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SteamOS and the fall of Microsoft

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For a while now I’ve been tempted to write a fictional blog post purporting to have been written in 2050-or-thereabouts, essentially along the lines of “Hey, anybody remember Microsoft?” The company that for most of my lifetime has just been there has, in the last 5 years, suddenly become rather wobbly – despite still seeming quite healthy in financial terms.

The announcement of Valve’s SteamOS and associated gubbins added a whole new element to Microsoft’s woes. Now, a lot of this is working on the assumption that SteamOS, the Steam Controller and Steam Machines will be actually good. If they’re not, then the debate is a bit moot.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the key market areas where Microsoft have historically ruled.

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By Simon Jones, ago

Thoughts on The Room

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Ah, mobile gaming. So, so bad.

At least, that’s been my experience of it for the most part. Even the potentially good games are crippled by terrible UI, the touch screen being woefully inadequate for so many genres. Worst of all are those games which put pretend keys or controllers on the screen, the developers seemingly oblivious that you’re then going to be covering half the screen with your thumbs.

I’d bumped into a few notable exceptions over the years – World of Goo translates wonderfully to touch, Broken Sword is quite fun, Need For speed: Most Wanted was surprisingly entertaining.

Recently, though, I discovered The Room (more…)

By Simon Jones, ago