The morning Inbox tries to name the best British gaming podcasts, as one reader wishes for a Resident Evil 4 remake.
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Mosey on down
So Im just gonna say it, Red Dead Redemption II is a great game, but in my opinion, flawed. Im coming off the back of just finishing Assassins Creed Odyssey, so my judgement may be a little skewed, but the pace of Red Dead Redemption II is too slow. I know its all about the story. I know its been years in the making and theres no rush to finish it. I know its a beautiful open world. I know, I know I know. But.
Having a 60 hour storyline is fine but when everything is so slow and theres restrictions on fast travel then is it really not long enough? If Morgan moved a bit quicker and fast travel was freely available then how long would the story be? I finished Odyssey, the main story and most side quests, and my game save says Ive put in 85 hours. I still have islands to visit and things to do.
I suppose my point is that while Red Dead Redemption II is a very good game its, in my opinion, not a great game. It struggles under the weight of expectations I feel. Still, Im now getting back in the saddle and making my way, slowly, to the next mission.
TheRatman5469 (gamertag)
GC: You do unlock various fast travel options as the game continues.
Great British podcasts
Ive become a big fan of podcasts, with Waypoint and Kotaku giving me weekly fixes of news, reviews and general game industry buzz. The journalists on it are professional and articulate – I tend to shy away from fanzines and such. All the most popular ones are understandably US-based, but of course the UK has a rich games magazine heritage and plenty of talent.
I know its never been something that GC has held much interest in, so has anyone got any good recommendations for weekly games podcasts that are UK based? Im a little tired of hearing Genesis-this, NES-that… (and does anyone else think chocobo should be pronounced chock-ab-o not choke-ab-o?). Would love to listen to something from a crew akin to the excellent PlayStation Access YouTube team (but not YouTube-based please), and multiformat.
I think one direction games journalism is heading in, if its not already a long way there, is personality-based output. If the devs dont become celebs then it seems more likely the journos will. Since the 90s glory days of GamesMaster et al., prominent British journos have tended to disappear slightly.
Owen Pile
Perfect patch
Good news for Pro Evolution Soccer 2019. A large patch just dropped to fix the single-player issues. I tried a couple of games and noticed immediate differences in the consoles approach. They attempted high crosses and shots from outside the box and the goalie is no longer stuck on his line when you face him one on one. There seemed to be more variation in general in tactics employed and its amazing to play.
The patch notes listed some other fixes too and it seems pretty comprehensive. Hopefully all the issues raised in your review are addressed now. This is great news as the game itself is so good. Ive mainly played local multiplayer since release and its the best its ever been. Do you think youd go back and re-review? Id love it to get a 10 as the gameplay is perfection…
James Rainbow
GC: We did plan to take a second look at it anyway, but this sounds very encouraging.
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Hold your horses
Hoping for some advice. Im working quite a lot of overtime from now till Christmas, not quite Rockstar hours but close enough for me. Ive decided to get Red Dead nearer Christmas as I wont get a go on it till then.
Ive also got an original Xbox One, and was thinking is it worth me upgrading to the Xbox One X? Does it make a difference? My overtime money should pay for it, but theres not much point if it wont look that different.
I have a 1080p telly, which after testing on YouTube can output to 2160p (whatever that means).
Any advice would be most welcome!
Benny the Fish (gamertag)
GC: If you dont have a 4K TV we would say its not worth it. Especially with the next gen on the horizon.
Authentic to a fault
Its nice to have something physical in todays digital world, namely the map with Red Dead Redemption II. Gives me something to pour over during the looooong installation.
TheTruthSoul (PSN ID)
PS: Coinciding with the piece you did earlier, my favourite comment Ive seen so far (so kudos to whoever thought of it), was along the lines of Rockstar taking authenticity of their games to such a level that it was even developed in 19th century working conditions.
Where it hurts
Thank you for writing the stories about the development of Red Dead Redemption II, particularly the working practices employed by Rockstar.
It shined a light on a dark corner of the video games business. I have already written to Rockstar with a plea to start putting his right.
In the meantime, I would like to know if/how all of you are going to maintain public pressure to change this practice and maintain focus upon it?
Given the many hundreds of comments upon these stories I can see that many gamers feel passionately about the subject. It has certainly caused me some discomfort as I embarked upon my first play through.
Some gamers are boycotting the title but given that these staff may get a hefty bonus from sales, and want people to see the result of their hard work, I dont think a boycott is the right method.
Is there a way, perhaps of using your next interviews with any publisher/developer to raise this issue again?
I feel that if we all take the same stance against these practices as we did loot boxes, we may have a chance.
If you think theres more we can do as gamers, to show support in the right way I would love to hear it.
Best wishes to all of you. Keep up the Stirling work, its a pleasure to read the content on each of your sites.
Matt Bryan
GC: Rockstar almost never give interviews. If you want to change a publishers practices you have to hit them in the wallet – thats what caused the change in approach to loot boxes.
Industry standard
If Grand Theft Auto VI 6 had been released on Friday I would have likely pre-ordered it months ago. But Im not that interested in Red Dead Redemption II. I wasnt that impressed with the first game and the second one lasting approx. 60 hours doesnt help. I wish the main story only lasted 10 to 15 hours.
The stories of poor working conditions convince me even more that I did the right think in not buying it. Is this normal for the industry GC?
Manic miner 100 (gamertag)
GC: It certainly used to be normal. Around the same time as the original Red Dead Redemptions controversy there was a similar scandal revolving around EA wives – partners who never got to see their loved ones because of excessive overtime. Those two events did cause widespread industry change but there are intermittent stories of similar problems existing today, such as with The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red.
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Every vote counts
Im glad you at GameCentral published that article about the controversy surrounding the working conditions of Red Dead Redemption IIs development. Ive been following it for the past couple of weeks and… well, frankly its ugly no matter which way you look at it.
The games already getting 10/10s pretty much across the board and is going to make a gajillion quid anyway, and this will be seen by less-engaged folk as a counter to the criticisms of Rockstars labour practices. It absolutely is not. The issue was never if the game would turn out well despite the toxic work atmosphere; it was about the lack of worker agency in the industry and the ways it leads to well-documented cases of worker abuse and exploitation. Whether or not someone enjoys a game, or is a good or bad person for doing so, is irrelevant to the more important fact that developers need organised power in the workplace.
There are games Ive refused to buy on personal principle for various reasons, and it looks like Red Dead II may be one of them. I understand that wont change anything one iota, and I honestly hope people who get the game enjoy it. At the end of the day though, even in a game which is said to have such a crazy amount of detail, such degrees of worker exploitation are never worth it to me, and thats why the whole conversation is taking place.
Industry-wide change must take place to protect workers and stop this kind of exploitation from taking place again, and this whole fiasco (not to mention Dan Housers comments and the rumour that he looks set to take the majority of the royalties from sales of the game) has soured me to the idea of ever buying a Rockstar game again.
Andrew Middlemas
GC: It will change things precisely one iota. More change just needs more people.
Inbox also-rans
If Capcom are going to keep remaking all the old Resi games I hope that includes Resident Evil 4. The new Switch version is blatantly going to be the same old low effort remaster and we really need a modernised version of the game (and CODE: Veronica).
Taylor
If Banjo-Kazooie in Smash Bros. is real I dont think that necessarily rules out Minecraft. A lot of the DLC for the Wii U game was third party so I think theres every chance that Steve and Alex could get announced next year.
Gyruss
This weeks Hot Topic
Its Halloween this week, so the subject for this weekends Inbox is whats the scariest enemy youve ever had to deal with in a video game?
The enemies dont necessarily have to be from a horror game, just as long as theyve scared you – either now or when you were younger. What was it about them that made them so frightening and do you think they worked as the developer intended or was it a happy (or unhappy) accident?
What makes for truly scary enemies and whats the most important part of their design? Is it their visuals, sound, abilities, back story, or something else? Do you like playing scary games and will you be playing any this week?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
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