Gaming news too small for its own thread

[fishbowlhead]

It's obviously this. It's just like with art. Those paintings of a blue square on a black canvas are not worth millions. It's a form of money laundering/tax evasion.

This guy gets it.

[fuse]

Comparatively...

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[briareos_kerensky]

Cave have announced they are developing a new Touhou title for the series' 25th anniversary, and according to them they are "putting all of their experience into it".
No further details have been given.

https://gamestalk.net/post-165403/

[Brad]

I like the idea that on previous titles they didn't put all their experience into it:

Dave: So I want to have over 500 bullets on screen at once!
Bob: Oooh, remember last time tried that and it didn't work because
Dave: SHUT UP BOB!!!!! No one cares about the knowledge and experience you gained on all our previous games! As I was saying, 500 bullets minimum etc.

[QualityChimp]

Psychonauts 2 to Feature an Invincibility Toggle as 'All People Should Be Able to Enjoy Games'


Double Fine has revealed that Psychonauts 2 will feature an invincibility toggle as it believes that "all people should be able to enjoy games."

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Absolutely love this idea, not just because I feel I'm too old to beat games, but because of the inclusivity it brings to our hobby.

[QualityChimp]

2K Community Director Details Years of Abuse from Public

""I have long believed this needs to be a reality. Any person who wants to have a social media account should be required to send in identification," 2K Community Director Corey Andress said in a tweet. "This way, if they’re abusive, they would face criminal prosecution just like they would for the same actions in real life."

That tweet quoted another tweet by Tom Huddlestone which linked to a UK Parliament petition to require verified ID for using social media. Huddlestone's tweet was in response to a tweet from The Times' Chief Football Writer Henry Winter which reported racial abuse sent to English football players following the loss of an important soccer match last night.

"I’ve been hacked, vilified to the point of needing therapy[,] and was offered bodyguards and protection as a cause."

Andress responded to the reported racial abuse received by English soccer players Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka, and Marcus Rashford, by sharing his own story of the kinds of threats, harassment, and stalking that he and his family have had to deal with over the years as a result of his work in a public-facing position for large video game companies."

[wakka]

Psychonauts 2 to Feature an Invincibility Toggle as 'All People Should Be Able to Enjoy Games'


Double Fine has revealed that Psychonauts 2 will feature an invincibility toggle as it believes that "all people should be able to enjoy games."

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Absolutely love this idea, not just because I feel I'm too old to beat games, but because of the inclusivity it brings to our hobby.

Admit it QC. You wish every game had an invincibility toggle that you could enable.

I think this is a good idea, too, like the Super Guide in Mario.

But I'll still defend to the death Miyazaki's right not to make Souls any easier than he wants to

[QualityChimp]

I knew I was putting myself in the firing line for that, and I don't think it would work for every game, but it's something developers should consider.

Something like Astro Bot had infinite lives, but was still a challenge.
I know Nintendo have been doing this kind of thing for a while with games like Mario's Odyssey.

I think some of the best videogames for parents are the LEGO series.
They reference films etc. that we know, you can play together with your kids without it being boring and you can drop in and out at any time! A feature I can't tell you how many times I've used!

[Neon Ignition]

It does work for every game though, Miyazaki might disagree but WeMod proved it

Just completed a survey for Ubisoft. Was not kind to their games or even the types the URGE (Ubisoft Random Game Engine) excretes out on a regular basis.

[Adam]

I think some of the best videogames for parents are the LEGO series.
They reference films etc. that we know, you can play together with your kids without it being boring and you can drop in and out at any time! A feature I can't tell you how many times I've used!

My nephew and niece have their own minecraft world set up which they play together on their tablets, and they're on it all the time. So one time I pulled out my phone and joined their game and they were amazed you could do that They won't stop pestering me to play now though, it's a cool feature.

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, I've been impressed with the cross-play.
I think my son has played with a friend who had a One, whilst we play on a PS4.

I say that like I haven't got Minecraft on PS4, One, 360, PS3, Vita and Switch...

[QualityChimp]

Epic Games Wins Appeal Against Apple in Australia

"Basically, it's apparently been established that Apple's argumentation that Epic should have their proceedings stayed on the "ground of forum no conveniens", due to the fact that they're American companies and... the lawsuit was taking place in Australia. The appeal judge rejected this argument:

“This is a case about the Australian App Store, the developers of apps for distribution in that store and the Australian users of iOS devices. It arises under Part IV (and ACL s 21). It is a case commenced in Australia in reliance on Australian competition law, involving Australian markets and consumers.”

Why is Epic Games Suing Apple?
Epic was kicked off both the Google Play Store and iOS App Store after "Epic introduced a direct payment system for the game which violated the terms and conditions of both storefronts." As this is both Google and Apple's bread and butter, having a big company and the world's biggest game try and to do this constituted a "aw hell no," reaction, leading to Epic suing Google and Apple with their Fortnite money."

[QualityChimp]

Phil Spencer on the future of Xbox: we still want to take risks with games

"Over the last decade, the concept of “games as a service” has revolutionised the way the interactive entertainment industry works. From the subscriptions introduced by massively multiplayer online adventures such as World of Warcraft to the seasonal battle passes of current online shooters, we’re seeing a huge amount of focus on games that can sustain a lucrative community of players over several years.

But where does that leave more offbeat ideas and concepts that couldn’t support years’ worth of play? Where does it leave the single-player narrative adventure – the blockbusting genre that brought us titles such as Metal Gear Solid, Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect? It’s a genre Sony has supported through funding the studios that make games such as The Last of Us, Spider-Man and God of War. But Microsoft has focused its efforts on cross-platform, connected games, as symbolised by the mammoth Minecraft industry. Is there still room for traditional forms of narrative games on the Xbox Series X?

“I think we’re probably building more of those now than we’ve been in the history of Xbox,” says Xbox chief Phil Spencer. “Platform holders, whether that platform is subscription or a hardware device or a store, are actively investing in new and probably more risky things, because, if it works, we get value out of bringing players into the ecosystem.”"

[QualityChimp]

A Study Conducted by a Biology Teacher Shows that Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Educating Its Players on Wildlife

“We asked gamers to identify 15 animals from real-world photos, all of which are featured in RDR2. We found that people who have played RDR2 identified, on average, 10/15 animals correctly, three more than gamers who had never played it. We also found that scores tended to be higher for people who had played more recently, for more hours, or if they had played Red Dead Online’s ‘Naturalist’ role.”

[Asura]

""I have long believed this needs to be a reality. Any person who wants to have a social media account should be required to send in identification," 2K Community Director Corey Andress said in a tweet. "This way, if they’re abusive, they would face criminal prosecution just like they would for the same actions in real life."

It's difficult because if I dispute this, it sounds like I don't care that this person (and many like them) have faced so much abuse. One of my close friends was actually the community manager for a major media company for many years, and I've seen first-hand what this can do to people.

But how/where do you draw the line? Would Bordersdown require an ID check for us to post here?

If someone here is a dick to me, I don't really care because I'm a largely faceless name and they're a largely faceless name; they might be my nextdoor neighbour and we wouldn't know. It's like how everyone jokes about YouTube comments.

I have a lot of sympathy because people like this are working in a profession where they're being paid to stand up and give a corporation a personal image, and that's unfortunately opened them up to abuse. Personally I would never have done that sort of job because I know that happens, which isn't okay - like you can't just say "well you chose this!" because that's bull****. No-one deserves this kind of aggro for working at a videogames company.

I don't know what the solution is. Back in the early days of the internet, the solution was just "don't feed the trolls" because people weren't themselves online. Local businesses had no presence, the internet was the internet and that was it; but these days it's wrapped up in the fabric of people's lives. You can't easily tell a person running a local business with their address listed online to "ignore" death threats as idle chatter.

Maybe part of is is that companies like this should only have this presence on Facebook, which does require ID, and not have individual accounts on Twitter? I've no idea.

It just a shame people are demanding quite a severe measure for the actions of a relatively small number of *****.