They're moving to streaming your "Connected Apps" (Steam, EA, etc) through their cloud stream service now.
I'm mad since I only bought the Shield in September for the sole purpose of local desktop streaming.
I played around with Moonlight for about 15 minutes but have yet to get it work the same. I do love there's an open source solution but I'll probably be going with an AMD build for the first time in my life instead of Intel/NVidia because of this.
Have him check out Dino Dana, Dino Trek, Dino Dan on Amazon Prime. My four year old is a big fan and will randomly drop some amazing Dinosaur facts he's picked up from those shows.
Having experience implementing and working with people that have used both, I'd love to hear why you think PayPal handles subscriptions better than Stripe.
In Paypal you just create a subscription button and you are done. Paypal takes care of creating the customer profile, etc. In Stripe there are a few more hoops to jump.
Hopefully next year. I'm very happy with my 8+ and don't plan on upgrading until Apple gets rid of the notch and has a 128 GB base model. I could live with the 64 GB base model if they figure out how to bring back Touch ID.
I would reconsider the "Unlimited Emails" offering for the "Ultimate" $100/mo plan. Assuming you're using SES, a customer sending 1,065,000 emails would cost ~$100. All it takes is one person to abuse it before it's costing you big money.
On the surface, "Unlimited" sounds great, but your target market is developers that know the cost of sending emails. This may result in the opposite effect as it signals your model may not be scalable if there's not enough low usage accounts to subsidize the additional costs of sending emails.
The even greater problem with sending email is that your platform will immediately and comprehensively be abused by spammers.
To make your email woes go away, I would recommend using MailChannels [1] rather than SES or SendGrid because MailChannels has a built-in anti-abuse layer that will send you a webhook whenever a bad user is detected. SES will just terminate your account, which probably isn't what you want. Also, at high volume, MailChannels costs less.
I'm guessing it has something to do with how quickly the user returned back to the search results. For example, you're searching for something specific and click on the #1 result. If you visit site #1, go back to the results, click on #2 then visits to #1 could be seen as a "bounce". Of course this could theoretically be gamed, but that's for another discussion.
As a parent, I've never understood this sentiment. Gaming is just another "activity" and to say it's "mind numbing" and not productive is disingenuous. Sure, it can be depending on the game, but so can acting and painting and any other activities that kids do.
Are you a gamer? I play PUBG, I used to play other games. Multiplayer online Games with a competitive aspect trigger my buttons. They can be very rewarding. They provide a constant release of dopamine.
I can’t think of any other activity that comes close to gaming in that regard. Most stuff gets boring after a while. Sure, you can dive in a book and come back two days later when it’s finished. But after doing this a couple times, it gets boring rather quickly.
With gaming, especially never ending competitive online games, one can easily sink hundreds or thousands of hours.
So, as a gamer being honest with myself: I will restrict video game time and media consumption of my kids, because they don’t know yet how to deal with these immense dopamine triggers.
That's not true at all. I'm a gamer and I LOVE reading books and I removed "pleasure books" (non self improvement books) because they actively disrupt my life much harder than games.
My favorite book series is 14 beefy books (800 pages some of them), I started reading them when 9 were out.
I read the first 9 in 1-2 months, doing ONLY THAT because I loved it so much. Same goes for the previous book series I read (I was 12 at the time, so my memories are not as solid).
I can play games for long hours, but I never end up in that same state where I don't do anything else for an entire month. Sure, there have been a few days where I played all day, but never months.
And I stopped playing games without looking back when I stopped liking them, or when I figured out they were bad for me (mmorpgs especially)
Yes, I am a gamer, and my wife plays occasionally too. We set limits on our kids gaming and use it as a tool for rewarding good behavior. We created a “real life battlepass” for our older kid where he gets 4 weekly challenges (chores, non-gaming learning objectives, etc.) that have to be completed by certain times in order to earn gaming time. We let him come up with one additional challenge that is non-gaming related and then another gaming related challenge (e.g. 5 eliminations in a game of Fortnite). This is all in addition to the normal expectations of keeping your room clean, school work, etc.
Managing their exposure to this type of media is important. They’re going to be exposed to it, and they enjoy it, so instead of fighting it we found a middle ground where we all win.
Agreed. In another comment, someone points out that LoL/Dota2 require a lot of dedication and metagame analysis to be good.
Which is true, but doesn't change the fact that I look back at all gaming I did as a massive waste of time, wishing I spent even 10% of that time doing anything else. And even in my early 20s, I couldn't get out of that "just one more game" compulsion many nights and it would impact my work performance and social life. Not really something I want for my children.
I'm in my 30s now and have healthy hobbies again like language learning, reading, and drawing.
I have a feeling a lot of these "gaming are no different than reading or playing a sport" are from young HN gamers. I would've argued the same thing when I was a kid. Not til later did I start wanting to live my life to maximize my sense of fulfillment and minimize regret, and I have a hard time believing gaming does that for anyone.
I realize it on and off. I go through periods where I binge games (I've always been a handheld fan, so 3DS and now Switch) and then I won't play for weeks, while I do other hobbies. I definitely notice a vast difference between when I'm playing games and when I'm not. When playing, I just want to do one more, one more, and even see the game in my head when not playing, or think about metastrategy. Thankfully, it hasn't impacted my life, but I definitely don't want any kids I might have dealing with that until they're able...Though I'll definitely introduce them to games, just keep it limited.
Sort of... gaming is fairly structured play. Unstructured play for younger children, especially creative play with others, is developmentally advantageous.
Gaming isn't "Bad" -- I'm a game developer as well as a parent -- but it's probably a bit over simplified to suggest that it's just another activity. It's not better or worse than painting, for example, but it's important to recognize that it is characteristically different and as a parent it's your responsibility to be intentional about how those differences impact your family.
The anti-screen sentiment today is like the anti-dungeons and dragons hysteria of the 80s. Back then, D&D would turn your kids into occultists. Today, “screens” will turn your kids into mindless zombies. Some things don’t change.
This generation of parents were pretty much all gamers, D&Ders, and so on. It's not for a lack of understanding. I even play many of the same games as my son and even try to get involved in the ones that don't really appeal to me.
But there is something off about kids right now is affecting them in disturbing ways (to a parent). The change is also been really rapid; it was different even 10 years ago.
It seems to me like a large number of parents seem to be struggling with it.
> For parents sick of hearing “Almost done. One last game”: What’s worked for us: (1) Don’t freak, they’re not addicted (the pathologizing of gaming may do more harm than the games themselves) (2) set a timer & provide consistent consequences (without anger) when they go over..13/N
On a semi-related note. When I was a kid my parents used to make us quit our gaming session with little to no warning. This wasn't a big issue with single player games because they can be saved/paused, but that's obviously not possible with online multiplayer games. Unfortunately, that didn't matter to them, and it resulted in many interrupted gaming sessions and unnecessary consequences and behavioral issues from me and my siblings.
Now that I'm a parent, I've made a promise to my kids that I will always let them finish their current game before kicking them off. If they start a new game after they've been given the last game warning, then there's consequences. They know this, and we rarely have any issues related to behavior and gaming.
I think most of the time you'll know when you'll need to interrupt them (e.g. dinner at a regular time). In that case, I'd say - be off by this time. They can learn to plan ahead and give themselves the needed headroom if they want to avoid the negative consequences.
I remember many years ago trying to explain to my father that I can't "just quit" as there was someone else on the other side. He didn't believe me and took a few seconds to watch. This was a 1v1 style game (starcraft brood war). Typing out "hello" into the chat prompt was met with "shut the f--- up and play, fag" from my opponent. He was actually an online friend. I was maybe 12. My father got the picture, but he yanked out the dial up for a while.
Yeah it works both ways, I know what can and can't be saved so I know if you can pause immediately or not. If not, the end of the game is fine and if so I expect it to be paused PDQ. I also give 5 or 10 minute warnings so they dont start a new game.
Timers are key. I have a special needs kid, and timers are doubly needed. For now I just say "20m" set the kitchen timer and when it rings, all the kids have to e.g. come to dinner.
I wish there were some good method for kids to "earn" screen time (ie, parent could add/approve) that would be automatically deducted on usage of the device(s) (with blackout times where usage isn't possible).
For iOS devices, Screen Time does that. My kids have iPads and I set certain hours they are allowed to be used at all, time limits per day, and if they run out of time they can ask for more and I can approve via my watch/phone. I set the daily time limit pretty low and then give them opportunities to earn a bit more, which I dynamically add to their total.
>Now that I'm a parent, I've made a promise to my kids that I will always let them finish their current game before kicking them off. If they start a new game after they've been given the last game warning, then there's consequences. They know this, and we rarely have any issues related to behavior and gaming.
This is good but most parents don't really know how games work so they can't look at the UI to see if their children are lying.
So much this. I'm a parent. I'm a game developer. I'm a former kid who dreamed that someday my parents would sit down and ask me to show them what I was doing.
You should know what your kids are playing, and what better way than to show interest in their hobbies. (And, like, maybe talk about it afterwards?)
The amount of time required to play most games is extremely high and expectation that parent should spend so much time with something parent does not like completely absurd.
There is also a moment where gamers should understand that the world does not revolt around them nor their games. When everybody is helping preparing dinner and what not, or expected to be on time, there is no rational reason to give the gamer exceptions.
There isn't an expectation that you will put in all the time required to completely learn a game, but there is an expectation that you will put in the time required to have a basic understanding of the game. As a parent you should know what games your children are playing, the type of content they're being exposed to within those games, and the amount of time they're putting into them. If you're not willing to put in enough time to know what your children are doing then don't have children.
no, watching a few rounds of Fortnite or having your kid show you round their Minecraft world does not require "extremely high" amounts of time and already gives you a useful insight in what's going on. Nobody is asking you to become competitive in a game, or even just play if you don't like it. And your second paragraph is a complete non-sequitur.
> When everybody is helping preparing dinner and what not
Right, during those times, the family should be helping prep dinner. My four year old helps prep dinner and does chores afterwards.
But we, as a family, also have leisure time and interests. In my opinion, if your kid was into baseball, you should try and show an interest by going to games or playing catch. If they were into dance, maybe go to their recitals or encourage them to practice.
No one is expecting you to be good at your kids hobbies. Or even enjoy them. But I believe you should show support and make an attempt to regularly engage with them.
I understand Fortnite and I don't play it. My kids do and so I find out about it, played a few Agnes, watched them and now I know its ok. Other kids get a blanket ban because their parents don't understand or they are playing CoD because their parents don't understand. My kids know that some games are not appropriate for them and if I say something is ok the it's fine. E.g south park fractured but whole is not but halo is.
> Is it really unreasonable for children to expect their parents world to pretty much revolve around them?
Yes it is. It is reasonable to expect care and relationship. It is not reasonable to expect your hobby to treated as something more special then hobbies of siblings, grandparents and parents. It is reasonable for other family members to expect kid to participate on activities I mentioned no matter what their interests are.
Parents world revolve around children when they are danger to themselves due to young age or sickness or behavioral problems. It revolves around children for many unavoidable reasons, gaming not being one of them.
It is not reasonable to expect to be tiptoed around just because your choice of hobby. In fact, it is expected that parents teach this the kid.
> Is it really absurd to expect parents to show just a little bit of interest in their kids hobbies?
To be able to listen about it? Yes. To be participating? No. Just like with any other kids interest like collecting little pink ponies or memorizing flags.
If the kid cant organize the game (stop playing soon enough to be at time) while still participating in outside world, then the kid is not ready to play that game. If the kid is moody after playing game and generally pain in the ass, it is reasonable to stop accommodating gaming and dealing with the behavior the same way parents punish/criticize siblings acting that way for non-gaming reasons.
Actually, participation often ruins the hobby. If your dad is better then you at a game/sports its loosing its value to differentiate you from your siblings.
I remember my older brother saying, "it's like dungeons and dragons" when I asked my dad to buy Warcraft. That got the idea shut down immediately.
But later in the year I was quite insistent that it's not that bad. So my dad agreed to watch a bit. I played the first few levels of the demo for him. I still vividly remember him saying, "that's it?" And then we bought it later that week.
Fortnite has actually helped my son understand the concept of saving money (V-Bucks, the in-app currency). He has started asking himself, "Do I really want this? Or should I save my V-Bucks for something I know I'll love."
Mine too, but he still says things like "I can't wait to get my own credit card so I can buy all the v-bucks I want". So there is still much to learn :)
What's special about 8.2.3 vs the latest firmware? I've only owned my Shield for a few months so I'm curious what I may be missing.