10 WEIRD Gaming Stories of JUNE 2023

[@andrewdavie5931]

i bought the witcher 3 about 6 months ago with all dlc for $10 and its one of the best $10 ive ever spent, funny how you still see all the old cod games still being sold for $60, its disgusting.

[@kingquan3826]

Not to mention they’re broken as shit and so many cheaters on them

[@damonalfero3125]

I've bought witcher 3 like..... I wanna say 6 or 7 times. Mostly at full price different consoles... and yet..... I'm ashamed to admit I've never finished it. I play a lot but then get overwhelmed with how much content there is in the game.

[@moonwatcher99]

@@damonalfero3125 Just turn off the question marks. Trust me, that alone helps big time. Turn them off, then only farm a few at a time in between chunks of main story.

[@stupendously_silly]

​@@damonalfero31251 thing I learned throughout my years of gaming is its ok to let go of games that doesn't vibe with you no matter how perfect the score it has or everyone else around you say its the best game ever. I like witcher 3, spend 300 hours on it but I can't get into Stardew Valley. Bought it twice just to see if playing it on a portable makes it better. It didn't so I let it go. Plenty of other games we can choose from these days.

[@mattalan6618]

@@stupendously_silly i bought Fallout New Vegas thinking id get into it. i got like 10 hours into it before i said it wasnt for me

[@Laughy-Flaaffy]

The bigger question that I have is _how does it take 2 parents five months to notice that their entire savings is wiped out through micro transactions?_

[@Krotas_DeityofConflicts]

These stupidass parents kinda deserve what happens to them. You shouldn't have given a child an access to your bank accounts in the first place

[@dreamingacacia]

Well if you're looking at how bad the work conditions in Asian countries is, you'll realized that it's possible to happen. Especially in urban China where the mid income employees suffering from overworking and social hierarchy so hard that if you don't flaunt your richness you'll lose position in the society. What's worse is actually the people defending microtransactions without thinking about the consequences to the whole society as if they're not even part of it, but they are.

[@d-emprahexpects]

And also, why their banks wasn't giving a single hot crap about notifying them? "Hey your life savings which you have carefully NOT SPENT for the past 20 years, have gone down 25%"

[@CarlosIvanFocus]

​@@d-emprahexpectsbecause banks couldn't care less. They're like the honey badger, they don't care.

[@vandarkholme4745]

They can't and won't, because they have a lot of customers and are government-owned companies with no competitive pressure to provide service. Also most of these "internet addiction" cases (as we call them in China) happen to kids in working class families that have, sadly, little time to pay enough attention to them, let alone worrying about mobile game spending...

[@corbingarrett1206]

I used to drive for Schneider. The whole trucking industry has had a driver shortage for 30 years, it's a good move to reach new people who might be interested.

[@Caady]

Modern times require modern solutions

[@dianapennepacker6854]

Been wondering if I can do it after I get a liver and kidney transplant. Thing is I can't leave my area for long once I get settled in. Think I have to see a doctor twice a week for a while at least from what I was told but not entirely sure if that is for X amount of time.

[@concinnus]

Honestly, it's weird that it took them this long to think of it.

[@aaronbaylis3606]

@@dianapennepacker6854 Used to work in shipping, they have long distance freight drivers(away for a few weeks) and inter city drivers(home each day), you could probably bid on one or the other after certification

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

What’s it like? I imagine backing into the dock is hard

[@brandonatherton]

Okay, number 10 is exactly what advertising should be, relevant and un-intrusive. If all advertising was this way, I wouldn't care and wouldn't use ad block.

[@Subject_Keter]

I remember getting heros of thr storm ads or overwatch ads WHILE looking up Heros of the Storm wiki... like bruh.

[@CdrChaos]

When it makes sense in context, it can actually help. Like if a game is supposed to be set in a realistic setting, seeing a random billboard for a real world product fits.

[@vibrantfox9563]

What really gets me with Number One is that, unlike a lot of cases of kids bankrupting their parents with Microtransactions, this girl was definitely old enough to know better.

[@bladerunner3314]

I would say that tid bit with her friends is an idicator she did it, to belong.

[@eternaldarkness3139]

Yeah because there's no way a company could possibly manipulate a child. Also, why don't adults actually Look at their credit card statements? How do you not notice $13,000 / Month being spent, for 5 months. People, look at your bills, and your bank balances

[@osamaruta4540]

Reading up more on the story, she was essentially bullied and Peer pressured into it.

[@Astraeus..]

@@eternaldarkness3139 The far better question is, why are they allowing kids to have access to their credit card in the first place? Most financial institutions have reloadable credit cards, as in you need to actually transfer money to it, but it still works exactly like a credit card.

[@SpikeTheWolf]

Was it genshin?

[@danielthomas7193]

Actually #10 is pretty brilliant. I'm not a fan of job simulator games myself. But if I played a medical one (my field) and saw ads for new jobs in my area, I wouldn't be that pissed. Beats combing through Indeed or something. 🤷‍♂️

[@dmb25108]

As a truck driver who plays ATS I actually fell out of my chair laughing when I saw this, and thought brilliant move.

[@danielthomas7193]

@@dmb25108 yeah my Uncle is a retired truck driver from over 40 years of work. He never paid attention to video games. But if I showed him this, I imagine he'd give them a little respect.

[@justintantiongloc6987]

Agreed it's an awesome addition to the game. Not to mention, unlike other sponsored content, this one is actually inviting players to come *make* money, rather than to spend it on brand products.

[@hettbeans]

Agreed, feels like a brilliant move. It's an ad in a video game trying to give people money rather than take it from them.

[@BlackMoonHowls]

@@danielthomas7193 My uncle is dead so.....

[@Heisicxgames]

A huge thanks to Falcon, Jake and everybody who makes gameranx happen. if this was a TV show it would be something I would be so excited to get home to watch. Good, clean compelling content! The fact I can see it here daily is insane really

[@SGTSkully]

Hey Falcon. Appreciate the shout out. I agree that the cheats in a closed beta is bad. My hope, like you said, is that they’ll be able to single out the cheaters and obtain the code as well to fight this. I believe the game has potential, but if they don’t address the cheating prior to the official release then the game will die well before it is a chance to really live. I also wanted to call people out that use cheats with that video. It’s sad that cheating has become so common now that they are cheating within a closed beta. Love the video.

[@aleaallee]

Well, cheating is fun after all, it gives you a higher rush of adrenaline than playing without cheats would.

[@SGTSkully]

@@aleaallee A higher rush knowing that the cheater can't loose, has cheat software doing the work for them, or knowing that they can tell their parents they are doing good and ask if they're allowed to come out of the basement and go out in public yet since they aren't a disappointment anymore only to find out that they still are? There is no higher "rush" other than the rush of hoping you don't get caught and banned. Outside of that, my video still proves that the cheaters have no life, no skill, and no morals.

[@PippetWhippet]

@@SGTSkullyProbably just the power they have over the other people not cheating.

[@SGTSkully]

@@PippetWhippet The sad truth is that they don’t have power. The cheats have the power. All they’re doing is moving around and pulling a trigger. Maybe pushing a few buttons. They have no power because the cheat software takes it from them to give them the false idea that they’re good when they’re truly not. Like I said in my video, I’m not good but the cheaters are even worse. If they have to use cheats it’s clear they have no skill at all. No skill = No power. The real power comes from those that play it legitimately and the developers who ban the cheaters, if they do. The “thought” of power may be there, but it’s just a thought. There’s no substance behind it. That thought is like a fart. It stinks, but eventually fades away. Just like these cheaters. Personally l, I think developers need to use hardware bans if they aren’t. I’d love to see an anti-cheat that can send a signal to brick a system, or at least the ability to load the game. I think it would be hilarious to see someone complaining on social media that their system bricked and “they don’t know why”.

[@GabberPinguin420]

ubisoft and adressing cheaters... look at siege, idk about pc but cheaters on console are insane, almost every match and after more than 1000 reports i never got a notification that someone got banned. Its a joke. after 8 years on that game i gave up.

[@TheGamerSiddharth]

always love to see all these gaming stories every month

[@slyzorretrogamer5562]

I agree, these stories is one of my fav topics in Gameranx lineup.

[@CaptainMarvelsSon]

I never miss a gameranx video, but "Weird Gaming Stories" are definitely the ones I look most forward to seeing.

[@Forest12896]

you guys make amazing videos! hats off to you falcon, and all the writers, editors, and anyone else who has a hand in making the engaging content yall put out!

[@gameranxTV]

🤝

[@wheresmyclicker]

That Diablo 4 one is really insane considering how solitary the game really is.

[@thename2138]

welp, they bothered to make something good with their lazy asses and money hungry mindsets, so they will throw random optional insanely expensive cosmetics that you can barely see. im still upset about warcraft 3 reforged

[@Lycanris]

I remember when buying cosmetic horse armor in Oblivion was an outrage. Now people buy cosmetics left and right. Especially in Blizzard games. I know people that have bought every mount in the store and have spent $100s in in-game gold to buy auction house mounts. They already have mounts that all work at the same level

[@RedDev1l757]

It's because back then we knew how stupid it was. Now there's a whole generation that's grown up with it and sees it as normal. It's only gonna get worse now

[@lyianx]

Because its predatory.

[@Cman04092]

Cause people are stupid.

[@thedarkemissary]

​@therotten6152You're both wrong. You couldn't show off your Oblivion horse armor to anyone. Wasn't no multiplayer. Wasn't no social media. Buying in-game cosmetics is a social interaction. It's the shoes everyone else has, but you don't. It's the car that all your peers desire. It's the party you don't want to be left out of. Nothing is more normal than wanting to take part in the majority. It's why you drink. It's why they buy the things everyone else buys. Including in-game cosmetics. Shiny.

[@lisah-p8474]

My friend shares his Xbox games with me (via "home console") and since he pre-ordered Diablo he got a fancy mount. We've been counting down the days to play this together. So I spent like $8 on the cheapest mount and armor so I could also be a cool kid with a fancy horse. We laughed so hard at the fact that I have been suckered in by actual HORSE ARMOR. As an Oblivion oldster this shook me to my core. 😅 I feel like Todd Howard is laughing at me somewhere.

[@Elbethium]

Think we are passed anything being weird anymore in gaming 😂

[@gameranxTV]

😅

[@Imperialofficer07]

Yeah you can say that about anything in 2023. We passed the concept of weird in world events.

[@rayvintankerson6818]

@@gameranxTV i farted in a cod lobby last night it was pretty weird

[@austinteed3248]

​@@rayvintankerson6818ever fart so hard you make your back crack?

[@daymaster1]

I agree on the inside, but on the outside I disagree, only because I don't want to become complacent. More of a self check, but wanted to throw my thoughts out.

[@karenfromfinasse8430]

Dear gameranx team, Thanks for producing enjoyable content so frequently. Your hard work is appreciated 👍🤗

[@rydislordran434]

My parents worked for Schneider and got screwed over constantly, they promise a lot to get you in then milk you. I also remember when my step Dad got $64k back pay from his VA disability. Was life changing for all of us and to have one kid ruin a family for something like Genshin is a sad reality of what can happen to anyone in 2023. Love you team Gameranx~

[@jscott4reel]

That bamboo grove looks so real, it’s unreal…

[@Kizerlk07]

Engine

[@ademasdanjuro]

@@Kizerlk07 Thanks for watching

[@CrimsonFIame]

The microtransactions thing has gotten ridiculous. It's gone beyond just saying "it's just cosmetic's just don't buy it" it's actually affecting the effort put into expansions and future content now because companies see they make far more from just selling skins that they themselves didn't spend much $ on making. Also half the price of a game? C'mon now when is enough a enough for these people buying this nonsense

[@josuesosa1157]

Have u seen fortnight and cod and even sports games all have a form of gambling these days so if people pay for players then others will pay for skins with their life savings

[@elnogal9298]

people have been payin 30$ for legendary lol skins for 10 years lmao this is nothing new

[@SilentHillReturn]

​@@elnogal9298Hence the problem lmao just because it's ongoing doesn't mean it's not an issue

[@KingJohnMichael]

That first part of your comment is pure speculations

[@karthis5911]

This has been going on for a fairly long time. Back in like 2008 I remember playing online games that had you spend around $10-$20 for a cosmetic item ( so a jacket for example.), then you need a few dye that are random to get it in the color you want (like $5-$10 for a bundle and you will want a few + praying to get lucky eoungh to get a good color.), more for mounts and ingame advantages.

[@thelontum2038]

"We don't use AI to make our videos, we use a team of humans." Sounds like something an AI would say.

[@Subject_Keter]

Aint a AI just a person you dont know and cant yell at effectively? Mf acting like we know what everyone is doing.

[@fenrik8178]

The main issue I have with AI is with especially AI generated art using an AI trained with the art of non consenting to it artists. They’re kind of stealing people’s work. Using AI for inspiration in general is fine by me, just have to be careful where the things the AI uses to generate content come from.

[@BSparksGaming]

$64k on mobile games?! Lord have mercy.

[@believeinmatter]

Think about it from the perspective, that some countries, like China for example, don’t have access to video game consoles. But they do have phones, so picture if you could put all your money you’ve put into console gaming into an app 🤔

[@lil_itchibut]

Skins are getting expensive as well. $20 for a cod skin $15 for a dead by daylight skin.

[@dreamsickle955]

There should be a limit on how much can be spent on one game. This shit is killing gaming

[@Nathan_Coley]

I play Raid Shitty Legends (F2P) & you'd be surprised at the whales that spend stupid amounts of money near monthly!

[@koizumiizumi5426]

real question is how the family didnt notice all the bills over 5 months, hell, I check my bank everyday, and i know my parents check theirs daily too to monitor for scams and fraud

[@LordShrub]

I keep saying - the "micro" in microtransaction refers to what you receive, not what you pay. 😂

[@JorgeRodriguez-xz5ec]

Good point 😂

[@darknesswave100]

Damn didn't think of it that way 😂

[@firepenguin38]

I gotta admit that trucking simulator ad is genius marketing

[@kingjamestres]

The diablo thing drove me insane when I saw it while playing I was so angry I couldn't even speak for a couple seconds. You guys are also like the only people who've I've seen talk about that.

[@ryninabin3518]

Too many people worship anything Blizzard makes, or any choices it makes because they're obsessed with the company name. If any other game did these kind of micro transactions, these same Diablo 4 worshippers would riot. But because it's Blizzard they throw their money away. I've seen so many people get so nutsy over the armor and mount stuff for Diablo 4 it's insane. Especially since the game looks nothing like a Diablo game.

[@user-ri4ru5zu2x]

Great video as usual. I think it's also cool to see Falcon acknowledge the whole team at Gameranx and talk about the creative process behind these videos.

[@ventonburste]

that Simpsons bit though 😂

[@KingJohnMichael]

​@@ventonburstevery accurate lol

[@alelimafisica]

The "Not the actual team" disclaimer. I love the team's sense of humor

[@michaelmonstar4276]

Some people would probably think it's actual footage of them.

[@mikehawk4258]

What really gets me is, what if the trucking company is so meta that their advertising department also thought to just pay Gameranx to be featured on this list. Big brain moves right here

[@Jokertron3000]

I had wondered if Gameranx had a team to analyse and interpret everything. I thought it surely couldn't just be Falcon and Jake making the entire channel run so beautifully. Thanks, Gameranx team, you guys are a daily comfort to me 🙌❤️

[@Phiil1]

Turns out Falcon has been A.I. the entire time.

[@MariNate1016]

E3 being gone hurts a lot. I grew up watching G4TV coverage of E3 and it was the biggest event of the summer, along with the Tokyo game show. It was a spectacle with all the big games being shown off, new consoles, tech etc. I really don’t understand what went wrong

[@flclhack]

it’s just a different world now. i totally understand where you’re coming from, it’s just a weird part of getting older and experiencing change.

[@exploringandstargazing]

I always wanted to go to an E3 convention. Now I never will 😢 I would have loved to have been there for such announcements like Halo 3, LoZ: Twilight Princess, etc.

[@Gloryboyquan]

@flclhack Lol Ngga We In Online World Now Man ? Can't u C even If u Buy A Game U Don't Even Own It Now ? Even if u have The Disc Lmao There's No data on the Disc U Still Gotta Download The 99Hr Install

[@demetriuservin2874]

@@Gloryboyquanwhat shit internet u have to have to wait for a 99 hour install though

[@Gloryboyquan]

@demetriuservin2874 Damn Brah I'm just talking in general 😳

[@JBob08]

The trucker advertising story is awesome. That's the kind of add that I'm okay with. You're going to see billboards anyway.

[@keahunuitechnologies]

I’m using AI in an upcoming game to help me write code faster. For financial reasons I need to release the game by the end of July and while I have the skill to finish all the systems by then using AI as a starting point for systems is just so much faster than pouring over stackoverflow for hours on end. Which also give me more time to focus on visuals and testing. Update for game devs: yeah it’s already a flop with the marketing strategy so the date has been pushed back to October. Note do not spend money on google ads without a lot of research for a trailer like big companies. I spent $300 usd and got 116k views and 2 wishlists.

[@tyreonbooker5304]

Thats cool because you're one dude with a deadline. The issue is multi-million dollar companies with a history of screwing over people like you with the motivaton of "cutting costs". It's one thing when indivisuals are using programs to assist them in their work. its another thing when a bunch of rich assholes think they can use tthoseprograms to get away with being lazy

[@Chewbacca0678]

It’s like inkjet printers.. they sell the printer for $40, but the ink cartridges for $60..

[@Pardisecity]

Blizzard is testing the waters to see what the price point that people will be comfortable with. As the sets or armor have different price points. This set comes with weapon skins also.

[@SkodzGaming]

we must avoid buying these 20-30$ skins at all cost! 10-15 would be more reasonable!

[@hettbeans]

$20+ microtransactions is nothing short of disgusting like the video says. That is not a microtransaction. That is a regular sized normal ass transaction.

[@Pardisecity]

@@hettbeans it's cheap compared to fighting games if you we really want to be honest about it.

[@eternaldarkness3139]

Too many people who purchase these ingame items fall into one of two groups: The irresponsible, and the I don't care about cost. To my Bro-in-Law $21 = 10 minutes of work. You think he cares about the price? His sister falls into the other camp...

[@uh8myzen]

@@hettbeans If it doesn't hurt competition, doesn't impact game play or restrict completion then who cares. However, I don't get why so many gamers have such a predilection for playing dress up with their characters that they are willing to pay even a dime over the initial purchase price to do so.

[@charsquatch600]

There's armor in diablo 4 that cost up to $30 I'm not sure why this armor was picked out, but the rabbit hole goes ever deeper

[@ChadRFoltz]

I love that you kick this off with the weird nature between video games and ads for non-video game careers and didn’t at all mention how the U.S. military has been using COD for this for years.

[@medalgearsalad1419]

Buying Blood and Wine for $10 was a steal for me. In fact, I felt so bad that I actually paid full price for Cyberpunk 2077 on launch day just to help out CD Projekt Red out....and well thats a whole another story

[@thename2138]

i dont think paying the devs before hand has any effect upon enhancing their motivation

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

Imagine shilling for a large corporation

[@Toto-95]

Honestly real life ads for trucker in Truck Simulator is big brain move !

[@gameranxTV]

😅

[@denverarnold6210]

The big difference with the trucking ads is 1: it's not interrupting gameplay to show the ad, and 2: it's actually relevant to the game, and not just some random ad because money.

[@bixotti]

You can definitely make more as a truck driver, more or less. I just started working at a semi body shop & I get a grand a week, with time in a half for overtime & all I do is order parts & drive them in for service lol

[@TheHCMF]

I feel like AI wrote the AI explanation

[@wrathtard1428]

I like your take on the first entry with the advertisements in the game. I honestly feel like that was a very relevant advertisement in a very relevant situation especially when considering like falcon said, This could be a life-changing thing for somebody

[@chrisjags]

Photorealistic games are amazing and all, I mean that genuinely, but they make me appreciate games that have a stylized art style even more.

[@CartoonHangout]

That's how I feel, too.

[@imnobody1906]

How on earth does someone not notice such a huge amount of money going missing over 5 months? Did the parents never check their bank statements?

[@Sir_Zombie1ted]

Maybe they thought the bank was cutting service fees - it is MUCH money but some people are fvcking loaded and don't feel that a couple of dollars vanishing is an issue.

[@razermow]

For the consol war, even if Playstation and Nintendo didn't have as good of exclusives that they have, I think Microsoft is just doomed to be the underdog when it comes to the consol war. Microsoft exclusives are usually playable on PC and, nowadays, on Gamepass so you can play their exclusives on so many more devices. So as a consumer of games it just makes more sense to buy the other 2 consoles that have exclusives only on their consoles while also either having a PC and/or gamepass on my phone(which is way cheaper)

[@chestor2314]

Bro exactly my point and i still find nintendo hella scummy but yea ps5 and nintendo mostly got the good stuff on there console (people gonna say Pc but lets be honest when has a Pc port ever been great)

[@fatbroccoli8]

Xbox have just fumbled their whole thing, all you need to play Xbox games is a subscription and a Samsung TV

[@fatbroccoli8]

@@SomebodyBanThatGuyif things were the other way around xbox would be doing the exact same thing as PlayStation, each company is just doing what is in their best interests (except imo Xbox it's screwing the pooch on that and I'd be surprised if they even make another Xbox anyway) Btw do you know Baldur's Gate 3 isn't releasing on Xbox because Xbox have a policy that their games have to be the same on Series S and X, meaning that the X is being held back by the S... that is not what I'd call consumer friendly at all

[@chestor2314]

@@SomebodyBanThatGuy xbox just needs stop trying to do too many things at once they have cloud gaming,game pass and the stupid ass xbox series s(which hold back developers) they gotta make mistakes to learn hopefully they do betted next gen also all the companys are the same bruh they will try to do what makes them more succeful for sony its making very good priorty titles and same with nintendo xbox just gotta step in no way are they a underdog though its a fukin trillion dollar company

[@jessiemoore3094]

Sony doesn't have any high value exclusives anymore. They're on pc also.

[@JoshuaJacobs83]

Falcon, I'm not sure if answering would be too much inside baseball, but now I'm curious since it's been brought up. Who does write the scripts for yall? You and Jake? A whole team? Do you have writers and the VO guys just read the script or do you help write the script? More curious than trying to start a flame war (it IS the internet). Just curious

[@profanelizard8575]

What's weird to me is that you talked about how the Switch is outselling both Xbox and Sony combined, and not bring up how the FTC is trying to exclude Nintendo as a competitor.

[@Alibi0014]

I'm a CDL Instructor and I got my CDL because of ATS and never looked back. The in game ads could be the push someone needs to make a career decision for themselves. IMO the ATS ads aren't nearly intrusive as something like the NBA 2k in game ads. It's a billboard, you just drive by it. Plus the plan for ATS is to have all 50 states so if the game gets funded and reaches its potential, as a fan, I'd be happy

[@wrathtard1428]

I really enjoyed that little behind the scenes we got of your guys's writing process. I remember when impractical Jokers started showing the behind the scenes stuff the show improved vastly. It would be really cool to see more behind the scenes stuff from this channel. Just a thought. Thanks for always producing great content anyway

[@thandilesishuba]

I am glad this came up on my feed love these weird stories every month 😀

[@silenthill4]

No actor in the history of history is gonna let something go uncredited

[@danielkanejr]

I was blown away how much Blizzard/Activision is charging for their cosmetic items. It's down right criminal, and I hope no one buys any of it.

[@pumpkinking5397]

Number 9 reminds me of a Kyle Hill episode where he made a "computer" out of Magic the Gathering cards. Because science.

[@The_Lone_Wolf]

I think that bone armor in Diablo 4 is a macro transaction and not a micro transaction, just my opinion though

[@Athasin]

I think comparing a skin in a game that you will play 1000s of hours to a DLC expansion for a single player game is like... buying a shirt vs buying a book. They're worth the same even if they offer you different types of experiences.

[@jarredlucas4000]

@@Athasin holy shit I hope you don't influence the economy anywhere near me, fuxking yikes.

[@SYLRMHA]

This is the dumbest thing I heard all day and I just came from that ukulele apology video...

[@Telmach]

In game purchases are shady, I already bought the game so I should own it. However, in 2019 when money still had value, you'd have more of a point. Where I live however, a package of hotdogs costs $20. It used to cost $4.

[@MrNosounder]

@@Athasin Yeah lol, the skin should cost 1.99 at most.

[@cannibalholiday]

Kind of cool for Schneider to be advertising that way. When I got my trucking license, the instructors said that Schneider is the best company to work for. They retrain you when you go work there for 3 months, so even newbies can get fully up to speed, they do pair-driving until you have a set amount of hours, pay is good, etc. And the truck are REALLY well maintained. So you don't have to worry about your truck flying apart like some companies.

[@rjhorne1993]

This trucker idea is amazing. I was just thinking the other day. If they automated farming robots and sold it as Stardew, people would work all day everyday. Turning video games into jobs and Vice Versa is probably good for the future.

[@kryptxkz]

Sooo is Bethesda about to get sued by Disney since they made a deal and Bethesda is backing away from that deal?

[@liverpoolfc1023]

No they re-negotiated a deal.

[@LarkyLuna]

I have no idea which dataset the Myst devs used, my problem with AI is the sourcing of all the training data If you're doing it in house and not scrapping stuff other people made, have fun We can still talk about companies firing artists and using AI to save some bucks, but that's another issue we haven't seen much yet Given how much the current models still hallucinate and fail hard, it should still be easy to notice stuff that had no human hand in it

[@Gutek8134]

Even though I'm nothing of an artist myself, it'd be nice to see a law forbidding usage of someone else's work to train and use the trained AI for commercial usage. Why only commercial? Because I like some of those AI covers, ok?

[@purplecat4977]

Here's the thing I don't get. I hang around with a bunch of artists, one of whom has a fine arts degree and teaches art. All of them, ALL of them, first learned to draw through tracing, and the fine artist was openly encouraged (as many artists are) to go to museums and attempt to reproduce paintings there. The guy who does comic book style stuff has some favorite artists in that genre and you can see it in his style. I'm a writer, and we're told that if we want to get published, we need to read as much as we can in the genre we're writing because we need to learn the style that is expected for that genre, and in some cases expected to write actual clones of stuff that's already been successful, like 'do it in X person's style'. People are already 'scraping' the work of other people without permission, not just as a dirty little secret, but as industry practice, in some cases whether we like it or not (the 'read in your genre to reproduce what other people are doing' thing turned me off to publishing completely). And sure, the people whose work is being used this way are probably fine with it, because who doesn't want to inspire the next generation? But if even one person wasn't fine with it, their wishes not to be used for that inspiration wouldn't be respected.

[@eternaldarkness3139]

How do people learn? What is taught at art school? What influences an artist? Why is no one concerned about the cashier that's replaced by a self-checkout?

[@LarkyLuna]

The automation of workers is something talked about in left groups forever ever since industrialization began Also I'm all for automating industry and cashier workers and everything that is just a repetitive mindless task Unfortunately the incentive is to pocket the money instead of benefiting the replaced workers in any way

[@LarkyLuna]

People don't (or shouldn't) use the traced works they used to learn commercially for starters Also all AI is doing is minimizing a function related to the dataset it has It can't learn anything out of it's dataset and it has no interpretation or understanding of what it's doing We always bring something from outside our study, from other personal experiences I feel like that's different from a generative model that has the single tasks of crunching and spitting the reference art

[@davidmcgrew3627]

4:48 seeing his face always reminds me of the "Damn, you see that sh*t? Anyway im Rod Sterling" meme 😂

[@lemurtheory9350]

The thing about what we're calling AI at the moment is not actually AI. It should be called "collective information median" software or something similar to that.

[@TheGarrtoone]

Who remembers Oblivion horse armor? Remember when we thought that was crazy?

[@FragginWagon76]

Yeah… I bought it

[@kyberion]

I’m not fully against AI generated content. But I think it needs to be placed correctly. Like the mod for Skyrim writing misc quests to help make more to do that are just time sinks isn’t bad. But should only be a small portion and not replace real writers

[@12sorase]

the problem is actually with the people that think that ai can replace every part of the creative process, i dont think we are gonna be there anytime remotely soon if it ever happens

[@kyberion]

@@12sorase I think the quote from the creator of black mirror is pretty good at describing that. He had ai write an episode of black mirror and at first it looked good but rereading it the script basically was just mash of other episodes. Ai can’t replace the creative process probably ever but it can be used as a tool to ease the process like correcting sound errors on video or correcting/finding repetitive pars of writings. It’s a tool not a replacement

[@alexjensen007]

@@kyberion LLM crap will bring the stagnation. The more of the same shit. Like, for example, some group of "scientists" (hard to call them like that, but anyway) found out, that ChatGPT (so, 3.5 version) actually have only 25 jokes. And it just repeats them all over again changing objects in it. Ofc, larger models will have more, but you should get the idea. The more of LLM's crap will be used, the less interesting stories will become. LLM as an assistant is good. LLM as generator is so fucking extremely and deadly bad.

[@Forever_Zero]

21 dolars for a video game armor in incredible, but what's even worse is the amount of people willing to buy it. As always, those "microtransactions" won't stop existing if people don't quit paying that money

[@jacobdrolet4262]

Amazing video gameranx,fantastic job. The most ridiculous things is that Microsoft instead of not working on making the Xbox series x/s better with updated and have maybe somewhat better exclusives games for there awesome consoles too. They are so busy working on cloud gaming that most people don’t really care about cloud games that much too.

[@Mgranadosv]

I am a PS5 player. Since they bought Bethesda I assumed everything would be Xbox exclusive. I don't know why everyone is still like "Wait a minute, it's not coming to PS?" well no, it's owned by Xbox. Playstation needs to get their head out of their ass, stop trying to block the ActiBlizz deal and develop its own kickass FPS and Elder Scrolls. It will take time, but look at how awesome some of the exclusives are.

[@кяуртіс]

The issue being is they know they cant, they've tried multiple times with multiple different franchised that got killed off. Need i remind you of the "halo killer" haze lol. Playstation has turned into nothing more than a 1st party adventure game machine.

[@lazyprojector7890]

The big story here (and in so many of these summaries the last few years) is truly what's going to start happening when you start to merge them all together... Yes, we've got deep fakes now, but imagine what happens when you take the prime elements of the bonus story, #4 and #5 and plug that into your basic toolset for content creation (for better or worse). You've got a mind-bogglingly powerful resource for not just games, but large and small screen cinematics, special effects, independent creators, terrorists, black mail, etc... At some point we're going to reach that unremarkable summit and fall right off the goddamned edge. ...But I also read WAY too science fiction so what do I know?

[@conansredbowtie]

What's mind blowing to me is how some people don't keep track of where their money is going every month.

[@SexyDragoness]

"We've sacrificed this generation to focus on Cloud gaming." Surely more comforting words have never been spoken to people who have spent hard earned money on their products.

[@ynglink]

Regarding the xbox sales - why does anyone actually care who "loses"? You're really just promoting the console wars. That said, Microsoft has invested quite a bit in the cloud mostly to complete with Google Cloud and AWS. Cloud computing revenue dwarfs what they would make selling consoles. I'm also disappointed that you didn't mention the passing of the streamer "Puppers". Guess had to make room for the 1-bit calculator that shows up in almost any type of "make you're own thing" game.

[@baronvonslapnuts]

The chapter marks in Falcon's videos seem to only have titles like Number 1, Number 2, etc. The chapter marks in Jake's videos seem to always have the name of the game in them. Is this a thing, or should I up the dosage of my meds?

[@benoitbrown9400]

"Bone??? BONE!?!?" - Captain holt playing diablo

[@CHEEBnRUN]

Not only may we be living in a simulation, God may be some kid that makes tech demos in his spare time.

[@Styrophoamicus]

For the AI entry, the people most hesitant to use AI are the ones who know the least about it. In my work we just started researching how AI can work in our field, and the more you use it and research it, the more you see its limitations. It works best as a tool, not as a replacement, and should always have a human making the final decisions.

[@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447]

well, that's comforting to know

[@420trippyhippie]

I agree, they're the tools of the future and whether people like it or not, AI is here to stay.

[@KryyssTV]

The thing to keep in mind is the anti-AI attitide is being driven by industrialists and investors who have multi-million dollar businesses relating to IT but completely underestimated how big a deal AI and machine learning was. This is why we don't see people like Musk and Wozniak calling for a ban on AI but rather a temporary halting of R&D. Why though? Because you can bet they want time to restructure their investments to not be left behind on a very profitable business. So don't just buy into whatever you hear. Look into who's pushing the agenda and consider why? Is Musk really a pioneering humanitarian who is deeply concerned with our collective futures? Or is he a businessman who's first priority is to himself and the size of his finanical holding? AI is the next industrial revolution. We've seen this all before. In the 1830's the first industrial revolution devestated many types of jobs in the textile and blacksmithing industries. But people adapted by moving into expanding roles created by automation. In the 1870s the second industrial revolution caused further shoft in employment, but people adapted. The rise of computerisation has impacted every industry and with digital cameras and graphics applications impacting even traditional creative industries - but we adapted. So the fearmongering over AI causing mass unemployment and the destruction of economic systems and society as a whole would is utterly baseless as AI implementation would need to go against the pattern set by every technological revolution which has occured over the past 200 years.

[@tyreonbooker5304]

The tool it's self isnt the issue. it's that fact that corporations are fucking greedy. We are in a situation where Writers, Actors, Voice Actors and Artists [both 2D and 3D] are overworked and underpaied and we know for a fact that if some investor thinks that they can "cut cost" by using AI instead of paying a human THEY WILL. Dispite the limitations of current AI they are already making those moves so imagine what happens when it gets better. And THAT is what most of the protesting is about. It's one thing when a relatively small business uses AI to give themselves an assist or advantage. It's another when a multi-trillion dollar company starts layinginng off staff because the computer can do it.

[@420trippyhippie]

@@tyreonbooker5304 the thing is - this type of thing has been happening since the dawn of the modern age. When the computer came out, I guarantee that many people likely lost their jobs because those jobs became obsolete thanks to computers. But it also created opportunities for those that were willing to work WITH the computers. Another example could be the transition from DVD to Internet streaming. Think about how many people lost jobs because of DVD stores going obsolete, at the same time many people also gained employment because we now have multiple heavy hitter streaming sites. This might also create a a niche market where hand crafted art is sold at a premium and AI art is mass produced for the majority.

[@notjoe3710]

The only problem I have with AI assisted stuff is because I can draw I am afraid that AI art will make it less cool. Ya I can spend years getting good at something, but AI can do that in seconds. So it is mainly my fear that skills people practice overtime will be useless because of AI.

[@purplecat4977]

If you're using digital media to make that art (as many people are doing, and rightfully so), you're already doing exactly that to traditional media artists. I have a friend who made an entire tarot deck using watercolors, like actual paint on paper. Watercolor is a REALLY hard form of painting to master to the extent that she has mastered it. When I tall other artists that the pictures I'm showing them were all done by hand, they go from admiring the pretty pictures to open awe and/or jealousy. But I have to tell them, because it's possible to get the same effects with considerably less practice, skill, and time, using a digital art program. Before digital art took off, the only conclusion for someone to come to would have been that the cards were all done by hand.

[@highdefinist9697]

I would say that this simple fear of "but what happens to my skills I am proud of?" is easily 90% of the motivation behind criticism of AI. And, at least in some cases, it is unfortunately simply true: New technology makes some skills obsolete, and that is a sad situation for many people. Still, there are many ways of getting around this: Learn a new skill, define self-worth differently, adapt (i.e. learn how to use AI to make your own art better), or just enjoy all the great things other people will produce using AI.

[@thename2138]

@@highdefinist9697 i wouldnt mind if ai got to do everything to make our lives easier and more enjoyable, but i dont really like the idea of ai replacing artists

[@highdefinist9697]

​@@thename2138 Compared to the history of book printing, or mass manufactured clothes, AI generated art will probably not "replace" artists, but it will more likely create two tiers: "High quality manually created art", sold at a premium, and "mass-manufactured AI-art". The former will be more niche, so there will be fewer artists, but the job will still exist. Meanwhile, the rest of the population can enjoy the benefits of art being more accessible - similar to the benefits of book printing.

[@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447]

but that was true for all previous forms of automation too. take sewing for example

[@kayarashkarami1784]

Do you guys remember when LA Noire came out and the facial animation blew us out of the water? I opened it up the other day and it looked so rough compared to what’s happening now! Still was a great accomplishment for it’s time tho

[@lvlPsychosis]

As an experienced truck driver, I feel obligated to say DO NOT work for Schneider!

[@bupp291]

Speaking as a vision disease scientist and biomedical engineer, I use AI to help me with my work all the time. In fact, there are guidelines for publishing in professional journals that essentially boil down to, "Take responsibility for your work." AI is a tool that can be used for a lot of good when handled responsibly.

[@inkfusedgamer]

Falcon, I appreciate you not being AI. I also always look forward to these monthly weird gaming story videos, and others. Thanks for the great content from the entire team.

[@MoistCandyBar]

XDefiant was really fun when I played the open beta last weekend. Without SBMM, the matches feel more evenly matched. Funny how that works

[@antiloser-NFS]

#10 those kind of ads aren't bad at all. Its a billboard which is a real piece of advertising in the real world so it blends in with the game environment to make it a simulator. I wouldn't mind games using ads like this to fund themselves. As long as the ad fits the game environment, billboards in a driving game is a good example.

[@poultrygeist8253]

I think the best example of how shitty the store is in D4, is the horse armor. What started it all way back in Oblivion for $2.50, is up to $16 in D4, with multiple skin packs for that price. You also missed the $28 necro skin pack.

[@poultrygeist8253]

Just for future readers, I wrote the previous comment 2 months before this one, they've introduced a $20 horse armor now.

[@evi1cereal]

So about the AI one, while I'll say this isn't marvel secret invasion type usage, what bothers me more is as more people talk about what the creators of mist did with AI who's to stop companies like Ubisoft, Activision/Blizzard and EA from doing exactly what they did. That's the part that scares me

[@brandongratta9040]

Exactly this. There are benefits for smaller developers to use AI that don't have the capital to outsource for a lot of this. The downside though is that the big players equally see this as a way to cut out as many people as possible from profits. Same thing with artists and musicians. If you're an average Joe, using AI for your art in order to save a penny isn't the end of the world. Big companies doing it though essentially kills an entire profession. And from all that data they've provided us, the big companies absolutely will do this.

[@bloodsweatandbeers4684]

>I'm really not a fan of advertising >uses manipulative advertising techniques 😎

[@bloodsweatandbeers4684]

Literally in this video no less. Witcher 3 thumbnail somehow alluding to a Diablo 3 story?

[@Jianichie]

"$21 for armor" Ah, yes; inflation from the horse armor.

[@isaacbelcher4984]

I am a sci-fi author who is constantly discussing AI. And you are right when you say it is not a big deal but only because there is nothing anybody can do about it. It is gonna change everything but people are making a bigger deal than they should cuz there is no way anyone is gonna have an effect on how it is progressing. (This is me speaking in short and trying not to write an essay)

[@dreamingacacia]

It's just more convenient way to use wikipedia or google right? That being said, the real issue would be how a lot of people had been using AI to make profits with minimal efforts in the most extreme crime. For example feeding artworks of others and generate them out while barely do anything other than pushing the button, then sell the work on 3rd party sites. Using generated stories and published as a full book, it's weirdly resembling famous books like Game of Thrones. It's not the tools, but rather how people use it. In my perspective the AI is still not that different from wikipedia or google, some people just use it as an excuse to broke the laws.

[@isaacbelcher4984]

@@dreamingacacia I have seen. I can't imagine this problem becoming bigger than it already is. As is the case with all new major technologies there will be exploits and controversys. The online market is going to lose a lot of people eventually because of this but that was the same with the 4th industrial revolution when people lost their jobs at production lines. Still a loss for the market but only because the individual became more capable with the help of technology. This pattern will likely be the way humanity will continue to progress.

[@thisisjames4474]

The importation of AI to make shorts has already flooded KZbin (and I imagine TikTok but I refuse) with shovel content. The same will happen to the game industry if left unchecked. I personally think AI will take over, just not in the way that we've all imagined.

[@ForestRaptor]

what is it that we all have imagined? Just so we can come back to this in a few years and say "welp, ya was right!"

[@alexjensen007]

It will be the same as when UE3 came out. Every fucking male model was the same.

[@moppenboek]

I want these Unreal graphics be used in something that transcends reality and makes a real world seem trippy.

[@trustyourforce4041]

A: A 13 year old should know better. B: The family should be checking their bank account often enough to notice this.

[@DiegoGTRatty]

For #8, that Diablo armor is far from a microtransaction I'd be worried about. It feels common place for most games to sell cosmetics for $20-ish, but there is *far* worse things out there. You have games that'll sell microtransactions that barely provide benefits & easily skyrocket into triple digit prices. Usually in the mobile/free to play areas. Though that stuff has been creeping into triple A, $60-70 games over the years. Not to mention further squeezing microtransaction profits by selling any of those items behind "gacha", "pulls", "rolls", "card packs". Whatever lame name they wanna disguise it by, those are still lootboxes. There are lootboxes in games, sold for $100+, that provide you a chance, to get the advertised benefit. Who the hell's buying these, allowing lame game publishers to get away with it?

[@gambello1195]

People who play only one or two games with microtransactions, and they think "well" I'm not gonna buy a new game soon so I'll use that money to microtransactions", it's like a hobby. And children who have access to their parents' credit card

[@rabbitknight87]

I play arknights (a tower defense-esque gacha game) and with the amount of entertainment I get out of it I can spare $5 every 3 months or so. I'd never "whale" on a gacha but incorporating a little bit into my entertainment budget for the return I get on it makes sense for me.

[@KingJohnMichael]

Just inform yourself beforehand

[@Subject_Keter]

People need willpower.. and the courage to not try and move basically 2 snorlax duct tape together.

[@collinfant5146]

I actually like seeing real ads on in game billboards

[@jbassettbassett8489]

Ubisoft is notorious for not addressing cheats in my opinion

[@oepj12345]

I just wanna admire Falcons love for his team. Wholesome moment

[@chexagon7656]

I am BEYOND surprised that the whole billionaire-bootleg-submarine-with-Logitech-controller situation wasn't on this list

[@cppblank]

$64,000 isn't really that much anymore, but to spend that amount on mobile gaming is still insane.

[@ethans2223]

I can remember watching G4 and all the hype for E3 back in the day. And now E3 is over 😢

[@ZeroJ]

One of the biggest things to remember is that Sony basically has a Monopoly in all of Japan alongside Nintendo. Microsoft does not sell in Japan or other Asian markets as well as Sony does

[@necrozach]

There's a massive trucker shortage nation wide. This is actually genius marketing.

[@FflawedMetalhead]

I've always hated that virtually every in-game transaction involving real money is called a "micro-transaction" - How is it not just a transaction? I'm paying for goods/services one way or the other.

[@brianmonaghan260]

AI is so important to the growth in all industries. It just needs to be harnessed to have people utilizing it to enhance and not fully build or cookie cutter the output. I use AI to help research issues similar to how one would use a google search. In the video game space AI graphic drivers are truly amazing and I welcome more of it.

[@ptgallester1977]

As a truck driver and a gamer I don't get off work and play a truck driving game.