https://www.visualcapitalist.com/music-industry-revenues-by-format/

Nothing has been as big as CDs but total revenue has been growing since 2015.

This wasn’t as general as many people think:

1. It applied only to “auxiliary games” so anything using the primary engine was ok e.g. running in the fog for assassins creed or practicing moves in a combat game.
2. It applied only to US and Japan so anywhere else was unrestricted. The entire PAL region was unaffected.

But also:

3. The patent was held by Namco / Bandai Namco, they are a prolific publisher but made very limited use of their ability to use loading screen mini games freely.
4. The patent expired in 2015, despite this very few games have used loading screen mini games since.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US5718632

I can only conclude that the industry just wasn’t that interested in the idea.

What’s next, the superhero landing?

A different branch on IP law but for decades Marvel and DC had a shared trademark on “Super Hero”.

If either felt they could argue it was a unique trade identifier they would have claimed it exclusively but instead they claimed shared ownership and used it to lock out competition in the space from 1979 to 2024.

ISO 8601 gets a bit weird with times.

Using T to separate the date and time components looks a but strange but is unambiguous and widely compatible.

Then the : delimiter between the time components is just impractical because, well again we put data in files and files live in filesystems. Any special characters that can’t be used in filenames on all major filesystems is a nonstarter.

/ can’t be used in a filename on most common filesystems so that doesn’t enter the conversation the real question is if you include - as a delimiter at all.

20241212 or 2024-12-12? They are fixed width fields so I skip the delimiter when I’m storing data* but tend to use the delimiter when writing for a general audience.

* Y10k problem right here!

That depends, did you buy ¼ of a pony 20 years ago?

The source the Tweektown article is quoting also says:

Anticipation is so high that some competing game publishers are waiting as long as possible to commit to their release dates for the fall, according to people familiar with their deliberations who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The publishers want to see whether GTA 6 will make its deadline or slip into 2026, these people say, and they’re determined to keep their own games far, far away.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-09/-gta-6-release-date-will-decide-much-of-the-2025-game-calendar

This is probably more interesting, that some upcoming games which don’t have release dates may be waiting for this before they commit to a schedule is somewhat noteworthy.

The article says they had three projects in the works funded by take 2, square enix, microsoft. Take 2 backed off and square enix reduced the budget/scope. This leaves the microsoft project as the remaining project with its original budget intact.

Are you saying that take 2 and square enix’s actions are attributable to game pass?

Allow me to summarise:

Yes, but actually no

It looks like this is the one:

https://funkofusion.itch.io/funko-fusion

1. It closely copies the branding of Funko Fusion by 10:10 Games.
2. The title and account have been pulled.

Both match leafo’s description:

[…] some person made a fan page for an existing Funko Pop video game (Funko Fusion), with links to the official site and screenshots of the game.
[…] I had removed the page and disabled the account.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42364033

I think Iwantmyname may be the worst player in this story.

Everyone else kind of did what they were expected to do:

1. Itch provides a platform for user generated content and took down some questionable content when asked.
2. Funko is an IP based toy company and asked a tech company to protect their IP online
3. BrandShield is a fucking cancer of a service that acted aggressively to protect its client’s interests

But:

4. Iwantmyname is meant to provide a domain name registration service, it’s a cutthroat industry where often times customer service is viewed as an unnecessary cost, but itch was their client and they should have been helping itch respond to the notice in a manner that allowed it to continue to exist. Instead they were willing to shut it down without any real dialog.

The rest might be decent business partners if you are looking for their kind of service but Iwantmyname isn’t to be trusted.

As part of a settlement first announced in December 2022, the FTC obtained an order requiring Epic Games to pay $245 million to resolve allegations that the game maker used design tactics known as dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases, let children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement, and blocked some users who disputed unauthorized charges from accessing their purchased content. The FTC alleged that Fortnite’s counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players of all ages to incur unwanted charges based on the press of a single button. For example, players could be charged while attempting to wake the game from sleep mode, while the game was in a loading screen, or by pressing an adjacent button while attempting simply to preview an item.

Cool that they are getting into the weeds looking at UI design.

My son and I are very casual players and it always seemed scammy how much they push spending vbucks to boost though the season pass. To my mind that should be an uncommon occurrence and presented as a secondary option, but of course Epic presents it as perfectly normal selecting the button as default on some screens.

I think its kind of standard for these things but the defensive termination sounds like a trap. If you make a claim about an unrelated patent against “EA, their partners or affiliates” then they revoke your access to the pledge.

I’m not sure how partner or affiliate is defined in this context but EA have business dealings with a lot of companies…

Crash, Spyro, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, etc.

Don’t forget Sly

Edit: they didn’t forget sly!

https://blog.playstation.com/2024/12/11/playstation-plus-game-catalog-for-december-sonic-frontiers-forspoken-rabbids-party-of-legends-wrc-generations-and-more/

I think one of the better compromises is to post a direct link to the source (bluesky, twitter, whatever), and then post a screenshot or quote as a top level comment.

That way people can follow the link if they want the community responses over there or just read the copy of the post here.

I’m all for platform level comparability (one of my major gripes with xbox BC was that BC of original xbox and 360 titles was implemented per-title and while some were supported most of the library was left behind).

But from a pragmatic perspective my home PC has always been Windows and preservation efforts that allow me to run the games I know on the hardware I am running will mean more to me.

I support the principal and encourage the cross platform efforts but its unlikely to mean much to me personally until its bundled in with a plug and play solution like Batocera.

I’ve edited my initial comment to reflect that not everyone will share my priorities.

I’ll be honest I’m not really across what proton does other than an general impression that it is a Wine alternative.

Is proton offering any enhanced compatibility for players running Windows as their daily driver?

GOG launched in 2008 (when windows vista was current), some of the titles added to the catalog over the years will have problems with modern operating systems, hardware, drivers, etc.

Anything they add to the preservation program has confirmed comparability with Windows 10/11 and popular hardware currently in use. There is an element of housekeeping here that goes beyond simple PR.

Going forward, even if a game is no longer available for sale on GOG, as part of the GOG Preservation Program, it will continue to be maintained and updated by us, ensuring it remains compatible with modern and future systems.

https://www.gog.com/en/news/warcraft_12_will_be_delisted_from_gogwhat_does_this_mean_in_regard_to_the_gog_preservation_program

This commitment to ongoing support is more than any other shop front offers for their delisted titles.

For these titles it probably just means updating the dosbox wrapper but its still more than we get from anywhere else something.