Xenocity

Actually getting rid of veto right is better. Though this means countries will have to pay equally into the pot, which many do not want to do.

Catalonia is culturally and lingustically different from Spain, aka Spain's Quebec Spain over the centuries has tried to wipe out Catalonia's culture and language by making it illegal until Spain became democracy in the late 70s. Right now Catalonia language and culture is regional with limited regional goverment. Spain does not accept the culture and langauge on a national level. Spain also is favors the regions that are Spanish. If Catalonia becomes independent, at indepedence they will no longer be an EU and Euro country. Catalonia will have to apply for EU membership and go through the process of becoming a Euro country. Though the catch is all EU countries can veto any application to the EU. Catalonia will automatically lose access to all international institutions, markets, treaties, and connections. They will be forced to start over from scratch at the international and EU levels. I forgot to add Spain conquered Catalonia in a war.

There is a good chance the English/Westminster pulled something to maintain the status quo and to kill the yes vote. The EU, Canada, Spain, and few others were pressuring PM Cameron to ensure the no vote won to prevent their minorities from following suit. If Scotland would have declared indepdence the following would have happen worldwide: Quebec would have followed suit (they and Canada was watching this closely) Catalonia would have used it as precendence against Spain (they both were waiting with baited breath for the results) Walloons in Belgium would have pushed for breaking up Belgium into 3 countries (this is still likely to happen soon) Pro Russian Eastern Ukraine would have used it as justification for joining Russia (this is still likely to happen soon) Cechens in Russia would have pushed for succession (this is still likely to happen soon) Tibeit would have risen up against China Parts of India and Pakistan would have broken away (this is still likely to happen soon) Parts Africa would have followed suit (this is still likely to happen soon) Scotland was warned by the EU, it would see countries veto it's admission to the EU and Euro. U.S. and other countries said there was no guarantee they would accept their indepedence and allow them to enter international institutions. They also said they might engage Scotland politically and economically. There is always chance of an economic and monetary embargo if Scotland or Wales decides to breakway. Long story short Scotland was threatened with international and economic isolation if they declared independence. I think it is time for Scotland to leave the UK, because England has failed to follow through on their end of the deal at the expense of Scotland.

No, the last thing the UN needs is more countries with veto power! The current proposed reforms would add 5 more permanent members with veto power, but that would only further render the UN useless. Currently the 5 permanent members are the 5 most powerful countries in the world militarily and indirectly economically. U.S. - is the world's most powerful country by military, economy, and monetary China - is the second largest country economically, and Mandiran is the second most spoken language after English. France is the 5th largest economy, but has indirect economic control over it's former empire, French is one of the most widely spoken language and it has one of the biggest navy and airforce in the world UK is the 6th biggest economy in the world, has major influence on most of it's former colonies and has trade agreements with them. They also have one the biggest navy's and airforce's in the world with bases all over. Also English is the most widely spoken laguage in the world Russia is the 8th biggest economy in the world, the biggest energy reserves in the world, second to the U.S. in nuclear arms, and has one of the biggest standing armies in the world. These 5 countries also fund the majority of the UN's budget with the U.S. paying the biggest share at almost 20%, followed by China and Japan. These 5 countries generally provide the most military equipment and people to UN missions. Any change to the UN's charter and function has to be approved by the permanent 5. So far they have vetoed any reorganization to the Security Council. These countries are also lobbying to get permanent seats with veto power on Security Council: Germany - 4th biggest economy in the world and is neck and neck with China for being the biggest exporter in the world Vatican City - Catholicism is the biggest sect of any religion at 1.2 billion followers Brazil - The second most populous country is the Americas, most populous in South America. Second biggest economy in the Americas (biggest in SA) Japan - 3rd biggest economy in the world, second biggest exporter in Asia, the second biggest creator of technology behind the U.S. Pakistan - the second biggest mulism country behind Indonesia, rivals India in military power. Iran - biggest persian speaking country in the world South Africa - the fastest growing economy in Africa, one of the fastest economies growing in the world, most poweful country in Africa Canada - ummm... their navy finally got a boat! Spain - former imperial power, still has influence over it's former colonies. The amendment process goes as follows: The proposed amendement(s) are submitted to the UN Secretary General and the Permanent 5 for approval If approved by the 6 members above, it goes to the General Assembly for vote. Needs 2/3rds of all the votes to secure passage in the General Assembly. Goes to the Security Council for vote, needs 9 votes out of 15 to pass with no vetoes Right now the Permanent 5 have blocked all meaningful reform via vetoes because they do not want to give up their power. There is talk of giving France seat to the EU, so far the UK and Russia oppose it. There is talk of combinding the France and UK seats into a single EU seat, again the above two countries oppose it. The UK currently is opposed to having the EU admitted to the UN, it's subsequent organs, and most international institutions. Right now this is due to the UK fearing the rising power of the EU and the UK is still refusing to fully integrate into the EU (right now they are a special member like Denmark). No meaningful reform can happen until the other countries agree to foot the bill for operating the UN, provide the majority of people to the missions and provide the necessarly military support. So far the majority of countries aren't willing to do that. Not necessary. In many cases that's true. Currently the wealthest and most powerful countries (the Permanent 5) foot the bill for the major international institutions including the UN. Until another group of countries is willing to provide the majority of the money, the military equipment, and the people to these organizations they will never gain full say.

Simcity 2013 has 3. They are: Simcity 2013 Simcity 2013 Deluxe Simcity 2013 Plus (includes CoT expansion pack) You can buy the digital deluxe upgrade for a small price, if you own the regular version. You can regularly get Simcity 2013 on sale for $30 or less.

That won't work due to the customers not wanting to give out the information required. EU regulation alone makes it near impossible. Even if piracy and used sales were 0, prices would still go up due to the pressure from consumer expectations of ever increasing graphics, AI, and content. The need to make bigger and better games is the main reason for the increase in prices and development costs.

This is the note Notch posted today regarding the sale of Mojang AB to Microsoft. Microsoft has bought his company for $2.5 Billion! http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-09-15-microsoft-buys-mojang-and-minecraft

Actually Notch gave Microsoft first dibbs on Mojang. Notch wanted out. Mojang will now develop exclusively for Microsoft products, except where existing contracts come into force. It is highly likely Microsoft will end official support and updates for all the non Microsoft versions of Minecraft. Microsoft has never let an acquired company support their competitors products to date, even forcing them to end support once the acquistion was completed. Any new Mojang game will be exclusive to Xbox One and Windows (if Microsoft wants it on Windows). Mojang is dead as a 3rd party developer!

I guess it hurts them because I didn't pay full price. They may be hurting themselves more with this DRM thing. I bought Silent Hunter 5 and it had the same thing going on. People refused to buy it until they relaxed it some. It never occurred to me that SC13 had it in place. Maybe I should have read the forums more. I've bought the SC games since SC 3000 and enjoyed them a lot, but some of the reviews I saw were kinda negative about this edition, so when I had an opportunity get it cheaper, I went for it. I'm not big on demos because usually they aren't a full game or they're time limited which doesn't really give you a good chance to evaluate them. Oh well, I won't be buying a new copy of SC13, I will just continue with Rush Hour. Thanks for the input folks! The product key online registration was created in response to the heavy game sharing of the late 90s and early 2000s on PC. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, it was quite easy and common to share PC games by using the same product key on multiple PCs. There literally was no limit on the amount of times to use most product keys. This lead to people burning the discs for their friends and what not instead of everyone buying their own copy of the game. This is also why retailers will not do trade ins for PC games anymore. I see nothing wrong with one product key per copy. With that said if you buy the digital version of Simcity 2013 (which you can find on sale regularly along with Origin cash cards), you are allowed to install it on 5 PCs/Macs at any given time.

Never buy a PC game used! You either wind up with a useless copy and/or a virus (this is why we can't rent them anymore or borrow them from a iibrary) Remember every time you buy a used game, it hurts developers financially. Used games are almost as bad as piracy to a developer (Microsoft tried to rectify this with the original Xbox One plan).

The deal is done, Microsoft has officially bought the company from Notch for $2.5 billion!

Today NPD the main sales tracking agency for North America (they track more than just gaming), has officially defined core gamers and games. Based on their extensive market research and surveys they have concluded the core gaming platforms are: Microsoft consoles Sony consoles (Vita and PSP not included for being handhelds) PC Mac The core gaming genres are: Action Adventure Fighting MMOs Racing Real-Time Strategy RPG Shooters Sports Simulations and City builders are not considered core games based on player demographics and market research. To be a core gamer you must play a minimum of 5 hours a week on the platforms and genres listed above. This yearly report is used by Western developers and publishers to determine their product lines. Both Simulations and City builders are not considered core games based on player demographics and market research. This includes all the Simcity and Cities XL games. All genres that didn't make the cut are considered "Casual" or "Mobile". http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-05-14-three-out-of-four-us-gamers-prefer-physical-games-npd Feel free to add your two cents

Today the main market research firm for North America which tracks most industries including PC gaming and Video gaming had defined PC gaming. PC gamers fall into three groups: Heavy Core - plays the genres listed below for more than 5 hours per week Light Core plays the genres listed below for less than 5 hours per week Casual - don't normally play these games and play casual games which aren't listed. The core genres on PC are: Action/Adventure Fighting Flight MMO RPG Racing RTS Shooter Sports Anything not on this listed is official a casual game including City Builders, Simulations, and others. The market break down: Heavy Core - 20% of the market Light Core - 24% of the market Casual - 56% of the market, almost entirely women. 51% of gamers are male, 49% are female (majority play casual games). http://www.joystiq.com/2014/09/10/npd-breaks-down-heavy-core-light-core-casual-pc-players/?ncid=rss_truncated

To be fair the game launches this week in Japan!

That would depend on the terms of agreement. Notch is only staying for a time, which is no more than 6 months. Though Microsoft would love to sell new content to make back their money. updated with Bloomberg's information. Persson aka Notch wanted out and offered Microsoft first dibbs for the company.

Yeah many people have stated they aren't out to make money. Then someone offers them enough. Notch also said he had grown tired of being a game developer as well. This year's Minecon has also been canned. WSJ is rarely wrong when it comes to buyouts and mergers. I wouldn't be surprised if Notch is sick of Minecraft and wants to move on.

Bayonetta 2 is the follow up to the critically acclaimed Bayonetta. Bayonetta 2 was originally scheduled to be an Xbox 360 and PS3 game, until Sega canceled it after the money they lost on Bayonetta 1. Sega then canceled all the games they were working on with Platinum, letting Platinum go. Then in 2012, Nintendo desperate to get a critically acclaimed mature game on Wii U, decided to buy the game and the series out right from Sega. This act is seen by gamers as an act of treason. They regularly still post their outrage on social media and on gaming sites. Gamers are still upset that Nintendo "stole" this game from gamers and are still demanding that Nintendo make it multiplatform. Others have started petitions to force a government body to intervene and save this game from falling into "casual" and kiddy hands (much like they did over the Sonic Lost World exclusive deal). Some have called this, the greatest tragedy in gaming history. The game launches this October in the West and comes bundled with the definitive version of Bayonetta 1(It has exclusive content) for $60 Do you believe or still believe Nintendo stole this game from gamers? Do you believe something should be done to return this game/series to gamers? Do or did you wish harm on the developer over this game (many did)?

If you really want to talk software sales, especially of Nintendo games and their IPs, I can do that too (I've seen the numbers and they aren't pretty). Here is how Nintendo IPs are viewed by gamers: Mario mainline is kiddy Donkey Kong (spin offs included) are viewed as kiddy due to the animal characters Mario Kart is "casual" Star Fox is kiddy due to the characters being animals (core and "hardcore" don't want to play games with talking animals an games rails) Pikmin was openly labeled a "casual" even by the BBC. Xenoblade was considered just short of being a core game due to the anime influences The Last Story was seen as core Pandora's Tower has a split consensus F-Zero was seen as kiddy due to the character designs and the colored cars Animal Crossing is seen as "casual" due to the open ended sandbox nature Pokemon is seen as kiddy due to creatures design and all the bright colors. Smash Bros is seen as a "casual" party game due to the nature of the game Battalion Wars is seen as kiddy game because it lacks blood and gore Advance Wars is seen as kiddy because it is turn based war game Fire Emblem is seen as kiddy due to colorful graphics and lack of blood/gore Zelda has never been seen as a core game due to the graphics and gameplay Pokken is already been seen as "casual" due to the character design The Wonderful 101 is seen a hard kiddy game due to the arstyle and rating. Metroid Prime Trilogy is seen as a kiddy rip off of the Halo. Etc... Long Story short according to NPD, "hardcore" gamers, and other market research firms, Nintendo has never made or released a "hardcore" game ever! As for sales: Donkey Kong 64 sold only roughly 2 million sales world wide and was hated by many for being a "collect-a-thon" which all the reviews state. This is less than each of SNES games. Donkey Kong Country: Returns (Wii) is the highest rated DK game and has sold the most beating out DKC (SNES) by 2 million sales DKC:TF (Wii U) is the second highest rated DK game and sold as much as DK64 DKC trilogy (SNES) is the highest sales point for the DK games Star Fox 64 (which is remake of Star Fox SNES) is tied for the best selling game in the franchise at ~4 million sales Star Fox 64 is heavily criticized for the gameplay being too restrictive due to it being on rails. Star Fox 64 3D is criticized for not improving the gameplay Star Fox Adventure was well to be honest meh due to the repetitive nature of the game, it only sold ~2 million. Star Fox Assault was praised by Western Reviewers for finally evolving Star Fox beyond the on-rails gameplay (The game is actually good especially the multiplayer modes). Despite the praise it sold ~1 million sales Star Fox DS was panned for abandoning Assault's gameplay ~1 million sales Star Fox skipped Wii because Nintendo was researching what people wanted in a Star Fox game. Star Fox is coming to Wii U evolving the gameplay in Assault (because that's what the market research told Nintendo) and it will be in episodic (if it fails, Star Fox is dead). Each Pikmin game has sold ~1 million sales, with Pikmin 3 slowly getting there. Mario Kart Wii was the best selling game last generation acrossed all platforms standing at ~35 million and counting Mario Kart DS was second best selling game last generation at ~30 million sold and counting The 5 best selling 3rd party games were all Call of Dutys followed by 5 Maddens F-Zero sold ~2 million on SNES F-Zero X on N64 sold ~1 Million F-Zero GX on GC sold ~500k worldwide (Main complaint of the game was how hard it was) F-Zero Anime was canceled in the West after a few episodes (launched with GX) 3 F-Zeroes on GBA bombed even worse. Each F-zero has sold 50% less than it predecessor (handhelds not counting. Nintendo said there isn't enough demand to warrant a new F-Zero Fire Emblem Awakening actually is the best selling game in the franchise with over 1 million globally The point is there no point in wasting tons of resources to create a full blown console game, if the game is going to fail and sell 1 million globally. This is why games like F-Zero, ModNation Racers, Mana series, Viva Pinata, Rayman (yes Ubi did release a new game but it flopped worse than the previous flop), Star Tropics (Yes I'm still wanting the third game after 20 years) are no longer being made. I'd for one would love to see a new F-Zero, but in reality it won't sell in today's market. As for Nintendo's first party releases on Wii: 2 3D Mario Mainline 1 2D Mario mainline 1 Smash Bros (it will have been 8.5 years once Smash Bros 3DS drops) 1 Fire Emblem 1 Punch Out! 1 Animal Crossing 2 Wii Sports 1 Wii Party 1 Wii Music 1 Mario Kart (it was 6 years until Mario Kart 8 Wii U) 1 Sin & Punishment 1 Warioware 1 new Zelda game 1 Cross-gen Zelda game 1 FlingSmash 2 Mario Partys Most of their franchises saw one entry, including lesser ones. Wii also saw the remake of Pikmin 1 and 2 with better controls and loading time. It also took them 5 years to make Pikmin 3 (which it shows). As for Pokemon, the developer of the main series is GAME FREAK!!!! Nintendo has never internally developed a Pokemon game, and only owns 33% of the franchise outright (they do own a stake in Creatures and Game Freak. Game Freak (including the creators of Pokemon) have openly stated that mainline Pokemon games will remain handheld exclusive forever! They openly stated they will not allow a mainline title to be made for a home console, because it doesn't mesh with the what Pokemon is. With that said this there are two Pokemon RPGs released on Gamecube called Pokemon Colosseum and Pokemon XD Gales of Darkness. They have: Connectivity to the GBA games to transfer Pokemon between them Turn based battles leveling up learning moves by leveling evolutions Towns and cities Pokemarts and Pokecenters (they have been combined starting in Gen V) No Gyms No routes to travel Snagging Pokemon to catch and purify them 3D models and moves Tons of EXP and TMs Loads of usable battle items to purchase Double Battles XD has wild Pokemon you can catch As for diversity in gaming: Diversity was strong on SNES and PS2 gens. Diversity started strong last gen and quickly petered out due to lack of sales and the huge rise in development costs on PS3 and 360 By mid gen most low selling IPs were dead and gone, except for those on Wii. By mid gen there was a huge consolidation of 3rd parties wiping out diversity. This new gen nearly all new IPs follow the CoD, Halo, EA Sports, Ubisoft open world, Ubisoft adventure. The new IPs that were actually different: Knack bombed in ratings and in NA sales (it was bundled with PS4 in Japan and EU) Puppeter despite its good reviews, bombed globablly Lego City Undercover thankfully broke 1 milion sold on Wii U Injustice sold far worse than Mortal Kombat 9 Child of Light bombed according to Ubisoft Watch Dogs sold well, but not as well as Ubisoft wanted Tomodachi Life beat Nintendo's expectations in the West Shovel Knights did better than expected ZombiU sold almost a million globally now (the was in development for 5 years as two different games) Titanfall didn't live up to Microsoft expectations, EA expected it to sell more than it did. Valiant Hearts bombed for Ubisoft all 3 ModNation Racer game failed to sell well enough to the franchise The Last of Us did well, though Naughty Dog saw huge layoffs In short new IPs that were shooters, bloody games, cinematic, and/or mature openworld games sold well in the West mainly (these are considered the "hardcore" games) Everything else bombed as a general rule.

I know that... The point is the U.S. market dictates how many industries advance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwGD4WbAppo&list=UUGIY_O-8vW4rfX98KlMkvRg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0phuu6KkTMM&list=UUGIY_O-8vW4rfX98KlMkvRg

That explains a lot. The U.S. single handly is the biggest market by far for PC gaming and video gaming (China and India are extremely restricted and censored).

You must have been in the Apple Store. You can easily buy numerous PCs from Walmart (or Meijer, Staples, Best Buy, Target, Office Max, etc...) that have 32-bit processors and run 32-bit Windows. Those are the PCs that are $300 or less for the part, but they do have at least 4GBs of RAM for the most part. The American and UK markets love cheap PCs. I should also note Walmart is the biggest seller of PCs and the majority of non Apple PC market runs 32-bit OSes.

It was implied by the list. I only listed games that Nintendo internally developed or hand in/co-ownship. Nintendo, Rare and MGM all have legal righst in Goldenye N64. To do anything with the game you need the approval of all 3 parties. Which is why Activision had to secure permission to make the remake. You like many have claimed Nintendo only makes the same IPs over and over again with a lack of new IPs.In reality Nintendo makes plenty and receives both consumer and media backlash for making new IPs over their staple IPs. The reality of gaming since PS2 has been the general market rejection of new IPs from all developers in favor of existing IPs. This is why we cannot have new IPs for the most part.