General gaming discussion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122264770#Comment_122264770

It's the pinnacle of Sony USA gaming. Compelling storytelling, deep character development and immersive gameplay.

Since then it's been a generic templated ubi-esque open world model. Open worlds that give little to no reason to traverse the world. Bland and utterly forgettable gaming experiences.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122264934#Comment_122264934

Yeah, it looks sublime on OLED HDR. They've added a load of improvements and extra options to the game too I believe. I paid 43 quid (physical) for the game. Haven't seen it drop below that. But it's definitely a keeper. Maybe if you wait longer there will be a PS5 Pro version 😁. Hopefully that's a free upgrade.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122265104#Comment_122265104

The only "problem" is that you can't go back to pick up upgrades you've missed AFAIK. So you need to scour around an area once you've cleared it out. Also, it's a scavenging stealth game and not an all out shooter (which is great). So, I've kinda been playing it "wrong" up till recently.

Penn

Great article by Mike Drucker regarding the on-going rise of "woke", "DEI", "Sweet Baby Inc" etc complaining and harassment (which has recently targeted Rebekah Valentine from IGN due to a recent article she wrote I think about Black Myth Wukong).

https://www.thegamer.com/im-putting-the-things-you-gate-in-games-woke-dei/

I particularly enjoyed this:

"If anything, you should be thanking me for personally forcing game companies to put in all that stuff you hate. I’m the one who gives you energy in the morning. It’s certainly not your family; your ex took them with the dog. You need an extra boost to get out of bed and rush to social media to make sure nobody has put a black person in a game without asking you first. I’m your fresh air. I wake you up more than coffee."

Kiith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122259954#Comment_122259954

Utter bollox that sells well? Isn't that Disney's mantra these days?

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122272166#Comment_122272166

I'll never forgive them for bringing Pixar down to DreamWorks level

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122271593#Comment_122271593

To me it looks like angry person yells at clouds on the account of other angry persons yelling at clouds. If we learned anything about angry persons yelling at clouds and calling for boycotts is that it doesn't work, best selling game of 2023 is proof of that. So let's just play what we like and just have fun, as it was meant to be.

The Raging Bile Duct

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122272927#Comment_122272927

I don't think the writer is yelling at clouds tbf. I think it's a great piece. Not enough people challenging the dweebs who spent so long welded to their PCs that they forgot to develop a personality and blame women for the fact that they're charisma free virgins. The likes of X is full of their toxic bullsh1t. It's absolutely nauseating.

johnny_ultimate

IMO online bigots who wage relentless harrassment campaigns because they don't think some video game characters are sexy or male or white enough should be met with nothing but disdain and challenged accordingly.

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274240#Comment_122274240

Harassment should be met with legal consequences, not disdain.

Luna84

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274058#Comment_122274058

Not enough people challenging the dweebs who spent so long welded to their PCs that they forgot to develop a personality and blame women for the fact that they're charisma free virgins.

They should do what I do but maybe they are not wealthy enough. I hire two different women twice a day for an hour each to give me blow jobs while I'm welded to my PC.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274058#Comment_122274058

The only point of order I'd make is that I'm not convinced half these malcontents and shít-heals are the sexless virgins we presume them to be: I've overheard enough bigotry from married, middle-aged men to think much of this vitriol over Woke/DEI/Feminism as likely to be grown-áss adults, stewing in their own pit of self-loathing and encroaching obsolescence.

Listening to a supposed man whine that his daughter + mum loved the "anti man" Barbie movie makes me think those former basement dwellers are now just bitter middle-aged twits. Not unlike a great swathe of this site's userbase, I might add; especially if you swim around Current Affairs long enough.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274283#Comment_122274283

….

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274322#Comment_122274322

More critically, I'd love to know how and what avenue exists to take legal proceedings for cases harassment from people in another country; maybe we can call the Internet Police? It's such a stupid suggestion that doesn't overlap with any kind of reality - and surprise surprise, puts the "blame" back on the victim for not repsonding with "legal procedings"

It's all very "So much for the so-called liberal left" really. Fúck that.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274315#Comment_122274315

Oh I'd definitely agree. Part of the end of the article summarises it better than I can:

"A reasonable person might theorize that you’re not actually mad at these woke features; you’re mad that you’ve aged out of the target demographic and now both the people buying games and the people making games are a wider audience than when you were 13. The same reasonable person would add that this makes you feel less like the center of the universe, which causes you physical pain and distress. As you experience the tragedies and victories of life, video games seem a little less magical, so you’ve replaced confronting that feeling with finding someone to blame for it."

They're definitely not all incels in basements surrounded by empty cans of Monster and half-eaten rotting pizzas. So many are just suffering under the weight of not being the sole target audience, because games (and TV/movies) are now made by people from more diverse and wide-reaching backgrounds, for a far more diverse and wide-reaching audience.

johnny_ultimate

Remember: one of the prime instigators in the current wave of harrassment campaigns is in fact a 55-year-old former Blizzard developer who now spends what must be 75% of his life online obsessing over whether the lead character of Stellar Blade is fappable enough.

Imagine if that level of engagement was channelled towards, I dunno, improving labour conditions in game development rather than inciting harrassment towards staff of small consultancy firms.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274457#Comment_122274457

https://twitter.com/Grummz/status/1802375886974652477

Even in a later tweet about layoffs at Firesprite Studios, apparently the layoffs in the industry are down to "The one reason no-one will discuss is the rise of gamer disapproval of "woke" games, leading to problems like Suicide Squad and Saint's Row failures."

Suicide Squad was "woke"? That's why it failed? Really? What, it would have been a roaring success if Harley Quinn had a cartoonishly huge arse?

The Raging Bile Duct

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122274457#Comment_122274457

I'm largely ignorant of a lot of these controversies but then I read something like the above and then do a bit of googling to see what it's about. Sweet baby Jesus…

johnny_ultimate

I know it's been linked in at least two threads before, but Jason Schreier politely murdering a poor soul who insisted Suicide Squad 'failed because woke' remains the most succient dismantling of the whole anti-woke schtick we're ever likely to see.

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1798683992872435928

pixelburp

To an extent it's unsurprising: many venerated game studios were basically formed from ostensible frat-houses during folks' college years in the 90s; makes a perverted degree of sense a clatter of them never grew past adolescence, never learned to work properly with others not like them, to realise their behaviours and thoughts weren't that of grown adults.

Suicide Squad failing 'cos of Woke is a new one though, I'll grant you.

johnny_ultimate

LOL: all those summer showcases now over, and no Silksong. Team Cherry can have as long as they want as far as I'm concerned, but it's increasingly funny to see the hype reach fever pitch every time.

Retr0gamer

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond it's projected release date.

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Retr0gamer

Kind of surprised that Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is number 1 this week in the UK charts but also happy. Probably a combination of big games skipping on the release period of the Elden ring DLC, no decent big JRPGs for months and Persona fever that's got people interested in the SMT series.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122275027#Comment_122275027

The idea of every game having to have an entirely customisable main character is entirely impractical, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with race or gender. Having a set character design opens up an array of opportunities that are locked off if you the designers settle on a customisable character. You can have much more consistent, expressive performances when you have a set, specific character to work with. Would a Joel or Ellie from TLOU be anywhere near as memorable if the player had free reign to transform into random characters with bizarre custom dimensions? Ichiban or Kiryu from Yakuza? A Mario, Link, Solid Snake or Geralt of Rivia? This impacts gameplay too - like just look at how distinctively many major game characters move or control due to having set designs.

Yes, full custom characters work well in some select cases - particularly RPGs designed around them. But even there you run into limitations. BG3 has some of the most robust character creation there is, and it's vital you can be a blank slate due to the nature of the game. But the quality of the animation and the near non-existent voice performances are much more variable, limited and janky than you get with the pre-designed characters, many of whom have been instantly elevated into all-timer status due to the specificity of their performances and design.

jj880

Was expecting some more posts about TLOU. Thread has taken a bizarre turn. Glad I dont bother with Twitter / X. Seems like a cesspit of shock jocks and weirdos who say anything for attention.

Just an fyi for anyone with kids interested in game development. There could be funded classes running in your local hall / schools. The group running it local to use are called Spraoi Agus Spórt. My son (age 14) really enjoyed some free sessions being run using GDevelop 5 and is now flat out with it at home making games.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122275027#Comment_122275027

The irony of what you say is that the most prominent recent game featuring an intentionally sexy, voluptuous female lead that you speak of, Stellar Blade, faced a backlash not because it was sexy at all... but because the same type of malcontents from prior posts screamed "censorship" that their wànk fodder wasn't sexy enough.

The proportion of anger I see is demonstrably lopsided, and in the main from the aforementioned basement dwellers and embittered middle-aged

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The Raging Bile Duct

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122275522#Comment_122275522

I'm a white, middle aged man as well and I don't think I've ever felt underrepresented. Maybe I'm not precious about my games or media in general being the preserve of white men.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122275522#Comment_122275522

and personally as a white middling aging male I feel so unrepresentated to the point it is just blatant racism, agism andbsexism all rolled into one

Speaking also as a middle aged white man, I'm curious where and how you feel the live action Little Mermaid movie let you down here, as you're taking shots at Disney 🤣

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