u/HTD_Blog

This comes from a source who runs a small British game developer in Scotland (not Rockstar).

This was true as of two weeks ago.

Microsoft has been offering small deals to developers with experience i.e., ones that have had success on Microsoft platforms, but not necessarily set the world alight with their games. Indie developers with no publisher.

Deals offered are:

- £1,500,000 in funding.

- Game must be released in under 1 year after funding received.

- Game must be released to Game Pass.

- Game must be exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem for one year.

- Developer will receive a small cut for each hour played, once the £1,500,000 has been paid back.

My source has not yet committed to this deal, but many small developers have been considering. The amount of cash available is dependent on where the developer is located and previous success.

Microsoft believes they can make their money back aiming for these smaller experiences with external developers.

I don't know how it worked, but it seems as if the copyright holders seemed to ignore us staging a Primary School production of 'Brylcreem' (Grease) and 'Peter Flan'.

Did your Primary School do the same for their plays, or could your school afford the rights?

To me, it is odd.

Marmite is the original, and Vegemite is the knock-off.

Yet, many people online seem to believe that Australia invented the whole yeast extract as a fantastic spread.

I saw a post saying "what food is unique to your country" and many posts said "Vegemite"

Another saying "what foreign food would you not eat?" many said Vegemite.

Do Marmite have awful international PR?

Yes, Vegemite is very slightly different, but so much so that Marmite never gets in these conversations?

Back at the Xbox One launch, Microsoft planned to implement the idea that would allow people to buy and sell digital games (pre-owned) at a much lower cost. Obviously, this didn't happen. People ridiculed them.

Now we have a market where Sony is ditching physical games, and there (at the moment) seems to be no way to sell your digital games to people.

Will Sony get praise if they try to implement this idea? Sony have implemented many ideas that Microsoft had first e.g. achievements became trophies, and a much more unified online gaming system. However, those features were praised. The ability to sell digital games was not.

So, how would gaming be different now if Microsoft implemented the idea? Will Sony go down this route?

Hopefully, this isn't happening in the near future.

But, let's imagine, Ant or Dec died (you can go for whichever one you hate the most)

Would we see TV shows hosted by 'Ant' or 'Dec'?

Do you think their agent would even be able to sell them as a single act?

It didn't work for Paul when Barry died, but I guess Paul was close to retirement anyway.

As soon as somebody says they are placing a curse on the English football team, Uri Gellar is there.

Is it because we gave him the time of day when he was bending cutlery?

Is England just being cursed more often than his other nations of Cyprus, Israel, and the US?

Does he have a soft spot for us, despite not living in the UK now?

I remember back in the day you could purchase a one-day pass to Butlins. You had access to everything, but needed to be out by 10/11pm.

Experienced Butlins Bogner Regis several times like this (as an hour away, so made a nice trip). Although, eventually, we transitioned to spending multiple days there, since having to be out by 10/11pm is a bit frustrating. Especially if you were having fun with a cabaret or kid's club.

Do they still do this?

I grew up in Brighton. First 27 years of my life.

I then moved overseas.

Every time I come back, the city seems to be a little bit dirtier. Things broken in the street, rubbish piling up, shitty graffiti. Walls that haven't been washed.

While I can't say that Brighton was completely clean when I left, over the last 13 years, the change has been absolutely absurd.

Why?

My local store gave me two free bottles of Voss water. Well, she didn't scan it as she didn't believe water should be that expensive. It was odd.

Anyway, it tasted just like any other water I drink from the tap (although, I do get a beautiful glass bottle with it).

Am I missing something? Or is there going to be less of a jump drinking Voss because I live in Sweden and our water is already pretty high quality? If I went to Spain, for instance, I can imagine the Voss would taste amazing.

Or maybe I am not drinking water properly. Who knows. Maybe I have not been trained to taste the subtleness of the Voss water.

I am thinking the whole idea of 'the new Xbox will work with Steam'

No verification from Microsoft. Nothing. Just a rumour started by one person.

It has now entered the public consciousness so much (at least among gamers) that I feel people will get really fucking angry and claim 'Microsoft lied' when it doesn't happen.

You see this a lot about the gaming community on Reddit. They make their own truth up and get angry when you point out the reality.

They own two of the largest MMORPGs on the market. Under their stewardship, WoW has gained players and released a critically-acclaimed expansion, and is set to introduce WoW Classic+, which players have been clambering for a lot longer than they will actually end up playing it. ESO looks set to gain players. In terms of ESO, the number of microtransactions has gone down, and lootboxes are being phased out.

There are talks of them purchasing Pearl Abyss.

Yet, Microsoft is seen as a joke in this subreddit? Is it because the MMOs are popular?

I have failed my test twice.

The second time I failed due to poor economical driving, and too cautious. I have 2 weeks until my test. (This is in Sweden, but asking here).

My driving instructor, who barely speaks English outside what she learned on TV screams "stop being a little pussy" whenever there is a gap I can take and didn't. It's not as offensive as it seems. She didn't know what to say during the first lesson, and now it is an in joke. Unfortunately, she cannot do that during the test.

I failed last week, and have my next test in 2 weeks. Likely with the same instructor. I have 12 hours of lessons before then.

So, help?

It's weird.

Most of what he has advocated for over the last few years has been left-wing policies, and much of that comes through his writing. He especially favours close ties to Europe.

While he is a heavy supporter of the Conservatives, they aren't right-wing by American standards. They'd be centre-left.

I can't see anything that indicates he is right-wing by American standards?

You guys are aware that Bernie Sanders has more right-wing policies than the Conservatives in the UK, and you call him 'Far Left' (check out his Wikipedia policy list).

Am I missing something, or are people just trying to play a 'team game'?

Just looking to see if it is worth it. Is mostly old people like most swinger events, or do young people in thier 20s-30s turn up?

My partner and I are tempted to head on the Wonder of the Seas for a swingers cruise in 2027 via Bliss.

You never see the Louvre in these discussions, or discussions about the French wanting to destroy the Rosetta Stone. Oh no. But the fact that the UK took the Rosetta Stone from the French to stop them destroying it is an awful thing.

Every country in the world has museums loaded with shit taken from other countries in dubious ways, but the UK seems to bear the brunt of it?

This is especially true via social media where any comment about the British Museum is guaranteed to garner numerous comments about 'culture theft', but no other mention of museums anywhere in the world seems to do so.

I mean, i know this isn't directly impacting our lives in meaningful ways, but is this one of the areas where the UK gets a lot of flack for something that other countries also do?

Not worked in retail for 10-15 years now, but I reckon the following are still being tossed around:

"If it isn't priced, it is free"

"I am entitled to a refund. The law says I am" (invariably because they decided they didn't want it, rather than an issue)

"I dropped it. Can I file a warranty claim?"

"I'm legally entitled to a replacement right now"

"It is illegal to sell those knives, you know that right?" (we sold a lot of knives but, obviously, they weren't illegal. This is a highly specific one).

And one that happened more often than you would think:

"I know the owner. He normally gives me a discount". Almost always said directly to the owner.

I assume not, since PJ was not blind in the music video and couldn't pull off those sick moves?

But, they also look exactly alike.

What's the lore there?

I can't go into too many details on how I know this. However, I can assure you that this is accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Android version will be native. No streaming. Controller recommended. No Apple version is currently planned.

Switch 2 version will be 'Download Only'.

Planned release is Quarter 1 2027, and will be a shadow-drop.

Microsoft are looking into how their less-intensive games will work on mobile devices. Discussion has indicated that if Sea of Thieves is successful, older games may also be ported to Android.

-edit-

My credentials:

I used to work as a games journalist for www.gamebattles.com back in 2007-2010, before they were purchased by Activision. I then moved to a European-focused spin-off of the site (not technically Gamebattles.com) where I was head of content. I hopped from website to website after that, then realised that political journalism results in far fewer death threats so moved to that instead.

I maintained many of the sources I had.

I remember distinctly, up until the age of maybe 9/10 we couldn't afford a landline (a phone connected to the wall) and my parents, whenever they needed to make a phone call, had to take 10p (a silver coin, worth approx. 10x 1p) up to the telephone box (a telephone wired into the ground) and make phone calls.

Anybody else? Or were my parents just hit by an awful mortgage rate and couldn't afford this shit?

The first one, I just spiralled. I knew I made a mistake (which turned out not to be a failure-level mistake) and everything crumbled from there. In fact, the 'mistake' I thought I made was what was expected of me. I found my gap.

I failed the second time because of planning. Not finding gaps. But, I am happier about this failure. It shows I can drive. I just need to look into the 'future' a bit more. Apparently, this is the number 1 reason older learners fail. They are too damn cautious.

I am switching driving instructor, to one who I know will benefit me a LOT more (I have had 2 instructors), as her encouragement is fantastic, and everything I 'failed' on the previous test, I nailed due to her coaching. Reverse parking from the opposite direction I have been taught (the examiner wanted to mix it up) - Nailed it. No adjustments or anything. Just slid in like a glass bottle in a bum hole. Lane positioning - tremendous (as she spent 2 whole lessons drilling lane positioning into me). She has only been a qualified instructor for 5 months, but damn she is good.

So, onwards and upwards. 2 months until next test. 12 lessons to go (bringing total to 50). I think I'll be fine.

Maybe I should have eaten the banana I bought.