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5 votes
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Industries of Titan | Early Access announcement trailer (Epic Games Store, April 14)
6 votes -
The quest to beat Matt Turk's World Records in Punch-Out!! (NES)
9 votes -
Doom Eternal - The Digital Foundry tech review
8 votes -
Doom Eternal review
8 votes -
Does the frequent addition of content to esport games delegitimize them?
This questions ultimately rests on the supposition of what a game intends to be or what esport should be. This is partially why it probably won't spark too much discussion, but I'm interested in...
This questions ultimately rests on the supposition of what a game intends to be or what esport should be. This is partially why it probably won't spark too much discussion, but I'm interested in your opinions nonetheless, especially when it comes to the current state of esports. It seems to me that when we are talking about rules in any kind of sport we want to change as little as we can over time. If the rules changes enough, you could argue that people have over time played what essentially is a different game. It becomes harder to compare achievements between players within the a timeline. Meta's and achievements will only really be comparable after games has stopped adding content such as new heroes or mechanics. With a lot of games there seems to be a major content patch, then long period of balancing and this cycle basically repeats itself. Another point is that by adding content and changing the meta you are preventing the current players from reaching their full potential, the older players from retaining their hard earned experience and discouraging new players by promising them a game they can never "beat". That is until the content stops coming in and in today's world that might mean that you are not able to play at all due to a lack of dedicated servers. Further the players that might once have stuck to it might already have left, leaving no opponents left to play against.
This superficial take ultimately comes from someone who hasn't really played esports except a little bit of 1.6 counter strike and counter strike global offensive. It always struck me as odd that with MOBA's and especially with shooters such as overwatch and siege, that there seem to be no pushback on this. When I ask people that prefer this sort of drip-feed-service, what I usually hear is that it's something that is necessary to keep them engaged. Isn't there ultimately a trade-off here, between a sort of accessible fun and lack of constancy which prevents players from reaching their full potential?
I immediately see the talking point of financial aspect of games. It seems to me however that Quake and counter strike largely went without major changes when compared to modern esports games. Are there any good broad rules we can use when designing esport games in order to avoid the issues mentioned here?
In an ideal world, do you agree that we generally don't want kind of content and/or rule change that we see today?
If there is a need to add content (such as heroes) to keep a game feeling "fresh". Is there an acknowledgement here that the core-gameplay isn't engaging enough? I think there is a case to be made here when it comes to MOBA's since knowledge (about enemy heroes abilities) plays a more central part when compared to more archaic shooters. Is this indicative of a an audience that is more interested in an entertaining service, rather than a (e)sport that seldom changes?
When we look at games such as world of warcraft, which isn't an esport, yet there are achievements and historic events so to speak which became cheapened or not attainable until what was basically a restart of the timeline (story of the game). Is this not what we are risking with current service models in modern esports?
15 votes -
Some free games are being released on Steam today
17 votes -
ASCII art and permadeath: The history of roguelike games
12 votes -
Inside PlayStation 5: The specs and the tech that deliver Sony's next-gen vision
15 votes -
Sea of Stars - A retro-inspired turn-based RPG from Sabotage Studio (developer of The Messenger)
7 votes -
Against the hegemony of hit points - Games don’t necessarily need less violence—but they do need more varied approaches
7 votes -
Fights in Tight Spaces | Announcement trailer
4 votes -
Wanting to play Pandemic during the pandemic
5 votes -
2020 Independent Games Festival winners announced - A Short Hike wins Grand Prize
5 votes -
Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition - Almost fifty demos for new and upcoming indie games, available to play until March 23
8 votes -
itch.io: Self-isolation on a budget
10 votes -
Stay at home and play some games
16 votes -
Sony to reveal new PS5 details in a ‘deep dive’ tomorrow
5 votes -
Inside Final Fantasy VII Remake - Episode 1: Introduction
3 votes -
A short history of banned games in Germany
6 votes -
Magic: The Gathering and Keyforge creator Richard Garfield on thirty-five years of making the games he wants to play
4 votes -
Nintendo Switch Indie World Showcase - March 17, 2020
5 votes -
The rise of the ambient video game
5 votes -
Interactive media for self-care
5 votes -
An interview with Masayuki Uemura, the engineer who designed the Famicom and helped take Nintendo into video games
5 votes -
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the escape we all need right now
7 votes -
Inside Xbox Series X: The full technical specs
5 votes -
As Naughty Dog crunches on The Last Of Us II, developers wonder how much longer this approach can last
17 votes -
CS:GO has set a new record of one million concurrent players, which makes it the third Steam game to do so
@steamdb: CS:GO has set a new record of ONE million concurrent players, which makes it the third @Steam game to do so. 🚀 Congratulations to the @CSGO team! https://t.co/bzLMfMOJvD
13 votes -
What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
17 votes -
Prosperous Universe Presence release is live
7 votes -
Subtle mechanics in Celeste that widen timing/positioning windows and make the game feel better to play
18 votes -
The genius of Prey's Gloo Cannon as a multi-purpose game mechanic
5 votes -
Roundguard - Announce trailer (out now)
4 votes -
E3 2020 has been cancelled
23 votes -
Doom Eternal | Launch trailer
10 votes -
Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition announced - A modern restoration of the 1997 point-and-click adventure for PS4, Xbox One, Switch and PC
7 votes -
Horizon Zero Dawn officially announced to be coming to the PC
17 votes -
Nioh 2 | Launch trailer
4 votes -
Spelunky 2 development update and new screenshots
6 votes -
Satisfactory - Update 3 has been released, with pipes, fluid resources, a resource sink, Hypertubes, major reworks/rebalancing/optimisations, and more
5 votes -
Command & Conquer Remastered revives the classic RTS series this June
14 votes -
Hades - The Nighty Night Update is out now, with a new weapon, new talents, story updates, and more
4 votes -
The "Nintendo PlayStation" prototype was purchased at auction for $300,000 by Greg McLemore, founder of Pets.com who now runs the International Arcade Museum
10 votes -
Explosive barrels
13 votes -
Call of Duty: Warzone - A free-to-play multiplayer game for up to 150 players with battle royale and plunder modes, launching tomorrow
8 votes -
Google now giving away three months of Stadia access to new Chromecast buyers
9 votes -
The story of the PS2’s backwards compatibility by Tetsuya Iida, the engineer who built it
10 votes -
Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary PC tech review - analysis of The Master Chief Collection version
9 votes -
Twitch streamer suspended after accidentally firing real gun at his monitor
17 votes