Games Inbox: Is AI going to ruin video games?

Metro

2 days ago

The Friday letters page has a bad feeling about the rumoured Xbox layoffs, as one reader thinks there's a real chance for Star Wars: Battlefront 3.
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Bad enough
I've no idea what Front Mission is but that story about the remake replacing all the artwork with AI garbage is just awful. I get that Square Enix subcontracted the work to a not great company but it's still disgusting. Once again, we see that 'good enough' is the highest aspiration companies have and even then it never even reaches that standard. What saddens me is that most people are like that too.
AI clearly doesn't work – it lies all the time if you try to search with it – but if you ignore that one inconvenient fact then it may save you a few seconds of work every time you use. I mean, who cares if it changes a robot into a helicopter or some guy talking into a Lenin stand-in… it's good enough.
First time I remember being aware of generative AI in games was that six-fingered zombie from Call Of Duty but we've had two controversies already this week, so I really fear this sort of thing is going to become commonplace now.
I don't think it's hyperbole to say this could ruin all of gaming, not just with the bad quality visuals but the sacking of developers and Microsoft even trying to make games with AI. Can you imagine how bad that'd be? The rumour is that these Xbox layoffs coming up are connected to AI and that's only going to convince other companies that relying on it, and getting rid of people with decades of experience, is a good idea.
Bosly
Endless fear
This impending cull of more Xbox developers is so disgusting. I know it was said it was inevitable, because all acquisitions are like that, but this is just Microsoft taking a chainsaw to dozens of perfectly good developers.
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I'm reading on X that a bunch of UK studios are worried, and I think that's going to mean the end of Team Ninja or them being turned into some soulless support studio that's not allowed to make its own games. There's talk of the team behind Forza Motorsport (not Horizon) fearing the worst too.
Whatever happens the worst thing will be that it probably won't be the last time. It's already happened twice before, and this third time looks like be the biggest so far.
Dougal
There is another
Just in case you haven't been keeping tabs on it but Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is still getting more popular on Steam. It's in the top 50 now, since a few big name streamers have started playing it, and only seems to be getting more and more players.
I really think there's beginning to be a chance that EA will take notice and make another. Except… there's kind of a big problem. One of the main reasons it's so popular is that it's only £3.49 on Steam (it's £18 on the PlayStation Store). I'm afraid that would only tempt EA into trying to make some kind of free-to-play Apex Legends type thing.
I really hope they do a proper sequel though. Something that took advantage of all the ideas in Andor, which was all grounded combat and no lightsabers, would be amazing.
Iver
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Sharing is caring
RE: Phil and free Game Pass: did someone else have your console set as their 'home' console for the last two years but predominantly play elsewhere? If so, then you would be able to use their Game Pass subscription.
We have both an Xbox Series X and an Xbox Series S, with the Xbox Series X being the console I use.
However, my 'home' console is the Xbox Series S, so the kids can use this console but take advantage of my Game Pass subscription on their profiles, whereas I can use my Game Pass subscription on my Xbox Series X, even though it isn't my home console. It's a handy feature that's been around for a while but isn't well-documented, for the obvious reason of Microsoft wanting you to spend more money on subscriptions.
That might be the reason why. Otherwise, well done to you for having free Game Pass for the last two years!
NatorDom
Celebrity makeover
I will say this about the new Donkey Kong game, I am 100% sold on the redesign of DK himself. Compared to the original one, which basically only had one expression, the reboot is full of personality and I'm loving it. I already play as him all the time in Mario Kart World and if the new game gets good review I'll look forward to playing him in that too.
Companies shouldn't be afraid of reinventing things from time to time. The last thing we needed was another stupidly hard 2D game and Bananza looks much more interesting than that.
Scooby
Teflon Phil
This might seem like a strange thing to say about a $3 trillion company, but I feel a great deal of pity for Microsoft. Or rather, I feel a lot of pity for the ordinary workers at Xbox, who not only have the constant threat of layoffs hanging over their heads but really do seem to be doing their best to make the whole Xbox thing work.
The Xbox 360 is 20 years old this year, but can you imagine Sony or Nintendo still supporting the PlayStation 3 or GameCube today? OK, half of the update was an ad for the Xbox Series X but there is a genuine update to the dashboard after all these years and I have to respect Microsoft workers for that. Especially as Xbox backwards compatibility is the best in class and there's really no reason to be playing an actual Xbox 360 anyway.
After a good summer showcase the upcoming Xbox line-up looks good (I'd actually concentrate on new franchises rather than wasting more time with Halo and Gears Of War, but that's just me) and Game Pass gets better value every day. If things were fair Xbox would be doing great, but instead it constantly feels like it's on the edge of disaster.
I blame the Xbox management entirely and can't bare to see any of them anymore, with their stupid smiling faces while they know what's really going on. I don't see how any of their recent announcements are going to work out and yet no matter how many mistakes are made the only people that ever seem to get punished for it are the ordinary developers.
Lapdash
Still online
Sorry to ask this GC, but I've never owned an Xbox, so don't know. I've just read that Xbox 360 received an update a few days ago and I also found out they took the store down.
Can you still play games online on the Xbox 360 or is it offline only?
David
GC: As long as the servers are run by Microsoft, which is the case for the majority of games, then they'll still be playable online. Nothing by EA will work though, since they run their own servers – as do other companies for certain titles.
No mistakes
I think I'll wait a few more weeks to see what the Switch 2's biggest single-player launch window game is like before I decide for myself, but I doubt Nintendo thinks they've fumbled or disappointed.
With the exception of some reported third party sales and minor Mario Kart backlash, from those who apparently think no effort went into it, things seem to be playing out exactly as planned.
Console sales look to have surpassed their expectations, the Mario Kart World bundle has worked particularly well (I'm still a bit confused how taken for granted that deal is in some circles) and Donkey Kong Bananza is the best-selling new game on Amazon right now.
That'll give it two popular, genuinely new gen exclusive – and hopefully high quality – big games in the first six weeks, which as far as I can tell is a lot more than any other console has managed in the past 20 odd years. If those patterns had been followed, we'd have seen Metroid Prime 4 as a cross-gen launch title and maybe one of the Zelda remasters and that would've been it.
When it comes to revealing its pipeline, it's been clear for years that showing what they judge to be enough is much more preferable for Nintendo, compared to showing their full hand and, while I don't expect a huge unannounced killer app at Christmas, I'm hardly worried that they'll now sit with their feet up till 2027.
Panda
GC: You're absolutely right, from a business perspective the Switch 2 has been an unambiguous success for Nintendo.
Inbox also-ransThis probably makes little sense, but I think I prefer Mario Kart 8 to World as the latter gives me a Mario Kart 64 vibe somehow.
Mark Matthews
I'm not at all surprised that Nintendo would patch out the trick to get 3-lap races. That is Nintendo in a nutshell, it's their way or the highway!
Bootles More Trending
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