by Bret

Our Daily Beard – 07/03/13

With the news of the next Assassin’s Creed hitting the web this week, it seems appropriate to take a look at what the latest instalment promises.

First of all, there’s the name, which has resulted in confusion.

Assassins’ Creed 4: Black Flag.

I foresee two explanations for this:

1. Based on the franchise so far, a numeral denotes a new character (this we know is true) and the subtitle denotes a smaller side-game (which appears likely as it’s a prequel historically speaking and looks somewhat gimmicky).
2. Ubisoft just don’t really care about making it neat and want to generate pirate-themed excitement, because apparently everyone loves pirates.

I hope for the former, though it still bugs me- I like my naming conventions nice and neat. Having said that, the latter seems quite likely. Let’s face it, there are two basic reactions to the news of AC: ‘Assassins and pirates! Awesome doodz lol!’ and ‘Pirates, really?’.

I’m firmly in the latter camp, because I’m sick of seeing slapdash faux pirates on screens in the last ten years. I’m praying that AC4 will avoid the temptation to Disney-up the Caribbean setting and make things all ‘yarrr’ and ‘rum!’ and have increasingly unlikely scenarios (the games already tend to crowbar every possible iconic historical figure and event into a title that they can).

Hopefully, as per the other games in the franchise, the game will lean more towards the truisms of the era and respectful degrees of historical accuracy.

The main character is Edward Kenway, Haytham’s daddy-o. Remember him from the last game? Well, Eddie is going to be pirating around the Caribbean, doing some whaling (PETA threw their toys out of the pram) and pillaging and a lot of sailing, no doubt based on the sailing in the AC3. Eddie will meet a variety of famous people from the era- Blackbeard being wheeled out as the obvious choice. Some other less famous figures with equally interesting backgrounds are present too, like Charles Vane.

Eddie will also be able to dual-wield, which sounds rather cheesy and Hollywood, but it does mean that he can fire a brace of pistols. That is, let’s face it, very quintessentially piratey and is entirely within the bounds of realism. There were many moments where Connor could have done with a second pistol, rather than having to reload, or whip out his bow. There will be fighting underwater too, so you can do battle with sharks.

Don’t lump me in with PETA, but this is the second time we’ve had animals in the franchise and I’m already sick of the idea of predators as mindless monsters that launch suicidal attacks on your character. One thing that redeemed AC3 in that respect was that Connor had to skin every kill- thereby heavily reducing any implication of hunting just for fun.

Ship-to-ship combat looks promising with the addition of boarding, letting us employ the Assassin’s love of climbing to do things like board a ship by going mast-to-mast.

Oh, and no Desmond. Instead, Abstergo research analysts are using an animus powered by Des’s DNA. Interesting, but as much as I love the franchise, it’s time we saw the endgame for the overarching plot.

Here’s a trailer. Looking forward to more details!

 

 

[sociable]

Our Daily Beard – 06/03/13

Afternoon!

Today, a proper article, sort of.

It’s just a little blurb I threw together for a job application!

 

Windows 8 has been on sale for three months- but do the figures tell us much?

The Windows Blog posted an interview with Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller to present the sales figures at day 90, but not without a dose of spin. While it’s true that Windows 8 has sold 60 million licenses (on par with Windows 7), that was reasonably inevitable for the default OS on new PCs.

Wiindows 8 has been heavily tied in with the advent of touch devices, such as Surface- Microsoft’s virgin foray into the hardware market. Tami insists that ‘from tablets, to touch laptops, to all-in-one PCs, customer interest in new touch form factors is increasing’. This could well be true- but any confidence in the statement is undermined by the follow-up ‘Windows 8 PCs are the best PCs ever – faster, more efficient, better battery life, and access to the ever-growing lineup of Windows 8 apps’. It’s hard to take positive statements seriously when coupled with textbook PR. The Telegraph’s report of a 4.3% fall in the sales of PCs in the fourth quarter of 2012 doesn’t entirely tally with this rosy outlook.

One promising statistic from Tami is that ‘the number of apps has more than quadrupled’. Then again, she also says that ‘we want to make sure customers have the apps they want and use most frequently’. Selling things that people want- cutting edge stuff.

All that can be gleamed from the interview is that Microsoft is sticking to the usual blurb with no strong positive or negative indicators. The statistics are promising in the short term, but tell us little about the long term.

The reason for this is that typically, families and businesses buy the stock OS in the shop. However, younger sub-40 audiences- the families and businesses of tomorrow- are far savvier. They are more likely to look at alternative OS options or stay with older software like Windows 7. On the tablet front, they are already saturated with Android and iOS devices.

With Gabe Newell, chief executive of Steam (and a man who worked on Windows for 13 years) branding Windows 8 a ‘great sadness’, even the gaming potential is in question. Gamers young and old are precisely the type of customers who know all about alternative OS options.

With Windows 8 designed to unify the desktop and mobile markets, they must secure younger consumers in both areas to be assured of long-term success. A demographic breakdown of the 60 million sales would be far more telling.

 

 
[sociable]

Our Daily Beard – 05/03/13

This weekend- a thing!

Xbox LIVE Gold is going free for the weekend, which is coolest news for those who don’t have Gold but might want to briefly have Gold.

The fantasticness is being sponsored by Bioshock Infinite, so expect to see that everywhere.

So, from the 8^th, fill your boots with 4OD, Netflix, social whatsit, Music Pass and all the other Gold only activities you can think of. Party time- excellent.

Keep an eye out for some special events too. For example, Rockstar Friday is a Friday where you can challenge Rockstar’s devs to multiplayer GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption and Midnight Club LA, between 12.00 – 17.00 GMT on Friday.

There will also be special multiplayer action for Halo 4, Borderlands 2, Tomb Raider, FIFA Ultimate Team, Forza Horizon, Far Cry 3 and Assassin’s Creed 3. With Tomb Raider only being released today, I expect that to be a very hot ticket.

Oh, there’s internet explorer and smartglass too.

Information about this lives here: http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/Live/free-live-weekend

 

 
[sociable]