Random Gaming Thoughts (Read OP Before Posting)

[Who Really Cares?]

Thanks. Didn't see the original source just saw the gif on another forum.

Wonder if it being on the last gen systems hurt it? Rocksteady did say 360/PS3 versions would have hurt the XBox One and PS4 version of the new Arkham game.

[OL]

I'm a little more concerned about gameplay, myself.
And that's not to sound high and mighty in a "gwafix dun't mattah!!1!" way, because obviously they do matter. But in this case, even in its "scaled-back" state, the game still looks nice enough. It still gets the point across, and then some.
Not understanding the fuss, really.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

I'm a little more concerned about gameplay, myself.
And that's not to sound high and mighty in a "gwafix dun't mattah!!1!" way, because obviously they do matter. But in this case, even in its "scaled-back" state, the game still looks nice enough. It still gets the point across, and then some.
Not understanding the fuss, really.

Sometimes it's not a huge deal, though here it seems justified.

It's a game about spotting small details, reading the environment and using that to mess with enemies. Even beyond the fact that it was originally pitched as a very detail oriented game, they hyped people on a certain visual style and then are going a whole other way. Stylistically it looks way different even beyond just the stuff they toned down or removed it doesn't have the same mood as those first few trailers a lot of people feel like its more need for speed-ish and they're right, even beyond car color the rest of the palette is there.

If people were interested because of a somewhat noir feel with the filters and stuff its misleading to totally change the visual feel 2 or 3 months before the game comes out and attempt to just gloss it over. Its like getting all set for burgers and then eating pizza, the pizza might be great, you really wanted the burger.

[Who Really Cares?]

Apart of me worries its going to feel a bit tech demoish the whole time.

Everything we have seen so far has looked very scripted.

[OL]

^^I was actually thinking the same thing, which is why I'm more worried about the gameplay. Sometimes those early "demos" just seem way too smooth to be true.

[Segata Sanshiro Jr.]

Thats what I've been thinking since E3 2013

[MiTT3NZ]

Still not convinced tbh, unless this is the reason for the delay. It could even be the PS3 version played via the PS4 if all that streamed BC bollocks has been implemented. Still though, if this is what next gem on consoles really looks like, consider me sold on PC. Whichever version of Watch Dogs has wind is the one I'm getting. Been waiting fuckin years for that shit.

[Who Really Cares?]

Wind exclusive PC feature





And now:



So can we expect something similar with The Diversion?

[Axm]

Funny you should be talking about this delay, Eurogamer spoke to the game's director about it:

Speaking to Eurogamer at a preview event in Montreal, creative director Jonathan Morin says that Watch Dogs would have been been "pretty good" and "fun to play" in its November build - but that it was missing "important details".

"When you're promising a player that they can hack everything and express themselves, they expect the result to be there," he explains. "A complicated game that is broken is no more acceptable than an easier one that works."

There was general agreement among Watch Dogs' team that the game's many systems had to coexist perfectly at launch or the whole game would suffer. Have your first hack fail due to some unlikely combination of AI and open world activity, for example, and you would immediately lose all immersion in the game's fantasy.

It's these details that Ubisoft has been busying itself with since then, rather than adding in any grand new features. It's all about being able to "deliver on expectations", Morin continues. Unquestionably a next-gen game in looks and concept at its E3 2012 reveal, to compromise now would jeopardise the wave of goodwill Ubisoft is still surfing from that first, overwhelmingly positive reception.

"Our biggest goal [with the E3 reveal] was to suggest something new. We knew that there was a fatigue - we were part of that fatigue too - of playing the same things. It was a safe market, the last couple of years. It's often the case at the end of the cycle but it was particularly true that time. We were excited, frightened, to show the game so early but Ubisoft had a point, I think - that people wanted to see something different."

The desire for more polishing time - shared by Morin and his team - didn't need much persuasion within Ubisoft - even among the company's top brass.

"To be quite frank with you," Morin smiles, "and this may seem like political bulls***, but Ubisoft offers a combination of things I don't know if I could find anywhere else." Much of this stems from the fact that Ubisoft's upper hierarchy largely have backgrounds in games design - rather than the business of simply making money.

"I pitch games to designers," Morin continues. "I'm not pitching a concept to businessmen - which would make my pitch different. I wouldn't like it. So when we arrive at such a big decision [as the delay] there are a lot of people high up who already have all of my bullet points before I've even sent them. The fact that they understood that meant all I had to say was 'I agree'."

But still - even with the game's team on board and Ubisoft's suits in agreement - who made the final call? Who had to tell investors that 2013 would have one less financial blockbuster on the balance sheet? Step forward company boss Yves Guillemot.

"The person who had to have balls is Yves," Morin says. "He's the boss so he had to have the courage to say to the stockholders: 'We think it's best to do this'.

The one casualty in all of this is the game's Wii U version. Nintendo's low install base makes work on its struggling home console an easy choice for re-prioritising.

"It's been paused," Morin states of the Wii U build, "which means delayed.

"There were some very talented programmers working on it and, when we started to point at the things we needed to fix, we needed those guys and their experience. It was a logical choice to say - let's get those people, let's pause the Wii U thing, let's make sure the experience is where we wanted to be.

Once other versions are done, "then Wii U can get back into place," he concludes.

Will it all have been worth it? There's not long to wait for us to properly find out - and we'll have hands-on gameplay impressions very soon to tide you over. But could any game ever live up to the hype generated by the game's first showing?

"I think we're delivering," Morin argues. "Are we delivering the 'movie [style vision] of every single person on Earth who saw that? Probably not, that's not possible. But are we delivering on this fantasy of being a hacker, controlling everything and approaching things in different ways - yes.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... as-delayed

Agreed with him on the past couple of years from the big devs being a "safe market" and the audience being hungry for something different. Still really excited for this game despite the long wait. I appreciate them picking up on the game's repetitive design and wanting the missions to be varied, which is often a flaw in these open world games, they seem to devolve into "collectathons" or the game missions over and over. Hope they can deliver.

[Who Really Cares?]

Yeah I'm not writing it off but its not a pre order and ill wait for some gamers feedback.

[Henry Spencer]

It seems like every game out this month has been either leaked (Titanfall, MGSV: Ground Zeroes) or the stores have ignored the release date and sent the games out to people early (Dark Souls 2).

There's spoilers for those three games all over the net now.
Just a heads up to anybody looking forward to those three games, unless you want the spoilers.

[Raithos]

I think Digital River struck again. I ordered my FFX HD CE Back in December just days after they were put up for ordering. I got an email this morning saying they are on back order and do not have one to ship me at this time, and one will be sent when they have more stock. But they sure as hell charged my card already. My friend placed his order last week and got a shipping confirmation this morning... go figure. I hope I get my game, if not this will be the last time I mess with Digital River, even if it means missing out on certain titles. I just hope this doesn't happen with Drakengard 3 I preordered the DAY it was available lol. I will be extremely unhappy if that happens.

[Henry Spencer]

So glad I'm getting Drakengard 3 via PlayAsia instead - why are Digital River prioritising orders for FFXHD so much later than early pre-orders like yours? Makes no sense. They messed up on the Nino Kuni pre-orders too for a lot of people. It isn't the collector's edition of D3 you've got on pre-order, is it?

Supposedly another common complaint is people have been trying to cancel their orders in the past and they aren't accepting them/not replying to people about their orders.

[OL]

So glad I'm getting Drakengard 3 via PlayAsia instead...

But the CE is only available through Square themselves, and Square are employing Digital Rivers... aren't Playasia having to get theirs through Digital Rivers first anyway?
Not sure how this stuff works exactly, I just figure it's all having to come from the same place, so having ordered through a secondary place might not help much (if there actually end up being problems).

[Raithos]

My avatar vanished? I saw it this morning now its gone

Yeah I ordered the CE of D3. Sad part is tho, that CE is exclusive to the Square Enix store. So unless PlayAsia has some deal with SE/DR, they just order from the SE store like the rest of us to resell. They have it marked as Sold Out on one of the screen shots, so hopefully they didn't over sell it. So maybe that's a sign they are getting a better handle on things.

I don't think they prioritize anything lol. With the Ni No Kuni debacle, it didn't matter when you ordered. Some people who purchased on day one got the shaft, while some who ordered the week of release and got one. I honestly do not see how they are still in business. My friend has a shipping number and everything, yet I just got this email about an hour ago and still no shipping confirmation.