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I don't understand the problem...simply create infinite sequels for Slay the Spire and Balatro and the industry is saved

Yeah that trailer is a bit meh. But the biggest visual issue of Scarlet and Violet was the horrible textures so it's nice to see they've fixed that by simply not having any textures at all.

Thanks for the thread @Dcubed, definitely think it's warranted at this point. To comment on probably the smallest aspect of this first (and the least to do with the layoffs), the Star Wars FPS by Respawn cancellation kind of sucks considering, well, it's Respawn and they haven't made a new console-based FPS in...forever, at this point? Despite clearly having the talent to do so. There were also some expecting/hoping for it to be a Republic Commando spiritual (or actual) successor, so yeah, bummer as a Star Wars fan. More importantly it reads like a lot more layoffs are going to be heading their way. As for the layoffs overall, I don't really have much to add in terms of the current conversation around current development cycles and goals being unsustainable and unnecessarily costly, but this is just the point we've got to. Gaming appears to have ended up in a similar place to where films were about a decade ago where, despite a healthy-ish indie scene by comparison, sequels/remakes/reboots completely rule the roost simply because it is the safest and most cost effective ROI for these big companies. I've got to hand it to Shawn Layden here, he was very transparent about where this was clearly all going and saw the writing on the wall; it's not hard to see why PlayStation no longer wanted him around. Obviously I wish the best for everyone being laid off, but, selfishly, following the industry and these rounds of layoffs these past few years makes me feel like I dodged a massive bullet by not following my evident passion for the medium and trying to find a way in, which is something I'd personally been toying with as an idea for a while – and I can't help but wonder how much this news being so front and centre might impact future waves of potential developers, and just how many others it might've put off already. It sounds like a horrible industry to be in, whether it be the crunch, the lack of job security, the constant acquisitions (furthering the lack of job security), the rampant power struggles and corporate schlock as well as some fairly heinous things being done and said in certain corners...you have thousands of some of the smartest and most talented creative minds in the world, in the most lucrative entertainment industry, being laid off year after year. Bloated budgets and investments from COVID are definitely partly to blame for all of this, but I also think it is clearly a cultural issue, too: loyalty and hard work are rarely rewarded, and, if anything, actually seem pretty foolish traits in terms of furthering a career in the space as things stand. Especially early on. And I touched on the indie scene before, but well, this is exactly why it's oversaturated. There is too much talent and not enough jobs going around with the stability needed to support it all. Someone needs to compare the 70s push of indie films to what we've seen in the games industry over the last decade, because while in film it seemingly came from wanting more creative freedom in order to break the mold and pattern of the big studios of the time, in gaming lately going independent genuinely seems like a move being made out of a search for some solid ground under people's feet, and for the more experienced folk around it seems the wiser move, even if it is an incredibly risky one. It honestly saddens me to see what the industry has morphed into even in just the short time I've been around actively following it. Games are better than ever, the industry is making more money than ever (obviously with a huge COVID bump it might be down relatively in some spots), and yet thousands of jobs are being lost because..? Oh, because it's not those same creative minds - or the minds of people who respect creativity - at the top anymore, like it might have been a decade ago. It's Business Grad Joe remorselessly maximising profits and reducing costs in the name of his shepherds, the shareholders.

Only Sifu of any interest to me. Recently finished a couple of this month's games. Jet Moto 2 was a decent upgrade from the original, although some of the tracks had a little too many pitfalls for my liking. Resistance Retribution was great. Loved it back in the day and it was fun playing through it again after all these years. It was nice having the ability to use both control sticks. I never knew this was a feature back then if you connected a PS3 controller. Pretty neat. The game was also longer than I remember. Bend done an amazing job in bringing the console FPS to the PSP in 3rd person shooter form.

Won a run on standard difficulty with every deck For my list, I'm counting Balatro as "finished", but I'm far from done with it

Heiwa Pachinko World 64 JP release: 28th November 1997 NA release: N/A PAL release: N/A Developer: Shouei System Publisher: Amtex N64 Magazine Score: 12% Pachinko, from what I understand is a “totally not gambling” gambling machine popular in Japan. It seems to be a mixture of a pinball machine, 10p machine and a slot machine. As you buy tokens and win prizes instead of cash, it skirts around gambling laws in Japan. You buy balls and then use a dial to aim them into the machine, where they tumble down and activate the various parts of the slot machine, hoping the hit the jackpot. You can walk around three pachinko parlours. Even though these are built in 3D, it controls like a Myst-style point and click game as you turn 90 degrees and only stand in specific locations. The graphics are terrible with really bad tiling everywhere and humans that look like barbie dolls with shrunken heads. The machines don’t fare much better. As they’re based on real machines and not designed specifically for the N64, they try to fit in far more detail so they just look like a blur. You can tilt them for a slightly different view at the vomit-inducing mess. Also, while pachinko is really simple, the controls are terrible. The only actual control is the dial, but all the variation is within one segment of the analogue stick, meaning you have very little control. And, at the end of the day, this is the kind of thing you’ll find in a crummy seaside arcade but with the tickets and prizes removed. What little fun is removed, the whole risk is removed and the whole point – winning prizes is just there. A game version could have cosmetics or something, perhaps a room to decorate, but there’s nothing. It’s a pointless game. Remake or remaster? No. Just…no. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to get Heiwa Pachinko World 64

In fairness from a business perspective it's easier to sell remasters of Wii U titles as only about 10% of Switch owners owned the Wii U and about 9.87% of those people are die hard Nintendo fans anyway.

No reason why they can't still do that. BC didn't stop most publishers (including Sony) from charging for upgrades on PS5. Hell, Nintendo themselves have even done this before with the VC Wii-Wii U upgrade program. Where you could pay a fee to get upgraded versions of the Wii VC games you already transferred to your Wii U. Plenty of DS games also got 3DS remakes too. This is well worn territory by this point.

Even if that were the case, they'd be losing out on a ton of revenue from 3rd party sale royalities. And I'm certain that I wouldn't be alone in cutting out 3rd party purchases completely on their platforms. Because they would no longer have a compelling USP to justify a purchase on their platform, while also offering significantly less value than everyone else.

Figured we were overdue a thread to discuss the ongoing layoffs that are currently tearing the western video game industry apart. It's a depressing topic yes, but it is still an important one (and I don't want to keep bogging down the Playstation 5 thread with this stuff! No, really, I swear I don't!). Anywho... here's the latest one. This time from EA (again...) For those not keeping track, here's a website that is keeping track... https://publish.obsidian.md/vg-layoffs/Archive/2024 ... what a bloody bloodbath. Jesus... Makes you wonder who will even be left in one piece this time next year... Still. Interesting to see EA moving away from licensed games at a strategic level either way.

Second this week. One of the Four Horsemen, Ole Anderson, passed away this week too. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/wwe/article-13131311/ole-anderson-dies-81-wwe.html

Virgil has passed away https://metro.co.uk/2024/02/28/wwe-legend-virgil-dies-aged-61-heartbreaking-health-battle-20365410/