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The Rogue Wolf

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BrawlMan

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CriticalGaming

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Lol at that sneaky price hike on the digital version in the US. Also the disc add-on, Sony still on that "everyone except NA gets the shaft on pricing" streak
NGL that ability to add a disc drive at a later date to the digital only version is pretty fucking slick. But you're better off just getting the disc version regardless of whether you might use it or not.
 

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Lol at that sneaky price hike on the digital version in the US. Also the disc add-on, Sony still on that "everyone except NA gets the shaft on pricing" streak
They can have the slim version. I already got the one I need. As for the disc add on: on one hand is optional, on another hand it shouldn't be that pricey.
 

CriticalGaming

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They can have the slim version. I already got the one I need. As for the disc add on: on one hand is optional, on another hand it shouldn't be that pricey.
Naw, I can understand the price of the disc drive separately. It's gotta have a different design than build it because it's technically modular. And you can in theory bring that disc drive to your friends house so that they can play a disc game on their digital unit too. So it adds a little versatility and for that it's a few extra bucks. I don't think it's unreasonable.
 

BrawlMan

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Naw, I can understand the price of the disc drive separately. It's gotta have a different design than build it because it's technically modular. And you can in theory bring that disc drive to your friends house so that they can play a disc game on their digital unit too. So it adds a little versatility and for that it's a few extra bucks. I don't think it's unreasonable.
I'm happy that it's there, but Sony's has a big habit of up hiking a price on a lot of stuff (PS+; their first party games costing 70 bucks now) so that's why it's something I am on a disagreement with. At least there's an actual share option with that drive. Though again, most people are just better off getting one with the disc reader to begin with and not the digital one. Saves time and money.
 

CriticalGaming

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Though again, most people are just better off getting one with the disc reader to begin with and not the digital one. Saves time and money.
That i agree with. I don't understand the need for digital only consoles to be honest, because having the disc available to you as an option is better than not having it at all especially since the price difference is no big deal.

The Xbox S/X made more sense because it was a much bigger price difference between systems, so the S was almost justified even though I still don't think it was a good idea overall.
 

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The Xbox S/X made more sense because it was a much bigger price difference between systems, so the S was almost justified even though I still don't think it was a good idea overall.
Given that most developers don't even want to deal with the Series S, (Remedy won't even bother making AWII run on it because of the console's CPU issue) the almost justified price is not even worth it. They should have just came with a standalone console and that be it. Not to mention making things even more confusing for people who don't game, or whatever parent can't keep up.

I don't understand the need for digital only consoles to be honest, because having the disc available to you as an option is better than not having it at all
Because it's all about control. "You don't need the physical versions! They can clog up and cause too much space to be taken!". It's what they try to sell to those around my age or for those younger than either of us. I tell people to say anything I was tell them, if that game gets removed from digital stores, the servers are no longer online or dead, or you always need to be online for the game to connect, then that's it. If the game got a physical versio, you might get lucky, but if it only got the digital release, then then you are SOoL.

I have seen this time and time again, where some person goes on about how they don't need the physical version and how they're always connected to the internet, yes the moment a game is no longer on a digital store and they chose to delete it before realizing it, goes into a panic attack or starts throwing a fit. I know not everyone has the space to store a lot of games, but most people aren't going to try to buy every single game on the market.
 

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Freed from his tenure as a US talk show host, Gavin and Stacey star James Corden yesterday teamed up with controversial boss Bobby Kotick to host a townhall meeting for Activision Blizzard employees.

The internal event, held days before Microsoft is expected to finally close its $68.7bn takeover of the company, was not available to view publicly, but Windows Central has reported on what was discussed.

Kotick reportedly reminisced about Activision's journey as a company so far and also dropped several hints about its future - including an intriguing mention of the long-dormant Guitar Hero franchise.

There does not seem to have been any mention made of a potential exit by Kotick following Microsoft's acquisition of the business. There also does not seem to have been any mention made of the company's various harassment scandals.

When asked by James Corden how Activision will retain the company's culture while part of Microsoft, Kotick told the Cats star that the company had a "magic" and "special" culture - and that it was that same "magic" which had attracted Microsoft.

Looking to the future of gaming, Kotick told Corden he expected devices akin to Elon Musk's Neuralink - an implantable brain-computer interface - to push things forward.

"I think you'll see things like Neuralink - you'll actually be able to interact with things on the screen, where there isn't a controller," Kotick said, noting that this could mean a headset, earpiece, or "other type of sensor".

Kotick said he was keen to see Activision titles - "the very best franchises in all of video games" - backed by the development research and resources of Microsoft.

"The re-emergence of Guitar Hero and other things would not be possible without the different types of resources," he noted.

Microsoft's expected acquisition of Activision Blizzard this week will close a 20-month chapter of court hearings and regulatory hurdles, as it finally takes ownership of everything from Call of Duty to Candy Crush. Activision has said not to expect its new games on Xbox Game Pass immediately, however.
Every time I start to forget how irrationally annoying Corden is, he pops up in another news story to reinforce those biases once more. Like metaphysical forces rebalancing themselves.

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was gonna try it out either way, but wasn't expecting it to make much positive impressions


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Forgive the surprise, but 80s action movies haven't typically made for the smoothest transitions to modern video games. Predator had Predator: Hunting Grounds, for instance, "a naff waste of great material". Terminator had Terminator: Resistance - "generic and boring". The infamous Aliens: Colonial Marines was admittedly followed by Alien Isolation and the enjoyable enough, fun-flamethrowing-with-friends of Aliens: Fireteam Elite, but still. When RoboCop: Rogue City was announced and subsequently delayed back in 2021 by Polish developer Teyon - the studio behind Terminator: Resistance and its sumptuously awkward first-person sex scene, no less - I can't, personally, say I was too optimistic.

RoboCop: Rogue City
  • Developer: Teyon
  • Publisher: Nacon
  • Platform: Played on PC
  • Availability: Out 2nd November on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam)
And yet! I've played some of RoboCop's new demo in the current Steam Next Fest and actually… it's not bad? In fact it might actually be kind of good?

The setup here is simple enough, and delivered through a pleasantly hammy introduction of down-the-lens newscasting and caricatured bad guy monologues. There's a new threat in town - an unknown ringleader literally called The New Guy In Town by the city's press - and it's got all the preexisting gangs especially excited. You're thrown into a classic tower block raid, with some relatively simple whack-a-mole gunfights and a couple typical hostage situations providing a bit of basic fun.

The magic is in the pairing - RoboCop's nature as another 80s action protagonist that feels like he originated in video games first, less man-with-gun than a sentient gun with limbs attached. Have you ever felt like a bit of a giant baby in modern action games, spoon-fed your activities while thoughtlessly following orders from one waypoint to the next? Consider Officer Murphy as he slowly toddles into battle in his nappy-like black rubber Y-fronts, transfixed by the icons on his HUD, turning all designated enemies into chunks of practical effect pulp with a mindless burst of his booming, infinite ammo hand cannon.

It's wonderfully funny. And as Rogue City reminds you, Paul Verhoeven's original RoboCop is also a surprisingly rich text, at least compared to some of the other video game converts. The anchorman of that opening cinematic has a nice bit of deadpan delivery about some gormless cops, our brave heroes, returning home after getting lost and accidentally shooting a load of endangered animals. The police force of Old Detroit is over-militarised and under-trained, and privately funded by some mega conglomerate called Omni Consumer Products. "Dirtbag detected," RoboCop announces after exiting a lift. Every drug-dealing bad guy's a scumbag or a slimeball, or occasionally a slime-bag, here in the ultimate Reagan world.

RoboCop: Rogue City screenshot showing RoboCop waddle through flames into the Channel 9 building that's under siegeRoboCop: Rogue City screenshot showing the skill tree pageRoboCop: Rogue City screenshot showing Max Becker mouthing off about RoboCop being as able to experience emotional trauma as a microwave.RoboCop: Rogue City screenshot showing newsreader Casey Wong in the opening credits.
Image credit: Nacon/Eurogamer.

In other words, at least in the early hours of Rogue City, Teyon seems to have nailed RoboCop's aggressively satirical tone. There's also hope for the rather simplistic combat to open up a little. Early on it's a game of trudging through corridors, clicking on heads to make them explode and very occasionally pressing 'H' to heal, or picking up the odd bit of "Crime Evidence" (a wonderfully redundant double-descriptor, like calling a burger "eating food" or equipping a new "bullet gun"). As you get back to Police HQ, it turns out there's a skill tree - I know - but actually a sort of interesting one, with potentially dovetailing skills like a dash and a reloading punch, that I can see adding some rhythm to the action, or greater deductive or psychological powers - for more effective gathering of Crime Evidence, obviously.

There's also a bit of fun with the classic RoboCop story of ghosts in the machine - Officer Murphy is just a face on a robot, long since legally dead.. Or is he?! - and around the precinct are some funny miniature sidequests, often operating as one-off gags adding colour to the dystopian satire. There's also a world map, which combined with the skill tree and the sidequests means this might all end up back in the realms of "generic and boring," but for now at least, there's hope. Rather than limiting Rogue City's potential, Teyon's decidedly double-A vibes complement it - possibly even elevate it. This is the tier of game development where satire belongs, I suspect - the beauty and gloss of more high-budget stuff by contrast almost gets in the way, like a heartthrob actor trying comedy. RoboCop, being a Verhoeven joint after all, needs that bit of a jagged edge, the bit of cheese, that you get from double-A games. It's always had more to offer than just blandly gory action, and RoboCop: Rogue City might actually deliver it.
 
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Lol at that sneaky price hike on the digital version in the US. Also the disc add-on, Sony still on that "everyone except NA gets the shaft on pricing" streak
Ahh the announcement I’ve been waiting for! Now if they also announce they fucked up with the 33.3% PS+ price hikes, I’ll be pretty happy. Kind of a dick move as it is, especially with no USB saves anymore. Worked wonderfully all these years before. How am I going to triple backup my saves now lol (yes I also put them on my PC archive drive).
 
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Though again, most people are just better off getting one with the disc reader to begin with and not the digital one. Saves time and money.
I think it’s best for people who just got the digital and regretted it, so now they gave the option to add a drive vs buying the console again.

That i agree with. I don't understand the need for digital only consoles to be honest, because having the disc available to you as an option is better than not having it at all especially since the price difference is no big deal.

The Xbox S/X made more sense because it was a much bigger price difference between systems, so the S was almost justified even though I still don't think it was a good idea overall.
S only made sense for people on a budget and/or that don’t care about game quality. It was a mistake in every other way, as we’ve been seeing more and more lately.
 

Bedinsis

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Paradox Interactive's latest release from Harebrained Schemes, The Lamplighters' League, is apparently a "painful fiasko" according to their CEO.


(I find it more interesting that this piece of news was significant enough to bring up in what is probably the largest newspaper in Sweden)