120°

Is video game testing a thing of the past

Jonathan Bester from ITF Gaming writes: "For several years now we've had the luxury of having the latest patches for our games delivered directly to our consoles via the respective console's online service. While this has been great, there has been a sharp decline in quality when it comes to the initial launch product. It seems the days of quality assurance are numbered, as unfinished products reaching the consumer have become quite prominent and as such the need for day one patches is becoming more common-place."

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itfgaming.com
iamnsuperman4347d ago

It is sad to say but why should they bother. We now test the games. As long as it is playable people just assume it is the norm and will be fixed. I wish publications (review sites) take bugs into their review scores (non patched versions) as they can hold some sway.

I do miss the era of developers making sure their games work. Now it is rare to see a game with only minor bugs.

ITFGaming4347d ago (Edited 4347d ago )

Our publication never patches before the review. We tend to prefer reviewing the original title and not the patched version, which is how it should be.

darthv724347d ago

since the ability to deliver patches to console games, that is when QA dwindled and we the consumer became the guinea pigs.

It saves the company $$$ on having a dedicated team to do the bug tests but puts the consumer into the position of handing the dev their ass if the game plays like crap.

We have become spoiled on not wanting to wait to have the latest build in our hands. We have become accustomed to the fix it while its out in the wild routine.

I used to always want to have a job as a game tester.....seems these days I got my wish.

Soldierone4347d ago

Funny thing is we have had a few games where they said "don't review this" or that until after a scheduled patch released.....

Ser4347d ago

And that's the attitude that is killing off QA in the gaming industry.

We have to stop being so accepting of these things and start hitting companies hard when they deliver unfinished products.

This would require a giant push in unison, though. And I doubt most video game purchasers even care about the situation enough to cause too much fuss over it. They're content with just going into Wal-Mart and picking up a copy of the new game that released.

kneon4347d ago

I'm trying to do my part, I don't buy Bethesda games until they are at least 6 months old. I was thinking of finally picking up the Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition. By now it's as good as it's going to get.

I should have also held off buying RDR but I can't recall a single review pointing out the numerous game affecting bugs. I'm not talking about the all too frequent graphical issues in RDR, it's the bugs that impact game play that really bother me.

Solid_Snake374347d ago (Edited 4347d ago )

MGS4, DS and UC3 are probably the only games that had little to no bugs in sp this gen

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TopDudeMan4347d ago

Absolutely. Now it's pretty common for a company to just release a game riddled with bugs and wait for fan's outrage before fixing it.

Monokhs4347d ago

this is why i rarely buy games on day 1. i usually wait like 2 or 3 months

Kratoscar20084347d ago

This gen has made the developers a bunch of lazy bastards, im glad that those people didnt decided to be Doctors i wouldnt had liked to be their patient.

kneon4347d ago

While sometimes it may be developers being lazy I think that's probably the minority of cases. I think the main problem is that with the huge development budgets of most games now the bean counters want the game released as soon as possible, ready or not.

Kratoscar20084346d ago

But that doesnt excuse them to launch a game with bugs, because thats assuming that people must have an internet connection wich believe me there are people that cant afford one.

Is like ignoring the health safety regulations when processing meat just to meet the monthly deadline, that just not right.

kneon4346d ago

I'm not saying it's a valid excuse, I'm just saying that it not necessarily the code monkeys that are at fault. If they are told they are releasing on a certain date no matter what then there is only so much they can do.

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240°

Fallout 4's 'next gen' update is over 14 gigs, breaks modded saves, & doesn't change much at all

We were expecting problems with mod support, but there are a lot of other issues.

isarai10h ago

Wow what the actual hell 🤣🤣🤣

just_looken10h ago

This is why you get the GOG version on gog you can select the version of the game to download.

On pc fallout 4 fallout new vegas and skyrim are all broken on steam because they all got the same "next gen" update.

Skyrim dec 2023
https://www.pcgamer.com/sky...

Can not find new vegas but anyone that modded it knows the script extender there was also broken

Valkyrye8h ago

Not accidental, they want modders to stop modding their older games to force them to mod Shitfield.

just_looken6h ago

There doing the same on starfield with a mods store and blocking mods

There goal is like blizzard and what they did with fallout 76 you make mods they can sell and you become a slave.

On skyrim they have "trusted" mod devs now basically a badge that lets your mod on the store you get a crumb of the sale when someone buys it.

Inverno5h ago

lol to the disagrees, the last Skyrim update broke mods too. They've been trying to kill mods to monetize them in creation club for years, it's not a stretch that they purposely put out patches just to break free mods.

porkChop3h ago

The disagrees are from people who have common sense. They aren't trying to kill mods. Most mods for any game will break with a new update because they rely on files/code that have been changed. This isn't new. Even with Bethesda this would happen way before the creation club. Mod support is literally one of the things that got Bethesda to where they are, and they're one of the only devs that releases comprehensive mod tools for each of their games.

Chocoburger4h ago

Over 14 GBs and doesn't change much at all? What? Taking up that much drive space for a pathetic 'remastering' is shameful.

Par for Bethesda.

Aussiesummer3h ago

It's not a remaster, it's a next gen update.

badz1493h ago

LOL people are actually expecting massive improvements or something? From Bethesda?? the same people who released Skyrim multiple times and the all look like shit? THAT Bethesda? are people for real?

Profchaos2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

The ps5 version doesn't change a ton but from my small playtime it's enough to make me want to replay it just to have it running at 60.

A side note to this my PS4 version no longer boots after it's "update" so I guess that's what it feels like to own a Bethesda game on PC

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120°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein9h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno5h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k44h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson3h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu4h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson3h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

100°

Gears of War Voice Actor Hints At New Game Announcement Coming In June

A voice actor from The Coalition's third-person shooter series, Gears of War, has hinted at a new game announcement coming in June.

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twistedvoxel.com
Ra30303h ago

Hopefully Microsoft will go back to the original story line and get away from that woke nonsense from the last Gears game Gears of Woke! But were talking about Microsoft so all the betting money is on more of the same woke nonsense.

Sciurus_vulgaris2h ago

The Locust trilogy concluded with Gears of War 3. I don’t get how Gears 4 and 5 are “woke” .