Video Game News and Miscellany
- Thread starter figmentPez
- Start date
They had a new guy join recently doing video essays called Cold Take. I liked his work, and I'm sure he's part of this exodus.
Yahtzee was the only reason I still bothered with The Escapist. They used to have Steph Sterling and Bob Chipman, but they both left ages ago.
Yahtzee was the only reason I still bothered with The Escapist. They used to have Steph Sterling and Bob Chipman, but they both left ages ago.
Last edited:
Yeah, Sebastian “Frost” Ruiz. He’s great, but I think he may stick with Escapist. He often refers to his youth and inexperience, talking about how he’s just grateful to have the job.
The Cold Take guy did leave too, yeah.
If you want to follow the former Escapist creators, they have a new YouTube channel they just started. No content yet, but they are planning to release something starting tomorrow.
Click here to go their new YouTube page
Click here to go their new YouTube page
I like the channel name
figmentPez
Staff member
Microsoft announced it is going to ban a whole bunch of 3rd party controllers and accessories, meaning they'll no longer work after an upcoming system update to Xbox.
Why Xbox's Third-Party Accessories Ban Is Sparking a Backlash in the Disabled Community
Microsoft claims that this is to combat cheating. Detractors note that Microsoft is being very vocal that their official Xbox Adaptive Controller (which starts at $100, and is not a complete solution for many disabled gamers) will still work, and that this might be a push to force disabled gamers to buy Microsoft's product.
Yet another reason to say "Fuck Microsoft!" They don't actually like gamers, they just like making money off of the game industry.
Why Xbox's Third-Party Accessories Ban Is Sparking a Backlash in the Disabled Community
Microsoft claims that this is to combat cheating. Detractors note that Microsoft is being very vocal that their official Xbox Adaptive Controller (which starts at $100, and is not a complete solution for many disabled gamers) will still work, and that this might be a push to force disabled gamers to buy Microsoft's product.
Yet another reason to say "Fuck Microsoft!" They don't actually like gamers, they just like making money off of the game industry.
On the one hand this seems like something the EU would declare illegal. On the other hand this seems like something the EU would declare illegal...eventually. As in we would have the next Xbox available before they act - if not the one after that. And even then that just solves the problem in the EU.
Hopefully we'll see a class action lawsuit in the US or a big enough outcry to make M$ back off the way they did with the "you can't lend your games to your friends" debacle.
According to a livestream on their new channel this morning:
- They had a top-tied patreon subscriber before they even finished setting up the page, just as evidence of how much support they have out of the gate.
- Yahtzee will return to his normal reviews under the name Fully Ramblomatic, which is a property he owns and started well before ZP, with a longer form Semi-Ramblomatic as well. Fully Ramblomatic starts next week, as does the next...
- Cold Take, which is owned by Frost, will continue starting next week.
- Yahtzee is covering the costs for the Adventure is Nigh D&D actual play kickstarter out of pocket. I'm not sure who has the rights to it the name of it as they didn't cover that, but they aren't stiffing the kickstarter patrons
- Patreon is their main support, though they are increasing streaming. They are really hoping to be able to pay everyone that came with them, which was a LOT of staff, writers, and content creators.
- Plenty more.
https://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/4kok877a13aa32/a-message-from-rockstar-games
A Message from Rockstar Games
November 8, 2023
Next month marks the 25th anniversary of Rockstar Games.
Thanks to the incredible support of our players worldwide, we have had the opportunity to create games we are truly passionate about — without you, none of this would be possible, and we are so grateful to all of you for sharing this journey with us.
In 1998, Rockstar Games was founded on the idea that video games could come to be as essential to culture as any other form of entertainment, and we hope that we have created games you love in our efforts to be part of that evolution.
We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto.
We look forward to many more years of sharing these experiences with all of you.
Thank you,
Sam Houser
A Message from Rockstar Games
November 8, 2023
Next month marks the 25th anniversary of Rockstar Games.
Thanks to the incredible support of our players worldwide, we have had the opportunity to create games we are truly passionate about — without you, none of this would be possible, and we are so grateful to all of you for sharing this journey with us.
In 1998, Rockstar Games was founded on the idea that video games could come to be as essential to culture as any other form of entertainment, and we hope that we have created games you love in our efforts to be part of that evolution.
We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto.
We look forward to many more years of sharing these experiences with all of you.
Thank you,
Sam Houser
figmentPez
Staff member
Steam may soon let you hide specific games from your friends
For those of us who aren't openly giant pervs.
For those of us who aren't openly giant pervs.
GasBandit
Staff member
Shiiiit, I used to add notepad.exe to Steam and rename it "Gushing Satanic Sex Torture Party Simulator 2018" so that I could amuse my steam friends by launching it during primetime and leaving it "running" while I went out to eat or something
I play h-games on my main account like a BOSS. If you don't want to know I'm 20 hours deep into Futa Mistress Exxxtreme Domme Edition then you shouldn't be my steam friend.
There's at least a couple that are way better than they have any right to be
figmentPez
Staff member
Valve just announced the Steam Deck OLED
EDIT: From the tech specs, it looks like the upgrades are: 90Hz HDR enabled OLED, same resolution. WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 (vs WiFi 5 and BT 5.0) and a larger battery.
Same processor speed (but a die shrink), RAM, storage (no 64GB model), etc for everything else.
EDIT: From the tech specs, it looks like the upgrades are: 90Hz HDR enabled OLED, same resolution. WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 (vs WiFi 5 and BT 5.0) and a larger battery.
Same processor speed (but a die shrink), RAM, storage (no 64GB model), etc for everything else.
Last edited:
figmentPez
Staff member
Ah, there's a new high end model with 1TB of storage, and a translucent housing.
*grabby hands*
I've never been a portable gamer. Never even owned a Gameboy growing up. Always preferred couch or computer chair gaming.
But man, I'm feeling some serious FOMO for the Steam Deck.
On the other hand, I really don't know how much, if at all, I'd use it. I'd much prefer a new Steam Link to play PC games from my couch.
But man, I'm feeling some serious FOMO for the Steam Deck.
On the other hand, I really don't know how much, if at all, I'd use it. I'd much prefer a new Steam Link to play PC games from my couch.
Well, you can use the deck as a Steam Link so...
For real, I got a Steam Deck on a lark, and didn't think I would use it much, but I'm addicted to it now.
figmentPez
Staff member
The Steam Link functionality has largely been taken over by apps running on various devices. If you've got an Android TV device, or Apple TV, then you can probably run the Steam Link app and stream nearly as well as you can to a Steam Link box. Some smart TV's can also load the Steam Link app, or you can also use an old laptop/desktop. (For more advanced tinkerers, Raspberry Pi is technically an option, but unless Valve steps up their support, the current state of the Steam Link app on Rasberry Pi OS is not great. That support might happen now that the RPi 5 is out, but GabeN only knows.) I should look to see if any tech outlets have done testing on what the best streaming box for games is.
I'd love to see Valve make a new set-top box, but I'm not sure there's much in it for them.
Valve can't just take Steam Deck hardware and but it in a SFF case and sell it for even cheaper than the Deck. They were probably selling the Deck at cost when it came out, and I think they could only do that because it was a handheld gaming PC. A SFF PC at that price has too many non-gaming applications, and that leads to a whole ton of financial problems. I don't think Vavle would want to risk tons of buyers grabbing a Steam Box 2.0 and then using it as business desktops or something. They'd lose money and piss-off HP/Dell/etc at the same time.
Valve could make a streaming box, but there's just not a big market for streaming PC games, and a Valve streaming box wouldn't be able to stream Netflix and other stuff at 4K if Valve used Steam OS on the box.
Last edited:
I have a Samsung Smart TV, but I've sadly learned the Steam Link app isn't available in Canada on Samsung Smart TVs. It might be available on other devices like a Fire Stick, but I'm not going to get something like that when my Smart TV SHOULD be able to play it just fine.
(This is a capitalism thing again where there is absolutely zero reason the feature is unavailable in my country.)
And I know they won't make a Steam Deck like I might want. Same as a Switch. They're selling to gamers who want portability. And that's not something I've ever had an interest in. I realize what I want isn't something everyone else wants and that's fine. I've done fine comfortably playing my PC games in a computer chair for most of my life. My gaming preferences are too niche in a growing portable gaming world.