Sunday 4 September 2016
What I've been doing... (August 2016)
Wednesday 10 August 2016
Internet Divided: Deus Ex and fiction versus reality
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the next entry in the critically-acclaimed video game series, launches on August 23rd. It promises to continue exploring the complex themes and narrative of its predecessor, Human Revolution. Questions of humanity, playing God, man versus machine and man as machine will be raised as players explore a dark vision of our future.
Unfortunately, a public relations disaster has plunged the game into a hotbed of controversy and complaints. Shortly after a piece of concept art from the upcoming game was shared online, game news outlets and social media followers were quick to voice concern.
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Unfortunately, a public relations disaster has plunged the game into a hotbed of controversy and complaints. Shortly after a piece of concept art from the upcoming game was shared online, game news outlets and social media followers were quick to voice concern.
Wednesday 6 July 2016
Remaster of puppets, pulling our strings
Remasters. Remakes. Reboots.
It seems that for this console generation, porting old games over onto current systems is all the rage. Without reliable backwards compatibility, the market for playing last-gen classics on modern machines is more profitable now than ever before. Whether it's a simple port like Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, a remaster/compilation like Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection or a full-on remake like Ratchet & Clank, there's plenty of examples to choose from.
Let's face it - there's a lot of money to be made from bringing old games back with some kind of improvement, no matter how small or insignificant. Many of these ports and 'remasters' are shipped out as nothing more than quick cash grabs. Dishonored: Definitive Edition, Dead Island: Definitive Edition and Deadpool have hardly any benefits over their last-gen counterparts, but for a lot of gamers the convenience of being able to play something on a newer system is worth putting money down for. Now don't get me wrong, I often fall into the same camp. Having Uncharted, The Last of Us Remastered and God of War III Remastered on my PlayStation 4 means that I never have to go back and spend money on a PS3. Coming straight from the Xbox 360, it's great to finally play the best that Sony had to offer with the added bonus of visual refinements and extra content. Plus, playing classic games like the Resident Evil remake and Final Fantasy VII without having to fork out for original software is bliss.
It seems that for this console generation, porting old games over onto current systems is all the rage. Without reliable backwards compatibility, the market for playing last-gen classics on modern machines is more profitable now than ever before. Whether it's a simple port like Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, a remaster/compilation like Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection or a full-on remake like Ratchet & Clank, there's plenty of examples to choose from.
Let's face it - there's a lot of money to be made from bringing old games back with some kind of improvement, no matter how small or insignificant. Many of these ports and 'remasters' are shipped out as nothing more than quick cash grabs. Dishonored: Definitive Edition, Dead Island: Definitive Edition and Deadpool have hardly any benefits over their last-gen counterparts, but for a lot of gamers the convenience of being able to play something on a newer system is worth putting money down for. Now don't get me wrong, I often fall into the same camp. Having Uncharted, The Last of Us Remastered and God of War III Remastered on my PlayStation 4 means that I never have to go back and spend money on a PS3. Coming straight from the Xbox 360, it's great to finally play the best that Sony had to offer with the added bonus of visual refinements and extra content. Plus, playing classic games like the Resident Evil remake and Final Fantasy VII without having to fork out for original software is bliss.