Hopefully you’re referring to Visa/Paypal, not Itch.
One place that comes to mind is Verotel. I barely know them, but supposedly one of their star attributes is their use for adult businesses. Likely someone else knows them better.
If GTA V is allowed, I’m pretty certain most of what we’ve seen from NSFW games is as well. Regardless, a payment company should not be acting as judge for such things, just as media companies should not act as judge on copyright infringement on YouTube.
A) Honest mistake. I appreciated people pointing out the country of origin.
B) While the specifics of my comment were off the mark, even with this group being Australian, this group affects world commerce, and American politics has strong influence on that world in turn. Just like how president of the USA would have a big effect on the levels of violence and cruelty in Gaza. Visa is an American corporation, and they’re clearly quite on board with this censorship influence.
The thing is, I actually appreciate the idea of “de-objectifying” people in terms of fictional design; but I want that to be encouraged as part of the creative expression. A sexy female character with an identity and story behind her is a lot more fun to me than one just created to have big boobs. Heck, those same design principles can help design sexy men that appeal to female/gay groups.
But needless to say, forcing those views as part of these acts isn’t helping anyone. It’s just exerting forceful control, and we know how well that works for art.
That seems like a great idea. Now that so many games are much less demanding on your gaming machine than others (playing a Phoenix Wright game, or Stardew Valley, or Minecraft), holding back a bit of power makes a lot of sense. If implemented right, I imagine you wouldn’t see any effect from this on most games.
I don’t doubt that game studio business models have gotten scummier, but I never liked the phrase “The full experience”.
There’s a few Bioware games I can cite where it was a terrible setup that added story-critical quests through DLC, but most often, a “special edition” or even the season passes tend to add very optional, often-ugly, costumes to games that already offer a number of costumes with the base game.
Saying it often makes people picture that they don’t get an ending to their story, or are locked out of abilities. There are live service games with that issue - the “hero model” being a frequent offender, but in the best of those games, the game’s base price is low and even the guide authors will acknowledge few people should feel the need to buy every character.
There’s even an argument that SKG is a good financial motive for studios. Consumer electronics/entertainment spending is down, and it’s not hard to connect the idea that people are less enthused about video games when they aren’t sure they get to keep them. Which are you more likely to buy: Snake oil from a merchant on a turbo-driven truck ready to leave town? Or multiple panel-certified medicine from an extremely tightly-regulated industry.
I just picked up Beyond Galaxyland in a Fanatical bundle. I have not played it yet, so tentative recommendation, but reviews are indicating it may be a hidden gem.
For an older one I really liked: Cosmic Star Heroine. Pixel art, great soundtrack especially for bosses, and fantastic combat mechanics. It’s all very uniquely designed to encourage high-risk gameplay and variety on every turn, pushing moments where you buff yourself up for one or two supremely powerful strikes in a fight, or even sacrifice a character to KO the last enemy (all characters heal to full after every fight)
For even older: As someone who had that same kind of music-swelling nostalgia around FF7, I managed to win back that feeling when I played “The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky”. It’s a two-part game (sold as two units), that begins a giant series of games, but I only played it out of curiosity. Even though I didn’t fully enjoy later games, Trails had both a lot of enjoyable and unique elements to its combat, and a very emotionally written story that occasionally throws in silliness to retain charm. Though the game itself is old, it got a series of patches by a “master porting engineer” at Falcom that adds features like an experimental fast-forward mode to help with long battle animations.
On grinding, one great thing about the games is their XP system. They grant a lot more XP anytime you’re underleveled for enemies, and much less when you’re overleveled - helping to equalize the experience after just a few fights, many of which can be short thanks to fast forwarding. But, the story is still long overall.
You’ll see a Trails 3, which is very optional in my view. Weirdly, it’s a bit more of a “lore dump” for future games than closing off any major plot threads. To me it was a little bit of a signal of them taking their “Marvel universe” style of world a bit too far.
Their other good thing in my eyes is not overextending.
They have been profitable for a long time, and built up a reserve. Shitty CEOs would demand they use those reserves to branch out into a VR division. Make a room-sized toy, a massively online Second Life space, a chain of theme parks. Anything to show they’re hiring, growing, and that the ROI will triple every few years.
Obviously, had they done any of that, they’d be doing a lot more firing now because they’d have no reserves once all those plans go belly up.
So, it’s likely helpful their culture is quartered in Japan where the long term health of the company is treasured and short term gains are not worshipped so much.
The worst bit is reflecting on how the first movie portrayed it all.
A horrific empire, but a secret mysterious force, not believed in by many, that can help you fight it. Classic warriors using heavy swords in an age of laser rifles.
I don’t even really know what the message around the force was in The Last Jedi. I didn’t even bother watching Force Awakens.
I've been stuck at this boss all day, it kinda sucks. There's quite a few undefendable moves. You can't even block when it goes to its third form and takes about 1/2 health with its attack. With a character they pulled out of their butts....
I remember playing the demo for Remake. The guard scorpion took an age and multiple cycles to beat; apparently it’s not meant to, but something about its damage mechanics was just incredibly unclear to me. I was using magic and abilities how it said it wanted me to, but in an action game, those mechanics get much harder to parse. Would’ve preferred turn-taking.
I thought about doing this, but my plan would be to attach a thumbnail on every piece of AI art declaring “Placeholder AI work”. Then release the game for free that way to gauge interest.
Even if it’s literally just “money at stake” some countries would have reason to be concerned - because so many zero-IQ MBAs are pushing industries into a hot crash for short term gains that bankrupt any long term growth.
Gamers having no faith that the games they buy remain theirs is one of many things that can drive down spending; though it will never happen on such a granular scale publishers would take action on it.
I feel a bit of shame that back in the Win7, Xbox Series S era of Microsoft I was sort of cheering them on as an underdog in several markets.
But it does seem like every large company is driving these zero sum efforts now. Anyone that high up is chomping for workforce reduction.
If larger-scale changes don’t prove possible, I still want Elizabeth Warren’s Accountable Capitalism act as a way for majority workforce in a company to declare “No, this way is insane, fire whoever suggested it” earlier rather than later.
I sold my PC yesterday because of financial struggles and as far as I’m aware, I would probably be unable to buy a PC or console ever again. That said, I still want to somehow experience the games I would otherwise want to play on PC. I’m thinking of watching let’s plays but of course, that’s not the same as actually...
Anytime I see super-smooth transition animations in a demo, or even just gameplay mechanics that seem to work out way too conveniently, it tells me it’s an animated “pre-viz” demo of the game they want to make. That’s kind of the impression I got from Perfect Dark.
Any chance he’s putting the question on social media to convince other stakeholders above him?
It’s possible he was in a board meeting when some novice shareholder suggested “What if you take an exclusivity deal”? And he just didn’t have clear evidence on hand of that being vastly unpopular. Obviously that could be me being overgenerous to him.
When all the decisions have to come rapid-pace, I don’t feel like I’m doing anything notable. It feels like mashing out light or strong attacks and maybe some block/dodges.
I’ll admit that there have been some action JRPGs where I just didn’t understand how the mechanics worked together, even after some explanations, because I had to play it out so quickly in combat. Those games ended up having low difficulty so that people that “weren’t getting it” could still see the story.
I’m still okay at Soulslike games where there’s not quite as many meters and illogical systems. And of course I’m okay with turn-based games having those weird systems because I can process things slowly until I get it, and am taking my turns at full speed.
Has the potential to be very cool! What might be sad is that many horror games now evoke the trope of “They move when you’re not looking”. Game development takes a long time, so I can guess this was not an obvious trend when you started on it. But there should still be ways to differentiate your work.
Today’s game is a game called PEAK. My friend that i usually play games with gifted it to me after seeing it online somewhere. From what i can tell it’s made by the same studio that made Clustertruck (that game about platforming on moving trucks). It’s like a weird combination of climbing games and survival games. You have...
While it is fraud, it’s murky waters when you realize this is what every Kickstarter does. Gamers don’t easily fathom the full sum of what it costs to pay qualified artists for a full development cycle. Kickstarters have only existed to prove to investors that there’s monetary interest in a concept.
It doesn’t look like Borderlands 4 will make the jump in price up to $80. A visit to the Xbox Store shows that the base version of Borderlands 4 will cost $69.99....
I think the only thing that might get me to go over the $60 line is if a publisher takes a chance on a franchise/concept I’d like to see more of, which these days is rare.
I couldn’t stand Near A Tomato but have tons of hours in SB. I grant it has nothing amazing in terms of story, but it has enough intricacies of combat to keep it fun, even if none of those mechanics were invented here.
Nier seemed to operate off a single attack button a lot of time, and working off RPG mechanics gave so many opportunities for level disparity that didn’t serve the game at all.
King’s Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity. Even as a kid, I felt like it was a very strange gore-and-action focus shift for the King’s Quest series. Only as an adult did I hear the story of executive meddling that lead to the complete tone and gameplay shift.
Holy shit, how long has it been? Everybody assumed the devs ran with the money, they silently disappeared and stopped updating the game despite being in early access.
Turtle Rock said “Okay, we’re done developing content. We’ll move on to new things now.” And people took that to mean it was a failed, dead, and worthless game. Whereas the active state where they left it was pretty solid, still runs, and I have a lot of fun with it. It just wasn’t built to be endlessly live-service.
I know “worst” is an adjective that triggers a lot of content farms, but I still feel bad about these situations. Even the worst games, when they manage to be completed, are mountains of effort from the people involved; and as I understand it this was coming from one of IOI’s first publishing efforts.
I still haven’t seen the “no other option” scenario as so many claim. You could say $80 price tags do that, but if all prices are going up, that doesn’t track so much.
They also discount games if you buy them while you have game pass. So there’s some encouragement to try a game, find you want to keep it, and pay for a permanent copy should it be removed from GP (or the player decides to stop the GP subscription).
Still, I’m done with them because they’re done with talented studios, and are active participants in the Palestinian genocide.
The video game market is extremely hard to “corner”. It can happen for professional software like document processing, image editing, etc, but far too many startups are interested in making games, and there’s multiple digital stores to sell them. Minecraft and Factorio even sold off their own websites. Clair Obscur recently outsold a lot of big publisher efforts, and definitely didn’t need Game Pass’s visibility.
They can corner one particular audience like Call of Duty, but can only push so many expectations on them before those gamers consider other games. They tried it with Fallout, complete with subscription, and it was massively unpopular.
I feel like, though it doesn’t come up much, we should conceptually separate “owning the game” from “having a physical edition”. Some games give you a disc, but barely offer ownership (remember CD keys?) while other games are only sold digitally, but are ultra-permissive with what you do with them.
I get the sense many indie companies would like to give people as much control as possible, but also can’t afford printing box sets.
One bit that’s nice about being a gooner game is, there’s enough outfit options you can just pick something “cute” and tasteful, and then just play the game. So while many people are ogling, people that are not as interested can just play the game.
EDIT: Adding onto this, though I consider myself a gooner I actually had the opposite reaction to Nier Automata, the game’s carbon copy. I didn’t quite like the bare-ass-thong look of 2B, and it felt like it was consistently distracting enough to make the game’s emotional moments feel silly. At the least, if I put SB’s “Eve” in a denim skirt, that’s my own choice.
I found some cool stuff. I even coincidentally solved a puzzle involving an ice box on my first go. But it was taking waaaaayyyy too long to find anything interesting, and I had multiple runs where it felt like there was no chance to build anything other than a straight path of rooms leading to a dead end, either from lack of doors, or lack of keys.
I actually like the dice roll of getting different encounters and adapting to what comes up; but only when the goal is generally to do well, eg dealing lots of damage or exploring new directions. But often there’s very particular objectives in BP and the UI doesn’t do a lot to help you track them.
Would be great if the matchmaking world could set some criteria restrictions.
PlayStation controllers have a mic built in; make an expectation people will use it, and speak English. If people matchmake games, and then leave those games 45 seconds in, penalize them and prevent them from joining new ones.
I know those things are idealistic, but I also think with a very dedicated effort an online network could create that space.
Don’t worry, the controls on PC are just as unbearable. It’s that style of mouse movement that would be fine in an RPG but is absolutely terrible with an FPS.
Hey everyone! I have no power in here, have not checked if anyone has started one of these but I feel like being the change I want to see in the world....
I don’t see people playing Sea of Thieves much anymore. I never liked the top level pro PVP aspect but I do enjoy joining people for simple treasure hunts.
Oh look, another day where I barely ever even got rooms that had more than one door, and now that my winding path has hit a dead end all my resources are useless. Next day I guess.
Maybe I’m a simp for IOI, but the CEO’s allegations that the game might be getting paid-off negative press makes me curious. There have definitely been games in history that I’ve seen overwhelming negative reactions to from the internet, I tried them out and…they’re actually really fun. Sometimes it just feels simpler to join the bandwagon without trying a game out, not knowing a good 60% of that bandwagon might be paid trolls. I’ve always hated vague statements like “The game was released unfinished” or shit regarding paid extra content.
Anyway, all that is just my opinion that I’m going to wait and see, at the very least.
Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader dev Owlcat comes out swinging in support of Stop Killing Games: 'Every player deserves lasting access to what they’ve paid for' (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Ubisoft's annual report dictates that the consumers are the problem (www.youtube.com) angielski
First they came for steam, then they came for itch.io . angielski
Source.
Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors (itch.io) angielski
The group responsible is “Collective Shout”, the same org has targeted Steam before....
PS5 update introduces Power Saver option with a trade-off | Polygon (www.polygon.com) angielski
PS5 TDP options someday?
Microsoft concedes that 'The Outer Worlds 2' retail price was too high — Xbox says it "will keep our full priced holiday releases at $69.99," with refunds incoming (www.windowscentral.com) angielski
Stop Killing Games is facing a complaint in the EU that uses nonsense logic to accuse the movement's founder of failing to disclose financial contributions he never made: 'It's not paranoia if they re (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Looking for a "classic" RPG with solid plot (Steam Deck) angielski
I’ve always been a sucker for RPG games. When I’m feeling down I tend to play Final Fantasy 8 or Final Fantasy 10, they’re like my comfort games....
Nintendo touts high employee retention rate after loss of Microsoft jobs rocks Xbox Game Studios (www.notebookcheck.net) angielski
The Star Wars Outlaws flop - Guillemot blames waning interest in the franchise (www.gamereactor.eu) angielski
I really want to like the new ff7....but it's just so buggy. angielski
I've been stuck at this boss all day, it kinda sucks. There's quite a few undefendable moves. You can't even block when it goes to its third form and takes about 1/2 health with its attack. With a character they pulled out of their butts....
7,818 titles on Steam disclose generative AI usage, or 7% of Steam's total library of 114,126 games, up from ~1,000 titles in April 2024 (www.totallyhuman.io) angielski
European Commission preparing token gesture for angry gamers and game developers (www.euractiv.com) angielski
Romero Games reportedly met with Microsoft just a day before the publisher pulled funding for the studio, and there was 'no mention' of the decision that put over 100 people out of work (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Microsoft has never been good at running game studios, which is a problem when it owns them all (www.polygon.com) angielski
For people who want to play their favorite games but are unable to, what are you currently doing? angielski
I sold my PC yesterday because of financial struggles and as far as I’m aware, I would probably be unable to buy a PC or console ever again. That said, I still want to somehow experience the games I would otherwise want to play on PC. I’m thinking of watching let’s plays but of course, that’s not the same as actually...
Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well — joining Everwild and ZeniMax's new IP, and other unannounced projects (www.windowscentral.com) angielski
Subnautica's Original Creators Have Been Removed From Unknown Worlds "Effective Immediately", As Krafton Makes Concerning Leadership Changes (www.thegamer.com) angielski
Kerbal Space Program 2 vibes... I'm suddenly less optimistic on subnautica 2.
Randy Pitchford asks fans if they'd swallow future Borderlands exclusivity deals, almost 10,000 people say just put your damn games on Steam (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
Square Enix acknowledges Expedition 33 success as inspiration for next Final Fantasy as turn-based is still beloved by gamers (www.videogamer.com) angielski
Do Mannequins scare you? I am making a horror game inspired by Fatal Frame in FPS where your only weapon is a Polaroid Pictures! (lemmy.world) angielski
Day 338 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I've been playing angielski
Today’s game is a game called PEAK. My friend that i usually play games with gifted it to me after seeing it online somewhere. From what i can tell it’s made by the same studio that made Clustertruck (that game about platforming on moving trucks). It’s like a weird combination of climbing games and survival games. You have...
Studio Camelia shuts down a year after raising €300,000 on Kickstarter to fund JRPG (Alzara Radiant Echoes) (www.gamedeveloper.com) angielski
ICE Protests Pop Up on Roblox as Kids Organize Virtual Demonstrations: 'FRICK ICE' (www.latintimes.com) angielski
Borderlands 4 Price Has Been Confirmed (insider-gaming.com) angielski
It doesn’t look like Borderlands 4 will make the jump in price up to $80. A visit to the Xbox Store shows that the base version of Borderlands 4 will cost $69.99....
Stellar Blade on PC Hit 1 Million Sales 19 Times Faster Than on PlayStation 5 (insider-gaming.com) angielski
A game you "didn't know it was bad 'til people told you so"? angielski
I’m talking about games that you still like but you had no idea were criticized so much....
BattleBit - Operation Overhaul: Teaser Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
Holy shit, how long has it been? Everybody assumed the devs ran with the money, they silently disappeared and stopped updating the game despite being in early access.
MindsEye Becomes 2025’s Worst-Rated Game As Reviews Creep In (insider-gaming.com) angielski
Xbox Game Pass might be getting a price hike (www.windowscentral.com) angielski
Stellar Blade PC launch Hits 99K+ Concurrent players, surpassing every other PlayStation-published single-player game on Steam (noisypixel.net) angielski
Blue Prince - Have you played it? How blown is your mind? angielski
Found this on game pass (which I keep meaning to cancel, but here we are). Holy. Shit....
Atomic Heart 2 Announced At Summer Game Fest (wolfsgamingblog.com) angielski
Sea of Thieves Season 17 Announce Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
Deathloop is free to claim on Epic Games (store.epicgames.com) angielski
Now this is how you do pride month, take notes AAA devs (lemmy.blahaj.zone) angielski
The first weekly What Are You Playing? thread! angielski
Hey everyone! I have no power in here, have not checked if anyone has started one of these but I feel like being the change I want to see in the world....
MindsEye studio execs depart Build a Rocket Boy, one week before game's debut (www.eurogamer.net) angielski