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bomberqueen17 · 4 months

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kitchen colors

so ok it's the weekend and we were snowed in for a week and i've done a ton of unpacking but it's all invisible yay

but dude was making low-key plans for the weekend and i was like NO WE MUST GO TO THE HARDWARE STORE AND GET PAINT SAMPLES

i had to like. drag him to look at the paint chips idk why it was so difficult.

So we haggled and hemmed and hawed and held chips up in various spots and eliminated almost everything I'd brought home. Nothing would do as the accent color. But the wall color... we narrowed it down to Behr's Thai Teal, Celtic Queen, or Bella Vista. Celtic Queen was their pthalo-est green; Thai Teal and Bella Vista are almost the same except Thai Teal is dustier and Bella Vista clearer. Dude felt the cabinets having a dusty cast meant the wall should do, and I strongly felt the opposite. He yielded to my intensity of feeling on this.

But none of the colors I'd picked out were suitable as a trim color to pair with either of the teals or the green, so we'd have to go look. A lime green, perhaps, or a bright orange?

I also felt that painting the bay windowsill a strong color was the wrong choice, so we decided it should be a high-gloss white, but of course a shade of white that didn't clash with the white countertop. Not having a sample of countertop, I instead brought a spare backsplash tile with me to the hardware store, so I could tell what color of white I needed (ugh).

Thus ensued Hell: Trying to pick which of the hundred colors of white would match the tile without being too obviously not-white (which would clash with the white-white plastic of the electrical outlets and the plastic window frames, which I am not painting. The outlet and switch plates are getting painted or replaced with something decorative, sure, but the actual bit you put the plugs into is staying as it is, I'm not painting that shit). But, fortunately, Dude comes of graphic designer types, and came through for me.

[image: a man's hands, holding a white subway tile and several basically-white paint chips, in front of a hardware store display of paint chips in every shade imaginable of white, beige, black, or gray. This is my idea of hell.]

We tried lime green with the teal. It looked banger as fuck, but the only problem was, it also looked exactly like a really classic IKEA duvet cover pattern from about 2000. I could not paint my kitchen to look like the duvet cover Dude had when we met. That is not going to work out, psychically.

I picked a brilliant orange, and also hated it. It looked like... the 1970s. it looked. Too much. It popped but like, in a slightly upsetting way. it was giving Miami vibes, in an early-90s kind of way.

I dithered, and finally Dude went and picked a less red orange, in fact called Joyful Orange. That looked much better, and I got sample pots of Joyful Orange and Bella Vista to take home. (They are SEVEN DOLLARS each can you believe. Ah well.)

[image description: In the center of the photo, a section of wall trim is painted bright yellow-orange, next to a section of wall painted deep teal. To the right, a blue-washed cabinet corner, the white tile backsplash, and a section of counter with the tea kettle on it; to the left is the paler yellow in the distance of the living room, with a bunch of blurry stuff piled in the middle of the room.]

It's. Sort of parrot colors? But it's bright and it's bold. I like it in every lighting situation. So I think this is what I'm going with.

And then for the outlet covers, I got one lighter shade of turquoise, and then dug out my craft paints. I bought a couple of spare outlet covers at the hardware store-- forty-eight cents apiece? I'd be crazy not to-- lightly buffed them with some fine sandpaper, and went to town. This is just the first layer, once it dries I'm going to go back over and try to add realistic veining and like metallic glitter and such to make them look like turquoise gemstone material.

[image: lying on a crinkled paper towel, a US-style outlet cover is mottled in shades of turquoise paint, in an irregularly-textured pattern.]

Ah maybe I should do a layer of clear coat and then do the veining? We'll see. I'm not sure.

#about the author #kitchen remodel

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smashburro · 1 month

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✨️when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. Then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)🎶✨️

I'm just gonna list some here I guess

(no particular order)

1) anything from Cosmo Sheldrake

(surreal and awesome songs)

2) anything from Tally Hall

(do I even need to explain)

3) "karma" from clover

(a yt series of kid friendly songs related to loss/grieving/dealing with bullies)

4) bang bang by k'naan (absolute banger)

5) hardware store / anything else by weird al yankovic

Also Minecraft OST but that's kinda obvious everyone likes that

#songs #music #Minecraft

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iloveprocessedcheese · 10 months

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27, 28 and 29 for the music ask game?

hi vex! 🌚🌑🎧

27. rank an artists albums

I'm not sure if these questions were intended to be accompanied by a suggestion of an artist or whether the askee is supposed to pick the artist themselves - I shall choose myself in any case and I will pick my favourite band, The Cure 🌌🥀🌧️🌕🌆🕯️ I was gonna pick weird al cos he's an artist we have in common but I don't have a fixed ranking for his albums yet cos its only been six months or so since I started listening to him (that's very new for me). So the cure it is. These are my personal rankings of which ones I love the most/have the most personal meaning to me rather than which ones are the most "good" if that makes sense

S* tier - Wild Mood Swings, Disintegration

S tier - Bloodflowers, The Head on the Door, Wish

A tier - Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, The Top, Faith, Japanese Whispers, Pornography

B tier - Seventeen Seconds, Three Imaginary Boys

C tier - 4:13 Dream, Self-titled

28. rank the songs in an album

for this one I will indeed pick weird al and ill pick poodle hat cos I'm still trying to figure it out yes but I think that one's definitely top 3 for me for major nostalgia factor and quality of bangers

S* tier - Hardware Store

S tier - Genius in France, Wanna B Ur Lovr, Why Does This Always Happen to Me, eBay, Angry White Boy Polka

A tier - Bob, Ode to a Superhero

B tier - Trash Day, Couch Potato, Party at the Leper Colony, A Complicated Song

29. what do you look for in a song or artist?

a big question with many answers. There are LOTS of things I look for in songs or artists not always in the same way or at the same time. I'm always conceptualising music as something that fulfills a sensory need, in the same way that food fulfills hunger and sleep fulfills tiredness, and that need is different at different times. Sometimes you want a big meal sometimes you want a light sweet snack and it's the same with music for me. I like the way different kinds of music can take you to a different world and make you feel so different, but can also match how you feel inside so surprisingly well, and either bring comfort to that feeling or entrench you in it even deeper. Sometimes I want bleeps and bloops to imagine myself as a funky robot. Sometimes I want dense shoegaze that sounds like a thick layer of raincloud because it hasn't rained in a couple weeks and I miss the rain. Sometimes I wanna get silly w it and dance to mid 2000s pop bangers. Sometimes I wanna sit and brood to goth music. Sometimes I want a 17 minute prog rock song to take me on a journey. Sometimes I wanna listen to jazz fusion and pretend im sweating my ass off in a tiny apartment in 70s NYC. Sometimes I wanna play weird YouTube mashups on repeat because they scratch my brain. For example. You get the point. I don't think too much about "good" music or "bad" music. If it fulfills a need in my brain, then that's good enough for me

Thanks for asking!

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soundrooms · 5 years

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Soundrs: DJ CYBERDAD

My name is John Verchot, I’ve released music under several names: J-chot as well as DJ CYBERDAD. Locally, I’m usually just billed as DJ Verchot. I feel like the first thing I should tell you about myself is that I have severe ADHD, which seems to be the single most consistent force guiding my art and existence. I often get distracted and always get ahead of myself when I try to explain things. DJ CYBERDAD started out as a funny pseudonym to release more profane songs that I didn’t want my son to hear, but changed into an outlet for my smoother dance jams as well as more introspective music.

What are your inspiration sources?

It varies from project to project. Often times with tracks, the inspiration to work on them comes in two or three different phases. Inspiration to create sounds is one thing, as inspiration to finish and structure tracks, create moods/themes, or even package them into a finished project, all feel like different driving forces/processes that need to happen in order for me to get anything done. However, whichever one of those forces I am able to utilize when I sit down at my laptop often seems to be beyond my control.

Most times I’ll hear a sound, loop or phrase, I’ll start to wonder what I can do with it, or how I can change and manipulate it. It might be the timbre of an old instructional video’s narrator, or an odd metallic sound I’ve managed to coax out of some equipment. Occasionally I’ll think of a concept, either of overall sound or thematic content and before I know it, I’ve got half a track planned out in my head. Many times I’ll hear other tracks or songs, and want to use just one part/concept/sound or re-do the whole track differently. With “Emotional in Destin”, I was trying to convey moods or feelings I felt during an unexpected trip to Florida in the middle of a crushing depression. It sounds bizarre, but I've never channeled personal experiences into my music before.

Overall what inspires me to create different sounds is the novelty of technology and bits and other people’s music.

What makes me want to sit down and make music is personal or professional success.

What inspires me to finish tracks and projects is the distant white noise of overwhelming anxiety and dread setting in as the ennui of the imminent collapse of western society fades giving way to the dark, almost imperceivable thrumming of the void drawing nearer, and is definitely getting louder. Your “time” is almost up John. Did you even do anything, or are you too skiddish and feeble of heart and head to make any clear decisions, impulsively flitting from one animal urge to another bad habit, clogging the chemical receptors of your brain for simple stupid pleasure. It’s night now and your eyes and fingers grow weary…

What was the question again?

Tell us something about your workflow.

Most times, it starts with just noodling around. Sometimes, it’s with synths and sequencers, either recording sounds or looping notes and tweaking/loading patches (virtual or real synths), sometimes I’m browsing potential sample material, but what happens next is the same regardless of how I’m making sounds or what I’m doing:

…I think hear something.

…And I STOP noodling. Basically, I either hear something I like, or I hit a riff or whatever and it’s like a tiny, tiny light bulb that blinks barely. Occasionally it’s like a hundred watt, and other ideas quickly fall into place. Most times, it’s a process of trial and error, but I’m making sure to document or isolate the little pieces that click and then attempt to refine or improve on those ideas. Ideas can quickly diverge, multiple sets with different names get saved, and I often jump around and get lost. I use color coding on clips and pieces in Ableton to help me sort those ideas. Some ideas form by running one sequence I’ve had already through a whole different synth/patch.

Very rarely, I’ll get a concrete idea while I’m driving, maybe I’ll make some notes on my phone (text to speech notes, voice recording).

When I get a spark that makes me imagine a full concept (“Charles Nelson Riley”, or that “My P**sy tastes like Pepsi Cola” remix for example), the track is formed VERY quickly (four to eight hours working time) and I finish the mix, structure, everything. This is rare, but these tracks are almost always my better material.

The next step is always the same: Let the track “cool-off”. Leave it alone. Do something else for a few days, or weeks… or in some cases, years… Then I’ll fuck around with it even more, or move on to:

STRUCTURE & MIXING:

I look for/experiment with arrangements that compliment my DJ style, or allow someone to do a rough edit if they want, (breakdowns at the end), or I’ll load a track that I like to DJ that’s similar enough and I will STRAIGHT UP copy the song structure in terms of intro, (drums or keys?) repeating bits, breakdowns, outros… Most times I fuck with it until it sounds okay, which is kinda bad because I end up drastically overscrutinizing it.

When it comes to mixing, something that I should do more often but don’t is load a reference track (someone else’s track) and try to get my mix to sound like theirs… This technique REALLY helps stop “nasty surprises” when you listen to it on a big system, or in the car.

Most of the time, I’ve been tweaking the mix the entire time I’ve been working on the project.

TL;DR

The “Emotional in Destin” EP is almost entirely soft synths, but lately my flow is:

1. dick around on hardware

2. “oh that sounds good, let me make another sound to go with it” (see step 1)

3. record a few pieces to an Ableton project.

4. “I don't know what to do now.” …maybe mixing or structure…

…almost ALL THE TIME, however I jump around and do everything very non-linearly. Hardware helps me not spend so much time tweaking patches or EQ-ing a snare drum for an hour. Texture is SUPER important to me, so I’ll often get hung up on EQ and compression before I even start on structure or mixing.

How would creative rituals benefit your workflow?

The hardest part for me is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS getting started, or shifting gears from other activities (resting after work, reading tumblr, goofing off…) and going to sit down at my desk and start music stuff. I’m certain it’s an executive dysfunction thing. The less I think about doing it before I do it, the better.

Animal sacrifice SIGNIFICANTLY speeds things up. Try not to get blood on the gear/laptop, and make sure never to clean, but regularly sharpen the ceremonial dagger (VERY important).

How do you get in the zone?

I don’t really try…

As soon as I start to approach a task as “a thing” I get nervous and anxious. If I go “okay, I’ve got this task to complete…” my subconscious hijacks my higher functions to make me look at memes or tumblr for three hours instead of do what I “should” or “want”… The problem with me in the past has been how do I get OUT of the zone?

How do you start a track?

Oh jeez, I really jumped the shark with that question earlier, didn’t I? A technique I’ll sometimes employ is load up an old track, keep the drum sounds/patches but delete all the data, and make an entirely different genre of track… or one that's very similar… That’s kind of a fun exercise if nothing else. Also it often winds up getting tweaked and adjusted to hell and back.

Do you have a special template?

Nope. I make TONS of drum, EQ, and effects presets though. And they all have terrible names like “gooddrums”, “$GOODrums” and such.

Even though I’ve started with carbon copies, they ALWAYS end up sounding completely different by the time I’m finished with the track, because I can’t leave em well enough alone.

What do you put on the master channel?

Sometimes EQ, but always a phat ass compressor (limiting). I’ve been thinking about investing in a nice non-free one lately, but for some reason I am not comfortable with purchasing software plugins… I also have learned recently, that I’ve been using compression on the individual tracks way too much… which makes final-mixing a pain in the ass.

How do you arrange and finish a track?

DAMN IT. I really did go too hard with the first couple questions. The “finishing” of a track for me (arrangement, mixing) is usually done much later than the rest of the process. I try not to force stuff, but lately I’m realizing more and more that I need to not do this as much.

I can’t stress enough how using a reference track for structure or mixing can very often break up stagnation on a project.

How do you deal with unfinished projects?

Several ways. The first step is to judge an old file and see if it's worth finishing. If there is ANYTHING of creative/sonic merit, I put it in a folder with the other “sketches and ideas” (project graveyard). Otherwise, I have been trying to delete the “junk” projects… this can make it easier to focus. Another thing I often do is to make presets/patches/Ableton instruments from the parts I like, then drop it in a folder called “meh”. Or I drop them into several categorical folders, i.e.: “uncircumcised electro bangers”, “abrasive techno”.

How do you store and organize your projects?

Aw jeez. Oh gosh-oh darn. (See above answer.)

How do you take care of studio ergonomics?

Trial and error, trial and error, trial and error. This year alone my studio has been restructured and moved about my downstairs room at least five times. I’ve finally settled on something that feels very useful and productive. I am also this way with my work station at my job. CHANGE IT UNTIL IT WORKS GREAT. This can also help with creative stagnation, or can trigger it, so be careful. I keep my “electronics laboratory” close at hand so that more of that tinkering can find it’s way into my music… no such luck, YET.

I’ve currently decorated my space with all the crap I’ve saved up over the years, that for some reason, I’ve looked at this and thought: “This makes me happy” …SUUURE, my studio now looks like a fourteen year old decorated it, but I gotta say, I feel pretty phenomenal. Soon I’m gonna try to put this “stars and space” wall paper on my ceiling… I’ll update with a photo when that’s done.

Also I would like to say:

Minimalist spaces and studios are bullshit, y’all look like sick baby birds in empty shoe-boxes.

I mean, NOBODY LIVES THAT WAY, right? Maybe some boring rich people do, but damn… I mean, I try to clean and stay organized… and it helps, but I also try not to get to hung up on it.

Tell us something about your daily routine, how is your day structured, how do you make room for creativity?

**LOUD SUCKING SOUND THROUGH TEETH** I don't… at least, not very well at all… but I’m working on that.

I am not the person you should ask this question, because THIS RIGHT HERE is the BANE of my existence…

Share a quick producing tip.

MAN, I’ve already dropped like… seven, but okay, here goes:

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY, FINISH THE TRACK. For me, this means ghetto-rigging, DIY, using the same goddamn audio interface from 2002 for f****ng fifteen YEARS… (recently fixed) don’t get hung up on “proper” ways, or ways that are outside your current means. Also, get a set of decent monitors… or use several pairs of headphones/speakers to double check mixes.

Recently, I’ve had less time, but a little bit of money, which is the opposite of how I’ve ALWAYS operated… it’s been difficult to unlearn “time consuming but cheap”. Also difficult not to impulse buy synths.

Making music with just a mouse and keyboard may be the least sexy thing ever… it works tho… cheap MIDI controllers CAN work faster however.

Share a link to an interesting website (doesn’t have to be music related).

My son just showed me this ➜ https://dddance.party/ and I have to say, this is an outstanding achievement of mankind.

List ten sounds you are hearing right this moment : )

Traffic outside my window, gentle hum of laptop cooling fan, dog snoring, fingers typing, birds chirping… that’s it.

John has a lo-fi house EP out on UltraBold Records as DJ CYBERDAD. It’s called ‘Emotional in Destin’. Stream it ➜ here, audio cassettes are available ➜ here.

Thanks John! If you want to get featured next, send a message here on tumblr or email [email protected].

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scootoaster · 4 years

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The Ultimate Ears Hyperboom speaker is built for partying (and only partying)

It's bigger than a plant. (Stan Horaczek /)

Venture into the stereo department of any brick-and-mortar department store and it feels like entering a time warp. So many of the systems seem stuck where they were decades ago, with neon lights that glow and flash from behind oversized buttons and dials. Exaggerated grills and tubes promise mega bass in all caps. They shout “PARTY” louder than an obnoxious teenager in an ‘80s movie.

The new Ultimate Ears Hyperboom speaker is built for the same party rocking, neighbor-disturbing purpose, but in a much more modern package. Despite its monolithic exterior, there’s a whole lot of punch inside.

The sound

The Hyperboom continues UE’s excellent lineup of wireless speakers, all of which have some form of the word “boom” built into the name. The new model, however raises the stakes considerably when it comes to power and volume. The monolithic speaker stands 14.3-inches high with a footprint that’s 7.5-inches square. It weighs 13 pounds, so it’s not meant for throwing into a backpack. That’s a far cry from the previous UE models, most of which you could dangle from a carabiner or even stick in your car’s cupholder.

All of that space inside the Hyperboom leaves lots of room for audio hardware. Inside, a pair or woofers and a pair of tweeters (both pairs face outward at a 90-degree angle from the front of the device) handle the bulk of the audio performance. On the rear sides, you’ll find resonators that push sound behind the speaker. The result: it’s loud. Inside my roughly 12 by 15-foot living room, I couldn’t get it much past half volume before it got a little uncomfortable.

In my backyard, I stood roughly 50 feet away from it and still didn’t need to crank it to max volume to hear the music at a totally reasonable level. It packs punch enough to fill up most outdoor spaces.

The onboard microphone enables UE’s adaptive EQ technology, which listens to the real world output the speaker creates and adjusts the EQ automatically for optimal sound. This kind of automated tech is increasingly important and common for speakers meant to be moved around. Compared to competition like the Sonos Move, the UE system seems a little less advanced (the Sonos speaker has a more robust microphone array for analyzing playback), but my testing made it seem unlikely that you’ll fully stump the UE speaker. Even as the Hyperboom adjusts, it does so gradually and regularly so you don’t get a sudden shift in sound quality after moving it.

The ports on the back include a USB-A connection that will charger other devices with the built-in battery (Stan Horaczek/)

No smart assistant necessary

Unlike some of the other UE speakers, you won’t find Alexa or any other smart assistant living inside it to answer your voice commands. You’ll have to link up with Bluetooth if you want to crank tunes through it as it’s not always connected via Wifi like an Alexa speaker.

Because it’s a party speaker, up to four people can connect their phones to the device at once. You can select who gets control over the playback by using the app or by pressing one of the buttons on the top of the speaker itself. A light indicates which user (they’re numbered 1through 4) has the reigns. It’s a system that still requires some coordination and cooperation between guests, but it’s elegant in its simplicity and it worked as promised during testing.

The top controls include volume, power, and a selector to choose which person is playing the tunes. (Stan Horaczek /)

Design

It’s not fully waterproof, like some of its siblings, so you can’t dunk it in the pool, but it is IPX8 rated against splashes and other typical party accidents like spilled drinks or splashed pool water. The rubberized top even has a small lip around its exterior edge because UE knew people would inevitably set drinks on it.

At 13 pounds, it’s not light or compact for carrying around. A sturdy, rubberized handle slides out from the back of the speaker, which makes it more manageable, but it’s easier if you have big hands. When I asked my daughter to carry it inside, she opted to cradle it in her arms like a big, musical baby. So, while it’s portable, it’s best for situations where you’re going to bring it to a place, then plunk it somewhere for the duration of your celebration.

UE spent a lot of time researching materials for the feet because early prototypes actually moved around during playback due to heavy bass. Then, making the material too tacky ran the risk of leaving marks on floors and furniture like early versions of the HomePod seemed to do. Even after long periods of loud playback, the Hyperboom stayed in place and didn’t mark up the floor or shelf once they landed on the right materials.

All the ports reside behind a sturdy rubber flap. You get a service port, a USB-A port for charging smartphones and other devices off the Hyperboom’s built-in battery, an optical audio out, and a headphone jack in case you don’t want to connect via Wi-Fi. That’s a lot more options than you get with the smaller versions. And while the output charging is a nice feature, the USB-A connection may seem dated down the road as USB-C continues its march toward ubiquity.

The battery is rated at 24 hours of playback, but that can vary wildly depending on the type of music you listen to and the volume at which you play it. If you want to sit inside and listen to podcasts at a reasonable volume, sure, you might get 24 hours out of it. If you’re blasting out bangers Spring Break style, you should only expect a handful of hours before things go quiet. I let it play for four hours in a row outside in chilly conditions at moderate volume and still had plenty of juice left, so it will likely outlast your party.

Who should buy it?

At $400, the Hyperboom isn’t cheap. The Sonos Move checks in at the same price and it offers a more flexible overall experience, with its smart assistant compatibility and its simple charging base for when you’re using it inside. The UE, on the other hand, offers considerably more power and a more durable overall design. The lack of smart assistant and Wi-Fi connectivity may also be a positive if you just want something that mimics a direct connection.

If your yard isn’t huge or you plan to take your speaker to a lot of places, something like the Megaboom might be a better fit, especially since it’s considerably cheaper. But, there’s something undeniably satisfying about the sheer volume and oomph you get out of the Hyperboom. Hopefully your neighbors have similar taste in music.

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virtuame · 7 years

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Xbox One X vs PS4 Pro: The Great Cerny Bakeoff

You can’t ICE a cake if you don’t HAVE a cake.

Placeholder image. Does Mark Cerny even wear a yellow jacket?

PS4 launched alongside Xbox One in 2013.

PS4 was cheaper and more powerful. Xbox One was more expensive but less powerful.

Not surprisingly, PS4 gained the most traction out of the gate for having the greatest cost to performance ratio. Great value for the players.

PS4 ran games at a higher resolution than Xbox One which struggled with 1080p on nearly all games so games tended to be 720p or later 900p. Inferior performance but sold to fans for more money turned out to be a huge mistake for the console back then and the entire Xbox brand now.

Who wants to pay more money for something worse? Only the hardcore Xbox fans it turned out, and a few million consumers who were misled, in my opinion.

Early adopters paid through the nose

An Xbox One Day One Edition was $499. PS4 at launch was $399, but with more powerful hardware. In fact PS4 was the first games console to use GDDR5 RAM, an unthinkable spec when PS4 rumours first did the rounds in 2012, and 8GB too, that’s 16 times more RAM in the PS4 than PS3, and a lot faster.

PIC TWEETS OF GDDR5 RUMOUR REACTIONS

PS4′s superior specs, with the added benefit of being lower priced was nothing short of genius from Sony. In my opinion one of their smartest decisions since the PS2 in the 90′s and the Sony Walkman in the 80s.

This was all thanks in part to Sony’s external consultant System Architect, Mark Cerny an American computer gaming legend who resides in Japan. Cerny being responsible for the recent KNACK 2, and major work on a “few games” you may've heard of over the years. Here's a few listed to buy any of them:

LIST

Photo: Mark Cerny & Hideo Kojima

Back to Xbox

Xbox One’s PR and marketing hype leading up to the first Xbox One was a joke, actually it was comedy gold. They were all over the place hyping everything but gaming itself; officially announcing that the Xbox One would be “the next water cooler”.

“You and your TV are about to have a relationship” ...was possibly the most truthful statement they made ever. LOL

“TV”, “sports” were announced repeatedly during their reveal event, but games were hardly mentioned.

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In contrast, PlayStation’s announcement event was first and foremost all about gaming...

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But Xbox One whiffed of a really bad smell early on even before launch amongst the the most vocal gaming communities due to Xbox’s plans to use DRM (Digital Rights Management) to effectively lock existing used physical games behind a pay wall. You’d need to pay Xbox if you wanted to use your friend’s disc version of a game and they could set whatever price they like depending on demand.

This approach pretty much threatened console gaming as whole, it sent shockwaves across social media and threatened to shut down pretty much the entire physical used games market. Trying to charge gamers money to use old game discs that had already been paid for was the lowest I’ve seen Xbox go.

Discussions on twitter quickly descended to people defending Xbox says “It’s the way technology is advancing.” Then others trying to explain to them the concept using used car analogies.

In hindsight we’re safe, but at the time it felt like Xbox moving in this radical direction would possibly force the hand of PlayStation & Nintendo to follow suit,

Sony responded.. and here’s the reaction from fans when they announced it...

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It was a disgusting attempt by Xbox, massively anti-consumer. But that wasn’t all. Xbox One would also require the console to be “always online” in order to even be used, meaning millions of gamers who are very happy playing games at home offline (without an internet connection) simply could not play games on Xbox One.

This of course included US Armed Forces service men and women, many who were already hardcore Xbox 360 fans for AAA blockbuster tentpole FPS games such as Call of Duty. They couldn't all upgrade from 360 to Xbox One if it required always online access and online check ins.

Xbox’s America-focussed approach was certainly at odds here, the idea of always online was ridiculously impractical.

“Hold the sat higher out the top so we can use Xbox for another 24hrs offline”

Thankfully after a long onslaught of social media pressure mainly from PlayStation fans who were also concerned about the Xbox platform going downhill and the potential for it to spread across other console platforms too, Xbox decided to U-turn on their DRM used games plans and always online was phased out.

This U-turn (or 180), was likely as a combined result of the DRM revolt that made waves through he gaming industry but mainly i think, Xbox’s lacklustre Xbox One sales numbers.

MANABYTE ASTROTURFING PIC

There was also speculation that Xbox were creating fake positive reviews on Amazon and “an army of thousands social marketers” were busy burying negative comments by customers on twitter. Other rumours included Xbox buying back their own consoles from stores stock to artificially inflate sales numbers and to add to sales hype.

It all failed. 3rd party publishers flocked to PS4. Sales of PS4 were already outpacing Xbox One at launch and most sensible gamers knew which brand was trying to bullshit them.

Photo: Xbox One was unboxed by Xbox’s Major Nelson in 2013 and a “4K” HDMI cable was mentioned to confuse consumers into feeling the machine may be 4K. It wasn’t.

But good guy Sony was just getting started, 3rd party games were selling well and Sony 1st party games (games only available to play on the PlayStation platform) were busy in production pipeline for later down the road.

(I’ll get to the cake and icing thing again soon!)

So...fast forward 4 years to the present day, 2017:

Hideo Kojima is working on ‘Death Stranding’, a PlayStation exclusive with Guillermo del Toro, Mads Mikkelsen and Norman Reedus. Call of Duty by Activision has had PlayStation as their main marketing partner for years. Destiny too. Amazing considering Xbox had this mostly under their control last gen with the Xbox 360.

Loads of 3rd party Japanese-centric games that hark back to PlayStation 2′s glory days are constantly coming out on PS4, not on Xbox. Xbox are cancelling 3rd party games during production.

Xbox has sold under half the amount that PS4 continues to globally, it’s got so bad that Xbox non longer publish their unit sale numbers.

I’m actually shocked to see that Xbox are making the (fatal?) move of winding down their 1st party game development output, meaning less 1st party exclusives and less reason to buy an Xbox One console. This is a lot like giving up.

Meanwhile Sony has ramped up work via their worldwide studios and are developing a killer slate of exclusive games ‘Only on PlayStation’, an almost non-stop conveyor belt of critically acclaimed bangers, all landing at different times throughout the year like, sometimes scatter bombed without any warning or hype. Solid and known upcoming games that have huge fan anticipation attached to them are always in sight on the horizon a few years down the line.

Xbox has lost their 3rd party VIP relationship status they had built up with the big publishers during the xbox 360 era. 3rd party developers and publishers are all about the PS4 now, and lately the Nintendo Switch too. Xbox One, not so much.

Nintendo Switch is also selling more than Xbox did at launch, even though most Xbox fans said RIP to Nintendo after the Wii U flopped and before that dismissed the whole of Nintendo as “for kids”.

So, back to the original cake and icing analogy...

The cake is the console’s reputation, the massive number of happy fans, the trust, the success, the global sales, the 3rd party support, the industry recognition and appreciation and all the confidence and faith fans have in the future of that console platform.

So What’s the icing? = Resolution.

PS4 Pro (a footnote to this article really) was quietly added as an option by Sony in 2016 with minimal fanfare, it’s main purpose was to offer existing hardcore PS4 fans an upgrade path to play PS4 games on their new UHD 4K TVs (3840 x 2160) or at a higher fidelity on HD TVs (1920 x 1080). PS4 pro launched at exactly the same price in 2016 as the original PS4 did in 2013.

PS4 Pro is now outselling the PS4 on a daily basis alot of the time.

So... in response how did Xbox react to PS4 Pro?

They hyped a more powerful “Monster” Xbox with “No Compromises” and a codename of: PROJECT SCORPIO. See the promo vid below.

youtube

Project Scorpio was official named ‘Xbox One X’ it launches in October 2017.

It costs MORE than PS4 Pro. It costs more than PS4, Xbox One, Xbox One S and Nintendo Switch.

Where’s the value?

Generally speaking, Xbox One X will likely run 3rd party games at a slightly higher quality than the same games on PS4 Pro (though that’s constantly open for debate, a niche that Digital Foundry have capitalise on well).

But for Xbox, the specs of X is the “icing” on their cake.

But it has no exclusive games variety. It has hardy any real value. It has half the fanbase of PlayStation, most of the Xbox 360 fanbase have moved to PlayStation. But most of all, I don’t believe them anymore. They’ve lied way too much.

Xbox in 2017 has NO CAKE! It’s all icing.

CAKE GIF

For Xbox, there’s hardly any left. And it’s either dry or half baked and being hyped by crumbside bots.

PS4 Pro and Xbox One X games wilTherefore Xbox One X will likely flop.

Industry analyst Michael Pachter says it will likely sell a few million. But nothing close to Xbox’s misleading hype saying it’s “the fastest selling Xbox console ever” based on....pre-orders.

For contex, preorders weren’t even a thing when Xbox 360 was launched, so the statement being peddled by about 4 Xbox execs over twitter to millions of fans, is utter spin.

For even more context, Xbox execs aimed for a nutjob 1 BILLION sales for the original Xbox One. LOL.

#gbbo #PS4 #PS4Pro #Sony #PlayStation #Mark Cerny #Xbox #Xbox One #Xbox One S #Xbox One X #Nintendo #Nintendo Switch #Switch #Wii U

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