If you haven't heard the news, the FCC's resident public enemy... Ajit Pai is seriously bringing the ax down on Net Neutrality with a sharp repeal.
I can't say with confidence that most internet users are willing to get rid of their internet if it affects internet speed, but it would serve the lobbying cable companies right to suffer record loses. This isn't our first time mentioning this (we're rodeo legends at this point), it's been almost a yearly tradition but some internet users are still not aware of it and what could happen.
If lag becomes more prevalent in online gaming... I would not be surprised, and the same applies to the prices of items sold online in order to keep the website up to speed. No... I would not be surprised because its almost a backlash to eliminate some of the freedoms we have online, freedoms they can't currently profit from. This isn't the result of anything else except for greed (and control). The cable companies providing internet, do not appreciate business they receive from us month after month, they want more... and more... and more. It's disgusting and its annoying as hell. Without net neutrality in place, these companies can do what they want to exploit the needs and wants we have to use the internet.
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| Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images |
Ajit Pai doesn't care to listen to the people speaking out against it either because his associates are on the other side of this, but that's the result of us being seen as numbers. Land of the free, home of the controlled internet?
Imagine your phone service only having good connection some of the time and... you weren't able to call everyone because the mobile carrier blocks certain numbers. That's the potential result of the Net Neutrality repeal... but if certain ISP's have the guts to be fair, I hope they show up the competition to the point that ships sink.
I'm serious about that because I'm tired of the people who figure their big money means they have the right to control the average Joe & Joanna. It's actually the support of the average Joe & Joanna keeping these companies from going out of business. The average home phone service isn't as popular now, so who knows what may happen as a result of this.
+ Square Enix parts with HITMAN!
You may call this post a bit of a double whammy... but I don't think so. Square-Enix parts with HITMAN... but in a cool way. They could've simply parted with IO Interactive, put them into the hands of another publisher and kept the IP... but... they let IO Interactive roll as an indie studio... with the HITMAN IP. You may be asking why, but IO Interactive is Agent 47's home with or without Square-Enix publishing him.
The decision came as a result of a number of things... which both include HITMAN and other factors beyond HITMAN. I have a problem with developers wasting resources on games they release as a total trainwreck... and Square Enix's CEO (Yosuke Matsude) didn't want to end up in that situation with Hitman.
That gets two thumbs up from me because he wasn't willing to compromise the quality due to a potential lack of resources to properly develop the 2nd and 3rd seasons. He also didn't want IO Interactive to be without the game so that their baby was potentially in the hands of someone else to be misrepresented. He took a look at his cards and made the right decision... because he could've sold the company to a bad publisher or closed the doors, but HITMAN lives on based on the right decisions. Since HITMAN (2016) was well received, I see the other seasons doing just fine when their time comes. Square-Enix doing Marvel IPs and IO Interactive doing their own thing as an indie developer. As long as the support remains, so should the games!
