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Read more: http://techazuri.com/read/is-the-playstation-now-model-the-future-of-games-/p1wd579zyl

While no one was paying attention, Sony may just have launched the future of the gaming industry. Actually that’s not true, Sony launched the future of gaming two years ago but it’s still too early to call it.

So here’s the skinny.

In 2014, Sony launched Playstation Now, their cloud based, game streaming service that lets users pay for access to a selection of original Playstation 2, PlayStation 3 and PS4 titles on either a per-game basis or via a subscription.

This means for example, you don’t need a PS3 console to play PS3 games anymore. With a fast internet connection and a PC or a Sony Bravia TV, you can play PS3 games once you have a PS Now subscription.

Previously, Sony allowed users to access the service via several channels - PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV, Sony Bravia televisions and even Samsung TVs. But in February, Sony announced it would discontinue PlayStation Now on all systems except the Playstation 4 and PC.

Not many people are aware of this service and Sony doesn’t seem to be pushing it as much they do their other services.

The service currently hosts 483 PS3 titles and cloud saves for seamless play on PS4 and Windows 10 PCs. There are two ways to stream games in PlayStation Now, either as a subscription based service like Netflix, allowing unlimited access to all games covered by the subscription model, or users can rent games individually.

Why is this interesting?

I mentioned earlier that Sony doesn’t push the service as much as one would think they would (you won’t even find it on the Playstation homepage). Which suggests that Sony may be running the Playstation Now service as an experiment. They’re trying to see how viable the “Netflix” business model is. Depending on what Sony decides to do with the service three to five years from now, will have serious ramifications on the future of the industry.

Adopting the cloud based gaming model, will mean no more consumer console development for Sony. This is a highly unlikely scenario. Sony’s consoles are too much of a cash cow to be shuttered just like that.

Or are they?

According to this break down by IHS, it costs Sony $381 to create and assemble the PS4. The PS4 was selling for $399 at retail leaving Sony with a profit margin of $18. Then, we also have to consider R&, shipping, factory maintenance and management costs, advertising and taxes - suffice to say, Sony is not making anything from these devices, yet.

It took the PS3 four years to finally turn profitable, but that wasn’t before Microsoft and Sony had incurred a total loss of about $8 billion on their Xbox360 and PS3 consoles respectively.

I doubt they’ve been able to recoup that money back since both companies have released new consoles again since then both of which are selling at a loss. It’s probably going to take the PS4 equal amount of time (four to five years) to turn profit also.

This is the business model the gaming industry has been running on for years.

For years, industry experts have been clamouring the need for a new business model in the video game industry. The focus on AAA titles has put the industry in a precarious position whereby console makers try to compel game developers to go big with their releases, to try to harness as many features and capabilities out of their hardware. This creates another set of problems which I don’t plan on going into but here’s a great article on the subject.

This cloud based, game streaming service may just be the lifeline the industry needs. You can be sure Microsoft and Nintendo have been closely monitoring Sony’s little experiment. Just February, Microsoft launched its own online subscription based game service called Xbox Game Pass. The only difference is Microsoft has less titles, is only accessible via the Xbox One but it allows you to download. So it’s not really the future as one would hope.

The bets are still on Sony’s experiment.

Another reason why this is interesting is, for people like me who don’t own a PS4 or PC diehard gamers, the Playstation Now provides a great opportunity to experience the Playstation’s amazing and mostly exclusive library. It makes sense because the PS Now costs about a fifth of the price of a PS4 console (or even the price of broadband in a month (which you’re going to pay for anyway if you’re into online gaming).

In short, it’s an inexpensive and non committal way to veer into Sony’s ecosystem. It will help Sony make some extra money from the PC crowd or the nostalgic game crowd - two niches I fit into nicely. Seeing as Sony has refused to enable backwards compatibility on their newest console, the PS Now is my best bet. Well played, Sony.

Another thing, and I know I’m reaching here but humor me. If SEGA has any plans of re-entering the console market, this will be their best bet. A cloud based game streaming service is safer and cheaper for them.

Sony may have a game changer on their hands. Will the odds be in their favour?

It is no surprise that many will find it hard to believe that Nigerians are beginning to develop video games. Nigeria, and Africa at large, has been continually placed on the map of underdevelopment and zero technological innovation. Perish the thought, Nigeria has video games developed and designed by its citizens. In fact, these developers are getting recognition worldwide because of their “ingenuity”.

The exact time Nigerians began to design their own games cannot be determined, however, as of 2015, the gaming industry was up and running. Works of graphic designers was an off shoot for the gaming industry in Nigeria, seeing how their works almost parallels each other.

According to Hugo Obi, one of the pioneers of video game designing in Nigeria, the goal is to find narratives relative to our environment. Obi statement is a sum of the common ideology held by other game developers in the country. Their aim is not just to create a game; it is to create a game that will be an embodiment of the African experience.

The culture of playing games did not start with the indigenously designed games; it goes far in history than that. Of course we know that in earlier times when any development arose in the technological world, Africans are usually at the bottom of the touch. This is probably because of the misconception that Africa is backwards. But this kind of thought did not really affect the consumption of videos games in Nigeria. As can be seen, Nigerians are great lovers of games and they contribute immensely to the:

Brick games and Nintendo
Brick games and Nintendo products formed the beginning of popularly known electronic games in Nigeria. The brick games were hand held consoles that were of simple designs which were a user-device kind of game. These Japanese games were affordable thus a huge commercial success. The consoles game in different colours which gave users more things to look forward in the game.

Super Mario
Before the game became an expensive commodity and hard-to-find, it used to be one of the most played and popular games in Nigeria and in fact all over the world. Described as one of the most popular games designed by human hands, the game was created by Shigero Miyamoto for the Japanese company of Nintendo. Since its first release in 1985, over 31 million copies of the game has been sold. The Super Mario game follows Mario’s adventures in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom, usually with Mario as the player character.

Mortal Kombat
Every Nigerian child – especially male – born in late 20th century must have played Mortal Kombat at one time or the other. From Mortal Kombat on Sega to Mortal Kombat II on Nintendo, to Mortal Kombat Trilogy on Nintendo 64. Childhoods must have been filled with endless moments of fun brought about by this game. This game styled in 2D version was a great way to indulge in virtual combat and still retain as much experience as if it were the real thing.

PlayStation One
Popularly called PS1, the first version of Sony’s PlayStation marked the beginning of virtual sports games in the world. The earliest known games were adventure games. PS1 however, brought to fore the possibilities in virtual sports. Needless to say, it was a huge commercial success.

It is hard to believe that all these games developed from the handheld consoles of the 20th century which was THE game then. Many people will find it ridiculous now when they remember their video game sojourn which started from joining bricks to gain points. More interesting is the development the gaming world has witnessed over a relatively short period of time.

But in our assessment of these developments, it is important we look into the place and status Nigeria has acquired in the production of these games as opposed to how much has gone down in the area of consumption. Have we been able to trace any popular game in the world back to Nigeria origins? Not really. Is there a chance of such happening? This is dependent of how much work Nigerians are willing to put into the industry. Although, the industry has become highly recognized now, their output leaves much to be desired. This is not to say that Nigerians are not equipped with the needed intellect to develop games. What is lacking is the technical and financial support which is the backbone of the industry. In spite of this, we can easily identify various gaming studios we have in Nigeria, put together by Nigerians, producing Nigerian flavoured games.

Maliyo Games
Hugo Obi’s vision is to grow a local gaming community by finding narratives relative to the environment and telling stories that appeal to Nigerians. One of the company first hit is Okada Rider, one of the first indigenous games known to Nigeria. Anyone who resides in Nigeria has seen an Okada before if not ridden it many times. They understand the thrill of the ride, the dangers involve and how the whole experience feels. Little wonder, the likes of Obi designed a game like that which is expected to recreate the whole Okada experience for the user. Another game by this company is Aboki Run which is designed like Temple Run and Subway Surfers

Kuluya
Self-acclaimed best in Africa, Kuluya gaming studio is Nigeria’s very own. They create high-end console games and casual browser games with African players as the key focus. Kunle Ogungbamila is the CEO of Kuluya. This company started with making browser-based games before they took up app developing in 2015.

Gamesole
The designer of the popular Gidi Run game, Gamesole is an indigenous gaming studio. Their aim is to create games that are fun to play, plain and simple. Going by Gidi Run, they have been able to do that. The game also has a Temple Run kind of feel to it except it is with the popular Lagos Danfo fitted with a driver and the conductor.

Genii games
The brains behind the popular asa (meaning culture in Yoruba) brand, Genii games boast a collection of interactive mobile apps that deliver subjects ranging from languages, folktales, and ethics for kids to learn about African cultures in fun ways. The company, which was founded in 2012 by Adebayo Adegbembo, won the Etisalat Pan-African prize for the most innovative product in 2013.

Read more: http://techazuri.com/read/gaming-in-nigeria-and-a-look-into-nigerian-gaming-studios/w8rdlypvx5

The just ended year 2016 was not so pleasant. It was a year many people would rather forget, with never ending streams of bad news, multiple celebrity deaths (2016 saw us lose a beloved actress of Star Wars fame, Carrie Fisher) and a brutal US election that saw Donald Trump get elected much to the chagrin of majority of US citizens. Heck, even in the world of tech, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 saw to it that 2016 was a bad year across all aspects of life, with frequent reports of Note 7s exploding worldwide, the first incident of its kind from a major tech giant (to the best of my knowledge). Nevertheless, 2016 also had its share of technological breakthroughs that changed how we live, work and play. Particularly, Virtual Reality made a big comeback after Google’s failed attempt with Google Glass back in 2013, and it is sure to get even better this year. Virtual Assistants also became popular, moving out of our smartphones and into standalone devices (Amazon Echo and Google Home). In fact, 2016 appeared to be the year smart home technologies managed to break through the mainstream after years of trying.

So what do we hope to see this year in the tech world? There is a myriad of tech trends and gadgets coming out this year that is going to change the world once again. Here are 5 of the most anticipated tech trends and tech coming out this year.

1. Nintendo Switch
With a release date scheduled for March 2017, Nintendo’s Switch is one of the most antcipated tech of 2017. This will be the first hybrid console from Nintendo, or any major gaming company for that matter. Nintendo demonstrated that the Switch can play its games on TV like a regular games console, as well as a tablet-style handheld with its own controls. It can also be played while standing up on its own kickstand, with detachable controls. Perhaps what is going to be its main selling point is how it doubles as a portable handheld as well as a home gaming console. Nintendo has an event scheduled for January to unveil more details about the console. No price has been announced yet.


2. Project Scorpio
Microsoft’s rival to Sony’s PS4 Pro is set for a Fall 2017 release. Project Scorpio, as it has been dubbed, is said to be the most powerful console ever to be released, or going to be released, with 6 teraflops of computing power, compared to the PS4 Pro’s 4.2 Teraflops. The console has been described in a whole manner of colorful ways, with developers calling it a “monster” and Microsoft affirming it will deliver the “best resolution, best framerates, no compromises”. Microsoft has stated that Project Scorpio will render games in native 4K. Seeing as most of the PS4 Pro’s enhanced games are actually 1080p upscaled to 1440p (4K), Project Scorpio is undoubtedly the console that will usher in the new era of 4K gaming.



3. Apple iPhone 8
The iPhone 7 is easily one of the best smartphones of 2016. It delivers seamless performance, more storage capacity than its predecessors, water resistance, exceptional cameras, perhaps the best battery yet in an iPhone, amongst many other terrific features. Despite these accolades, it was more of an evolutionary step rather than a revolutionary leap. In fact, the omission of the headphone jack meant that the iPhone 7 left out a crucial feature that almost everyone could not live without. Still, these are just small breezes compared to the early rumors pointing to this year’s iPhone, the one marking the 10th anniversary of the very first iPhone. This year’s iPhone 7S or 8, or whatever they decide to call it, is seen by most as the revolutionary, no-holds-barred smartphone that will once again push the boundaries of what your phone can do. For years, Apple have stuck to a fairly regular schedule, releasing iPhones with major design changes for even-numbered years and lesser “S” models with negligible features for odd-numbered years. From this trend, it would be expected that this year’s iPhone would be a “7S” with a few spec bumps here and there. However, if the last few years mean anything, its that Apple have scrapped this trend of theirs, with the release of two iPhone models in 2013 (5S and 5C), two variants of the iPhone 6, 6S and 7 (a standard 4.7” iPhone and a bigger 5.5” iPhone Plus) as well as an iPhone SE released in early 2016. Expect the big reveal in the Fall of 2017 (if Apple sticks to its regular schedule). Until then, we’ll keep track of the rumors.

4. Artificial Intelligence and Automation
Automation isn’t anything new, at least on the business side of things. Point-Of-Sales machines and ATMs have been in existence for the past 48 years. Perhaps our main experiences with automated technologies come in the form of those customer service systems we’re forced to call on when we need help. But it’s only going to get more commonplace in other aspects of our lives this year. Online customer sevrvice will be automated this year, thanks to better AI and chatbots that understand context much better than before. Flashback to March 2016 when Microsoft released Tay, an AI chatbot that was designed to mimic the language patterns of a teenage American girl, and to learn from interacting with human users of twitter. Within hours of its release, Tay was corrupted by twitter users who detected a vulnerability in its language patterns and deliberately tricked it into tweeting racist slurs and other inflammatory tweets. Hopefully, Artificial Intelligence would have gotten much better after the events of Tay.

5. The Internet Of Things
The Internet of Things has been a major subject matter over the past decade. So one may wonder why it still hasn’t caught on. The issue lies in interoperability. In theory, the Internet of Things is expected to connect all our devices together, making them operate in a glorious technological harmony. The uncoated truth is, we’re not at that point yet — at least in a usable manner. We’ll use the smart home as an example here. Much of the work in the past several years has revolved around the idea of a “smart hub,” in layman’s terms a souped-up wireless router with extra communications technologies built in. But inquire from any smart home system owner, and they’ll tell you it’s not a perfect solution.

A barrage of wireless technologies now exist to serve your smart home needs — Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and more. And there’s more smart home platforms to consider than ever before too — Wink, SmartThings, Iris by Lowe’s and even systems from security providers like ADT and big brands like Comcast. While centralization was expected to make things easi
er, it’s made it worse.


Some smart home gadgets won’t work with certain smart home platforms — for example, your Philips Hue lights won’t work with your Iris by Lowe’s system. Plus if your smart hub goes down, your entire system typically goes with it. Expect a renewed focus this year when it comes to smart homes. Wi-Fi is a tested and true wireless networking technology, and routers are serving up ever larger amounts of bandwidth, so there’s plenty of space to handle your connected home. As well, new smart home devices are choosing Wi-Fi to maximize compatibility.

Instead of using a centralized hub, device manufacturers will fixate on interoperability between themselves. This might have the consequence of shrinking the number of directly compatible devices, but it may not matter. Many other technologies can take the place of the hub, and likely do a better job of it.

IFTTT can connect those devices in any way you see fit, and Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home can control them by voice. The hub just isn’t necessary anymore, and that might be a good thing.

We are presently in the post-Christmas, pre-new year period; at this point, most of us aren’t quite sure of what we’re celebrating but we remain in the festive spirit (honestly, this phrase usually feels more Christmas-y than Christmas day itself). In the spirit of this confusing period, most of us would rather just do lazy or fun things instead of going out. This post is for the lucky couch potatoes like me, who don’t have long work hours and would rather stay indoors and watch movies in our underwear with comfort food.

Here’s a list of awesome movies you can check out, in no particular order:

1. Life is Beautiful (La Vita e Bella):
Roberto Benigni directed and starred in this awesome 1997 Italian, holocaust-themed movie in which an Italian-Jewish man did everything he could shelter his son from a harsh reality. This movie is a very sad one, it can make even the toughest cookie weep, it’s also funny so don’t worry about becoming a complete blubbering mess.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird:
In this 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee’s book of the same title, a lawyer faces a nearly impossible task of defending a black man accused of rape and assault on a white woman in the heat of racial discrimination; the lawyer’s children have an encounter with the town’s “weirdo” around whom a lot of rumours have been spun. This movie addresses diversity, ignorance, intolerance and acceptance.

3. 12 Angry Men:
This 1957 movie is basically about a jury of 12 men sitting to decide the fate of a young man on trial for murder. This movie addresses errors in perception and judgement-making; prejudice and the different ways people are wired. The most important lessons this movie teaches is never be too scared to voice your opinions, listen to others when they voice theirs, and things are not always as you perceive them.

4. The Great Gatsby (the 2013 version, not the 1974 one):
This movie is great for stoners; the colours are so bright and amazing, the exaggerated speed and slow movement, the narration, and a mix of music from different eras. I absolutely love this movie; I loved the book by Scott F. Fitzgerald and the movie wasn’t a disappointment. This movie is about a man narrating his experience with the most interesting and hopeful man he’s ever met, Jay Gatsby.

5. The Usual Suspects:
This is an awesome classic starring Kevin Spacey. After a massacre on a ship that got burned down, a frail looking con-man narrates the story of the events that led to the massacre to an interrogator. This narration centred on a legendary, feared badass named Keyser Soze.

6. Perks of Being a Wallflower:
This is a coming of age drama is an adaptation of a book of the same name. This story follows the life of a teenager trying to adjust to high school while dealing with a history of mental illness, he meets a group of awesome people who add streaks of colour to his life.

7. Casablanca:
This is a war-time romantic drama, released in 1942 while WWII was still on-going. This movie focuses on an mysterious American bar owner in Casablanca, Morocco who had to choose between his love for a woman and helping her husband in his resistance towards the German Nazi occupation in Czech Republic. Part of what makes this movie awesome are the dialogue and the strength of the characters; mysterious Rick, confused and desperate Ilsa, romantic Victor Laszlo and Sam, the stereotyped black man.

8. Schindler’s List:
The movie was based on true life events; Oskar Schindler, a German businessman, who saved a lot of Jews during the Holocaust and WWII. He started a business that also helped protect Jews from the Nazi Germans. This movie portrays the pain and hopelessness that was characteristic of that anti-Semitic period.

9. The Breakfast Club:
This movie is coming-of-age comedy-drama movie centred on five high-school students from different social groups; these students spend a day together in detention and they discover that they are more than the tags they bear because of their social groups. This movie teaches us that people are usually much more than what meets the eye.

10. Valkyrie:
This historical thriller movie follows a plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler, which was put together and carried out by German Army officers in 1944. This account was one of the numerous assassination attempts made on Adolf Hitler.

These are just 10 of my favourite movies, there are definitely much more than this list. I usually check critics’ ratings of most awesome movies of all time whenever I decide to go on a movie download spree. Here is a list you can check out:

http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-movies-of-all-time
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls055592025/
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/

Read more on Techazuri: http://techazuri.com/read/10-movies-to-watch-in-this-not-so-festive-holiday/m98dn97v0q

A story about why exciting hardware crash and burn

I’m yet to handle a VR set. Reason being, I’m a bit of a sceptic.

In fact, if I was a betting man, I’d put money on this VR experiment fizzling out in a few years, just the way it’s earlier “cousin”, the Google Glass, did. I mean, there are several checkboxes new products tick to succeed in today’s marketplace; boxes Google’s doomed product failed to tick back in 2013.

Perhaps I should begin my case by taking you back to my university days.

I was in my second year: young, abrasive, stuck in a course I didn't like, had too much time and still got monthly allowance from my folks. Meaning I could devote more time and energy to mundane stuff like pissing contests and less towards making good grades.

It was the era of the 7th generation consoles. The PS3s and Xbox 360s (and the tech powering them) were featured on the cover of every videogame, computer and tech magazine for months. What passed for leisure in my circle were regular sessions of competitive gaming followed by long hours of fanboy arguments. Our arguments were usually of the world-changing nature i.e. why the Xbox 360 was the superior console to the PS3 (I was in the Microsoft camp). My personal talking points were raw computing power and HD DVDs.

If you remember, there was a time when the industry was yet to make up its mind about what was to succeed DVDs. Pundits were split between the HD DVD and Blu-ray. The two consumer technology behemoths; Toshiba (which was aggressively pushing the HD DVD) and Sony (championing the Blu-ray) kept throwing money at the situation.

Well, after reading the leading technology magazines in those days, (mostly Ziff Davis publications like PC Magazine, Computer Gaming World, as well as more popular magazines like PC Gamer, we Microsoft groupies were convinced HD DVDs were the future. Microsoft was supposed to be the better company, and the 360 was supposed to be the better product, with the better components, particularly, the HD DVD technology.

Sony and time would prove that Xbox fanboys were drinking their own Kool Aid. The HD DVD bit the bullet when Sony convinced Walmart and Warner Brothers, along with some other major movie distributors to embrace the Blu-ray format, and abandon the HD DVD. The HD DVD became a bust. Blu-ray took its lunch money (Toshiba lost nearly a billion dollars ), and since Microsoft stubbornly refused to incorporate a Blu-ray drive into their console throughout its lifespan, we fanboys were left enduring the hassles of multi-DVD games as we had to switch DVDs several times during gaming sessions.

Little wonder that I humbly ditched my fanboyism and bought a PS3 some years later. Aside having to eat humble pie, I learned a valuable lesson.

Never argue with fanboys. Lol.

That, and the fact that pushing new hardware, ones that will have ripple effects on consumers, their lifestyle and the products they already use is a tall order. When there’s a competitor tussling with you in the marketplace, it is nigh impossible. Microsoft and Toshiba learned this the hard way. And history was going to repeat itself in a few years.

When Google had a Glass Jaw

The Google Glass was a failure. Some publications even embellished their headlines with the “epic” prefix e.g BGR and Fox. Clickbait or not, who could blame them? Google’s new toy which it had pushed for almost two years did not catch on. The product was cancelled and taken back into the lab.

Had it succeeded, Google was going to usher us all into a new age of interactivity. It was going to change the game. After first encounters, tech writers became instant believers. They saw the immense possibilities it offered. (Where have I heard that before? ).

You could video anything you looked at. You could have a map in front of you wherever you walked. The tech offered you a computer and the internet ready at a moment's notice, taking your real world experience to a whole new level.

Also, for the Google Glass, content wasn’t really the problem. It layered a virtual UI over the real world, so you were rarely - if ever - in want of ways to interact with the tech or things to do with it.

The first problem it faced was the price. $1500 is a lot to ask people to pay for a fun glass. Kinda like an alt-version of the Snapchat spectacles come to think of it.

The second issue was the launch itself. The product wasn’t ready. It was supposed to be in beta, yet it was launched like a finished product. The narrative got away from Google, and became a PR nightmare. Not good for a product that was yet to define what position it wanted to occupy in the consumer’s life - everyday device or geeky accessory? As Will Oremus of Slate wrote, "Glass’ problem is that the technology today simply doesn’t offer anything that average people really want, let alone need, in their everyday lives."

Oh dear.

Hardware products differ from software. Interacting with hardware offers a different experience for the user while the amount of control the company exerts over the user experience is limited. Once the product leaves the warehouse, its fate is in the hands of the masses.

As it is now, the current expression of VR shares too many similarities with Google Glass, (Google's unfortunate experiment came first after all). And as a brilliant friend pointed out to me as I was writing this, Glass and VR (as we now know it) don't just share similarities (and potentially the same fate), they are different expressions of the same idea; add a realtime and lifelike layer of interactivity on content. Glass was Augmented Reality (interactivity on existing universes - like Microsoft’s Hololens) while VR is interactivity on created universes.

It’s a pretty nifty idea when you think about it or when you sit through a demo. But the idea has never been the problem. It wasn’t the problem during Glass’ brief stint and it isn’t the problem now. The medium itself is.

You know that situation where your friends tell you your startup idea is a slam dunk but then refuse to patronize you when you launch because, well… shrugs. Yes, this is that situation but with billions of dollars at stake.

It’s not their fault. If your startup’s going to be based on VR technology, I’m going to be shrugging too.

Snobs and the hardware life

At best, I believe VR (if it survives) will become one of those add-ons the really geeky and really edgy folks use - like your friends with the Playstation Move or the Xbox Kinect. Fancy but not groundbreaking. Interesting but not essential to the consumer experience.

Secondly, tech naturally carves out a niche and consolidates. When cars started showing up, it took some time, but eventually we moved in the air conditioner, the radio and then the phone into the car with us. When we got mobile phones, we embedded cameras and added the ability to listen to the radio, and browse the internet. When we got consoles, we added the ability to browse the internet, watch movies and play older games.

If VR is gonna succeed, it’s going to have to be embedded inside some other tech we already use or embed other tech we currently use into the whole experience. Why? Because there’s no space for an extra box in the living room. Right now, we have TV, DVR, Radio, Cable Decoder, WiFi routers, a game console, and a Blu-ray player. At some point, it gets too much. Unless the tech geniuses can figure out a way to make the tech powering VR come with any of these devices, VR will be fighting in an already crowded space.

Sony played a genius hand when they embedded their PS3 console with a Blu-ray player. Nobody needed to tell you that getting a PS3 was a good bargain - two pieces of tech for the meagre price of one.

Another problem is; the VR isn’t replacing anything. New tech that successfully permeates the consumer marketplace is usually a replacement of old tech. Flat screen TVs replaced CRTs. Blu-rays replaced DVDs. Smartphones replaced feature phones which replaced analogue phones. The need was already there and tech was solving it. New tech just came to do it better.

As the Google Glass experiment proved, people aren’t that ready to change their ways for the sake of it. They change when the new way is a better and easier way to meet old needs. I did a mini research. I showed some pics of the Oculus Rift to a friend. I tried pitching it to her as the toy the cool kids are playing with these days. Her reply was unexpected. She went, “And how am I supposed to lug that thing around in my handbag all day? Biko, I have work to do abeg.”

Immediately she said it, I saw her point. VR is not going to be a mobile device. So where’s it going to stay? In the living room? I don't think so. The tech currently powering VR makes it an isolating/solitary experience. It’s definitely not replacing the TV because then we’d need two or three visors, one for dad, mom and child. On the average.

I honestly can’t see it succeeding.

But then again I could be wrong. Several tech heavy weights including Google, Facebook, HTC, Acer, Samsung and Sony, have chimed in, committing to support the format and improve the tech. Throw enough money and brains at the problem and it might just go away (I’m sure I’ve heard that before also).

I’m not a betting man, but if I was, I’d still bet against VR, in spite of the tech being pushed by tech heavyweights. It will (probably) be an epic failure. But that is not to discourage failure. After all, it’s Silicon Valley wisdom to say, “if you’re not failing, you’re not trying.”

I can only assume that the bigger the failure, the bigger the lesson.

P.S. This post is not exclusively about VR. It’s about the challenges new innovations face especially when they involve introducing a totally new kind of consumer technology to the market. I simply used VR as a vehicle to channel my thoughts. Perhaps the headline should read - why good hardware products fail.

So why do good products fail? Here’s a quick recap:
Way too high price point (especially if you’re not Apple), Sucky marketing, Non-essential nature i.e it’s an Add-on, and poor industry support.

A story about why exciting hardware crash and burn by Ibukun Taiwo

Why Good Products Fail

I'm yet to handle a VR set. Reason being, I’m a bit of a sceptic.

In fact, if I was a betting man, I’d put money on this VR experiment fizzling out in a few years, just the way it’s earlier “cousin”, the Google Glass, did. I mean, there are several checkboxes new products tick to succeed in today’s marketplace; boxes Google’s doomed product failed to tick back in 2013.

Perhaps I should begin my case by taking you back to my university days.

I was in my second year: young, abrasive, stuck in a course I didn't like, had too much time and still got monthly allowance from my folks. Meaning I could devote more time and energy to mundane stuff like pissing contests and less towards making good grades.

It was the era of the 7th generation consoles. The PS3s and Xbox 360s (and the tech powering them) were featured on the cover of every videogame, computer and tech magazine for months. What passed for leisure in my circle were regular sessions of competitive gaming followed by long hours of fanboy arguments. Our arguments were usually of the world-changing nature i.e. why the Xbox 360 was the superior console to the PS3 (I was in the Microsoft camp). My personal talking points were raw computing power and HD DVDs.

Read more: http://techazuri.com/read/why-good-products-fail/j5edp3ez94

During this year’s Playstation Experience keynote, game developer Naughty Dog revealed The Last of Us Part 2 via a teaser trailer. It was perhaps one of the best moments during the keynote, drawing loud cheers and applause from the crowd.

The game will be a direct sequel to the 2013 hit game, The Last Of Us, and is still in early development. The trailer starts with a bloodied arm with tattoos playing an acoustic guitar. The arm is later shown to be that of Ellie, looking older than she was from the first game. She plays an eerie song with lyrics referencing the biblical chapter Psalm 23, though the lyrics aren’t entirely the same. As she sings to the tune of the guitar, we see blood trickling down her left cheek.

The camera then switches to a shot of the silhouette of a man walking towards the house Ellie is playing the guitar in. This man turns out to be Joel, the main protagonist from the first game. As Joel walks into the house, we can see the maimed and bloodied bodies of dead people lying all around. When he reaches the room Ellie is in, she sings, “I can’t walk on the path of the righteous, because I’m wrong”. Joel asks “What are you doing kiddo, you really gonna go through with this?” to which Ellie answers, “I’m gonna find and I’m gonna kill every last one of them.”

Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann stated, “If the first game was really about the love between these two characters, this story is the counter of that. This story is about hate, through Ellie this time. The first game you play as Joel, this game you play as Eliie.”

There was no mention of a release date. However if the past is anything to go by, a release date may be slated for as far back as 2018 or 2019. The original game was announced in December of 2011 and released two years later in June 2013. For now, fans can only wait in anticipation for further news concerning the game.

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Good points, I think Nintendo is trying to appeal to gamers in general NOT as a competition, their games evoke some feeling of nostalgia and their consoles are priced relatively cheap that even the hardcore gamers wouldn't mind getting a Nintendo console just to play their first party games.

Rumour has it that the switch will be priced at $199.99. At that price, you won't feel like you're cashing out a lot for the console.

HyDef:
Well, to me, the main catch of Nintendo is their first party offerings. You've got Metroid, Legend of Zelda, Kirby, Pokemon, and Mario. Et cetera.

Seeing as they are Nintendo's own property, they can make as many games as they want featuring these characters. About other publishers, they already have quite a large list of publishers who have already started developing for the console, and based on the only ad for it so far, we might get to see Skyrim, although Bethesda said something very political, which might me we may or may not see portable Skyrim.

Of course, we'll get a platformer in the form of some unnamed Mario game that was shown in the ad as well, and then Mario Kart obviously. Breath of the Wild as well, and probably some Super Smash Bros ( ) later down the line.

I had a Nintendo 64, and then a GBA SP, so I'm well versed in Nintendo's franchises, and perhaps why I'm so excited for this. I can't wait for next year when more details will be revealed regarding this console. I'm worried about battery life, and perhaps how much power it can really crank out, but why I admire Nintendo is that they realize that it is fruitless for them to compete in the power race with Sony and Microsoft. They just won't win there, so they have to win somehow else.



TL;DR: I do believe they can deliver.

Do you think Nintendo can deliver on that? I mean, you need to have a lots of Game publishers working with you.

HyDef:
And so am I. I mean, this is basically what I've been waiting for. A handheld that isn't exactly that, and then I get all my favourite first party titles? That's a yes for me.

Don't play watchdogs 2 without reading these top 10 tips, guaranteed to give a better gaming experience

1. Don't use Guns

Although, the game gives a wide array of weaponry to pick from, WatchDogs 2 is best played hacking your way through scenarios rather than going all out guns blazing. Using guns would mean losing out on over 90% of the game's non-leathal and hacking offerings which is at the heart and soul of the game. At its best, bring in some of your Hitman's ability into this game.

Going non-leathal would go even better with the flow of the game and methods of DedSec. In summary, bring out that piece as least possible as you can, allows you grow into the fabric of the game and enjoy the entire experience.

2. First item you should acquire should be the quadcopter

Starting the game, you will be given the RC car for free but you pretty much buy every other thing from that point onwards. It is strongly advised that your first purchase should be the quadcopter drone, why? the benefits. The quadcopter drone is truly critical to almost every mission and can be used in a number of ways. It can be used to scout enemy positions from high above the ground, can be used to set a number of booby traps without raising alarms, can hack into mission objectives and gain skill points by itself, also it can highlight ways to get to rooftops which is very essential in endless positions on the map. This being said, the quadcopter costs about $50-60k in-game, money which you can amass after hunting down a few bags of money and hacking into a few phones. The game might eventually require that you buy it, but why wait?

3. First upgrade, Car thievery

Although, this skill may be tier 2 so you need to purchase the ability to drive cars remotely first, so yeah, second upgrade.Perharps, the most commonly used ability in the game, it makes the game much easier as trying to carjack without acquiring this ability would mean cars set off their alarms regularly which in turn leads to police trouble, which happens to be one of the last things you'd need. This upgrade gives the ability to auto-unlock any cars you may find on the street without setting of the said alarm, might sound simple but when you fast-travel between locations, you won't have a car and would definitely need a ride to move around (although a phone app, which you should download by the way, allows you order one). So needless to say, upgrade this skill, get cars easily and avoid police trouble. However, this doesn't mean you can carjack occupied cars without consequences, do that at your own risk.

4. You Will Never Have More Fun Than When You Use The Snitch Skill
Not exactly referred to as "snitch skill" but can be described as one. WatchDogs 2 includes a new ability that allows you call the cops or members of a local gang to carry out a raid on a target once you have forged evidence against said target. Higher upgrades would send the heaviest gang hitters or entire SWAT team whatever the choice is.

Bear in mind that a deadly shootout is likely to occur between your target and the raiding group, so this method isn't particularly non-lethal but sure does guarantee lots of fun for you the spectator. Imagine sitting on top of a roof of a gang hideout and calling the SWAT on them, walk in afterwards and claim your prize, gotta be fun eh? you bet! Although it requires a lot of skill points, when you consider it can be used to ditch heat if you're being hunted plus guaranteed fun, its worth every bit of it.

5. Almost every mission can be accomplished with your RC car and drones

One thing that may be constantly overlooked in WatchDogs 2 is that you shouldn't overthink the mission because a good number of them can be completed with Marcus doing virtually nothing. How so? Marcus can use his robotic army to do majority of the dirty work. For example, on one mission, you would be required to gain entry into a locked gang hideout, you might be tempted to blast your way through, tase your way through or even call SWAT, these methods often fail, what's guaranteed to work however is honk at the door of the hideout with an RC car, run past the gang member who opens the door out of his line of sight and hack the wall unit as you were tasked, that's it!

Many of the missions in WatchDogs 2 are similar to this. Just ensure you upgrade the speed boost skill of your robots to make them extra effective and you can use your drone to scout and set traps, your RC car to avoid guards, drive through vents and perform necessary hacks. Basically, complete a larger portion of the objectives using your robots if you're not big on getting into shootouts and trying to outrun enemies.

6. One for all

If you decide to go with number 1 on this list and decide not to go guns-blazing into every situation, you must learn one combo in order to be effective. Although the stun gun works as a one hit kill weapon, also does a pretty decent move of taking out almost any enemy you'd encounter, Marcus' melee move which comprises a slick takedown that enemies cannot block does a pretty good job of a one hit kill too. Even better, it's effective against the "heavies" you're bound to encounter as the game progresses.

The combo is quite powerful especially when combined with the second part but its pretty easy. Its a combination of distraction and melee attacks. You see an enemy, tap L1, their phone would buzz and distract them, leaving them open to a melee attack from Marcus that can't be detected until the last second if at all. Same thing when pinned down by an enemy opening fire only that this time, their comms are disrupted, allowing you shoot with your taser or run up and melee them. Limitation to this combo is that it doesn't work when there are multiple enemies in line of sight that can interfere when you make your move.

7. Cash Is Used For Almost Nothing But Cosmetics

WatchDogs 2 involves a lot of cash revolving around Marcus whether it is collecting bags of money from remote or guarded locations, hacking bank accounts or running from driving missions. Keep in mind that all of this are just side attractions as it is only useful for the cosmetics. Asides the drone, the money can be used to buy weapons (if going by number 1 on this list shouldn't be a priority to you), fancy suits, get paint jobs on exotic cars you'd rarely drive as their are not many driving mission plus it's way easier to grab whatever car is parked nearby.

In a nutshell, you may be tempted to stockpile money, remember it isn't mission critical and try to invest more in the skill points aspect of the game as they'll improve the game play for you.

8. You Will Be Drowning In Skill Points If You Just Do The Major Quests

WatchDogs 2 relies on an XP system of followers that fill up a meter. You'd gain anywhere from 2-9 skill points when a new threshold is reached. Although, there are little challenges that would get you anywhere between 7k to 11k followers for completing them, remember you do not have to kill yourself for these.

The further you go into the game, stay on track with the main missions and a number of the side missions, you'd gain massive follower rewards. A 4 stage main mission may give you about 27k followers for completing each of the first 3 missions and 200-400k followers for completing the final objective.

This being said, you'd understand that smaller side missions with less follower rewards may be nice but not totally worth getting killed over. Stay on course, finish the bigger missions, gather skill points and you'd be able to build into what you want. Some of the nodes will be unlocked without even trying, as long as you're on course.

9. Learn What Skills NOT To Prioritize

Even though WatchDogs 2 presents a wide array of skills to upgrade and help you throughout the gameplay, you'd realize some skills are more important than others. Try to upgrade those that bear utmost importance to you before shifting attention to others.

This is one tricky bit as some of the skills may come across as very appetizing and pleasing. For example, the "disable all city infrastructure" may hurt you more than it helps as the only thing it does is make the entire place dark and prevent you from hacking anything. Also, the disable pursuit helicopters might sound nice, but really the helicopters might not always pose much of a challenge to you, so you might want to upgrade other relevant skills before moving to some.

However, picking a playing style right from the onset would also guide you as you'd know if you should invest a lot in your lethal weapon skills or weaponry skills. Certain skills such as the ability to make your RC car jump higher and the boost for both car and drone may not seem important but they really are, upgrade them!

10. Don't use Guns

A player has confirmed that a gamebreaking bug was present as at the time of publishing that overwrites your gear/hack menu, ultimately this makes you lose your hacks as they are moved to the emote menu and become unusable. Basically, the emote controls and gear/hack controls are swapped and you're unable to use the really important one.

Ubisoft has confirmed that this is a bug that they may be fixing in a new patch this week. You might be able to get access to your weapons again by going to the 3D printer, but there’s no way to get your gadgets or hack skills back.

My advice is just to never open the emote menu for any reason to avoid this. "I can’t say exactly what I did, but it was something with switching between menus, so only open your gear menu, and if you find yourself in the emote wheel, get out of there as quickly as you can. I’m just glad I didn’t encounter this before I finished the main bulk of the game." the player is quoted as saying.

That'll be the top 10 tips for WatchDogs 2.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 update 1.03 and Data Pack 2 are now live for the PlayStation 4, adding Liverpool FC's classic strips, Anfield, Signal Iduna Park, and Allianz Parque stadiums. It also comes with Liverpool FC's anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" and Borussia Dortmund's "Heja BVB".

Here's a statement from Konami:
"Central to the new download are 16 new kits and an iconic classic strip from the 2004-2005 season, when they dominated European club football. Liverpool F.C.’s revamped Anfield stadium is also perfectly recreated for use in the game, with PES 2017 the only game to feature the ground’s new main stand. It will be joined by perfect recreations of Borussia Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park and the Allianz Parque – home to Brazilian giants, Palmeiras. Both Anfield and the Signal Iduna Park will also feature bespoke crowd anthems, with ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Heja BVB’ raising the rooftops as the team’s walk out and as matches progress."

Along with minor bug fixes, the update also adds 11 latest boot models, updates to 16 other clubs' strips, and improved UEFA Champions League presentation pack. More than hundred players also got updated faces in the new update, some of the players include Marco Reus, Neymar Jr, Adrian Ramos, Sadio Mane, and Lionel Messi.

If anyone is familiar with the YouTube channel TechnoBuffalo, they’d probably have come across a video series named The Console Wars. This is a series of videos that is dedicated to pitting gaming consoles from major companies against one another in a battle for supremacy. The series analyzes various features of game consoles namely media playback, CPU and GPU power, video output options, connectivity options, online gaming, console form factor, controller form factor, amongst many others. This video series started with the 7th generation consoles, the PS3 and XBOX 360. But surprisingly or unsurprisingly, the series creator and narrator Lasse Pulkinnen left out Nintendo’s Wii, which also happens to be a 7th gen console.

First, let’s take an in-depth look at the Nintendo Wii.
This console launched in 2006 as Nintendo’s flagship 7th gen console. The Wii introduced a motion sensing controller that instantly made it popular. The controller allowed players to use physical movements to control on-screen characters, a feature which was unheard of with the PS3 and XBOX 360. For example, in a baseball Videogame, in order to swing a baseball bat, the player actually swings the controller like a bat. This system was much less expensive than Microsoft and Sony’s consoles, and was more appealing to kids of varying ages. The Wii also lacked support from major third party developers, and thus was much less compelling to traditional gamers. Perhaps it was omitted from the console wars because it eschewed technical prowess for an innovative motion-based controller, we’ll never know.

Fast forward to the year 2012. Nintendo was the first in the Videogame market to release an 8th generation console, the Wii U. Just like its predecessor, Nintendo struggled to convince consumers as to why their system should be picked over the technically superior alternatives it shared a store shelf with. The console in itself was rushed, perhaps as a result of Nintendo being blinded by the billions in profits that their 7th generation console raked in. It released with lackluster graphics, limited third party support, an appalling library of games and a controller that’s more suited for use as a weapon than for gaming. Compared to the Xbox One and PS4, the Wii U barely makes a dent in their specs.

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