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I’m a no-name nobody who enjoys observing the games industry, and blogging about Xbox (mostly). About.

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wrysanity

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    Linked: Behind the development of Redfall

    …to the makers of Redfall, the mediocre reception was no big surprise. The project suffered from unclear direction, frequent attrition and a perennial lack of staff, according to more than a dozen people who worked on the game.

    Jason Schreier

    Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier spoke to several anonymous developers about Redfall, and what led to the disastrous launch.

    A few notes:

    • Redfall development began during a tumultuous time when Zenimax was looking to be acquired. Their games historically had been critically well received but failed to sell huge numbers. This lead to a mandated focus on more “service” type games and MTX oppotunities.
    • Reportedly up to 70% of the developers that worked on Prey left the studio, and they then had difficulties hiring for a live service co-op game when the studio’s reputation was built on im-sim single player experiences.
    • The game had microtransaction plans in place for its first three years of development; this was ultimately scrapped.
    • Some working staff had privately hoped Microsoft would cancel the game, or allow for a full reboot.

    Inside the making of Redfall, Xbox’s latest misfire [Bloomberg]

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    Now Playing: Planet of Lana

    Planet of Lana wears it’s inspirations on its sleeve, but isn’t bound by them.

    As a huge (huge) fan of INSIDE and the Ori games, I wondered if PoL wouldn’t quite do enough to break free of the outrageous standard of quality and polish those games have set the genre. And while it doesn’t quite hit those lofty heights, in my experience so far it is at least in the conversation, which is a huge compliment.

    Dense but clear environments, a wonderful soundscape, and thoughtful level design are the standouts so far. I wondered if the puzzling would end up overly simplistic or stale, but the first full cave section has alleviated my worries.

    I’ll likely complete Planet of Lana in the next day or two. More soon…

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    No, idiots, GTA 6 is not going to be a PlayStation exclusive

    In late February 2019 an anonymous game developer posted a leak on Pastebin. They claimed to be employed by a small studio contracting on a PS5 launch title.

    Keep reading

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    Now playing: Jedi Survivor

    Like what I assume is half the world, I’m playing Jedi Survivor at the moment.

    It’s incredible, taking everything from Fallen Order and dialling it up to 11 – the action, presentation, cutscenes, systems, stories, animation, environments. It’s very, very impressive.

    I’m playing at 30fps, quality mode. It does take some time to get used to, but the presentation is fantastic, the frame rate is solid, and UE4’s motion blur helps a lot.

    I get the feeling I’ll be spending a lot of time with this one.

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    Linked: Xbox “wasn’t involved” with Redfall

    I’m still gathering evidence on exactly why or how Redfall was allowed to release in this state […] However, I have been told by multiple sources that Xbox was entirely hands-off with the project, and that the game doesn’t fall under Xbox Game Studios’ director Matt Booty’s responsibilities — because rightly or wrongly, right now, Arkane is not an Xbox Game Studio by internal definition.  

    Jez Corden

    Xbox wasn’t involved with Redfall, but it’s still blamed for its quality [windowscentral.com]

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    Now playing Redfall + the reviews are in

    I have to admit, after seeing gameplay leaks and slight hints of what the reviews would look like, I installed Redfall this morning to check it out for myself.

    Even with the middling reviews, everything people have been saying – even the not-so-great stuff – the idea of the game kinda started roping me in.

    I’ll point you at these two reviews, which I feel are even handed and point out exactly how the game fails to land the more lacklustre aspects.

    For myself, I’m bummed that 60fps is missing at launch, as I could really settle into the world I’ve seen so far. Hopefully that feature is weeks, not months, away.

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    Predicting the updated Xbox Dashboard

    Keep reading

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    Limited edition Redfall controllers on Xbox Design Lab

    Yes, yes. Ok. get your ‘xbox has more controllers than games’ joke out of the way now.

    Today Xbox announced a new suite of limited edition Design Lab controllers, made especially for Redfall.

    Each controller comes with a custom design top plate, a fixed palette of colours to customise with, and four engraving options for the battery cover. They’re nice!

    At the start of April a purported Starfield controller leaked on a resale app in China. After a day or so, someone figured out that the person who listed the controller was also a modding enthusiast, which caused most people to pass this off as a custom job.

    I’m not so sure.

    Keep reading

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    Sony’s bumbling cloud gaming strategy

    Apropos of nothing in particular today…

    Sean Hollister writing for The Verge in 2019:

    Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a video game platform that lets you play games with the press of a button, no need for discs or downloads… Experience the latest and greatest games on your ancient laptop, phone, or tablet, thanks to remote servers instead of having to buy a console or build a powerful gaming PC. Fire up a game on the TV, then seamlessly pick it up on your mobile device…

    If that sounds like the lofty pitch for Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service, you’ve been paying attention. But every single one of those things was promised years ago by a startup named Gaikai — a startup that Sony bought in 2012 for $380 million. At the time, Sony gave every indication that it would harness the full potential of a PlayStation cloud. It even bought Gaikai’s closest competitor, OnLive, in 2015 and launched a service called PlayStation Now that finally hit 1 million subscribers this October. But half a decade later, the company has barely tapped into cloud gaming’s promise, and competitors like Google seem poised to attract the gamers that Sony failed to convert.

    Sean Hollister

    How Sony bought, and squandered, the future of gaming [theverge.com]

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    Sorry everyone… People are not going to stop talking about Microsoft’s ABK acquisition once it’s done

    The New York Post is reporting that Microsoft intends to close it’s ABK acquisition, despite any ongoing roadblocks from the FTC in the United States. This report includes a spicy quote via a source that “they are going to cram this down the FTC’s throats”. 😳

    It’s been widely reported that the CMA (UK) will approve the deal this week (Update: in a huge move this did not happen, the CMA blocked the deal!), and most observers anticipate the EU will follow in May.

    Today’s reporting has been met with some optimism on Twitter that once that deal is “done” everyone will move on…

    Whatever it takes so we can stop talking about it!!!

    @NeoGameSpark

    Ain’t no way.

    Even if the close the deal in May/June, all of these topics will continue to play out loudly in social media spaces:

    • FTC machinations are ongoing. Microsoft might close he deal in spite of the FTC dragging its heels, but that means the FTC may sue for an injunction. Microsoft are obviously confident in their position since the FTC will, globally speaking, be out on a limb all on their lonesome.
    • We have no idea what the acquisition means for Game Pass. FTC activity might hamper any meaningful business integration in the immediate term – so when will the games come?
    • Any and all ABK game news/announcements will be the subject of intense console war noise well into 2024 and beyond.

    If you’re into the banter, you’re going to keep having a good time.

    If you think it sucks, keep that block button ready.

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