General Gaming News

[Sly Boots]

So Jake Solomon has left Firaxis, basically saying he's bored of making turn-based strategy games and wants to set up a new studio to make life sims.

I guess that goes a long way to explaining what happened with Midnight Suns...

[Alan]

https://venturebeat.com/games/ccp-games ... oT9jCpHo3s

[Drarok]

People are still launching blockchain projects? What on earth is a "blockchain game"? Ugh.

[DjchunKfunK]

People are still launching blockchain projects? What on earth is a "blockchain game"? Ugh.

A con.

[Mantis]

Square Enix have recently announced the departure of one of their most senior figures and brought in a replacement who worked on other Blockchain businesses outside of games. Seems they're still going on hard on the whole concept.

Thankfully the huge backlash and lack of interest in them during the flurry of announcements last year seems to have made a lot of companies step back from it for the time being. They're literally nothing but a complete con, I'm glad a lot of people saw through the BS.

[Alan]

Mighty Doom came out on iOS and android. It’s 100% a clone of archereo or whatever you call that game people were hot on for 5mins 5 years ago.

[Lenny Solidus]

New X-Box announcement incoming?


Source: GDC

[Raid]

Hasn't a hardware-minimal streaming box for Gamepass been rumoured for years at this point?

[DjchunKfunK]

Hasn't a hardware-minimal streaming box for Gamepass been rumoured for years at this point?

Yeah but there were rumours early this year that they had pushed it back due to not being able to get the price and hardware right.

[Raid]

It feels like it's too early in the console's life cycle to release updated main hardware (the series consoles are only two and a half years old). Given that Google's Stadia ran over a standard Chromecast and you could connect XBox controllers to it, I feel like the obstacles are going to be more marketing related (under which I'm including the consumer price for the hardware) than technical, as it's provably been done by their competitors. Stadia flopped for its business model (something I don't see as a problem with Game Pass), the actual hardware and streaming quality were perfectly acceptable.

[DjchunKfunK]

It feels like it's too early in the console's life cycle to release updated main hardware (the series consoles are only two and a half years old). Given that Google's Stadia ran over a standard Chromecast and you could connect XBox controllers to it, I feel like the obstacles are going to be more marketing related (under which I'm including the consumer price for the hardware) than technical, as it's provably been done by their competitors. Stadia flopped for its business model (something I don't see as a problem with Game Pass), the actual hardware and streaming quality were perfectly acceptable.

Yeah, although I would say next year is a bit early as well however that is when the rumoured PS5 mid-gen upgrade is rumoured to be coming out.

[Raid]

I would be expecting whatever is being suggested in Dave's photo above as being more imminent than next year, say in the next six months or so if it's a relatively minor release like a streaming console. Next winter, by which time the consoles will be four years old, seems like a reasonable time to launch revised main hardware. Manufacturers will surely be clamouring for a more cost-effective hardware package, as this is the first time I can remember prices actually going up after launch rather than dropping significantly. I don't think I'd be surprised if we got revised hardware earlier in the life cycle this time around.

What I do find funny though is that this also feels like the first console generation in a long time where just ignoring the hardware and getting everything on PC is a viable alternative. I know PCs are more expensive than they used to be, but with Microsoft launching all of their first-party titles (from whichever studios they've bought out this month) for Windows and Sony at least making inroads into doing the same, it does at least make the cost feel more worthwhile. It's just a shame that Nintendo have shown absolutely no desire to do the same, and I doubt they ever will.

[Sly Boots]

Haven't seen this mentioned anywhere, but it looks like Chris Avellone has not only been cleared of the sexual misconduct charges against him, he got a seven-figure settlement and public apology from his accusers:

https://www.eurogamer.net/chris-avellon ... re-payment

Sometimes in cases like this you feel like the claims were likely true but unable to be proven, but in this instance seems like he was genuinely falsely accused? I'm glad, as he's worked on many of my favourite games and as a talented game writer hopefully he can continue to contribute to future projects.

[DjchunKfunK]

I don't think these were the only claims against him at the time though but I may be wrong. The bar for libel is pretty high in the US compared to the UK which would suggest the evidence he had was perhaps pretty telling. The issue with any cases like this is that because of the historical issues with women getting justice you don't know what to believe when it comes to judgements.

[Sly Boots]

Seeing as though we never got a true sequel to what I consider a genre classic in Darksiders II, I'm very much loving the look of the following from the developers of Lords of the Fallen & The Surge...

Delayed until 10th August:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/atlas- ... -in-august