General gaming discussion

TitianGerm

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I'll hold my hands up if that's the case, but just to be sure i've banged off an email to the CCPC to clarify. I still can't see how a retailer is responsible for a 3rd party product under the warranty, but I will agree with all of ye if that is the case, as soon as the CCPC responds.

Your contract is with the retailer not the manufacturer. The retailer will return the faulty unit to the manufacturer and be issued a credit note for the cost.

Retr0gamer

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I'll hold my hands up if that's the case, but just to be sure i've banged off an email to the CCPC to clarify. I still can't see how a retailer is responsible for a 3rd party product under the warranty, but I will agree with all of ye if that is the case, as soon as the CCPC responds.

A manufacturers warranty is with the manufacturer and completely separate to the contract with the retailer which is with consumer. It doesn't make sense that the retailer is responsible for a manufacturing fault but that's the law. Pretty sure the retailer can claim back then from the manufacturer for faulty goods.

EoinHef

Maybe we could get judge dread....i mean judy to come and tell us:P

I got a PS3 fixed by game after owning it for just under 4 years. YLOD was the culprit. Told them it was a defect and i wasnt going away. Was repaired twice,after it failed for a 3rd time they refunded me the second hand value of the top PS3 model,i paid an extra €50 to get a brand new PS3.

I did have to take it as far as ringing their head office in the UK but once i took it that far they actually went out of their way to get it sorted.

This is despite the manager in store insisting that i had no recourse.

Atlas_IRL

This is getting confusing now. Am i right in saying you bought the machine from a retailer then gave it to your friend and it broke, or your friend bought it from the retailer and it broke?

Is their a reciept?

Potential-Monke

His friend bought it in November and it stopped working after the latest firmware.

Josey Wales

Okay, so I can clear this up. I'm the friend that is being referred to.

I bought the console new from GameStop in November 2018. It started crashing (every 30 mins to an hour) after the latest firmware update. GameStop told me they wouldn't help and to deal with Sony. It was reading stuff here and listening to my friend that convinced me to stand firm.

I wrote them an email last night, quoting things from here and Irish / EU law. I got a phone call this morning from them. They said if I bring it to the store and they can replicate the issue they will exchange it.

So I went to the store tonight and gave them the PS4. I said to leave it running with a game for an hour, which they did. I came back an hour later and it was still working fine (of course). So I said give it ten mintues and I went and bought bubble wrap so I can send it to Sony. When I came back he told me it was still working but as goes to turn off the game he finds it is unresponsive. It crashed then.

I couldn't help but smile. The guy was grand though, he went and got me a new console straight away.

Zero-Cool

Josey Wales wrote: »

. When I came back he told me it was still working but as goes to turn off the game he finds it is unresponsive. It crashed then.

I couldn't help but smile. The guy was grand though, he went and got me a new console straight away.

TitianGerm

Josey Wales wrote: »

Okay, so I can clear this up. I'm the friend that is being referred to.

I bought the console new from GameStop in November 2018. It started crashing (every 30 mins to an hour) after the latest firmware update. GameStop told me they wouldn't help and to deal with Sony. It was reading stuff here and listening to my friend that convinced me to stand firm.

I wrote them an email last night, quoting things from here and Irish / EU law. I got a phone call this morning from them. They said if I bring it to the store and they can replicate the issue they will exchange it.

So I went to the store tonight and gave them the PS4. I said to leave it running with a game for an hour, which they did. I came back an hour later and it was still working fine (of course). So I said give it ten mintues and I went and bought bubble wrap so I can send it to Sony. When I came back he told me it was still working but as goes to turn off the game he finds it is unresponsive. It crashed then.

I couldn't help but smile. The guy was grand though, he went and got me a new console straight away.

Great result. Enjoy the new console!!

pixelburp

pixelburp wrote: »

So for anyone lamenting Contra: Rogue Corps, and Konami f'ing it up, you might appreciate this new trailer for indie game "Blazing Chrome". The inspiration is ... subtle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgdWMqMKIZ8

And this is now out today apparently

Techniques07

pixelburp wrote: »

And this is now out today apparently

Just seen that it's on Game Pass also. That's my evening sorted.

gimli2112

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48925623


these are really shady practices by the industry and they should be brought to task over it, although the 15 year old playing Fortnite who didn't realise spending small amounts a lot of the time ends being a big amount is stretching it

kunst nugget

gimli2112 wrote: »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48925623


these are really shady practices by the industry and they should be brought to task over it, although the 15 year old playing Fortnite who didn't realise spending small amounts a lot of the time ends being a big amount is stretching it

There was a thread on the legal discussion forum about an eight year old who spent €10,000 on Roblox in three months. Crazy stuff altogether. I know parents should be a bit more clued in but that is a very expensive mistake to learn.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057993772

TitianGerm

gimli2112 wrote: »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48925623


these are really shady practices by the industry and they should be brought to task over it, although the 15 year old playing Fortnite who didn't realise spending small amounts a lot of the time ends being a big amount is stretching it

The parents shouldn't allow him access to a credit card and should have correct parental controls set up on the console.

pixelburp

I agree with Jim Sterling's prediction on this: game companies will happily gouge customers and people with addictive personalities until the government(s) step in, then plead asinine innocence about "surprise mechanics" until the axe falls & the practise is banned.

Sometimes bad publicity spurs them to make token gestures (the removal of Battlefront's lootboxes for instance), but the law ALWAYS lags behind technology in general - and that's the only thing that'll cause the industry to change course.

kunst nugget

TitianGerm wrote: »

The parents shouldn't allow him access to a credit card and should have correct parental controls set up on the console.

That's a given but most parents are clueless and companies exploit that. I'll be honest, I wouldn't have known anything about two-step authorisation if I didn't follow this forum.

TitianGerm

kunst nugget wrote: »

That's a given but most parents are clueless and companies exploit that. I'll be honest, I wouldn't have known anything about two-step authorisation if I didn't follow this forum.

That's the parents fault if they are clueless, if your child is spending a lot of time at anything it's your business to know as much about it as possible. You don't send them off to Cul Camps without knowing how much it'll cost etc.

The same as they wouldn't let the child lose in the local toyshop with their credit card unsupervised. People wouldn't be saying the toyshop exploited the child in that situation.

TitianGerm

TitianGerm wrote: »

The parents shouldn't allow him access to a credit card and should have correct parental controls set up on the console.

That's not an excuse for these predatory tactics employed by these publishers.

TitianGerm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

That's not an excuse for these predatory tactics employed by these publishers.

It's not a predatory tactic when there are built in barriers on the system to prevent this. The gouging starts when parents do not take responsibility and use/implement these barriers effectively and do not monitor their child's online activity.

gimli2112

Deleted User wrote: »

That's not an excuse for these predatory tactics employed by these publishers.

exactly the game companies are clearly exploiting the potential for this to happen, most of the examples in the BBC article were vulnerable children, leaving aside people who have problems with gambling. Of course people shouldn't be spending this kind of cash on games but setting it up to happen is the greater evil. (evil may be a step to fair I just went with it)

TitianGerm

TitianGerm wrote: »

It's not a predatory tactic when there are built in barriers on the system to prevent this. The gouging starts when parents do not take responsibility and use/implement these barriers effectively and do not monitor their child's online activity.

They are predatory. Games created and crafted with gambling mechanics built in and designed to create addiction among susceptible children and adults alike.

No excuses for them.

Penn

TitianGerm wrote: »

It's not a predatory tactic when there are built in barriers on the system to prevent this. The gouging starts when parents do not take responsibility and use/implement these barriers effectively and do not monitor their child's online activity.

I think the issue is, those two things (predatory tactics/parental responsibility) aren't mutually exclusive. The parents should have the knowledge and cop-on to make sure checks are in place so their children can't spend money on these games without explicit parental checks.

However, the reason children want to spend so much money on the games is because of predatory tactics and these companies are taking advantage of the fact that many parents don't have the knowledge to make sure money can't be spent on the games.

Both are true, both are bad, and both feed into each other.

Jamiekelly

I wouldn't mind loot boxes if they were actually rated by the ESRB for what they are, a glorified gambling mechanic. Honestly. if random rewards tied to real world spending were marked as being acceptable in an 18+ only game then I'd have no problem with FIFA Ultimate Team or Battlefront 2 lootboxes. But they're still rated as 3+ and Teen games despite this. If a games company is replicating tactics used by casinos to keep people spending money then it is gambling. Bright colours and loud noises being used in BF2 was no coincidence.

Just for context, EA still owns a website called pogo.com which is basically an online casino site disguised as a free to play web browser gaming site. But if you compare the games hosted on Pogo to the likes of miniclip and freeonlinegames then you see that EA are into a particular set of games that induce recurring revenue.

johnny_ultimate

Playing Pathologic 2. Comfortably one of the strangest and most atmospheric games I’ve ever come across. Has this surreal flow and nightmare logic that’s truly captivating and surprising.

I love its cryptic nature, its hostility towards the player, its idiosyncratic writing. But I’m struggling with its survival mechanics already, and I’m just past the prologue. I think in general the whole ‘managing status bars’ deal is a style I don’t get on with, even when I like so many other things about the game (see also Below).

Thankfully the developers here have introduced tweakable difficulty after feedback, so might have to go and mess with the values a bit to make it more tolerable. I admire that the game’s meant to be cruel, but a depleting hunger bar is more a constant irritant rather than a meaningful challenge or burden for me. I guess it’s that weirdness of translating real-life needs into gameplay mechanics is just a fraught one.

All that said, Pathologic 2 is still well worth a look for anyone interested in creepy, weird and abrasive game design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2fAbqT5GWg

pixelburp

Anyone been using the Steam Labs Machine-Learning suggestion tool? Finding some really interesting games that just passed me by, especially if you pull the slider the furthest into "niche".

I'd like to think of myself fairly savvy and aware of what's out there, but browsing the results is a reminder that releasing a commercial game is a huge business gamble. Recall reading an interview with the devs of Brigador, a passion project that nearly sank the couple of devs. behind it, especially when it failed to actually sell.

The most striking game recommended I'd never heard of was this: a 'remaster' for a 1980s game that never existed, all in the mould of Flashback / Another World and a pretty gorgeous 2-bit palette:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkWdaz6Ut2s

Retr0gamer

Few recommendations for games I bought on Steam:

Ion Fury/Maiden

Not much else to be said here. It's the new build engine game and I decided to pick it up before the price increase. the preview levels are a lot of fun and it's great to play a shooter that is so fast and all about movement instead of a chest high wall inspection simulator. Looking like the final game will be amazing.

Blazing Chrome

The game that tries to ape 16 bit Contra games and succeeds. It's pretty much Contra Hard Corp on the megadrive, right down to the same control scheme with the i-frame roll/slide. They absolutely nailed this one and it really feels like a true sequel to the Contra games of old. Great level and boss design and my only complaint is it's a little too easy compared to the likes of Hard Corp and Shattered Soldier.

Earth Defense Force 5

Big fan of this series and while EDF5 doesn't offer so much over EDF4 there's a few improvements over the last game in terms of visuals. It's the same dumb bug and UFO blasting action and is even more fun in co-op.

Also the dialogue is amazing. Giant a swarm of giant Ants and one of the soldiers asks if they could possibly be ancient dinosaurs. Or the soldiers discussing the benefits of being a soldier in the middle of the battlefield including Pension and Health benefits. It feels like a badly translated PS1 game but you can tell who ever wrote it is in on the joke and knows how to get a chuckle.

Grumpypants

Deleted User wrote: »

TitianGerm wrote: »

It's not a predatory tactic when there are built in barriers on the system to prevent this. The gouging starts when parents do not take responsibility and use/implement these barriers effectively and do not monitor their child's online activity.

They are predatory. Games created and crafted with gambling mechanics built in and designed to create addiction among susceptible children and adults alike.

No excuses for them.

Video games are all just a gambling mechanic. You are continously given tiny rewards that give you a tiny hit and that's what keeps you playing.

For most people that's fun, for others with addiction issues it's a problem.

Banning a reward system in gaming pretty much kills the whole industry.

kunst nugget

Grumpypants wrote: »

Video games are all just a gambling mechanic. You are continously given tiny rewards that give you a tiny hit and that's what keeps you playing.

For most people that's fun, for others with addiction issues it's a problem.

Banning a reward system in gaming pretty much kills the whole industry.

You can ban reward systems that require you to pay extra money. Someone being able to plough thousands into a game for the chance to be able to win a skin or a weapon with a random number generator and the game companies are able to get out of calling it gambling because there's no monetary reward is a really shady business practice.

Grumpypants

kunst nugget wrote: »

You can ban reward systems that require you to pay extra money. Someone being able to plough thousands into a game for the chance to be able to win a skin or a weapon with a random number generator and the game companies are able to get out of calling it gambling because there's no monetary reward is a really shady business practice.

If it's not random it is just pay to win. Whoever can afford to buy the best weapon gets it.

Loot distribution mechanics have been around for yonks too. Look at WOW, kill a boss, get loot. Some will be Rare, some will be common. That's a gambling mechanic with a random number generator. Players hand over real money month after months to play the same thing over and over again to kill the same boss over and over in the chance they get the Rare item.

I'm all on for limiting access to games with spending in them to an appropriate adult level in the same way games are limited for underage kids today so they can't go online and talk with strangers.

The problem is most of the stories you read are from kids who bypass their parents, bypass the online restrictions, bypass banking security and buy stuff with a credit card that you can't own until you are 18.

nix

Grumpypants wrote: »

Loot distribution mechanics have been around for yonks too. Look at WOW, kill a boss, get loot. Some will be Rare, some will be common. That's a gambling mechanic with a random number generator. Players hand over real money month after months to play the same thing over and over again to kill the same boss over and over in the chance they get the Rare item.

Are you for real with that bullsh!t?

Talk about stretching it :rolleyes:

Potential-Monke

Well, they're not completely wrong. Loot mechanics have been around a long time, but it's only in the last 5-10 years that it's being properly (unfairly?) monetised. I was never one of those grind people anyway, so the thought of doing the same thing over and over for a better reward never appealed to me. And the games companies know people like me won't want to grind, so monetised a way to get me what I want. But I'm still too stingy to actually pay for it either.

And the last line is true. Parents giving out because little Johnny is smarter than them and able to bypass the usual protocols to prevent kids from being able to do this. But at the same time the moral issue is game companies doing this knowing kids can bypass it.

A simple fix would be to remove anything loot or money based from anything but over 18 games. And that will never happen, even though the average age of a gamer is like 30-something. I believe companies have a responsibility, but equally parents have the same responsibility to monitor their kids gaming.