Withywarlock

I'd say the good news is that they've got some job security, but sure, good to know the Switch is getting another good game (albeit 3 seasons too late). Mediatonic never anticipated Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout doing as well as it did, and they only have a few noteworthy entries in a catalogue of ports and tie-ins, so I'm pleased to know they might get some respectable work with Epic's funding. One can only hope they're not dehumanised as "bodies" and thrown into the meat-grinder that has become Fortnite's update schedule.

While I was going to snarkily respond to this announcement along the lines of 'something something Space Hulk: Deathwing / Darktide', the thing that picqued my interest about this was who's behind it. Developer Cold Iron Studios LLC's site doesn't say much about their past experience, other than having "decades of experience developing and launching award-winning shooter, MMO, and action titles". No specifics, which had me suspicious of their claim. As it turns out though they've been acquired by Daybreak Games (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) of EverQuest, Planetside and H1Z1 fame. Cold Iron Studios were previously tasked with creating and maintaining Star Trek Online and Neverwinter, so they're not unfamiliar with online-only games and the pitfalls that will come with it. But still, it doesn't appear they've made anything as tightly-knit as Aliens: Fireteam appears to be. I'm not sure what to think of this one myself. On the one hand the audience for horde games exists; some of it's even willing to put their money where their likes are. On the other hand, for every Vermintide there's nine or so Space Hulk: Deathwings. I for one am still feeling the dull bruise that was Aliens: Colonial Marines, and one Alien game since then hasn't done much to help with that.

Not for the foreseeable future. For all their blunderings, they continue to make billions per year, especially thanks to bringing mobile marketing and monetisation strategies to consoles and PC. We're the loud minority. Even when citing outliers such as CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 with the refunds given, their CEO Marcin Iwinski lost just under half his fortune and is still a millionaire. Keep that in mind when you watch this video. That said, indies and so-called AA studios and publishers are prone to screw-ups too. See the latest news with The Sinking City devs Frogwares, who have had drama with Focus Home Interactive and now Nacon. Forgive me for going full r/truegaming but I discern studios from those companies which are publishers, even if they own studios. Even Ubisoft who often name their studios Ubisoft-[Location] still allow some artistic control over their products. As for "people", again, I don't think it really matters what people like us think because we're not the ones lining those publishers' pockets annually with ever increasing amounts of moolah. There's certainly an argument to be made for our subculture being more enlightened and consumer-minded than a few years ago, but being aware of a problem is the first step to recovery. It is not the only step, which is where so many users get hung up. This is a good point, and I feel if the owners of digital storefronts made the effort to properly curate them instead of relying on algorithms *cough* VALVe *cough*, the people making good games could get the recognition they deserve, instead of being able to attribute a noticeable portion of their success to being seen in the mire and the murk. Perhaps enough to be swallowed up by the likes of Microsoft or Electronic Arts. Since the dawn of publishing acquisitions have become a feeding frenzy, even if they don't always make headlines such as Zenimax's acquisition by Team Green. Correct. Money talks, and the AAA industry will probably always have most of it going forward. I think the only thing that will kill studios and publishers that large are themselves; the phrase 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' comes to mind. If AAA dies and those beneath it survive (which I strongly doubt), it won't be because of those smaller studios, so much elements that are far greater than them, i.e governments of the world, ideologies in effect, etc. But does it matter so long as we're enjoying the games we have from those smaller studios and publishers? Unless the so-called AAA industry is causing legislation to be enacted that works against their competition, or patenting mechanics, I try to make an effort to care less about what new scandal occupies that particular space and continue to enjoy the likes of Spiders' output. ^^

Yes and no. They're only discontinuing the 35th Anniversary games, such as Super Mario Bros. 35 and the Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation, containing SM64, Sunshine, and Galaxy. The plan was to only produce them for six months in limited quantity as if that's going to make people remember Mario's 35th birthday fondly. As for Super Mario Maker (on Wii U, not Switch), the removal of an online service is understandable if enough people don't use it, but it'll be a shame to see all of people's hard work go to waste. It's business as usual for all other Mario games. Why the first ever Fire Emblem is being removed from the eShop appears unrelated to the 35th anniversary. I can't make heads or tails of this either.

One thing I have to give to Nintendo is their consistency. Consistent arrogance and incompetence, sure, but their immovability makes their actions - and thus our purchasing decisions - easy to predict. It's almost admirable that they're unconcerned with impotent rage from people who will unquestioningly buy their products and services, instead of chasing trends and pleasing crowds. This isn't to say I agree with what they're doing, as the ludicrous management exibited here would obliterate any company that wasn't Big N. I'd find it astonishing if I wasn't further descending the cavernous bowels of disappointment.

I've neither been fully aware of what Madden is nor it's curse, so I can't say I believed in the curse but it's quite an interesting phenomenon to follow all the same. I don't place much stock into curses myself, and the hex having an apparent expiry date tells me it's not really all that fearsome. Apparently Electronic Arts were going to work on a comedy film about it, but two years later entertainment executive Pat O'Brien said that EA isn't working on the movie. That could mean either the whole thing was a joke, or that they're no longer working on a film that could have been in the early stages of production. Much as I would like to see such a film even though I'm not a fan of Madden, I can't see it being any longer than a five-minute skit rather than the feature-length film hopefuls may have wanted it to be.

In the sense of driving, walking or flying past them in games such as Prototype or Forza, I couldn't give two shakes of a Mann Co. crate. That's personally speaking; in my professional opinion they have zero business in a game I pay for under any circumstances, unless the game couldn't be made without them (for example, racing games requiring license to use real world cars; an energy drink poster has no place in the game unless it causes problems with the cars.... which could just not be featured.) When it comes to pop-ups or things appearing in loading screens or whathaveyou, I'm totally against that. That said, if there has to be a choice between ads and microtransactions, let there be a choice. That if is a very big if though. So-called AA+ publishers needn't entertain that possibility.

I'm trying to follow this story as best I can because my Lovecraft itch still needs scratching and I could take this game on, but not at its price on the Windows Store. While I side more with the developers on this, I don't think they're entirely innocent as we've seen small developers acting too big for their britches in the past, and this could be one of those instances. I don't know enough to say if the developers are 100% telling the truth or if this is just rallying people to say 'publisher bad' on social media. Whoever's right, I agree, Shagger: don't get this game because there's plenty of time and room for this to get messier.

Kingdome Come: Deliverance is easily up there. Not just in terms of its combat but one's interactions with the world and the ramifications of it. Having to change clothes, bathe, hide bodies, make amends for misdeeds, manage your reputation in small towns and having to manage time are major aspects to the game.

That's a shame about the achievements, I've recently got into achievement hunting and Donut County seems to be the sort of game I'd enjoy getting them in. I'm glad you enjoyed it nonetheless, I look forward to trying it myself! Ahem, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands for me still. It won't be long before I'm back at my PC and playing something besides. ^^

I absolutely love it and find myself replaying it every few years. The only problems I have with it are the mixed feelings I have to the Midnight Club DLC, and a bug that prevented me from using the Super RDX perk that had to do with save files. It's very much what we call a AA game today, but it still holds up well as one of the few games that tried to take Assassin's Creed head on and succeed pretty well. A shame it was Pandemic's final game, as I hear they were a highly revered studio.

Not to resort to such an easy cliché but Wii Sports was incredible, especially the boxing. Most of the mini-games aren't all that intensive, but when I had Wii Sports for Christmas I worked up a sweat and fought tooth and claw to win at pugilism. When I'd bought myself a new smartphone I'd installed Pokémon GO which had rekindled my love of walking. I eventually walked without the double whammy of getting fictional digital creatures, and that really improved my physical and mental health. I've heard of, but haven't played myself, these games that tell a story as you're jogging like an ARG or podcast. One such game I'd heard was like Dying Light, where you're outrunning zombie hordes you encounter on patrols, which is meant to encourage you to go faster and take breaks to a narrative. I don't know the name but they sound very clever, and more power to those who get fit through such things. ^^

Madness of Deathwing, from World of Warcraft's Cataclysm expansion. The idea behind the Dragon Soul raid was meant to be a climactic end to the expansion, with Deathwing being not so much a three-phase boss but the undying, agonised force of nature that he was. In theory, this works. In practice, Madness of Deathwing was only exciting to those who were seeing casual raiding for the first time in the "Looking for Raid" (LFR) function and difficulty. Experienced raiders saw - and still remember - this fight as slapping a dragon's gummy toes. Still, he dropped Kiril, Fury of Beasts, which remains one of my favourite weapons in the game.

It appears you may need to reload a save. From the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (UESP): You might be able to use some sort of console command to make her invincible but I'm afraid such things are beyond my ken. 😞

So after Electronic Arts' failed Rocket Arena and Microsoft's bled-out Bleeding Edge (by Ninja Theory, of Hellblade fame), EA have decided to publish another attempt at a multiplayer space that's already bloated...? Given it has a price tag of 19.99 USD, which is $19.99 too much, I don't expect this game to see many of its 9-weekly long seasons even with crossplay across major platforms. If they don't get their act together with the free-to-play alternative before launch (afterwards isn't good enough) Don't get me wrong, it looks fun. Damn fun, but only as fun as the teams you're in, which if Bleeding Edge was anything to go by, is only going to be 1/3rd of the entire time I'm playing, which is never enough, even for a F2P game. Also for some reason in that trailer the word 'ass' is bleeped out, but 'bloody' isn't. In my country the former isn't as strong as the latter, which they should know because they have a character with a distinctly English voice. I've signed up for the beta, but have no expectations other than it dying within a year. Do me proud, Velan Studios, even if your only claim to fame so far is Mario Kart Live.

I'm going to keep my eye on this as I'm itching for a new kart racing experience, but the only other Hot Wheels game I've played was World's Best Driver and it.... wasn't great. Releasing in a world where digital adaptations of action figures and toy cars can be monetised for $1.5billion, I can easily see Hot Wheels Unleashed being a quick cash grab. Between this pre-rendered trailer and the Steam store page showing only cars without any other information (despite requiring actual gameplay) leaves little room for optimism at the moment. Hasbro's ownership of the license hardly allays concerns when they're giving their Dungeons & Dragons property to just about anyone to get Wizards of the Coast's name back into video game circles (so far so good with Baldur's Gate III), but maybe previous Hot Wheels games (barring World's Best Driver) and experienced racing game studio Milestone S.r.l can provide some comfort to this news?

I do find it surprising, but there's a number of reasons I've seen why don't see this happen often. The first being that games enthusiasts think multiple endings are good, when really it depends entirely on the talent of the writers and their confidence in the story they want to tell, and the audience they want to tell it to. With multiple origins if one is bad it could well turn off the player for the rest of the game, but comes at a lower risk because there's other beginnings to choose from if one doesn't work out and won't sour the past, say, 40 hours of gameplay. The second hypothesis I have is that, going back to competent writers, multiple origins don't matter if they're completely disregarded, such is the case with Dragon Age: Origins' expansion Awakening, and the sequels. Dragon Age was not intended to be a franchise, which explains why its narrative is so incredibly well woven. Your origins matter in DA:O, but only in the vacuum that is that one game. If we are to see more games with multiple origin paths devs have to be prepared to either make it a one-shot, have a sequel that is completely unrelated with the same mechanics and tone, or have a sequel that's a direct continuation knowing full well there'll be additional story.

Yes and no. I think Josh Sawyer's a great worldbuilder but not as good a narrator; I think Chris Avellone's a great narrator but not as good a worldbuilder. Without either, you don't have a good fictional story, and now Avellone's no longer with them (and given the accusations against him, might not be with anyone for a good long while), I doubt another Fallout game by Obsidian's going to be all that good. There's an argument to be made that with a greater budget and other resources Obsidian can make good games. There's an argument to be made for their games being more charming because of the lack of the budget and other resources. Pillars of Eternity is a boring game in and of itself, but its impact on how video games are published and pitched is incredible - before them only Tim Schafer and his Double Fine team had any real success. I think the same of some of the developers they consist of, with former Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines studio Troika, and former Fallout CRPG devs of Black Isle having now being part of the studio. Winning despite the elements against them is part of their DNA. Their job security granted to them by Microsoft is good for the people, but not the brand itself. They can't do a worse job than Bethesda, let's put it that way.

This hardly belongs in Gaming 'News' because there was little to be optimistic about in the first place. Paradox Interactive has canned developer Hardsuit Labs, whose webpage on Google opens up saying "we make great games", despite having only made one under their current name. They were formerly known as Zombie Studios, who had made the lesser known Spec Ops games, Blacklight: Retribution, and had worked with the US Armed Forces on certain titles. In addition to having a fickle publisher though, Hardsuit Labs were also making a game based on Onyx Publishing's World of Darkness universe 20 years too late. Vampire: The Masquerade is very much a product of its time, and come 5th Edition with new technology and lore, a lot of the old edginess and po-faced, neo-gothic drama has lost its appeal. It's no wonder V:tM 20th Anniversary Edition is so popular on the tabletop. Much as I wanted to see this game come out just as a milestone in my life, it doesn't seem it'll even come out with the jank that features in Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood. How unfortunate Paradox now owns the video game rights to this IP, otherwise I'd say bin it and get someone to start over. Read about this mess for yourself here.

When I read the title I had to double check because Dying Light's that good zombie property, not the other one that's going through the game dev equivalent of musical chairs. I'm disappointed to hear that Techland's yet another studio that wrongly thinks workplace abuse makes for a better game, but at this point should I be at all surprised? Thanks for sharing this, even if it has made me feel gross.

I did a write-up on this last year for HubPages' LevelSkip branch, and I'll tell you what I told everyone at the time and before then: Anthem could not have improved significantly via its Next update. People often cite No Man's Sky as the single example of a game redeeming itself while (likely unintentionally) ignoring the myriad examples of games that didn't, or Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, unaware of Japan's gaming and corporate culture and the cost that comes with it. Anthem Next wasn't going to see the collossal changes to the point of making a brand new game with the same name, and improve staff working conditions that would be reflected in their art, because history suggests no evidence they can do it, even with all the time and money in the world. I hope that all involved in Anthem Next are given sufficient enough time to recouperate - physically and psychologically - before having their desire to work on better licenses restored. I'd hate for them to be immediately shuffled onto the Mass Effect and Dragon Age without a care for their wellbeing and love of their previous project, and ultimately bring down the quality of those games too, however little optimism I have for those too.

I agree with Bioshock 2, I enjoyed it for the time but the last time I played it I didn't enjoy it as much. I may play the remasted version on PC and see how it fares. I've recently completed and enjoyed Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin. I'm grateful to not have experienced the issues other players have involving hitboxes and detection, and some other issues plaguing the game. Few, if really any, of the other problems players had bothered me. I've enjoyed it, and might even do New Game+ one day, but for the time being I'm playing the other two games which are suiting me just fine.

Charlie Brooker's really into video games, so I'm sure if someone pitched the idea of a game to him with Black Mirror branding he'd be able to lend a lot of creative direction to it. I'm sure the thought has crossed his mind, and perhaps Bandersnatch was a 'backdoor pitch' for such a game?

I'm not sure if this counts but each of the races in World of Warcraft has their own language, which when heard by another race (especially on the other faction) comes out as gibberish. For example, the Pandaren language consists of two words: om and nom. Gnomish used to be binary code (1 and 0). This is not exclusive to player speech though; a few excerpts of the game, mostly made-up gibberish with smatterings of apostrophes, can be translated. For instance, 'Lok'tar Ogar' means 'Victory or Death', but this doesn't quite work when saying 'Lok'tar Illidari', which literally translates to 'Victory or Illidari', which doesn't work in the proper context. GreedFall also had quite an extensive translatable language, which is impressive from a studio of Spiders' calibre. That's one of the few games that justifies the jargon vomit that so many fantasy settings and writers think they deserve to spew. Other than that, there's not many games I can think of.

Those properties are quite safe from the companies on your list because they're publishers, not studios (save for Bethesda, who now bumble under Microsoft's lazy eye). Your biggest worry would be if said publishers were buying Konami properties, i.e Electronic Arts purchasing Pro Evolution Soccer, a strong rival to their FIFA property. If that happens, I can easily see the companies you mention champing at the bit for those properties. This news reads to me as a lot of work will be outsourced to third parties, and until Konami explicitely mentions auctioning off properties, I don't think there's much cause for alarm. As for if these games will be any good, any minor loss of 'Konami Kuality' is worth the better working conditions of those studios. I'm sure I needn't remind people of the prison-like conditions employees faced working in Konami...