Good ol' Petey Molyneux is at it again! That scamp.
Video Game News and Miscellany
- Thread starter figmentPez
- Start date
I have a feeling it'll be a lot like Destiny: "The game has many flaws, which are unacceptable, and bothered me for the 15 straight hours I played it today."
Well, it should be said, I passed on Destiny. Thankfully, I can wait. The DLC BS kinda put me off it a bit. If it turns out its the next generation of multiplayer of games, I'll pick it up.
Is it weird that I wasn't interested in Evolve, even before all the DLC nonsense?
Evolve looked fun but I wasn't super into it. Left 4 Dead did the same idea and gave you so many more strategic options, while giving the humans a means of victory other than "kill your enemies".
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, not everybody longs to rip other people limb from limb and devour them.
Truly. Some of us simply wish to devour them whole--limbs and all.
I just brought Evolve home, so I'll let you guys know what I think when I'm done for the night.
No joke, I'm waiting with baited breath. Nearly bought it myself but the reviews from users are too mixed to be clear.
That's not even close to true, but you wouldn't know that unless you buy the game. The game has 12 hunters, 3 monsters. DLC are 4 hunters, 2 monsters. And far as I can tell, the hunters are just different looks and voices. They have the same gameplay style. Monsters are where it's different. Also, none of it is day-one DLC. This stuff isn't going to be ready for a while.
Which led to where I stopped siding with the players on the DLC issue, when I started seeing people say "So if it's not day one DLC, then it's an incomplete game."
After playing it for 2 and a half hours, I'm mixed myself. I played most of it as the monster, which sometimes ends in a humiliating defeat within minutes, or can stretch on depending on your intelligence vs the hunters. I don't like that, by using Daisy, you can pretty much hone in on the monster right away. That makes it less of a hunt and more of a "follow the mission waypoint." Then again, I could be doing it all wrong, but for me my chances as monster are dependent on whether there's water on the map. The more water, the less footprints, the better my chances. I was able to get to stage 3 once and that game was the most fun, less because of getting there and more because of just how many back and forth skirmishes I had with the hunters. Watching them run past me at one point was nerve-wracking and exciting. That said, it has a steep learning curve and requires you unlock some perks through playing.
Haven't played as the hunter online yet. I might tonight and hopefully it'll bring back that Left 4 Dead kind of fun. Hunter classes are all valuable to the team and losing one person or having someone who doesn't know what they're doing can really fuck up the whole team.
All that said, it's really tough to learn solo. If the comp is the monster, it'll have hit stage 2 by the time you land, and your team will hang around waiting for you to lead them even if you're the medic class. If the comp is the hunters, it'll always know where you are. Always. You can't trick and hide from it like you can with humans.
I haven't played enough to know if I'd recommend it yet, and I may not get much time to find out since I have to do a lot of mandatory overtime at work the next couple days. In all honesty, I'm not sure why I bought this when Monster Hunter is coming out in three days, except that I'd been looking forward to it for so damn long. Hopefully I will find it fun enough to justify the purchase, but as of right now, I'm not certain.
A new adventure game from Wadjet Eye Studios? The same developer of games like the Blackwell series, Resonance, and Primordia?
Hell yes. Bring it on.
I still don't understand how anyone works in the video games industry.
http://kotaku.com/the-pizza-party-where-everyone-got-fired-1685455125
http://kotaku.com/the-pizza-party-where-everyone-got-fired-1685455125
GasBandit
Staff member
The recurring theme in those stories seems to be "major video game developer."[DOUBLEPOST=1423783125,1423782651][/DOUBLEPOST]Ok, I was also reading the super long story of the family that lost damn near everything and had to send their kids to 9 different schools in 9 years as they desperately went from job to job... and then I got to the point where she said -
"A year and a half later, we were told he would be laid off in two months. I was seven months pregnant. Our insurance would end two weeks before the baby was due."
Wait wait wait wait... after being fired 9 times in 9 years, you don't even wait a YEAR to see if a job is going to hold before you decide to have another kid?!
It makes me wonder what other bad decisions these people were making.
It's an honest reality of game development: profits come in spurts and they don't NEED large dev teams or testing teams until well into development. It's not viable to support large teams year round. However, openly stating this to employees would prevent you from getting the necessary talent when you DO need it. After all, who is going to move their family across the country for a job that might end in less than 6 months, even a dream job? Who is going to put in unpaid hours as a tester without the carrot of a permanent position? Worse, it doesn't matter if these people talk: EVERYONE wants to make video games, so there is always an influx of dreamy eyed kids to take your place.
Really, Game Development needs unions for the same reason Hollywood got them: employers will just spit out people as fast as they can use them up otherwise.
Really, Game Development needs unions for the same reason Hollywood got them: employers will just spit out people as fast as they can use them up otherwise.
Good god, that last story ("Daddy's job in video games was no longer a cool thing they liked to brag about") was just heart wrenching.
Fuck Ken Levine.
I have a story kind of like these from quite while back, but I was lucky enough to be a young kid at the time with no major life costs or obligations that complicated anything, came from a well-off family, and had a tiny bit of personal nest egg from teaching English for a year overseas (if you're young and frugal, those international tax exemptions can save you a ton of money off the top).
My circumstances are not most people's circumstances, and these stories (and believe me, it's not just major publishers do it) are the biggest reason why I tell people to not go into the game industry.
My circumstances are not most people's circumstances, and these stories (and believe me, it's not just major publishers do it) are the biggest reason why I tell people to not go into the game industry.
GasBandit
Staff member
I had a similar experience as well when I was young and unattached, in the IT industry in Colorado Springs. I got hired on by contract by Oracle. Yes, that Oracle. I was the IT guy for one of their satellite offices downtown. It was the dream job for a 20 year old IT guy, doing my best to support an office of about 100 users in both hardware and software, making $18 an hour with all the overtime I could handle. The only drawback was I was always on call during off hours and weekends, and had to carry a beeper.
Well, then the other drawback came when they finally finished construction on their new building 4 months later, and moved everybody from all the satellite offices into the new HQ in Monument. And laid off all their contract staff.
I had saved up enough money to keep paying rent for several months, but the bottom had just fallen out of the dotcom bubble, and I couldn't find work. As my savings dwindled, I eventually decided this would be a good time to go back to college.
Well, then the other drawback came when they finally finished construction on their new building 4 months later, and moved everybody from all the satellite offices into the new HQ in Monument. And laid off all their contract staff.
I had saved up enough money to keep paying rent for several months, but the bottom had just fallen out of the dotcom bubble, and I couldn't find work. As my savings dwindled, I eventually decided this would be a good time to go back to college.
Now I don't feel so heartless about thinking the same thing.
Make no mistake, we're both still bad people and going to hell. But at least we'll go together.
Jesus christ.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/peter-molyneux-game-designer-interview-godus
Peter Molyneux says he'll never speak to the press again after this interview.
And then goes on to have interviews with Rock, Paper, Shotgun and other places.
Also, the development of Godus sounds like a complete and total disaster. I feel bad for anyone who backed the Kickstarter.
Peter Molyneux says he'll never speak to the press again after this interview.
And then goes on to have interviews with Rock, Paper, Shotgun and other places.
Also, the development of Godus sounds like a complete and total disaster. I feel bad for anyone who backed the Kickstarter.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/02/13/peter-molyneux-interview-godus-reputation-kickstarter/
Whoa, this interview. John Walker of RPS gets it started HARD. First quest, do you think you're a pathological liar?
Whoa, this interview. John Walker of RPS gets it started HARD. First quest, do you think you're a pathological liar?
Jesus. This interview is HARSH. Look, I'll fully admit that Molyneux has needed someone to call him out on his bullshit for a long time. He's overhyped games and made a lot of empty promises. I didn't pay attention to the Godus Kickstarter, but from the sounds of it, Molyneux's M.O. was right on course here, too.
That said, the interviewer was incredibly unprofessional. Starting the whole thing off with "Do you think you're a pathological liar?" and then later on saying "That was pretty shitty of you" (making a Linux version a stretch goal). Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But that's still the most unprofessional, untactful way of saying it.
That said, the interviewer was incredibly unprofessional. Starting the whole thing off with "Do you think you're a pathological liar?" and then later on saying "That was pretty shitty of you" (making a Linux version a stretch goal). Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But that's still the most unprofessional, untactful way of saying it.
GasBandit
Staff member
Mattel is partnering with Google to bring back the ViewMaster as a VR headset.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/13/8033179/mattel-view-master-google-cardboard-vr
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/13/8033179/mattel-view-master-google-cardboard-vr
Or just y'know...not get Battlefield.
[DOUBLEPOST=1423842754,1423842187][/DOUBLEPOST]
I feel ya, Gas. I got let go from a job on the afternoon of Sep 6, 2001. "I'll take the weekend off to recoup and start looking for another job next week," I thought. And then Sep 11th happened and every month after that for almost a year was the month of NOvember.
--Patrick
New 3DS is out in the States today. I brought ours home, so now begins the fun of transferring data. Maybe I'll get to play today ...
let me know what you think. Im hearing mixed reviews as to whether is a "must-have" upgrade or a "meh, wait until there's exclusives for it" kinda of upgrade.
What a fucking con artist.
You won't want to listen to me. Right now my wife's is downloading Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and later mine will be as well. Here is what the New 3DS does for that particular game:
- Right analog nub allows camera control.
- Faster load times, start-up, and processing.
- Refined textures and improved visuals.
- Quicker online access.
We got these solely because of Monster Hunter. So, it was worth it on that strength. If you want general, no bias thoughts on the piece of machinery as-is, I'll give them once I get to play it today, I'll be happy to. But I can't say if it's a must-have or not for others, because as people who are going to play hundreds of hours of MH4U on this, it's totally worth it. But I'll post a little review later after I try it with some of my other games, for comparison's sake.
In hindsight, I really should've deleted some demos before transferring my SD card date to the PC, and then to the microSD. Would've sped this up a bit.