumer, and it's other game companies. Hi folks, it's Zaid Ikram, and today  on  Speed Tool, we're discussing  10  game companies who hate each other. Sony vs. Nintendo: The Vintage Hatred Getting started  with number 10, it's the classic vintage hatred: Sony and Nintendo. The original modern video game rivalry was Nintendo versus Sega, but after a string of bad decisions on the part of Sega, Nintendo won that one ...  well, I guess kind of.  They defeated their enemy, sure , but in the process, they managed to create their worst rival  yet .  Yes, that is a little dramatic, but there is truth  to it .  Back in  the early '90s, Nintendo  did partner  with Sony to create a CD-based console, but in a public act of betrayal, they announced they were working w