Living With a Nerd gives some tips on how to maximize your fear while playing scary games.
From GameWatcher: "Embracer has shut down Pieces Interactive, the studio that recently developed the Alone in the Dark Reboot for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Pieces Interactive, acquired by THQ Nordic in 2017, worked on the Titan Quest franchise. Its most recent game, Alone in the Dark, received mixed critical reception at launch but was improved with subsequent patches."
Like we did not see this coming. Pieces and Alone in the Dark, had a kick me sign on their back the entire dev cycle to release. Perfect example of not reading current market trends, bad forecasting, marketing and release.
Why is it the perfect example?? It was actually one of the few games that did all those things well. In fact considering the current environment in the industry it actually did all those things very well.
The problem was the game itself was just rough around the edges and that’s the problem we currently have in the industry it’s hard to release something like that when everybody wants perfection and the developer and publisher doesn’t have enough to pay off all the reviewers.. it has a large cult following and had potential to be exactly what survival horror fans have been crying out for while they were waiting for silent hill 2. Don’t see what market trends and forecasting has anything to do with it at all. I don’t remember it fighting in its release window either.
Alone in the Dark would've gained more praise if it released in 2022, well before Alan Wake II and other horror projects
The demo they released a while back didn't leave a good impression, and it seems like they were riding far too much on Jodie Comer and David Hayter to be the driving force to buy the game. They're both great actors, but their performance on this game from what I've seen felt very stiff/forced - like they were out of their comfort zones. It's a shame to see another studio closure, though, and I hope the people effected (affected? I always get it wrong) can find more work soon.
Embracer's takeaway from this will probably be that they should focus on live service games.
Alone in the Dark developer Pieces Interactive has been hit with layoffs a month after its release, as per the latest information.
That genuinely, genuinely sucks. The reboot has clear flaws, but it really felt like a solid first step for this team to receive *greater* investment.
That's standard. Teams are together for a Project, after its done some..and sometimes most devs are fired until the next Project is in the works and people are needed again. Only the core members stay in the time between the hot phase of the game development.
What’s annoying is people don’t understand how contractors work, either. All of this is uninformed knee-jerk reactions without any understanding of how employment works in this industry. There are key developers and staff that stay with a studio/publisher, but often times it’s a hire per project and then seeking new employment for a project. That’s how it’s always been…
That's a fair point too. I would say that in light of its tepid critical/commercial response and ongoing mass layoffs across the industry I think it's understandable for fans to worry about the longer-term implications. We'll see how it plays out in the future.
An executive of Electronic Arts Japan has criticised the Japanese video game ratings board for allowing upcoming action game Stellar Blade to be released uncensored while EA's own Dead Space was banned in the country.
He’s got a point. If a game is M-Rated, which is the equivalent of an R rating, I don’t get why you need to censor anything. The rating is the indicator of the content and the age appropriate. If it’s appropriate for adults… why treat them like children? 🤷♂️
This is about gore... not about anything sexual. And specifically I think it is about the realistic depiction of gore. Unfortunately I don't know the nuance of the CERO board or how it is relevant their specific culture (as a prohibition on gore may transcend age) so I hesitate to make a statement. Can anyone else provide insight to what kind of gore is considered unacceptable?
Yea, I know this is about gore, but thanks for pointing that out.
My point still stands, if a game is essentially rated for a mature audience then why censor for them as if they’re too young to view it? Makes no sense.
To answer your question: Decapitation, dismemberment, like… anything gore. They have been censoring that since CERO was established. Look up RE4 chainsaw decapitation or any MK games that made it there.
Yet, the Oneechanbara series (y'know, the game with half-naked samurai females slicing up zombies to bloody pieces) get released in Japan uncensored.
The CERO ratings board is an equilibrium.
This confuses me since I've seen so many gory Japanese movies and anime. For example, Battle Royale.
I don't know if the EA executive is going off the one close up of an arm being cut off in the demo. Maybe it's uncensored because it's the arm of a cyborg or it doesn't happen that often (didn’t see EVE dismemberment when killed in the demo) .
In the states there's a certain amount of swear words allowed to a PG13 movie before it is deemed R. So maybe it's the same in Japan for gore?
Yes I think you may be on to something. The violence is gory but I wouldn't call it gruesome.
Does EA Japan actually make games at all? Or are they just a regional publisher?
Good idea for an article I think. Nice work.
have something that is actually scary and just the typical pop out at you and make loud noise.....but something that really messes with your head
tho i still love all the horror games out there non the less
Haha Dead Space and FEAR would work best with this...
Lights out + weed + headphones = scary
You don't even need the light off or dark when you're playing Amensia the scariest mofo game on this planet
Like seriously I shit myself playing it, kid games like Bioshock or FEAR doesn't even compare