My first PlayStation was a PS3, and thankfully, around then they were still releasing a number of ported “trilogies”.
Even though mine was not a backwards compatible model, I was also able to play digital versions of the Fatal Frame series, which is sadly now pretty much inaccessible.
I never played Jax, but I saw an analysis of its vector-based facial animation, where there were few enough vertices for animators to directly tweak; and it does feel like a nostalgic way to make cartoony, expressive faces.
I would really love to kill some time on my phone. The games I have tried include: Slay the spire, shattered pixel dungeon, unciv, dead cells. Other than that, are there any solid phone games or otherwise ports, paid or not?
If you have a Netflix subscription, the app lets you install many games that aren’t looking for microtransactions within.
Most of the Ace Attorney games are on smartphones.
I’ve also been having a lot of fun with Zenless Zone Zero. F2P, combat is based around swapping between a team of three, and making use of parry / dodge frame effects.
I can’t imagine playing this without a mouse honestly. It seems like the type of game where you would be 3 menus deep and alternating quickly between cookie clicking and managing buildings & upgrades.
It was only recently I saw that Blue Prince did not make a PS4 release, which surprised me - quite a lot of games even in the past year have still put that out when there’s nothing in them that’s highly demanding. Usually, it just means it hovers around 25-30fps.
What I absolutely love is the specific, mysterious revelation of “How is he doing this, this shouldn’t be possible”.
Spec Ops: The Line touches this a little bit - with some actions and messages leaning toward incredulity that 3 soldiers have been destroying an entire battalion.
The movie Willie’s Wonderland also aims for this. The lite mystery is how the animatronics became possessed, but the big mystery is who/what the hell the Janitor that wandered into town is.
On a similar note, you get a bit of that feel in Half-Life 2 from Dr. Breen’s angry message to the Nova Prospekt soldiers for them missing you at Black Mesa East; “This is not some agent provocateur or highly-trained assassin!! Gordon Freeman is a theoretical physicist!”
What most people get irked about is loss of ownership, which can be a separate topic with careful management. For instance, if you buy an ItchIO game, there’s no DRM and you can copy it anywhere - I imagine many would be fine with digital downloads if everywhere used that system, but on the corporate side they’d likely be grumbling about piracy.
I wouldn’t see it SO negatively. If they were paying people for reviews, then yes, that’s corruption; but every YouTuber uses phrases like “Drop a like” and it’s considered normal. When you worked hard on something, I think it’s common to ask for a positive review. People are sentient enough to choose whether to do so.
I was a mega-fan of both Ori 1 and 2. I’ve got a mug based on the first game, but when I first saw the trailer for this game, nothing about it interested me. Kind of like the Xbox 360 era of “brown and gray cover shooters” I’ve never understood the appeal for grim, depressing medieval worlds. I like having some vibrancy and inventiveness, as well as some motivation behind the violence used to achieve some end.
One of the only Soulslike games I’ve finished is Another Crab’s Treasure. The story/setting in that game ends up being pretty depressing, but it at least maintains a lot of humor and colorful design.
What’s more, I looked through the negative reviews, and a lot of them touch on incomplete or over-punishing systems, rather than seeming motivated by external factors.
You cannot have your bank account stolen from a Rock. People will never get your personal files or medical info from a Rock. People will never spy on you through the Rock.
Maybe I’m bitter, but I’m still not ready to forgive them for their treatment of Mick Gordon. Plus, they’re part of Microsoft Studios, who are now openly okay with genocide.
It seems like there’s a few studios that get this trick. Hazelight (Split Fiction, It Takes Two) seems to have a good cadence to releases and likely hasn’t inflated their size all that much. They’re consistently making good games.
I get a lot of good information from bad reviews, just by having a bit of introspection.
“This game is too easy!!”
Oh, that’s okay, I was looking for something easier.
“Two body types!!”
Oh, wow, so the only people that hate it are bigots.
“If you die once to the first boss, then it kneecaps your stats and you get no healing items for half the game.”
Wait, what…? But everyone else loves the game. Is this true?
“lol it’s fine, only scrubs die to the first boss, if you do just restart the 3-hour intro.”
Are these reviewers paid!? No thanks.
I think this is the problem gooner games have run into.
Like the Neptunia games. They are not great games at all by any measure. But the only people that would publically post reviews of them are likely going to review them positively.
Seems like a tragedy of MMOs when they want to introduce what’s new to returners, but then deliver an avalanche of “new stuff” to people brand new to the game.
I think there is a “graphical plateau” to gaming; a universal constant a bit like Moore’s Law. And while it’s not certain, it’s very possible the Steam Deck has mostly moved beyond it.
I definitely don’t think there’s an infinite bound to the detail games can add, especially within the resolution displayed on the Deck. Plus, many formats of games have not been well-served by that sort of extra detail. When a fringe hit like Liar’s Bar, REPO, or Lethal Company comes along, it never really needs the extra horsepower of top consoles. There’s a few rare PS5 exclusives that may struggle on it, but given Cyberpunk 2077 runs on it, I don’t even think we need be too worried.
I think about the creativity that goes behind translations like Ace Attorney, and lament that people are skipping past the nuance. Ex:
The name “Naruhodo Ryuichi” means nothing to me. However, their invented name “Phoenix Wright” evokes a popular image on its own. Same for a great many of their pun names. There are many detective games I’ve played from a Japanese theme where I actually couldn’t put clues together because I couldn’t remember “Udo Rayoge” was a noodle shop owner and “Ero Gotaro” was the police deputy that was taking bribes and was murdered - because those names form no connections in my mind.
Maya Fey eats burgers. Before translation, it was ramen; but at time of release, Americans associated ramen with being extremely cheap and low-nutrition (thanks to Cup Noodles). Changing it to burgers accomplished the intended character theme of being junk-foody and gluttonous.
Quite often, linguistics have some effect on the visual clues of the game (and Danganronpa mysteries just as much so), which means they often have to go very creative with something like a torn letter or a message written in blood.
Given how little libraries advertise, this is something that I found recently. Like many, I missed being able to easily/quickly rent games via Blockbuster. But, it turns out many librarians keep up with modern preferences and keep quite a few games for checkout. Even when the one closest library doesn’t have something I want,...
Is yours part of a larger network? I am lucky to live in a denser area where multiple library branches are within biking distance; and they generally share a database. They also have some options to have items delivered to a branch by request (though, with the demand video games get, this is probably more common for particular books)
Given the swathes of posts about bad behavior from big companies, I figure we could counterbalance that with some positivity about stuff the smaller guys made that often costs us less too.
Oh, haha, a souls game but with crabs, funny parody haha!
Except, no, while it does seem like it would be compared to SpongeBob humor, and it does self censor “shit” to “ship”, the themes of the story go well beyond just “Crab must find his stolen shell!”
It takes time to ramp up but in some ways it feels like a better-written game than most Soulslikes (to me, that’s not a high bar given the way many of them wrap their lore in many layers of obfuscation that you don’t get to enjoy in the moment)
Watching speedruns and trying NG+ is also a lot of fun.
I was getting into Blue Prince, then I think I got a little annoyed with a puzzle involving a time lock, that claimed you could set it to open at a future date/time and it would stay for one hour. Fun, inventive way to get people to plan ahead.
But no, then I wasted several out of game days planning only to find that it’s referring to in-game time; something that has not plainly existed through any of the other mechanics thus far. I’ll likely get back to it, just think they could’ve chosen the orientation of “big picture” puzzles like that a bit better.
I used a few little hints to help with the “true final boss”, but it was a fantastic reorienting of everything, and was glad by then it got away from traditional combat. I enjoyed the core combat too, although I usually don’t even like Soulslikes.
I suppose I’ve plugged it recently, but Another Crab’s Treasure.
It opens pretty plainly as an ocean-based Soulslike parody with a simple story premise and some self-subverting humor in the dialog with other crabs. As you go on though, every 20th conversation becomes really pointed and real-world-connecting, going beyond just “pollution bad”. It’s not quite Spec Ops: The Line, but it at least has something to say about society.
The combat is frustrating but addictive, much like Souls games - and it’s okay with handing off a number of allowances like accessibility modes and tip systems. It’s even helpful that, if I die to a glitch or something bogus, I can actually just choose to re-obtain my microplastics (souls) through a menu.
I have an idea for a game: It’s the usual “a princess is kidnapped by a dragon and a brave knight is on a quest to rescue her” story. But you (the player) plays as the princess, who is somehow helping the knight on his quest....
This is a problem a lot of VR games have to work with. They work best when you’re not adventuring around, so many of them prescribe a long set of challenges in a small space.
If the Princess gets any kind of ranged ability, you could make it like a sniping “puzzle” game across a wide parapet. And, if trying to elongate the game, come up with story reasons why just as the Knight opens the gate to her keep, he’s discovered and an evil dragon/Baron whisks her to a different tower. (Kinda like what Super Meat Boy does every level)
Seems like a goldmine of content for them to work on for the next decade+. Plenty of people will never experience these worlds or stories due to the turn-based combat, so giving them the Remake treatment could be the only way an audience ever finds them....
I still don’t understand the sentiment that turn-based doesn’t sell. We just got Clair Obscur breaking expectations.
Part of it is, you have to make the combat interesting visually, tactically, and sometimes even tactilely. Some games get that right: Persona 5, Like a Dragon, etc.
I would also go on a limb and say that 99.9% of strategy in turn taking games is terribly designed. Buff attack, use strongest attack. The one that I really wanted to see more of is a system like Cosmic Star Heroine’s.
Recently, Clair Obscur told another story of ex-publisher success. So far, we only know of the review success and I don’t actually know if it’s a financial success.
If it is, I can only hope it leads to some investor understanding in just how done the world is of lottery-planning in the game world; seeing one victory, and having every single publisher chase it.
I’m mostly PC. I have a PlayStation, and I just like the rental tryout system of PS+. I still think it’s a nicely cost effective way for someone new to gaming to try a lot of stuff.
But yes, even then you can often get much of the same through Steam key bundles.
Based on the article text, it’s only citing things like how long you play. I thought most games collected telemetry like this?
Don’t get me wrong, if it was scanning your drive to sell data to harvesters, I’d be extremely unnerved. And you should definitely be able to turn this off. But I feel like even Valve has recorded things like “60% of players quit after losing to this boss”
That’s the thing, though. I respect the analogy, but the equivalent here would be if the game was also checking your drive for other games, for financial apps, scanning your browser’s cookies to see which sites you visit, etc.
If, while playing a singleplayer game, they’re recording what actions you take within that singleplayer game, it’s understandable some people wouldn’t even want that - but I also don’t see that as nearly so invasive as other data travesties. Worse, highlighting it here feels like a “cry wolf” situation where you’d desensitize people to the most harmful privacy breaches.
I mean, there’s a fair reason most exclusivity is dead.
There’s a lot of cool PS4 games that just don’t run well on the PS4. So, it’s a much nicer experience to get them on PS5, at 60fps, full resolution, with instant load times.
It’s also honestly kinda nice that someone with low income can buy a used PS4 and still join for most of those games online.
If something that would normally be copyrightable is leaked, then the only people who have legal rights to that work are still the original owners. Anyone taking/sharing it is breaching copyright.
Different case for something someone recorded/created themselves, ex recording police abuse on their phone.
I know some people have a misguided view of “But you didn’t register copyright, it’s not copyrighted”. That’s the opposite of how it works. Rights are granted at time of creation; copyright is a “granted” right as part of sale/viewing managing how something can be shared.
Otherwise, a photographer that takes a picture of a rare Snipe can have that photo “legally” stolen before they make it to a lawyer.
If you’re trying to say that a recording of a video game is not considered fair use under copyright law, then I give you the existence of Youtube and Twitch as counter evidence.
So, funny you should say that…
This happened to Persona 5. Atlus felt that they had a legal basis to make copyright claims on the game - in their case, circumstantially around spoilers (I guess because they wanted people to pay $50 to experience the late-game story)
And they walked back, not because lawyers were dismantling their case, but because of public outcry. That basis of public preference is what has encouraged game studios to be friendly with Twitch / YouTube, not because judges would rubber-stamp any fair use “transformative work” argument. That is also why many games have given explicit notices to say “Content notice: Please feel free to share videos of this game wherever you’d like!” etc - as it is a non-default judgment.
So, as strange as it is to say, most uploaded videos of a game is in some murky legal territory. Obviously, most studios don’t care and even prefer them to be shared for visibility - or took the time to include those notices to make it 100% legal. But when the recording came from an internal build, the game itself is “stolen”, in that the person playing it breached either terms of viewing or terms of employment, and then the person re-uploading it is breaching copyright as they had no permission.
If you want to work it through the other way, permission to upload a work is non-default. You need to provide a basis it’s legal, not a basis it’s illegal. In many cases, it’s “I made this”. For 99.9% of video game content, it’s “the developer is okay with it”.
I think every few years I’m reminded this game exists, and go in to try to check it out - and I still have some account issue where my email is in use but it also won’t send a reset code.
I’m undoubtedly kind of frustrated about this “proving tariffs right” - but it remains to be shown whether this works. Very likely, even if/when they achieve scale, prices won’t come down for a very long time.
And it skips over the fact that there were so many ways to achieve this end without causing so much harm to so many industries that can’t do the same.
So in a lot of ways, it’s just the Asian term for loot box games, something that western games shied away from a bit after the Battlefront 2 controversy and EU attention, which Disney got embroiled in.
When that’s characters, I just accept it. Like, “Oh, I guess I don’t get to try out this character? I’ll level up others instead and see how well I can do.”
Given the tariff position, I’m curious if this will be the first time Nintendo decides to eat the loss on console hardware sales; something usually only other console makers have done.
Perhaps they think Trump will be on his way out. Or they’re eating into their cash reserves to prevent discussion of their consoles from getting political.
I just picked up the highly hyped Blue Prince. On the other hand reviews have also called it a very niche game. I like puzzle games to a certain extent and roguelikes, but these are subjective experiences....
Two hours is the length of some high-budget media; eg, movies and plays.
I know that some games are slow-burn, but that’s something people have to weigh themselves. Ideally, you’d enjoy the slow burn itself. When I tried to “force myself through to the Good Part of Nier Automata”, I ended up hating the whole thing.
I just realized the only way to get new gamers to care about Jak is to release a "remastered" version, which sucks. angielski
The games look great even to this day. I’m personally a huge fan of PS2 graphics and how it forced artists to rely on style rather than “realism.”...
Any good mobile games? angielski
I would really love to kill some time on my phone. The games I have tried include: Slay the spire, shattered pixel dungeon, unciv, dead cells. Other than that, are there any solid phone games or otherwise ports, paid or not?
Cookie Clicker coming to Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
I can’t imagine playing this without a mouse honestly. It seems like the type of game where you would be 3 menus deep and alternating quickly between cookie clicking and managing buildings & upgrades.
After saying negative reviews 'might just cause our death' and 'we've got a few months left in the oven', No Rest for the Wicked CEO claims he never said they were in 'immediate financial danger' (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Looks like the recently posted soap opera continues.
Can confirm... angielski
GeoGuessr's Steam Release Hit With Overwhelmingly Negative Reviews For "Completely Pointless" Monetization (www.thegamer.com) angielski
Claire fuckin Redfield angielski
Doom: The Dark Ages' PS5 physical release reportedly has just 85MB on disc, and Xbox isn't much bigger (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Ori studio in crisis: No Rest For The Wicked could be their final game (www.gamereactor.eu) angielski
Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
DOOM: The Dark Ages | Review Thread angielski
Game Information...
Counter-Strike 2: Mission Possible update (store.steampowered.com) angielski
On the prospect of an $80-$90 GTA 6, former PlayStation boss says 'it's an impossible equation' for big-budget studios to keep their prices down (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Let's hear both sides angielski
Genshin Impact will require US players to verify their age to play (genshin.hoyoverse.com) angielski
Playtron wanted to take on Windows and SteamOS with their GameOS, now they're announcing a cryptocurrency (www.gamingonlinux.com) angielski
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy has 100 endings, and it's pushing the creators to the brink of bankruptcy | PC Gamer (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Survey for curiosity: How many readers are in a library network that holds video games? angielski
Given how little libraries advertise, this is something that I found recently. Like many, I missed being able to easily/quickly rent games via Blockbuster. But, it turns out many librarians keep up with modern preferences and keep quite a few games for checkout. Even when the one closest library doesn’t have something I want,...
What is your favorite indie game? angielski
Given the swathes of posts about bad behavior from big companies, I figure we could counterbalance that with some positivity about stuff the smaller guys made that often costs us less too.
Game design question : how to make a "trapped" player character? angielski
I have an idea for a game: It’s the usual “a princess is kidnapped by a dragon and a brave knight is on a quest to rescue her” story. But you (the player) plays as the princess, who is somehow helping the knight on his quest....
Microsoft is raising prices on Xbox consoles, controllers, and games worldwide (www.theverge.com) angielski
Xbox first party titles expected to hit $80 USD this holiday; Game Pass pricing currently unchanged.
Do you think Square Enix should remake other Final Fantasy entries? angielski
Seems like a goldmine of content for them to work on for the next decade+. Plenty of people will never experience these worlds or stories due to the turn-based combat, so giving them the Remake treatment could be the only way an audience ever finds them....
Apex Legends and Star Wars: Jedi Dev Respawn Cancels Another Incubation Project, Lays Off Unknown Number of Individuals (www.ign.com) angielski
Next gen PS and Xbox consoles scheduled for 2027, tipped by cancelled Blade Runner game (www.notebookcheck.net) angielski
Ubisoft Accused of 'Secret Data Collection' in Single-Player Games (insider-gaming.com) angielski
Knock yourself out angielski
Ace Attorney became a hit IP only because Capcom pushed past the “failure” of first game, according to former dev (automaton-media.com) angielski
Well no “Objection!” here for Capcom taking a risk.
Nintendo lawyers want to force Discord to reveal Pokémon Teraleak source (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Nintendo seeks default judgement and $17,500 in damages from pirated game streamer who ignored court summons (automaton-media.com) angielski
Final clockstasy angielski
OG Guild Wars sees an all-new Steam concurrency high during its anniversary celebration | Massively Overpowered (massivelyop.com) angielski
New Mario on Switch 2? ‘Stay tuned,’ says Nintendo of America president (www.videogameschronicle.com) angielski
And I’m sure it’ll be hit with surge pricing.
AMD’s Lisa Su Breaks Silence on US Chips, TSMC Hikes Pricing (www.ccn.com) angielski
Almost 19% of Japanese people in their 20s have spent so much money on gacha they struggled with covering living expenses, survey reveals - AUTOMATON WEST (automaton-media.com) angielski
Nintendo Maintains Nintendo Switch 2 Pricing, Retail Pre-Orders to Begin April 24 in U.S. (www.nintendo.com) angielski
Prices for accessories will be increasing to compensate for tariffs.
Does the 2 hour refund limit on Steam affect game design? angielski
I just picked up the highly hyped Blue Prince. On the other hand reviews have also called it a very niche game. I like puzzle games to a certain extent and roguelikes, but these are subjective experiences....