Microsoft keeps finding innovative ways to make owning its products feel like renting them. You buy the Xbox, buy the game, maybe pay for Game Pass, and Microsoft still patents a way to interrupt you with ads. At this rate, the final boss will be a 30 second unskippable commercial.

They fucked themselves when they went on their buying spree of studios. Their idea was literally that they would own every game studio, making a GamePass a necessity that they could charge whatever they wanted for.

Their quest inflated the price of every subsequent studio they acquired, leading them to take on so much debt that they had to shutter the studios they’d just purchased, and now they have to make a ton of money on every game–but that’s not how games work.

Just capitalism things…

But they didn’t even have to shutter many of the studios. Many of them were profitable. Microsoft just didn’t want the competition and they decided the studios weren’t obscenely profitable

Pretty clearly they were looking to corner the market, then. Disgusting. I would hope they went out of business, but that would leave Playstation as the de facto monopoly, and they are already killing themselves to enshittify as it is.

oh if thats the case follow the developers of said games and teams and ignore any ip they using to make said game completely the old story franchise name is meaningless when people realize that then it can move forward. follow the devs people not the company that hold the ip and patents always. companies are leeches

The only winning move for the final boss is to put down the controller and go outside.

ALTA screen from the movie War Games. The screen says GREETINGS PROFESSOR FALKEN HELLO A STRANGE GAME. THE ONLY WINNING MOVE IS NOT TO PLAY.

Love it!

me vs the 36 hours unskippable ad final boss.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, would you be so kind and repeat after me: abandonware and indie games are the future!

Entertainment these days is only found in the shadows of society

Yes, that’s how plenty of 60s’ and 70s’ sci-fi stories were about finding gems in the dust, and much of XIX century gothic stuff.

That’s sarcasm. Each time is like no other, but also the grass is always greener 100 years ago, and it’s always somehow better and worse at the same time.

But then, of course, there are tendencies and periods which won’t be remembered kindly or won’t be remembered at all.

I have only one question about that title - why the hell would anyone play a game with ads? People play games to relax, to get some rest from society, or to have some personal time with their friends mowing down cockroach hordes or something like that defending their city-fortress.

Until competitors are able to develop and sell games without such ads, people will just play those.

and it’s always somehow better and worse at the same time.

Humanity is always on a meandering route between utopia and dystopia, never arriving at either.

why the hell would anyone play a game with ads?

It’s Microsoft. They made Embrace, Extend, Extinguish their way of life for decades. They can’t conceive competition. And they’re not really that interested anymore in the consumer market. They want to squeeze whatever they can from there before the market shrinks and aim their products more at the premium and business market who has all the money these days.

I can agree with the assessement on how the company is aiming to bleed dry the market and is aiming to take over the business market. But honest question: what are we to understand by premium?

But even the business market is fickle. The company I work at had a scare recently with a serious security breaching. Nothing was admitted but I suspect the vector of attack was the informal Whatsapp network used to run day to day communications and it’s AI. The installed Microsoft security solutions were as efficient as a collander. I can’t imagine what was leaked. That costs money.

Most companies these says aim for the top 10% of the income market, so rich families and businesses. The bottom 90% is losing purchasing power so not a priority these days. Sounds rational short term and is probably disastrous long term. It’s a great target for China to take over, so when AI pops and they want to return to the consumer market, it’s already taken.

They’re making their bed, they better lie in it when it’s time. Even if it’s on fire. And full of rusty nails.

Are we taking numbers on the AI craze bust already? I say in the next six months, to a year.

I just picked up this little gem, “The Necromancer’s Tale.” Its Indie it looks oldschool and it is plot heavy. Most important is that it is crafted with care.

Damn, by patenting it they’re actually doing us all a huge favor.

Everyone will simply avoid microsoft games and no other gaming company can copy their stupid ideas.

Based

Until they license this out to every triple a studio and they all do it. Now I’m off to play more Tiny Terraces

Shhh for christs sakes man, don’t give them any ideas

OK, hear me out, let’s start a patent troll corp. and file for all the enshittification ideas ahead of the studio owners.

That’s… genius. So there’s gotta be a law against it already

Microsoft will file anyway and fuck you in court.

Yup. While you might be able to afford one lawyer, they can afford 1000

Hopefully they don’t license this patent out so it’s really easy to avoid

I was just thinking about that. I can’t imagine Microsoft licencing it cheaply, so I would think other companies would be losing money over this.

If anything, Microsoft made us a favour. (As long as they won’t continue their journey becoming Disney of gaming, I guess sigh)

They’d likely license as a percentage of revenue, not a specific dollar amount, which would make it more available to every studio.

Oh yes, I would imagine so. I just think that certain percentage of their potential customers will be turned away by it and so overall good chunk of the extra money they would get from the ads to balance out loss of sales would end up going to Microsoft instead.

Oooo, that happens and I’d make it a point to contact the manufacturer/creator of said advertised product or service and politely inform them that because of the interruption of MY TIME, while relxing in a game, I will now never, ever consider their company, goods or services.

Make it formal, concise and final and if possible send it to the CEO. You want that one to come down on the head of whomever decided to insert themselves into a player’s game - get them in trouble with the boss - with a vengeance.

It often works.

While I agree people should oppose this, I really don’t think the head of Microsoft gaming decision or the current Microsoft CEO would care about your letter and most likely it wouldn’t even reach them.

I think they mean if the advertised product. So like if Kleenex buys the ad space they’ll let kleenex know they’re boycotting them and why, not Microsoft.

Oh you’re completely right. I misread it the first time. 🙂

Oh, that’s not who the letter is for.

You’d be surprised what can happen when the underlings that are responsible catch wind that angry customers are trying to get in touch with the boss.

Learned this one from the wife of a CEO, and it works.

Years ago, in a battle with HCA, I got a major part of my husband’s hospital bill from a surgery charge dropped because the bill which was part of a Workman’s Comp case was challeneged by the businesses insurer, went into legal arbitration, and we won.

The hospital had 6 months to get the full and compete bill to the Workman’s Comp insurer and they fucked the dog and when the insurance settled, the part that was for the use of the surgical suite - the single LARGEST part of the bill - was not included in the total.

Imagine my surprise when 5 months later, that part of the bill showed up.

Oh hell no. Straight to the top, naming and shaming the head of corporate billing. Used meaty words like “incompetent” and “ineffective”.

Two weeks later I got a call from the head of corporate billing herself, and a letter stating that yes, ooops, we’re sorry, the bill has been forgiven.

ALWAYS go to the top.

Fuck Microsoft.

Good call on their part. Wouldn’t want anyone to steal their dog shit idea.

I’d patent my well-honed technique for not playing Microsoft games but I want to share it with the world, free of charge.

Drinks a verification can

“… while you’re playing them.” — that’s ambitious at this point.

As if I wasn’t already interested in the Xbox.

Isn’t there some kind of group that patents awful ideas so nobody else can use them?

Apparently that group is called Microsoft.

That’s So Microsoft!™

New Activision halo is going to make a game with QTEs where you have to eat a dorito or drink mt dew.

Fuck yeah, this is going to save some serious time. Will cut down the non video game ad watching time I need to do by a lot probably.

Gamepass lower tier with ads - when?

Gamepass higher “ad-free” tier with less ads - when?

Who’s got that copy-pasta about drinking verification cans to play their games? I think that fits here.

2018
wake up feeling sick after a late night of playing video games
excited to play some halo 2k19
“xbox on”
…
“XBOX ON”
"Please verify that you are “annon332” by saying “Doritos™ Dew™ it right!”
“Doritos™ Dew™ it right”
“ERROR! Please drink a verification can”
reach into my Doritos™ Mountain Dew™ Halo 2k19™ War Chest
only a few cans left, needed to verify 14 times last night
still feeling sick from the 14
force it down and grumble out “mmmm that really hit the spot”
xbox does nothing
i attempt to smile
“Connecting to verification server”
…
“Verification complete!”
finally
boot up halo 2k19
finding multiplayer match…
“ERROR! User attempting to steal online gameplay!”
my mother just walked in the room
“Adding another user to your pass, this will be charged to your credit card. Do you accept?”
“NO!”
“Console entering lock state!”
“to unlock drink verification can”
last can
“WARNING, OUT OF VERIFICATION CANS, an order has been shipped and charged to your credit card”
drink half the can, oh god im going to be sick
pour the last half out the window
“PIRACY DETECTED! PLEASE COMPLETE THIS ADVERTISEMENT TO CONTINUE”
the mountain dew ad plays
i have to dance for it
feeling so sick
makes me sing along
dancing and singing
“mountain dew is for me and you”
throw up on myself
throw up on my tv and entertainment system
router shorts
“ERROR NO CONNECTION! XBOX SHUTTING OFF”
“PLEASE DRINK VERIFICATION CAN TO CONTINUE”

Thank you, Hero.

such periodic breaks can be placed at a variety of predictable times in the content without adversely affecting the user experience,” the Microsoft patent declares.

The experience is very much affected I would say… But that’s only me…

You guys do know a patent isn’t a declaration to implement it?

Like you know that Sony TV ad patent that gets brought up every now and then as “The dystopian future of watching TV”. Yeah that was in 2009.

Guess I’ll just keep sailing the high seas. Someone let me know when businesses want to act with some semblance of good faith to their customers.

Planetside 1 did this 20 years ago. There were screens in the waiting rooms for the shuttle in each faction’s sanctuary world where they would play real-world commercials while you wait. Hard to find any info on it, it was so long ago

“I’m two things in one: a man, and a smart shopper…”

I will never forget that whole situation.

BRB gonna put a game on steam where you can shoot aggressive advertisers in the face.

store.steampowered.com/app/2954360/Ad_SHOOt/

Damn, they were fast

Like -2years fast

and then the ads interrupt your game play, unable to shoot or move.

Move to Bazzite. bazzite.gg

It’s not the OS doing it, it’s the game itself adding the ads to pause screens, loading screens, etc.

Ditch Windows anyway.

Honorable mention for Nobara Linux. 👾🎮

Micro$oft will be the next Google advertising company, with a browser & software as it's side hustle.
Advertising is a cancer.

“Loading a gif at runtime” wow, such innovation.

Pretty sure Gates of Galoo has prior art too

I’m bout to invent a patent called I’m not gonna play anything that microslop has its sloppy little hands in.

EA did this years ago

they are going to lock boss, and quests behind AD play time, no doubt.

We trully live in an Age of Technological Devolution.

And Environmental Devolution.

And Political Devolution.

And Economic Devolution.

But the richer have never before been this rich.

can count on one hand the number of microslop games ive played and still have enough fingers left to flip em off

Places that advertisers have not yet turned into a vehicle for ads:

• Radio
• TV
• Movies
• The Internet
• Video Games
• Classical Fine Art
• The Moon / Space
• Grave Markers/ Headstones
• Inside Eyelids
• Your Baby’s Smile
• Brain Implants

I’d say this is close enough for you to strike another off your list. nichefacts.com/findagrave/

at least this hopefully means this is limited to microsoft’s games, which arent that worthwhile in the first place

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smwo493IAfw

at some point, should they take everything from me, i think i’ll shift my focus on something that they wont like. not much else to do at that point. I hope it wont ever come to that.

My life, my lover, my lady, is the sea.

Worth a watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smwo493IAfw

Its so amazing that we had so many routes to make things better and better. Technology promised such an amazing future. Of course, greed ruined that and here we are. We fumbled the bag people…

not we the epstein class did this.

Never more proud of my decision to drop Xbox in favor of my Steam Deck.

Like it just keeps getting better and better

Microsoft patents technique for me not buying another game from them ever

Just don’t play Microsoft games. They crippled or outright destroyed all their former good game studios anyway. So it’s not like they will be making great games you can’t live without anyway.

Fail comm :/

Everytime I think I could not hate Microsoft more than I already do, they come out and do something like this.

Can they just ffffff off with this?

This is going to happen, too, I guarantee it. Gamepass basic with ads coming next year.

Just use an OS that does not do this.

Done. No ragerts

on an Xbox ?

If you are using an xbox, you kind of deserve this.

What use is an Xbox nowadays? And who said that Microsoft will not use the same “feature” on Windows?

Steam banned having to watch an ad before being able to play a game last year

www.gamespot.com/articles/…/1100-6529356/

So anyway, archery is cheap, fun, and there are no ads.

Practice your archery on ads

On advertisers

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h9wStdPkQY

Even better! I miss the days where people would holler ads. You could punch them!

“Hey man, I’m just the messenger!”

“exactly.”

nah chupacabruuuh, I have my target set up in the woods away from the bullshit. Or at the virtually-unused public archery range. There are ads there, and they’re ads for businesses that actually paid to build the thing, which is different from ad revenue for the sake of ad revenue TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS. Brody I’m so fuckin tired.

For a second I misread the title as “Microsoft’s Potato Technique” something something. That would probably be a more delightful title.

Then again, it’s Microsoft. Who knows how they wouldn’t screw even that up.

I have a free use method of avoiding these charges where I don’t use microsoft

There’s no fucking way that doesn’t have prior art