J4MES OX4D

Not much on the horizon that interests me - there's been a few interesting tech demos and trailers but nothing really worth shouting about that I'll have any real confidence in. Will probably be another 3 years before anything truly next gen comes out either. I've cancelled my new PC order last month and will probably look to offload my PS5 in the coming weeks too.

It gets worse Steam's most-wishlisted game admits to using some 'volunteer' workers | PC Gamer WWW.PCGAMER.COM Fntastic has come under fire for using unpaid labor to help develop The Day Before, one of the most anticipated games on Steam.

Shareholders invest heavily in infrastructure especially in the rail network - those flashy new trains, fuel, track upkeep, maintenance and technical investments don't pay for themselves. People risking their own money want their dividends and some form of return. Any money left over is then wholly reinvested i.e new stations, staff and further development as well as ongoing salaries. If you invested £10,000 in your corner shop to buy new fridges, an advanced ePOS system sourcing new products from alternate suppliers, you wouldn't expect your money including any profit margin to suddenly be absorbed to pay staff a pay rise who are paid above the retail average. There's a generalised stereotypical negative view of shareholders in this country but people don't realise their impact from transport advancements, innovative technologies and more importantly job creation. They may make a lot of money each year from their dividend but that doesn't mean it's a profit or their money back entirely. Some HS2 investors wont see their money back they invested 10 years ago until the 2040's.

Strikes are an outdated mechanism IMO which is why the UK is so backwards and hasn't evolved from the 1980's in this respect. Causing major inconvenience that harms many sectors including children and people in need of medical assistance is not the answer. When the strike is over, everything goes back to normal and in most cases, nothing is resolved or gained. Unions need to be more creative these days rather than making knee-jerk statements that last a few days. They have been pressed to broaden their negotiations including supporting a pay rise to inflation scaling model yet most have refused to do this because it will ultimately make them irrelevant in the long run. Rail profits do soar but so does investment and that doesn't mean employees are automatically entitled to raises. A lot of the growth seen has been down to a near £100bn investment in the infrastructure and in creating over 40,000 new jobs. People biting the hand that feeds them whilst already receiving way above average salaries and overtime prospects is a bit greedy and narrow-minded. HS2 alone has probably revitalised and secured the industry for the next 60 years. The government now may be the punching bag for everyone's issues but Labour really haven't shone in the spotlight now or in any of their terms especially during the recession of around 2008 and nor has the unions. There needs to be a grounded focus on reducing inflation first and foremost which would reduce the cost of living significantly. This was not an issue when inflation was stabled/leveled so a lot of frustrations are because of that ultimately but people are using other means to shift blame. Certainly it is appropriate in some cases where there are sectors that are ridiculously overpaid but as per usual, hypocrisy comes in to play - how many people who complain about such things go on to support Premier League football and how many shop at Amazon? Labour were the OG's to not want to cap high earners because of their taxing potential. So I reiterate that it's a very complex situation and it goes beyond what's happening right now. TikTok may want to blame the government for anything and everything but this is something that's always existed but it's just more apparent now with inflation. Outdated unions need replacing with proper industrial bodies with local points of contact because it's clear they have no scope or any original forwarding strategies. Right now there are just fat cats taking a lion share and piping up when the country is at its most vulnerable. They should be seen as a functioning supporting body every single day and not go into hibernation for 5 years when the money is rolling in and everything is hunky dory.

It's a very delicate situation but at the end of the day, the UK rail employees are paid more on average than most countries in Europe yet we have a pretty below average rail service to offer despite heaps of investment and jobs created. Funny how the Olympics and HS2 seem to be disregarded. Not only that, this industry was heavily supported during Covid and most jobs were retained unlike some global Aircraft carriers. This strike caused a devastating impact on the environment, local businesses, other industry sectors, the emergency services and a huge inconvenience to other people. It's amazing how in over 30 years, Unions have never pressed for executive sector caps even with Labour were in power. Mick Lynch who pockets about £130,000 a year and £3,000 an hour for public appearances talks a good game but he's nothing more than a PR salesman who knows how to strike when the iron is hot. Most social media activity that are in favour of the strikes is typically from activist-oriented people and students that don't have a job or aren't inconvenienced by such things. Certainly platforms with a lower age demographic like TikTok and Insta peddle such opinions and many in society just agrees with social media because they can't think for themselves or are easily swayed by views or likes. Older or working people who may not have the time or even use such platforms may not have their voices heard but the figures don't lie on the impact these strikes had over a matter of just days. The cost of living in some Cities is just way too expensive and that's down to the market. Also the focus should be on reducing inflation (a global issue right now) and living costs. Spending more money will just have a negative impact down the line such as significant job cuts or prices rises. Stability is way more realistic. Barristers have gone on strike today because they don't like the fact their earning potential is less than plumbers - thus being a very arrogant stance but hardly surprising with such a knee-jerk move. Parts of the NHS probably are more deserving of a pay rise especially with Covid but even then, there's no magical money tree. Only way this can be rectified is if the Unions take a lead and make realistic strategic demands instead of taking the ransom and hide route. It may make them more obsolete in the long run but they'd forever be known as heroic but these sporadic strikes that are nothing more than a cash grab on blackmail do not demonstrate any forwarding logic or benefit and will harm their sectors down the line.

Overwatch is a dead brand for me now. It was brilliant over 5 years ago but they relentlessly neglected it thinking it would remain popular just like TF2 for a decade and now this knee-jerk sequel seems like a desperate attempt to rejuvenate it on the backdrop of a very bad company. They have paid the price for not maintaining their live service and although this game will be free, it will never come close to making the same impact it once did. They also couldn't charge full price because it would've been deemed a cash grab and anything cheaper would've also looked like they wanted extra money for supporting something that most developers do for free over time. Really backed themselves into a corner with this one. I do think it will probably be a good game and many will revisit it but I'm not sure if it'll have the staying power no matter how hard they support it now.

I'm looking forward to this but I hope they don't bring any of their horrible monetisation model from Immortal into this. Once Activision get a smell for dosh then they wont stop.

I'm gonna hopefully give it a try in the week. Seems decent so far from what I've seen of the community feedback!

This game has come a very long way and has just received a new update

Sadly it seems the new version isn't good at all - was always gonna be a tough job without the lost source code but it seems to be a bit of a dismal mess from Nightdive which is a real shame. Hopefully they'll be able to improve some aspects but definitely not worth getting right now it seems.

This is painfully hilarious

How many of us remember this screen? Or this

Didn't see this one coming and it arrives on Steam tomorrow courtesy of remake kings Nightdive Studios. Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition on Steam STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM Armed with your investigative skills and the tools of the Blade Runner trade, you'll be immersed in a world that lives and breathes around you with breakthrough lighting and visual effects. Your ability to survive...

Shouldn't laugh really....but I did Bet there was some whiplash claims filed that day

I think emulation is important for the preservation of such games rather than viewing it as a form of piracy window as some do. It's also such a pity that classic titles are bound to an horrendous amount of red tape or restrictions so people can't enjoy classic games in the future on newer systems like we were all expecting years ago and were told would happen. Most of the games I've emulated are ones I already own so my conscience is clear in that regard. There is also a lot of good PR on some of the emulators and even big YouTube channels like Digital Foundry cover these whilst playing emulated games so it's not quite such a sensitive topic as it once was especially with devices that can this concept portable with ease too.

Well this sucks Tony Hawk Confirms Plans for Pro Skater 3 + 4 Remake Were Abandoned After Blizzard Merger - IGN WWW.IGN.COM There’ll be a lot more than just 96 quite bitter beings about this one. Tony Hawk's 3 still sitting pretty at 97 on Metacritic and deserves a bloody remaster and not red tape.

Also adding supercars which is weird with GT7 adding F1 cars themselves

This game looks to be shaping up pretty well - here's a good vid which has a bit of everything Game also has a VR mode which looks great

It ends tomorrow (20.06 at 18:00 GMT/10am PST) which is a shame so any lingering demos anyone wants to try, download them ASAP because most will get removed when the event is over. I tried about 13 games in the end - here's a few picks from what I remember:- Gloomwood - a spiritual successor to the first two Thief games. Trepang2 - awful name but as close to F.E.A.R as we'll likely ever get. Needs some fine tuning but otherwise it looks fantastic! Metal: Hellsinger - really well made game. Not quite as fluid as I would've hoped but the soundtrack is awesome and the visuals look really good Some others:- Agent 64: Spies Never Die - A love letter to Goldeneye but not quite there. Has its moments but the UI is bland, the visuals look a bit washed and the mechanics aren't as authentic as I would've hoped. Cult of the Lamb - interesting rogue-lite with a unique style but the controls need desperate rebinding and I'm not entirely sold on the gameplay depth. Old Skies - big fan of WadjetEye games and their range of point and click titles. This one is a step up visually but the gameplay feels slow and I wasn't terrible intrigued by it all. Alaskan Truck Simulator - very disappointing in most departments. It was never going to touch SCS's range of simulators but this one misses the mark on almost everything.

I quite enjoyed the demo. Certainly seems a well-made game with great visuals and music. Wish the mechanics were a little more fluid and there was a bit more variety and movement with the AI but on the whole it's definitely one to watch.

Been having a look around at the general reception and it actually seems a bit of a mixed bag. I'm certainly taking the visuals with a pinch of salt but the game looks pretty decent for such an old engine. The biggest all-round worry seems to be the outdated combat - the demo doesn't even demonstrate ADS which is strange. I know they usually get PR clowns to show games off but it be weird if they did this without the person ever aiming down the sights. The scavenging/crafting seems very much like No Mans Sky but doesn't look all that interesting. The big thing will be the planets - although there's supposed to be 1,000, the general expectation is there being about 10 which are handcrafted with others either being generated or are just simple resource dumps. I'm really not sure if I've seen enough ambition or innovation so far that would make this a standout current-gen title. The RPG and Story aspects will have to be on far with Fallout becuase I don't think a No Mans Sky collect-a-thon with generated planets will really impress all that much.

Battlefield 4 was already on its 4th map expansion by this stage🤣 BF4 Premium was one of my best purchases - the base game had some devastating technical and performance issues but once that was fixed to a degree and the new content started rolling it, it was an absolutely sensational package with guns galore and varied maps. It's such a travesty we don't get anything like this now especially with them not being burdened by having to deliverer paid map packs. Players really got screwed over with BF5 because we missed out on at least 8 new maps because they were busy trying to fix all the issues the game had. It's even worse now because they have to make the new content away from the conceptual flaws whilst under feedback guidance from the community. What a pickle!