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Grumpypants

Robert ninja wrote: »

Aren't the majority of staff in these big companies on a contract and/or let go/moved around after the completion of a game? Doubt they're even around to see nicer offices (especially since it's all going remote now too). I mean I'd be glad to be wrong but it's hard to imagine bonuses going to little miss in the corner who mastered some sound FX when she's probably well into another job by the time the game is even bringing in money. Cool if so, though, and probably true for their core staff and big names. As long as it's an actual bonus and not just the rest of the salary that they ought to have been getting anyway (like tipping system in the US).

God no, in most cases they really want to hold onto people. But It depends again on the situation.

If you are a studio that makes one single player game every 5 years, then you prob do ramp on people with a specific talent for a project and then ramp them off.

There are specific companies that work with multiple studios and want to only provide a certain service at key moments.

If you are a studio that has over lapping cycles then you prob want to retain much more of the talent in house as it is cheaper.

Similar to building a house, you need lots of people to build it at construction stage, but you don't need 50 lads in hard hats hanging around when you want to move in. You expect them to be moving into another house.

Luckily many games now have a live service and it fills the gaps between projects.

johnny_ultimate

Anyone looking to purchase Deadly Premonition 2 should probably hold off a while...

https://twitter.com/apzonerunner/status/1280850881416695809?s=21

https://twitter.com/risingstargames/status/1281161446672470017?s=21

Jank may be part of Swery’s oddball franchise, but one would expect the game to at least be playable in its jankiness. This level of utter technical incompetence seems far beyond the original 360 release of the first game (although I believe some subsequent ports have been appalling).

Honestly just get the sense this was a cheap, quick sequel (even by DP standards) rushed out the door by a random studio, while most of Swery’s attention was focused on what looks like the far more interesting Good Life.

Retr0gamer

Deadly Premonition 2 reviews coming out and they are just as mixed as the original.

Looks like it's another janky but worthwhile mess that has a compelling narrative, writing and characters. However some say it's not as compelling as the first game.

pixelburp

I really, really don't get the appeal of Deadly Premonition. No lack of coverage and gameplay floating about to vicariously experience the thing ... and it just looks like utter shít. An incompetent, bizarre riff on Twin Peaks people find charming for some reason ...

johnny_ultimate

Because it does have charm, which is key. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very so-so about the game - its Twin Peaks ‘influence my borders on theft, some of it is farcically incompetent, and outside some interesting open world ideas the actual playing of the game is infuriating. But it’s compelling and earnestly weird in ways few games are, and it’s also genuinely funny, charismatic and even surprisingly well realised in ways beyond it merely being a janky mess.

None of this is to say I’d recommend it or anything - it’s a weird curio as opposed to some masterpiece of the medium. But there is a latent charm there that Swery has built on in subsequent games without the insane levels of jank.

Retr0gamer

Yeah it's a weird game. Technically it's an incompetent mess. And yet I found the narrative and characters so engrossing and enjoyable. There's some genuinely amazing and emotional moments in the game but then it's interspersed with awful shooting sections that go on way too long and driving around an open world in a car that barely obeys the laws of physics (while listening to admittedly entertaining lectures about classic films). The storyline also somehow, miraculously comes together in a massively satisfying way in the end and it should be commended for the most bizarre and brilliantly warped and out of place use of 'Amazing Grace' in any medium ever. At the start it seems like it's just a load of old waffle and nothing makes sense but by the end if all makes sense.

I loved it. I hated it. And by the end it was a ride thoroughly worth experiencing.

ERG89

i think there is definitely a gap in the market for PS2 era open world games but they should at least run competently, not like a rough early access game. This is a full price digital game on the eShop so its not like Steam where a refund is there for you without issues.

I watched Jim Sterlings video on it and he asked about the the performance and was told by the studio they had no plans to patch the framerate or performance. It seemingly runs somewhat fine indoors but when outside(even in a barren environment) it chugs like Earth Defence Force at its most hectic. The basic skateboarding setup looks far worse than Bully which is a 15 years old game. It looks like they didn't make the open world with a skateboard in mind and just threw it in for the sake of it.

I hope people don't go over the top defending it as it just doesn't perform near good enough for a full price game in 2020.

pixelburp

All very cogent arguments, and kinda reminds me of those used for other rough gems like Alpha Protocol (now there's a game worth remastering - maybe adding all those mechanics lost to budget constraints) but ... eh. I dunno. On thinking on it, I think my main blocker is that I don't find that uniquely Japanese brand of "kooky" offbeat humour very endearing.

johnny_ultimate

ERG89 wrote: »

I watched Jim Sterlings video on it and he asked about the the performance and was told by the studio they had no plans to patch the framerate or performance.

Just to note, Rising Star are the publisher so they now say there are patches are in the work. Therefore would absolutely hold off purchasing or playing until some more info is available about whether it can be at all improved. Fully in agreement it shouldn’t have been released in this state, especially at the price it’s going for.

Retr0gamer

ERG89 wrote: »

I hope people don't go over the top defending it as it just doesn't perform near good enough for a full price game in 2020.

I'm not going to defend the performance but despite the jank I enjoyed the original way more than the majority of triple A games at the time of its release. It really is something you have to get over though to enjoy the game and I can't blame anyone put off by it. The original would be more forgivable since it's very much an adventure game and performance isn't really an issue in those games but then they put in the awful combat sections that go on for a long time and really are detrimental to the game.

You really have to ask yourself how much jank can you put up with to play a game that is a unique and worthwhile experience but technically incompetent.

pixelburp wrote: »

All very cogent arguments, and kinda reminds me of those used for other rough gems like Alpha Protocol (now there's a game worth remastering - maybe adding all those mechanics lost to budget constraints) but ... eh. I dunno. On thinking on it, I think my main blocker is that I don't find that uniquely Japanese brand of "kooky" offbeat humour very endearing.

Alpha Protocol is a good example but DP is even less competent technically. Also the humour isn't very japanese or anime, it's actually very western and swery is heavily influenced by western media and has a great localisation team working with him.

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Just to note, Rising Star are the publisher so they now say there are patches are in the work. Therefore would absolutely hold off purchasing or playing until some more info is available about whether it can be at all improved. Fully in agreement it shouldn’t have been released in this state, especially at the price it’s going for.

I hope they do. Although I don't think this game is exclusive to switch and is more a timed exclusive.... The again the original came to PC (and PS3) and managed to run worse than the original 360 release!

Retr0gamer

Metro say it's weaker than the original. Others say it's excellent.

I suppose it wouldn't be deadly premonition without a massive discrepancy in opinions.

It wouldn't be dealy premonition without game breaking bugs either

But sure it's all 'part of the charm' here :P

Retr0gamer

Deleted User wrote: »

It wouldn't be dealy premonition without game breaking bugs either

But sure it's all 'part of the charm' here :P

I definitely wouldn't call it all part of the charm, it's pretty much annoying and unacceptable in any game. People mistake DP as a so bad it's good game. It's more that it's a great game wrapped up in some terrible design and technical issues it's a case of working through them to get to the good.

There's nothing charming about the technical issues and it's maddening as no matter how much I love DP I can't woleheartedly recommend it without a whole heap of caveats because even outside of the jank it's a not a game for everyone.

And I won't even go into DP2 as I've not played it so I can't even say it's worth playing despite the jank.

Grumpypants

The first was a game you could like, but could never recommend.

Retr0gamer

I think the best thing to do is play D4 which is brilliant and if you like that then ask yourself if you could love a game like D4 but with added jank. Lots and lots of jank. And terrible combat sections.

Markitron

Grumpypants wrote: »

The first was a game you could like, but could never recommend.

This is how I feel about Death Stranding. One of the most unique and memorable games I have ever played. Would never advise anyone else to play it though.

Retr0gamer

At least Death Stranding 'works' as a game :pac:

pixelburp

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Alpha Protocol is a good example but DP is even less competent technically. Also the humour isn't very japanese or anime, it's actually very western and swery is heavily influenced by western media and has a great localisation team working with him.

I don't agree based on what I've seen when looking into the game: it goes very heavy into that Americana feel, but it's all like a theme park and superficial, a curiously alien element to it all mixed with a style of humour that like I said, feels Japanese. Agree to disagree n' all.

But since mentioning it, all I want now is an Alpha Protocol remaster.

Grumpypants wrote: »

The first was a game you could like, but could never recommend.

See, that's a very weird position for any game to be in

Retr0gamer

Retr0gamer wrote: »

At least Death Stranding 'works' as a game :pac:

I had to stop playing it because I got addicted to being a postman..

JimBurnley

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I had to stop playing it because I got addicted to being a postman..

Not what you want. Glad to hear you stamped it out...

CatInABox

I saw this the other day, and thought that it was pretty smart: Microsoft had previously been running tests on a PC app so that you could stream from your console to your PC, and with COVID, they've released it to developers so that they can continue working from home, streaming from their devkit.

See here.

I'd forgotten how difficult it must be to be running builds at home, so this must be a great help.

Varik

CatInABox wrote: »

I saw this the other day, and thought that it was pretty smart: Microsoft had previously been running tests on a PC app so that you could stream from your console to your PC, and with COVID, they've released it to developers so that they can continue working from home, streaming from their devkit.

See here.

I'd forgotten how difficult it must be to be running builds at home, so this must be a great help.

Next step would be to allow for MS hosted devkits to be used, be ideal for indie going forward with the Series X where access is limited to devkits

Retail ONE consoles can be converted to a devkit by just using the right sign in account so not as usefull there.

CastorTroy

New Superhot game, Superhot: Mind Control Delete is released July 16th and will be free to anyone who has purchased Superhot before the 16th of July 2020 for Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Epic Games Store, Origin, or GOG. This does not extend to major free giveaways like Twitch Prime, Games With Gold, and similar.

https://superhotgame.com/mcd-faq/

Zero-Cool

CastorTroy wrote: »

New Superhot game, Superhot: Mind Control Delete is released July 16th and will be free to anyone who has purchased Superhot before the 16th of July 2020 for Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Epic Games Store, Origin, or GOG. This does not extend to major free giveaways like Twitch Prime, Games With Gold, and similar.

https://superhotgame.com/mcd-faq/

Playing it on VR and it's absolutely incredible, tough as nails as well.

Edit: just read no plans for VR for this one

Mr Crispy

I see Sony have bought a $250m stake in Epic Games (which is a tiny percentage in overall terms)!

AlmightyCushion

Mr Crispy wrote: »

I see Sony have bought a $250m stake in Epic Games (which is a tiny percentage in overall terms)!

It's only a small stake, percentage wise. Read somewhere else it works out about 1.5%.

mrkiscool2

Just thinking if Microsoft do buy WBGames, hard to see them not releasing games on PS5 and Switch but with the added benefit of having them release day 1 on GamePass. Might make some people switch for that value alone. Also hard to see any ot those games released on PSNow

Atari VCS will be $400 lol

https://gamerant.com/atari-vcs-800-price/

not sure why anyone would buy this at that price.

great timing with the PS5 and the new Xbox also

EoinMcLovin

Former Gameinformer editor in Chief Andy McNamara has joined EA as their new Director of Communications Strategy
https://twitter.com/TheRealAndyMc/status/1281311541002768385?s=19

Potential-Monke

I can only imagine people willing to work for EA because EA throw scandalous amounts of money at them. It has such a toxic image, it's hard to imagine someone actually wanting to work for them. Although, I hear the place in Galway is good to work in, but that's coming from a couple who work there and one of them is head of some part of it (don't want to say which in case I identify them, so may be biased). Can imagine it's quite different to working for EA in the USofA.