boen

Thomas, resident gamedev unc, I made fight knight and other games checkem at @sorcerobe

[boen @BOENSAW]

Technicals made a documentary about what I went through a few years ago

https://t.co/ZamfjVSolS

[Technicals 👾 @Technicals_]

Ever heard of hypnosis allegations in the game industry?

You have now! (Interviews included)

The Hypnotic History of Fight Knight | Full Documentary

Full Video: https://t.co/ZMsPF9ZJ4t

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

In America, a stranger will rename you in a single breath, and you are simply expected to come when called.

I went to eat at a busy restaurant. A young man at the front asked for my name, to mark my place in line. I gave it the weight it has carried for eight hundred years.

"Nobunaga."

He smiled, nodded, and wrote it down with great confidence. Then he read it back to me, to be sure he had honored it correctly.

"Perfect. Banana, party of one."

Banana. He had heard my name, held it a moment, and returned to me something rounder and more cheerful. To refuse the name a host gives is to refuse his welcome. I bowed. I was Banana now.

Then he handed me a small black disc, said it would "light up and buzz" when my table was ready, and turned to the next guest as though he had not just placed a living thing in my hands.

I held it in both palms, the way one holds a small sleeping beast that may wake. I found a place to stand. I waited, ready.

It woke.

It screamed. It flashed red. It leapt and shook in my hands like a captured spirit demanding release. A lesser man would have dropped it. I did not. I gripped it, steady, looked into its blinking lights, and told it, in a low voice, that its time had come. Then I carried it back to the host with both hands, the way one returns a hawk to its master.

He took it without looking and shouted across the entire room.

"BANANA! Party of one, your table's ready!"

A hundred strangers turned. I rose. I crossed that floor as Banana, spine straight, chin level, a man answering to his name. A child pointed at me. I gave the child a small bow. He had recognized me.

All through the meal they kept me. "How's it tasting, Banana?" "More water, Banana?" The check, when it came, said Banana, and thanked me for visiting. By the end the whole staff knew me. They waved as I left. "Night, Banana!"

So tell me honestly.

For eight hundred years my clan answered to one name. Tonight I answered to a fruit, calmed a screaming relic in my bare hands, and ate among people who were glad I came.

When the little disc lights up, is the table truly mine, or am I only keeping it warm for the next Banana?

Because I have already decided to return on Friday, and to ask, very humbly, for the same disc.

[boen @BOENSAW]

I wouldn't say the sony conference was bad, I would say it was more like the throes of a dying animal

[boen @BOENSAW]

@AlbedoLux Yeah it's clear at this point that the "competition" simply has no interest in actually competing

[boen @BOENSAW]

My entire career is only possible because this random guy I'll never meet decided to run a digital store on egalitarian principles, which is in complete contrast to every other digital storefront that ever existed before or since. They hate him because he revealed the scam

[Pirat_Nation 🔴 @Pirat_Nation]

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell responded to accusations that Steam operates as a monopoly in the PC gaming market

Addressing the criticism, Newell said gamers have “plenty of options” when buying games.

According to him, players can choose from many digital stores, including rival platforms and stores run by game publishers themselves.

Valve says Steam’s success comes from a service that both gamers and developers willingly choose.

[boen @BOENSAW]

@MarkMannX It's not dev first either. Devs have no control at all over their placement on the epic store beyond broking personal deals with epic which could involve anything. In comparison on steam, your metrics determine placement in a transparent way that works the same for everyone

[boen @BOENSAW]

When Epic Games Store launched it had immediate difficulty gaining traction, mass feedback indicated a clear desire for user reviews like on steam. Years later it still struggles and also still lacks this basic feature. Hard to find an explanation for this other than malice

[boen @BOENSAW]

@neirenoir @LateoRT Yes they are prepared before launch, but the key difference is that this placement is offered to any game that has good enough prerelease steam metrics to merit the placement. For example HK Silksong, which was largely made by 3 people, got a top page banner on release

[boen @BOENSAW]

I think the truth is that Steam is the only digital store that's willing to compete by actually providing a better service to their customers (meaning both users and devs). the rest either hate you (Epic, MS) or are just plain incompetent (nintendo, itchio, sony)

[boen @BOENSAW]

@ChimpSquared @RolPolyGames instead of this valve's competitors offer better revshare in exchange for far worse revenue capture and far less ability for me to actually do anything to effect the outcome

[boen @BOENSAW]

Selling indie games on Steam is pretty much the only exception to this in the entire world as far as I can see

[normal @35yearoldfriend]

I really don’t understand the “hard work is a virtue” crowd. Especially today, there’s no corresponding outputs to your effort. No tangible ownership of your labor. I worked my ass off from 2008 to 2022 and people made more money than I did from my work. I didn’t get credit.

[boen @BOENSAW]

@ChimpSquared @RolPolyGames Yes I'd happily take a larger revshare, but valve decides the price for their service. If a competitor provided a *better* service I would switch, but none of them are able or willing to do this, even though all it'd take is to copy what valve already made with better revshare

[boen @BOENSAW]

@ChimpSquared @RolPolyGames They charge less up front because their services are far worse at putting your game in front of people who might actually buy it, unless you are a genuine one-in-a-million success or obtain a deal with them via opaque corporate negotiation involving paying lots of money

[boen @BOENSAW]

@evilblanketfish Totally fair ha, thanks for checking it out regardless. But yeah, it's really an amazing thing valve has managed to build. I don't think most people realize how bad of a state indie games would be in for both devs and players without them

[boen @BOENSAW]

@mikergmoj96151 You sound like you're saying this sarcastically but yes actually, If a lot of people buy a game on steam and it reviews well, it's more likely to be given more visibility, regardless of genre or content. The thing you're describing is indeed how meritocracy works

[boen @BOENSAW]

@LateoRT the same rules and the same opportunities are afforded to all developers regardless of size/prestige, store placement is determined by organic interest rather than random chance or closed-door deals and money. this is totally unlike every other digital store

[boen @BOENSAW]

@kritikillREAL that's fair

[boen @BOENSAW]

I just dunno what the value add prop is for something that can load dishes and fold laundry. like how much time does it really take to put dishes in the dishwasher & fold laundry and put it away, 15, 30 mins a day? if even that bc you probably don't do these tasks every day

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🇨🇳 China has released its first robot maid, the SeeLight S1

If you want your clothes folded badly and have $28,000 to burn, the S1's got you covered

The first rollout is starting in Wuhan, because things from there go viral

[boen @BOENSAW]

in reference to Hanlon's razor "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" the real answer is that it's almost always both

[boen @BOENSAW]

being stupid is a prerequisite to being evil

[boen @BOENSAW]

@FLAYERS_27XXX I think the price point regular people will be willing to buy it is more like $1k or less but overall I agree. definitely makes more sense for families

[boen @BOENSAW]

which all these things always try to do because in reality it's just a fucking guy doing it through VR goggles anyways so you're basically just employing a maid with extra steps

[boen @BOENSAW]

this is always the problem with these robot demos where they show it washing dishes and folding laundry, it's such a small value add. like thats maybe worth a couple hundred dollars, if its completely reliable, and thats only if it's a one time payment with no subscription bs