General gaming discussion

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123703501#Comment_123703501

Just to note that Sony aren't free from this. Sony products are used in targeting systems and they buy semi conductors from Israel. not to mention connections with Vanguard and Blackstone.

Sony and Nintendo also have the trust of the crown prince of Saudi Arabi as a shareholder.

Seems you can't have anything nice without these corporate villains having their fingers in the pie.

Exclamation Marc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123701655#Comment_123701655

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123701660#Comment_123701660

Very fair and to be honest, if the quality is there I'm happy to splurge €50. On shorter games, I really enjoyed AC Mirage as it was a much more compact experience. The high watermark for me is Astro Bot which was short and worth the cost of a full price game. As you say, if its ten hours - they gotta be a great 10 hours.

I am just apprehensive until I see how its received given that its a Hangar 13 and 2K game which gives me less confidence. I'll be delighted if I'm wrong and its well received.

The other side of it is that I've been burned by my own anticipation in the last few years, picking games up at launch and letting them sit there for months whilst I finish what I'm currently playing - and then when I get around to them, they're on sale.

one armed dwarf

I wasn't aware of Sony products being used in targeting systems, but with the Saudi Arabia example I think it's important to stress that Microsoft are in a direct service-based relationship with the IDF. imo, that makes it much worse

So while there's no ethical consumption under capitalism, there's certain types of consumption that are way more problematic here I think

Blackstone are an investment company, right? So they're in everything basically

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123703538#Comment_123703538

'No ethical consumption under capitalism' remains more apt than ever in the age of consolidation and instability. No doubt most corporations are embroiled in some degree of ugly ****.

There are definitely tiers of complicity though, and everyone has to decide where their own line is. Microsoft do remain a stated priority target for the BDS movement, including their gaming arm.

But it can be grim seeing things you like caught up in all this. The ongoing Mubi situation is particularly bleak IMO - a once positive force now completely tarnished. Credit to the filmmakers speaking up about it.

Retr0gamer

We need Sega back. They were too good for this world.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123703630#Comment_123703630

It's time…

SEGA MEGA-DRIVE III: MEGA-DRIVE WITH A VENGEANCE!

Cordell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123703538#Comment_123703538

Yeah good luck finding a tech corporation that isn't heavily invested in Israel, doesn't have large investment funds as shareholders or doesn't have any oil & gas money investments. Usually it's all three.

So maybe let's focus on games?

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123703630#Comment_123703630

Will we say the same about MS when they eventually go software only?! :P

I could probably stop the GPU subscription, but it'd be more for the crap they've caused with their buyouts and closures. You actually probably can't enjoy life without supporting one of these horrendous corporations. The only reason I haven't yet is because its renewing for €13/month, and if I cancel it it'll go up!

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123703776#Comment_123703776

Nope, I for one will be continuing to discuss gaming or gaming-adjacent companies and their complicity in war crimes or other ethical concerns in gaming forums. Would be a total moral abdication to not do so.

Retr0gamer

Can't keep politics out of games when they are inherently political

CatInABox

You'd have a short list of companies that don't support Israel in some fashion, to be honest. Google provide much the same service as MS, Sony provide chips and optics for their drones, Nvidia have a big research centre, along with providing chips. AMD is much the same, with Intel being a massive player in Israel.

If you want to boycott MS, that's great, but most companies have an interest in Israel, shouldn't there be a larger conversation about where you draw the line? If the line is "any support", then you'd essentially be boycotting gaming in general. If the line is "provided services", the Google, MS, Sony all fall into that bracket too, to a greater or lesser extent.

It's a tricky one even for myself, because it's so difficult to avoid products that have an Israel connection. Cherry tomatoes are a big thing in my house, and most of the varieties of it were developed in Israel.

Cordell

Also don't assume that everyone shares the same opinion and want to boycott companies that support Israel.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123704300#Comment_123704300

Of course there's a conversation to be had about where people draw their particular line. Almost every major company will have some presence or interest in Israel. I know plenty of pro-Palestinian voices that have different boycott lines than others do (in either direction), and I totally respect that. I for one have cancelled more than Microsoft subscriptions and purchases in response to a company's actions in Israel. I know others probably think cancelling a consumer subscription to protest Israeli actions in Gaza is a token or worthless gesture, or that it doesn't go far enough. Fine. Personally, I just think we have to draw our own moral lines in an increasingly fucked up world, even if it's basically impossible to be fully consistent given the tangled web of corporate interests involved in day-to-day life, work and hobbies.

Microsoft's role has been under particular scrutiny because of their active and ongoing support of the IDF surveillance machine. The Guardian article that kicked this whole discussion off starts with Satya Nadella meeting with the commander of Israel’s military surveillance agency to support their efforts to actively monitor and surveil the Palestinian population. Their infastructure continues to support that, and staff that have spoken up about it have been fired. They know exactly what's going on, and their attempts to feign ignorance ring increasingly hollow as the reporting delves deeper into the relationship. If Microsoft switched a button, that surveillance machine would stop (ditto Google). If I saw similiar reporting on another company I'm currently paying money to on the regular, I'd be immediately reconsidering my relationship there too.

As @one armed dwarf said, there is a "direct service-based relationship with the IDF" with Microsoft which has - correctly - made it a priority campaigner for BDS. No question whatsoever other gaming-adjacent companies have varying levels of involvement / complicity too, and I'm happy to protest and decry that too. In a just world, the Israeli government would be a pariah state due to their extraordinary crimes and cruelty. But that hasn't happened. With Microsoft's role particularly egregious - in increasingly public view thanks to some excellent reporting - then yes there's little surprise to me they've become a focus where others have not been put under quite the same spotlight.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123704392#Comment_123704392

With the amount of innocent blood being spilled and forced starvation you have a right to support them. It's everyone's right to be a disgusting individual if they do choose

Potential-Monke

This sounds like a topic deserving of its own thread.

Retr0gamer

Silent Hill f is getting some very strong preview impressions.

Jordan 199

I'm enjoying Mafia: The Old Country.

johnny_ultimate

Öoo, the new puzzle-platformer game from Nama Takahashi (Elechead) is out now on PC.

Played the first few levels last night and it’s pretty ingenious. You play a little dude swallowed by a giant creature, and other than left and right movement you can only navigate via exploding a Bomberman-like bomb that can propel you up in the air, over gaps etc… Like Elechead it’s wordless (even the menus are symbols), so you learn the mechanics through experimentation and very clever level layouts. There’s a few very playful twists that emerge quickly, requiring you to figure out things that seem impossible on first glance until you figure out how various mechanics sit together.

It’s only meant to be around 2-3 hours long all in (and it’s less than a tenner), but it’s a glorious puzzle platformer dense with devious variations on a simple gameplay loop.

https://bsky.app/profile/namataka.bsky.social/post/3lvsytuxs5c2t

Iseedeadpixels

Robocop is on sale on the xbox €5.99.....Should I get it?

Unearthly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123711259#Comment_123711259

Some people love it but I felt I was playing a fairly average PS3 era first person shooter

Retr0gamer

Finished up Ninja Gaiden Ragebound. Fantastic game and a GotY contender for me. There's just a gorgeous flow to the game and the bosses are so good.

I can see it being a big speedruns game as well with how nice movement is in the game.

Shinobi has some strong competition.

Grumpypants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123711259#Comment_123711259

It was free on ps+ and I still felt I got a bad deal. If you are really after. Robocop nostalgia trip then maybe but as a game it's terrible. Felt like those old virtual gun games.

Iseedeadpixels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123712067#Comment_123712067

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123712101#Comment_123712101

I'll keep my 5.99 so!

recyclops

If you like robocop then yes. It's a generic shooter yep but they really nailed the old detroit aesthetic and it's probably on par with robocop 2 story wise and much better than 3.

I loved it for aesthetic alone

Retr0gamer

Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is this years Ace Combat 7, the best action game of the year and none of you feckers will play it.

Penn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123712973#Comment_123712973

I actually started it on Steamdeck over the weekend. Didn't get too far, still in the opening tutorial-type level. Definitely seems fun, just didn't get enough time to properly delve into it.

Zero-Cool

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123712973#Comment_123712973

Oh man I was just downloading it but then saw your post and deleted it, thanks for the heads up, saves me some bandwidth.

Jordan 199

If this site closes down, one thing I will remember is Retr0's fondness for AC7.

johnny_ultimate

Retr0gamer’s epitaph: “A life well-lived of playing Ace Combat 7 with the advanced controls”

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123712973#Comment_123712973

I'm reading its not typical Ninja Gaiden hard to just finish the game, but if you want to go for S rank on the levels thats where the difficulty is. It's allegedly getting a physical release in September so I might give it a spin then. But you're right, if it was digital only id never play it unless it came to a sub service. Plus I've never finished a NG game because of difficulty, so I'm not too pushed on this.