Game News 2.0

Potential-Monke · 20-07-2022 8:17pm

As do I! But that's also a hefty price tag. You do get a lot for it though...

Retr0gamer · 21-07-2022 1:15pm

In Sony are the same corporate assholes as all other big corporations news, a thread on twitter has blown up showing Sony don't credit third party staff that work on games but also a lot of their low level staff such as QA:

https://twitter.com/RicardoJuchem/status/1549405032621146115?t=1E1RTO6XqIrq0Ncldcp9Hw&s=19

CastorTroy · 21-07-2022 1:30pm

A NDA on work he's done? Must be crap when looking for work of not allowed to give examples of projects he's worked on. I guess would just have to be vague in the details.

sniper_samurai · 21-07-2022 1:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119368029#Comment_119368029

A lot of the **** translation companies are like that too. They'll get the credit for the translation, but the actual people doing the work don't get credit and are bound by NDAs to not even mention they worked on it. Helps them be in a position of power and reduce the rates of the translation, absolutely scummy practice.

Retr0gamer · 21-07-2022 1:59pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119368063#Comment_119368063

And then there is TOSE in japan whose main seling point is we will make you a game or work on it and you don't have to credit us. They are the biggest development house in japan that isn't Nintendo and it's theorised they have been responsible for some pretty major releases such as Metroid and Kid Icarus. I'm sure there's plenty of Western dev studios that are the same.

I think Sony not giving credit to internal workers is a big blight on them as well. I'd say they do it to contractors.

CastorTroy · 21-07-2022 5:48pm

For anyone that has been waiting on a release date for the TMNT Cowabunga Collection.

IGN can exclusively reveal that The Cowabunga Collection will be releasing August 30 on PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch

https://www.ign.com/articles/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-the-cowabunga-collection-has-a-release-date

https://youtu.be/aR3ZE5vFi7c

Retr0gamer · 21-07-2022 8:08pm

Day 1

Potential-Monke · 21-07-2022 11:11pm

So, I think this looks pretty good. Seems to be holding the right amount of comedy. Will be sure to annoy some DnD peeps with some loose use of the rules (Druid/Owlbear?), but it looks enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to seeing some things I've encountered in my (still ongoing 3 years later first) D&D campaign.

https://youtu.be/MEJqfjPjNbA

quokula · 21-07-2022 11:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119368063#Comment_119368063

That's exactly the case with this guy, who worked for Keywords Studios (who are an Irish company btw, but have locations around the globe) where his job was basically to be a proofreader, playing games in Brazilian Portuguese and reporting bugs if anything was incorrect.

While they've branched out into other outsourcing services, Keywords were primarily a localisation house. You pass your game to them for translation and localisation testing. The studio actually making the game are unlikely to even know what internal staff at Keywords will have been involved, let alone put them in the credits. It's completely standard for how these outsource companies work across the industry.

It kind of makes sense because credits have to stop somewhere and that's usually at third party service providers. If you use Unity Engine you credit Unity, you don't add everyone who worked on Unity individually. Same goes for Keywords, Testology, Wwise and the million other external companies who might play a part in completing any given product.

Zero-Cool · 22-07-2022 7:27am

I thought someone made a last of us remake thread but i can't see one. Anyway, gameplay was leaked the last few days and people not happy as it looks to be the same game, just prettier. Naughty Dog have released this hype trailer and even though it does indeed look way nicer than the last remaster and i really really want to play it at launch, i can't shell out 80 euro for it.

https://youtu.be/uRKIWQUucj0

Penn · 22-07-2022 8:02am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119370872#Comment_119370872

Yeah there's no doubt they've done amazing work with the visuals, I'm sure the AI is great, and the Dualsense haptics would surely add a lot.

But there's no way it's comparable to the work that goes into a full price game. They already had so much of the work done, no matter how much time they spent shining up the visuals. So what are you paying for other than the graphics? Workbench animations for Joel upgrading his guns? Companions who are better at moving into cover rather than running in front of enemies but it not counting? People presumed that the dodge and prone mechanics from TLOU2 might be implemented which would change a lot of the encounters, but no.

I'm sure I'll pick it up at some point, maybe if it drops below €40. But I can't justify full price.

pixelburp · 22-07-2022 8:13am

A 9 year old game barely qualifies under my personal mental bracket of "remaster". An uptick in visual fidelity is scarcely some transformative change or indeed other changes better described as tweaks;, unlike other, "proper" remasters where for whatever reason the vision of the game was functionally held back by the technology of the time. Which tends to be the base with these remasters of old 8, 16 bit games or older. Heck even early 3D games like Black Mesa Source can better demonstrate the concept of the From the Ground Up remaster than the Last of Us 1s own.

Retr0gamer · 22-07-2022 8:14am

Really hoping the last of us flops for them but it will of course sell well. It's been an extremely barren few months for ps exclusives, I can't even name the last one, and hype for the tv series will drive sale. Just seems like a really cynical move to charge full price for it considering there's already a good remaster.

Penn · 22-07-2022 8:31am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119370941#Comment_119370941

I think that's where the distinction between remaster and remake comes in. Remaster is generally visual, audio, controls and UI upgrades of the main game. Remake would be mostly rebuilding the game from scratch.

This is certainly a remaster. An impressive one to be sure, but it's a polish and spit-shine rather than a remake of the game from the ground up.

Zero-Cool · 22-07-2022 8:39am

That's where they keep harping up that it has been rebuilt from the ground up. If that's the case, their efforts would probably have been better spent elsewhere. Anyway, I have TLOU Remastered which still plays great and has Factions which is brilliant. Sony should be adding this to Plus Extra or Premium.

Markitron · 22-07-2022 9:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119370978#Comment_119370978

I would say this falls just over the line of remake, considering the fact that they have had to rebuild all of the assets from scratch. Obviously they are bolting these new assets onto an old game, but the massive increase in level of detail is a step beyond a mere upres with improved lighting and framerate.

So IMO TLOU 1 has one of the best remasters as well as one of the poorer remakes. I will agree that it is massively overpriced and somewhat unnecessary though

Sad Professor · 22-07-2022 9:20am

Remake or remaster, I don't really care what people call this, but the visual difference is huge, far greater than what typically passes for a remaster these days, especially any ND have done. Part of the problem is that it's obviously extremely faithful and looks how many people remember the ps3 version looking, especially having recently played TLOU2. I think remake is the wrong word as people probably associate it with reimagining a la RE2/3 and FF7, though in fairness they are mostly emphasising that it's been rebuilt rather than remade. I agree that the price is too high and that at the very least there should have been a cheaper upgrade path for owners of the PS4 version. However I still think this looks fantastic and can't wait to play it.

The nerd rage over the leaked gameplay is really quite bizarre and a case of totally out of control expectations. The only problem I could see it with (apart from some slightly bugged AI behaviour) was the fact that player wasn't very good and seemed to be playing on easy mode. The lack of prone is not surprising and I was always sceptical that this would be added as it would require the levels to be completely redesigned in most cases in order to accommodate it. ND were never going to tack something that on or throw out the level design of the original game. I suspect the same is true of dodge which TLOU2 had whole boss fights designed around. Sony screwed up by holding back on the gameplay details and allowing speculation to run wild about what improvements the gameplay would have.

johnny_ultimate · 22-07-2022 9:40am

The conversation around it would be entirely different if the price was different.

I mean, I still think the remake is in some ways pretty redundant - the original game hasn't aged much, and it just feels like something of a waste of developer talent and time to polish up an already extremely polished game.

Accepting that it does exist, there's no doubt they've done a good job on the graphics front. And there's a certain commercial logic in having this ready to go in time for the TV show. But it's just that price that really generates ill-will: probably double what it should be priced at TBH. It's just pure greed and stubbornness from Sony.

McFly85 · 22-07-2022 9:52am

I would really like to see the remake tank. TLOU in 2013 felt groundbreaking in terms of story, visuals and gameplay, and the remaster is a great way to experience it.

I felt TLOU2 focused too much on the visuals and story, without progressing the gameplay that much(the AI was pretty great though).Still fighting groups of humans instead of the more interesting infected, and crafting was novel originally but feels basic in the second one because everything has crafting now.

So €80 for a game that feels like a 2013 game that already has a good looking version(that is free on ps+) that’s not quite as good looking as this one. There’s no reason for it’s existence apart from a quick buck.

Penn · 22-07-2022 9:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119371102#Comment_119371102

It's definitely a massive increase in detail and a stunning amount of work, but considering everything that goes into games from conception, they would have skipped over a hell of a lot of work, (pretty much) all mocap done, all level design done, music, environment design, enemy design etc. Had they implemented new moves from TLOU2 such as dodging and going prone, that would have necessitated changes in level design and enemy AI to balance that, but that wasn't done either.

So I have no doubt they did an incredible amount of work in rebuilding assets, character models, environments etc, and it's definitely a high-level remaster. But they had so much to build off which is less than 10 years old (as opposed to trying to redo a 15-20 year old game).

I just can't see enough of a change (graphics aside) to be able to consider this a remake or generally worthy of a full-price release. €50 maybe, but not €75-80.

marcbrophy · 22-07-2022 10:48am

Hello Games do more work for each NMS update and give it out for free to 3 (soon to be 4) different systems.

ND spit and polish an old game and expect to be lauded and €80 thrown at them.

Fúck off

Grumpypants · 22-07-2022 11:01am

It’s very much geared to those that will watch the tv show and then play the game. Rather than those that have played it on the 2-3 previous releases.

Mr Crispy · 22-07-2022 11:32am

Druckmann (and others, since) talked about significant gameplay improvements on top of the graphical polish. In the same breath they talk about matching or even surpassing what they achieved with the sequel. Gameplay improvements were a selling point. So with the price of the game, it's not really surprising people are feeling short-changed, especially those who pre-ordered (although people should know better by now).

marcbrophy · 22-07-2022 12:39pm

Define significant?

It's completely subjective.

Is it a fortnight's work? A month? A year?

How many individuals involved?

Show these improvements.

Talking means nothing, especially from these people who'd sell their own nana for an extra pre-order!

Nobody wants to pay full retail, under Sony's "This is an €80 generation" for an old game!

BTW, I'm not giving out to any here, especially Mr Crispy, I'm just shouting into the void 😁

SuperBowserWorld · 22-07-2022 12:52pm

Nintendo fooled me into re buying Wii U games on Switch.

I've learned my lesson for the other platforms. 😁

I'll buy this when it's cheap and I get a PS5 😁

CastorTroy · 22-07-2022 1:09pm

I don't think I knew of the existence of prone in The Last of Us 2 until I saw it mentioned here. Probably would've made the game a bit easier.

Retr0gamer · 22-07-2022 1:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119372322#Comment_119372322

You needed it for the sniper bit.

Penn · 22-07-2022 2:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119372494#Comment_119372494

Yeah I would have thought there were almost definitely parts where you'd be forced to go prone to get through a gap between areas or where a cutscene would end with you prone under a car or something before giving control back to you.

To be honest I remember very little of the gameplay from TLOU2 other than every second puzzle featuring a rope because they spent so much time on rope physics.

Retr0gamer · 22-07-2022 2:14pm

I just remember how fun the remote bombs were. I know naughty dog were trying to make you feel bad but they it was just way too much fun killing people.

CastorTroy · 22-07-2022 2:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119372494#Comment_119372494

Can't remember but I'm sure that was just a lot of sprinting. Maybe I did some crawling. Clearly I didn't use it often enough to remember it.

Game News 2.0

Comments