Kane99

Lately there has been a massive amount of layoffs. Just recently PlayStation let go of over 900 employees, while EA just recently fired 600+. And before that Microsoft also fired over 1900 employees. It's weird to me that so many of these major gaming companies are having so many layoffs in such little time. Do you think this is going to keep happening for the foreseeable future? What other studios or companies could be next to end up cutting more jobs? Unity laid off 1,800 people in January, Riot games are said to have laid off 500 employees, and even Twitch laid off another 500+ employees. Epic Games also laid off 16% of their employees back in September of last year. What's the lasting affect this is going to cause to the gaming industry? Are we going to end up seeing more layoffs this year? What companies do you think could end up laying off more people? Do you think a lot of those laid off will team up and form their own studios? About EA layoffs - https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/gaming/video-game-company-ea-to-lay-off-5-of-workforce-or-about-670-employees/ar-BB1j4dyL About PlayStation layoffs - https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/gaming/playstation-will-lay-off-900-employees-including-marvels-spider-man-and-the-last-of-us-developers/ar-BB1j1NgQ Layoffs at Epic Games - https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/news/layoffs-at-epic This article discusses the variour other company layoffs including Xbox, Unity, Twitch, etc. - https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/shopping/it-s-not-just-playstation-5-other-gnarly-gaming-layoffs-in-2024-so-far/ar-BB1j3FcA

Check out the trailer below for the upcoming extraction horror shooter Level Zero: Extraction. It's said to be a PvPvPvE style of game where it's either you playing solo, with a group of friends or as one of the monsters going up against someone or a group of people. Should be fun. But, it kind of reminded me of Evolve, so I hope it's better than that. They are doing a closed beta March 15th, but there is currently no exact release date at this time, just that it will be sometime in 2024. You can request access to the closed beta through Steam - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1456940/Level_Zero_Extraction/

Check out the trailer for Heading Out below, a new narrative adventure game that has some roguelike elements. It's also said to be inspired by popular 70's style road movies like Vanishing Point. But I also heard it compared to Thelma & Louise. From what I see with the story, you seem to be playing a criminal who is on the run from the police, and while on the run you encounter other interesting characters and story arches. I believe the decisions you make, have an impact on the end game. Does this look like something you'd check out? It will release for Steam on May 7, 2024. - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1640630/Heading_Out/

Our friends aren't always going to enjoy the same games we like, and that's fair. But are there any video games you wish your friends can get into? Maybe you want to enjoy the game with them, or you think they would really enjoy the game if they just gave it a try. I wish some of my friends were into Madden, because I'd like to play some of my friends in it, but most of my friends hate Madden. And fair enough, I understand why people hate it. I'd also like to play some of the WWE games with friends, but most of them aren't into wrestling like me haha. Anyway, what are some games you love, and wish your friends would take a chance on too?

The Alone in the Dark remake, simply titled Alone in the Dark is dropping March 20th for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S, so not too long to wait for those who've been clamoring for it for a while now. I'm just hoping they do the franchise justice with this remake and bring the popularity back to the franchise. The last game, Alone in the Dark: Illumination, came out in 2015 and was panned by critics and fans of the series for being pretty bad. I think this remake needs to bring fans back in, and bring in new fans as well. Are you going to pick this game up when it releases next month?

March 5th 2024, The Outlast Trials will officially launch out of its early access state. It's been in early access since its initial release in May of 2023, Did anyone here play the Outlast Trials when it first dropped in early access? Or are you waiting for its official release next week? I couldn't get into the original games, and I don't know if this game is really for me either. But I know there are a lot of fans for this game, so I am curious to know if anyone will check it out after it comes out of early access? For those who have played, is it worth checking out now?

This looks pretty fun, it's an upcoming open-world adventure pirate RPG that looks similar to games like Terraria and Stardew Valley. But hell, it looks a lot more promising than Skull and Bones turned out to be. It even has ship battles. You can download a demo for the game via steam here - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1471270/Seablip/

Supposedly two separate builds of the game, one being a playtest of the game was leaked online recently and they can be played via PC & Android. I am not going to tell you where or how to find them. I assume EA is trying to stop this leak as fast as they can. Whoever leaked this is going to be in some serious trouble, especially with the way recent leakers have gone to jail. The leak, if true, reports that the new game will have a free to play model, similar to what The Sims 4 is currently. It will have DRM added into the mix, which is kind of to be expected with EA. Another bit of news from the leak also mentions them moving away from the frostbite engine and moving on to the Unreal Engine, either 4 or 5. Which makes sense to me. Do you see yourself playing The Sims 5? Or did the 4th game sour your taste on the series? Maxis have to follow what EA wants to do, and we know full well they're going to make it into a live service style game. Either by releasing endless DLC packs, or charging a ton for stuff in game. More on this news here: https://gameranx.com/updates/id/490974/article/the-sims-5-leaks-online-revealing-drm-engine-change/

With the release of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 remake a while back doing so well, it made me wonder if there's a chance we could see Activision, or now Xbox, make a new Tony Hawk game. I think it'd be the perfect time to start on a new Tony Hawk franchise, especially with EA jumping back into the Skate franchise. I'm kind of surprised they haven't made any announcements to making a new Tony Hawk game. We all need something to rinse the taste out of our mouths caused by the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 and that first shoddy HD remake they did. I think whoever did the 1&2 remake should take on a sequel. What do you think?

I've been seeing a lot of older VR headsets on Facebook marketplace as of late, going for around $100-$150, for stuff like older Oculus Rift models, before it became the Meta Quest we know it today. I assume a lot of these older VR headsets still work great, but are limited in what they can play. Would it be worth getting something like the Oculus Rift S, which I saw on FB marketplace for around $150 or so. Should I save up for a Meta Quest 3 or pick up one of these older models instead? I'm kind of tempted to pick up one just to see if it's on par with the Quest 2 or 3 even. If it's not worth picking up, I assume then that these VR headsets are going to become obsolete faster.

I am going to get myself a Meta Quest 3 soon, currently saving up what I can to pick one up, and I am thinking about trying Beat Saber on it to sort of help me lose weight. I've seen this game in action and it looks like a decent workout. And I need to get back into working out and I think playing a VR game like Beat Saber would be a good start. Who here has played it and consider it a decent workout tool? Do you know other games similar to beat saber that could be useful for workout needs?

Who here played the True Crime: New York City game? It was the sequel to True Crime: Streets of LA. I honestly don't remember a whole lot about this one. I remember Streets of LA fondly, but don't remember playing this one that often. I don't think we even purchased the game, likely rented it at some point, didn't like it and moved on. But does anyone here remember playing it? I have a copy for it on Xbox and have been thinking about emulating it soon to see if it matches up with Streets of LA. It released on PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Windows, & mobile in November of 2005, two years after Streets of LA. The series later ended up becoming what we know as Sleeping Dogs today. Sadly we haven't gotten a sequel in forever. I think it's due for one.

With the recent news that Xbox is releasing some of their games on other platforms, like the PS4, PS5, and the Switch. Right now Sea of Thieves seems to be the big xbox exclusive coming to PS5. It was rumored that it will be coming out for the Switch as well, but it hasn't been confirmed yet. But what seems to have been confirmed is that these Xbox games will require you to have an Xbox account in order to play them on other consoles. I figured Xbox would go this route with their titles, but damn is it going to be tedious to have to sign into Xbox just to play Xbox made games on other platforms. Do you think you'd bother with playing Xbox games on your PS5 or Switch? Will this sign-in requirement deter you from purchasing Xbox games on other platforms that may one day be supported on? I personally have no issue with it since I already have an account, but I can see some people being annoyed to go through another hoop to play a game. Unless you're a PC gamer, to which you're probably well used to this by now, since every game needs to have their own launcher now days. What do you think about this? You can read the news here - https://exputer.com/news/games/microsoft-account-play-sea-of-thieves-ps5/

Whenever you go on vacation, do you ever bring a handheld gaming console along? Maybe a retro classic like the Gameboy, or you bring a more modern handheld like the Switch or Steam Deck. I don't own too many handheld systems, but I do have one of those retro handhelds, the Evercade handheld that takes new cart based games. I could probably take that on vacation with me. But I wish I owned something like the Steamdeck. I could see myself taking something like that on vacation to hold me over while I do my traveling. What about you? What handheld console do you take on your travels?

This looks really cool. It looks like any traditional medieval battle game, but to change things up a bit, you can play with modern weaponry. As in pistols, machine guns, and even bring in a helicopter to wreck some havoc. It looks like you can also drive modern day vehicles to mow down enemies. As well it looks like it adds a bit of real time strategy in the mix too. I don't see any release dates yet, but it sounds like it's dropping sometime this year. My guess in the summer sometime. Check out the trailer below.

Anyone here psyched for the upcoming Rise of the Ronin game? It looks to be a PlayStation exclusive from the Team Ninja, so already that's a good sign for the quality you should expect from this game. The gameplay reminds me a lot of Assassin's Creed and that Sekiro game along with a mix of Tenchu. I'm willing to bet with Team Ninja involved, this game is going to be challenging.

I don't know if it's possible for a game to brick or cause damage to a GPU, but is it possible? I mostly play games on my PC these days and I'm always paranoid about my PC getting damaged. I always put the settings for games at the lowest it can go, and that saves me some worry. But has a game ever destroyed your GPU? Maybe it was an older gaming PC and you played something newer to the point your GPU overheated maybe? Do you have worries about your GPU going like that?

I haven't heard a whole lot about Amiibos or games that utilize Amiibos for a while now. Does Nintendo still produce and sell new Amiibos? What new games even utilize Amiibos? Or are they mostly older titles that work with Amiibos? I know the Switch has NFC support to utilize Amiibos, but what newer games even utilize it? Do most Nintendo branded games have Amiibo support? Or is it a small group of games only?

Has anyone here played Wanderer for any VR headset? It's been out on Steam for a couple years now, and I hear it's coming out for PS VR2 June 27th. The game looks like a lot of fun, you can travel in time with a special watch, that puts you in the body of a random person each time. You can collect weapons and items from these timelines and utilize them throughout other times. Like using a fancy new gun during a WWII battle. Or using a squirt gun filled with gasoline to light up Nazi's.

I have not purchased a game going for $70 yet. I usually just wait for a game to lower in price, or just play what I get through gamepass. I find it far more appealing paying a $15-16 or so to play many games versus spending a $70 pricetag on something like Skull and Bones. If I try that game, it'll be through Gamepass if it's ever added. Which I think will probably be soon with how underhyped and how poorly rated it turned out to be. Also Suicide Squad was released for $70, and no way am I paying that amount for what is essentially a live service game that has already lost most players interest. We know games like GTA VI, anything from FromSoftware, and other big time triple A franchises will easily sell for the $70 release price. But you are usually going to get good out of that price tag. So far most $70 games aren't worth the price, at least for me. This article here - https://exputer.com/exputer/palworld-helldivers-2-prove-70-dollar-games/ discusses how cheaper priced games are more popular as of late, like Palworld and Helldivers 2.

I'm sure a lot of us have dealt with hackers and cheaters in online multiplayer games over our years of gaming. I've encountered most hackers in the call of duty franchise. I think for me it was in Call of duty 4, on the 360. I was playing a game of team death match by myself. I ended up catching someone switching teams mid match. He would jump to the winning team each time. It's not possible to switch teams mid match in a public match. You can in a private match, but not public. He ended up on the winning team after switching yet again at the end of the match. I of course was arguing with this guy the whole way through, but he didn't give a shit. I know I reported him and that was that. I probably blocked him too so I didn't have to deal with him ever again. What kind of hackers and cheaters have you dealt with? Was it anything like this? Or maybe it was people cheating by getting into glitches and killing from some hidden spots, or under the map? What are your worst experiences with these cheaters and hackers?

I found this article here - https://xrsource.net/5764/does-psvr-2-need-pc-support/ It asks Does PSVR 2 Need PC Support? I think it would be awesome if they would make it work for PC. I'm sure modders out there have figured out ways of making the first PSVR work with PC and probably figured it out with PSVR 2 as well. I doubt it would be hard for Sony to make it work for PC, but does Sony need to? I don't think they need to considering their games sell better on PlayStation hardware anyway. They don't really need to sell or support PC if they don't want to. But, I still would love to see PC support with the PSVR 2, or even the first one. But from Sony, idk if I'd trust going the modding route.

What are some games you are always on the lookout for when you're out and about at yard/rummage/garage sales, thrift stores, antique shops, etc? I am always looking for NES, SNES, Genesis, and most other retro games. I don't see a lot of good retro games in my area when I go out thrifting. Usually all I ever find are sports games or mass produced games I already have or don't want. I am also starting to re-build my PS2 collection and build up an Xbox, Gamecube, Wii and more collections. If I see a cheap game, I will likely pick it up, as long as it's something I can see myself playing. Any rare or obscure games you keep your eyes peeled for? I know to always keep an eye out for games like Little Samson.

I did not see this coming. I guess there is an upcoming video game based off of the cult classic horror comedy, Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988). The game will be releasing June 4th for the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Illfonic is the team behind this, they were also responsible for the recent Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, and you may also know them for that Friday the 13th game. Which I immediately was reminded of with the trailer below. I have never watched the movie, so I might wait to play this until after I check that out.

The Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons remake is dropping Feb 28th, for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Is anyone planning on buying it. I played the original game on the Xbox One back around the time it came out. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to others. But I don't understand why they decided to make a remake of it instead of just re-releasing it with some updated graphics maybe. The game looks great, and I guess the fact it has local co-op now does seem like a good addition. The original game would have been awesome with a two player co-op mode. To my knowledge you had to control both brothers in the original game. You can in this one too, but now you can do co-op. I hope the price isn't too high, the original game is going for $15 right now, I don't remember what it was priced at before, but I'm going to assume the remake will go for like $30 or so.