“Also, you really think handing it off to BioWare, whose last 2 completed games were ME: Andromeda and Anthem, would be a better call?”

It’s not ridiculous in this specific example, because a lot of gamers were acting like Embracer were good guys, so were, however dimwittedly, buying into the cheap kayfabe that Embracer were “helping gaming” and a Face. And thus for them - a fairly numerous group - this is absolutely a Heel turn.

How so? I haven’t seen EA doing anything particularly excitingly evil for several years now.

“Shadows of Mordor pulled a nice trick by making the story have zero impact on the original narrative while still interacting with it, but you can only pull that so many ways.”

It’s weird how you don’t understand that whether they’re hostile takeovers or not is irrelevant to the problem.

I don’t think the question is at all why Germain believed it, if he even did, he’s a journalist, he’s reporting on stuff, which includes stuff like Cameron claiming he can get the movies out at X rate.

“This is a silly comment for anyone of a certain age.”

I honestly think that’s more down to certain men’s absolutely psychotic fixation on “steampunk bullshit” more than anything else. Even if Clockwork Revolution had taken the Avowed approach, I think people would be absolutely lapping it up, because there’s a kind of man for whom that hideous aesthetic is causing him to…

“If the leader of Vox was an Irish man instead of a black woman, would you have reacted differently?”

I see where you’re coming from, but given it’s been 12 years since Skyrim or a Skryim-like game, making it clear it’s a Skryim-type game, which that trailer very much did, is obviously a pretty solid approach. It’s not like the Skyrim trailer showed the worldbuilding and role-playing, did it? Or Fallout 4 or Starfield.

Or even “We’re keeping it at 30 FPS because we accidentally re-introduced the bug (as seen in Skyrim, Fallout 4, and then again in Fallout 76) where the physics go berserk at 60+ FPS and have forgotten how to fix it again”.

That’s a truly meaningless comparison.

It’s both-sides-ism of the laziest and most worthless middle-aged centrist white guy kind.

Is that an honest question or rhetorical? If it’s honest, then about 18-24 months after Bioshock Infinite came out, reappraisals started appearing, from people who hadn’t been taken in by the hype the first time around, and who were buying game based on the ultra-hyped reviews you mention.

It is kind of inconceivable to me, I have to admit. There is literally not a single celebrity in any way involved with gaming, even very nice people, who I would want to wear a skin of in a game. Like I can see movie characters and stuff, makes complete sense, but like, a streamer? Ew. These people are always going on…

Oh hey me too. In fact it happened as I started typing this (though faded almost immediately that time)! The longest it’s lasted so far is I think a few hours (at a low power level), but normally it’s 5-15 seconds or so, sometimes with a very quiet tail for minutes. I do start frantically massaging the base of the…

No, that’s straightforwardly and false and ahistorical claim.

Indeed. BigBurito seems to be imagining a different case to the actual one. This isn’t an IP dispute, where those points would be extremely relevant, this is breach of contract.

Yes. This is why attempts to “kill” it have generally failed. Not just “better” either, but specific, in the way it expects you to think for the clues and so on. Unless Apple are hiring a bunch of NYT crossword setters (who are probably too smug and crotchety to even be willing to go over), the NYT has zero to worry…

Yes that one was particularly special. “I can only be friends with people with iPhones” is like, actively embarrassing/shameful.