General Gaming News

[Alan]

It next week!

[Achtung Englander]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/atomic-heart/u ... -ban-steam



Not sure about this. As much as I sympathise with the Ukranian plight, demonising everything Russian is also a slippery slope.

Started it last night - really enjoying it

[Sly Boots]

Not played it, unlikely to play it, but from what I've read it glorifies Soviet stuff a bit, which is probably why they're objecting to it.

[Animalmother]

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/atomic ... raine-war/
Pretty good examination of Mundfish.

[eny]

Quite right, ban it until Russia leaves Ukraine and addresses the consequences of its actions. Won't see a penny from me

[DjchunKfunK]

I find a lot of the stuff around Atomic Heart to be overblown and misreported. Stuff like the investment from Russian sources is something that is present in other games but nobody was calling for them to be banned and the idea that a Russian company based in Cyprus with family members back home should come out in strong support against the Russian invasion is just mind boggling to me.

I can't speak to the glorification stuff that people have flagged up.

I respect people's decision to not play the game because of the Russian links, but I don't like how emotive the whole situation has become and how people think there is a "right" way to feel about that game.

[Lenny Solidus]

The controversy is obviously being discussed far more than the game at this point. It always looked rather mediocre to me, I would never have bought it regardless.

[eny]

There is a reason they are in Cyprus.

[Wrathbone]

I respect people's decision to not play the game because of the Russian links, but I don't like how emotive the whole situation has become and how people think there is a "right" way to feel about that game.

Seems to be the flavour of the month, what with Hogwarts Legacy causing a similar divide. When people stop discussing the nuances behind supporting games with controversies and start drawing lines in the ground and casting aspersions on the other side, nothing improves.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is terrible. JK Rowling's views on trans people are terrible. Supporting or boycotting Atomic Heart and Hogwarts Legacy for those reasons will have little to no tangible impact on Russia, Ukraine, Rowling or the trans community if you ask me, but perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe it's a bit like how recycling milk bottles isn't going to make a dent on global warming, but it's still better than not doing it.

I know everyone here is level-headed, but I've been reluctant to post about Hogwarts even here because of the general furore around it. I bought it, finished it this weekend and it's a really excellent game from a new developer. It's such a shame that it's tarnished with Rowling's bile, but the way I see it is that even if she got 100% of the revenue from it, she's already so rich that it wouldn't allow her to do or say anything she can't already. And the many innocent developers who just wanted to make a great game (seriously, the passion they've put into it is obvious) deserve recognition. Maybe I'm a terrible person, but it strikes me as utter lunacy that what would otherwise be a GOTY contender is being flat-out banned for discussion by Eurogamer and given 1/10 by Wired for reasons that ostensibly have nothing to do with the game itself (I know Wired claimed otherwise, but honestly, I think they were playing a completely different game to me). There has to be a middle ground of sanity.

[Lenny Solidus]

Hardly unexpected when people are practically being conditioned to have issues with everything on a daily basis, youtube is absolutely drowning in a constant wave of negatively induced for clicks and views content...

Spoiler

They want people actively pissed 24/7 and guess what, it's working. Always online culture is partly a negative seed they wish to flower as much as they possibly can and it's doing good business.

[Raid]

It's pretty difficult to be a gamer without holding your nose these days. If it's not a franchise created by a transphobe or developer linked to the Russian state, it's a publisher that uses abusive crunch development or that has a history of widespread sexual misconduct.

[Lenny Solidus]

Of course there is plenty for us to be upset about, but given that fact as Wrath said...

There has to be a middle ground of sanity.

Yet such people as the youtube channel above clearly don't wish for any form of rational, that doesn't get them clicks or revenue. Sensationalism is on the menu every single course.

As for Atomic Heart Ive seen more on the fucking twins since it released than I've seen anyone give the game any real merit, this is where we are at today with gaming latching on to everything but the worth of the core experience that is on offer.

[Maturin]

Yep, I just don't engage with modern internet outrage; it's nearly always overblown, exaggerated and/or sensationalist to get yourself noticed. Actually, stretch that to online political/social discourse in general. It's a neverending, tiresome conveyor belt of accusatory, bristling, tribalistic wailing where the concept of balance doesn't exist.

Almost everybody online just generally appears to always be on war-footing it seems to me, whatever the subject.

[Drarok]

I really don't think one YouTube channel is indicative of overall trends. My YT is absolutely nothing like that because I don't subscribe to bullshit-flinging arseholes!

Seek out the positive stuff, avoid the shite, it makes your online experience a much nicer place to be.

[Raid]

It's extremely easy to find viewpoints that match your own these days, regardless of which side of a debate you're on. If you watch left-leaning channels, the almighty algorithm will present you with further left-leaning material because that's what others of similar mindsets have been watching. Feeding that algorithm is at least partially responsible for the outrage bait that Dave's screenshotted, because any engagement, regardless of whether a commenter agrees with or disputes the points made in a video is beneficial. 500 people replying with "You idiot" in allcaps is no different to 500 well thought out responses as far as Youtube is concerned. It's not exactly a new phenomenon - I'm assuming everyone's come across the idiom "Bad news sells".

But people are *angry* right now. There are so many influences to that, but certainly in the UK we're facing economic downturn, a cost of living crisis and corruption in the news at every turn. Sometimes anger spills out on an issue that they don't even feel that strongly about, and while I'm certainly not trying to suggest that the outrage directed at Rowling isn't warranted (you only have to look at the discourse surrounding Brianna Ghey's murder to see that trans people still face an existential threat), I can't help but feel people are more agitated than they otherwise would be.