Mad Catz is Back

Resurrection! Mad Catz, the video game peripheral company, went out of business in 2017 after poor investments into Rock Band 4 and other poor and expensive controller design choices. The company was well known for their controllers and their arcade sticks. According to sources from CNET from Alex Verrey, Mad Catz is back. After a teaser trailer showcasing on of their mouses, it was revealed today that the company is back. After most of their assets were acquired from a Chinese holding company, they are building new products and are showcasing them at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. They will be showcasing the Strike 4 mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting, the Freq 4 gaming headset, a new gaming mouse known as the Rat Air which can operate completely wirelessly — thanks to a wireless power system built into its included mousepad.

On their website, they are also showcasing keypads, mouses, headsets, and mousepads. Mad Catz may be under new management but the new owners have experience in the peripheral industry. The owners are individuals who worked in the companies’ Chinese factory. They have an understanding in manufacturing since they were the ones who made the products. They are planning to bring back the products that Mad Catz abruptly stopped manufacturing because of the shutdown. The company’s main focus will be on quality instead of quantity. They also only be producing products under the Mad Catz name and will look to expand in the future.

A big question from fighting game fans is Mad Catz going to continue to create fighting game sticks. While there has not been an official announcement, Selena Chang announced on the website that “we’re already working on delivering products which we believe will enhance gamers’ abilities and do justice to the Mad Catz name.” Mark Julio, aka MarkMan, was one of the biggest faces for Mad Catz. He helped change the perception of Mad Catz FightSticks from garbage to legitimate options.

Unfortunately, he announced during an interview with CNET he would not be returning after being let go during the huge lay offs from Mad Catz.

I believe in the brand focusing on its strengths. I felt Mad Catz had a few good products and key communities that backed them. It’ll be interesting to see how fans, communities and individuals will feel about them making a comeback. Just having a product is one thing, having the vision and competency to make the products live longer than just their marketing/shelf life…. that’s another thing.

Many people (myself included) have moved on with life after Mad Catz. Can ghosts from our past still find a place in today’s gaming world? I think so… they’re gonna have their work cut out for them though. Timing is everything.

Are you excited for the return of Mad Catz? Do you consider the return to be good or do you know them as the second controller makers?

Sources:

CNET

MadCatz

Polygon

My Favorite Game of 2017

There isn’t a lot of news so I’ll just talk about my favorite game of 2017. I also didn’t play too many games because I was working. The cons of being an adult. I only finished two games: Persona 5 from Atlus and Super Mario Odyssey from Nintendo.

No automatic alt text available.My favorite game of 2017 was Persona 5. I clocked in 111 hours into the game and maxed all the Social Links in the game after beating Persona 3 and 4. SPOILERS AHEAD!

 

Story: 8/10

I prefer this story over the previous series. It did a good job combining character growth with the overarching story.  Ryuji, Morgana, Ann, Yusuke, Makoto, Haru, and Futaba’s personalities changes throughout the story but also contributed to solving the main plot of corrupt adults taking advantage of people. I also thought the theme was great because the villains don’t actually affect real people in supernatural ways like in P3 or P4. If the Phantom Thieves never existed, nobody was going to die or the world wasn’t ending. It was more of a story about good people going out of their way to make the world better. Usually, people are scared or complacent in trying to help the world and would rather watch events unfold on their own similar to the overall theme of Persona 5. Shido is definitely not as good as a villain as Adachi and the final boss being a God again is now predictable. Also Akechi being the betrayer was too obvious which has always been an issue with the series with obvious villain types. The reveal of Igor and the Twins was surprising to me.

Gameplay: 10/10 

There is something so satisfying about ripping off a Shadow’s mask. The user interface of Persona 5 is probably the best in any video game. Style and art blend seamlessly with the gameplay. Although the battles are turn-base, the addition to the baton system and negotiation makes battles feel more dynamic. I wanted different outcomes for each fight, whether it was items, money, or a new Persona. The dungeons and boss fights were fun with more problem solving rather than brute force or attrition. Whether it wad dumping paint on the boss or cutting the veins of the Holy Grail, it was a lot funner than only buffing your characters, debuffing the enemy, and attacking. The Social Links giving you abilities encouraged you to obtain all of them. My personal favorite besides the main cast was the Sun, the politician, and the Star, the shogi player.

Image result for persona 5

Music: 10/10

Shogi Meguro, the music composer for Persona, continues to release amazing soundtracks. Etika’s reaction to the soundtrack is me throughout the entire game. The mix of acid jazz and lyrics was amazing. As usual, the music fit the theme and environment

 

Opinion:

I love this game. I love the color pallets, the story, the designs, and the social link. My only complain is that there’s nothing after Christmas in the game. Also there is no point in leaving Tokyo. Best game of 2017 for me but I didn’t finish Breath of the Wild or Nier: Automata.

 

WHO considers Video Game Addiction a Mental Disorder. What happens next?

WHO (World Health Organization) is considering to add Video Game addiction to the list of mental disorders in 2018. It would be known as a mental disorder. As stated by WHO, excessive gaming addiction can determined by:

  • impaired control in playing  or quitting games
  • Prioritizing video games over anything else
  • Continuing to play games despite the negative effects affecting you

Like all mental disorder affects, it would considered to have an affect on your personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning. It would take about 12 months to diagnose game addiction as a mental disorder. ICD-WHO

Image result for WHO

What does that mean?

Medical:

The first effect for gaming addiction would be medical based. Gaming addiction falls under the substance abuse/addictive behavior category. This would include drugs and gambling. More funding and research towards creating drugs/medicine to “reduce” the effects of playing video games similarly to anxiety or bi-polar disorder. Although Gaming addiction falls within the category for substance abuse, the body doesn’t need to detox from gaming sessions. Treatment would be similar to gambling addictions such as therapy groups.

Business:

If the change passes then there may be more warnings in games to suggest to players to stop playing after certain hours. The message comes often in MMOs (Massive Multiplayer Online) such as World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV. While parents and adults can find information regarding game addiction online, they have never been shown in game. Gaming stores may face new regulations. Selling a object that falls under substance abuse would have stores need licenses to sell similar to cannabis. There could also be a age restriction for buying video games similar to alcohol.

bird break
Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds (3DS)

Opinion:

Everything is negative when done in excess. Video games are no different. While I agree that playing video games too much can be negative, considering it a mental disorder sounds a bit extreme. There are obvious pros and cons to video games. The effect it could have on introducing video games to all people is negative. If games are considered a cause for mental illness, it would make it difficult to grow the medium and introduce it to new people.

Sources:

WHO

Mental Disorder Definition – WHO

Gambling Addiction Treatment

 

Nexus Mods plan for compensation for Content Creators

Nexus Mods has always been a popular site for mods for PC Games, specifically, Skyrim. Mod authors have created thousands of mods to improve the game and add unique features that were never available in the game. The mods were provided by the community members and didn’t cost a single dollar. Now Nexus Mods is going to provide a compensation plan for content creators who want to join the new program. It will be known as a Donation Point Program.

How it works:

Nexus Mods will contribute $5000-$10,000 to a monthly pot. Based on how many donation points (DP) are earned, it will create a larger fund that will be distributed through to mod authors based on downloads. $1 is worth 1,000 DP so mod creation will not be able to replace a full-time job. For example, if the total donation money pool is $10,000 (which is 10,000,000 DP) and the total unique download count is 5,000,000 then that means each unique download would be worth 2 DP. Ergo, a mod author who receives 25,000 unique downloads that month will receive 50,000 DP, which is the equivalent of $50 to redeem. The money value can be redeemed for PayPal donation or Amazon credit or unique items in the future directed towards modding.

What counts as unique downloads?

Unique downloads refer to a mod author’s page visit. So if the author has 14 mods on one page, any download from one user counts as one dp. Even if a user downloads all 14, the author would still only receive one point. All previous downloads will not count for the program. The unique download was considered the safest method by Nexus Mods.The start of the Donation Point program will begin in Q1 2018.

How to make the System safe and fair?

It would be extremely difficult to create unique views as somebody would need to create 20,000 accounts to receive at least $200 from downloads. Authors will only receive points after 3 months after the download. That way, downloads can be reviewed to see if there are any misconducts. Nexus Mods is pushing the program until Bethesda states otherwise.  Any Mod author can opt out of the system. You can even state which mods you would want to opt in or out. If your mod is being used in the point system for a packaged mod program and you’re uncomfortable with them earning points on it, you can ask to remove it. The author always has the rights to the mod they created.

What else?

You can also save your points to redeem at a future date. The points won’t disappear each month. They are also expected to add a point transfer system if you want to give it to another author.

Opinions:

The Nexus Mods community has been relatively split on whether it is a good system or not. I don’t know much about the modding community but you can check the comments to hear from many people’s perspectives: mod authors and consumers alike.

Sources:

Nexus Mod – Skyrim