A bill in US that makes streaming copyrighted materials a felony

Man, as if the DMCA strikes targeting streams on Twitch over in-game background music or sound effects weren't disastrous enough, there's an upcoming bill in the US that makes streaming copyrighted material a felony which can spell a serious trouble for streamers and I get a feeling that this applies to other sites as well that offer the streaming feature.

Many games make use of professional sound effects although it seems that professional game developers may have to make such investments for professional use. I don't know if this seems ridiculous or not for Twitch to issue DMCA strikes over sound effects in games but to streamers, this seems unacceptable. Licensed music may seem like a different story as streamers don't have the rights to use it in their own gaming stream or something. I guess that permissions are needed for making a professional stream with such music included and that's the case with many professional Virtual YouTubers who are part of whatever company that specializes in content creation. Of course, those companies have the responsibility to obtain permission from game developers so that the professional content creators have the rights to make a stream like that. What about the professional YouTubers then? Do they need a similar permission as well?

One risky workaround will be to swap some sound effects with a mod but I suppose that's not the point. One of the AAA games, Cyberpunk 2077, has a Streamer Mode option in which you can make a stream of the game safely without involving licensed music. Unfortunately, the same option also reduces whatever that seems inappropriate to Twitch website when turned on so it draws mixed opinions from gaming streamers.

Also, when it comes to making a livestream of licensed console games using the console's streaming tool that comes with it, there's a chance that something like Streamer Mode is already there as part of the tool as if games like Cyberpunk 2077 will need to corporate with that tool or something in which turning on Streamer Mode unlocks access to that tool. It's a safer but questionable way. What's more questionable is the licensed rhythm games on consoles in which when people see the archived stream videos done using the console's livestream tool, the licensed music is completely absent. It's ridiculous to blame the developers or console manufacturers when that happens. It's also questionable to get around such absence by using some other streaming tool.

To the content creators like ReviewtechUSA, the upcoming bill like that is comparable to the SO** bill way back in 2011 when it was heavily opposed that it was scrapped. Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight For The Future, Access Now, etc. are already concerned about the Felony Streaming bill like it can be a disaster for the streamers' future if passed.

Google Analytics feature on Switch

Like the Playstation 5's controversial Party Voice Chat Recording feature which thankfully can be turned off, this can be the same for Google Analytics feature for the Switch. But there's one thing to take note, it is not available in European and Australian Nintendo accounts and Switch Eshops. I don't know the goddamn reason for even Nintendo to follow the controversy Sony caused with the Playstation 5's Party Voice Chat feature, as if the controversy regrading Xbox One Kinect wasn't big enough when it comes to privacy.

It's already a shame that there are people who don't care about privacy being compromised and I can recall someone taking privacy advocates for fools through his/her own idiotic comments at the time. Playstation 4 had tons of consumer respect when it was announced and released that it put the Xbox One to shame due to the controversy Microsoft caused at the time. Fast-forward to the release of the Switch and we can know that the amount of units of the Switch console is super-large as if Nintendo did the right thing with the console design idea in the 8th console generation. It's basically what the Wii U should have been in terms of innovation.

Well, privacy is still able to go on even this year and such features such as Party Voice Chat Recording for Playstation 5 or Google Analytics for Nintendo Switch can be turned off if you really value privacy. However, if you're still on Playstation 4, there's somewhat of a problem when it comes to joining a Party Voice Chat that involves the Playstation 5 users. There's no telling if the Recording feature is on or off. It's a little big of a deal when compared to turning off data collection features on Switch or even the Firefox web browser in which Mozilla always asks for permission.

PS5 Scalping Group snatches opportunity to order 1000 Xbox Series X but orders are cancelled due to "technical error"

Well, we're back at this scummy saga again with the part two involving the same group who got 3500 PS5 units. This Time, they tried to order 1000 Xbox Series X using the bots involved but their orders were cancelled due to "technical error". The same error affected the REAL customers who wanted to buy the next-gen consoles online. It left them disappointed but at the same time, they should be surprised about the fact that something like 1000 orders of Xbox Series X units backfired on the scalping group. It sort of angered the scalping group or something but the chaos like this regarding the next-gen console launch is still on-going and we don't know when will this scummy business stop.

About the part when the same scalping group said that they had "no regrets", as they claimed, they would continue to do such scummy things like ordering 1000 Xbox Series X units online. It's kind of like how "unusual activities" at the Golden Village cinemas are still allowed there in which anyone can book there just to do something else instead of watching movies with "no regrets". It's sickening that one of the idiot-bookers/Idiots-On-Facebook, got only positive reactions, articles and compliments like two weeks ago and that's that. Will those idiot-bookers do the same shit again in the future with "no regrets"? That is something I don't know. I also don't know if anyone else will be stupid enough to do the same thing as those idiot-bookers did or not.

If that's not scummy enough, the online stores have the units of Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles having an extremely high price with some Playstation 5 units costing a million bucks. This kind of action should be a crime to us! Another scummy problem is that the customers got something else instead of whatever next-gen console they ordered. Perhaps, some scalping group must have tempered with the customers' orders or something. What if the customers got a non-working console or even a console in a damaged state?

Then, there's another scummy practice someone had done according to one of ReviewtechUSA's videos regarding the on-going chaotic scalping saga for Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, and that is to impersonate a professional YouTuber and doing what that YouTuber didn't do, selling next-gen consoles through impersonation. It's not just a YouTuber any scalper can impersonate like a scammer that they are. It can be any other professional occupation. However, that case is a different story of another time as it involved some individual scalper, not that same scalping group.

Armored Princess Battle Conductor

The robot-themed action figure franchise seems to be back with the upcoming mobile and arcade games from Konami as announced from this year's JAEPO. The arcade game by the name of Armored Princess Battle Conductor has some interesting cabinet design with the left extra monitor displaying the characters you're currently playing as during gameplay like it reminds me of the link animation from Arcana Heart 3 or something. Like Sega's Ongeki, there will be character card slots to insert character cards on. There's also the customization stuff along with in-game photo-taking and other stuffs although you'll be doing all that within the limited time since it's an arcade game.

The strange thing about the game is that, the gameplay takes place in the house's living room and the characters are all figure-sized like it's Toy Story version of a robot action game and that makes sense since the franchise started off with action figures in the 2000s but the previous games based on the franchise didn't seem like that as if the gameplay takes place in the actual battlefields. OK, it turns out that even this latest game entry will HAVE stages taking place elsewhere instead of the house. There are other things to rant about like CHARGING CREDITS/PASELIS TO DRAW ADDITIONAL CARDS and of course, the character doing something I can't describe once she's knocked out and then she disappears from the field after a while. Note that the armor that she has disappears first upon getting knocked out. The character should stay lying down upon defeat before disappearing. Normally, in a third-person team-vs-team action game for the arcades, the match doesn't end until one of various conditions is fulfiilled so if a character is defeated, it's not over yet. In the case of Gunslinger Stratos series, the match can actually end if one of the teams has emptied the team health gauge completely so one of the characters from the defeated team must have faced a final knock out of something.

Armed Princess Battle Conductor will have its Card Entry Terminal thingy where you can print the character cards. Sega's Ongeki has the terminal thingy and you're charged each credit or something for each card printed. Like most of Japanese mobile games, there will be character cards of multiple rarity levels so it looks like there will be PAID LOOT BOX feature in an arcade game like this and there's a purpose in drawing character cards for the sake of gameplay and more powerful characters by higher rarity levels.

If you're interested in a franchise like this from Konami, then maybe this latest arcade entry is what you'll try should it come out one day outside Japan. However, if you're trying to feel offended over anyone ranting about microtransactions and loot boxes being like gambling features in video games, don't bother making defensive comments on their content. You'll be scolded online for defending such a greedy practice like spending too much real money on buying in-game currency for the sake of using that currency to keep drawing character cards until you get the ones you want. Plus, a run of a modern arcade game already costs $1 or more in the local arcades and the addition of loot box feature that charges you additional credits may look like a worse story than other game modes charging you additional credits.

Armored Princess Battle Conductor will be out in the arcades next month and questions about console/PC releases may be difficult ones since the game looks next-gen compared to the previous game in the series.

Capcom Retro Station

Like Capcom Home Arcade, Capcom Retro Station is another expensive equipment with low amount of games, this time with Street Fighter and Megaman games and needless to say, this is like a lame way like that with an expensive gaming machine that doesn't look like a smaller arcade cabinet design along with lower amount of games and the inclusion of NON-ARCADE Megaman games.

Capcom Home Arcade has various arcade games and uses the arcade controller design although it is shaped like a Capcom logo which may seem unusual. The bigger controversy surrounding it was the Final Burn Alpha emulator used in it. That emulator is supposed to be for personal use and the team who worked on it wasn't happy about it. So what happened was that they made a new fork which is like Final Burn Alpha you know of, MINUS the offender who defended the controversial practice, saying that the emulator is licensed. Some updates later, a different emulator replaced the Final Burn Alpha although the price of the machine and the amount of games still make things questionable.

Speaking of questionable, this is a worse story for Capcom Retro Station. It's sort of like a mini-version of playing a console game on TV with the arcade controller. That method of playing has been around ever since the 80s. I happened to play the PC-Engine with the arcade controller in my childhood and that was that back then. I never used the original controller for that console for the games I played. On the Megaman side, it's a questionable choice with a mix of arcade and non-arcade Megaman games. The Street Fighter side is a complete joke like it's comparable to some Street Fighter compilation game on PS1 and Saturn that contains various revisions of Street Fighter II. Super Street Fighter II may seem like a remake to Street Fighter II with better music, voices and altered graphics but it's still Street Fighter II in general, not a different game, no matter how different it looks and sounds. The design is ridiculous like there's no telling who is that machine built for.

The Neo Geo Mini is fine with sufficient amount of games with a design that mimics the original arcade cabinet but the lack of clicky mechanism the arcade stick has may probably put people off. The upcoming Astro City Mini from Sega will have that for sure and the emulation is worked on by M2. But for Capcom Retro Station, who probably wants to buy that? Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is already the best way to experience the Street Fighter series from Street Fighter 1-3, Alpha series included.

Like the Astro City Mini, Capcom Retro Station is getting a Japanese release sometime next month. Who knows if there will be an overseas release? Even with the western release, the amount of flaws already ruins Capcom Retro Station apart as listed below:

• Questionable choice of games on both sides
• Inclusion of non-arcade Megaman games and the lack of other Street Fighter games in the Street Fighter list
  
• Strange design
• Expensive price
• Low amount of games

Have five flaws like these listed above and you get one hell of an average machine.

Cinema hall booked for gaming?

What were those four patrons thinking when it comes to a shopping trip? Don't they have anything else to do besides shopping? HOW COULD THEY BOOK A CINEMA HALL FOR SOMETHING ELSE LIKE THAT? Normally, when it comes to cinemas, you'll go there to book a seat or something to watch a specific movie you want. You'll need to plan where you want to seat as well as the time slot when the movie will be screened.

The idea originated at the beginning of November and it kicked in several days ago when they had secured a time slot that would last 3 HOURS. And they claimed that they had "No Regrets" like they had a blast and once in a lifetime experience or something.

And the worse thing is, the cinema even allows something unusual like this to happen like it's more than watching a movie, as if the future customers want to go there to do the same thing as those FOUR PATRONS DID. You know what, TO THE BASEMENT with this unusual idea! I don't want to follow this kind of encouragement by going to a cinema just for something else like they did.

Of course, according to The Independent website, one of the patrons had the guts to dismiss the online complaint someone shared on social media against them. It seems that I can't access the link from that website as if that post was taken down or something. If it's not the complaint, then what is this to me, Surprise Experience?

What about the games with microtransactions and loot boxes? What can the cinema do? Is there a restriction to those games that have microtransactions and loot boxes? Even mobile games are considered video games for sure as if the smartphones/tablets can be hooked up to the theater projector or some sort. What about a gaming livestream, huh? Do cinemas give customers the rights for that?

What about LAN shops in Singapore, then? Isn't that a better choice instead of gaming in a cinema theater? Or maybe that's out of the question as they specialize in computer games, not console/mobile games. Even the arcade center may seem like a better choice, for arcade gaming only that is.

PS5 Scalping Group Claims That They Have "No Regrets" After Getting 3500 Units

Like the previous generation Playstation consoles, the amount of units being sold overall are quite super-high ever since the original Playstation. The same can probably go for various Nintendo consoles as well. However, the real problem is about product scalping in which scalpers sell the products they've obtained for a higher price and this is the one plaguing the Playstation 5 console with one group getting 3500 units. It's one scummy act and we hope that product scalping is a crime to begin with. Unfortunately, product scalping isn't a crime in the US on the federal level but some states view it as a demeanor. Depending on where you live, scalping or price gouging may or may not be illegal.

The situation is already out of control when it comes to Playstation 5 and the demands for that console are already quite high. One scalping group that has 3500 units had the AUDACITY to claim that they have "no regrets" for their actions. They also made the bots that messed up the online orders for Playstation 5 console in which instead of getting it as what the victims wanted, they got something else instead.

The group even has its own website that says that you can make Risk Free Profits through resales but of course, you'll surely find that site nefarious. They also had another audacity to lie online in social media, saying that the bots were not involved when the bots were INDEED involved in the mess as portrayed by the media. As the title of the blog post suggests, they claimed that they have "no regrets". However, a backlash was already drawn and I don't know if they will truly realize their mistakes and regret their actions. Needless to say, the comments on that social media post are mostly negative.

The video from Yongyea about this situation may probably say things all in detail and especially for the interesting comments I referred to.

Speaking of "No Regrets", I had seen a local news article that mentions four patrons booking a local cinema just to do something else but that will be in the next blog post. It's scummy enough for that scalping group to get away with "no regrets" like that and now, I discovered a different group that mentioned that they had "no regrets" as well.