Wormerine

Interesting info about co-development I didn’t know about:

yeah, coming back to Van Buren style Fallout could be cool, or… anything really. I am not sure if creativity is something current XBOX leadership puts much faith in.

That’s the first thing that comes to mind. How would Obsidian achieve that? Borrowing Bethesda Elderscrolls6 engine would make it happen? I can’t imagine it will be if they use Unreal. And I doubt they will create their proprietary engine. The grimmest vision I have is Microsoft having Obsidian pump out Outer Worlds-like experience with Fallout IP, without thinking what playerbase wanting a new fallout game from Obsidian actually wants and expects.

Congratulations. XBOX managed to make “Obsidian makes Fallout” like not a good thing somehow. it sounds risky. I am not sure Obsidian can pull of something of the scale of New Vegas without solid base to build on. And if they build something less, a new IP would bring less ire. Sucks if Avowed2 and whatever JS is as working on before was scrapped. Rock Paper ShotgunNew Vegas devs Obsidian are reportedly working on a new F...Obsidian are reportedly working on a new Fallout game, following Microsoft's latest round of mass layoffs.

The ID news did caught me by surprise. They release three amazing games within ten years. Supported Machine games and others. They are industry leading team. squeeze a bit more buck out of their work? Sure. Turn ID Tech in their version of RE Engine… sure. But kill the department? It seems that once again they are trying to fix the numbers on a spreadsheet with no practical strategy or vision for the future.

Devastating, though not unexpected. With so many job cuts it would be a miracle if Obsidian weren’t hit. I am more surprised baby gutting that has alleged to happen at ID Software Rock Paper Shotgun"I know how devastating it is, and my heart's with all of...Doom creators id Software have reportedly lost half their team, including "the best of the best coders in the industry", according to departing staff.The cuts are to be aimed at their technology division… which is just horrendous. ID Tech has been a phenomenal FPS engine. They are killing a phenomenal asset.

Xbox to cut 3200 jobs and gets rid of 5 studios: Compulsion and Double Fine go independent, Undead Labs and Ninja Theory are to be sold, Arcane will also be done with, though it is not know how it will be achieved. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-06/microsoft-s-xbox-to-cut-3-200-jobs-divest-five-studios-in-major-overhaul

As far as output is concerned I think Obsidian did rather well overall. Seems they function well under reported Microsoft’s light touch. They delivered Grounded, Grounded2, Pentiment, Avowed and Outer Worlds2. Some of those were critical successes, some genuine hits. Still, quite a few things got done in those years. edit. I am thinking of this statement. At the time I remembered thinking it pragmatic and perhaps missing ambition that can be so alluring to hear about, but keeping things modest might make them an asset worth holding into. Rather then aiming for an expensive masterpiece that may/may not pay off. https://www.eurogamer.net/avowed-studio-plans-to-make-its-100th-birthday-by-staying-lean-and-invested

Hey @Hawke64 have you still got the key for Fable Anniversary to give away? 😅

Kingdom Come: Deliverance2 Full playthrough took me a bit over 150h, and I enjoyed every 2nd of it. My only disappointment is some of the ending I got - for one I was aiming to play honourable Henry but according to the game (and my imaginary parents) I was quite a scoundrel nonetheless. Apparently I stole quite a bit and according to my stats killed over 50 civilians.... though fair enough. I not upset about it per-say, but I was thinking about playing scoundrel Henry for my 2nd playthrough, and now I feel like I should try good Henry again, especially as I can miss on some quests now. There are also some odd things. Like being judged for unnecessarily pursuing revenge by killing the traitor, while the only reason I did that was to save a comrade he was torturing. The game didn't even give me an option to knock him out and lethal option was the only one available. Apparently you are supposed to talk to him, duel him and then you have an option to let him go (after which he alerts the camp to your presence). Which 1) taking away systemic options for the same of contrived scripted choice - not cool, 2) I mean... at the moment two of us are on the very dangerous mission and sabotaging it means loosing not only our lives but everyone defending in the castle. If there was a justified kill in KCD2, it probably was this one. A more disappointing bit though, is that the game didn't recognize my devotion to Theresa. I withhold from romancing and sleeping with anyone for the whole playthrough and mentioned Theresa whenever I could but she still wasn't an option at the end. I suspect I messed up at the very start of playthrough as I meant to be modest when asked about my romantic life, while the game interpreted it as not romanced Theresa in KCD1. That hurts more, as I will definitely want to explore romance options for my 2nd playthrough. oh well. That aside - what a game. It has a bit of Baldur's Gate2 symptom - it's clearly a richer, more polished and expansive game then the original and overall superior in gameplay and storytelling, but I missed a bit roughness of KCD1. A more friendly progression in KCD2 means the world doesn't feel nearly as threatening, and considering the sheer size of the tile, I think Henry gets good at stuff a bit too quickly. Entire latter part of the playthrough was me choosing which maxed out stat I want to use, most of the time. In general, I wish there was far more choice to be made. I think core system with skills raising as we use them and perks is fine, but that we don't really have to choose much to me is. In the end, in most cases you will be able to get every perk in most skill trees, and that is just not very interesting. However I choose to play Henry, he will likely end up the same, unless I am really picky on what quests I do and how I approach situations. I wonder if a non-completionist playthrough would change how I feel about it, but at the moment I feel KCD could beneift from branching skill trees and some limit in progression. Anyway, nitpicks here and there. Masterstrike still trivializes combat on your end, while your opponents using it strongly punishes exploring other options. Overall loved it, and feel and urge to boot KCD1 turn on hardcore mode and do another full playthrough. Being sad when a 100+h game ends is I think the best recommendation I can get.

From what I understand setting up a factory for those chips would be a lengthy and expensive undertaking. We are talking about lack of chips themselves, not just creating an assembly for a product for which core components are produced elsewhere. I suppose the risk of creating a new factory is that by the time it becomes operational the AI building boom might be over. Or maybe someone is working on it, and it will become operational in the future.

Starting at $1049 with 512gb of memory and no controller. 2TB + controller will set you back $1428. Shame, seems like a neat kit for an accessible living room PC gaming. Not that I have a living room, or $1100 to throw at something so unnecessary.

I suppose both series are about chunky square macho men locked in an endless grim teen-fantasy war with hostile alien hoard. I admit the only gears I played was 5th, so maybe I don't quite appreciate structural similarities. As I am thinking of it, SM2 offers coop play throughout the campaign and I think so do Gears, so maybe that's where similarities come from.

I suppose both have chainsaw attached to a more conventional weapon. And I suppose Space Marine could also be described as third person cover shooter, assuming the Marine is also the cover. 😁

New XBOX management, same habit of shutting down their most interesting studios. Double Fine, Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games might be in trouble. Hopefully they will find a new home, rather then being destroyed outright. Rock Paper ShotgunAnother Xbocalypse begins: Microsoft are reportedly closi...Xbox plan to close or spin off the makers of Psychonauts, Senua and South of Midnight, claims report, as Microsoft try to grow their margins.Edit. Jason Schreier on XBOX:

I had the same association. Something about the fantasy style and poor facial animation that does it. The game itself... we will see. I like that they carry over and expand on the systemic part of old Fables. From what they show the whole thing feels too... easy? It could be just a demo, but games in which you can do anything you want at a whim don't appeal for me. I want the friction, so certain options (especially the less civilized ones) feel more tempting.

huh, didn't expect that. Dragon's Dogma2 is getting an expansion. Leading up to it will be two updates addressing some of the common complaints. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/dragons-dogma-2-is-getting-a-frosty-dark-arisen-expansion-plus-two-big-updates-that-fix-some-of-the-things-you-moaned-about-back-in-2024

To me is how she doesn't fit into everything else. I dunno, maybe it's the point. Didn't play the first one.

yesss!

If you found System Shock2 scary, then yeah, probably not a good time. To me it was very good. I like tension of horror games, but I couldn't deal with gore of, let's say, Resident Evil 2 remake. Alien:I (just like first film) is my kind of horror - more about suspension and atmosphere. That said, alien in that game is nerve wracking - its active and hunting you throughout most of the title, and is fully systemic. Probably it's only fault is that it is a bit too long. Alien looses it's intimidation factor halfway through due to exposure, especially later on when it becomes harder to avoid which results in a lot of deaths, which results in me not caring anymore. Maybe I should replay it. Hmmm

Well... I hope story is good cause gameplay looks very mid. That has been my main reservation with C:R since the announcement - Remedy's gameplay tends to not be their strongest suit, and third person action gameplay is very rarely done well. Add to that RPG system, and the result could be really unsatisfying, unengaging smashy thing. That boss battle looked really dull - couple smacks in the face, chase it to the other side of the room while dodging some slow projectiles, smash again, chase it again etc. Reviews will definitely dictate how much I will be paying for this one.

Stuff that caught my attention from SGF (in addition to Alien Iso2 above): Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is being developed by Platinum games. Their track record with the IP isn't great, but hopefully they will redeem themselves. I hear ninja Gaiden4 was alright My ex-Naughty Dogs. It will probably not be my thing, but I still found it quite compelling as a watch: Virtua Fighter6 finally got reveal, mostly focused on stuff previous entries didn't have - singleplayer story mode. I will be more curious what the veterans will think of gameplay once we know more of how the game plays. SF6 story mode helped me to get into SF, hopefully this will do the same for VI. Tried VI5 but to me being stuck in training mode and trying to figure things out the hard way just doesn't work. Eh, I hope it is good: SF6 roster reveal is bizzare. 3 newcomers (including story mode wet blanket of an NPC made playable character) plus Tifa. It could be very good - SF6 could use some more newcomers, but it is difficult to be hyped about characters you know nothing about. Also Allegedly no more new story content and it seems no new stages. Capcom is either brewing something big, or seeing how little they can invest in SF6 and still rake the same amount of money. And speaking of Tifa: Day one on PC this time around. Meh, I am mixed on this trilogy - the meta "uuuu we change the narrative" is very frustrating to me and it being the finale could be make or break story wise.

Maybe, sort of. Oddly enough we are supposed to get two Tomb Raider in 2027. One is remake of TR1 done by Wild Hog and Crystal Dynamics, and another is proper new Tomb Raider entry by Crystal Dynamic. My read it that it seems like a soft reboot trying to blend classic Lara with gritty Lara.

Yeah, to me it's one of those "less then a sum of its parts" game. Individual bits of this "action adventure" are done really well actually, but I didn't feel the games come together. Definitely, I would pick up DoW:F sometime later down the line if it came to PC, but I can't say I feel any FOMO by it being Sony exclusive once again.

GoWs were ok. Not on PC, though, don't care. So from things that matter: That's a bit disappointing. I am not sure why they remake Rayman Legends. I was hoping for new Rayman game. I am also not sure about the talking - talking tends to not do well in Rayman games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKfG9hiueak That looks.... like a remake of a remake of the original Tomb Raider game? Are we back to OG Lara? Picked it up on recent sale and really liked what I played. Might finally be aRPG for me. Looking forward to 1.0. I hope it will be much better optimised then current build. Game looks fantastic but runs like ass sometimes. Onimusha out in September. Give us PC player the demo! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rpyWOiHkAg Control!