RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Gfted1]

Part 1 shows two instances of the AI using cover, one where the SM hides behind a column and another where one peeks around a door frame and ducks back in the room. Was that standard for FO:NV? I cant remember.

[Lexx]

 

Floating swords behind the character already turned me off so much I wouldn't want to touch that game. I really don't get how people can still find this acceptable nowadays.

I don't get it. It's not like they're supposed to be on the characters back and they're floating instead like in many games. It's so by design so where's the problem?

 

If that's the case, they could have made them jiggle or w/e - instead they are stiff exactly on the same position at the back. IMO this either looks bad or stupid... or both.

[Keyrock]

 

Don't ever change Japan.

 

I am slightly disappointed that this looks a lot more like Persona than it does SMT, I have nothing against Persona, I just like SMT better, but it's still a game I'm excited to get my hands on...  even after inevitably NoA censors the bejesus out of it. *sigh*

 

Mmm, since technically Persona games are SMT games and given that most of the SMT series proper have their own unique worlds/setups, I'm not that worried that GENEI IBUN ROKU #FE also has its own unique setup that's as much Persona as it is SMT as it is Fire Emblem.

 

Yes and no...  sort of.  The relationship between SMT and Persona is a bit weird, I'm not sure I completely understand it myself.  The original Persona game was known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona in the west, they added the SMT so that it would be recognizable and sell better, in Japan it was known simply as Persona.  As the Persona series grew in popularity, it actually became more popular than SMT and they dropped the pretense of calling it SMT in the west.  If I remember correctly, Persona was a spin-off of a game called Shin Megami Tensei If, which itself was a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei.  So, I guess the easiest way to look at it is that Persona is a spin-off of a spin-off (second cousin?) of SMT.

 

Anyway, the two series share no story connection, though they do share some mechanical similarities.  Core SMT games tend to be significantly darker than Persona and tend to delve into angels and demons and religious ideologies.

[HoonDing]

Part 1 shows two instances of the AI using cover, one where the SM hides behind a column and another where one peeks around a door frame and ducks back in the room. Was that standard for FO:NV? I cant remember.

Same as Fallout 3: either running at you like retards or staying miles away taking potshots.

[Tale]

Fallout 4 "leaks"

 

https://vid.me/ebrR --part 1

 

https://vid.me/Vw0n --part 2

 

https://vid.me/TUPT --part 1

 

https://vid.me/CxsI. --part 2

Meat bags and blood everywhere.

 

Whelp, passing.

[Lexx]

But it looks like they reduced the loading screens a lot. Also it seems many objects at least in the prolog area are fixed and can't be moved around (vase, towels, books on shelves, etc).

 

The shown interior lighting looks p.bad as well, imo. Fo3 / FNV were able to cover most flaws up with dark corners and such, but here everything is bright and obvious.

 

I am not sure if it is a good idea to go for a bright / sunny ambient scene if your engine isn't able to do basic shadows.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Lexx

[Malcador]

https://vid.me/kjthemonarch

 

More videos, crappy quality and dude talking

Edited November 2, 2015 by Malcador

[HoonDing]

You can make fat character

 

 

Nice Bethseda finally became incloosive

[Keyrock]

Who's ready for a brand new Contra game...

 

...in China on iOS and Android

 

[Malcador]

Meat bags and blood everywhere.

 

Whelp, passing.

What, don't you know violence done well is f**king hilarious

[Zoraptor]

You can make fat character

 

 

Nice Bethseda finally became incloosive

 

But there isn't a single PoC there, and a distinct lack of rainbow hair. That doesn't look inclusive at all.

 

And I bet the poor old supermutants are actively discriminated against, as are ghouls radiologically advantaged persons. Bethesda, Bethesda never changes.

 

But seriously, are the F4 graphics the best graphics they're capable of? No wonder they're desperate for paid mods to work.

[Amentep]

 

 

Don't ever change Japan.

 

I am slightly disappointed that this looks a lot more like Persona than it does SMT, I have nothing against Persona, I just like SMT better, but it's still a game I'm excited to get my hands on...  even after inevitably NoA censors the bejesus out of it. *sigh*

 

Mmm, since technically Persona games are SMT games and given that most of the SMT series proper have their own unique worlds/setups, I'm not that worried that GENEI IBUN ROKU #FE also has its own unique setup that's as much Persona as it is SMT as it is Fire Emblem.

 

Yes and no...  sort of.  The relationship between SMT and Persona is a bit weird, I'm not sure I completely understand it myself.  The original Persona game was known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona in the west, they added the SMT so that it would be recognizable and sell better, in Japan it was known simply as Persona.  As the Persona series grew in popularity, it actually became more popular than SMT and they dropped the pretense of calling it SMT in the west.  If I remember correctly, Persona was a spin-off of a game called Shin Megami Tensei If, which itself was a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei.  So, I guess the easiest way to look at it is that Persona is a spin-off of a spin-off (second cousin?) of SMT.

 

Anyway, the two series share no story connection, though they do share some mechanical similarities.  Core SMT games tend to be significantly darker than Persona and tend to delve into angels and demons and religious ideologies.

 

 

To me a spin-off of a spin-off (as the Persona series is) is still in the same family (so I'd consider SMT, Devil Survivor, Digital Devil Saga, Persona, Devil Children, Last Bible, Raidou Kuzunoha, Jack Bros, etc to all be SMT games ultimately).   That said, with respect to this game the Japanese title for Persona 1 is Megami Ibunroku Persona.   I think the use of "Ibunroku" in the title Genei Ibunroku #FE for this game is intentionally signaling they're taking elements from the Persona series for this one - and I don't have any problem with it (I'd argue it actually makes the most sense - the Persona and Radiou Kuzunoha series are about as close to the heroic fantasy of Fire Emblem as the series in my experience has gotten).

 

As a side note, the original western release of Persona wasn't branded "Shin Megami Tensei" as it (and a translation of Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible) were the first games in the "series" officially translated to English.  The pair came out in 1999 as Revelations: Persona and Revelations: The Demon Slayer.  The theory I heard at the time was that Atlus was trying to create a brand that would make sense of the supernatural, religious overtones of the series but make sense to English readers in a way that "True Goddess Reincarnation" or "Rebirth of the True Goddess" wouldn't.

[Katphood]

 

Consider me blown away...

 

Floating swords behind the character already turned me off so much I wouldn't want to touch that game. I really don't get how people can still find this acceptable nowadays.

 

It shouldn't. You would understand why if you had played Nier. The art direction is actually superb in a way that it retains the original feel of the game. Platinum Games could certainly make the character look like Raiden in Metal Gear Rising if they wanted to but that is not what they intend to do, not in this game at least. It's not that sort of game.

 

 

Which is the second one?

Wild - I have a soft spot for giant sexy snake ladies. 

 

Oh, but we all know you have a thrid one: Until Dawn

 

I personally have some strong Nintendo Wii U envy...Xenoblade Chronicles! That thing is jaw-dropping.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Cat Food

[the_dog_days]

 

 

Don't ever change Japan.

 

I am slightly disappointed that this looks a lot more like Persona than it does SMT, I have nothing against Persona, I just like SMT better, but it's still a game I'm excited to get my hands on... even after inevitably NoA censors the bejesus out of it. *sigh*

I got my first hit of gaming with JRPGs on the Sega Saturn in the mid 90s, and it amazes me how little that particular sub-genre changed in twenty years. It used to feel so cool and original, but now not so much.

[GhostofAnakin]

Your lazy-eyed "wife" looks really creepy.

 

 

That's ... pretty horrible, graphics-wise.  I mean, it kind of looks like an old version of the Sims, a few years back.

[kirottu]

Interview with veteran voice actress Lani Minella.

 

 

You weren’t shy about your opinion in the comments section of our “PerformanceMatters & the SAG-AFTRA Strike” article, going so far as to say “If you don’t like the work, don’t take it.” What do you think would be the effect on the industry if the voice actors taking part got their demands?

 

The whole thing is ridiculous. When people who slave away for months, years, weekends, don’t get any bonuses, why should actors who waltz in for an hour or two get a dime? The demands I see from this union strike threat are from whining wimps who are probably not that efficient at getting the job done correctly and perhaps can’t help a director who might be too green to make things work as they should.

[Mamoulian War]

 

 

 

Don't ever change Japan.

 

I am slightly disappointed that this looks a lot more like Persona than it does SMT, I have nothing against Persona, I just like SMT better, but it's still a game I'm excited to get my hands on... even after inevitably NoA censors the bejesus out of it. *sigh*

I got my first hit of gaming with JRPGs on the Sega Saturn in the mid 90s, and it amazes me how little that particular sub-genre changed in twenty years. It used to feel so cool and original, but now not so much.

Compared to most WRPGs nowadays, the Japanese at least try to bring something new into gameplay for each new game. The story is mostly the same old cliche for each series, but at least they do not try to emulate each other and every developer holds to their own formula. In the west all AAA are now trying to be the next "Skyrim"...

[Mamoulian War]

Interview with veteran voice actress Lani Minella.

 

 

 

You weren’t shy about your opinion in the comments section of our “PerformanceMatters & the SAG-AFTRA Strike” article, going so far as to say “If you don’t like the work, don’t take it.” What do you think would be the effect on the industry if the voice actors taking part got their demands?

 

The whole thing is ridiculous. When people who slave away for months, years, weekends, don’t get any bonuses, why should actors who waltz in for an hour or two get a dime? The demands I see from this union strike threat are from whining wimps who are probably not that efficient at getting the job done correctly and perhaps can’t help a director who might be too green to make things work as they should.

Of course the people responsible should be able to get most of the bonuses, but this whole issue is ad I see it more of a problem of the people willing to slave off without trying to form unions, which could bring them much better bonuses and work conditions, than problem of ridiculous VA demands. All people which are included in the development should get much bigger cuts from publishers, if the product is successful. It works in almost all other fields of business, I do not see a reason, why it should not work in gaming as well.

[WorstUsernameEver]

It's weird to see voice actors get so hung up about residuals in interviews, considering to me it's obvious they put that demand there to have something to cut when negotiating. But I guess they can't be open about that, can they?

 

P.S. : I don't think voice actors should get residuals, but a lot of the other demands are perfectly reasonable and I can't see why they'd bother publishers all that much.

[Blarghagh]

Looks like WoW's subscriber losses have stabilized somewhat (last two quarters they lost 2.9 million and 1.5 million respectively, they only lost 100k this quarter). I wouldn't really mention it, if not for the fact that I want to vent about how stupid the WoW community is. The amount of people claiming that it only stabilized because many people are playing for free now and Blizzard is still losing paying customers is too damn high. They don't understand how the WoW Token works. You buy game-time tokens for gold, yes, so technically you don't pay. But the token you buy has been bought for real money by someone else. Subbing to WoW via tokens makes Blizzard 1.5 times the money...

[Malcador]

Looks like WoW's subscriber losses have stabilized somewhat (last two quarters they lost 2.9 million and 1.5 million respectively, they only lost 100k this quarter). I wouldn't really mention it, if not for the fact that I want to vent about how stupid the WoW community is. The amount of people claiming that it only stabilized because many people are playing for free now and Blizzard is still losing paying customers is too damn high. They don't understand how the WoW Token works. You buy game-time tokens for gold, yes, so technically you don't pay. But the token you buy has been bought for real money by someone else. Subbing to WoW via tokens makes Blizzard 1.5 times the money...

Well, the bleeding had to stop eventually, WoD really didn't turn out as well as it could have but oh well. As for the Community sucking, heh, well any run in LFG or LFR will prove that. Never before have I wanted so many strangers dead.

[Blarghagh]

Yeah that's why I wouldn't really have mentioned it - at some point you're going to be left with a core base for a game like this (and to be fair, a core base of 5 million players is nothing to sneeze at). A lot of my friends have also been coming back in the last couple of weeks for some reason.

 

As for the toxicity in pick up grouping, I honestly rarely run into toxic groups. I've run into dumb players, but very rarely toxic players. In fact, most of the times I run LFR maybe 1-2 people even use the chat, at most - it's mostly a quiet affair. I notice it's my North American friends who complain most about all their random groups being awful jerks. Anecdotal evidence, obviously, but eh.

[Malcador]

Well, this week is Blizzcon so maybe we'll get more Legion info. Though I am slightly unimpressed by the artifact thing, even with cosmetic changes, will be a bit boring how homogenized the game seems to feel these days - though I suppose everyone in the same gear was always an issue, heh. Should be a good test to see how many people were burned by WoD, I suspect it'll make up for all the losses at least initially.

 

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/blizzard-will-no-longer-report-world-of-warcraft-s/1100-6431943/

 

No longer reporting sub numbers, heh.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Malcador

[Blarghagh]

Makes sense. The sub numbers have started coloring literally all the feedback and discussion about the game while at the same time not really being indicative of anything - we get a snapshot every 3 months, with no info on turnover or anything. Very limited information. Reporting losses in such a way when it's just a negative number is just bad PR when the shareholders (the audience of the quarterly conference) just want to know about money. Despite the massive drop in subs WoD was a huge success in that department with record breaking box sales, increased popularity of the in-game store and of course the token.

 

As for homogenization, I think Legion and artifacts might actually help in that regard. People keep saying "bah it ruins the fantasy that all pallies have the ashbringer" Sure, in the open world you have a decent probability of running into people with the same weapon, but with all 38 specs having a unique weapon with a bunch of skins and the claim that the big focus of this expansion is class identity? I feel like the classes will be more different from each other now and what are the odds of being in a raid with a bunch of the same class, same spec and same weapon skin? Add in the fact that you can still transmog the damn thing... I highly doubt you'll see a lot of your own weapon unless you're walking around in a capital city, and even less in the actual effective grouping content that is the meat of the game.

 

To be fair, I can't remember the last time I looked at another player's model enough to even notice what weapon they were carrying. It's not like it tells you anything, what with transmog being a thing.

Edited November 3, 2015 by TrueNeutral

[Malcador]

Well, the thing about everyone wielding an iconic weapon is a bit more than just appearance. But any sense of RP or character in WoW's changed a lot - or at least my sense of it. I preferred the old talent trees where I could mix and match a lot more and get neat things like my Holy/Prot Pally and seemed less pigeonholed, heh.

 

Is just funny timing to do this right after announcing another drop when they could have done it midway before the first decline in WoD to avoid the optics of this. Hopefully Legion isn't all lies ;p

Edited November 3, 2015 by Malcador