Gamescom visitors in 2018: Too much, too tight, too inside
Photo: Oliver Berg / DPAPictures like the one above seem to come from another time - even if they are not that old. A crowd of visitors, as it was completely normal at the Gamescom video game fair in 2018, is no longer an option during the corona pandemic: too much, too tight, too inside.
A good 370,000 visitors were there last time, but this year Gamescom will not take place on the Rhine from Thursday to Sunday, but only digitally. That fits perfectly with the subject and the industry is correspondingly self-confident: "We can digitally", said Felix Falk, managing director of the industry association game, the news agency dpa.
That is a good thing, because there is a lot to talk about. One of the topics is likely to be the dispute between Epic Games (the makers of "Fortnite") and Apple, which is likely to have an impact on the entire gaming industry. While it was originally about the 30 percent tax for in-app purchases, bigger things are now at stake.
According to Epic Games, Apple has announced that it will terminate all of the company's developer accounts on August 28. However, the "Fortnite" manufacturer is also developing the so-called Unreal Engine - a graphics programming framework that is also used in many other games. Epic argues: Exclusion from the developer program deprives the company of the ability to further adapt its graphics technology for use on iPhones, iPads and Macs (read more here).
The conflict should therefore keep the industry in suspense well beyond this dispute and this week. After all, the debate revolves around how very large platforms determine the rules of the digital world.
Sociability and progress instead of gambling addiction
Overall, the video game industry has benefited from the corona crisis, after all, games can not only sweeten the time spent at home, but also be a gateway to the outside world, promote social contacts and sociability. It is therefore not surprising that children and adolescents also played significantly more digitally in the challenging times for families when homeschooling and working from home.
If you want to talk about a "game addicted" youth in this exceptional situation, the column of my colleague Christian Stöcker is recommended (read here). In it he classifies the topic objectively and differentiates between problematic gambling behavior and an alleged addiction: "The fact that someone who is forced to sit at home can talk and play with their friends today and then do so is a step forward "Seeks" nothing to do. "
In our Netzwelt department, the newly launched Gamescom week will also be all about gaming: we will introduce you to the new products at the fair, we will reveal which games parents should definitely know and describe how many gamers can find their feet in the dream job sums up - as a game developer.
Strange digital world: Thanks Google, but I prefer to scold personally
Café visitors in Paris: complaint in the world public
Photo: BERTRAND GUAY / AFPAt the weekend I was dissatisfied with the catering trade on several occasions: In an ice cream parlor, for example, I waited at the table for more than 20 minutes before I was even noticed, in a café I still had to pay for a coffee that was canceled immediately after the order - even if not drunk. I left the bars in a bad mood, consoled by the glimmer of hope from the alienated guest: I write them a bad review on the Internet - but hello!
The online rating - be it on Google, Tripadvisor, Holidaycheck or anywhere else - has made complaints about poor service or lousy food a public matter: the café around the corner is being judged worldwide, and potential customers should even be "warned". The restaurant concerned is happy to answer, sometimes submissive, sometimes sluggish. I've decided to try another way this time: with a classic email. I only complain to the owners that the service in their establishment was not satisfactory when I visited.
Because I'd like to give feedback, but it's not such a big thing that the whole world needs to know about it right away. That is why it can certainly also be clarified bilaterally. If you get a surprisingly unfriendly answer in camera, I can still write a bad review.
(Note: The anecdote in last week's newsletter - it was about half-hearted IT support in the family - also came from Judith Horchert and not from newsletter author Max Hoppenstedt. However, there was no corresponding author line in the newsletter sent by e-mail . Please excuse the mistake.)
External links: three tips from other media
"Germany's Internet Army: What is the Cyber Defense for?" (3 minutes to read): The command cyber and information space has a leading three-star general, a website, patches and a specially composed cyber march, writes "sz.de". What is still missing now is clarity about the tasks of the still young Bundeswehr department.
"Video games can satisfy basic needs" (4 reading minutes): The colleagues from "Zeit Online" have also taken on the question: Is it a cause for concern that children spent significantly more time playing video games during the Corona period? A media psychologist answers.
"Flight Simulator: OpenStreetMap error makes buildings sprout up" (2 reading minutes): In Microsoft's new flight simulator, amateur pilots have discovered a very tall building in the suburbs of Melbourne. The tower rises almost surreally into the sky and doesn't fit into the area at all. A small bug in Open Street Map is said to be responsible for the crazy digital sight.
I wish you a great week!
Judith Horchert