250°

Meet The Team Working On A Final Fantasy 9 Remake You’ll Never Get To Play

Final Fantasy 9: Memoria Project is a fan homage like nothing we've ever seen before.

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thegamer.com
brewin1046d ago (Edited 1046d ago )

I wish that companies would find a way to release these kind of fan projects. Instead of just shutting them down and wasting all of the time of everybody who developed them, why not just help put the finishing touches on it and give the folks behind it a small cut of the sales?

With all the digital storefronts out there there really is no risk to the publishers. This thing looks like it would be marvelous but of course it will most likely get shut down and never see release.

andy851046d ago

Absolutely agree. They do the work and make it look great. Just pay them and release it. We'd have so many great versions of our favourite games

PorkMuffin1045d ago

or maybe they can stop using someone else's IP and make something original themselves, idk just a thought.

Kavorklestein1045d ago (Edited 1045d ago )

No. Being a fan of something should not mean only enjoying what is sold to you as a consumer.
Consumers projects and works of art should be inspiring to the creators.
As long as these things are not SOLD without the Creator/ip holder's opinion or making MONEY for people and are done for free, it shouldn't be a problem. Otherwise every tattoo artist should be sued for every single Kermit the Frog, Darth Vader etc.. etc.. ever inked on someone. Every cake. Every drawing. Every Mod for Skyrim. Everything. Or is that not what you meant? What else could you possibly mean?
You are plain wrong on this.. as are all these companies. Whether these projects are done in a playable game form or not, this is art and skill on display. No money involved should mean no problems.

PorkMuffin1045d ago

of course money is involved, if they just allow anyone to continue making these and releasing to the public free, people are either gonna stop buying the original product or in this case, bug the company to buy and release whatever was made by these 'fans'. It's basically like if you're selling a product, someone rip you off and start giving out your products for free and in order to stop that from happening, you have to spend a ton of money and acquire them.

Kavorklestein1044d ago (Edited 1044d ago )

Sounds like Devs having free "competition" means they should "git gud" so to speak. If people can do amazing stuff like this for free, (whether or not these projects become more than videos or playable demos to be shared for free etc..) then these companies with tons of money for tons of projects should spend some of that money on actually DOING exciting things, instead of using it to sue others for showing their skills and fandom.

Knightofelemia1046d ago

FF9 was not my favorite title but I would buy this and play it SquareEnix should green light this. If fans of FF9 are pouring this much blood, sweat, tears and passion into something they love. Which is FF9 then it's worth it they earn my respect working on something they love. If this ever did get the green light and sold well I would love to see what they could do with Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Parasite Eve and other Final Fantasy games.

brewin1046d ago

You will see me complain about remasters and remakes, but only when theyre from last gen or last year. I think that stuff is a money grab and unnecessary.

However, games from 20+ years ago remade with todays tech, Im all for that! I love what SE did with FF7 remake, even if I don't like how they broke it up to make it several games. But the results so far have been incredible!

FF9 was one if my favorites because it was the last FF with that magically medieval vibe. They should absolutely greenlight this thing and see how far these folks can take it.

ManMarmalade1046d ago

I honestly prefer remasters over remakes, but im not complaining if a game gets a remake either.

metalhead1045d ago

Square Enix could make a deal where they get a kickback for each one sold. They should do that for fans who are good enough of their craft to pull this off. They probably would be sold for less than a AAA title and would be just as or even more fun.

brewin1045d ago (Edited 1045d ago )

With the power of the newer consoles, it should be easy to rework games stuck on old consoles for a new generation of gamers to enjoy. Seeing FF9 with graphics like this on modern consoles would be a damn fine way to celebrate its history! And the thing is, the leg work is already done. These dedicated fans have already worked this far, why not pick it up from here and finish it for a proper release?!

I see these older FF games getting remade for phones, but a full fledged console remake would be much better.

SDuck1045d ago

Companies should negotiate with these creators so they can publish their fanmade games as their property while pay those enthusiasts what they deserve for their hard work and passion!

brewin1045d ago

It's definitely a huge opportunity for publishers. They could easily just have a new division of fan-made games where games with rabid fan bases can submit prototypes and whatnot. Think of the indie developers that would jump all over that and create remakes, Demakes sequels etc. what better way to cater to your fan base than allowing the fan base to actually have input by creating the game that they want? I see no risk to publishers here especially if the publisher has a legal channel for these kind of ideas to get submitted for approval. If the publisher likes what they see green light it if not shut it down.

Wrathspawn931045d ago

I've made fan art ideas myself for FFIX like an "Old Zidane Tribal" with a new Vivi and a moogle that can be seen here on deviant
https://www.deviantart.com/...

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430°

PS6 Graphics – Can it Approach Photorealism?

If the PS5 Pro leaks are accurate, the eventual PS6 is slated to be one powerful console. But if modern GPUs still lag behind true photorealism, can the PS6 get there?

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gamingbolt.com
Hugodastrevas1d 21h ago

I hate to be "that guy", but we have go ask ourselves do the industry need photorealistic graphics at this point or actually good games, good content, less anti-consumer practices?
This graphical obsession has brought nothing but years upon years of waiting for a game to launch with huge detailed empty worlds, bad stories and predictable gameplay and (micro)transactions everywhere. Sorry for the rant.

MrGameAndWatch1d 20h ago

Same. I really don't want to be in an interactive film and, to me photorealism is not needed for immersion.

RaidenBlack1d 14h ago

Why always target photorealism?
Why not use the extra horsepower for better, complex & diverse AI?
Why not target more interactable world? Why not use the new performance headroom for more physics effects?
Player choices that drastically affect and changes the game world?

Cacabunga1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

Let’s first see what PS5 graphics look like.. we’ve seen nothing yet

RaidenBlack1d 8h ago

@Cacabunga
For that, first Naughty Dog's PS5 single-player exclusive, then Guerilla's PS5 single-player exclusive

OtterX1d 20h ago (Edited 1d 19h ago )

If anything, the massive layoffs in the industry right now are showing that investors are pulling out and not wanting to invest as much as they are right now into AAAs. Much less push for even higher detail, unless many parts of it are automated by AI for a cheaper price. Not saying I support people's jobs being replaced by AI, just stating a reality of what the money people want.

DarXyde1d 19h ago (Edited 1d 19h ago )

Photorealism should be reserved for games like Gran Turismo. It costs far too much to incorporate that level of detail.

Even then, if it comes at the cost of physics calculations or frame rate given the shared resources of consoles, I'd scale it back in favor of a smoother experience.

Nintendo was quite smart to never pigeonhole themselves into that. Great foresight on their part, I'd say.

8bitAssassin1d 17h ago

But they've gotten very lazy on their games. I still like their approach don't just make game play your biggest innovation.

DarXyde1d 16h ago (Edited 1d 16h ago )

8bitAssassin,

I assume you're talking about Nintendo.

I think it works for them. I'm honestly glad that it's nothing like PlayStation or Xbox. It's a great reason to own one.

8bitAssassin20h ago

Yup!! I am. Yes it works for them and I love it. I want them to have better than average old tech so the scope of some of their games can drop jaws. I'm not talking about counting pixels either.

anast1d 17h ago

I think we need both. Why lower the standard? A photorealistic Bloodborne or Elden Ring game would be insane.

isarai1d 15h ago

Nah im with you on that, like visually games look fine, maybe up the resolution on average but i would much rather resources be spent on things that actually make the game FEEL good to play at this point.

shinoff21831d 14h ago

Don't forget about the budgets.

ROCKY281d 14h ago

agreed - stop with the expensive photo realism and just create amazing games that are less expensive that are not a risk to create an original game within 2-3 years and not 7 years of development - like the OG PS2/Xbox era !

WolfSeed1d 14h ago

There are individual goals for individual parameters. Graphics, gameplay, scale, geometry, AI Sophistication, etc.

This article touches one of them. No need to cancel the conversation because you care more about other things.

Amplitude1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

Some photorealism is much cheaper to produce than what devs are currently forced to do.
If all games could have path tracing, there would be no need for developers to manually map ambient occlusion, shadowmaps, reflection probes, etc. It's a huge undertaking that's making games cost way more to produce on account of the rather pathetic-for-2024 RT and general performance of the current gen consoles.

As much as i hate to say it, we need new consoles as soon as feasibly possible. These consoles launched at the absolute worst possible time, right before RT/DLSS2.0/3.0 were able to quickly skyrocket games in quality on the PC side of things, leaving a ridiculously large gap between PC and console almost immediately after launch and preventing things like CyberPunk Pathtracing Mode in other games. They're holding everything back and making games take longer to produce.

I think Microsoft may be smart if they end up adopting a model where multiple companies (including NVidia) can release multiple spec variant "PC" boxes with the XBox OS. One console every decade doesn't cut it with how quick technology moves in this new era we're in.

smolinsk1d 11h ago

I would love the Next step in graphic to be massive but it always turns out that it takes a long time so the ps6 graphics are gonna be like the best we have now Just with 60fps in every game. World love to se the big ass large worlds with fantastic graphics and depth. Gta 6 are gonna bring that for sure.

just_looken1d 4h ago

@hugo

100% agree but it also made the use of upscale tech the norm which made games worse and the fact console now are just tablets we need a console with a real gpu real cpu real ram setup.

It would be so amazing to see a game like you said made like the ps2/ps3 era using today's pc parts pushing the hardware.

There are titles out there that make my pc run like its still on the desktop

Barlos22h ago

Agreed. For me at least, games are escapism. I don't want them mimicking real life. Graphics don't have to be photorealistic to be impressive. As with you, I'm more about the story, and I would prefer innovation in other ways. The PS5 did it with the DualSense. This it more important to me than just shinier graphics.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 20h ago
Zenzuu1d 20h ago

Personally for me, graphics have already gotten to the point where I don't really feel the need to see having it to make anymore realistic or better.

At this point, I rather game developers focus on quality/engaging stories, gameplay, & contents. Also not every every single game needs to opened world just for the sake of it.

anast1d 17h ago

I'd rather they focus on both. It's a trillion dollar industry. They should be able to do both.

neutralgamer19921d 17h ago

Zenzuu

Believe it or not when it comes to consoles and games graphics are still the biggest factor. Why do you think we still see CHI trailers or in engine footage. The first impression is very important. Not for us core gamers but for millions of casuals who are quite easily impressed with wow factor graphics

TiredGamer1d 14h ago

"More, more, more!!! I don't care what it takes - I deserve more! And I won't PAY a dollar more!"

That's the mindset of some people out there.

JEECE1d 7h ago

I mean, can we still say that's the case even when casuals flock to mediocre looking battle royales? PUBG became huge among casuals, and it looks like a PS3 era shooter with textures that didn't load properly. And casuals have embraced the cartoon aesthetic (Fortnite is the easy example here, but there are others). What is the recent graphics focused game casuals have flocked to? Are you counting COD for that?

anast1d 1h ago

@1992 Candy Crush and Monopoly Go

@Tired Like I said. It's a trillion dollar industry. They could definitely do more. Customers are paying a ton of money.

WolfSeed1d 14h ago

There are individual goals for individual parameters. Graphics, gameplay, scale, geometry, AI Sophistication, etc. No need to cancel the conversation because you care more about other things.

smolinsk1d 9h ago

Graphics are the biggest selling point and will always be.

neutralgamer19921d 8h ago

Agreed especially for those who aren’t hardcore gamers. We core gamers look at everything through core gamers POV. But there is a much bigger casual market who likes looking at pretty things

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 1h ago
andy851d 20h ago

Honestly with UC4 I thought we were close but things don't really seem to have improved much in 8 years. Hellblade 2 seems to have raised the bar a bit though

MrBaskerville1d 19h ago

I don't think publishers have the money to make that happen. They can barely sustain the current level of fidelity.

Sciurus_vulgaris1d 12h ago

The goal post for what photorealistic graphics are has always been moving. I remember some 360/PS3 sports games being called photorealistic way back in the mid 2000s.

bRuud831d 19h ago

Simply, no! Graphics wise there is barely any difference between the PS4 and PS5 just a little more particle effects and very minimal use of ray tracing. I expect even less diffence between PS5 and PS6. Just better implementation of Ray Tracing.

purple1011d 15h ago

you are correct, but there ram has doubled, and now we have ssd not a spinning disk drive, I think we have not yet scratched the surface of next gen personally,

Show all comments (99)
170°

New and improved ASUS ROG Ally X battery life is just what it needs to compete with the Steam Deck

Yet another leak for the ASUS ROG Ally X points towards as much as 8 hours of battery, but how does that compare to the competition?

Vits4d ago

Honestly, I really like this updated version. But it doesn't solve the biggest flaw that the original had for me: the Z1 Extreme APU. Yes, it's an extremely powerful part, but it is not part of AMD's Adrenalin driver update program, so it's dependent on Asus for driver updates. And unfortunately, Asus doesn't have a stellar record of support for their devices.

Goodguy014d ago

Up to 8 hours basically just means the least demanding games. AAA gaming at highest wattage would probably be about 2-3 hours which is good compared to just about 1 hour with the current ally. The OLED Deck can do about 2-3hrs.

mrcatastropheAF1d 16h ago

With much less performance so that makes sense.

The Steamdeck shines at the lower TDP end but gets absolutely mopped at the high end.

Similar longevity with much better performance is a big win for the Ally X

Killa782d ago

Too bad Asus are all awful company.

PRIMORDUS2d ago

They used to be the best when it comes to motherboards, now I will never buy anything from them again.

Firebird3602d ago

8 hrs yea right. Running tetris?

Skuletor2d ago

Only after setting the screen brightness to the lowest level, of course.

Notellin1d 18h ago

They tested the battery life watching a game of Tetris in 360p. Running Tetris natively brought the number down slightly to 1 hour and 38 minutes. 😂

Asuka2d ago

Nope. The only improvements I want to hear is better customer support. Otherwise, I can't be bothered.

Show all comments (16)
220°

Activision’s new Elsewhere Entertainment studio is working on a new IP

Headquartered in Poland, Elsewhere Entertainment — an all-new internal studio at Activision — is working on a new “narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise.” Elsewhere includes developers credited on The Last of Us, Uncharted, Destiny, Cyberpunk, and more. Activision’s new studio announcement comes just a week after its parent company, Microsoft, closed three Bethesda studios. It also follows job postings about a new Activision IP.

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
Sciurus_vulgaris5d ago

The game industry confuses, closing down proven studios only open a new studio?

ThinkThink5d ago

It would certainly be strange if this news came from Bethesda, but Activision is its on monster.

Eonjay5d ago

To be fair, many Activision employees lost their jobs too during the the last few months. So it really is quite odd to see them opening another studio. All I can say is they better not do another mass layoff anytime soon or its just gonna piss everyone off. Studio description reminds me of The Initiative. The only saving grace is that they aren't claiming to be making a AAAA game lol. I guess we will check back in in 5 years to see how everything is going.

XiNatsuDragnel5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Man what ip are they cooking? /s.

RaidenBlack4d ago

Soldier of Fortune 🤞🏻
Hexen/Heretic?
True Crime?

5d ago Replies(1)
thesoftware7305d ago

Gotta break some eggs to make an omelet.

romulus235d ago

Tango Gameworks was the omelet, so that statement fails on the face of it.

InUrFoxHole5d ago

Really? What special games did they make 🤔

romulus235d ago

@InUrFoxHole

Well, xbox was pretty adamant that Hi-Fi Rush was special, journalist and gamers seemed to agree and from my own personal experience I would say it was a great game. They also made Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the Evil Within series.

thesoftware7305d ago (Edited 5d ago )

Yeah, then the head/lead of the company left...

No hope for a good Evil within game, ghost wire was not really successful,and HI-FI alone was not enough to keep an entire studio open.

Eonjay4d ago

@thesoftware730

I think the fact that this 'wasn't enough' is a problem wouldn't you concede?

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 4d ago
romulus235d ago

Hi-Fi Rush was a great game regardless of who left and according to Aaron Greenberg,

"Hi-Fi RUSH was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release."

So of course they rewarded the team for their accomplishment by firing them. They have studios that have contributed much less that they haven't closed. It is going to be very difficult for any game to be successful when it goes straight to gamepass day one.

Einhander19725d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I think this is just a publicity stunt and that this studio never actually produces a game. Someone at Microsoft was like were getting cooked in the media after they closed these studios and they came up with a plan to create some dummy studio someplace outside of the reach of the English speaking presses reach to distract people.

"Oh hey we're not closing studios we're actually creating studios"

And of course what are they working on... the type of game that gets the most popular public perception a narrative driven story based game... ya know not the thing Activision and Microsoft are known for.

5d ago Replies(2)
Einhander19725d ago

GamingFans6946m ago
They hired a bunch of people and opened a new studio for a publicity stunt?

Yea, they hired people... Who? "Oh, you know, people..." people who worked on TLOU Uncharted and Destiny of course...

It's the same crap they did with The Initiative where they were under fire for buying a bunch of studios and not forming anything except even more sketchy this time. Of course the The Initiative was formed with people mostly poached from PlayStation specifically Naughty Dog, then less than 12 months later almost everyone was back at Sony and The Initiative was rumored to have lost 80% of it's staff and the game they were working on was announced to actually be getting developed by Crystal Dynamics.

Noskypeno5d ago

The way we need to look at these buzzwords is the same that we see when a sports team brings in the best athletes in their position in hopes to bring them to look like a superteam, only to barely win half of their games or lose in the first round of the playoffs. Sometimes superteams work, but when it doesn't it just makes you question how they can't take advantage of their abilities.

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