Media Center is on its last leg. The program wasn’t even updated for Windows 8, and Microsoft seems to be abandoning the program and moving towards making the Xbox the center of the living room, and in return featuring Media Center capabilities.

The problem is even after the Xbox One announcement, we still have yet to see a solid replacement from the Xbox experience to people to switch Media Center PCs to the Xbox console. With many features still left out, or hindered by the general direction of the video game industry when it comes to DRM based content.

The console itself even has that PC case design to it. With all the components of the console such as the main box, Kinect and the controller featuring hard industrial edges and design. With the box itself somewhat close to how old Compaq computers used to look like. Essentially Microsoft is cementing the idea that the Xbox is your living room PC. With it also running a three tier OS now which is Xbox > Juicy Interconnectioness and Windows on top. They are merging the ecosystems together in such a way that the experience is unified as closely as possible on all platforms. From PC to Windows Phone to of course Xbox One.

Let’s talk about recording TV. For one it was never really discussed, or even mentioned if it was a true feature. The console has this magical button which allows DVR, but it seems to be focused around video games. With the idea not touched on, sounding like it was hastily put in after the Sony conference. Essentially the Xbox offering is a guide, the Wii U does that in Tvii for example what this Xbox TV function will do. The problem is many people are expecting more for a few reasons, one the reveal and the Xbox one is all about been your one stop shop for entertainment, secondly Microsoft has a strategy which seems to be to step back from Media Center and try and offer those functions on the Xbox ecosystem. Which has created a product which doesn’t do what people expect, because of what they are doing action wise.

They killed the Zune brand a few years ago to create Xbox Music and Video. Essentially creating the entertainment side of the Xbox brand. Everything seems to have the goal of moving over to Xbox as the entertainment brand, which includes games. The Zune brand had one big problem, it was that no one knew what it was from a hardware standpoint due to its limited launch. This along with the lack of a strong push and selective markets created the same problem the Surface is experiencing. You have hardware which launched in America, which due to resources been put too much onto the RT (they really believed in the RT more than they should of) this created a lack of resources to create and develop the Surface Pro hardware. Which lead to barely any units for America which lead to worldwide units been sucked up into America which lead to no launch for worldwide regions until the end of this month in May. Which has created a problem in the line where many people are not that interested in it anymore, or are waiting for the next upgrade to come around, with the logic that Microsoft would follow the Apple release scheduling for the Surface.

The problem is Microsoft is thinking too far ahead when it comes to the primary entertainment goal. Not adapting the Media Center program functions after letting the program just sit stagnated on Windows. What we have is they are looking for cable and pay tv for their TV content, and putting a DRM onto that. Then with services like Netflix and Hulu they are providing the on demand side of the equation.

This is all well and good, but this solution barely works in America. What about places like Australia where we don’t have the internet for on demand or the services to begin with. Even pay tv doesn’t have as big of a reach in Australia (despite those crazy sports fans) with the cable side of the problem not even logical. We are more tailored to free to air. Which the Xbox has no way to plug in. This is also a problem in other regions worldwide which don’t get the services which Microsoft is tailoring their strategy behind.

They need to take a step back and either rethink their Media Center strategy and release an updated version of it for Windows 8, or release functions which the program has in their Xbox Guide. Otherwise Microsoft has created too conflicting strategies which are based around killing or leaving be one of those strategies.

Who remembers last E3? I know I do, for one specific game which was announced. It wasn’t a sequel of an existing game franchise, no it was something new and unexpected. Presented at the end of the Ubisoft conference, on came a game which as soon as the trailer started there was one permanent prominent connection which had been created, and something many people to this day still equate with the title. While its unknown if the game will be anything like the TV show Person of Interest, until then Watch Dogs has a high fan base created by the familiarity of the elements shown in the game, as well as the graphics and world which has been created some similarly built on the premise of Person of Interest.

While Watch Dogs has no Machine, it does have a world filled with interconnectivity similar to that of Person of Interest. So simular in fact, the question has been asked why isn’t there a Person of Interest video game?

Let’s put logistics aside as to who would make the game, if Ubisoft would be so kind to licence their amazing new engine to said developer or whatever. Two things I want to talk about, one the power of licenced games in this day and age, and why they are in that sort of bargain bin world, as well as in general how the game would work.

Firstly, licenced video games. The nighties was an amazing time for licenced titles in the video game world. If you grew up in the 90s, heck even if you didn’t, look through your video game collection, no doubt you will see titles which are licenced titles in your collection. For me two standout licenced games are of course Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64, and a GBC Speedy Gonzales title (Aztec Adventure).

Okay I admit Speedy Gonzales released in 2000, and wasn’t that highly reviewed. But overall it did have a solid platforming experience while been I guess an easy title for children in some respects. But I was a child dam it! And it did present some interesting ideas, such as the speed boat levels. But whatever.

I guess this doesn’t really help the argument that the 90s was filled with quality licenced titles, which while I haven’t started debating that point yet, it is a solid point. That the 90s did represent a good line of good licenced titles, however it did also have its bad licenced titles.

The point is they were plentiful, magical, unique experiences. Which while titles were been made which where new IPs in these genres, these licenced titles are what made the period a magical success. They complemented the industry.

It is the good titles which made licences an attractive proposal, and of course a more expensive proposal. Especially for not so good licences. This resulted in of course a decline in licenced games. Which is interesting because as an industry licenced material isn’t as common as it once was, while if you look at movies, comics have been licenced into movies for quite some time, and are still popular. It is interesting to see that while those comic movie adaptations do get a few games, there really the only major driving force for licenced material in games.

We haven’t really since seen licenced titles for a while which take a fresh look at the IPs they are licenced from. Which is a bit sad, we had Injustice recently, but that wasn’t really as big of a bang as it should have been. It had its issues, but it wasn’t a title which would sour people on licenced games, and an amazing adaptation of the Justice League world. However we also had the fizzle out of the James Bond licence for video games, with what possibly looks like Activision losing the IP, not giving it up. The titles it created at the various studios it intrusted with the IP had major issues.

I would like to see an Inception video game for example. A unique take on that in the video game world could present a very interesting story with a fresher take on what the movie provided by been able to tell it in an interactive medium. However these sort of games will never happen, primary due to costs. With the publishers which can afford these IPs more focused on making the guaranteed deals, someone will always be making Star Wars for example (EA just closing a major deal with Disney), as well as no doubt the 007 licence will be presented to someone else in a nice little bow. These are titles which will always be released one way or another, but it seems publishers are more concerned with these safe bets, I don’t blame them. But these safe bets are not necessary ones which relate well into the video game environment and medium. I suggested Inception in this article, with the collation the IP has with memory and life, it could be presented in a numerous number of genres and be a solid experience still truthful to the story. However we have things like 007 which while it could work in a visual novel title genre for example, it never will, because it doesn’t translate well into that medium for the maximum exposer. There are so many other IPs out there which are imagining in recent years which have the power to become major sellers for video games, even if their original adaptation is long gone, or long forgotten.

My point seems to be, however badly articulated is that there are big horizons in licenced games far beyond what they have been become in recent years for the video game industry. Many ideas have been presented in other mediums which would be a benefit for the video game industry to take those ideas and create their own experiences on the respective medium.

Now you ask, if that is the case that Watch Dogs reminds you ever so much of Person of Interest, isn’t it the same world really crafted into a video game which mimics its style enough to be a game version of Person of Interest. Or something to that effect you ask as you scan down my article trying to figure out what my point is.

Well I say, in response to that of course. Watch Dogs isn’t the world crafted in Person of Interest. That would be plagiarism, and really the worlds are pretty far apart. Despite the connection been there. In Watch Dogs you’re a badass hacker who hacks electronic items. It is the interconnectedness which links back to Person of Interest which the AI behind the whole world is like, the only time a Person of Interest game would play like Watch Dogs is during the 24 hour period of complete admin control the characters had in the latest season. (Not a spoiler, I didn’t say who or what happened with that control, and it was mentioned quite a lot through the season it’s what would happen, so sssh).

Though the point of using an already create IP, is one because it’s already know by the public. Secondarily as well because in some cases, especially this one, the world and ideas created can’t be matched by mimicking the style presented in the series. By using what is presented you create a good solid interpretation of the presented material, and in this case Person of Interest as a video game is what the industry needs. By using licenced material, it creates a solid fresh output sometimes, especially in times of Call of Duty and Mario. There needs to be a hero, and that is John the bullet to the knee shooting sociopath and his trusty tech nerd.

The brilliance of a Person of Interest game would be that the world, this interconnected world which is present in Watch Dogs would be present in Person of Interest, but under everything. It will be an amazing leap forward in what technology allows, as well as what a gamers general expectation of video game is. It will entangle the game the player plays with the back end logic so well it would be an explosion of actions and AI which happen.

And it’s not like they don’t want to licence out Person of Interest, after all there is an anime in the works apparently. So maybe a game would happen, it could already be in development, you know how things like that work.

However I think a later announcement and development would be good for the game if it happened. The world is so entangled with many little bits of information, a complete outlook of how that works in the grand scheme of things would allow them to pick and choose events and stories to craft a unique world using what has been set out while been cannon.

I think the overplayed idea of everything having to be open world, would do amazingly well for a Person of Interest game. With a sandbox mode which is in vain of how in Watch Dogs you can wonder off and help people been an interesting approach as well. Remember the numbers keep coming, so while the main story might focus on Elias, you might be seeing side “missions” popping up relating to other people who have appeared in episodes, such as one of my favourites from the newest season, Dr. Nelson, who gets poisoned (and they are too late because of the machines virus) and it’s an amazing episode from a character development point of view. But anyway.

Scratch the whole sandbox idea, it’s played out. Something magical could be made by restricting the world and making it more story based. Maybe episodic titles which cover a few episodes of the television show each release. Something which can retell the stories in an interactive manner, and of course retain the deep and meaningful ideas. Though sandbox could work, and would probably be better for an IP which would be deemed a risk, something magical could be made by looking into other genres and presentation styles for the title. Especially if for example if you go back and one of the major episodes (if we are doing episodic content, which in this scenario is the thing), the machine with the virus has already been established so episodic wise starting with Dr. Nelsons episode (In Extremis) and doing the final two episodes in the season (which essentially I’m saying do the final three episodes in the season if episodic as a major episodic title thing). Which makes common sense really, but the episode In Extremis makes the characters week really, and not been there to save the P.O.I sets up the rest really nicely. It would be an amazing episode in an episodic based title.

So essentially in summary, episodic content in some kind of mini world which still retains the in depth sandbox style of Watch Dogs would result in amazing bite size titles which can cover the key points of the season and wrap up the story in a good way for video gamers.

So no simple layout this week, but I thought I might start showing some goodies which I have in many of my designs which some of you might be wondering how it is done, and how you too can put it into your page.

So while if you are following the tutorials for the quick and easy HTML lessons which make no sense but somehow you have been learning from them, then you will have to wait a week for the simple layout tutorial, but for now if you are a little bit ahead of the class, we will learn how to do the coloured categories.

So I think it should be noted firstly before we go all crazy with the design and code of things, you will need the following in your functions.php

function category_id_class($classes) {

global $post;

foreach((get_the_category($post->ID)) as $category)

$classes[] = $category->category_nicename;

return $classes;

}

add_filter(‘post_class’, ‘category_id_class’);

add_filter(‘body_class’, ‘category_id_class’);

So what this does it identifies what the category slug is then gives it an id which allows us to retrieve it using CSS and of course HTML and be able to customize the end product.

Now I have been using this as a technique to get the categories ID to give it a different appearance for posts depending on the categories. However it can be used for many other things. If you use it for something different, I would like to see what your take was on it.

Now in the index.php or home.php or whatever section your posts are generated in I’ve got:

<div class=”title-<?php the_ID(); ?>” <?php post_class(category-X); ?>></div>

Per element which uses this technique. With title in this case been what the base ID of the element is called. I use it for it is easier for naming conventions, however if you want you can just have the class as the category. Also I’m not too sure what the other PHP does, I think it calls the function. It’s been awhile since I initially used this technique, so I’m not too sure what it does. If any readers stumble upon what it does, or if it’s part of something else, just let me know in the comments section.

Now for the title section I have the following CSS tag.

.CATEGORYNAMEHERE{

}

If you wish you can add a range of elements such as background colour, padding, font, essentially the usual suspects.

Also remember to define the hyperlinks in the CSS at some stage as well.

Last week you learned, pretty much nothing. We went through how to make a basic html page and put bold, italic and underlined text in. Nothing amazing, but hopefully this week starts to change that.

Remember to follow along in a notepad document if you want to learn a few basic tricks, or just read on if you want to brush up on some techniques. I know these days most things are covered by your fancy CMS. But I want to teach the art.

I think the best thing to do is first up learn how to make a simple block quote. Now if you’re like me, you have been calling them backquotes all this time and wondering while your CSS isn’t applying.

<blockquote>This will be a blockquote</blockquote>

So what does a block quote do? Well it automatically gives the content section a little bit more padding and moves it towards the right a bit. These are perfect for quoting someone on your blog or using them for other purposes.

So now we are going to use CSS for the first time. I made a little side not in last week’s tutorial, which gives you the basics of setting up the tag section which you can put in your CSS code.

So what do we want to do for a block quote? Well that is simple.

Because it isn’t a class (which is a dot before the word), or an ID (which is a # before a word) or any of those other things, but it’s a tag, it doesn’t need anything complicated surrounding it.

So first up we need to figure out how to do the HTML tag side of things.

blockquote{

this is where the good stuff goes

}

So that is the basis of the CSS section. Now what is that good stuff I speak off?

Well I’m going to dig up the CSS for the exact blockquote frame which I am using on this site here, and give you a run down on some of the simple things you can add to this CSS element.

blockquote{

padding:5px;

background-color:#fff;

border:1px solid #f1f1f1;

color:#7c7c7c;

}

As you can see I’ve given the element just a bit more padding around the text, a background colour of white (which is the #fff) and a border around the element which is just a little bit darker (to give a blurry illusion). I’ve also customized the font colour to a dark grey. Which gives the element just a little bit more definition then the rest of the site.

I promised tables didn’t I in my cryptic riddle last week. Well tables are a little bit easier than the rest. A simple table would look like:

<table>

<td>

<tr>lol</tr>

<tr>lol</tr>

</td>

</table>

So I think I made a table with two rows and only one vertical row? I think hold on. *injects HTML to remember* (hey don’t laugh I’m writing this stuff off from memory).

Yes that is exactly what I’ve done. Which leaving it like it is, is a good learning tool for you to figure out how to add more vertical rows into it. So I’ll discuss what we have html wise.

We have a table tag, which identifies that the following code is for a table, which we put in a <tr> tag which gives it a row and the <td> which gives it a vertical row. So by having the <tr> inside the <td> it basically says that this row is part of this horizontal column. I think that works? Yeah.

So lucky for you I have the whole CSS thing for tables down pat as well.

table{

width:90%;

margin-left:auto;

margin-right:auto;

}

So the table itself in this example I’ve shrunk it down so it fits on 90% of the allowable space, with it of course centred using the margin tags.

td, tr{

background-color:#e5e5e5;

color:#2d2d2d;

padding:5px;

}

I’ve also given the td and tr tags the same design here by giving it a grey background and text, as well as a bit more padding.

Over the course of these tutorials we will learn more CSS definitions which can be applied with these elements we have learned today.

Last but not least, is HTML for a list.

And of course its CSS but we will get to that later.

Now lists are a handy thing to have in your head. For the simple fact is many people use them for making navigation. Due to how diverse the list tags are for styling and functionality.

But today we are just going to do a basic list.

<list>

<ul>

<li>lol</li>

<li>lol</li>

</ul>

</list>

So from my understanding the <ul> identifies it as an un ordered list. Which is good for navigation. I don’t think you see many people using the numbered lists. Of course this also has you putting in the usual tag to identify what the element is, in this case a list. Oh and clearly the <li> is the list itself

I think you are slowly figuring out what the CSS will be. You will have a ul version and li version of course. With the ability to define stuff such as padding etc. for each and the list-style which can allow you to have no style, squares etc. So a pretty handy element for you to learn.

Next week we look at making a simple layout. Which we will use these elements in a more logical way which might teach you something. Then we week after if your good, we look into how to make that simple layout into a WordPress layout.

I think it is only fitting for the first food article to be about the first thing I made. That is of course the simplest possible food item, a sandwich. Not just any sandwich one with magical flavours and roots dating back to when I was three.

When I was a kid you see I used to make Honey, Cheese and Jam sandwiches, still do. Don’t know why they started been made, but mum insisted when I was little she wouldn’t make me them. So instead I got yucky sandwiches for school. But anyway….

So it’s pretty simple you will need Honey, Strawberry Jam (substitutes discussed below) cheese and of course some kind of lubrication between that in the bread, so butter or margarine. Also of course, you need bread. I believe for best effect it should be white sliced bread.

I have a few rules for the construction of this sandwich, primarily relating to using traditional sliced white bread. As well as if there is a crust piece used, the honey must be on that piece, the jam cannot be on this piece. That is madness, and logical, as a crust is traditionally placed on the top slice, the honey flavour must enter your mouth from the top and be balanced by the gooey jam bottom under the layer of cheese.

Substituting the Jam with other times of Jams is also welcome. Remember for best taste it should be a spread and not a conserve based Jam. However both can be used. It’s just that the chunky pieces of fruit can cause ruin to the delicate balance of sweat and surgery.

If you make this particular sandwich or know of someone else who has created this type of sandwich before, post in the comments section. I would like to hear from you, how you enjoyed the taste, or maybe didn’t enjoy it. Also if anyone else has made note of this type of sandwich, I would love to see what little tweaks or things they in general have done to create it.

I have a few other ideas I want to adapt this flavour scheme to as well, so if you see recipes of the like, drop them here as well!

I’m going to do a bunch of quick and small tutorials and back log my blog with them so it looks like theirs content appearing even when I’m not bothering to do anything. Genius isn’t it? (Or maybe I’ll end up writing them all on the day instead…mmm…or not finishing the series of articles).

So first up is a quick and dirty look at some of the very basic HTML tags and the alike. You know the stuff you would get sick of me telling you because you have picked it up, or at least the idea of how they work from the many years of using forums with their BB Code.

Or maybe you just looked these up on W3 Schools and await real tutorials from me, either one is good. But they don’t have unimpressive dull commentary to go with each of their examples, no do they? That is why you are here.

So first up is you got an idea to make a video game blog because you decided you just wanted too, so you got some web hosting, and you wanted to make a lovely splash page while you figure out how to install WordPress.

Well what do you do to make this awesome splash page? Splash it with some bold, italic and maybe some of that underline stuff you hear so much of.

So how do you do said things? Well that is simple, but first we must give you a little bit of knowledge in how HTML tags work.

You see there’s this awesome thing called an opening tag. That usually declares what you want to do, and of course sets it on the way to ruining the rest of the page if you don’t use our new friend the closing tag.

The closing tag allows you to close off the tag you just placed, in this case it’s going to be some lovely bold and italics, also that other thing, underlining.

I recommend you load up a notepad document (and of course save it as something like index.html so you can view in your preferred Internet Browser) and follow along, even if you find it basic, or get lost, the ability to manipulate what you think I’ve said and interpret it, even into a mess, will be what gets you learning.

So first up Bold.

<b>The tags on either side, make this bold.</b>

Second Italics

<I>The tags on either side, make this italic.</I>

Lastly Underline

<u>The tags on either side, make this underlined.</u>

If you are following along, if you now open up your notepad document (or maybe your using something more fun like Dream weather) in your browser, you will see that hopefully all these are what they say they should be. The only problem is they will be aligned all in one row with no spaces between them.

You can do either one of the following two things to solve that. You can make a paragraph, or you can put in a pause break. Which will skip a line and put the content after that on the next line. Or maybe you want to use a mixture of both?

So the tags for those are as follows:

Paragraph:

<p>This will be a paragraph.</p>

Break:

This will be on one line. <br>

While this will be on the following.

Note you can either use the break tag like above or use it like the following. Depending on how strict you are coding and if you are using XTML instead, you might want to use this example.

This will be on one line. <br />

While this will be on the following.

So that is all well and good, but what if you want to set up a proper HTML page (which you should instead of putting it into a notepad document like we have been so far).

Well there are some simple things to get this done. First keep what you have already done if you are following around, but leave it on the bottom of the page or on another document for now. We will want to copy that into a certain area soon.

You will want to put in a HTML, HEAD, TITLE and BODY tag. In the following order. Keeping in mind to have the title inside the head, and closed off before the body begins with the HTML tag wrapping all of the document.

Now you will want to put the content you have been making in between the body tags. You can also name the website in between the title tags.

Here is an example of what you might have code wise at the end of this customization:

<html>

<head>

<title>Example Title</title>

</head>

<body>

<p>

<b>This is bold</b>

</p>

</body>

</html>

Another tag which goes in the head of the document is the STYLE tag. This allows us to use cascading style sheets, which allows further customization of the page. We will go into further detail on how to customize these in a later tutorial.

Next week I get you guys onto the magical world of tables. Remember to do your homework because there will be a list of things to do, so don’t block quote me on that. (If you didn’t get that, I’ll show you how to do HTML Tables, Lists and Block quotes then stylise them in CSS).

I am living in an alternative reality where EA has just announced that they have recalled the retail version of Sim City. Why? Because in this reality they are just following my master plan to restore the both the brand, and fix the game.

You would have to be living in a cave to wonder why such a thing would be required. Over the past week, which I call launch week, the game has launched in a wild variety of locations with the fundamental problem been caused by always on DRM.

Firstly, let’s look at what EA has publicly said they are doing during this period of time to relieve stress on the servers. They have released a patch which removes some features such as achievements, region score board and of course removing the ability to speed up the game, the lovely cheater speed has taken a rest.

Of course logically they are fixing the servers, or at least preforming some kind of maintenance or releasing more servers for the game or something as well. Right?

EA has also allowed people to request refunds, which is great. But they have also went back on that promise straight away, which is bad.

Currently there are petitions online which request that the always on DRM is removed from the game, as well as any future game EA produces. While an appropriate action to get them to notice fan rage against this particular matter, I do not believe the petition will work. As many petitions are ignored for one, and for two always on DRM does provide EA with money. However it does hurt their public image.

Which brings me back to my original statement, by recalling the game from retail shelves, this will send clear message that they know there are issues with the game. This will turn off the retail sales of the game while the current owners of the title can use the title still. EA can use this current install base to test patches and essentially bring the game back into beta for a period of time, while giving gamers who bought the game continued access to the title.

So what will be patched out? Primarily the DRM, particularly the game downloader launcher.

A few things will also need to be introduced and should be introduced once this reliability on the servers has been removed. For one, the game shouldn’t need server access just to play single player. With the ability there if a gamer wants a friend to play, allow them to host the region Peer to Peer, dedicated, or find a server from the list they can “upload” their save data to and use, then “download” it to take the server offline and make it a single player game once more.

During this forced beta, further optimisation of the game can happen as well as the second biggest complaint right now with Sim City, which is the city size, can be fixed. Even as far as reintroducing terraforming. Allowing players to create their own regions by terraforming the region, then dragging city limits into the region and then putting in the main transportation links.

Also new features in general, like subways would be nice.

These changes if introduced for free, and as soon as possible, will generate good will towards EA as well as the game in general.

Regardless of what happens, hopefully the fundamental issues with server satiability will be fixed allowing more players to play the title.

I think it should also be mentioned that mainstream media has picked the server issues up as a news item.

Reading Material:
- Petition for no DRM
- EA Forums; Patch Changes
- NeoGAF; Sim City refunds
- Mainstream Media (news.com.au coverage)

A few weeks ago I was doing a job out of town and with my trusty Lumia 920, once I got to the location I checked my phone, and then put it down. Quickly realising, I should probably check something else, when I reached for my phone it was out cold. As if it ran out of battery. I guess the best way to describe it was it was “locked off”.

So leaving it alone until I got back into town I did the usual troubleshooting, such as I know it was impossible, but maybe it did run out of power. Which it hadn’t, I decided to look up how you can soft restart etc. the device and preforming one booted the device up as if it was a normal day. Which was very odd.

It happened another time a few days later in which this time the screen showed a ! when I tried the trick again, only to boot up fine on the second try.

However it seems to be behaving itself since happening twice. But it is the weirdest issue I have ever experienced, more so then the issues with the Mozart. I hope this doesn’t continue and become an issue in the future.

I’ve done some research since I’ve experienced the issues. It seems like is a somewhat common problem. For me however it’s only occurred since the most resent update, which I assume was partly common problem, with people reporting freezing on bootup, and other people reporting more simular issues close to mine such as black screen and been able to hear the buttons make vibrating notices when using say the camera.

For me it has only been happening since a resent update, which I assume part of its purpose was to fix the issues some people had with the Lumia device turning off and other general battery issues. Which my theory is it could be a resulting effect of having the update.

The reported fix is the usual “return to Nokia”, or of course the fix I figured out where soft resetting it boots it back up as per normal.

Also one other weird problem, is occasionally calls don’t come through when on the charging stand, instead I just get the “missed called” sms and be all like “serious?”.

Has anyone else had these issues with the Lumia 920. Would like to hear your feedback, post in the comments bellow!

Something I’ve been doing quite a lot of, of late is playing The Sims 3. I pretty much have all the expansion packs for the game now due to countless Steam sales, I also essentially had all the expansions for many of the other versions in the series. Now something has struck me as I get the house building craze and let my Sims run around in the house before making them die in the pool (you also need to build a wall around the pools now, you can’t just remove latters. Wah), is that the games expansions and the game overall just doesn’t feel as complete as the previous versions. With the reboot of Sim City coming up, and Sims 3 starting to feel stretched out, is it time for its own reboot or Sims 4 to arise?

I think my main issue with the series has always been the games are never the definite version as more get released. Yes there are some nice new features added, but for the most part the original Sims Complete Collection is still the best version. It also comes down to another main problem which each Sims game gets the expansions essentially remade for them.

I’ve made a list of expansions which really should be in the main game. However I’ve avoided stuff like Livin’ Large which is an old school proper expansion game. Where that game essentially added more levels, characters, etc. Instead of major expansions feature wise.

Expansions which should be included in the basic package should be:

House Party (1), Hot Date (1), Night Life (2), Late Night (3); The addition of a last night activities and club life as well as house parties and flirtatious fast paced life should be default in the game.

Unleashed (1), Pets (2), Pets (3); I have to say it, but why is the pets expansion made three times, always late or in the middle of the expansion cycle and offers nothing really expansive outside the inclusion of pets. Pets are a staple in many homes, and a simulation on life itself should include pets right out of the bag.

Superstar (1), Showtime (3); The celebrity based Superstar expansion was my favourite of the original game. I liked creating the movie studios and stuff which goes into the community lots in Superstar, and the simple fact that these expansions added celebrity status options to your Sim which gave the various jobs a much more interesting appeal.

University (2), Open for Business (2), Free Time (2), Apartment Life (2), Ambitions (3), Generations (3); these life expansion/hobby/educational/work based expansions which were quite often from the second generation of the Sims need to be in the base game.

Seasons (2), Seasons (3); I think it’s self-explanatory. In this day and age Season features, as well as Weather features in a life simulation should be included in the base game.

Overall the rule for base game inclusions from expansions should be if it is in direct coloration to everyday normal life in this day and age, as well as in general what a gamer expects from a new release in the series, (and in general what might need to be done so it doesn’t feel stale at launch- which was an issue with Sims 3) it should be included.

Expansions which make sense as Expansions:

Primary the Expansions which make sense are the ones which add a different flavour of life and mythology to the series. As well as the more story driven injected aspects to the game.

These include Makin’ Magic (1), Supernatural (3) for one. The magic based and supernatural based aspects while I’d love to inject into the main game, feel more of an addition rather than a feature which has to be there.

Also Vacation (1), Bon Voyage (2), World Adventures (3); essentially life exploration in different worlds or holidays, it should be an expansion. As an expansion it should also add additional ideas to remain fresh such as maybe, I don’t know, the ability to stay at people’s houses in different parts of the map you live in? Also more story. Expansions need story and purpose.

Expansion Strategy needs to change full stop:

Overall we have reached a time when EA just replicates the expansions again and again. Just look at the list I’ve included of what should be in the default game. For the most part, many of those expansions were done three times. So in all three of the games, the expansion in some way or another has appeared. Not one of these has only appeared in one version, with the rest been replicated in at least two of the series.

Something which started primary in Sims 2 and especially in Sims 3, is the expansion Stuff Packs. These are not inherently bad, but at the same time in their current form and price are.

For The Sims, EA’s store idea is a good idea. The ability to buy items for the game from an online store. However so much of the execution is forceful and overpriced it doesn’t make sense for the consumer to invest in these options because of this. The store should be their primary outlet for Stuff Packs, which should become cheaper along with store items. When a full set can cost almost as much as an expansion, there is something wrong. You do save if you buy more points, but who wants to pay $160 for the top amount of around 30,000 points? Yeah that is a considerable saving, but the content use isn’t there. 1000 points = $10 otherwise, which means with most sets over $10 complete, that is crazy, especially when expansions come in at around $20 now the game has gotten a little older.

So once the prices are considerably cheaper, EA should use the Sims store as the only way to provide extra content when it comes to this DLC style stuff, and not true expansions. There is no reason a stuff pack should be on Steam or Origin, when its content obtainable from the store for example.

Expansions themselves should also come in at a must cheaper price. In Australia for the most part an expansion launches at RRP wise half the price of the full game when it came out. Which doesn’t seem bad. But in practise is a considerable chunk of cash. Especially when expansions usually expand the game at all, outside of one or two unique features and then a considerable amount of essentially reskinned clothes or items.

Expansions should appear on other services, but they should also be cheaper then they currently retail for at launch. The main output and direction of an expansion should change to offer more story based missions or objectives users can complete with their Sims in the various locations.

The main problem is what has become of the community lots in Sims 3:

Community lots for the most part in The Sims 3 should just not exist. As they consist of premade placable building structures, and if you wanted to build your own there isn’t much you can create yourself on a community lot.

There is this nice feature which I’ve noticed (it seems new probably from one of the expansions I recently got), which is the blueprint option for building houses. This annoying community feature could be less annoying, and in fact useful if it was functional with the blueprint aspect. Which means buildings retain the more traditional building aspects which the original titles had in their community lots, and the customization returns, with the addition if the user wants to use premade structures there by using blueprints.

Scale back social. It is a curse of the late 00s:

I don’t know about you, but reading social status updates about The Sims is quite boring. There latterly is no purpose for Twitter or Facebook integration, even The Sims own social profiles in the title when it comes to sharing what you are doing within the game. It just seems so boring to read, and unless an amazing glitch happens or your sharing your house (which can be done by other means) there is not much feedback or communication which can happen socially using the social network aspects of the title. In fact this is a curse for all games coming out of the late 2000s which includes social media additions. It was a shark they jumped on, without releasing there wasn’t much point.

For me, for social networking to work, it has to be social. Which means posts have to be from directly from the user. Achievement announcements are nice, but they clog up the list, which makes them overally annoying unless they appear only on the games social page or digital distribution platform. Social integration in games, breaks gameplay when it has to be a post which the user has to make within the game. If this is taken away and its automatic, then it isn’t very social and limits the users interaction with the social networks, unless they specifically go to them to reply to it. So if it is a social interaction which is desired during the game, it is impossible without been overally annoying with promotes etc. telling the user that someone else has replied etc. Which The Sims 3 already has a range of annoying tutorial messages and promotes it shoots out which easily becomes a backlog. So in short, social is pointless in The Sims, even though it seems like the perfect game to use it.

In Conclusion:

A reboot is needed, which needs to expand on what has already been laid down, and including the majority of the expansions without becoming stale. Additions to the games building mechanics should be worked on by maybe working with building groups etc. So they can work out what is doable in certain positions etc. Homes these days are completely different, with domes and other objects becoming common instead of squares.

Also the world should no longer be some static map pregenerated. What about some unique generation algorithm which users can include and add things into the map etc. to make the experience as different and as unique as possible. Or use Sim City 5 maps?

In short, The Sims has become stagnate as a series, and while it still sells well. If EA continues down this path they have it will become more and more casualised and less and less profitable in the long run, without a massive halt to the series then a reboot like Sim City. Even then, the always on Online and other additions, seem anti customer and many feel it could have been left alone.

The original has so many different features which have since been left out and not expanded on, which should return. (Such as the badass robot butler).