"Nevertheless, pre-orders for the Xbox One surpassed those for the Playstation 4 a day after Microsoft’s announcement it was reversing its DRM plans. Fans remained upset about the perceived lack of clarity about Sony’s DRM policy and rewarded Microsoft in the market. There are still several months left before either video game console is released and the companies could still choose to alter their policies to more closely fit what consumers say they want. As the companies respond to consumers expressed desires, they show how markets can function to ensure both privacy and freedom, when that’s what consumers actually value."
The Market Always Provides The Solution.
Credit to Scott Johnson of MyExtraLife.com: The Man is a Genius btw.
This weekend, I have the pleasure to be at PAXPrime in Seattle, WA. Acting as Press for RaidWarning.com, I've seen some pretty nifty things so far this weekend, and it is only going to get better:
- Our big ticket item was a presentation on Dungeons given by Stephen Frost, one of the big-wigs at Carbine and the voice you've heard in all the Wildstar Dev Speaks. The video repeated a lot of information about the Ruins of Kel Voreth and Stormtalon Dungeons, but also mentioned The Datascape, one of the game's raids. To say it peaked my interest would be putting it mildly. I'm really excited for Wildstar, particularly after playing a little bit during the Press Hour Friday morning, and finally being able to say it handles well. You can find the article detailing this presentation here.
- Next up was the 2k Booth, where I got to see the new content for both XCOM: Enemy Within and the new Borderlands 2 DLC. The addition of Mech troops and Genetical Enhancements to XCOM is cool, but does feel like it is gettign away from the "Hey, we're just a bunch of soldiers trying to survive". The Borderlands 2 Headhunters stuff was great fun. A team of 3 other media guys and myself took on a Halloween themed boss that will be available in October (appropriately), successfully downing him in 4:46 (not enough to beat the 1st place team in the time trial - they downed him in something like 3:19)
- We had an interview with a team from GW2, including Colin Johanson, but I'm under embargo until 3pm on Saturday...so I'll come back to this. There's a big Anniversary Bash for GW2 this afternoon, and they are making an additional announcement there. Should be interesting.
-Finally, I got a chance to playing Dying Light, the Zombie-Co-op-Parkour game that's coming out in 2014. The demo was a little hand-holdy, which only irked me because of how open the game was, but I still really enjoyed it. The parkour mechanics are really tight, particularly for Alpha, and its cool to be able to suddenly see 4 or 5 paths spring up as you're running through the abandoned city. My favorite moment however was, when running through the city at night, fleeing a horde of zombies, i was scrambling to remember which button turned on my flashlight. Seeing my plight, the developer reached over to turn it on. However, I had remembered and was also turning it on at that same moment. The result was me running through a hallway, switching on my light to see 3 or 4 zombies, then the developer turning my flashlight off, as if to say "No lights for you." You can find my full First Impression of Dying Light here.
Day 2 of PAXPrime brings with it The Elder Scorlls Online, more Guild Wars 2, and the AppJunkies Panel I have the pleasure to be a panelist on.
So, a while back, I started a Youtube channel with the same name as this blog: Liberty or Respawn. my original Idea was to do something that I not only felt passionate about, but wanted to spread to the internet: Use Video Games to talk about Politics.
If there's one things I was known for in University, it was being "That Classics Guy". Being an Academic and all, my degree in Classics was my principle focus. However, everyone needs hobbies. Mine revolved around two things: Debating Politics and Playing Video Games. My late nights in university were not about partying, binge drinking, or late night roadtrips (though they did happen); My all nighters revolved around debating the moral principles of tax codes and fighting my way through Zul Farrak with the guild.
Yes, I think it is safe to say I am a nerd.
However, every once in a while, the two blended. Me and my room-mates (who were all gamers, and all pretty politically fluent) would discuss economic principles using the World of Warcraft Auction House as an example, talk about the validity of Political movements in game lore, and talk about whether or not the final message of Bioshock was pro, or anti-Rand.
So, when i decided to start creating Youtube content, I did so with the idea of addressing politics through the eyes of a gamer and a libertarian (Yes, I'm a Libertarian. I'll devote a post to that later on). Yet, to this day, I've yet to touch that issue. Maybe it's a fear of Digital Backlash, maybe it's an aversion to actually jumping of the cliff of no return. Either way, I'm not okay with it anymore. I WANT to talk about games and how they reflect the real world. I WANT to spend an hour talking about the principles behind characters in video games and how they idealize or misrepresent my political principles. I WANT to start playing EVE...again.
So I'm going to. This Blog is going to be an eddy, a collection point, and a crossroads for all my work at RaidWarning.com, PureSophistry.com and any other miscellaneous corners of the interwebs.
This is the rebirth, no, the respawn, of Liberty or Respawn.
