This generation is already pretty weak, and it was hard to justify the original PS5 which, after a whopping four years, still has too few exclusive titles to justify the increased price point. Now they are asking for $700 (and they increased the controller’s price, too), but there’s still too few next gen titles, and it doesn’t even come with basic features like a disc tray and a vertical mount. Not even a better form factor, it’s the same old ugly case, but somehow bigger.
The only premium thing about this thing is the price tag. $700 dollars but €800, because apparently they are dominating the European market so much that they don’t even have to try to sell it at an honest price point. With all those money you can just buy a PC. I honestly don’t think that many people who are interested in the console market (which, historically, has always been a “low budget” entry into modern gaming) would be willing to spend so much money on one.
I guess we circled back to the PS3 era, when Sony got drunk with overconfidence. Only, this time they’ll get away with it because their main competitor is somehow even more incompetent than them. I wonder if the handheld PC market will pose a threat to their dominance in the future - at the moment, it’s a very small niche.
I haven’t seen it nearly this bad until this year. This is the worst year I’ve ever seen for it, and Hoyo games are by far the worst
Congrats for lasting this far. I quit the anime world years ago when it became clear that that shit was becoming the norm, and 95% of products specifically catered to that demographic.
I seem to remember MS claiming they were opening the “first AAAA dev studio” (The Initiative). Since then, the studio has been radio silent, lost a bunch of talent, and needed help from Crystal Dynamics to work on their first game (Perfect Dark reboot).
As spotted by Windows Central, though, Jyamma CEO Jacky Greco later went into additional detail on Discord. Following a community manager’s statement dismissing speculation the studio had been “paid by Sony”, Greco shared his own frustrations relating to the delay. “You can ask Xbox why they haven’t answered us for two...
If that’s the reason, it doesn’t paint MS in a good light. Bullying small indie devs out of spite. Especially considering that, after saying that in March, Jyamma spent time and money to release the game on Xbox the same day as the other platforms.
But I honestly doubt it. Corporations are NOT people (even if the law would like to pretend otherwise) and they don’t think the same way as people. They don’t play favourites, they don’t play nice or bully others because they feel like to. They chase money, and that’s it. A game releasing on their platform is literally free money. This is just a fuck up on their part. If I had to guess, MS cut jobs and replaced them with AI and left a skeleton crew working on this.
The beauty of Final Fantasy is that, with each entry being different from the others, every game of the series ends up resonating differently with different people.
The “best” Final Fantasy varies greatly depending on who you ask, for a combination of factors, including nostalgia and subjective opinions on the different aspects of the game (story, characters, gameplay).
It’s what I love about this series. You may play ten games, but the eleventh will still surprise you in some way. Even if I don’t like a specific entry, I can still appreciate that they tried something new and unique, and I always look forward to playing the next one.
HD remaster of the first Croc title will be released for “all the current consoles and PC". There’s no specific release date beyond “2024” at the moment....
I played the original countless of times as a kid! It was a great platformer hindered by the tank controls, which unfortunately led me to prefer Spyro. If there ever was a game in need of a remaster (as opposed to a remake), it’s this one. Update the controls, and the game itself is still a lot of fun.
I started playing during the PS1 era when tank controls were the norm. I have no qualms with tank controls in other kind of games. To use your example, I genuinely think that REmake is a lot better with tank controls; modern controls conflict with fixed camera angles, because you may turn a corner and suddenly left becomes right, and the control scheme is clearly not designed with that in mind.
But in a platform game with very precise platforming sequences, tank controls and unresponsive camera were horrible. It made playing it frustrating to the point that, despite playing it a lot, I never actually finished the game, because I would always give up somewhere through the game. The farthest I went into Croc 2 was the fourth world (still don’t know how many there are), and iirc third world in Croc 1. As opposed to Spyro and Crash which I replayed dozens of times from beginning to end.
I won’t say that my experience is universal and I can definitely see people enjoying the control scheme, but I gave it a lot more than a fair shake and it never convinced me. I always had the impression that the game was fighting me and genuinely wanted me to fail.
Honestly, the true ending is nothing to write home about. Sea of Stars is probably one of my favourite JRPG ever, but the entire last arc and both endings were a huge letdown.
I’m not sure I remember the part where Indy is buried chest deep in sand with one fist defiantly raised … It looks more like a character model glitched under the map!...
Because he is. The person he is speaking to is a Nazi. there are other Nazis behind him. They probably dug a hole a left him there to die or something (we lack context for the scene, but it’s believable). Full scene: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e17p2IVDUU
As per title. Most computer games these days are made with such unnecessary padding that I want to murder the devs or myself by the end. See, for example, Hyrule Warriors, the 100% 1000 Hour Nightmare, the Review....
I burned myself out of many a game as a kid attempting (and usually succeeding at) 100% them, so I learned my lesson. Nowadays I just play for fun and maybe go after the platinum if I liked the game enough. My time has value and I’m not going to squander it to “look at the minimap, go to waypoint/marked location, collect random collectible, rinse and repeat for 10-15 hours”, nor am I spending dozens of hours grinding some random activity.
For example, I did almost 100% all Yakuza Kiwami. Did all side quests and enjoyed most of the random activities! Iirc those I had most trouble with were karaoke and billiards, but I still had tons of fun learning them and gradually getting better at them. But fuck me I’m NOT going to grind the coliseum for hours just to buy random weapons that I don’t need but are arbitrarily required for the 100% completion.
I’ve also learned not to rush it. I frequently replay games that I like, so if I miss an achievement, that’s fine. Maybe in five years I’ll pick the game up again and grab the random achievement I missed the first time around. There’s no need to sweat it, no need to read guides before/while playing the game and potentially spoiling me some major story events, and no need to immediately replay the game just to reach that random achievement.
That being said, the game I had the most fun with was CrossCode. Movement is fluid, combat is snappy, story and characters are fun and puzzles are actually challenging. It’s the most charming experience I’ve ever had playing a game, and it’s why it immediately jumped straight into my top favourite games ever. There is technically a “completionist list” within the game with some abdurd and missable requests, but it’s not required to 100% the game and it’s basically just a pile of challenges that you can tackle on if you feel like it. If you don’t, you can just play the story, do the side quests and collect all the treasures, which is a lot of fun. The platinum only requires you to beat the story iirc, so you don’t even need to do any of that; I did it because I liked the game and wanted to do it. Twice! I bought the game on PC and console and 100% it both times.
Most other games that I enjoy completing are platformers/collect-a-thons, such as Spyro, Crash (except Crash 1, never managed to finish it, but had tons of fun nevertheless), Ori, Celeste, PS1 Oddworld games, etc… and metroidvanias, if they are not overly long (basically every one I’ve played except for Hollow Knight).
The longest run I had was Final Fantasy XIII. I liked the game so much that I kept going back to it over the years, slowly chipping at the side content and grinding my way to max level. I got the platinum almost ten years after starting my save file, and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much if I attempted to rush it all in one sitting.
The fact that MS spent an entire decade fumbling the ball, and when it finally got it right and released a game people actually liked, immediately shut down the studio and sold the IP, is still highly amusing to me.
You can’t convince me that it wasn’t an inside job from someone who either secretly works for the competition, or who actively hates MS and wants it to fail.
Alabaster Dawn is an Action RPG that builds on the best aspects of Radical Fish Games’ previous title, CrossCode. It features a deep combat system, challenging puzzles, and a mysterious world teeming with secrets, all bundled up in an engaging story. The shadow of Nyx has fallen—warping the world into a wasteland and...
I found the puzzles refreshing in CrossCode. It was nice having a game that actually had the guts of challenging your wits, instead of spoiling all your fun with the characters telling the solution before you even manage to look at the damn puzzle. They were my favourite aspect of the game for sure.
A bit sad they decided to tone down on that aspect, but hopefully they’ll strike a balance that makes both of us happy.
Pollution and nuclear war destroyed the environment.
The economy is in shambles, big corporations rule over the world and exploit the powerless working class.
Crime has overtaken the country. It doesn’t matter who you are: you are either one of them, or on the receiving end.
Breathable air is a subscription service, and price hikes happen every other month to please shareholders.
Game devs are still releasing games for the PS4 and XOne consoles. Nobody has yet understood the purpose of the next gen consoles. Every other day, someone screams “but muh exclusives!” to the sky. But no one answers back. God remains silent.
Thing is, they don’t need to sell consoles anymore. They’re in the gamepass business now.
They need to sell consoles to sell GamePass to people. Nobody is going to play games on a Firestick. Same reason why nobody bought the mobile ports of Resident Evil. Those who play games, buy the hardware for it. Some go overboard with the high-end PC and some prefer to buy a cheaper console, but nobody is like “yeah I’ll play Elden Ring on my phone”. Gamers want the hardware, and casuals don’t buy gaming subscriptions. It’s a lost cause.
“MS doesn’t care about selling Xbox console” is a lie they have been pushing for a while now because their console sales have been tanking for that many years. They would LOVE to sell more consoles, they just can’t, so they attempt to spin the story a different way so that the shareholders are still happy. What, you want to know about sales? But who cares about sales, it’s all about engagement! Look at those big, happy numbers we are showing you!
Nobody enters a business with the idea that “whatever, even if we don’t sell enough, it’s fine, we still had a great time”. MS didn’t became the world’s biggest corporation by being lazy.
They currently have roughly 34 million subscribers (as of February, I’m guessing Activision Blizzard King is going to bump this number up further), let’s assume an average of $12 a month. That’s over $400 million coming in every month or 1.2 billion every quarter on the books. They don’t have to rely on a big game to have a good month.
That’s great until you consider the fact that GamePass doesn’t operate in a vacuum. To put games on their service, they have to pay developers. They then need to please shareholders who want subscribers and revenue to increase. The fact that they increased the price twice in a row and effectively doubled the price of GamePass overnight suggests that they are not pleased with the current revenue.
Heck, we don’t even know how many of those 34m subscribers are paying customers, and how many just got into GP by paying $1 or benefitting from some other deal. I was one of those 34m back in February, because I got a year for free with the Rewards program (back when it was still worth something; they axed that one as well, because of course). When they asked me to pay to renew it, I cancelled the subscription. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.
You’re more valuable to them having the gamepass subscription and just playing on your phone over someone who buys a console and purchases 7 or 8 games a year.
Sure, but that’s the same as Don Mattrick asking customers to “stick to their X360”. The choice is not between buying games on XOne or subscribing to GamePass on your phone. The choice is between an Xbox, a PS5, a Switch or a PC. Two of those choices means that they have lost a customer (you can’t subscribe to GP on PS or Nintendo consoles), and I’d be curious to know how many people are subscribing for GP on PC instead of just buying games on Steam. You don’t need GP to play online on PC as you do on console, and the prices are cheap enough that you are probably saving money just buying those games instead of renting them.
And let’s not talk about how terrible the user experience is on their PC storefront compared to literally any other competing storefront - I’d rather buy a game on Epic than use their Xbox store, and that says a lot. I had a game on PC thanks to the Play Anywhere program (bought it on Xbox, got the PC version as well), but I had to buy it again on GoG to mod it because MS considers their game files more precious than the holy grail itself and wouldn’t let me go anywhere close to them, let alone touch them.
Finally, on 27th July, Blow noted the “whole industry is having a hard time” and then, when asked how many of his development team are working on the compiler for programming language Jai, Blow replied: “None, because we can’t afford to pay anyone because the sales are bad.”...
I feel the problem is not the industry but the fanbase. As of the last few years, it’s become pretty common to see videogames become target of hatred for “going woke”: H:FW’s Aloy’s “peach fuzz”, TLOU2’s Abby being too masculine, women not living to the average beauty standard, LGBT characters “shoved down people’s throats”, character editors decoupling gender and sex or using gender-neutral language, narrative being cringe because it targets millennials (as if older games didn’t target young audiences, too)… The industry is going forward, but I don’t think the fanbase is ready yet.
Sometimes I think the fanbase is regressing, even. I’ve seen people lamenting increased “politics” in their videogame, yet saying that MGS or FFVII or Bioshock are their favourite games. Gamers don’t even pay attention to what they consume, they merely parrot whatever their favourite influencer says. “Woke” is a meaningless term that gets thrown around whenever they don’t like something.
Lol, enshittification came faster than expected. At least Netflix was successful before the price hike, and then decided to be greedy because their user base was willing to pay.
On the other side of the fence, Xbox Series consoles tanked harder than XOne (which was already a colossal failure) and Game Pass subscribers fell short of corporate expectations every year since its inception. And they decide that this is the best time to double the price of the service? Good luck with that decision, Microsoft.
Who is gonna pay $15/month for a catalog of old games? Old games are already cheap enough that you can buy them directly and still “profit” over keeping an ongoing subscription. And $20/month for day one games? At that price, you’re better off just buying the damn game. GP was already hard to justify at its previous price, but this new price point is egregious.
Great games, I have fond memories of me and my brother playing those flash games.
If you don’t want to pay, the Flashpoint Collection already has these flash games and they are fully functional, although I think I’ll grab this release to support the dev after all these years.
I don’t see the point of doing a remaster of a remaster. This game needs a proper remake. As a big fan of the original game who played the heck out of its original X360 release, without an update to its outdated AI it’s frustrating to the point of unplayability.
I used to think the same way, but one day MS was having server issues on their end, and my XOne refused to play my rightfully owned game despite the disc being in the console. I was also unable to log into my account, which made me unable to save my progress, which made playing the game (if it suddenly decided to work) impossible.
Consoles were great until the X360/PS3 era. I could buy a disc, insert the disc into the console, and start playing, and the game would probably work fine without much hassle. I played my X360 offline for years and it worked just fine. Nowadays I go to the store, buy the disc, go back home, insert the disc, wait for it to install, and then I discover that the game was not optimized for my console of choice and it runs awfully to the point of unplayability. And if I have no internet connection, tough luck, my console turns into an expensive brick.
I now just buy on GoG. Much easier that way. Console exclusives are ported to PC anyway, so you’re not missing anything. You also get nice perks like playing online for free if you’re into multiplayer games, or playing older games on emulators (and current ones, because fuck Nintendo).
“We’re excited for the launch of Black Myth Wukong on Xbox Series X|S and are working with Game Science to bring the game to our platforms. We can’t comment on the deals made by our partners with other platform holders, but we remain focused on making Xbox the best platform for gamers, and great games are at the center of that.”
EULA are probably unfair due to the imbalance of rights and obligations between the parties.
This is the most important amongst the bullet points for me. Companies should not be allowed to hide shady stuff in the wall of text that you are required to accept to play the game that you have already bought.
I bought a bunch of indie games that looked cool: Alwa’s Legacy (I’m playing it right now, it’s pretty fun), Night in the woods and Phoenotopia: Awakening. I also bought Dishonored (which I played back in the days, but I’m eager to replay one of these days, alongside its DLCs).
Risky purchase of the week: King of Dragon Pass. Never heard of it, but the reviews were positive and the screens look interesting, so I decided, why not.
I also really, really wanted to buy I was a teenage exocolonist, because it’s one of my favourite games from 2022, but the GoG version still hasn’t been updated to the recent patch, and seems like it never will. Shame.
EDIT July 2024: I mailed the publisher to ask them if they were willing to update the GoG release of their game, and they immediately went and did it! You can add I was a teenage exocolonist to my GoG recommendation list. It’s a great game that really deserves your time.
Like, I know that shitting on Kotaku is a gamer’s favourite pastime, but I genuinely don’t understand what you are complaining about here. All their reviews are “unscored”, they don’t give scores anymore. It’s not like they criticized the DLC either, their review is super positive.
When new video game stores were opening that charged much lower commissions than Valve, I decided that I would provide my game “Overgrowth” at a lower price to take advantage of the lower commission rates. I intended to write a blog post about the results. But when I asked Valve about this plan, they replied that they would remove Overgrowth from Steam if I allowed it to be sold at a lower price anywhere, even from my own website without Steam keys and without Steam’s DRM.
Greetings, flaming fellas of the Fediverse, we are halfway through #SteamNextFest , but that's no reason to be idle, for surprises at every corner and every genre awaits
The lawsuit doesn’t imply that Steam forces their piece to always be cheaper than the competition. Sales can happen on different stores at different times, thus a game can be $50 on Steam and $40 on Epic today.
But Steam forces sellers to offer “the same offer to Steam customers within a reasonable amount of time” - source (sorry, Shitter link) from this article, which is about a similar lawsuit from 2021.
And the language used means that, while this only applies to devs who make use of Steam keys, it doesn’t apply to the Steam keys themselves - if you want to use Steam keys, you also can’t offer discounts on competing storefronts. From the source:
Rosen said he ran into that issue when he decided to release Overgrowth at a lower price on other storefronts in order to take advantage of their lower commission rates. “When I asked Valve about this plan, they replied that they would remove Overgrowth from Steam if I allowed it to be sold at a lower price anywhere, even from my own website without Steam keys and without Steam’s DRM,” Rosen wrote.
Greetings festive fellowship of the fediverse, it's the second day of the #SteamNextFest , and there are still many games to discover and discuss, let's share our mutual discoveries of today
Damn, I had Glyde in my wishlist for what seems like an eternity but I wasn’t actively following the development. I’m glad it’s still alive, although the comparison to Eternal Night is kind of off-putting (I appreciate the Legend of Spyro trilogy for what it is, but I’m not looking forward to relieving any more of its gameplay lol).
I suppose I’ll give it a chance though. I’m just that desperate to play as a little dragon again.
The Bethesda of old who invented MTX with their $5-dollar horse armour?
Or the Bethesda of old who made millions by re-releasing the same game for 10+ years but refused to spend a dime to fix its bugs or give the players a functioning UI?
Every monster collector out there tries to reinvent the Pokémon formula, but if I were to create one, it’d be like Digimon World 1: a semi-open world with a vivid sense of wonder and exploration, and fully-fledged pet raising mechanics.
I can’t fathom how beating up wild animals, forcefully capturing them, and pitting them against other animals in a government-sanctioned tournament is supposed to evoke a feeling of friendship and adventure.
I just want more in-depth mechanics to raise my magical animal, and more ways to interact with them outside of battles.
Is it? Pathfinder seems more like the exception than the rule. I’ve got a big library on GoG and none of my games even reach a quarter of the 200 MB limit.
Microsoft Layoffs Hit Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, Which ‘Didn't Hit as Big as Hoped’ (www.ign.com) angielski
People seem to really dislike Destiny 2. Why haven't they ended it yet? (lemmy.world) angielski
Unity scraps runtime fee, hikes subscriptions instead (www.theregister.com) angielski
Flappy Bird Returns but now with microtransactions (youtu.be) angielski
Sony announces the PS5 Pro with a larger GPU, advanced ray tracing, and AI upscaling (www.theverge.com) angielski
$700, and the side by sides look barely different, from my perspective. The chat seemed to have the same opinion.
Why is the community for Honkai Star Rail and Genshin Impact like this? (lemmy.world) angielski
I can’t be the only one who finds this stuff Just the slightest bit revolting, right? Like … Wow. I’m at a loss for words
Kotaku being Kotaku (lemmy.today) angielski
At this point I’m going to Ladbrokes and betting against everything Kotaku promotes. They are like Jim Cramer of the gaming industry.
Does AAAA just mean awful triple A games now? angielski
It seems the general direction the internet is going and I’m all for it
Soulslike Enotria: The Last Song delayed indefinitely on Xbox as dev says it's being ignored by Microsoft (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
As spotted by Windows Central, though, Jyamma CEO Jacky Greco later went into additional detail on Discord. Following a community manager’s statement dismissing speculation the studio had been “paid by Sony”, Greco shared his own frustrations relating to the delay. “You can ask Xbox why they haven’t answered us for two...
Do you think gta 6 will have better story than rdr2? angielski
I personally like Bonnie and Clyde stylr but I don’t think it will impress so much like rdr2
Final Fantasy Creator Reveals Which Entry He Thinks Is 'Most Complete', and It's Not Final Fantasy 7 (www.ign.com) angielski
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (2024) - Teaser Trailer (youtu.be) angielski
HD remaster of the first Croc title will be released for “all the current consoles and PC". There’s no specific release date beyond “2024” at the moment....
Blue Protocol to be discontinued in Japan, will no longer release in the west. (blue-protocol.com) angielski
Sea of Stars – Throes of the Watchmaker DLC – Indie World Showcase 8.27.2024 (www.youtube.com) angielski
Masters of Albion trailer, an in development god game x colony builder hybrid with custom crafting recipes (food, armour), custom building design and optional 3rd person combat from Peter Molyneux (www.youtube.com) angielski
I don't remember this scene from Indiana Jones (lemmy.world) angielski
I’m not sure I remember the part where Indy is buried chest deep in sand with one fist defiantly raised … It looks more like a character model glitched under the map!...
"giving a tax cut to the Nobles will open up new opportunities for the Commoners" (i.ibb.co) angielski
…...
What’s a game you can 100% without hating by the end? angielski
As per title. Most computer games these days are made with such unnecessary padding that I want to murder the devs or myself by the end. See, for example, Hyrule Warriors, the 100% 1000 Hour Nightmare, the Review....
Krafton acquires Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush IP from Xbox (www.gamesindustry.biz) angielski
Alabaster Dawn Reveal Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
Alabaster Dawn is an Action RPG that builds on the best aspects of Radical Fish Games’ previous title, CrossCode. It features a deep combat system, challenging puzzles, and a mysterious world teeming with secrets, all bundled up in an engaging story. The shadow of Nyx has fallen—warping the world into a wasteland and...
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is coming to last-gen consoles next month (www.ign.com) angielski
Sales on current-gen consoles must’ve not been great
Game Informer shuts down after 33 years (www.gematsu.com) angielski
Xbox Console Sales Continue To Crater With Massive 42% Revenue Drop - Slashdot (games.slashdot.org) angielski
Braid: Anniversary Edition "sold like dog s***", says creator Jonathan Blow (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Finally, on 27th July, Blow noted the “whole industry is having a hard time” and then, when asked how many of his development team are working on the compiler for programming language Jai, Blow replied: “None, because we can’t afford to pay anyone because the sales are bad.”...
NCSoft president: "The games industry's evolution towards acceptance and diversity is ongoing" (www.gamesindustry.biz) angielski
From the article:...
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will come to Game Pass on August 8 according to reliable source (wolfsgamingblog.com) angielski
Xbox Game Pass is getting MAJOR changes, with a new tier without day one games, and a range of price increases (www.windowscentral.com) angielski
We all knew it was coming. Game pass gets a price increase and a new more expensive tier for day 1 games....
This cult classic mind bending puzzle series is coming back to PC (www.pcgamesn.com) angielski
Memory unlocked. I remember playing these when I was younger. Man, it’s been like 15 years now…
Gothic, Risen, and Elex Dev "Piranha Bytes" Reportedly the Latest Embracer Studio to Shut Down (www.ign.com) angielski
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Teaser Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
UK Retailer GAME To End All In-Store Video Game Sales (www.gfinityesports.com) angielski
Hotly anticipated 'Black Myth: Wukong' is delayed on Xbox Series X|S — and now, Microsoft has responded (www.windowscentral.com) angielski
Dead Game News: Response from the European Commission (www.youtube.com) angielski
Alternative Invidious Link
GOG Summer Sale has arrived (www.gog.com) angielski
Elden Ring: Shadows of the Erdtree - Review Thread angielski
Game Information...
$843 million lawsuit against Valve already has its own website: "The Steam Claim" accuses the biggest store in PC gaming of "overcharging" players (www.gamesradar.com) angielski
Steam owner Valve accused of ripping off 14m UK gamers (www.bbc.com) angielski
Valve Corporation is being accused of using its market dominance to overcharge 14 million people in the UK....
The Biggest Announcements Of Summer Game Fest And Neighboring Shows (www.gameinformer.com) angielski
Starfield's latest update draws player ire by sticking a bounty hunting quest behind the Creation Club paywall (www.vg247.com) angielski
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Reveal Trailer - Xbox Games Showcase 2024 (www.youtube.com) angielski
This looks GOOD. A turn based RPG? Published by a AAA company that isn’t japanese? I can’t believe it.
Hypothetical Game Ideas angielski
What game would you create if you had the skills and experience of a veteran game dev? I.e. John Carmack...
GOG will delete cloud saves more than 200MB per game after August 31st (support.gog.com) angielski