Metonymy

No time like the present to buy that Pro. I’m off.

@Broosh Me either. I’m also playing on base PS5 and find balanced mode with 120hz toggled off to be very stable. Like, totally acceptable. That is to say, I don’t think this is what will have the average player turning this game off 😂

I wouldn’t want to have to put a number on this thing. It’s a wildly uneven experience but I really am having a great time with it. Excellent review!

@Th3solution “I think when we’re talking budget and cost there’s often a lack of true objective accuracy, in my opinion. I don’t think the accounting for cost and revenue is always accurate when you get to the scale of a mega-corporation or a government.”

I believe the preferred term is, ‘creative accounting’- hey, people need to sleep at night!

This is the kind of thing I point to when someone asks, “Why do you play video games?” Quite literally counting down the days.

Hard to know much about what went on here specifically but the pattern certainly raises eyebrows. 8 studio closures in 6 years, beginning in 2020 - Sony is very much restructuring. That timeline tells me they are still correcting from the pandemic growth bubble. Slow growth, ballooning costs, general investment uncertainty, an unpredictable and fickle market, a huge price tag for the purchase of Bungie and a massive live service gamble that completely flopped hasn’t helped. I suspect we may see more studios go. What is Media Molecule doing?

@Flaming_Kaiser This might surprise you but I completely agree. That’s part of the point I’ve been trying to make. A blanket belief that A.I. in any part of the creative process is bad will just push these companies towards hiding its use, thus empowering the ones who intend to use it poorly.

Just a completely hypothetical scenario: I can write and record a demo for a song and provide the guitars, bass and vocals but use a drum machine because I can’t play drums or afford to hire a studio musician. I would say, “Hey, check out this song I made with the help of a drum machine.” Does that make me a fraud? I don’t think so, especially if I intend to eventually find someone to help out with the drums. However, right now developers cannot even be that transparent due to some vitriolic and unreasonable discourse surrounding its use. So they’ll just hide it, and then the door is wide open for them to run as far as they want to with it.

@Globo “…it's going to get worse if anyone sees it as a bad thing.”

There’s so much truth to this. The one size fits all approach of ‘A.I. is bad, period’ contributes to companies’ lack of transparency and empowers bad actors to use the technology in more dubious ways.

@RyPal My position on A.I. is always developing but I agree that there seems to be a general lack of awareness as to the prevalence of its use. I highly doubt anyone pours one out for the colourists every time they fire up photoshop but who knows.

What I do know is that technology, and progress in general, has riled people up throughout history; fear and outrage are no path to reasonable and sustainable solutions. I still remember the industry fear and outright prejudice Andy Serkis faced from his peers when developing the early processes of performance capture while making The Lord of the Rings trilogy…

A.I. is here and it is being used widely. I’d rather put the effort into understanding it so that we can harness its benefits while limiting its detriments. The scenario presented here is understandable: Some early placeholder assets, workshopped by collaborating with A.I. to efficiently establish tone and direction, slipped by the some 700 humans employed by the studio into the final product of what is being called one of the largest and most ambitious open world video games ever created. It shouldn’t have happened but it did and this explanation is sufficient in my eyes.

The human spirit is defined by adaptation, resiliency and innovation. We can either get with the program and find a path forward or wallow in the fear of a self fulfilling prophecy where the machines win.

Anyone who understands the creative process can read this explanation and make perfect sense of it. A.I. can absolutely be used in nefarious ways, this isn’t one of them.

I watched my cousin play ‘Resident Evil’ and I was enthralled. He let me play a little bit and tank controls really clicked for me. I still love them. The first one that I played through in its entirety was ‘Nemesis.’ I loved it, and I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve played to varying degrees over the years, even ‘Outbreak’, which was a very weird entry at the time of its release.

All that said, it was ‘4’ that truly blew me away. It was revolutionary at the time, and had such an amazing sense of atmosphere that still feels unique to this day. It really had it all. I didn’t have a GameCube but my buddy and I pulled an all nighter to play through it. ‘4 Remake’ remains the benchmark for me today, but all of the remakes have been excellent in their own ways. It’s a brilliant and trailblazing series that I’m happy to see is still going strong.

Tony Dalton, as well!

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN As much as I think I’ve made peace with not finishing the game, it does still bother me! I’d like to, go back and finish it proper, but we’ll see what ‘time’ has to say about it. It might be the case that watching this pushes me over the edge.

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Yeah I’ll make an effort to. Looks really cool!

@BlAcK_Sw0rDsMaN Thought this might be something that interests you, think you’ll watch it?

This was a great read and looks like a beautiful studio. Having childcare on site is genius. Really curious to see how ‘Crimson Desert’ turns out.

I’m absolutely intrigued but I have no idea how to feel about it at this point. It’s exciting - for all of the reasons outlined in the article- but I don’t really understand what it is, and it looks massive to the point of intimidation. Usually I’m willing to buy a game on curiosity alone but I’ll be waiting for the sites review on this one.

I’d rather watch a looping video of Dick Fosbury doing his thing.

This is actually intriguing me quite a bit. Not my usual type of game by any stretch of the imagination but there’s just something enticing about it to me.

@Leetware1 “I comment usually while at work so my affect doesn’t always come across as neutral ish or as objective as I mean to LOL.”

We are very much in the same boat 😂

@Leetware1 Yeah, these things aren’t so cut and dry once you get down to the nitty gritty. The reality is that, if they’ve gone non-union on this project, hiring this guy might mean 10 people they’ve already hired might lose their jobs in favour of union actors (there’s all kinds of requirements once you’re dealing with a union). I’m not taking a stance one way or the other here, just pointing out some facts.

@Leetware1 “Global Rule One states: No member shall render any services or make an agreement to perform services for any employer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the union, which is in full force and effect, in any jurisdiction in which there is a SAG-AFTRA national collective bargaining agreement in place. This provision applies worldwide.

Simply put, a SAG-AFTRA member must always work under a union contract around the globe.“

“SAG-AFTRA takes Global Rule One very seriously. Violating GR1 can result in disciplinary action ranging from reprimands to fines to expulsion. To avoid the possibility of member discipline, make sure you have a SAG-AFTRA agreement in place before working anywhere in the world.“

https://www.sagaftra.org/contracts-industry-resources/global-rule-one

There’s no decision for him to make, only Capcom.

This sounds like he’s taking a stand but the reality is that he likely doesn’t have a choice. Global Rule One.

@themightyant True, but that control isn’t strictly in Sony’s hands on their storefront, which is where the problem lies for me.

Support physical media.

If the determining factor on whether content works or not is whether it was designed by a man or a woman, then the design philosophy is weak. Likewise, whether or not they’re included and/or in what capacity now should be driven entirely by the design philosophy behind the project; is this a 1:1 recreation, a tongue in cheek homage or are they leaning into Kratos’ self destructive tendencies with deeper storytelling, possibly erasing the interactive aspect of it? Social trends change, the reason you made what you made doesn’t.

I love this article.

It is insanely difficult to raise funds at the AAA level, let alone execute a creative vision in a profitable and sustainable manner while delivering the length, fidelity and bells/whistles that customers demand, particularly in the console space. There’s a reason even the largest, most talented, most well established and well funded studios are taking 5-10 years to release a game -usually a sequel - and why industry legends continue to bitterly leave the mainstream utterly burnt out.

Supporting tentpole releases with smaller, high quality games, while not a perfect solution, is a great path forward but one that needs its own specific strategy. Equal partnerships (not buyouts) with third party and indie studios makes the most sense to me, where new I.P. driven by passion, not directive, actually has a chance and both sides can better absorb a commercial failure. Just making a good game is not enough, but few studios have the marketing heft of a juggernaut like Sony, relying on grassroots strategies like lets plays, which can inadvertently hurt sales of a 6 hour single player experience.

Only buying up studios once a partnership has coalesced organically is something Sony has typically done very well. They’ve stepped away from this in the live service era but a release like ‘Sons of Sparta’ signals a willingness to step off the path. The thing is, we absolutely have to show up when studios take chances. We have to believe in the spirit of what they’re doing, even if the game isn’t a AAA knockout.

Obviously, this is a tough sell, not just for customers but investors as well. Yet this is also the value of brand, which is why this philosophy needs to be part of Sony’s image as they pivot back to their strengths behind the scenes. It’s up to Sony to convince/effectively communicate to both an increasingly tight investment pool and increasingly cynical audience that something like this is a passion project propping up sustainability, not just a cheap cash grab.

They’ve got some challenges ahead, but I believe Sony are in a good position within an unprecedented console landscape to level with gamers in a way that will contribute to their success while driving sustainability within the industry as a whole. Optimistic? Probably, but we’ve seen some recent steps in the right direction.

Haven’t finished it yet but it’s great and looks and sounds amazing on base PS5.

I guess it’s not too surprising that a new mainline entry in one of the most prolific and recognizable horror franchises on the planet, which spans almost 30 years, is selling well but I’m certainly glad that it is. The series is currently in a great spot, and it’s a real accomplishment to keep a series relevant to both new and existing fans.

Hard toss up between Nioh 3 and Requiem for me but voted Nioh 3. I just don’t have enough of a grasp on I how I feel about Requiem yet. Highly polished though!

@JB_Whiting My wife and I both couldn’t stop laughing during the entire opening of this game. Worst boss of the year award goes to…

The closer I look at this picture, the more I think every element has been composited. That could explain why it looks off.

It’s not a great still, no idea why they’d use this as their first look. That said, I can ‘see through’ the shot, so to speak. The production design is good and the rock looks like a rock - Jaffe needs to get out more 😂 This will look great

I’ll be primarily jumping between Nioh 3 and Resident Evil Requiem but I’d also like to finish Reanimal. Happy gaming!

@rjejr This is exactly it. This is a flatly lit medium wide still. There’s absolutely nothing dynamic about it. There’s a chance this might take the one shot route too.

I think it looks good, but they definitely could have picked a moodier shot. I’m more bothered that it’s the wrong type of forest.

@OrbiterNightfall With all due respect, you don’t have to have been around here for long to know that Liam’s a massive RE fan and is exactly who should be reviewing this.

Pacing issues and an identity crisis are separated only by a fine line. My sense from the review is that this entry falls dangerously close to the latter while still delivering a high quality Resident Evil experience. Good to know and can’t wait!

Came from an Olympic gold medal loss to this news. I need to go deal with my emotions.

I won’t give it a score yet but I’ve enjoyed the 3-4 hours I’ve put into it. I actually like the presentation (reminds me of Altered Beast), the music is great, the story is interesting, gameplay is functional… It’s a throwback and works as such. It’s got nothing on the likes of the recent ‘Prince of Persia’ but it’s well put together thus far.

I’ve been enjoying it a lot. I especially like the music and overall presentation and am excited to see where it goes.

It’s disingenuous to suggest that upgrading has always been optional. Cross-gen releases began in earnest with PS5. We are in a new frontier of incremental upgrades within the console space, and consumer sentiment has collided with economic reality. That’s the answer.

Very cool! This is so well done.

Hard to say definitively till I finish it but right now it’s an easy 9/10 for me. The open ended structure really works. It’s ultimately just more Nioh, but I think they’ve freshened things up in some really smart ways.

I’ve really liked what I’ve played. Guess I’m a bad fan 😂

@SodaPop6548 I was 99% convinced this was Darksiders, with the music being the only thing throwing me off!

Excellent. Neva, Control, Saros, God of War, Kena, Silent Hill…crazy

I was hoping the reliance on trial and error would be pared back from the ‘Little Nightmares’ games as it really hurts the flow of such an atmospheric experience, but it’s never been a complete deal breaker for me. This sounds great, I’ll definitely be picking it up!

Fully utilizing an enemies’ design to inform its move set is something I feel Nioh has always done well but it’s nice to see the team continue to derive inspiration from the best of the genre. Still need to get to the LoP DLC!

I’ll be traversing through history as part samurai, part ninja, 100% scampuss lover. Happy gaming!