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Paradox Interactive announce Europa Universalis V
8 May 2025 at 7:23 pm UTC Likes: 2
8 May 2025 at 7:23 pm UTC Likes: 2
They delayed ripping that band-aid off as much as humanly possible. They need to nail EU5, and I don't think Paradox is set up to be capable of releasing anything even remotely playable as a company.
More than likely they need EU5 released whatever quarter the accountants calculated it needs to get released, and they'll be thinking about fixing the game up later, maybe, if their playerbase gives them all the money. They might relocate some more remote employees out of the company to cut some more costs and corners while they're at it. Eh, who needs 'em anyway? I'm also expecting new heights of predatory, broken and incomplete dlc.
Published games aside, Vicky 3 has been extremely concerning. Yeah, on one hand they stuck with it. On the other, they screwed the pooch so bad on one of their mainline titles, it necessitated a ton of urgent rework that took years, and the players for sure paid for it. Handsomely.
Yeah, I should be excited, but Paradox has been making it very hard for years now. Taking the company public is the worst thing they could've done from a product quality pov.
More than likely they need EU5 released whatever quarter the accountants calculated it needs to get released, and they'll be thinking about fixing the game up later, maybe, if their playerbase gives them all the money. They might relocate some more remote employees out of the company to cut some more costs and corners while they're at it. Eh, who needs 'em anyway? I'm also expecting new heights of predatory, broken and incomplete dlc.
Published games aside, Vicky 3 has been extremely concerning. Yeah, on one hand they stuck with it. On the other, they screwed the pooch so bad on one of their mainline titles, it necessitated a ton of urgent rework that took years, and the players for sure paid for it. Handsomely.
Yeah, I should be excited, but Paradox has been making it very hard for years now. Taking the company public is the worst thing they could've done from a product quality pov.
Multiple Star Wars classics join the GOG Preservation Program with a big sale
29 Apr 2025 at 10:12 pm UTC Likes: 4
29 Apr 2025 at 10:12 pm UTC Likes: 4
So, this particular elephant in this particular room bugs me a lot, because I'm under the impression I'm treated like a complete fool.
GOG is selling these games they are trumpeting they will maintain to have them be playable. OK, but how is that different from the Before Times when they were also selling these games, and also maintaining them? Presumably for the reason that selling a non-functional product isn't a very attractive proposition from the (potential) customer's point of view. If that Win7 work needs some more work to make a title function under Win12 you either put the work in and keep selling the game, keep potentially profiting from it, or you don't do anything, keep the game up on the store and draw ire from your customers, because you're knowingly selling damaged goods, OR you delist it, and that's not very... uh, preservationist of you. So, am I to assume that games not inducted into GOG's prestigious Chosen list will, at some point, become non-functional? That's also a terrible idea to implant into your customers, but that's what they suggest on the flipside of all their new marketing. It's just stupid to do it this way, no other way for me to say it.
I mean, I get this is marketing, but I think they handled this (non-)switcheroo poorly. It just bothers me. Even if you soften the angle into "additional effort/special care" that still makes the alternative kind of uncomfortable to spell out ("yeah, they're baaaaasically playable, sure, whatever"), but at least that's - I think - preferable to what we have now.
Or, they started saying the quiet part out loud and since they're doing it via marketing they're actually putting it through a megaphone. Time will tell.
For some years now GOG has been making me uncomfortable with buying games on their store. A lot of what they do or say, or what we hear is happening or not happening internally has that "this is extremely uncertain and unstable as a business that they have no idea how to run to turn a profit" subtext.. I hope I'm reading too much into this. And I'm assuming with Alpha Protocol, Croc and maybe some others they got a cash injection to try and get some profit going, but I'm still watching them closely, and not believing that's possible. There's little to no money in preservation, that's flat-out not what preservation is or is about. And I'm just not sure Croc was spending that money wisely, as much as I love Croc. Where this seems to be going - to me - is to a point where CDPR, a public company, will run out of arguments for keeping GOG afloat. The shareholders will demand blood. All the game preservation hot air won't matter at that point.
Sorry to be a downer.
GOG is selling these games they are trumpeting they will maintain to have them be playable. OK, but how is that different from the Before Times when they were also selling these games, and also maintaining them? Presumably for the reason that selling a non-functional product isn't a very attractive proposition from the (potential) customer's point of view. If that Win7 work needs some more work to make a title function under Win12 you either put the work in and keep selling the game, keep potentially profiting from it, or you don't do anything, keep the game up on the store and draw ire from your customers, because you're knowingly selling damaged goods, OR you delist it, and that's not very... uh, preservationist of you. So, am I to assume that games not inducted into GOG's prestigious Chosen list will, at some point, become non-functional? That's also a terrible idea to implant into your customers, but that's what they suggest on the flipside of all their new marketing. It's just stupid to do it this way, no other way for me to say it.
I mean, I get this is marketing, but I think they handled this (non-)switcheroo poorly. It just bothers me. Even if you soften the angle into "additional effort/special care" that still makes the alternative kind of uncomfortable to spell out ("yeah, they're baaaaasically playable, sure, whatever"), but at least that's - I think - preferable to what we have now.
Or, they started saying the quiet part out loud and since they're doing it via marketing they're actually putting it through a megaphone. Time will tell.
For some years now GOG has been making me uncomfortable with buying games on their store. A lot of what they do or say, or what we hear is happening or not happening internally has that "this is extremely uncertain and unstable as a business that they have no idea how to run to turn a profit" subtext.. I hope I'm reading too much into this. And I'm assuming with Alpha Protocol, Croc and maybe some others they got a cash injection to try and get some profit going, but I'm still watching them closely, and not believing that's possible. There's little to no money in preservation, that's flat-out not what preservation is or is about. And I'm just not sure Croc was spending that money wisely, as much as I love Croc. Where this seems to be going - to me - is to a point where CDPR, a public company, will run out of arguments for keeping GOG afloat. The shareholders will demand blood. All the game preservation hot air won't matter at that point.
Sorry to be a downer.
The final Baldur's Gate 3 patch is out now with cross-play, photo mode, new subclasses
15 Apr 2025 at 5:40 pm UTC Likes: 1
15 Apr 2025 at 5:40 pm UTC Likes: 1
It ain't finished till it's... hotfixed.
Neverwinter Nights 2 Enhanced Edition hasn't been announced yet but it just got a Steam Deck Playable rating
26 Mar 2025 at 3:03 pm UTC
26 Mar 2025 at 3:03 pm UTC
NWN2 is almost 19 years old, so I doubt anyone remastering this game cared about the performance outside of stability and the like.
I... probably wouldn't be launching the remaster on vintage hardware if I were you? Although I kinda want to build an XP rig now and try.
I... probably wouldn't be launching the remaster on vintage hardware if I were you? Although I kinda want to build an XP rig now and try.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster arrives June 26
22 Mar 2025 at 1:42 pm UTC
22 Mar 2025 at 1:42 pm UTC
People will probably be saying it's a modpack just because it's conservative in terms of preserving the look and feel, i.e. Not A Remake, but if the devs rebuilt the game in a new engine then by definition it is a remake, not to even mention the asset work. It's just they chose to stick to the original in remaking it, and especially kept a similar fidelity. I like the approach. Proper built-in mod support is nothing to sniff at, either.
From a certain point of view I can see how dredging up the fact that the A3D tech (or any passable equivalent - we'll see if that's the case at release) is missing as I have above would be unreasonable (maybe consider what "definitive" entails for once beyond how nice it sounds, eh, marketing people?), but it's still less unreasonable than claiming something is, essentially, lazy just because it looks kind of similar. In essence, if they had no source code this was absolutely the right thing to do. I'm not seeing anyone outside of Nightdive doing it on the old, half-forgotten PC games front, either. I still remember Blade Runner, I passionately despise how Quake 1 makes you wait on it connect to some servers before allowing you to even navigate the menu (what monster made THAT choice?), but it's worth calling out the good with the bad, and they do a lot of good.
From a certain point of view I can see how dredging up the fact that the A3D tech (or any passable equivalent - we'll see if that's the case at release) is missing as I have above would be unreasonable (maybe consider what "definitive" entails for once beyond how nice it sounds, eh, marketing people?), but it's still less unreasonable than claiming something is, essentially, lazy just because it looks kind of similar. In essence, if they had no source code this was absolutely the right thing to do. I'm not seeing anyone outside of Nightdive doing it on the old, half-forgotten PC games front, either. I still remember Blade Runner, I passionately despise how Quake 1 makes you wait on it connect to some servers before allowing you to even navigate the menu (what monster made THAT choice?), but it's worth calling out the good with the bad, and they do a lot of good.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster arrives June 26
21 Mar 2025 at 3:04 pm UTC Likes: 3
21 Mar 2025 at 3:04 pm UTC Likes: 3
That's all nice bulletpoints, but the sound is curiously omitted. The Dark Engine games used to support A3D back in the day, so I'm curious how's the sound going to fare in this KEX remake. Not to be a party pooper, but it's not a definitive release without proper 3D sound at least on the level of A3D. Grab your headphones and have a listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ng_bGozSo [External Link]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX2xICHnivw [External Link]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6ng_bGozSo [External Link]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX2xICHnivw [External Link]
World of Goo 2 is coming to Steam 'very soon' with the store page now up
19 Mar 2025 at 10:42 am UTC Likes: 4
19 Mar 2025 at 10:42 am UTC Likes: 4
I completely forgot it existed. EGS really does have that effect... Glad it's being, well, actually released, and hopefully it'll sell.
Ubisoft announce Steam Deck support for Assassin's Creed Shadows at launch
13 Mar 2025 at 6:29 pm UTC
13 Mar 2025 at 6:29 pm UTC
I think all this means the game will be technically playable which shouldn't be confused with 'comfortably playable'. Wouldn't get my hopes up, basically.
Cities: Skylines 10th anniversary will bring updates and DLC for both games
10 Mar 2025 at 10:57 am UTC Likes: 1
10 Mar 2025 at 10:57 am UTC Likes: 1
Making C:S2 actually functional and maybe even optimized would've been a much better way to celebrate, but hey, we can wait until the hardware overpowers whatever they did to the game as well. I'm sure we'll all be laughing about it in a decade or so.
Civilization VII updates roadmap revealed - new update and DLC due out on March 4
1 Mar 2025 at 3:27 pm UTC Likes: 1
1 Mar 2025 at 3:27 pm UTC Likes: 1
Unless you're a competitive Civ player or something, I can't see any reason to buy this now vs in 8 years when it's patched and discounted. They're openly fleecing the fanbase, and they're expecting to be thanked for it, because, what, they're considering patching in naming cities? Or, a UI that's functional?