VG: Opinions and Propaganda
Phil Spencer may be the one that destroys Xbox.
A lawsuit is coming for game makers that accuses them of making addictive practices to make more money. The response has been, “you can't sue us for making good games”.
This could be in AI or XR, but it starts about Videogames. Basically, you can predict things based on how it happened with videogames. Since tech and entertainment tend to be ahead of the market, and videogames are both, you can see what happens years ahead of what will happen with the general public.
Interview with women who work at Mojang. Buzzfeed article says diversity will help us all.
Why I stopped being a framerate snob… advert for Steam deck
33 games not on Switch
How Sweet Baby Inc ruined a game called Flintlock
A business model designed to milk small amounts of players, rather than selling well overall. Comparison to the Cable channel model.
Peter Moore doesn't think consoles should be a thing anymore. He should know, he killed the Dreamcast and led XBox. At the moment he leads Unity. The guy who looks like Satan should totally be believed.
VG: Business
Toys for Bob is making their own game. They usually make them by assignment, and have been very successful at it. The NFC toy games were started by them, and they created Tony Hawk Downhill Jam.
Nintendo restructures it's testing department
Gearbox started firing people as soon as it was bought by Embracer
Skull and Bones is slashed by $25 after three weeks on sail
Monopoly Go had a nearly half a billion promotional budget.
Activision QA has a large union now
Yellow Brick hints at the game they are making.
BioWare had an online game store that could have sold the Witcher and other big games. They didn't, and feel dumb now.
I don't know where to put this one, PC Rig news. It's all too expensive for me.
Valve created an orb for video making using steam decks they had lying around. Half Life 3 is still not released.
Falconeer is actually part of a game trilogy where each game is a different type, and they all tell the same story.
Capcom raises salaries in tough times
More Remedy games are planned
New MMO allows you to Bot the game, so every player has bots and the bot becomes part of the game.
Relic entertainment sold by SEGA
Russia wants to make it's own home console.
_B: Sony
Sony does not rise to the victory expected
You can own a bobblehead of Jim Ryan, the boss at PlayStation
PS5 was the top seller in February, but that's after console sale shrinkage. Helldiver's 2 is the best selling game.
_B: Warner Bros keeps on losing path
Warner Bros Gaming would rather commit suicide squad than make another successful Harry Potter game.
They really want that Fortnite style money
_B: XBox Exclusives and ports
Phil Spencer speculates about exclusives actually being needed anymore. He even wants Epic on Xbox
Some publishers and designers don't feel like making games for XBOX anymore. It's an attempt to create controversy.
_B: Unreal Engine Payment
Epic Games will start charging companies for use of their movie making and architecture displays.
More on the changes to the payment system
ESports to have a lot more consolidation
_B: EA Losses
EA drops star wars games and fires 650
EA is looking away from licensed games
_B: Saber Sold
Embracer sells Saber interactive along with other companies. This includes Metro series and new Warhammer 40k Space marine game
Space Marine is still being made
It's being delayed though
VG: Rumours
The Switch 2 could be announced in June
PS5 Pro
Dead Space 2 Remake
Handheld Xbox?
_R: SEGA
Streets of Rage and Virtual Fighter getting new games.
Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi are unreal engine remakes
VG: Design
A bit of detail on why Agent by Rockstar was dropped. They just didn't have the manpower to do it.
Free beginners course for Unreal Engine
Square Enix translators used Shakespearean English to make it feel more medieval. He was late Renaissance and was very flowery.
_D: Princess Peach and Goemon
The director of Princess Peach hasn't directed a game since Mystical Ninja Goemon for the N64.
The last classic Goemon was made a long time ago, and for the PlayStation
https://youtu.be/B_tcVhXyMLw?si=CAD77UGZXWkrU4ie
But, there is a spiritual successor by the same company that made the Princess Peach game.
_D: GDC
When to make your own game engine. A GDC speech
Subscription trends for World of Warcraft
How to promote a game through steam
Graphics discussions and how they are implemented
Level Design mentorship
Web3 Games Suck is a great way to get attention for your Web3 games
How to survive the gaming hell scape as an indie. Be small and adaptable.
Artsy indie games at GDC
_GDC: Wrap up Articles
Look at GDC after it ends
5 takeaways from GDC. It's a good article and does show the problems the industry is dealing with.
Almost 30,000 visited GDC
_GDC: Scream
A group go together to start
Screaming in a park
_GDC: Zelda
Nintendo told the director of Breath of the Wild his game was coming to Switch in an email
How they had to create multiple physics engines for Tears of the Kingdom. This meant the game had sounds not created by anyone.
_GDC: AAA and Creativity
It costs too much to be creative in the AAA field.
Maybe AAA deserves to die. Corporations are greedy! Become an indie!
_GDC: Unity
An overview of the Unity Presentation
The Unity Presentation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9AGkB9nnkc
_GDC: Unreal
Unreal Engine 5.4 presentation
Here's the entire speech for Unreal Engine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVoQ5AH_wxI
The official webpage talking about it
Major optimizations
Elon Musk made an appearance
Fortnite will be from a nerfed unreal engine, fans are disappointed
Another outline of the presentation
_D: avid Lynch
David Lynch’s influence on videogames. He made Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, Dune, and Eraserhead.
The influence of Twin Peaks on Zelda. The one where Link is in a dream world, the entire set up was based on the ideas from the show. Bob was no present.
This needs to become a thing. One guy I used to play with, I'm pretty sure you could have made a game called frame rate simulator built just piss him off when the numbers were like 0.000000000000001% lower than his expectation. Yeah, I don't understand playing games to sit for hours and optimize settings then stare at a fps meter the entire time so you can go into a rage when the number changes for any reason whatsoever.
How do these small companies get infiltrated so easily? Is it just cuckery of the owners/founders? I mean this company is tiny and has made one game. Why are they hiring an outside COO at all, then they can't just tell her to piss off when it's clear she's destroying the game? My best guess is they are selling their company out to investors that then demand DEI and shit. You know what, if you want to make a game, just self fund it and make what you can. If it's fun it doesn't have to look or feel AAA and be big budget and require a ton of outside money.
Yes.
No.
They get infiltrated by investors. You want an investment in your product, go to meet ups, and people introduce you. The meet ups are a lot of fun, but you see a lot of weasels.
There really should be a game called Framerate and it's just twiddling with settings till you get the needed rate consistently to move onto the next level.
Thanks! Can’t wait to dig through these
Of course! Tons to read here.