“The Winds Of Winter”: Is It Too Late?

Recently I’ve been thinking about “Game Of Thrones”. Predominantly the series, but also the way that it exploded into the public consciousness like gratuitous bukake, before pulling out prematurely just before the moment of climax. Thrusting uselessly. Flaccid. Spent. It was salacious, violent even shocking. Gaining noteriety for endangering character’s that in other successful television series would be protected by their eminence and popularity. Game Of Thrones fostered the anxiety that anything could happen. No character was safe. Each of their respective journeys in this violent world were treacherous and interesting. “Winter is coming” and so were 90% of the residents of Westoros. Look, there was a lot of sex, but the narrative was so much more complex than it’s surface level reputation would indicate. With witty dialogue that was both captivating and natural. Some of my favourite moments from the show were of Tyrian Lannister pontificating, while consuming vast quantities of wine. Of course much of the shows success can be derived from the novels GOT is adapted from.

So it’s difficult even after such a long period of mourning, not to ruminate a conclusion that could have been directly adapted from George R R Martins original source material. Rather than lament the resulting ending, that may only resemble the show in a vaguely superficial way. Of course all of this conjecture is specious, considering that this may have been George’s broad surmise for his conclusion to the books. Characters may not occupy the same exact locations as there on screen depictions. Some may have been unceremoniously brutalized in an earlier season. But Bran “The Flake” still resides as King of the seven kingdoms. Yes I’m aware that he is no longer Bran, but the three eyed raven. And yes I realise that it is now 6 kingdoms, with the North having seceded. Because even Sansa Stark realised that becoming its own independent territory, makes more sense than being led by Bran. (It’s also worth noting, that phone auto-corrected “Sansa” to “Santa”. With the idea of a “Santa Stark”. Which made me chuckle). But that’s besides the point. What we want is a comparative distinction between the novels and the show. A observation we can’t yet make, because as of writing, he still hasn’t finished them!

After 12 years, which by the way is enough time to develop, film and screen the entirety of the adapted series! “The Winds Of Winter”, the penultimate novel in Martin’s bloated “ASOIAF” series, still hasn’t announced a release date let alone published this beleaguered manuscript! Over a decade! For the penultimate novel in a series! Not the last, but the second to last. From an author who has published several novella’s, reference books and compilations in that time. Written and produced movies and television shows. As well as contributing to the world building in a little game called “Elden Ring”. And that’s just the projects he has been working on since the release of “A Dance With Dragons”, which is still his latest release for his “Ice And Fire” series! George has really been dragging his heels, which perhaps is indicative of the challenge of completing such a mammoth and intricately woven narrative. But his nonchalance in releasing it creates a growing problem for George, concerning who is going to care? But when you consider his age, as well as the time it’s taking him to publish “TWOW”, it’s probably not going to matter anyway.

The End For Stadia, But Not For Cloud Gaming.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, with the possible exception of Liz Truss, Google’s flagship, cloud based gaming system has crashed harder than the sterling under conservative led parliament. As inevitable as a Skyrim port, the Stadia’s 3 year long struggle to establish itself in an already crowded industry, is not something we should revel in. Though it is satisfying to mock and criticise Google’s narcissistic endeavour, what the Stadia’s failure really teaches us, is that Google were simply premature in their prediction of cloud gaming’s burgeoning popularity. And that in a decade’s time the Stadia will be celebrated as the precursor to future gaming propriety.

When the Stadia was announced back in 2019, you didn’t need to be clairvoyant to divine that it would fail. The fact that it languished in its attempts to attract a sustainable, dedicated audience was as predictable as Russian annexation in a Ukrainian occupied territory, from a resulting Russian endorsed election. Despite its anticipated failure, and in most cases entreated petitioned collapse, the reality is that the Stadia was just too ahead of its time, in a market that is just too competitive for even Google to infiltrate. The Stadia represents the potential aspirations for the industries future trajectory, of monopolising and limiting gamer autonomy, with subscription services that immobilises ownership of gaming material. Physically or digitally.

The games industry generated an incomprehensible $180.3 billion in revenue last year! Imagine adapting a subscription service that could exploit those gargantuan profits, whereby player’s would require an obligatory subscription just to access game’s that’d then have to pay an additional tariff to play, but not technically own. That’s not taking into account the unstable frame rates and latency you’ll experience with a router that struggles to sustain the performance of two separate mobile devices. But how long before network stability is as consistent and reliable as tax breaks for the rich? That the convenience of dependable and affordable Broadband, that has assured the viability of cloud gaming. Allowing the Sony’s and Microsoft’s of this world to partner in conjunction with Broadband companies, to ensure that this is the only propriety means of gaming?

So yes, the Stadia has fallen into obscurity, much to the jubilant complacency of its very vocal detractors, that fail to realise that this is only the beginning of cloud gaming infrastructure. The start of deposing physical and digital media, in favour of a service that is much easier to regulate. We haven’t heard the last of cloud gaming, any more than we have from Google.

PlayStation Home-less

In September it was confirmed that Sony would make the much maligned “PlayStation Home” well evicted and as of November 2014 they ceased publishing any new content for their “unique” social gaming platform. It’s fair to say that upon the announcement, in an emotive state of *cough* debilitating grief, I may have appraised its demise with remiss discourtesy, much to no ones chagrin or surprise. My diminished bereavement manifested as unsympathetic nonchalance and I was just as underwhelmed by its cessation as I was by the liberal deterioration of Adam Sandler’s career. By my own admission I didn’t conduct my acquittal with a great deal of sensitivity or sincerity, as to my consternation this is still a modestly popular visitation for gamers! So as I stare out into the horizon watching the generated sun cascading off the reflective modesty of the sea, idly receptive to a man garbed in a vibrant throng of studded crystals, braced on the back of a Velociraptor and another encompassing the beach exposing his foetus torso, I ruminate just how enamoured this vestigial residence was.

Any time exhausted in this artificial forum is largely spent jarred by the delirious resonance of the environment and conversations that emit as colour coordinated speech bubbles. It’s like attending a party hosted by Russell Brand, while the suppository of attendees interact in the most arbitrary fashion. Communicating via interpretative dance, or any of the other variant gestures, interspersed with introverted conversations that extend to little more than “Hello”, “Do you like games?” “I like Games” which is still such a repellent notion to me. The ambiguity of the communal society kind of defined the way other collaborators perceived you too, and in turn how they responded, confined by the inefficient keyboard attenuated by a control pad that lacked the immediate response you’d expect from a conversation. You were reduced to simple brevity of connectivity, with the most nuanced diplomacy consisting of regulated courtesies, abbreviated context, gestural verbalization’s and moreover, male gamers flirting unsuccessfully with female depicted characters, that were invariably men. There was always the option of purchasing peripheral devices or headsets to communicate efficiently, but why bother when money could be spent on games?

“If Home didn’t nothing else, it at least rendered resplendent vistas.”

There was an absence in levity as it felt predominately like negotiating through giant billboard that lavished praise on everything Sony. It was rather exciting to own an apartment that I could decorate to my taste, furnishing it with all the frivolity of eccentricity. I’m still incredibly infused about my ornate popcorn machine! But it felt negated by premium content and micro transactions. I’m not going to spend real money on fictional extravagances to decorate a faux residence for a spurious character that resembles my foot more than me! I’m a valid consumer! I’ve already purchased your console and software, there’s no need to grapple me and shack more loose change out of my pockets! From my specious examination, the numerable community that still populate these facilities didn’t want to purchase additional clothing or play mini games that looked as though they had been rendered by a bored librarian, they wanted to discuss games. Their accomplishments, their failings, their experiences. Home kind of became a domesticated habitation of absurd subservience, populated by only the most dedicated gamers providing a contrasting, less aggressive citizenship than more contemporary interactivity. And to a degree Home’s overture in retaining a sustainable and more importantly lucrative community, that was prepared to engage with one another, while permitting certain micro transactions along the way, was largely a successful venture and certainly not the failure it has been presented as. It is after all the most popularised MMO on any console!

“The truth is, most gamers had said goodbye some time ago.”

Time surveying the innumerable ancillaries of Home, in a minor capacity granted, my opinion on its origins differs greatly from some annalists, though I’m certain I’m not the first to of made the distinction. People (those guys again!) claim that PlayStation Home was a “social experiment”, whatever that means. Personally, I don’t think they knew what they were doing. Maybe they peered over the fabricated partitions in the industry and saw the success of “Second Life” thinking “Yeah, let’s do that!”. But more than likely Sony observed the potential in a sustainable source of equity, thereby commissioning Home to generate subsidised affluence to a company at that time, high on its own prosperity. And with productivity reaching triple figures to meekly imply that Home was merely a derisive, analytical observation of human interaction rather mitigates its impact. But for most, myself included, it never elevated beyond a curiosity. Development was negligible, arrested by a total latency in directory organisation. Conceptually it had no idea what it was trying to exert? Was it a communal interpretation of social communication? Meditative collusion between Sony’s ambitious provocations and hubris? Or simply a bulbous commercial for Sony? *Shrugs shoulders*

What can be derived from this mesh of rambling conjecture is that Home was a surreptitious triumph, if an elaborate service that lacked the conviction of its capricious flights of whimsy. It was an experimentation that verged on the crevice of contemporary success, but never discovered permanent momentum to tilt it into mainstream commercialism. Perhaps the advent of smartphones and the sovereignty of mobility could have provided immediate accessibility to gamers cursory fleets of socialism, hopefully not hampered by the pronounced loading times that afflicted the main utility. Perhaps its a construct that will be imitated in years to come, owing cordial commemoration to the methane laced narcotic that was Home; boring yet compelling. There is no affectionate way for me to end this article, Home was a subordinate burden that failed to replicate the expeditious rhythm you’d expect from conversing. A forgotten relic of the PS3, Home will forever be remembered as, Um? Actually, it won’t!

What did you think of PlayStation Home?