Julius

Easy Allies Patron Party later this month, heck yeah! Worth watching just to see Blood not wearing his glasses

It's such a surprising thing when trusting your development studios to make a good game actually ends up with them putting out a game well received by fans It's one of those things for me that while, yes, these studios are owned by EA, the success of their Star Wars games hinged more on their studios pushing for some creative control: DICE's continued support after EA were practically about to pull the plug and bury Battlefront II, and their continued discussions within the community; Respawn throwing Frostbite out, and sticking to their guns by going with Unreal Engine; and Criterion getting a chance at a smaller scale outing, which I can't see being handed to them on a silver platter. All of this is to say that I hope for us Star Wars fans that this is far too little, too late for EA to hold onto the license exclusively. We've had just three major AAA games come out under EA's watch in 7 years, two of which are in a reboot of an already existing series (and wasn't exactly built from the ground up, heavily reliant on much of the work DICE has done on Battlefield), and as of tomorrow we'll have one smaller game (spun off from a mode in one of those three AAA titles). Yes, we saw Visceral and Amy Hennig's game get shot down, but even if that was released by now, that's still such a meagre return in terms of output for the second largest IP in entertainment, and especially considering the size of EA (and the runaway success of things like Ultimate Team). I think they have time for one or two more smaller projects (Republic Commando reboot? A Squadrons sequel, assuming it's successful?), Battlefront III, and a sequel to Fallen Order before they lose exclusivity in 2023. I'm not intimately familiar with EA's complete set of studios, but I could see Disney wanting a High Republic game a few years from now too, so I wonder if that's something they'd trust EA with, and perhaps could already be in the works if they have the manpower for it? Once the deal is up, I would then expect them to still hold onto the license for future Battlefront games and to make a third and final entry starring Cal Kestis, but then I just want to see Lucasfilm make a new licensing arm of their own and let other developers go to town on the franchise, so that we can get some more fresh and exciting Star Wars games out there. EA getting exclusive access to those rights is still the second most bizarre thing to me to come out of the Lucasfilm purchase.

Jamie Foxx reportedly returning as Electro in the next Spider-Man.

Well I completely missed this news Cool cool cool

@Vileplume2000

Hahahahahahaha Sakurai's face at the end of that trailer Steve was not much of a surprise (think it was a well talked about character before Ultimate released as a potential fighter), but Enderman and the others being included the way they are sure is! At least for me, I had been expecting just some Steve recolours or something.

Keanu going all Dead Poet's Society on us but it's a Cyberpunk 2077 ad

The game's page has gone up on the PlayStation website, shedding a bit more light on what the game will be like. First the summary: That last line And key features: Really excited about and curious to see some gameplay for this one. Hope we see or hear a bit more soon, fingers crossed it's coming in the first half of next year!

Yeah, I've heard very and seem very little about it being advertised, and I don't think reviews are going up until Friday? I know that it's a shorter, budget title when compared with the Battlefront games and Fallen Order, but still, I don't think EA are backing this enough (especially seeing as it's going to be standing on the pillars of an online community). I'm interested in seeing how the story plays out, but my expectations really aren't that high for the story. On EA's watch we've had the Battlefront II campaign, which was very predictable, uninspired (Luke killing bugs? Really?) and honestly a bit boring , and Fallen Order. While much, much better (and by far the best Star Wars game EA has to offer, Respawn did a great job), I do think it took quite a while to pick up some momentum, though it really kicks off in the second half. I think of some of my favourite moments in Fallen Order's story and I just don't see Squadrons having similar surprises in store, especially seeing as we've already seen so many characters coming in from the other Star Wars media out there. I really have no idea how long I'm going to end up playing this game. Absolutely in for the campaign (it having a Star Wars story is unfortunately enough to get me onboard), but I really don't know how much I'll play online? I put a lot of time into Battlefront's online (something like 150-200 hours?) and Battlefront II's online (probably half of what I put into Battlefront's?), but I really don't know how long I can see myself putting into Squadrons' online. My biggest concern is it being first-person, I can see that causing a lot of frustration. I still wish that we'd end up with a third-person perspective, but I'm not optimistic about our chances of that. Not long now, at least. I'm a big fan of getting smaller titles you can spend a week or two with, and this will be the third "budget" title I've picked up for around £30 (the other two being Tony Hawk 1+2 and Mafia Definitive Edition) in the last few weeks. Hopefully if this does well we can see a real Battlefront campaign or other single player adventure on a smaller budget. Maybe a Republic Commando revival? All of this just makes me want to break out the PS2 and play the best Battlefront again (the original Battlefront II)

Yeah, from John Bubniak to Ben Jordan for the face model. Literally a different person. Have to wonder why they'd make that call, I know they said Ben's a closer match to Yuri's capture, but still, it's super strange!

Spider-Man Remaster details and Parker's new look from the PlayStation Blog. Gameplay showing off 60 fps Performance Mode: And The Amazing Spider-Man Suit revealed as one of the three new suits to be in the game: Amazing Suit looks great, but such a bizarre choice to change face model 2 years after the original. I know Miles already had one in the first game, but still, seems like such a strange choice to change Pete's in a remaster of all places.

Oh heck yeah, I'd be onboard with that! Or Majima. Or the jolliest Yakuza character of all: Taichi. SUPER FLYING TAICHI KICK

Great points @dwarf, that was an informative read, thanks! Definitely more informed than I am on the matter, so I appreciate your insight When you mentioned the material explanation I think I was thinking of it more as applying only to the work productivity change you mentioned before, and that shift in the work-life struggle leaning overwhelmingly towards work taking priority, but I think that's just an example of me trying to oversimplify things, so that's my mistake! It definitely is across the board, and it's absolutely crazy how much money and work dictates so much of a person's day-to-day life, to the point where sometimes weekends just feel like a short respite from the dread of the work week rather than a time to shift focus to other things. That's the case for me at least, and some others I know. And yeah, honestly, the more I look into and learn about four day work weeks the better an option it seems for improving the workplace. Not even just because it sounds nicer on paper, but it's just about having that time to actually make decent progress elsewhere in life (studying part time, taking up a hobby, writing a book, etc.), rather than feeling like almost all of your energy is being sunk into someone else's gains. It's really difficult to find a decent work-life balance as it is, especially with how much pressure there is on doing well from a very young age especially, and I think it's a bit of an issue from the very bottom. It's one of those things that I absolutely want to see, but just seems too good to become a reality here in the UK (obviously I hope that I'm wrong). I honestly have no idea which side I land on politically, mainly because while I have an arm's length interest in politics and couldn't care much less for major politicians or parties, but I think that's just because since I've been born I've been around in a time where it seems to get consistently worse, where the next guy seems just as incompetent than the last, and little constructive change is made But that's me totally derailing the thread and a topic for another time

I'm also completely clueless, I don't think there have been any rumours about this next one that I can remember. Should be interesting to see who they've chosen to go with!

Next fighter being revealed tomorrow at 15:00 BST! Direct stream link:

Some of the people at my workplace definitely need to be reminded of that Absolutely. I think there are just too many factors to take into consideration here to point at one thing and go "Ha, that's it! There's the problem!" which I think Schreier is guilty of doing at times. It's human nature to be reductive and try to come to one conclusion, because that's so much easier for us to comprehend, but there's so much more under the belly of the beast that is "crunch". This is a difficult thing to find a solution for exactly because it's so easy to oversimplify the situation and chalk it up to "crunch = bad, therefore any company with crunch = bad". Is the typical, perhaps generalised idea of "crunch" we've come to be familiar with in the games industry - the one where people feel their livelihood is threatened, that they're burning the candle at both ends in some endless nightmare, and that their work isn't fully appreciated, and that they aren't fairly compensated - a problem? Yes, I think it's almost undeniable. But throw in, as you mentioned, work culture changes with a much different outlook on work-life balance, amongst many, many other things, and it's just such a difficult one to crack. Especially when it could potentially so much from person to person. It's great that we hear more, and I really want to hear what the thoughts are of those working overtime at CDPR right now. Do some feel their livelihood is threatened? Are others so proud of their work that they're happy to work these six day work weeks in order to get their work out there? Is one guy planning to propose and saving for a wedding , so he's putting in overtime? Was this all written down in their contract as a possibility? It's a multifaceted issue, and one especially difficult I think for Schreier to comment on. Yes it's a video game company, but, just as an example, outside of what we've even mentioned so far: just how familiar is he with the typical Polish work-life balance? Is this something that's a known quantity in Poland, and are other companies doing the same? I mean I'd have to imagine so because of the laws in place. It's not an easy thing to talk about, and I'm glad he continues to shine a light on it when others won't or can't for one reason or another, but it feels to me like gotcha journalism at the worst of times.

I mean, I hate PR speech in general so I'm with you there! I think he only mentioned it to avoid any misunderstandings that they aren't being paid fairly. I mean from what I've read elsewhere though, devs based in Poland really aren't making that much as it is? Could be wrong on that though. I want to hear more of what someone actually working there has to say, because all I gathered from Schreier's article was that he spoke with one of them, who yes did not want to be named, but all that's been attributed to them - and without a quote - is that they've been working paid overtime for a year. And yes, it's required by Polish law, but at the same time, that's still not the standard everywhere else - I know they likely wouldn't otherwise, but it's still a good law to have in place (commending Poland here and not CDPR just to be clear). I think Schreier has generally been good about this all, but at the same time, I'm not a fan of him going "ha, gotcha!" when things don't play out how CDPR wanted them too (and yes, I do think it was a bit cocky of them to declare something like that a year out). And speaking of things not playing out how CDPR wanted them to, I think the lack of a mention for the pandemic delaying things and impacting work schedules is a bit of an oversight on Schreier's side. It's not an excuse, but I think it's something worth mentioning. I'm not sure off the top of my head how badly Poland have had it, but I imagine it'll have impacted their plans to some degree. This too, it absolutely could be the case that people are asking for it. Happens at my work place too; I work for a bank, so as soon as COVID hit, everyone was offered overtime at triple the rate. But even normally, when OT is offered, it's normally at double the rate, which is all the time right now. Again, I don't know. If people are being pressured into OT, being given smug looks, made to feel ostracised, and feel their job security is threatened, then absolutely drag CDPR through the coals. But until we know more and hear more I think this is a bit of an empty yell trying to back up Schreier's other stories. CDPR's intentions are certainly in the right place, as far as I can tell, and hopefully things improve in the future and this can be avoided where possible.

Head of CDPR Adam Badowski has tweeted a response out to Schreier's article from yesterday: It's difficult. Enforcing 6 day work weeks isn't right, but at the same time, a 10% profit split between employees and being "well compensated" for additional hours worked, especially so close to launch...it's hard to fall on either side of this one. They shouldn't be obligated to work 6 day work weeks (I mean, unless their contract says so) but we've yet to hear from anyone working at CDPR directly about this, which we have elsewhere (such as with Naughty Dog). Until then, I think it's difficult to say where I personally land on this.

Not at all surprising, yet still very disappointing. I'm honestly still a bit surprised that we haven't seen this game delayed further. I think it might be too late now (6 or 7 weeks from release?), but my gut feeling is that this game needs a bit more time cooking. It's weird, because while I don't want to see everything the game has to offer...it does feel like we've seen such a small part of it up until now, and again, we're only 6 weeks or so out. But maybe that's just me?

Digital pre-orders for launch titles are going up, not directly on the PS Store but hosted on the PlayStation site (note: these are UK links): Spider-Man: Miles Morales Demon's Souls Destruction AllStars Sackboy A Big Adventure Godfall Not sure exactly who here is going digital, but I know for sure that @Ganepark32 is, so I'll tag him note that as on PS4, these require immediate payment! Oh and for anyone in the US, just change the 'en-gb' part of the URL to 'en-us' and @drahkon no idea if you're going digital with some of these, but just in case, I think you would just need to change 'en-gb' to 'de-de'.

Digital Deluxe Edition is on the way. Besides the Scythe, are the rest available in-game anyways (besides the OST of course), and this is just a boost at the start of your journey? Oh, and some more awesome images to drool over:

This got me excited and I'm not even getting the console at launch! If it wasn't confirmed before, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are coming to Series X|S. Really looking forward to a more fluid and stronger soundscape next gen. Between this and Tempest on PS5, should be a great time for our ears at least

Yeah, I really enjoyed using it on Final Fantasy VI on the SNES Classic as a very quick way to hop back in, and I've enjoyed it to varying degree on Virtual Console and Switch Online too. I mean, the PS4 (and I assume Xbox One? But could be wrong there) has application and game suspension already too, which I use a whole lot, though that's not quite the same (but still a great way to quickly get back in). Guess I was more questioning why I would personally need it for 2 games or more at a time, but hey, I guess just having the option is a good enough reason!

New gameplay and a look at special editions: The Jin Sakai one looks hilarious. Game looks super fun!

So uh, this is happening. Hope it's something original and not Simba's Pride UPDATE: THR reporting it's going to be a prequel.