Via GamePolitics: "When it comes to DRM, it seems that Valve president Gabe Newell is one of those in the game biz who wears a white hat.
That is to say, he espouses a reasonable approach, one that is not a de facto screwing of game consumers."
Soul Covenant feels like a game from the early 2000s, with its repetitive gameplay loop, waggle controls, and nonsensical story.
Indie developer Carlos Alfonso is working on Cold VR, a game where standing still isn't an option. The complete opposite to SUPERHOT VR.
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered players are ticked off by the game’s most recent patch, which censors in-game pin-up posters of Lara Croft.
This is why gaming is screwed. When people change things to fit someone’s agenda, it’s a slippery slope downhill.
Even if that agenda is of the developer? Way to remove developer rights.
***One player called it a “huge problem with modern games,” saying they can now be “ruined AFTER people buy them”.***
The level of drama. Yes, I recall sitting there for more hours than I did anything else in the game. These two pinups are the core of the game, after all!
rlow1's cringe catastrophizing aside, I do think developers *ought* to strive to maintain an original work to the best of their ability. The language of a "remaster" tacitly implies that - for good or ill - what's being resold is what fans remember but better.
Games can be ruined after purchasing them yeah we know this not from this but from GTA IV which had half it's radio content patched out due to licensing expirations and to me that was a huge deal.
This pin up poster is a bit of nonsense but the whole argument of modern games can be ruined post launch is Absol true.
It's not their work to censor. They are incharge of restoration & remastering the work, not overwriting it.
It's not the agenda of the developer though, they're pandering and trying to increase their ESG score.
Way to support censorship...
It’s not the end of the world for sure, but I understand the hate towards this kind of change. I believe it’s also a matter of principle.
Imagine a Picasso painting being restored & the restorer deciding there aren’t enough strokes, or some lines aren’t straight enough or curved enough…not sure it would/should sit well with people.
Have all original devs signed off on this change? Even if it’s the case, are we saying older gamers are better mentally equipped to process what was there than current gamers, hence the change?
Enough time ago the case was made that games are an art form. We’re supposed to have won that case.
So which is it? Are games art or not?
Hasn't this been happened for over a decade since remasters? I can't see that it's any worse now. Maybe if Sweet Baby starts getting their hands on remasters we will definitely have a problem.
tbh I dont see something like this as censorship. Does anyone else not find it strange for someone to stick pin ups of themsleves in a locker room?
Now of it was a pin up of some half naked firefighters it might make sense as Lara might like that, and if they removed that I would cry censorship. But removing pin ups of the main character, yeah I get it.
It's a game, and they were placed there for the audience. It's not real life. If it was, she wouldn't have fought a T-Rex now would she?
Yes, it's censorship but it's a bit less in your face. If they were in the original game, then they should have been in the remasters. It's bad enough that they have that ridiculous unnecessary warning at the start, but then they start removing things post launch. I don't care how small the change, they shouldn't be doing it. It's nothing but ESG pandering but in a subtle way.
Look bro, if you have pictures of yourself naked on a bear skin rug up in your house let me tell you, its not normal.
By the year 2030, this remaster collection will totally be changed and censored. Probably will remove Lara as a playable character. It's ridiculous. Glad that my family didn't buy this.
I still have Tomb Raider 2 PS1 as a memory.
It’s mentioned in the article, and it’s a point i 100% agree with, it’s the fact that they can censor a game after you buy it. That’s total bullshit.
Whilst it's an overreaction to say this has "ruined" the game, it's still problematic that this has happened post launch and for many, post-purchase.
I don't want someone to change a product for the worse after I've bought it. The same goes for implementing micro transactions after reviews.
I wonder why they did this? Nobody was kicking up a fuss as far as I'm aware.
this guy is like us, he hates the drm strategy. we all think drm is pointless.
Steam DRM has its good points...and bad points.
Good:
-Its non intrusive (no "spyware")
-Can be installed as many times as you want, anywhere with an internet connection
-No additional "secuRom" bullshit. Nothing additional is installed, Steam can be removed whenever.
Bad:
-Steam account can only be played on one computer at a time (only 1 game can be played at one time even if you own 100s).
- Steam checks authentication every single time you load the game. A constant internet connection is required even in single player games.
Steam still has the best DRM system available in gaming today (in my opinion). That doesnt mean it cant be improved upon though.
Fatman
When i bought Half Life 2 at launch it wouldn't activate as the servers were too busy or something, I had to wait a day or two before I could play the game which I bought over the counter at a store. I had installed it all, I just couldn't get it to activate!
Now many years later I felt like playing Half Life 2 again! however for some reason when I reinstalled it, it won't activate my copy!!! so it won't launch. It most likely is to do with the quality of my internet connection, but I paid for the game with my own money! should it really be expected for me to have a decent internet connection just to play a single player game!!
I have never bought a PC game since Half Life 2 because of DRM and it's only got worse. I use to enjoy PC gaming more than consoles, but consoles have come a long way now and at least I can always just put the disk in and play!
Gabe my say what we want to here, but in my experience, his business practice is very different!