Game News 2.0

Grumpypants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119217492#Comment_119217492

They said they are putting in a school shooter level previously, and now a night club shooter level. I'd say they know perfectly well what they are doing. In recent history, if devs need to go for "shock", it is because all the other elements of a good game are missing.

Potential-Monke

Like, I get it to some degree. SWAT do deal with that kinda of stuff. And considering that's what they're going for (realism), I could see why they'd want to do it (with the added shock value, of course). Depends on how it's done tbh. Would "No Russian" get released in todays climate? Are we to not include any similarities to real world stuff, so even just shooting people will eventually not be allowed?

I don't know the game, I'm just going on the description of it. School Shootings are an actual thing in 'Merica. I'm going by reviews which appear to claim it's very realistic and makes you think about your actions. Yeah, it's a touchy subject, but they are real events and I can't see the harm of them being in a game if they're treated with the respect they deserve. AFAIK, you can fail or get less points for doing it wrong. It's not like you're the terrorist doing the terrorising...

Again, I'm only going on what I've read so far. The game could be complete pants (there are people out there who think PUBG is amazing, so...). All depends on how it is portrayed imo. I haven't seen or checked any gameplay or what the level was like. SOCOM had some real life inspirations in its games. CoD does real life looking stuff... I suppose it could be a separate conversation about what games can portray in general. Some are not happy about a Nightclub/School scene in a SWAT game, others don't like the visceral violence in other games...

Suppose, we still can't show kids getting killed on screen so a game might be pushing it...

Retr0gamer

I'd say it's the devs being immature edgelords and whatever about it it's in extremely bad taste. Releasing at this time it's like it's commemorating a massacre against a minority group, one which really hit hard against the LGBT community and I doubt they really need to be reminded again that they are still marginalized so much that they can end up being targeting by lunatics just because of their gender.

Mr Crispy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119217492#Comment_119217492

Yeah, the article makes a leap admittedly. It seems that the level in question was added on the actual anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida, and resembles the events of that night. Could be coincidence of course, but Valve have delisted games that tried to mimic recent real world tragedies before. The developers also previously promised fans there would be a high school shooting level added to the game at some point as well, which seems wholly unnecessary.

Mr Crispy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119218059#Comment_119218059

The devs are now saying it was removed voluntarily by themselves following a takedown request due to copyright infringement. It looks like it was bad reporting initially, as the nightclub level has been around for a while... One of the many updates to the level happened to fall on the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, and some media outlets latched onto that.

Potential-Monke

Aha, this is why there's always 3 sides to a story. Hopefully someone will have the proper story at some stage.

johnny_ultimate

Tony Hawk has said THPS 3+4 remasters were planned but scrapped when Vicarious Visions became a Blizzard 'support studio'.

Activision really is the most infuriating of all gaming companies. Imagine having a studio you know is capable of delivering high-quality, commercially successful and critically acclaimed remasters, to the point where you don't trust anyone else to do the job... and then just telling them they won't lead any projects themselves anymore. Maddening.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/tony-hawk-says-activision-scrapped-a-3-4-remake-following-vicarious-visions-merger/

Zero-Cool

Activision...

Penn

Activision have reviewed Activision's decision to scrap the THPS3&4 remakes and Activision have determined that Activision did nothing wrong.

Latency improvements and a step closer to M&KB support on Game Pass Cloud

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/22/23178179/xbox-cloud-gaming-keyboard-and-mouse-support-latency-improvements

more on the latency improvements:

https://youtu.be/T_DlwvjYLzc

Mr Crispy

Creative Assembly have finally revealed their new IP - Hyenas, a PvPvE shooter where you're part of a team of space pirates trying to escape with kitsch merchandise to sell to billionaires living on Mars. No, really.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0SWub0Z2Pg

Mechanics-wise it seems more like Hunt: Showdown rather than hero shooter or battle royale. There are a couple of interesting ideas in it, but overall I'm pretty nonplussed.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237031#Comment_119237031

I am so completely done with this zany, pop-punk/anarchic style games love these days. If I never see another splash of intentionally ugly pink it'll be too soon. Same goes for this self-aware knowingness in its characters apparently also present here; was a big reason I Nope'd hard on Redfall.

Mr Crispy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238710#Comment_119238710

I think Redfall could be a great game though, going by Arkane's track record. And you can play it totally single player (without AI companions) if the quipping gets too much!

sniper_samurai

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119182831#Comment_119182831

https://twitter.com/nakayuji/status/1539944869862354944?t=Ou2eqNRo2RXfiukOj0_42g&s=19

If I'm not mistaken this is the first time someone who worked on this as a Sega employee has stated that MJ had a part in the music. It had been previously confirmed by people assiciated with MJ like Brad Buxer.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238803#Comment_119238803

Ack it's the principle. Don't want to make studios think a certain style or formula works, even if one guy isn't a difference. Just sick of this self-aware, warmed-up-MCU type of dialogue that's informing so much Media these days.

pixelburp

I had completely forgotten this was on the way: a remaster of the classic Westwood RPG Blade Runner is coming out tomorrow on PC and all consoles. It's another pip in the cap for NightDive Studios and their magical Kex engine by the looks of things. According to a Eurogamer article, the remaster came up against some issues of migration back in 2020, issues that caused question marks about the project's future.

https://www.eurogamer.net/blade-runner-enhanced-edition-brings-remastered-classic-to-pc-and-consoles-tomorrow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmPyg9O2dlI

Zero-Cool

I have been checking on the Blade Runner remaster every few weeks since first announced. God Damn i can't wait to play that again, it was so **** cool and ahead of its time the way the story changed playthrough.

johnny_ultimate

A bit torn on how those updated cinematics look. The pixellated resolution is obviously very limited, and some of the extra clarity is welcome. But it has a soft, AI-upscaled look to it in the updated comparison, and you definitely lose some detail as the image looks rather 'mushy' (see the patterns on the characters' coats from around 3:30).

Granted, that video was released in 2020 so it may have been smoothed out by now! Nightdive as a studio is generally meticulous in trying to replicate the look of the original games while making it look good on modern displays.

Retr0gamer

It's just the nature of the low resolution videos they have to work with. The C&C remaster had to deal with low resolution video and there's only so much the ai upscaler can do. There's going to be noticeable artifacting unfortunately but it's better than the low res versions they were master from.

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119239775#Comment_119239775

For sure - and this project has been a particularly infamous and laborious case of reverse engineering. But the super-clear version of the video not only has a soft look, but loses some of the 'cinematic' look of the original. That seems to have been acknowledged by Nightdive, though, who've suggested film grain and a 30FPS cap on cutscenes will likely be added to the final version.

Curious to see how it turns out. Seems to have been a controversial project among fans and enthusiasts, and a bit of a headache for Nightdive technically. Would be very impressive if they came out with something great at the end of it all.

Zero-Cool

Blade Runner is actually out now, just bought it on psn for a tenner. I can actually hear it my head from all those years ago, such a great soundtrack.

Grumpypants

There is a bit around the ten min mark where they talk about the C&C remaster footage. It was a bit of an adventure to try and rescue it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MUDQYWk6qY

quokula

It's such a long time since I played Bladerunner and I was pretty young so I have only the vaguest memories, but I do remember it completely blew me away at the time.

I had absolutely no idea they were remastering it, in fact I pretty much forgot it existed until reading about it there, but it's something I'd be very interested in diving back into.

JimBurnley

A Plague Tale: Requiem, to be released October 18th

Zero-Cool

It's so great playing Blade Runner again. It looks just how i remember it, which wasn't all that great to begin with and it's a bit glitchy like the esper needing very specific enhancement instructions and the shooting range just not firing the gun at certain targets. Really good to playing again though, absolute smack of nostalgia in the face.

johnny_ultimate

Seems the remastered version is a step down from the ScummVM version on GoG: all smeared backdrops and lost visual detail.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-blade-runner-games-new-remaster-looks-worse

I don’t envy the team’s clearly impossible job here, and this is likely the only way the game was going to make it onto consoles - so an achievement in that sense. But definitely seems like the previous version of the game on PC is the way to go if that option is there.

Retr0gamer

Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie has a demo out.

If you are asking what Klonoa is it's bascially a remake of the PS1/2 platformers you should be excited about rather than celebrating the mediocrity of Crash Bandicoot.

Mr.Saturn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119242971#Comment_119242971

I'm really excited, I've actually only ever played the handheld Klonoas cause the OGs ones are bastards to emulate. Believe the OG Klonoas are more traditional platformers compared to their handheld counterparts, but the quality is said to be consistently high amongst the lot of them.

I'm actually playing Moonlight Museum at the minute and it's refreshing to play a game that can make you feel like a genius and thick as pigshit in the space of a minute.

Mr Crispy

Whether it turns out to be a new Armored Core game or not, From's next title has entered the final stages of development according to Miyazaki. Beyond that, he says they'll continue to release updates for Elden Ring and are also developing several titles by different directors within the company. Busy people!

https://www.gematsu.com/2022/06/fromsoftware-unannounced-title-in-the-final-stages-of-development-next-title-directed-by-hidetaka-miyazaki-underway

Retr0gamer

I'm really loving all the left field weird releases lately.

After reading about how amazing the 'My Summer Vacation' games were and thoroughly enjoying 'attack of the friday monsters' it looks like Shin-Chan: Me And The Professor On Summer Vacation is getting a western release on Switch and PS4:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/06/shin-chan-me-and-the-professor-on-summer-vacation-confirmed-for-western-switch-release