KFC’s video game console is actually impressive

Happy holidays! The latest gaming news, boiled down, in 2:58 minutes.

What’s being boiled down today?

KFC (yeah, Kentucky Fried Chicken) fully revealed their new video game console, the KFConsole, and the features are truly surprising.
The rumored class action lawsuit against CD Projekt Red by their own investors has become reality.

Microsoft vs. Sony vs. KFC

What’s the fuss?

KFC created a legitimate video game console with specifications that are (supposedly) comparable with the current generation of consoles.

The situation

Initially teased back in June, many people believed the announcement to be a joke. Although no one seems to have physically seen the console itself, from their official website it sure looks like KFC has a bona-fide video game console on their hands thanks to the technical capabilities of Cooler Master, a computer hardware manufacturer based in Taiwan.

Boasting the latest generation of processor, a raytracing-capable graphics card, and a 1 TB solid state drive, this machine is very capable to play the latest and greatest with minimal issues. However, the largest advantage over the competition seems to be the console’s Chicken Chamber, a small compartment that keeps fried chicken (or supposedly other food as well) warm utilizing the console’s natural heat while you play. Talk about a unique competitive advantage.

Boiling it down

The console wars – a legendary, ongoing struggle for video game supremacy between Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation has waged since the original Xbox’s release in 2001. Nineteen years later, that battle has yet to come to a standstill, with millions of marketing dollars used on both sides as ammunition.

Given that it’s only Sony and Microsoft head-to-head (Nintendo usually releases their consoles years apart from them) it certainly makes a big splash if another company enters the fray, which is likely a part of KFC’s strategy of getting gamers’ attention on their chicken — after all, gamers love to eat. It’s much too early to tell whether the KFConsole will go the way of the failed Ouya, who also tried to compete, but one thing’s for sure — it’s certainly gotten people talking.

You’ve been (actually) served, CD Projekt Red!

What’s the fuss?

Remember that potential class action lawsuit against CD Projekt Red from their own investors? Well, it’s no longer potential.

The situation

New York based Rosen Law Firm formally filed a motion against CD Projekt Red (developer of the recently released, bug-ridden game Cyberpunk 2077) on behalf of investors that purchased stock of the company between January 16, 2020 to December 17, 2020. Lawyers state that the developer made “false and/or misleading” statements about Cyberpunk 2077 and disclosed insufficient information to the public that the game was “virtually unplayable” on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, the previous generation of consoles.

Lawyers further noted that in addition to platforms hosting the game (i.e. Steam, PlayStation Store) being forced to offer refunds, the developer would suffer reputational and pecuniary harm which would leave investors suffering damages as a result of misleading practices. Although an amount of damages has not been specified, investors may be looking for a pretty penny to recompense for disappointing sales of the game.

Boiling it down

This is a prime example of what could go wrong when a developer rushes a game. Video game developers aren’t just a couple coders cooped up in a basement. They’re multi-billion dollar corporations that have the same bureaucratic conventions as any other large company, including having to temper investor expectations and manage public relations. Thus, when such a public-traded organization is hit with allegations of misleading consumers, they need to answer to more stakeholders than just their consumers.

CD Projekt’s pre-release decision to not show and not allow reviewers to show real footage of the game running on the base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles is likely going to shoot them in the foot, especially since most players who purchased the game would be playing on them. There’s been a long history of lawsuits against video game developers, but this may be the biggest one yet.