General gaming discussion

Penn · 12-10-2019 07:33AM

Have they removed the apology? Getting a 404

Grumpypants · 12-10-2019 08:01AM

All they have to say is that players' personal political views don't represent the company. Have a word with the guy and say knock it off.

pixelburp · 12-10-2019 08:48AM

The statement's not a huge surprise IMO: studios have been trying to have their cake and eat it for a while, pleading political neutrality even in face of clearly political output; when you got cases like Unisoft trying to claim being apolitical while making something openly so like The Division, the industry is operating in bad faith. They want to be part of the entertainment industry without acknowledging the realities of existing in that quasi artistic space. It was easy to play both sides when it was fictional wars or abstractly political concepts from Call of Duty games. Different matter when real human beings use your platform to make political statements.

Mind you, we're also talking about a country that banned Winnie the Pooh because its prime minister was insecure over being compared to the cartoon bear. China clearly doesn't have a sense of humour or self deprecation, and has that resting paranoid insecurity most authoritarian states possess.

Spear · 12-10-2019 01:30PM

There's a linguistic analysis doing the rounds suggesting that the statement was partially written by a Chinese speaker despite the claim it's the words of the Blizzard boss J. Allen Brack:

Imgur mirror:
https://imgur.com/gallery/xd7yQOr

and original source on twitter:
https://twitter.com/SGBluebell/status/1182817588147052544?s=19

Venom · 12-10-2019 02:12PM

Blizzard seems to have pulled the store page for the statue of the Overwatch character Mei, who has become a figurehead of sorts for the Hong Kong protests among Western gamers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/dgjnmb/overwatch_mei_statue_disappeared_from_blizzard/

Mr Crispy · 14-10-2019 10:25PM

pixelburp wrote: »

Nice; bit fed up these days of "Go to X and hit Y over the head" RPGs, it's a bit of a lazy gameplay loop. Respect to anyone trying to think outside the box.

I really like the paintbrush aesthetic, not enough games make use of these kind of artwork styles; really sets it apart and gives it an identity before you even play the thing.

FWIW, Karak gave it an enthusiastic review, calling it a fantastic game (with the caveat that the genre may not be for everyone). More reviews to roll in shortly I imagine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-HPqErucFk

pixelburp · 15-10-2019 08:19AM

Darch Nemesis wrote: »

FWIW, Karak gave it an enthusiastic review, calling it a fantastic game (with the caveat that the genre may not be for everyone). More reviews to roll in shortly I imagine.

That sounds both amazing and utterly bewildering, I want to play it for both reasons

pixelburp · 17-10-2019 01:09PM

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-10-16-blizzard-finally-suspends-us-hearthstone-team-that-staged-protest-during-stream

Looks like the US Hearthstone team that also threw up a pro-HK protest has itself, belatedly, received a ban. Such a shítshow, and as a response to Blizzard's hang-wringing about being apolitical, I'm aligning with Jim Sterling's thinking, suggesting people truly put this waffle to the test; that streamers should start posting brazen support for Trans / LGBTQ rights and similar, to see if Blizzard have the nerve to throw bans on those users. After all, if Blizzard are honest about maintaining an apolitical stance, then they should even ban the less controversial material

dohboy · 17-10-2019 01:17PM

The Blizzard thing is a ****show but I'm also kinda uncomfortable with the amount of tubthumping from US interests.

pixelburp · 17-10-2019 02:00PM

dohboy wrote: »

The Blizzard thing is a ****show but I'm also kinda uncomfortable with the amount of tubthumping from US interests.

Huh? As opposed to the Chinese interests that are the predominant discussion point in this controversy?

Retr0gamer · 17-10-2019 02:31PM

Love to see if anyone shouts about how Nazis and the KKK are bad and if they will be banned as well.

johnny_ultimate · 17-10-2019 07:44PM

pixelburp wrote: »

Huh? As opposed to the Chinese interests that are the predominant discussion point in this controversy?

It's a fair point, honestly, and one of the unique complexities of the Hong Kong situation. The recent controversies have brought a lot of interests (predominately US) out of the woodwork for less than admirable reasons. I mean, it'd be nice to think everyone's simply speaking up against an authoritarian regime in support of civil and human rights. But a lot of people who are rather quiet on other (domestic and international) human rights issues and authoritarian policies are quite vocal on this particular issue only - your Ted Cruzes and Marco Rubios of the world, who'll tolerate a lot of **** in their own country but get outraged when it comes to Hong Kong. You see a lot of nationalist, commercial and imperial interests mixed up in the conversation, and in some of the internet's worst people’s ill or non-veiled racism / Sinophobia added to the cocktail too.

So yes: few have issues denouncing Blizzard for this undeniable act of corporate cowardice, nor should they. Often worth considering why some particular voices are denouncing it, though

Kiith · 18-10-2019 10:55AM

NBA-2K20 was the best selling game September. More proof that the majority of gamers couldn't give a **** about microtransactions, and will buy anything. Is it any wonder why publishers keep peddling this crap?

https://ie.ign.com/articles/2019/10/17/nba-2k20-is-september-2019s-best-selling-game

K.O.Kiki · 18-10-2019 11:35AM

Kiith wrote: »

NBA-2K20 was the best selling game September. More proof that the majority of gamers couldn't give a **** about microtransactions, and will buy anything. Is it any wonder why publishers keep peddling this crap?

https://ie.ign.com/articles/2019/10/17/nba-2k20-is-september-2019s-best-selling-game

NPD sales data doesn't include all digital sales, as not every publisher/platform cooperates with them.

Also - the vast majority of NBA fans are idiots, and to call them "gamers" would be a stretch.

J. Marston · 18-10-2019 02:22PM

"Am I out of touch? No, it's the children who are wrong."

Except they actually are wrong this time. Idiot kids.

pixelburp · 18-10-2019 02:35PM

Sports games are surely an anomaly, given their appeal is in the same sphere as replica kits and other paraphernalia of sports-fandom? I've just assumed they constantly sell for that same reason, sports fans gotta have that latest kit, the latest players; by all accounts in this day & age, EA etc. could easily release patches or DLC to update previous iterations with the modern teams, kits & players - but they don't. Cos they know their fanbase crave the latest, most up to date stats or kits. That the games are just known by the sports' governing bodies is clue enough as to how much they exist as 'official' products for the discerning fan.

Retr0gamer · 18-10-2019 02:49PM

It's because they know they can barely update a game every year and their captive audience will be there day 1 to buy it again.

Also they know they don't even have to make the games fun as a game that plays well is the least important thing to sports game fans. If you stripped the likes of Fifa of the license it would be exposed as a very boring and not very good game. I'm not a sports game fan but can have fun with a good sports game. Love a few rounds of old school NHL, Madden, sensible soccer etc., but Fifa and the majority of its modern ilk just aren't fun. It's very telling that ISS/Pro Evo during it's best phase was getting good reviews and word of mouth because it was actually... you know, fun, yet still lost out massively to utterly **** iterations of Fifa.

pixelburp · 18-10-2019 02:54PM

ISS = International Superstar Soccer? Man I loved that series. ISS Deluxe was 'da bomb. Fun soccer games should be frenetic (does remind that I must have a look at Enter the Kickmen, which looks suitably barmy)

Retr0gamer · 18-10-2019 03:07PM

Yeah International Superstar Soccer Deluxe was insanely good fun. Wish sports games were that fast and fun again instead of just a bunch of stats and simulations that are nerdier than any RPG.

MOH · 18-10-2019 04:29PM

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It's because they know they can barely update a game every year and their captive audience will be there day 1 to buy it again.

Also they know they don't even have to make the games fun as a game that plays well is the least important thing to sports game fans. If you stripped the likes of Fifa of the license it would be exposed as a very boring and not very good game. I'm not a sports game fan but can have fun with a good sports game. Love a few rounds of old school NHL, Madden, sensible soccer etc., but Fifa and the majority of its modern ilk just aren't fun. It's very telling that ISS/Pro Evo during it's best phase was getting good reviews and word of mouth because it was actually... you know, fun, yet still lost out massively to utterly **** iterations of Fifa.

That reminds me, I keep meaning to go back and check out some of recently added archive DOS games:
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Match_of_the_Day_Bundesliga_1994
https://archive.org/details/msdos_Sensible_World_of_Soccer_1995

Although I do expect to be disappointed, suspect the nostalgia may not hold up.

Retr0gamer · 18-10-2019 08:09PM

As someone that doesn't like football games, sensible world of soccer is still amazing.

18-10-2019 08:15PM

Fifa peaked with its road to world cup 98 game.

I must give sensi a go at some point. Any particular system to play it on or are the ports all fairly similar?

pixelburp · 18-10-2019 08:19PM

Seems to me like the uptick in graphics doomed the arcade soccer game; games simply didn't have the horsepower to recreate footie accurately so tended towards boiled down abstracted versions; as graphics allowed more "realism" the games leant more into artless simulations, and the promise of accurate kits or player models. Kinda the same with most sports games in fact, graphical fidelity neutering the core fun of previous generations' games.

RobertFoster · 18-10-2019 08:28PM

Cake of Tremendous Power wrote: »

Fifa peaked with its road to world cup 98 game.

[Song 2 intensifies]

Mr Crispy · 19-10-2019 02:15PM

Crusader Kings III announced at PDXCon.

pixelburp · 19-10-2019 05:45PM

Darch Nemesis wrote: »

Crusader Kings III announced at PDXCon.

Christ I hope they've hired a UX and interface designer, or someone at least to refine the experience. Can't think of a more prominent, popular game with a more labyrinthine, impenetrable way of playing.

Canis Lupus · 20-10-2019 12:00AM

pixelburp wrote: »

Seems to me like the uptick in graphics doomed the arcade soccer game; games simply didn't have the horsepower to recreate footie accurately so tended towards boiled down abstracted versions; as graphics allowed more "realism" the games leant more into artless simulations, and the promise of accurate kits or player models. Kinda the same with most sports games in fact, graphical fidelity neutering the core fun of previous generations' games.

Give me NBA Jam any day.

Doge · 20-10-2019 01:16PM

Interesting video on how VR can improve your own performance in games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T7mg6JZZzg

Part 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j_fp5L8Si8

J. Marston · 21-10-2019 11:27PM

In edgelord news....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pae3JCyFgLs

Features the protagonist punching a bound pregnant woman in the stomach a few times before ripping the fetus out through her vagina and then drinking the blood from the fetus' neck.

Then we get to see the protagonist have some quick sex, including flaccid to erect penis action, before she claws out his throat.

It looks shìte also.

ZiabR · 22-10-2019 07:52AM

That looks so bad. I'll pass.

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