Denuvo's Switch Emulator Protection technology

Denuvo Anti-Tamper is the DRM-related technology that is supposed to combat software piracy but it had been criticized for hindering the performance of certain games released on PC. The popular examples had to be the AAA games released on PC that make use of this technology but some non-AAA games that use it had a similar problem. Some of the games were eventually patched to make the performance be on par with the DRM-free versions. Even the director of Tekken 7 put the blame on Denuvo technology for this problem and many gamers have been against that technology as a result.

With regards to the upcoming "Switch Emulator Protection" technology, the gamers are really concerned about the hindering of the performance of the Switch games as the console isn't that much of a powerhouse to begin with when compared to the competing game consoles such as the Playstation 4, Xbox One and their successors. The way the technology is implemented is that according to GamesRadar, there will be some checks inserted into the code where a specific Switch game containing such implementation will be prevented from being played on the Switch emulators on PC. Perhaps, the videos of Nintendo games being played on emulators on Steam Deck must have attracted a lot of attention recently and I guess that this is how Denuvo responds with the latest controversy they're going to cause.

According to Kotaku, there won't be online checks for the Switch games that make use of this "Switch Emulator Protection" technology, which means the solution is completely offline as the Switch console is a hybrid of a home and portable game console, so the full online capabilities of the console take place indoors. At least, this is not like the TRDR Pocket console which is an ANDROID-BASED PORTABLE console in which you're out of luck in trying to play tons of freemium mobile games on the go without Mobile Data turned on and SIM card inserted. But why would anyone want to play a portable console on the go in Online Mode? A smartphone could have been handy enough for browsing the net on the go, provided you have Mobile Data turned on and the SIM card inserted. It's already stupid to include 4G on a previous portable game console like the PS Vita and the same technical stupidity had gotten bigger with TRDR Pocket.

The latest controversy that affects the Switch had people thinking if Nintendo is involved in this or not but Denuvo made a recent claim that they developed this technology as a request from various publishing partners and Nintendo itself wasn't involved. It's basically causing gamers another hesitation on playing those games that have the Denuvo technology on PC and Switch.

One imagination from me is that the delusional shills of the Amico console may or may not be proud of a news like this for once when it comes to the Switch even though the Intellivision offices were empty for months and the game development for Amico games already came to a halt sometime ago. Certain Amico games looked like they didn't run at 60FPS or some sort when being shown in action. Sure, they might be family-friendly games but those shown were 2D GAMES and even certain family-friendly games with 3D graphics on Switch that don't run at 60FPS have superior graphics and more interesting presentation. The inclusion of the Denuvo technology on Switch games is one thing that may or may not get those shills surprised but the on-going concern from gamers about hindering of the performance of some Switch games should outweigh that surprise nobody cares. Imagine that the Amico console did come out with games released on it that used disastrous DRM technology that worsened the performance even further despite most of the games being 2D, that would make Switch and PC games with Denuvo more interesting although this is something no delusional shills of the Amico might care. A bigger problem involved the inclusion of such disastrous DRM technology in Amico games combined with the console lasting less than few years.

What about a 2D game that doesn't run at 60FPS despite having NO Denuvo technology at all? There were such NES games like that in existence and I guess it's due to game development incompetency but that sounds like a story of another time. Also, no matter how much optimization is put into the game, the Denuvo technology when included is already a big obstacle to the game's performance.

Unity Technologies CEO's idiotic statement to game developers who are against microtransaction features

As if someone employed by EA wasn't idiotic enough for coming up with such an idiotic tweet recently that angered many game developers and gamers alike, this one from Unity Technologies CEO does the same thing with a different statement in which he claimed that game developers who shun microtransactions were brilliant but biggest idiots. If you're one of the game developers who's against the microtransaction & loot-box features because they are like gambling features in video games to you, there's a chance that you may or may not be offended by him. Switching game engines because of this recent offense is no easy path as you have to master another alternate game engine you've switched to. Even one game engine used by indie game developers is different than the other. Like Game Maker Studio when compared to Unity for instance, where you have a choice of making a 2D or 3D game based on your plans.

It's like the Unity Technologies CEO thought that game developers are going nowhere without implementing such nefarious features in their games for the sake of whatever he values. Game developers get hired to work in a game studio as professional game developers mostly due to passion and interest in making games. Even Satoru Iwata was full of ideas when it came to making a game console or a game software for said console when he was a CEO of Nintendo at the time and thanks to his vision, many of the Nintendo consoles were sold super-well and even the families had a blast in playing some Wii games together unlike Intellivision Amico which went on an opposite route by ensuring that families would be united with it according to Tommy. That made Satoru Iwata a well-respected CEO at the time, unlike the shady ones the content creators ranted.

Another ignorant thing was that Unity Technologies CEO didn't have the knowledge that many of the freemium mobile games made use of the Unity engine. The worse thing you can imagine is the future of game design courses having some microtransaction & loot box assignments you'll need to do and skipping them because of how fishy the microtransaction & loot box features are doesn't seem like an option. Another worse thing has to do with the villainous character the CEO had from the way he made his offensive statements like an idiot. It's like he's pretending to be on the same side when he's clearly not and the complaints that he offended the game developers were total barking nonsense to him.

There was a presentation from Mark Venturelli that criticized the NFT and Web3 stuffs at the event and many companies there were not pleased but the presentation drew praise from gamers for his heroic acts. Even Diablo Immortal was mentioned somewhere in that presentation for mimicking the casino experience illegally. It clearly shows on how super-predatory the monetization features are in that mobile game and he's brave enough to put it on one of the slides. It's part of the serious situation on what future of game development is like. I won't mention deeper about that presentation as this blog article is about Unity Technologies CEO's idiotic statement that disrespected game developers who didn't implement microtransaction features.

Ray'z Arcade Chronology

Just how many re-releases are there? Many Psikyo classics were released on mobile like more than once with later releases being based on the Zerodiv ports. The same can go for Taito's Rayforce on modern consoles and Deathsmiles on PC with the City Connection port being part of the compilation with DLC characters for the first game. Even the original Darius is guilty of the same thing, one that is Arcade Archives version and the other being part of the compilation made by M2. A regular audacity ever since the past times is how overpriced Taito games are.

City Connection has plans for modern console releases of several Taito arcade classics although Puzzle Bobble 2 was already in Arcade Archives under ACA Neo Geo but that was a little bit graphically inferior to the other arcade version of the same game whose hardware is 32-Bit. A cool thing about the S-Tribute release of Rayforce is that you can set the in-game screen orientation without setting the external UI to be in the same screen orientation as the in-game. Since the game is based on the Saturn version, you get superior soundtrack although the graphics are inaccurate in horizontal screen mode and the S-Tribute version doesn't fix the flaws the Saturn version has. The real concerns are the input-lag and screen shimmering and City Connection was aware of the input-lag issue.

What can the upcoming M2 version do besides the fact that all the games in the upcoming compilation game, Ray'z Arcade Chronology are based on the arcade versions? Will there be a consumer mode for the all games that have different game modes? G-Darius HD had Ver. 2 and Consumer Mode you can choose from in addition to the initial arcade version. Like G-Darius HD, Raystorm and Raycrisis will have a similar treatment from M2, so other than the games being basically upscaled, the rest of the graphics are the same. The mobile version of Raystorm is said to have Hi-Res HUD and rearranged Stage 1 BGM as the exclusive additions but it's a shame that the upcoming compilation game will not have that Hi-Res HUD for Raystorm Neo HD.

One exclusive bonus is that you'll be able to try out the prototype, R-Gear, which has only one stage. Suffice to say, it's something as experimental as G-Darius Exhibition from G-Darius HD Steam version, the deepest part of the compilation.

As for the choice of modern console ports of Taito's arcade classics, you can choose to go for either the City Connection port or the M2 port of Rayforce. It's unexpected for the upcoming compilation game, Ray'z Arcade Chronology to be the next project from M2 and it's going to be released in March next year. Only time will tell what else will they work on in the future.

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.

Nintendo of America's alleged mistreatment of employees

Oh man, even Nintendo of America had gone on a similar treacherous route as some other big game companies like Konami, EA, Activision Blizzard do. The recent gaming news about Activision Blizzard's similar mistreatment to employees and toxic work environment was as serious as the previous gaming news regarding Konami of the present time.

There were labor complaints filed against Nintendo of America recently and they even put out a statement regarding this situation. Some of the big game companies are already on the dark and greedy side ever since many years ago with Konami being one of the examples regarding the dispute between them and Hideo Kojima for instance. Other than that side, there are still new games being made by those companies and especially that you get to see new games in classic Nintendo franchises. Some of the Pokemon commercials are good examples about playing together with a family or friend like it's one of the bright sides of Nintendo but Nintendo being on the super dark side is some moment nobody wants.

A controversy like the one caused recently from Nintendo of America is something of a kind that can attract those weirdos shilling on the Amico platform like they can label Nintendo certain things in an ignorant way while Intellivision and Tommy have their own controversies to address. Tommy's disrespectful and aggressive attitude towards gamers, critics and content creators is what should be addressed the most as it had been one of the causes of the Amico console falling apart as a product.

I guess that after the amount of gaming controversies you know of regarding Konami, EA or Activision Blizzard for instance, the group you do not want to encounter at all is a group of defensive scums defending Konami with no regards to or awareness of said controversies. There's no plan to give big game companies a second chance if they continue to make such greedy moves such as disregards for consumers and employees for instance. You can give them that chance but they will blow it after sometime.

Space Kabaam on Playstation 4 & Playstation 5

What is this bare-bones looking shit that was recently released on Playstation 4 & 5? Indeed, I have appreciation for indie games being on consoles, mobile, PC and even arcades but Space Kabaam by Auto Slavic looks like something that is being shown in a game jam event. It has one stage, no powerups, simple enemy ship attacks, bare-bones presentation and the game session behaves like an endless runner. The flow is there from start to finish in which the game jumps to in-game and then goes to result screen after the game is over. Even Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing and Popeye reboot have a proper flow although some stages in Big Rigs are not there or something that choosing them might result in a program crash. Desert Bus on Sega CD has an in-game session that doesn't end or something and that makes it more incomplete than other games I just mentioned.

If you want to play an endless runner-style shmup game with a complete presentation and sufficient contents, how about MUGEN Vritra on mobile and PC or Galaga Wars on mobile? MUGEN Vritra has one endless stage that is divided into randomly chosen areas and the player character which is the flying dragon has different weapons to choose from. Galaga Wars has multiple ships to choose from and each ship has its own set of weapons that can be upgraded just like in other endless runner games. It also has multiple stages but it is still an endless runner-style game. Once you reach the final stage, you'll remain there for the rest of the game session.

For an indie game in such an incomplete state, the release of Space Kabaam has left people baffled on how could Sony allow something like this to happen. The gameplay of Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing is unpolished with the game having incomplete set of race tracks and Popeye reboot has a few different maps and that's that. Space Kabaam has a severely bare-bones presentation I've ever seen and is not worth the time no matter which platform it is released on.

Even as an indie game, people expect a complete and interesting set of contents. Undertale has tons of unique stuffs and demonstrates the goodness of indie gaming on modern gaming platforms.