Gaming News

Robert ninja

kunst nugget wrote: »

What's with the articles in Japanese?

I linked the English twitter posts about it. The previous link had an OAG article but there's only bad responses when anyone sees that site around here, so I left only the source. Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't.:rolleyes: There's also a NG article about the topic which I think I've posted before.

kunst nugget wrote: »

Would these games sell in even the thousands in the West?

I think they sell in the 100k range in west. However the censorship campaign expands more than the west (Japan) and that's where most of their profits are for these games and where most of the backlash originally came from. EU & NA is used to getting tampered products but the Japanese market and devs responded very badly when they found western sensitivities and Sony's policies impacting creators' ability to sell what they want and consumers' ability to buy what they've always been able to get. There's a shift to target PC and Nintendo now instead because of this.

Retr0gamer

Robert ninja wrote: »

Sony was the king of 'those kinds of games' for a long time until recently.

There's niche Japanese games.

And then there's this stuff which is just doujinsoft finding its way on to publishing platforms now that the barrier for entry has lowered significantly.

Sony hasn't been king of quirky Japanese games since the PS2. After PS2 they migrated to DS, 3DS, Vita and mobile and now to switch. There's the very odd release on PS4, but they now come to PC as well, except even more come to PC now.

Anyway that's besides the point. I wouldn't equate a doujinsoft Visual Novel to a quirky Japanese game from the likes of Falcom or Atlus.

Evade

I wonder if Playstation's new policy will end up toning down the violence in western games to meet "global standards?"

ERG89

Evade wrote:

I wonder if Playstation's new policy will end up toning down the violence in western games to meet "global standards?"

Yeah from what they showed they really toned way back on the last of us 2 :rolleyes:

Evade

ERG89 wrote: »

Yeah from what they showed they really toned way back on the last of us 2 :rolleyes:

That's kind of my point. The fist Last of Us had some of the violence toned down here and in Japan compared to the US version. So if games are supposed to be a global standard now surely they'd have to tone down TLoU2 in the US too.

Potential-Monke

I can see Sony doing a u-turn on any hard policies covering content. Yes, it should be monitored for content with a deliberate rapey tone (ie: Rapelay), but people want sex games. I'm not too bothered with that stuff, quicker to go to a porn site, but if my games start getting censored I will stop buying the Playstation and games. It annoyed me something fierce when we got a diluted version of Twisted Metal Black back on the PS2 (they removed all the ending cutscenes I believe). Well, I won't not buy the console, i'll need it for exclusives, but I'll invest more into my gaming PC and buy the uncensored versions of games for that.

No quicker way to kill a console than by controlling what we can and can't play on it, so much so that we're getting inferior versions of the same games.

super_furry

Isn't this whole censorship drama about Sony asking to make changes to a game that lets your character grope an underage girl?

Retr0gamer

super_furry wrote: »

Isn't this whole censorship drama about Sony asking to make changes to a game that lets your character group an underage girl?

She's not underage, she's over 4000 years old. Just hasn't aged.

World of difference :pac:

super_furry

Retr0gamer wrote: »

She's not underage, she's over 4000 years old. Just hasn't aged.

World of difference :pac:

Ahhhh like Kirsten Dunst in Interview With the Vampire. Gotcha.

Shiminay

If you wanna insist that you should be able to view paedophilia then I reserve the right to say you're a nonce and that you should be on every sex offenders lists. I don't give a flying fig what the age of consent is in other countries.

Evade

Shiminay wrote: »

If you wanna insist that you should be able to view paedophilia then I reserve the right to say you're a nonce and that you should be on every sex offenders lists. I don't give a flying fig what the age of consent is in other countries.

There's hyperbole and then there's this. But lets say you're right. If I wanted to right now I could sign up for Funimation Now, a Sony owned company, and watch something more explicit than what was censored on Playstation. Are Sony distributing child pornography in your view?

Robert ninja

Minecraft no longer getting support on older hardware
https://nichegamer.com/2018/12/21/no-more-updates-for-minecraft-on-legacy-hardware/

If Minecraft is still relevant in another decade (yes its been that long since it launched) I think we'll be hearing the same thing about 8th gen versions.

Nintendo in violation of consumer rights says Germany
https://www.gameinformer.com/2018/12/18/german-protection-agency-takes-nintendo-to-court-over-eshop-cancellations
Strong and reliable refund processes are important for the games industry imo. It has so far been an industry that has fought refunds tooth and nail to keep people from refunding. I think most 8th gen console digital stores don't even have any easily accessible information about how to get a refund let alone a way to initiate one in-store. Compare that places that actually ship products physically which usually have large portions of their websites dedicated specifically for that very process.

Although I have criticisms about GOG's recent behavior, their store is still top notch in this regard. They list their refund policy on every game page and I've refunded with them before with helpful and understanding support staff via email after filling out their on-site form. (The game was The Saboteur if anyone's curious, which refused to run because of my monitor's refresh rate & setup)

@Evade
If the opinion is that there should be legal repercussion for buying it then it then I think it logically follows that distribution is a more serious crime. The game being exampled was Senran Kagura, a series in which 99% of the cast have breasts bigger than their heads and are thicker than bowls of oatmeal. Which of course is pedophilic. People who can't separate reality from fiction are the ones you should actually be worried about leaving your children alone with. https://i.imgur.com/KygheYW.png

Evade

Robert ninja wrote: »

@Evade
If the opinion is that there should be legal repercussion for buying it then it then I think it logically follows that distribution is a more serious crime. The game being exampled was Senran Kagura, a series in which 99% of the cast have breasts bigger than their heads and are thicker than bowls of oatmeal. Which of course is pedophilic. People who can't separate reality from fiction are the ones you should actually be worried about leaving your children alone with. https://i.imgur.com/KygheYW.png

I was aware it was about Senran Kagura. The currently airing anime adaptation is the more explicit thing on Funimation I was referring to so it ties nicely together.

Zero-Cool

In non kiddie fiddling gaming news, if you bought fallout 76, you will be entitled to the fallout classic collection which contains FO 1, FO Tactics and FO 2. This also applies to Xbox and PS4.

My first thought would be, great, I haven't played those but always wanted to so hopefully they release it as a stand alone purchasable. I'm sure they will but wouldn't be surprised if they kept that quiet going that people will rush out to buy it just for that collection and drive up sales.

Apologies if they're already announced non fo76 people can buy the collection eventually but seems like something Bethesda would pull.

Sorry for all that bother with Fallout 76 , and if you were smart enough to avoid it like the plague well then we've got some old rope that might convince you to give us new money for. No Bethesda. No.

gizmo

Further shots fired from Epic...

‘The Division’ Franchise Moves From Steam to Epic Games Store

It'd be interesting to see how Ubi weighed up the financial side of this one. Obviously they've worked out that the reduced cut Epic take from regular sales plus whatever additional financial incentive they receive makes it worth not releasing on the largest platform but....really?

Varik

Considering they've their own store/platform, it's weird. They won't likely be using unreal for the extra benefits so it's rather odd.

Battle net have destiny, origin will have anthem, and now epic has the division.

Robert ninja

Epic is Chinese owned and their store is just another windows DRM client. Valve, despite their double standard crusade on anime, still provide decent service and are at the spear tip of linux and OSX gaming which is why I think they're probably still going to dominate long-term. Epic and the popularity of Fortnite and that genre's days are numbered. However they've made so much damn money that they could probably survive off it for years to come even after all the kids stop playing. Valve will adjust their cut and back to business as usual.

Doubling down on reporting fake news
https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/01/kotakus-nathan-grayson-defends-publishing-overwatch-fake-news-story/74726/
https://youtu.be/TaMKGv_r-vg

One of my favorite RPGs ever made hitting more platforms
https://nichegamer.com/2019/01/08/dragons-dogma-dark-arisen-gets-a-switch-port-on-april-23/
https://gamesense.co/game/dragon-s-dogma-dark-arisen/videos/discuss/dragon-s-dogma-dark-arisenannouncement-trailernintendo-switch/

EA aren't honoring refunds
https://youtu.be/ncf9lz_i06U
https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/01/ea-refuses-to-honor-origins-refund-policy-for-star-wars-battlefront/74851/

A certain image board is trying to get this training/simulation leaked to the net to play it for entertainment. Looks like it would be a lot of fun, especially with RP server madness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BMo2Ulm4PQ

gizmo

Varik wrote: »

Considering they've their own store/platform, it's weird. They won't likely be using unreal for the extra benefits so it's rather odd.

Battle net have destiny, origin will have anthem, and now epic has the division.

Well it'll be on UPlay too of course but perhaps they don't have enough faith in uPlay being attractive enough as a storefront to be the sole driver for the PC-side of the release?

Aside from the storefront issue though, the article did have one other interesting bit of info...

Ubisoft and Epic say they’re now working to integrate key components of Ubisoft’s Uplay ecosystem and Epic’s online services to give players more seamless social features.

This'll be related to Epic's announcement back in December that they were also working on their own cross-platform back-end which would be open to all developers. This would, I believe, make Ubisoft the first third-party publisher to sign up?

johnny_ultimate

gizmo wrote: »

Further shots fired from Epic...

I installed the Epic store last night as I couldn't resist the temptation of Hades even in early access (<3 Supergiant). I must say if they keep up what they're doing they definitely could forge their place in the ecosystem.

Their interface is clean and slick; it's refreshing to see a curated store (I don't think every store can or should be curated, but there needs to be a proper alternative to the insane noise of Steam); and generally it was a more pleasant experience than shopping on Steam these days. That they're largely dealing with the prestige, reliable mid-tier indie developers and publishers like Annapurna will mean I'll likely be drifting their direction more over the next year or so (I do fear smaller indie games may suffer if they're working primarily with established ones, mind). And that’s not even mentioning the developers getting a better slice of the pie.

Whether that enthusiasm continues when the game is booted up... that we'll have to see :pac:

earthwormjack

Personally, I would have preferred Epic compete with features rather than money hatting developers and taking all choice away from consumers. It's a nice looking store and well organised too but it's so, so barebones at the minute. It still has a long way to go, regarding features, in my eyes.

Mickeroo

They snapped up Rebel Galaxy Outlaw a few weeks ago too which looks like a lot of fun.

Varik

Sony bought Audiokinetic, you've probably seen the trademark for Wwise pop up on some game start up screens well that's theirs.

They say they'll still support other platforms.

Gunmonkey

Also noticed EPIC have snapped up Satisfactory, another in the "mine/build/automate" style games like Factorio.

Dyr

Gunmonkey wrote: »

Also noticed EPIC have snapped up Satisfactory, another in the "mine/build/automate" style games like Factorio.

By "snapped up" do you mean paid for it to be exclusive to their platform?

Cos I'm not touching any platform that's does that.

gizmo

Suffering from an amusing case of Baader-Meinhof phenomenon with the term "money hatting" at the moment...

Looks like Genesis Alpha One (or Feature Creep: The Game, if you watch the trailer) has also had its Steam release pushed back a year in lieu of an earlier release on the Epic Store.

Stone Deaf 4evr

Bambi wrote: »

By "snapped up" do you mean paid for it to be exclusive to their platform?

Cos I'm not touching any platform that's does that.

Madness.

I genuinely cant understand that mentality when it comes to PC.
Fair enough on console, its a hassle that everything cant all be on the one system. but we're talking a different icon on the desktop ffs.

earthwormjack

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

we're talking a different icon on the desktop ffs.

Thats not what it is at all.

The Epic launcher offers zero features to me that the other launchers do and no competition for prices. 1 refund a year, no user reviews, no forums, no cheaper keys from 3rd party sites, no big picture mode, no custom joy pad profiles and no in home streaming are big ones for me.

And with this game being a uPlay title it's pointless getting it on epic store anyway.

EDIT: they changed their refund policy. It's the same as steam now. Unlimited within 2 weeks of purchase and less than 2 hours played.

Penn

Bungie taking over publishing rights for Destiny from Activision

https://twitter.com/Bungie/status/1083469866214993921?s=19

With any luck it means they'll be able to pull back on a lot of the mtx/lootbox stuff and go deeper into implementing proper story from the off. Wouldn't surprise me if most of the issues Destiny has had have come from directives from Activision.

johnny_ultimate

Bungie and Activision have divorced... and Bungie keeps custody of Destiny.

Fascinating development. I’d be really interested in seeing Bungie’s uncompromised vision of the series.

https://kotaku.com/bungie-splits-with-activision-1831651740