Games Dying, Fortnite Hides Emotes, Stellar Blade “Uncensored”, + More! - GameLinked Apr 23, 2024

[JakobRush]

 

NEWS SOURCES:        

 

HOW LAWFUL OF THEM

Game publishers won’t support libraries for preserving online games

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/game-publishers-wont-support-libraries-for-preserving-online-games/ 

US copyright office hearing, archived by dev Scott Percival on Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2122947184?t=04h04m48s

Rock Paper Shotgun https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/esa-lawyer-frets-about-some-sort-of-terrifying-online-arcade-if-preservation-is-made-easier

A follow-up to a petition for DMCA exemption from Software Preservation Network https://lmg.gg/qK6tO (Rock Paper Shotgun)

Entertainment Software Association lawyer Steve Englund made several arguments

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/esa-org-won-t-cooperate-game-preservation

In response to the hypothetical scenario of libraries preserving games online after support ended, Englund said there was currently “[no] combination of limitations [ESA members] would support to provide remote access.” https://lmg.gg/qyPQA (VGC)

Restricting access to those with academic credentials? Users can lie and libraries can facilitate their lying https://lmg.gg/XVNFE (Rock Paper Shotgun) 

Restricting it to collections with physical locations? Anyone can get one of those! https://lmg.gg/GxmBx (Game Developer)

Study by SPN and Video Game History Foundation says 87% of classic games “critically endangered” https://gamehistory.org/87percent/

Rules completely different for other media types https://lmg.gg/vwfDl (VGHF)

 

SPILLING THE TEABAG

Fortnite adding “confrontational emote” toggle to game

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/04/you-can-now-disable-some-of-fortnites-most-toxic-emotes/

“We want emotes to be a source of good vibes” https://twitter.com/FortniteGame/status/1782514817666040283

Official post https://www.fortnite.com/news/new-see-confrontational-emotes-setting-in-fortnite

4 emotes are affected:

●        Laugh it up https://youtu.be/P0pIl1Bq5cM

●        Take the L https://youtu.be/2AJ3feqTn1w

●        Whipcrack https://youtu.be/E89awOo7RI0

●        Make it Plantain https://youtu.be/S_mvLhxIa00

Last two have been given racist associations https://lmg.gg/Guwe5 (Ars Technica)

Some controversy over refunds, since emotes were kinda marketed as being toxic  https://www.reddit.com/r/FortNiteBR/comments/1catzxt/comment/l0unej3/

 

STELLAR DEMO

Many Stellar Blade fans too excited for game, putting a bunch of hours into demo

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/action/oh-thats-why-the-stellar-blade-devs-were-terrified-by-demo-players-one-fans-spent-about-60-hours-maxing-eves-skill-tree-before-the-action-rpg-is-even-out/

One player spent 60 hours playing demo to try and unlock all skills https://www.reddit.com/r/stellarblade/comments/1c97w6u/almost_maxed_out/?share_id=1tmKyt1yZ2q2EyZIEU_KC

Happened enough ShiftUp tweeted about it with concern https://twitter.com/StellarBlade/status/1778085783418949771

Progress carries over to main game https://lmg.gg/P5OKF (Gamesradar)

Stellar Blade getting uncensored release in all countries

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/04/22/stellar-blade-says-it-will-release-uncensored-in-all-regions-so-what-does-that-mean/?sh=5b12ba7521f6

Prompting criticism of Japanese rating board from EA Japan GM https://automaton-media.com/en/news/stellar-blades-uncensored-release-in-japan-prompts-criticism-of-rating-system/

Sean Noguchi’s tweet (Japanese) https://twitter.com/SeptillionGames/status/1782017151194537998

^ This tweet may have been deleted
 

QUICK BITS

 

TV SHOW’S FALLOUT

Fallout mania is breaking mod sites https://www.pcgamesn.com/fallout-4/nexus-mods-overload

Nexus Mods blog post https://www.nexusmods.com/news/14958

Comes at a weird time because… there’s no new Fallout game haha

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/as-fallout-4-and-fallout-76-keep-reaching-new-heights-with-sky-high-player-counts-it-highlights-a-new-problem-for-xbox

 

I LOVE GRAMES

Atari is bringing back legendary publishing arm Infogrames

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/atari-relaunches-infogrames-immediately-buys-totally-reliable-delivery-service

https://atari.com/pages/infogrames

https://www.gematsu.com/2024/04/atari-revives-infogrames-publishing-label

 

PANIC TO CALM

150,000 Playdate games have been sold this year

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/18/24133103/playdate-catalog-game-sales

https://www.engadget.com/playdate-developers-have-made-more-than-500k-in-catalog-sales-120034296.html

handheld creators surprised https://www.gamesindustry.biz/we-never-really-thought-anyone-was-going-to-make-a-playdate-game

 

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

Tales of the Shire first trailer

https://youtu.be/8VA0uGtHqQI

Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley comparisons https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/04/22/tales-of-the-shires-first-trailer-reveals-it-is-middle-earth-animal-crossing-with

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/tales-of-the-shire-is-stardew-valley-but-with-happy-little-hobbits/

 

WHAT THAT TAT DO THO?

Lebron’s tattoo artist loses lawsuit over the tattoo’s appearance in NBA 2K game

https://www.eurogamer.net/take-two-wins-nba-2k-tattoo-lawsuit

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/lebron-james-tattoo-artist-loses-trial-against-nba-2k-maker-take-two-2024-04-19/

https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2024/04/nba2k-makers-win-in-lawsuit-against-cleveland-heights-tattoo-artist-over-lebron-james-inks-in-video-games.html