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Denver, 8:01 AM
Thu Nov 12
57 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/08/09
11/08/09
Even if it's designed to be easily rolled out on more titles in the future?
Here's a post on NeoGAF - I don't know - does that get your attention, even if it's actually well written and describes the entire time-line of the in-game advertisement project..
[www.neogaf.com]
(Look - it's fricking NeoGAF, editors! WHEE! Must read! Yelp, yelp!) #lawsuit
11/08/09
Eh, people whining about in-game advertising need to give it up and stop acting like immature children. It's not like your game is getting interrupted by commercials, it's just part of the game art, get over it. #lawsuit
11/08/09
Have you seen it in /this particular case/? It's tv-style advertisements on the loading screens. Loud, fractured, flashing. Not in the game's art style, not unobtrusive - and the background downloading affects the game significantly.
And all this is retrofitted to the game long after I've bought it for full price.
I mean, why the f.... why would I complain about a few billboards, or a product placement? #lawsuit
11/08/09
The third? Well, I didn't notice anything huge that it mentioned. So what's that headline supposed to read? "New Wipeout Update Makes Loading Slightly Quicker By Tweaking Ads"?
Yeah, it's a bit effed up that Sony agreed to such ridiculous parameters for those advertisements in the first place, but this isn't really the time nor the place to discuss it. May I suggest "Talk Amongst Yourselves"? #lawsuit
11/08/09
[kotaku.com]
Already done. The difference this time is that update 2.10 affects gameplay in ways that 2.0 didn't. And it's clear that the system is meant to be put into any game with loading screens. It differs from for example what EA has done with billboards and so on that you download a package of tv-spot ads to be rotated endlessly. It's not a development tool to assign random ad-resources to textures around the game-world. It's a separate application drawing resources during gameplay. And no, it does not "fix" the loading time problem, like Studio Liverpool says. Anyone playing the game now can tell. #lawsuit
11/08/09
Wait, they're actual commercials, with sound?
Are you fucking kidding me? #lawsuit
11/08/09
11/09/09
So sue me.
@out-phaze: ..yes. Loud, tv-spot type ads right up to the start of the race. #lawsuit
11/09/09
BTW load time was not any longer but actually seemed shorter as I was being entertained. #lawsuit
11/10/09
"Hell, yes", you want ads in a game you already paid for.
Seriously, I give up. Consoles, console fans, console players, console fanatics, console publishers - go to hell. #lawsuit
11/08/09
I actually knew someone who said they planned on suing game companies because games are hard to play due to problems with his hands...
Call me insensitive, but if you're unable to do something, you're unable to do it. People shouldn't have to bend over backwards to open every activity up to everyone. I mean, ramps I can understand. Web readers I can understand. Subtitles and closed captions, yeah... But taking an experience that's centered around a sense and suing them because it doesn't accommodate your lack of it...
Ugh... That's just too much #lawsuit
11/07/09
Not only do they have more money, I've also rarely played a 360 game on an SDTV where I could actually read the text - and my vision is perfectly normal. #lawsuit
11/07/09
'auhhauhahghauh ahguh auhghuah nuahunauyagaun uahnu fuhauhanuna ufhaunua.'" #lawsuit
11/07/09
NOW IT MAKES SENSE! #lawsuit
11/07/09
That'd be like me suing Capcom because they wouldn't listen to my emails about including Jill Valentine in more games, Resident Evil or not... #lawsuit
11/07/09
There's a guy that lives in my area who is notorious for hunting down small businesses, who frequently violate the ADA by accident or because they can't afford not to, and sues them into oblivion to make an income. #lawsuit
11/07/09
It also strikes me that the accomodations being asked for are not "readily achievable." Allowing third party programs is a rediculously large headache when it comes to preventing cheating and the cost of developing internal tools to accomodate users who have impaired vision would be insane.
That's my case. MMOs are private clubs and the changes being requested are not readily achievable. Sorry dude. Life sucks, get a helmet. #lawsuit
11/07/09
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11/07/09
@Vonhert: #lawsuit
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
Back to the point: courts have recently interpreted the BFOQ rule to apply to businesses with regards to potential consumers because a company going out of its way to accommodate a scant few individuals at the possible expense of a greater number of consumers (those with disabilities) may be a obstacle to....Oh yeah...interstate commerce. If Sony can prove that adding these enhancements might be to the detriment of the rest of their user base, the court would easily rule in its favor.
See, this is why I wish we knew what the nature of his disability was. We'd have a clearer understanding of his predicament (or if he even has one).
Now, as far as the "public" nature of online spaces...the concept of public domain and public trust have yet to truly make their mark on the world with regards to e-commerce and such, but seeing as the courts typically refer to common law to formulate precedent for cases involving online property and business, it could be argued that any service he signs up for that has a TaC/ToS is private in nature, and leaving the courts to define whether or not something is public or private?...Like you said, Owen: Larger ramifications. #lawsuit
11/07/09
Or also it would be a completely unfavorable business model and would eat up so much of their revenue as to make the game completely unprofitable.
Imagine the research that had to be done or licensed to implement some sort of optical tracking cues or bio-feedback mechanism and extra programming to feed a partially blind person audio cues for effective travel. I have a hard time believing this would draw enough partially blind customers to offset that cost.
So either businesses can choose a business model to accommodate the majority, or they can choose to not go into business in the first place if they have to account for every possible human condition preventing enjoyment out of a video game.
11/07/09
But like I said: Interstate Commerce. The courts stick to it like glue. If it can be proved that by not accomodating him for his business, it is not in the interests of interstate commerce, Sony can be ordered to accomodate him. On the other hand, Sony could argue that by spending loads of money for a small handful of people, the money lost is a detriment to their ability to compete in the marketplace, and is therefore not in the interests of interstate commerce. It's a catch-all. #lawsuit
11/07/09
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11/07/09
This is a silly frivolous case... #lawsuit
11/07/09
Developers should absolutely be conscious of stuff like this. The option to make elements of the game accessible to those with disabilities is likely not cost-prohibitive or difficult for developers to implement.
The disabled don't comprise a huge demographic for gaming, but I know for certain that gaming plays a large role in the lives of many disabled people. Easily readable font, changeable font color schemes, tweakable controls, and so on are ways developers can say "hey, we get it" to disabled gamers out there.
The suit (pending its results, of course) should open the eyes of some developers out there. It's not a dire issue by any stretch, but it's an easy way to reach out to some whose lives are deeply impacted by videogames. #lawsuit
11/07/09