Latest news with #FrontMission
Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: Is AI going to ruin video games?
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. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ 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. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. 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 Email your comments to: gamecentral@ 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 Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: Has the Nintendo Switch 2 been a disappointment? MORE: Games Inbox: Will the PS6 be the most powerful console ever? MORE: Games Inbox: Do video game exclusives still matter?
Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Front Mission 3: Remake has updated its graphics with AI slop and fans are angry
The remake of PS1 game Front Mission 3 has replaced its 2D artwork with generative AI images, that have made a mess of everything. Even before the first Front Mission remake came out, Polish publisher Forever Entertainment committed itself to also remaking the second and third games for the Nintendo Switch. This was a big deal, since the first two games had never seen a European release (the second game never even left Japan), while Front Mission 3 hasn't been re-released since the original PlayStation version in 2000. The first two remakes were fine enough updates, albeit skin deep and just as old-fashioned as the originals, but any excitement for the third has evaporated due to what seems to be AI generated artwork. The Front Mission 3 remake only launched today but screenshots have already been making the rounds on social media, comparing the remake's visuals to the original game. These screenshots come courtesy of RPG Site and when shared side-by-side with the original version, it does appear that a lot of 2D artwork wasn't simply upscaled to be less blurry but outright replaced. Aside from background art, photos from the Network (an in-universe web browser that provides extra worldbuilding and lore) have been recreated and the results are frankly horrendous. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Even without comparisons, a lot of these photos simply don't look natural, like one man's bizarre hand gestures or the example at the top of this page, of a soldier holding an already weird looking gun like a camera. Some of the new images don't even accurately depict the original illustrations. One especially egregious example is of what's meant to be a crashed Wanzer, a type of mech in the Front Mission series, being turned into a parked helicopter. Everything points to the original art being fed into an AI algorithm and, since the originals are blurry and pixelated, creating hallucinations and things that were never there to begin with. At least we hope that's what's happened, because if these were designed by actual humans, with no AI involved, it'd be extra shocking they were ever approved. There's no mention of generative AI being used for the remake's development in the credits and we can't recall ever spotting AI art in the first remake when we reviewed it. Although that was based on a SNES game, whereas Front Mission 2 and 3 are PS1 titles. As you can imagine, fans are not happy, with CheeseGX on X describing it as a 'a new all time low when it comes to video game remakes.' 'It's a damn shame to see that the remake team apparently used s***** AI art upscalers to replace a lot of the lower resolution 2D art assets with completely bizarre looking people, tech and landscapes. Definitely won't be buying this!' says JCP Designs on Bluesky 'This isn't even AI upscaling like I assumed, they went and gen AI'd wholly new images using the originals as a base. Legit worst case scenario outcome for this game,' adds Matt B on Bluesky. We've contacted Forever Entertainment for clarification on whether any generative AI was used and will update this article should we hear back. More Trending Despite enthusiasm for using generative AI for game development amongst some companies, including Microsoft, it remains an extremely contentious subject with gamers. Just yesterday, it was discovered the new Everybody's Golf game, which launches this in September, is using generative AI for leaf and tree textures, which is enough of a dealbreaker for some to swear off buying it. The upcoming Jurassic World Evolution 3 came under similar fire for advertising the use of AI generated scientist portraits, but fans must've kicked up enough of a stink because those portraits will now no longer be included. 'Thanks for your feedback on this topic. We have opted to remove the use of generative AI for scientist portraits within Jurassic World Evolution 3,' reads a statement from developer Frontier Developments on the game's Steam community page. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Xbox AI plans already getting roasted by devs: 'Nobody will want this' MORE: As Xbox triples down on generative AI, multiple indie devs reject it MORE: Leaked Sony AI video makes the future of PS6 and next gen Xbox plain
