Less "unnecessary" online games.
To give you one tame example:
Age of Empires 2 released in 1999 and is fully playable offline either as a single or multiplayer game via LAN.
It has received two re-releases as AoE 2 HD edition and AoE 2 Definitive Edition.
The Definitive Edition does not work offline for multiplayer games anymore. It is still the same game with updated graphics and engine but it is still just Age of Empires 2.
In order to play an actuall "Local Area Network" game, you first need to connect to the online Xbox Service. Only then will "Multiplayer" be available as an option and only then you can actually select "Local Area Network" as the "server region" for the match.
All for an updated re-release of a game from 1999.
I was at the AoE 2 DE launch LAN event at a Microsoft Store with big YouTubers and everything. They could not play LAN because right at launch, the online servers crashed due to the load. No one played a multiplayer game at this LAN...
The technical reality is:
- that singel player games don't need a persistent online connection
- that it is not that complicated if you develop your game with offline playability in mind from the beginning
- multiplayer games can very well have an offline playable LAN mode (Age of Empires 2 is currently sold as "Definitive Edition" which does not work offline in LAN unless you connect to Xbox online services first)
The gaming industry did way too much stupid shit in the last few years and just needs to take it a notch back.
I travel to Cologne about 5 times a year. 2h ride, usually 25 minutes late in each direction. Just go to the board bistro right away, order some food (if available), grab a beer or coffee and don't look at the time.
The blacklist is easy to circumvent by offering apps with randomly generated package IDs and probably also with randomly generated signing keys per user.
This is of course more effort than just building and signing the app once, but doable.
Of course you can't have any api keys or functionality in the app, that is bound to a specific app id or signing key.
I host monthly retro gaming meetups and we use CRT TVs that we store at the local library. Luckily, more than enough are still given away for free here. Right now we have around 25.
They're just surprisingly good when paired with a good signal and an old gaming console. I still would love to have a professional monitor but they are too pricey for me. I also need to get myself a CRT monitor.
Yeah, that is strange, especially since we now have the technology to actually play full blown PC versions via abstraction layers on Android phones. A steam store with existing games on mobile is now possible.
I haven't found the docs for the Dutch version but this article shows the content of the MRZ of a French drivers license. They seem to match the Dutch ones as well.
It's rather sad for this generation. We still host retro LAN parties regularly to play games we love. Flatout 2, Age of Empires 2, Warcraft 3, Half Life Deathmatch. Those games are about 20 years old and play just fine. We grew up with them, and they hold up to today standards amazingly well.
I kinda doubt that today's kids will be able to play Valorant, Apex Legends or Battlefield 2043 in 20 years when they host a "retro" LAN.
In order to play an actuall "Local Area Network" game, you first need to connect to the online Xbox Service. Only then will "Multiplayer" be available as an option and only then you can actually select "Local Area Network" as the "server region" for the match.
All for an updated re-release of a game from 1999.
I was at the AoE 2 DE launch LAN event at a Microsoft Store with big YouTubers and everything. They could not play LAN because right at launch, the online servers crashed due to the load. No one played a multiplayer game at this LAN...