With the speed at which news comes out in the gaming industry we sometimes miss important or news worthy things. Some of these things we want to talk about in a way that is both easy for you guys and allows us to get all the facts together as some of these stories develop quickly. Sometimes we also just cover topics that we find interesting and want to discuss.
EA defends loot boxes as ‘surprise mechanics’
PCGamer let us know that Representatives from both EA and Epic met with UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on May 19 to discuss loot boxes in gaming. The two and a half hour meeting had the reps defend there gaming mechanics, with Epic having to defend a comment made by Prince Harry about Fortnite. Indeed, when asked directly, neither representative would provide direct answers and avoided the answer at all costs, with MP’s (Members of Parliament) once again asking the question with slightly different wording. When an answer was given, the response was usually grandiose in reasoning. EA’s representative defended loot boxes not as ‘loot boxes’ but as “surprise mechanics” such as a kinder egg. EA agreed with the UK and Australian gambling commissions that loot boxes are not gambling and denied that it could lead to gambling.
You can watch the whole Parliament above or the video here.
Ozzy’s thoughts: I know this isn’t a courtroom meeting, just a committee looking into something as they do. I’ve watched “The Thick of it” (The British show that started VEEP on HBO) and the second to last episode of the series they have to deal with an committee investigation. To sum up, the main characters have to deal with simple questions about internal office, leaking to the press, and the death of a protester. Up until this point we’ve seen how horrendous and callous (and extremely funny) these people have been. But when asked simple questions (including to the main character Tucker played by the later to be Doctor Who #12 Peter Capaldi who is the foul mouth “fixer” of the show) they tried there damnedest to either avoid the question or try and hide how horrible it is (or they are) in the office with wild, unrelated information
Put simply, the actors did a great job making themselves and the situation look bad and guilty. If you weren’t to watch the previous seasons and just watched that episode right now, you’d feel that most, if not all of them were guilty of something and should either be fired or jailed. But that’s a comedy TV show.
Back in the real world, just reading about these Reps from EA and Epic made me thinking I was watching that episode of “The Thick of it” again. Can’t answer simple things about there gaming, comparing loot boxes to ‘surprise mechanics’ and Kinder eggs and this went on for hours.
I know they’re meant to just represent there companies stances but even they have to know how badly this comes off. Hearing them defend it as ‘surprise mechanics’ sounds like Bioware (internally) refused to compare Anthem to Destiny because it’s TOTALLY NOT OR YOU’RE FIRED! In the current state of Anthem, I can easily say: Yes, it’s not Destiny. THAT actually works and has people playing it but I digress. But what’s next, denying chemotherapy for cancer isn’t vomit inducing (I know first had) it’s actually a hair remover?
There’s nothing more I can say nowadays about companies like EA and Epic that defend something as bad as loot boxes. Naming them something else doesn’t change what they are. I don’t like them, you don’t like them, but it makes them money so they’ll do what they need to in order to save their money maker. The only thing I’m seeing nowadays is loot boxes will be like cigarettes. Put all the warning labels and other ‘threats’ on the box but people will still use it either way. And stuff like this committee reinforces that for me…ugh.
E3 2019
Source: https://www.dailystar.co.uk
Wiggin’s Thoughts: With E3 behind us now I’m sure many are happy and looking forward to new games coming out soon. I’ve never quite understood the pull of E3. There have been countless high profile games that have shown video or game play at an E3 and then released with downgraded graphics or other missing features or just incomplete. Some might think this is a recent problem but I can assure you it goes all the way back to 2008 and Gearbox’s release of Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway. Since then and with the way that games are become live services it baffles me the amount of excitement that E3 generates. We now have a release date for Cyberpunk 2077 and that’s awesome but you can also pre-order it 10 months in advance. Who needs to buy something 10 months early? We have no idea if things will change or get pushed back or what other uncontrollable thing may take place. I understand excitement and anticipation but within a medium that is forever changing and we have games that get day one patches I find it really hard to understand the mindset of someone who is buying a digital item ten months before they can use it. I won’t get into the Bethesda conference other than to say that felt like an apology letter for the state of Fallout 76. I get that we need a platform for announcing new games and to get customers attention and inform them of upcoming games but I wish it did not feel like propaganda. E3 can be a powerful tool to inform and entertain but I feel like it needs to be done responsibly and currently I don’t think it is. Let E3 be about games that are coming out this year, not 10 months so we can continue the trend of talking about next year’s games at E3.
