HomeWeekly News Roundup (18 January 2015)
Things are finally starting to come back to normal in terms of news, I guess people are just starting to get back into work (earlier only physically, but now mentally as well). I’m the same too, so it’s very likely that it wasn’t the lack of news, but my lack of interest in reading and writing the news, that was the cause for the shortened WNR from previous weeks.
Okay, enough waffle, let’s get on with this week’s roundup.
Banned in Australia, so the game’s makers says it’s okay to pirate
When is piracy okay? When the content creators says it’s okay, apparently. The banning of the ultra-violent Hotline Miami 2 game (banned not for the violence, but for sexual content) in Australia has so angered one of the game’s designers, that he has urged Australians to pirate his game and play it that way (and don’t even bother sending donations or anything like that, just enjoy the game, says Hotline Miami designer Jonatan Söderström).
While at first this seems like quite a controversial move by someone who is directly harmed by piracy, if you actually think about it, it’s not that controversial at all. With the game banned in Australia, it will be very difficult for gamers here to buy the game legally (they can still use VPNs to access overseas online stores, like Steam). With no expected income to come from Australia, why not let fans and gamers pirate the game? It can only help to promote the franchise, and really, comes at very little financial cost for the publishers.
Just goes to show that the effects of piracy isn’t always black and white, and there are many instances where piracy is not harmful, or it can be even helpful in some situations.
Not long to go before we find out if The Pirate Bay will be making a comeback
While Hotline Miami 2 has not been released yet, by the time it is, and if Australians still can’t buy the game, they might be able to download it from The Pirate Bay. “But wait a second DVDGuy,” I hear you asking, “isn’t TPB dead?”
It might be right now, but it looks like the world’s most popular piracy site will be making a comeback. The clue comes from an encrypted message left on the site, which was finally cracked last week, revealing a link to a YouTube video. The video was a super cut of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature “I’ll Be Back” line, thus providing a vital clue as to whether The Pirate Bay will be back or not. The key to cracking the code (is in the actual decryption key, wearetpb) was found in the HTML source code for the page (it’s still here, if you want to take a look), and Reddit user “dafky2000” who was first to crack the code.
The countdown timer on the site, which counts down to zero around the 1st of February, might indicate the time and day when TPB will make its much anticipated comeback. Not too long to find out if this is the case …
Everyone loves Netflix, apparently
Netflix leads all competitors not only in market share, but also in user satisfaction, according to a new survey. Netflix users watch far more than other users, watching an average of 7.7 hours per week, compared to 4.1 hours for Hulu Plus users and 3.5 hours for Amazon Prime Instant. The same users also enjoyed their watching experience far more on Netflix, with the streaming platform receiving a 4.1 out of 5 score. Amazon Prime Instant Video and HBO Go scored 3.4 each, cable/satellite providers 3.2 and Hulu Plus was fairly far behind with only 2.9.
Netflix was so liked, that 62% said they would still continue subscribing after a price increase, with 21% saying they were willing to pay up to $3 more. What’s most interesting was that the same question when asked in July 2013 only yielded a 9% result, suggesting that Netflix has seriously improved their content offering (very likely via original programming) in this time to make it a much more attractive and, in the minds of viewers at least, a much more valuable service.
The Wii U has just had its best month ever in terms of sales, but that’s only because it has been struggling badly in all the months after its original launch (and now, it’s doing less badly). It’s still far behind the PS4 and Xbox One in terms of sales, and almost can’t even be considered a current-gen console, given its hardware limitations and low sales numbers.
Which is probably why Nintendo may already be well into developing the successor to the Wii U, and it may be here next year. According to the analysis done by Digital Foundry, based on information they’ve gleaned from talking to various people, the console is much more likely to continue Nintendo’s philosophy of doing things differently than Microsoft and Sony. The new console is much more likely to continue the Wii U’s attempt to fuse mobile and home gaming, with the Japanese company linking up with the makers of the iPhone/iPad’s PowerVR chip for new console’s hardware.
Whether it can be the Microsoft/Sony killer that the Wii was, or the “too little, too late” feeling that you get with the Wii U, we’ll have to wait and see.
——
There’s no more wait however for the end of this WNR, which is coming right now, right here. See you next week.