Facebook Messenger: Two-Faced Coin of a Messaging Platform

I’m not saying anything new when I say that messaging platforms are a mess right now. iMessage rules the US mainland alongside Facebook Messenger. Whatsapp, Telegram, and Signal all have a stable user base, but it's a very niche user base. Google is flailing as they attempt to make a prettier picture out of Allo. The state of messaging apps can be frustrating and confusing. Most do what I have been doing. They just use what their friends use. If your friends are like mine it's a mix of iMessage and Facebook Messenger. Naturally since iMessage is held within the castle walls of iOS, I’ve been using Facebook Messenger and at times have even grown fond of it.

Facebook Messenger as a messaging platform is great. It’s stable, has wide availability, and allows me to stay in constant contact with 99% of my friends. I’m sure most can agree that Facebook is not their favorite place on the internet. Filled with memes you’ve already seen, family friends discussing left from right, and that co-worker posting conspiracies. It can be a hard place to stomach. A place that I find myself visiting more often than my common sense can agree with.

All of these things eventually drive me away from Facebook. This brings me to Facebook Messengers greatest strength, messengers.com. A full fledged web app designed only for Facebook’s messaging component. A brilliant escape from the news feed/timeline.

When visiting the web app you are presented with a list of all of your conversations on the left. The conversation itself goes in the center and on the right is the home of any shared photos, customization options, and a link to the users profile. It’s so simple it makes my head hurt thinking that Facebook is the creator. To this day the messenger.com stays out of my way allowing me to talk with friends, share my favorite videos, change each threads color bubbles, set nicknames, have an audio/video chat from my PC, and even have a default emoji set for easy access to each individual conversation. There are other features as well including stickers, GIF, and other functions that have been placed to the right of the text box. They stay out of the way for the most part as I never see them until I need them, but I would be alright with an option to hide them when not in use. Mostly though messenger.com is pretty rad, right?

All this gloating brings me to the part that irks me. The part that has me trying to get my friends to switch to other platforms, even though I know they won’t. I get it. It’s annoying to switch platforms on a whim, but it’s also annoying when a company such as Facebook creates such a well designed and easy to use web app, only to ruin it with their mobile app.

Ads. It’s recently come out that Facebook's trial of running ads on the Messenger mobile app in Thailand and Australia was rather successful. This means it’s coming to the US. I can usually move past ads in free services. Facebook itself has ads which make sense. Same goes for YouTube, Spotify, and countless other free services. The problem here is we are talking about a world where right below your conversation with mom is an ad for Domino's, because you ordered a pizza the night before. This is too much. Feed me these ads on Facebook itself, don’t throw them in my conversation lists or even worse, actually in my conversation!

The prospect of ads is not even the first and only straw to break for me. It started when Facebook added stories. They’ve since moved it to the Facebook app, but there is still a spot on my home page for Messenger that asks me to share my day. Right below that is a list of active users. An active users list seems really useless in the age of smartphones. Showing a green dot next to a user’s profile picture is enough. Though what makes an active users list more infuriating is that there is a separate tab for it already in the home page. That’s not all though. Right below that is a list of suggested people to add. Again, I would prefer this not take up space in my home page, especially when there is a contact list to the right of the home page. Just put this at the top in a horizontal row, if you must! Which not to beat it into the ground, but next to this is another list of active users! Why?!

I think I’ve reached the tipping point in this write up. I’ve already started looking at some alternatives. The most promising so far is Telegram. Telegram has a clean web and mobile app. You have to sign up with a phone number, which I dislike, but other users don’t need to know your phone number to find you. They just need your username, which I do like.

I’m not going to end this article saying that everyone should go sign up for Telegram and that Facebook Messenger is a terrible service. I feel I’ve entertained both the negative and positives of using Facebook Messenger enough in this write up to give you an idea of what will and won’t work for you. Considering how integrated my friends and I are with Facebook Messenger, I’ll probably weather the storm until my own social circle adapts a new standard. Or rather if they adapt a new standard. Here’s to many more years restlessly enjoying Facebook Messenger!

Sources

The Verge

Messenger Web App

SEGA Forever Announcement

SEGA has just taken the wraps off it's newest mobile app SEGA Forever. The app aims to be the only place you need to go to play retro SEGA games, releasing new games every month and spanning, at the very least, all SEGA consoles. Some notable features include

• Save states
• Leaderboards
• Controller Support
• Offline Play
• Games are free

The games released so far are limited to Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Phantasy Star II, Kid Chameleon, and Comix Zone. The app was released today, June 21st, for iOS and Android. We will report back with a more in depth look as we spend more time with the app.

Sources: YouTube Trailer SEGA Forever Official Website

People still want the NES Classic Edition

AUGUSTA, Ga. – If you were conscious during the late 1980s, Nintendo is likely a household name in your memory. You may even own an original NES stored away somewhere, collecting dust. But if you're one of the many who were looking forward to the recently discontinued NES Classic Edition, you might have grievances with Nintendo.

The NES Classic Edition, released Nov. 10, 2016, was a game console by Nintendo, created in the image and spirit of the original Nintendo Entertainment System. According to the console's official website, the system comes packed with 30 digital, original NES titles and has peripherals compatible with other Nintendo systems, such as the Wii U. The console's run lasted from November of 2016 to April 13, 2017, a lifespan of only six months. According to IGN, Nintendo had never initially planned for the product to be "long-term." As a result, fans of the system are surprised.

"It was a good thing to have," said Atari gamer Blake Jeffcoat, "You could show the new generation what we used to play on." A notable advantage of the NES Classic Edition was that it was compatible with modern TV sets, which is a growing problem with retro gaming consoles. The low price of $60 also attracted many gamers on a budget. Super Mario Bros. 3 and The Legend of Zelda are just two of the 30 titles that were well received and sought out by gamers who wanted to purchase the system.

"It's just not fair," gamer Natasha Fletcher said, "At this point it's a lot easier just to preinstall the emulators on your own system that's not Nintendo." Fletcher, a Nintendo and Xbox fan, was referring to video game emulation; a way to play classic games through digital piracy and custom software. Due to the advents of the Internet and computer technology, video games can easily be converted to files on a desktop or laptop and played this way. Some gamers may resort to this method if they cannot find the games they are looking for in a store. Not all gamers, however, enjoy the experience of emulation. Some, in fact, enjoy the authenticity of the real thing. "I just really like the like idea of just like going to my TV and turning on like a system and like playing the game rather than like pulling it up on my laptop," local gaming enthusiast and artist Shea Minor said, "It just feels more genuine to me."

Shea Minor, a Nintendo loyalist, prefers “genuine” gaming instead of emulation.

Jamie Lopez, a gamer and computer systems analyst, owns a NES Classic Edition. Being one of the lucky few to buy one when it was in limited supply, he enjoys playing Super Mario Bros. and Tecmo Bowl in his free time. “I’ve been playing classic games pretty much my whole life,” said Lopez, “I had those little arcade boxes. You know, Galaga, the original Donkey Kong games. I used to play those all the time.”

Lopez enjoys his NES Classic Edition, but does not know anyone else who owns the system besides himself. “It’s kind of the nature of Nintendo, not wanting to stock the NES Classic very well,” explained Lopez, “There’s a lot of people that I know who wanted to buy one that aren’t going to get a chance to have one … but Nintendo did state that these were limited supply.”

Sadly, due to the nature of the market, the rarity of the NES Classic Edition made it a great target for price scalping. During its run, the console was notorious for being low in supply and expensive online. This trend continues today, and people refer to this practice as scalping.

"I really do not like scalpers," said Minor, "With some of these scalpers, sometimes you don't even know if, like, you're going to get the product you're going to get." Since the console has been discontinued, the only way for consumers to buy one is through a scalper or online sales. As reported by Slashgear.com, prices for an NES Classic Edition online can range from four to nearly seven times the retail price. "You're looking at people who are trying to deal with artificial scarcity," computer-based Steam gamer Tom Elbon explained, "Order in bulk and sell it later for a profit. That happens in almost every industry and unfortunately Nintendo's promoting it."

Jamie Lopez’s NES Classic Edition. The system is much smaller than the original.

So what now? What can disappointed gamers turn to if they can't afford a NES Classic Edition from a scalper? Apparently, they can turn to the next retro console in line, or the rumored 'SNES Classic'. According to Eurogamer, Nintendo has planned to release a successor to the NES Classic Edition, this time focusing on the Super Nintendo, or SNES. This new console will be made available around the holiday season; the same time of year that the NES Classic Edition was advertised. Alternatively, gamers seeking to play all the classics (meaning not just Nintendo) can also look forward to the Dreamcade Replay, an all-systems-in-one console in the works by DreamArcades. The console is funded through Kickstarter, focuses on retro game emulation and is set to relaunch funding starting in August. Lastly, console gamers can always turn to the RetroN 5 to make use of their old Sega, Nintendo and Game Boy cartridges.

Even if the rumored SNES Classic falls to the same fate as its predecessor, classic gaming will continue to thrive. There will always be an alternative available, be it another company’s product, digital downloads or emulation. The consistent desire for classic games will keep a constant flow of new outlets for gamers and remind companies of what consumers want.