Shuji Utsumi, Sega’s co-CEO, comments in a new statement that there is no point in implementing blockchain technology if it doesn’t make games ‘fun’. Sega...

Shuji Utsumi, Sega’s co-CEO, comments in a new statement that there is no point in implementing blockchain technology if it doesn’t make games ‘fun’.

  • ConsciousCode@beehaw.orgEnglish
    92·
    1 year ago

    Calling blockchains in video games “boring” is like calling backface culling “boring”. It’s an algorithm, not a game mechanic. Companies make it boring by treating it like one.

    • EremesZorn@beehaw.orgEnglish
      39·
      1 year ago

      Backface culling provides efficiency and performance. Blockchains provide nothing that can’t already be done through more efficient means. There is literally no viable use case for blockchain or NFTs in video games, which is exactly why every implementation has righteously failed or never got off the ground to begin with.

      • ConsciousCode@beehaw.orgEnglish
        122·
        1 year ago

        Efficiency and performance are valuable, not entertaining. My point is that “boring” is a category error for these things, they aren’t game mechanics and they have no entertainment value.

        I wouldn’t go so far as to say there’s no viable use-case, but every example I’ve seen has been a terrible misappropriation. This is largely because they make the mistake of inclusion of an algorithm to somehow be featureful or entertaining. As I see it, this discussion is a bit like ransomware becoming very prolific and people are saying there are no viable use-cases for encryption because it’s been used to scam so many people.

        To be clear, literally all NFTs are is a key: value mapping on a blockchain. That has nothing to do with finance, art, games, or anything else associated with them at present - the value of a tool is in how it’s used. They’ve been used extensively by shitty people, so now people only know of the shitty ways to use them.

    • argv_minus_one@beehaw.orgEnglish
      13·
      1 year ago

      That’s an iffy analogy. Backface culling makes for a higher frame rate, which makes the game more enjoyable (or playable at all).

    • alehel@beehaw.orgEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, but it doesn’t seem like he actually said that if you read the article.

      • ConsciousCode@beehaw.orgEnglish
        21·
        1 year ago

        The article is more correct than what I’ve been seeing in this thread - their inclusion doesn’t make games fun, which is correct. People are essentializing the use-cases of an algorithm, some saying NFTs make a game fun (somehow?) and others pointing out that they’re trash cash grabs that seem to actively make the experience worse.

        My mistake, I should’ve read the article. I didn’t think OP editorialized the title.