Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-07-2019, 08:40 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Video: Game preservation lessons learned on EA’s biggest sports games
In this 2019 GDC talk Electronic Arts’ Garrett Fredley discusses the struggles and challenges of his work preserving releases for multiple big-budget sports franchises, sharing lessons learned that nearly every team can benefit from.
This is a great talk to watch, even if you aren’t deeply invested in game preservation, because it sheds light on the rarely-discussed challenges of archiving and preserving big-budget games within large companies.
Along the way, Fredley touches on everything from creating guidelines for how preserved work that correlates with several teams (engineering, content, marketing, web and mobile companion apps, etc) should be handled to convincing teams to follow protocols that best support future re-mastering (convincing them to keep documentation, utilizing version control solutions, etc).
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.
Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-07-2019, 04:58 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Norman Reedus Is Happy Silent Hills Didn't Get Made
Despite the attention Hideo Kojima's ill-fated Silent Hills grabbed, Norman Reedus, the star of Kojima Productions' first title, is glad the project fell through because Death Stranding is "way better."
Reedus, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, was asked if there were any similarities between Death Stranding and Silent Hills. He said the two are invariably different and is happy Silent Hills didn't work out. "When that went away, I was bummed, but when Hideo described what we were doing next, I completely forgot about it. I was like, thank god that didn't work, because this is way better. This is a completely different thing."
Reedus also discussed how he came into contact with Kojima, stating director Guillermo del Toro told him to say yes to a guy who called about doing a video game. This conversation, according to Reedus, happened roughly three years ago, when the two began working on Silent Hills. After Silent Hills' cancellation in 2015, Reedus said he was contacted to do a brand-new game--Death Stranding.
"So Hideo, Guillermo, and I were going to do another game, a Silent Hills game, but Konami and Kojima had a falling out, so it went radio silence for a minute," Reedus said. "Then they came back and said Sony's back in with Hideo and we're going to make a brand-new game. I was more excited about that, to be honest, because Hideo came down to San Diego Comic-Con and had an iPad and was showing me some of the graphics he was working on, which were just mind-blowing. I knew it was going to be a home run right from the get-go."
While we're a couple of days away from Death Stranding's November 8 launch on PlayStation 4, reviews have begun publishing online. The genre-blending exploration title has received generally favorable reviews, with our own review awarding it a 9/10. Editor Kallie Plagge wrote of her experience with Death Stranding: "It's positive without ignoring pain; in fact, it argues in both its story and its gameplay that adversity itself is what makes things worth doing and life worth living. It's a game that requires patience, compassion, and love, and it's also one we really need right now."
Apple’s ‘See’ director clears up rumors about show’s budget
By Amber Neely Wednesday, November 06, 2019, 11:24 am PT (02:24 pm ET)
Executive producer and director, Francis Lawrence, discusses the making of “See,” and clears the record on how much the series cost to produce.
“See” takes place 600 years in the future, after a viral apocalypse had eradicated much of the world’s population. The humans who survived were rendered blind, reverting to a primitive, tribal-like culture.
Jason Momoa (“Aquaman”, “Conan the Barbarian”) plays series lead Baba Voss. Voss’ wife gives birth to twins, the first humans in six centuries who are born sighted. He must protect his children and tribe against a powerful queen who believes the children will herald in the destruction of their world.
As it turns out, a post-apocalyptic world takes a fair amount of planning. According to Lawrence, they had to think critically about all of the show’s intricacies.
“We had a think tank with blind consultants and an evolutionary biologist and a survivalist and all these different people come in to brainstorm ideas,” Lawrence said.
It had been reported that the show would cost $240 million for two seasons, or roughly $15 million per episode. In an interview with Business Insider, Lawrence said that while the series is expensive, the budget had gotten blown out of proportion.
“It’s an expensive show,” he said. “People have thrown around that it’s the most expensive show. I can guarantee you it’s not.”
In the interview, Lawrence goes on to talk about how it was important to the creators to incorporate blind and low-vision actors into the show. While the cast is primarily sighted, they plan on scouting additional actors for future seasons.
Apple TV+ is priced at $4.99 a month, though if you buy new hardware, such as a new Apple TV,iPhone, or Mac, you’ll get a year for free. Additionally, even if you don’t own any Apple devices, you will be able to watch Apple TV+ from your favorite browser at tv.apple.com.
That’s right, both Dark Samus and Richter have been officially unveiled. The amiibo will be hitting store shelves early next year on 17th January, following on from this month’s release of Simon, Chrom and Incineroar.
Pre-orders are already live at GAME in the UK (Dark Samus / Richter), although other stores such as the Official Nintendo Store are yet to follow suit. Here are the boxes:
Will you be adding these to your collection? Let us know with a comment below.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Dev Is Working On A Next-Gen Action Game
According to a recent job posting, Square Enix is working on an unannounced action game for next-generation consoles. The company's Japanese recruitment website notes that it has openings in its First Development Division, including the opportunity to work on an upcoming next-gen title.
Square Enix says that the unannounced game is "aiming to realize a 'next-generation action game experience' that goes beyond the framework of existing action games, with an international team of creators from all over the world," as per Gematsu.
The First Development Division is working on the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake, and has previously developed the likes of Kingdom Hearts 3, SaGa: Scarlet Grace, and Romancing SaGa Re:Universe.
Next-gen consoles Project Scarlett and PlayStation 5 are both slated for release during fall 2020. Final Fantasy VII Remake, on the other hand, is due out much sooner on March 3, 2020 for PlayStation 4.
Jarvis Khattri has been "permanently banned on Fortnite for life" for using an aimbot in the game's Solos and Playground modes. While Khattri notes in an apology video that "this is the first time" he's ever done anything like this and has "never done this in a competitive game mode at all," developer Epic Games makes its rules explicitly clear its End User License Agreement.
One of the EULA's clauses states that "running or using methods which are not authorized by Epic and which interfere with the outcome and/or the course of the Software (including Cheats, bots, scripts, or mods not expressly authorized by Epic)" is strictly prohibited.
In a statement to the press, Epic Games exercised the common "cheaters never prosper" mantra. "We have a zero-tolerance policy for the usage of cheat software. When people use aimbots or other cheat technologies to gain an unfair advantage, they ruin games for people who are playing fairly."
"I was completely oblivious to what could happen to me, what the consequences were. Obviously, this was a huge mistake and is completely wrong on my end," Khattri said. "Genuinely, I don't even know what I was thinking. Cheating in anything is just terrible, you should never do it. It's not acceptable. It's zero-tolerance. It's just such a dumb thing to do. I should've paid more attention to the community rules and the TOS of Fortnite. I just wanna urge you guys to review all of those Terms of Service and stuff so that nothing like this could ever happen to you because it's actually so shit."
Khattri can be seen using the aimbot in a mirrored YouTube video, where he confirms that he's running on a backup PC. "I had to go on a new PC," Khattri said. "I don't wanna get my main PC banned. Sounds weird [that] I have a spare PC, but it's just a spare PC that's been in the house."
Excellent news for Unreal Engine developers, we have another year of Unreal Asset Marketplace giveaways! This consists of 5 assets free for the month (and yours forever if “purchased”) as well as 3 asset packs that are free forever.
This month’s content consist of:
Free For November
Free Forever
In addition to the giveaway, they are running an appreciate sale on Nov 5th and 6th, featuring assets from last years giveaways for 50% off. If you are interested in learning more about these assets, be sure to check out the video below.
Bastion returns and is currently Free on iOS for a Limited Time
By Joe Robinson05 Nov 2019
You may remember back in September we gave you the heads-up regarding Bastion, Supergiant Games’ popular action-RPG and one of 2012’s best mobile games. Due to the transfer of publishing rights from Warner Bros to Supergiant themselves, the original iOS version needed to be delisted. If you had it on your device at the time you can still play it, but if you don’t you won’t be able to access that version of the game or your save-game data anymore.
That nu Bastion is free-to-download where you get to play the beginning for free. A one-time unlock IAP is needed for the full game, but that is currently also free for a limited time – it will be $4.99 at full price. This new version comes with iCloud save support, Game Center achievements and new game plus, amongst other improvements.
The only downside from switching over to this new version is that you can’t keep your save-game data. Supergiant published a full FAQ back when the news first broke about Bastion, if you still have questions, otherwise as mentioned the new listing is available to download at your leisure.
When was the last time you played Bastion? Do you plan on giving it another go? Answers on a postcard!
Rumour: Nintendo May Have Caught The Pokémon Sword And Shield Leaker
The recent leak of information relating to Pokémon Sword And Shield certainly wasn’t part of Nintendo’s grand scheme for promoting the game, but if a recent rumour is to be believed, the company has tracked down the individual responsible.
The report comes from Twitter user KGPrestige, who claims that Nintendo employees have tracked down the leaker because of the profile picture they used on a Discord chat. This profile image was also used on the individual’s YouTube channel, which allowed Nintendo to then reach the person’s Facebook account, which was linked to the YouTube channel. As we all know, Facebook is big on people using their real-world names, and this is (apparently) how Nintendo bagged the culprit.
Is this story true? Well, it’s certainly possible that the person involved was foolish enough to post on Discord without properly masking their identity, and we would imagine that Nintendo would be very interested to learn where they got their copy of the game from.
We’ll keep an eye on this story and update it if any other information comes to light.
As you can see for yourself, the video focuses on the protagonist, Joker, a character who Nintendo fans now know inside and out thanks to his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Persona 5 Scramble was first revealed for Switch back in April this year and is an action-RPG spin-off from the main series created in partnership with Koei Tecmo and Omega Force.
This Joker-specific video arrives shortly after a lengthy presentation on the game, which was shared on YouTube by Atlus yesterday. If you’re interested, you can catch decent chunks of gameplay through the presentation, although you likely won’t be able to understand what’s happening fully without a good grasp on the Japanese language.
Are you liking the look of the game? Happy to get some Persona action on Switch? Let us know if you’ll be keeping an eye out for its release with a comment below.
