For all you true video gamers out there (so not those of you that only buy Madden and Call of Duty every year), we're entering a very interesting time in gaming. With the Next Generation Console launches quickly approaching, we're on the verge of what's to be expected as an evolution in gaming as we know it. Whether it's the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One, both offer whole new and unique experiences. However, even during these exciting and promising times, there's been a dark cloud hanging over our beloved world of video games for quite some time. Even more worrisome is the fact that this cloud has been growing. This cloud of which I speak is surprisingly, video game launches. Now traditionally, launch days for some of the most anticipated AAA titles of the year are the most exciting and joyful days us gamers look forward to. However, in recent years I feel it's merely become nothing more than the first day the game is available. Now you're probably wondering what could possibly suck all the fun and pleasure out of these occasions for me. The answer is simple: unfinished games.
Somewhere along the line, video game companies have become complacent and feel that it's perfectly acceptable to sell their games in an incomplete or unfinished state. Gone are the days of buying a new game, taking it home and basking in the perfection of it. Tell me if this sounds familiar. Buying a game you've been looking forward to for months or even years, getting it home, ripping it open and popping it into your system faster than a pit crew working on a racecar only to realize, there's a few updates standing between you and your enjoyment. Stop me if this sounds familiar. You get your game all loaded up, your friends all rushing to play online together only to find that the servers are down, matchmaking is disabled, or you just can't connect to each other. When did it become ok for us to spend $65 of our hard earned money for something that isn't even finished yet? Would it be acceptable to buy a car and the radio not work? What about something even more important such as the brakes? Then why is it alright for video game companies to essentially do just that? When we buy most games they feature some sort of story/campaign mode and usually an online. When the online isn't working on launch day, already that's essentially half the game that's unavailable.
For all these video games studios out there that have allowed this to become commonplace, I have a suggestion for you. If only half your game is available at launch, how about you charge half the cost because I think it's laughable to expect everyone to pay full price. We as gamers need to come together, across all systems, players from all genres and unite under a single banner. We have a common goal we can all work towards. If we unite, and I mean truly make our collective voices be heard, we can create change. Throughout history, masses have united and shown that with a common goal, they can inspire change. Now I'm not so disillusioned to think that this cause is as just as some of the examples in history that may come to mind, but I still feel that multi-million dollar video games companies essentially stealing from their consumers is more than enough to issue a call to arms. With the Next Generation in gaming upon us, can we really afford (both literally and figuratively) to remain silent? The answer is a resounding "No".
Alone, these companies laugh at our complaints, look at their support forums and chuckle at our issues knowing what a general minority it is and that their games will still rake in millions of dollars for them. I'm tired of filling their pockets while I sit on a frozen loading screen or stay glued to my laptop waiting for word of a much needed patch for a game. I declare that we the gamers deserve a full and finished game when we buy it. I'm not even calling for a stop of downloadable content (as much of a scam as that is in its own right). I merely feel we deserve a fully functioning game when it releases. Companies such as Activision and EA should be put on notice that we will no longer accept their poor standards of a game come launch day. These companies don't respond to words, they respond to action. It's because of this that I challenge every TRUE gamer that reads this to in some form or another, make your protest of these actions known. When forums and emails fail to grab their attention, perhaps the time will one day come for boycotts. Imagine the power us gamers truly would wield over these companies if come launch day, all those copies of their games that they expected to sell out remained on the shelves. Imagine how things could change moving forward.
I know what I'm asking for sounds challenging and I don't claim that it'll be easy. It will surely be an uphill battle but isn't it a battle worth fighting? We work hard for our money and as such, shouldn't have it stolen from us. Games shouldn't be ready months after they hit shelves and we've long lost patience waiting. Stand up and be heard for what we are: proud gamers. This could be our last stand before the Next Generation begins. How do you want the Next Generation do be defined?
From the Cheap Seats
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Friday, September 28, 2012
Social Media: A Gift or Curse to Sports?
I’m sure if you found your way to this article, that you have a pretty good grasp on what the term “social media” means. If for some reason you still don’t or would like a refresher, social media are all the new ways people interact and socialize using certain websites or mobile applications on their phones, iPods, tablets, etc. Chief among these are facebook and twitter where millions of people from all age ranges can share their ideas and thoughts on whatever they wish. Sounds pretty amazing, right? For the most part it is until the inevitable took place.
All forms of media are subject to the same thing:
censorship. Now the extent of censorship
naturally depends on the form of media.
Newspapers and television must adhere to certain standards ranging from
language to content because of how public they are. Social media’s standards are far less strict
because they benefit from the internet’s less strict censorship; that is, until
you enter the domain of sports.
In that regards, there are two sides of the coin. On one side, fans have the ability to be as
vocal and outspoken on their opinions as they desire. From praising their favorite athletes or team
on a brilliant performance to directing swears or sometimes even threats to
those who in their eyes, underperformed to some extent. And then there are of course the fans that
are what we would simply refer to as “haters”.
If asked to make an intelligent argument on why they dislike a team or
player, they simply fire a barrage of unrelated “facts” or opinions at you.
The other side of the social media coin is for the players
themselves. Having a facebook or twitter
is an amazing way for them to connect to their fans and really reach out to a
community. But in the past few years we
have seen a growing trend among athletes’ social media accounts. They’re ultimately subject to perhaps the
strongest censorship of all. No, not
from the sites themselves but instead from coaches, agents, front office
executives, or even owners. Now this is
where things get a little tricky because you can’t just divide the sports up
and say “alright, baseball players get more freedom than football players”
because it doesn’t work that way. It
truly is a team by team basis regardless of the sport.
Let’s take a couple of interesting examples and show you how
far apart the two ends of the spectrum really are. On one end, let’s take a look at the Dallas
Mavericks from the NBA. This is probably
the only example right now in the whole world of sports, where the players
might ask the owner to tone it down on his social media accounts. Currently there is no more vocal an owner in
sports than the Mavericks’ Mark Cuban.
If he isn’t fined during the course of an NBA season for breaking down
every which way one poor official or another blew a call, then it doesn’t feel
like a real NBA season. One would think
that the players in that locker-room would have more leeway than most others
because they can merely state that they’re following ownerships’ lead. I for one think it’s great when an owner has
such invested interest in their team that they’re its biggest cheerleader and
publicist (as long as they don’t overshadow the team itself).
Now as an example of that opposite side of the spectrum, let’s
take a look at today’s New York Giants.
The defending Super Bowl Champions from the NFL have taken a real
conservative, business-like approach for quite some time now but never as much
so since Tom Coughlin became head coach.
He brings about an air of professionalism and expects his players to
conduct themselves accordingly. If one
of them steps out of line, as players tend to do from time to time no matter
the team or sport, he is quick to show that he still is in total control and
the situation is handled. The true mark
of a conservative, professionally run organization is when a situation arises
and you hear the phrase that it’s “being handled in-house”.
It’s amazing but not really surprising how teams adopt the
personality of those in charge, whether it is the owner or the coaches. Just look at the wide range of coaching
personalities in sports right now. For
every Ozzie Guillen, who once a month puts his foot in his mouth and brings
ownership crashing down on him, there’s a Bill Bellicheck, who has got to win
the award for least entertaining press conferences (unless you find one
sentence answers in a monotone voice entertaining).
For all the statistics available out there on the internet,
there is one statistic that I would love to get my hands on more than any
other. I wonder how much players,
coaches, executives, and owners across all sports have been fined for certain
postings on social media websites.
Whether it was venting about officials after a game through twitter or posting
a comment on facebook about an ongoing labor dispute which is a violation, or
any number of other possibilities. The
amount must be staggering considering the previously mentioned Mark Cuban has
alone had over $1.5 million in fines levied against him. At least this wealthy owner has taken the
opportunity to turn negative publicity into a positive venture. Mark Cuban matches the amount he’s fined and
donates it to charity.
For all the talk about the new age we live in with social
media, it seems people get so wrapped up in the world of it and forget its real
impact. I chose to merely focus on its
impact in sports but imagine the much larger implications everywhere else. In my honest opinion, I see nothing wrong
with the use of social media as long as it’s in moderation. I’m not only for allowing athletes the use of
social media, but giving them more freedom with what they say. More times than not, it’s the fans that are
the ones that abuse this gift to sports.
When else could we have said we in some way were connected with an
athlete? Sure it may have only been a
few words in the form of a tweet but before social media, not even that small
of a connection would have existed.
As things stand right now, all that can really be said is, “to
each their own”. Let athletes express
themselves as they wish. Sure they’re
role models and yes, to some extent they have to be held to a higher standard
but they’re still human. If it makes
them feel any better, why not let an athlete express his real thoughts on a bad
call? Hey ownership, it’s still getting
you publicity and probably going to sell a few more jerseys or tickets anyway,
right?
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Fair Game: NFL's Replacement Refs
My first real insight into what it takes to officiate a sport
came when I was in college. I signed up
to officiate flag football games and had to go through training that lasted 2
days before the season kicked off. It
was one of the most challenging experiences I’ve ever faced because there are
so many subtleties and intricacies that the average viewer doesn’t even realize. Referees and officials are undervalued for
how much responsibility falls on their shoulders and how consistent they
usually perform.
That being said, I am NOT defending
the replacement officials but rather making my case for appreciating the
regular crews. This NFL season has had a
lot of negative headlines and scandals surround it dating back before the NFL
Draft in April. From Bounty Gate to
lawsuits by former players over player safety and concussions, the NFL has
stayed among the top headlines in the sports world for months. Bounty Gate was still at the forefront when
Week 1 kicked off with the officials lockout not even making front page news
but instead being an afterthought. The
replacements were poised in as perfect a position to succeed as replacement
officials ever could be. The attention
was off of them and they could just go out there and let their weeks of
training from over the summer kick in. They
could show the league they could fill that role, give them leverage in their
negotiations with the NFLRA, and let fans forget there was even an officials
lockout.
Fast forward three weeks later and
the league has spent each of the last three weeks working on damage control to
preserve their image. It’s becoming a
weekly tradition that every Monday or Tuesday the league issues AT LEAST one
statement defending one replacement crew or another for a highly publicized
mistake in a game. Each week there’s the
mentality that “it can’t get much worse than it was this weekend” and yet each
weekend they find a way to lower the bar.
The league’s worst nightmare is coming true as they see their last bit
of leverage against the Referee’s Union slipping through their fingers.
The current apex (and I use that term loosely because I’m
sure next week they’ll find a way to blow an even simpler call in even grander
fashion) came on national television.
Monday Night Football on ESPN with millions watching a close battle
between the toast of the NFC, the Green Bay Packers, and the surprising upstart
Seattle Seahawks who thus far this season, just keep finding ways to compete
and win. With 8 seconds left in
regulation and the Packers winning 12-6, rookie QB Russell Wilson heaves a hail
mary up into the endzone and at that moment, you could feel everyone in the
stadium as well as at the NFL League Offices collectively hold their breath. And as Packers safety M.D. Jennings and
Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate came down with the ball, three weeks of
debating and arguing about this experiment of replacement officials was
meaningless. With Jennings pulling the
ball with both arms to his chest and Tate merely clinging loosely with one arm
on the ball, 2 officials converged on the scene and in the epitome of this now
failed experiment, one signaled for a touchback and the other a touchdown.
Two officials, two different calls, and one commissioner back
in New York shaking his head as he sees how his week is going to consist of
trying to end an officials lockout while convincing fans that the integrity of
the sport is his highest priority. But
he still had hope. Hope that the
officials would come together, use God’s gift to replacement refs (instant
replay), and make the right call and save face for an otherwise farce of a
primetime game. Getting the call right
would allow everyone to forget the 24 penalties called in the game, the 1
penalty on that play that WASN’T called when Tate body checked a Packers corner
to the ground before his leap, and for at least 1 day, slow the criticism of
Roger Goodell’s experiment. Too bad for
Roger that even after using replay, these replacements grasp of the NFL’s rules
is so weak that they upheld their blunder.
It was a touchdown for the Seahawks, handing them a 14-12 victory. The officials used instant replay to confirm
that the Packers were just robbed of a victory, that fans should have no faith
in the replacement officials, and that the league would be spending Tuesday
issuing statements regarding this failed experiment.
Let’s even forget the fact that it took another 10 minutes to
kick the meaningless extra point because the officials didn’t realize it was
required and focus on the consequences of their blown call and non-call. The fallout is far reaching, from the League
Offices on Park Ave in New York City to the strip in Las Vegas. Minutes after the tragic ending of this game
the social media world was overwhelmed with an outpouring of sentiments surrounding
this game. 7 of the top 10 trends on
twitter WORLDWIDE in some way involved the NFL or that specific game. That has continued through the day Tuesday
and more reports and statements issued haven’t helped put out this social media
wildfire. Economic and business analysts
estimate that the blown call at the end of that game shifted $15 million in
bets from one side to the other…and that’s just bets in Las Vegas. If you take into account online bets and
estimated off the books gambling and such, the conservative estimate is one
replacement officiating crew shifted over $250 million in bets.
I’d like to see how Roger Goodell is going to spin this
scandal. All the defending the league
has done for these officials is now moot in the court of public opinion. These officials are now, more than ever, fair
game. The time for “they’ll improve
given time” argument is now past. The
fans no longer want to hear how hard these officials are trying or how the
league will continue to work to better the officiating. The only way to improve the officiating is
give the NFLRA whatever they want at this point in order to salvage what’s left
of the league’s integrity. There’s no
debate to be had here on what the call should have been or how this experiment
of replacement officials is panning out.
The only debate now is what this scandal is going to be called. I’d put my money on Ref Gate (as long as my
bet can’t be influenced by a NFL referee).
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