Live service games that become successful can make billions of dollars, so everyone is trying to be the next big one. Having a ton of concurrent live service projects is the “throw shit at a wall and see what sticks” strategy. They expect most to fail but hope that the 1 that succeeds makes up for it and then some.

Monthly fees optional. These days I’d assume the battle pass model is more common.

Long live Android!

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Only when you run out of breath.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA inhale

I could, it’s not that difficult to imagine. Lots of companies have mandated their own account systems for console games, too.

Sadly I think this is the new normal. You could buy a decent GPU, or you could buy an entire game console. Unless you have some other reason to need a strong PC, it just doesn’t seem worth the investment.

At least Intel are trying to keep their prices low. Until they either catch on, in which case they’ll raise prices to match, or they fade out and leave everyone with unsupported hardware.

Looking at that one, they have it labeled as “showcase” so they’ll probably do a limited collection of content in the game to demonstrate particular tricks and strategies but not the whole thing.

Linux is the most secure among all OS given that it is an open- source operating system which gives users the ability to customize and implement security patches.

Imagine trusting folks to keep their stuff up-to-date, though. People get very hostile at the mere suggestion that they need to update when “everything works fine right now, why should I?”

Not just US citizens, but specifically the Anglophone world as a whole. I’ve been to other English-speaking country where citizens of the USA are commonly referred to as “Americans” (when they’re not called Yanks) while the continents are called “The Americas”.

I also colloquially know that the name of the country in Japanese is simply “America” as well with its citizens just called “America-jin”

The relevant Wikipedia article seems to have some interesting insights as to which major world languages opt for which options, but it doesn’t seem to be an overly long list of examples.

Agreed. And even if there are devices plugged in and always running and (miraculously) always functional, what do you do in a disaster situation where all infrastructure is knocked out? That is the exact time you’d want to make sure there are no impediments to foreign support being able to enter the country. But with nothing physical to fall back on for identification, what would you do?

I’m all for digitizing currency and the like, I really never carry cash anymore. But ID documents are still crucial to have physical copies of, and the passport remains the only internationally recognized standard.

From the article, it sounds more like they’re using shared databases and facial recognition more than smartphones or similar. So they’d presumably have the requisite devices at customs.

I had no idea this happened, and now all I can think is that the writers of the HBO series Succession were coming from a very real place. I know the family in that series was inspired by the Murdochs but I didn’t think it was that faithful to reality.

It won by being a well-made, fun game. That’s really all there is. Exclusivity limits audience but it doesn’t affect quality.

Vendors use parts and designs from other vendors all the time.

As another example, Apple still uses displays made by Samsung and cameras made by Sony for the iPhone.

Sadly, though, this may not be helpful for much longer.

Some films are beginning to completely forego physical release in favor of digital only, and we’re veering back towards “You need a dedicated set-top box for movies” territory with computers and game consoles trying to do away with disc drives.

Yeah, it’s hard to keep track after they quickly abandoned the numbered naming scheme after 2. And I think that was partly because people were confused anyways by the un-numbered prequel featuring the same setting and cast of characters, while the numbered sequel was almost entirely separate.

(Caveat: I have not played Double Exposure yet so I am not sure how directly connected it is to the first game) The titles are disconnected enough that anyone can basically just jump into the series with any title at any time, the only exception being the first game and Before the Storm, since they’re directly connected. I’ve heard it said that those two can still be appreciated in either release order or chronological order, but would probably be best served played one right after the other either way.

The only other connections I know of are:

• Life is Strange 2 - A character from the original game and Before the Storm plays a minor role in the story, but context is not required to understand the plot.

• Life is Strange: True Colors - A character from Before the Storm features prominently in the story, but context is also not required to understand the main plot. However, this character has a DLC story that I haven’t played, so I don’t know if that ties in more to Before the Storm than True Colors alone does.

The series is still decently popular, though the newest is the lowest rated one yet. There is also more than one developer involved. Here’s a short list of the main titles, developer, and other notes listed below for each:

Life is Strange (2015)

• The original game.
• Takes place in 2013.
• Developed by Dontnod.
• Released in chapters.
• Remastered in 2022 by Deck Nine.
• 81 on OpenCritic.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (2017)

• Prequel to Life is Strange.
• Features much of the Life is Strange cast.
• Takes place in 2010.
• Developed by Deck Nine.
• Released in chapters.
• Remastered in 2022 by Deck Nine.
• 80 on OpenCritic.

Life is Strange 2 (2018-2019)

• Sequel to Life is Strange.
• Features a new cast of characters.
• Takes place in 2016-2017.
• Developed by Dontnod.
• Released in chapters.
• 76 on OpenCritic.

Life is Strange: True Colors (2021)

• Sequel to Life is Strange 2.
• Features a new cast of characters.
• Takes place in 2019.
• Developed by Deck Nine.
• Released in its entirety.
• 81 on OpenCritic.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure (2024)

• Sequel to Life is Strange: True Colors.
• Stars the original protagonist of Life is Strange.
• Takes place in 2023.
• Developed by Deck Nine.
• Released in its entirety.
• 71 on OpenCritic.

Same experience here. On the website, the left side never fully matched either shade on the right side to me, appearing closer to the bottom but always somewhere in between most of the time. But when I view the screenshot linked above in my mobile app for Lemmy, it looks a lot closer to the top than the bottom, but varies a bit based on how much I zoom in (almost like moire patterns).

The past is a good reference to learn from, but it can’t be a blueprint for the present. There are different circumstances between then and now which complicate things, like the aforementioned big money in politics.

As someone who has not played Silent Hill 2 and likely never will…what’s under the blanket?