Are complaints about games having microtransactions and loot boxes effective?

Many mobile games have microtransactions and loot boxes but not all mobile games have both features present. Also, other mobile games are like less dangerous than others due to having microtransaction feature only but the spending on it is still unlimited that it continues to pose danger of gaming addiction. Many developers who made those freemium mobile games have made tons of money off microtransaction feature and suffice to say, this has been the norm for mobile gaming nowadays. A paid mobile game is said not to have microtransaction features but they happen to be bigger financial advantage for game companies.

No matter how much you warn people about how dangerous the microtransaction and loot box features are when they are present together in a mobile game, there are scummy whales out there who continue to defend such games no matter how much greed and unusual stuff that are implemented. You can complain about such practices all you want but there are already games full of greed that we can rant on as they surpass many good mobile games through wickedness alone. Diablo Immortal is one of those games many people including me have ranted about.

Unfortunately, no matter how vocal we are, there are times where complaints are ignored or appreciated depending on the gaming controversy. It's like all Activision Blizzard cared for was the profits and I guess that the whales are to blame for making such mobile games like Diablo Immortal succeed.

An immature misconception is when people think that mobile gamers aren't real gamers and mobile games in general are total garbage. That's not an opinion at all. The only thing from me that can rival that misconception is that spinoff games of source material on mobile cannot be trusted and mobile games with endless paths of difficult stages/levels like Candy Crush games are not a fun experience. Your best solution will be to avoid those kinds of mobile games in the first place.

There were other past things I ranted because of how extremely disturbing they were like the M1 Fringe Festival of 2017, a game console with the most inappropriate design and a dance movie involving kids as main characters that would be released on Netflix two years ago. However, those were stories of the past times.

S**** Origins compilation controversy

Hate to blog anything related to that franchise I'm no longer a fan of but it seems that many journalists and content creators brought up AAA GAMES while the topic is about S***c Origins, the upcoming compilation game from Sega that will come up in two months or so. The reason has something to do with Sega emulating what other companies like Rockstar and Square Enix did to the original versions of the old games in favor of the remastered ones. Suffice to say, GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition is a disaster when it came out that Rockstar would eventually come up with a plan to reinstate the original versions of the old games on Rockstar Store which is still an incomplete amend they had made. Square Enix had pretty much done the same for some classic Final Fantasy games on mobile and PC in favor of the Pixel Remaster versions and the Pixel Remaster versions of the classic Final Fantasy games are said to be quite good.

So, what is Sega planning for this compilation this time? Well, they're planning to remove the original versions of the classic S***c games from Steam, PS3, Xbox 360 and even Playstation Now service in favor of the enhanced compilation version done by Christian Whitehead and Headcannon, who were behind the enhanced ports of some classics previously released on mobile with S**** CD enhanced version released on mobile, PC and consoles. The recent actions from Sega attracted the attention of some content creators who make news videos on big games like those AAA games for instance.

The gaming news that had both the upcoming S***c Origins and whatever AAA games mentioned was the reason I wrote this blog article in the first place. Even the content creators who make gaming news videos, ranted about this S***c Origins controversy in a professional way like proper adults.

Rangok Skies/Operation Dracula Controversy Part Two

So, the game was recently released on Steam despite the large amount of plagiarized assets including some sound effects and when it comes to stolen sound effects used in an indie game, that's where the players who have cleared the game can sense that something isn't right with the Sound Effect portion of the credits. Like exactly where those stolen sound effects come from other than the sound effects taken from freesound.org? Prior to the release, there were some improvements done to the gameplay and visuals but the problem of plagiarism is still serious and present, putting other controversial professional indie games I discovered in the past to shame.

In addition, there's the official website of Rangok Skies which looks fine although the news part may seem slightly unprofessional and even then, the successful release of the game on Steam ever since its mobile release 6 years ago had already upon doors to legal investigation. Will the investigation really happen? I don't know if it will really happen or not since the game is an arcade-style 2D shooter although the incident regarding Dangen Entertainment and other indie game developers was bigger enough than this that Dangen Entertainment's actions were mentioned by Sentinels of the Store Steam Curator Page. I first discovered that Steam Curator Page and community group thanks to Sidalpha who highlights the dirty game developers' shady actions. Speaking of that page, Rangok Skies may deserve to end up in it under Theft List over stolen assets.

If Rangok Skies is to end up in that Theft List from Sentinels of the Store Steam Curator Page, it will look like an important lesson for indie game developers. But then, that important lesson has been there ever since the page was established and the lists have been growing larger with newer games added in them.

Popular mobile games of the past

As if the previous blog article I wrote that mentioned something like Fl***y Bird somewhere in it wasn't enough due to the discovery of one of the recent news articles from Neowin about popular mobile games on Android, I may as well mention those past mobile games that article mentioned here. At the time, certain popular mobile games mentioned on that article had microtransactions as in-app purchases of premium virtual currency or additional default virtual currency using real money so you can use that feature for buying in-game items or upgrades and such. When I say additional default virtual currency, it means the only virtual currency in the game gets additional currency points. There are multiple ways the default virtual currency can be increased provided that it's the only kind of virtual currency in the game. Sometime in the early 2010s, there were eventually mobile games that introduced loot box feature but I won't include them in this blog post here as this is quite a different story.

So here are the past mobile games listed below:

Angry Birds

The classic Angry Birds games came out on mobile without any charge although they seem to have tons of levels with further levels being quite difficult. Having endless amounts of levels along with microtransaction for purchasing items as an easy way to proceed is what threw me off the most, more on that later, but with multiple Angry Birds games with tons of levels, it's going to seem like you would need tons of free time to attempt those levels if you could.

Temple Run, Subway Surfers, Jetpack Joyride & Fruit Ninja

They may seem simple concept-wise but the item-upgrade is what increases the replay value. The same may go for other games that are not endless runner games. Fruit Ninja has tons of sequels and versions with Kinect and VR being the good gaming experimental ways to play with full motion controls and usage of in-game slicer weapons to slice down fruits in the VR world using VR controllers. Even Angry Birds franchise has the VR spinoff as well but I don't know if there will be a VR endless runner game as well as if the only way to slide or jump will be through a press of a button while bashing away whatever obstacles coming your way or even avoiding whatever you're not supposed to run into.

Candy Crush & other similar freemium match-3 puzzle games

This is the kind of game you'll probably love or hate. Further levels will be TOUGH and that wasted tons of my time until I cleared some further levels by luck without even buying the in-game items or some sort through microtransactions. Maybe I'm better off with NOT spending money on microtransaction stuff as it may seem like a dangerous and addictive act in gaming. I could have used the money on something more important.

Hell, there's a good alternative to Candy Crush series that existed and that is Sugar Shock, from the same man who made the Bejeweled series of games and that follows the classic Bejeweled Blitz which relies on skills and luck for score. At least, that is a better time to spend on instead of Candy Crush which I couldn't tolerate anymore. It's a shame that EA had to follow suit with Bejeweled Stars for the sake of gaining additional money.

Flappy Bird and other games similar to it

This is one game I pretty much despised and avoided due to unoriginality of assets and garbage gameplay although its clones might have different look while retaining the same gameplay. The pipes looked like something from the Mario franchise and people including me eventually bashed the hell out of the game due to plagiarism and such.

Speaking of plagiarism of Nintendo IP stuff, there was some game like Giana Sisters on C64. One real fact is that, the lawsuit NEVER happened at all when it comes to the original Giana Sisters game on C64. Rather, Nintendo asked that the original Giana Sisters game be booted off the retail stores. Later games in the Giana Sisters series distanced themselves from the original Giana Sisters game.

The original Flappy Bird game was taken down due to bad influence such as addicting nature coming from it according to the sole developer. However, the damage was already done even if that game was taken down and with endless amounts of clones, the power of plagiarism has been running amok in the world of mobile games. At least, I had seen a paid professional indie game that took that power and its indie developer got away with it without being called out until the upcoming console/PC release that will take place next year. The power is real starting with stolen sound effects and the graphical assets are still similar to whatever the developer took even with various differences made.

Another stupid thing was the sales of IOS devices bundled with the original Flappy Bird app inside them after the game was booted off the app store.

Plagiarism in professional game development and music/video content theft = Copyright Infringement?

One serious note is that this blog post will be quite different than what Sidalpha made a video of when it comes to plagiarism in game industry. I blogged things about Filip Miucin as one notorious example of how much damage he had done to his reputation. Not even an apology is enough to help convince us as I expect something else like mistake realization. Sure, I did a bunch of stupid shit in the past but a change of the way I do nowadays as long as it's a good way and I'm doing right things may seem like something although it's still not enough to surpass mistake realization which is something that can convince people into knowing that I realized my mistakes or whatnot. Who knows how long until such past mistakes are eventually realized one day? From Sidalpha's video about plagiarism in game industry, it's obvious that plagiarism will not be tolerated by game developer companies or game review companies like IGN which is one company Filip Miucin was fired from. Right now, I'm not interested in the other culprit who took the Call of Duty Black Ops story script from the other person although the other culprit happens to be another YouTuber. Even as a YouTuber, plagiarism will not be tolerated or some sort as if you'll be called out online for doing that.

As I previously blogged about Rangok Skies/Operation Dracula, it is notorious for stolen assets that may seem like plagiarism. The ones the sole developer took already look obviously similar to the source material no matter the amount of differences. The sound effects already took plagiarism to the next level which is real copyright infringement. Plus, the game was PASSED OFF AS A PAID PROFESSIONAL INDIE GAME, first released on mobile, followed by the upcoming console/PC releases that will happen next year with even MORE plagiarized stuffs. Unfortunately, it looks like lawsuits against that sole developer won't happen easily due to how expensive the cost for one lawsuit can be. Not to mention that Cave Interactive is a small company or some kind. Perhaps, Sega and SNK can sue that developer because of those stolen sound effects as that kind of action the developer did is like a violation of a copyright law. Having stolen sound effects in a professional indie game like this have already made it worse than Fl***y Bird, probably after the power of the plagiarism started running amok like 6 years ago in the world of mobile gaming.

Another case I know of was about some artwork being stolen by Soulja Boy and used as a song album jacket. There were already different cases I mentioned like selling clone consoles he didn't invent whatsoever and passing them off as manufactured by him but that was a different story I already blogged about.

Another one involved a music cyber-thief named, Dimwell. That person was stealing tracks that were produced by other DJs/producers as well as false reporting their work and passing off the stolen tracks as his own productions. It may seem like copyright infringement but to me, what that person did was different than plagiarism for sure. I made a reply tweet to Fallensuperhero about this when I saw a tweet of his about someone downloading his YouTube video and then posting it on that person's channel because the video theft thingy wasn't the first time I saw on social media.

Then, there comes a problem whenever such culprits like the Rangok Skies developer got called out for their actions, and that is to call those who called out those culprits various things as an immature way of lashing out. The obvious examples from Rangok Skies developer involve calling those things like uneducated, authentic son of something, delusional piece of shit, etc. Even the Devil Engine developer got insulted when calling out the Rangok Skies developer as a result when being shown the comparison picture between the source material and the one used for Devil Engine. Another problem is the defensive brats defending the culprits who are being called out. So, about Soulja Boy being called out at that time for illegal clone console manufacturing and artwork theft for his song album jacket, there were those defensive white knights bringing out whatever that had nothing to do with the trouble he caused. I won't mention those outside things that were brought out here even though they had nothing to do with the problem he caused as bringing out those outside terms like that whenever he called out was sort of immature.

Citing source locations may be one thing under the Reference list for whatever you take as well as mentioning various source materials but major difference is probably another important factor like have you made something you've taken look a lot different? It may seem like it for Rangok Skies developer but the difference isn't that much that the things he took were still quite similar to source materials. There's no complete point fixing that game as it can be challenge in redoing it from scratch until it is a whole lot different.

Rangok Skies/Operation Dracula Controversy (Updated)

Operation Dracula was first released on mobile although the Android version was taken down. It is a bullet-hell shooter containing assets that are plagiarized or derived. Even some of the sound effects are stolen from various games that can easily be construed as plagiarism. For graphical assets, they are little bit different even in hi-res form although they're not that original. Perhaps, the sole developer of the game is a little bit worse than other sole game developers then.

At the time the game was released on mobile, we didn't have any interest or knowledge about it until years later when we eventually discovered it on social media. Since it was released first on mobile, the developer got away with having released it without being called out whatsoever as if the power of plagiarism ran amok that it already infested mobile gaming so quickly after the release of Flappy Bird. The upcoming console/PC versions have MORE plagiarized/derived graphical assets with the external in-game UI looking like the one from Crimzon Clover. Other assets look like the ones from Toaplan, 8ing and even Cave arcade shooters. Another controversial part is the sales of the game with such stolen assets. It's kind of wrong to pass it off as a professional-level indie game when it's on the same level as Gwange Dash which was no longer available for download due to copyright complaints from Cave back then. Gwange Dash is a fanmade-level indie game that you could obtain for free as it has the derived copyrighted materials. The same can pretty much go for Xeno Fighters by EddyMRA which has more copyrighted materials put in. Another Japanese indie game I played back then was Storm Calibur which happens to have copyrighted sound effects taken from various shmup games, Thunder Force V, Terra Diver, Dodonpachi, etc. At that time, it was bundled with other computer games on the optical disc. It was stored on a blank box with no cover/label art whatsoever. I wasn't an adult when I played that so I had no idea on where was that disc bought from.

The disappointing things about Operation Dracula/Rangok Skies are as follows:

1. Not all sound effects are implemented when things happen such as the bomb/special attack activation, the ship getting destroyed and the ship approaching from the bottom of the screen, etc. Only the voices are present when those things happen.
2. Rapid-firing speed isn't that fast when holding down the Shot button.
3. Large boss explosion is completely absent upon defeating the stage-end bosses. Shmup games of the present time should have that.

One thing that's not worth doing to the game is replacing stolen assets with a mod. The larger portions of the graphics can be difficult to replace and even if the sound effects and graphics are replaced like that, the gameplay is still the same and to change the gameplay via programming is going to be a riskier idea when it comes to modding modern games on PC.

With stolen sound effects and graphical assets as I mentioned at the beginning, a C&D is likely to come towards the sole developer as a lawsuit is going to cost tons of money. Cave is still active even today although they've been making mobile games with one of them still on-going for longer time. It wasn't easy for Cave to keep the mobile gaming business going and especially for certain mobile games developed by them that didn't last that long. It seems that Cave can be one of the active game companies to plan to sue the hell out of the sole developer of Rangok Skies if they want to but nobody knows if the lawsuit or C&D will happen or not. The only upside that is not part of the controversy is the soundtrack which is licensed. And nowadays, the composer wants to undo the license but if he can't do that as the sole developer refuses to be part of that undo, he may as well enhance the music he composed for the upcoming game, Westgunne, which is like a downgraded version of the cancelled Heaven's Variant which is done using UE3. Westgunne is made by the Heaven's Variant developers using Unity and showcases various creative things using 2D graphics.

The game is supposed to be released in two months but for whatever reason, it is delayed and set for January release next year. Not to mention that the sole developer recently had started the official Twitter account, only to get called out for the amount of plagiarism. The defense is immature for sure like calling those who called out the developer things like uneducated, kid, etc. Man, I bet that the developer may deserve to be on Sidalpha's Dirty Dev list.

The video above is edited with the Effekseer effects I made using the assets that come with the program and I used some sound effects from Sound Effect Lab. At the time I made the video, no assets were changed. Not to mention that I'm no Unity user as I find it much harder than Game Maker Studio and it has traditional coding stuff which is also difficult for me.

Starblade PS1 version obtained

Man, what happened to the 32-bit versions? Why is the arcade version better to play? Well, let's see the flaws.

1. Additional bullshit coming out of nowhere: While additional voice clips are added which make it a nice move, what the hell is up with those sound effects coming out of nowhere? How could they take the clip from some superplay video from the Starblade laserdisc and then put it in the game? Can't they put in those voice clips without putting anything else?
2. Boss Self-Destruction: You can't believe that Namco has turned this arcade game into an FMV game for the 32-bit version probably due to the fact that the entire graphics are put into the video. It's fine to make things choppy but you know what's really wrong with this move? During boss battles, there's no way to take short time or longer time to destroy the bosses such as the power source of the Octopus weapon and Iceberg Control Center as well as the enemy flagship commander. Instead, they're parts of the FMV and the time for boss destruction comes in after how exactly long the time for boss battles takes.
3. Firing input is awful: You're better off playing this in the arcades, PS2 as part of Tekken 5 or the Wii. Even if you turn on the rapid fire cheat, it doesn't help out in destroying as many enemies as you want for survival. There may be a workaround in using the mouse or Playstation flight stick for better movements but it cannot be same for immediate input response in firing at the enemies.
4. Awful collision between your lasers and enemies: This flaw and the previous one when combined will take up beyond a few credits you're given. It's kind of difficult to destroy the enemies that take up several hits, the enemies you want to reach, the enemies that are parts of the environments and the amount of projectiles that are thrown at you.

There's the Mega CD version of the game which is better than the 32-bit versions and the past version you could buy instead although it still uses FMV sequences but in a better way. Other than those, you're better off playing this on the PS2, Wii, the arcades and mobile via a discontinued compilation app. From what I saw from the Wii version, you can use the Wii remote as moving the flight stick.