PCG Article May 2023 PC Gamer Article Links and Discussion

Starfield's gonna live or die by its side quests

Somewhere in the mid to late 2000s, Bethesda got really good at making RPG side quests. I love Morrowind to bits, don't get me wrong⁠—it certainly has the best main campaign Bethesda's ever done⁠—but something hits different with Oblivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 3's consistently excellent side stories.
 
Redfall review-in-progress: It's not great, folks

Redfall is exactly what I worried it would be: a lifeless multiplayer shooter without any of the playful, systemic creativity of a singleplayer Arkane game. After around 40 hours with it, I'm not sure I'd even recommend it to Game Pass subscribers—77GB is a big download for an FPS this bland.

Well, that's a bummer. Still going to try it on Game Pass, though.
 

I'm one of those people who would much prefer to see some screenshots than watch a video to get a general idea of a game, so I'm quite happy with this change.

I also don't understand the confusion of the article writer on why Steam is enforcing this for all developers, without allowing them to opt out. Making a better user experience on every game page is just as important for Valve as it is for the developers.
 
Making a better user experience on every game page is just as important for Valve as it is for the developers
Valve is going to know so much more than any dev or publisher about what works for customers, except maybe the AAAs who have had their own store for years.

Retail is a very different industry than game dev or publishing—let the experts make the calls.

PS what happened the title of that article, did they lose the company scissors? :rolleyes:
 

I'm one of those people who would much prefer to see some screenshots than watch a video to get a general idea of a game, so I'm quite happy with this change.

I also don't understand the confusion of the article writer on why Steam is enforcing this for all developers, without allowing them to opt out. Making a better user experience on every game page is just as important for Valve as it is for the developers.
If I pull up a game's page and see 5 or 6 videos at the front I just roll my eyes, and there's a good chance that there isn't more than a couple of minutes of gameplay in all the videos combined. I got news for publishers: I don't need to see more than one cinematic trailer.
 

Zloth

Community Contributor
If I pull up a game's page and see 5 or 6 videos at the front I just roll my eyes, and there's a good chance that there isn't more than a couple of minutes of gameplay in all the videos combined. I got news for publishers: I don't need to see more than one cinematic trailer.
I want to see two: probably the release day trailer and the latest trailer. The first tells me the most about the game, the second gives me an update of what it's going to look like today.

That still isn't optimal, though. What would be best is if they had a release-day style trailer and a deep-dive/gameplay trailer: basically, one video for the right side of my brain and one for the left. If the game changes significantly, update the trailer. Leave the DLC trailers for the right side of the list (or just on the DLC's page).
 
artists are doing pretty well in the PR battle against AI generated artwork
Likely to be a very temporary situation.

When I was young, they invented writing. Huge backlash from all the storytellers and those with great memories.

I was a bit older when printing was first invented. You guessed it, the Chinese scribes went mental, as did the makers of quills and calligraphy equipment.

In my twilight years, we got ebooks. "Not real!" clamored the print aficionados, "You can't sniff the glue in the spine."

Artists have had a good run, more than 40,000 years, but all good things come to an end.
 

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