Vidya Games Thread

[Abomination]

Oh hey, Skullgirls got an update today.

That censored half the game, and CENSORED THE FUCKING DIGITAL ARTBOOK PEOPLE PAID MONEY AND KICKSTARTERED THE GAME FOR.

The retarded "rationale"

Spoiler: From MightyZug: Game Director

Hey everyone,

As many of you know, Skullgirls has had a long and colorful history shaped by a variety of contributors over the years. As we look ahead towards the future of Skullgirls, we have reflected upon past decisions regarding certain content that has undermined the many things that make Skullgirls truly unique and special.

As such, as part of our most recent round of updates across all platforms (console and mobile), we have decided to make some changes to certain legacy content in the spirit of better reflecting our values and our broad vision for Skullgirls moving forward.

Below is an overview of many of those changes and some insight into our rationale for the adjustments.

ALLUSIONS TO REAL-WORLD HATE GROUPS​

While the Renoir family and the Black Egrets were always intended to evoke imagery from an oppressive militant regime, we felt that the way that manifested (most notably via red armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too close for comfort - especially given the unfortunate reality that some of these hate groups are still active in various respects to this day.

As such, you will notice that Egret soldiers no longer feature armbands and that the heraldry of the Black Egrets organization has also been adjusted. This is a holistic pass that applies to in-game frames, concept art, story mode art, and more.

CHARACTER SEXUALIZATION & AGENCY​

While Skullgirls is no stranger to characters that confidently express their sexuality, there are instances in the game where characters are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them. This includes a few depictions of unwanted predatory behavior, particularly towards younger characters.

While alluding to some of this can be narratively meaningful, we have made a number of small adjustments throughout the game to ensure that this content is less exploitative (e.g. the opening of Filia's Story Mode).

RACIAL SENSITIVITY​

While there are numerous playful references to pulpy themes that we feel respectfully allude to certain stereotypes (e.g. the Saxploitation VO pack), we have made adjustments to some content that we believed to be in poor taste (e.g. references to racial violence in Big Band’s Story Mode).

UPDATE DETAILS​

A more detailed list of the changes can be found in the following platform-specific update notes:

• CLICK HERE for Skullgirls Mobile changes
• CLICK HERE for Skullgirls 2nd Encore changes

CLOSING THOUGHTS​

We of course realize that some members of the Skullgirls community may disagree with these changes, either in terms of how we chose to address them or whether they were in fact issues that warranted addressing in the first place. Please know that all of these choices have been made following careful consideration and lengthy discussion amongst all members of the current development team. Beyond this post, we do not intend to discuss the particulars of these changes further.

We are confident that this will provide a more sound foundation for Skullgirls that we can all be proud of as we continue to grow and expand the universe in the years to come.

Needless to say, thank you all so much for your support over the years. The future of Skullgirls has never looked brighter, and it is all thanks to you and your efforts to help us get to where we are today.

Best,
Charley (MightyZug) and all of us at Hidden Variable, Future Club, and Autumn Games

They had to check every box for this one.

 

[Ｍｕｒｒａｙしないで]

Oh hey, Skullgirls got an update today.

That censored half the game, and CENSORED THE FUCKING DIGITAL ARTBOOK PEOPLE PAID MONEY AND KICKSTARTERED THE GAME FOR.

I'm sure these changes will cause a massive spike in sales for this decade-old game.

The mechanics are the same so it's not a complete breaking of the game, but I don't see how these changes were worth the time spent to make them.

 

[The Holiest Hole]

So I backed the indiegogo campaign for the game and this pisses me off not because of the art changes(although they are very stupid why would you make the egrets look worse visually at least change the color if you don't like red) but the worst thing is they removed Mikez's soviet announcer voice pack. What the actual fuck that's been my default announcer since 2016. Overall the changes are minor but that just makes you wonder why the fuck did they waste time and money doing something so pointless.

 

[PleaseCheckYourReceipts]

So I backed the indiegogo campaign for the game and this pisses me off not because of the art changes(although they are very stupid why would you make the egrets look worse visually) but the worst thing is they removed Mikez's soviet announcer voice pack. What the actual fuck that's been my default announcer since 2016. Overall the changes are minor but that just makes you wonder why the fuck did they waste time and money doing something so pointless.

No game company should ever have an art department beyond about 5 people. Everything should be remote contracted. It's not "the only reason", but it's a huge chunk of the problem and it's a cultural center within most companies that causes a great deal of this stupidity. Artisans are skilled craftsman, but they're also bleeding heart morons that's moral consistency is a weather vane.

Expect more removal of Nazi-ish symbolism in most things as the Progressive are fully embracing their fascist tendencies right now. (Not that they're capable of understanding it was simply a different branch of what they believe. But, again, we're not talking about people that can think outside the box they're in.) They don't like being reminded of what they are.

Though, of the changes, there was one change to one image I could see an argument for. As it might change the rating of the game for some platforms. (They removed some white liquid at the end of the first video linked in the first post. It made something look like a penis when it wasn't.)

 

[AO Cody]

SkullGirls has always pandered since the day it launched. It was comically horny, its gameplay just aped MVC2, the main character is just Milia from Guilty Gear with a letter changed and an ill-fitting uniform, the list goes on. Now the game is just trying to pander to a different crowd, and it's doomed to fail. This game was not made by original-minded people with a vision, it was the product of a coombrain artist and a FGC e-celeb with an inflated ego, it was doomed to fall apart. While I think what's been done to the game is disgusting (a bunch of low-talent game designers strong-arming an IP from its original creators and forcing their own values onto it), at least this didn't happen to a fighting game that was, well, good...

At least we got one good thing from it; one of the last videos from parody game review channel The Best Gamers (RIP).

 

[God's Strongest Dragoon]

To add on to this:
>Jim Ryan didn't view Starfield as anti-competitive
>in regards to Ryan's refusal to answer the hypothetical, the MS lawyer said "You don't get to not answer." and Ryan responded, "I don't have enough knowledge to answer."
>Jim Ryan confirmed he told Bobby Kotick, "I don't want a new Call of Duty deal, I just want to block your merger."
>Ryan claimed if a game is on Game Pass then it's essentially exclusive
>Ryan tried to reiterate that he only sees the market as Xbox vs Playstation. Then goes on to say Sony dominates 65% of that market
>Microsoft lawyer brought up how FFXVI was previously going to be on Xbox and Playstation before Sony jumped in
>The MS lawyer schooled the Economist/analyst that the FTC brought in (Lee). Even the Judge jumped in.
>The part about the Judge talking about PC wasn't just one statement, it went on for a while between the Judge and Lee with the Judge making Lee look retarded

---

Paraphrasing part of the conversation:
Judge: Mentions how gaming PCs are an option for people to play COD if they lose it on PS5
Lee: Says that gaming PCs are more expensive than a PS5
Judge: Talks about how a PC has more value other than just the gaming
Lee: Tries to talk about pricing again
Judge: Points to the Nintendo Switch's price and how the Series S is priced to compete with the Switch

---

It goes on for a while and the final line from Lee is a colossal fuckup because he defines the Switch as part of the same market as Xbox and a substitute for the PS5, which is the opposite of what he previously stated and what the FTC and Sony were trying to do. Lee also claimed that Call of Duty isn't essential, which is also the exact opposite of what he said before. Meanwhile the data from Sony on CoD shows Sony players largely buy CoD for the campaign and then drop it. This whole trial case is a comedy, we're likely going to see the FTC go 0-8. Not only has the FTC and Sony's argument been cratered by this but even the Judge made a statement that made the CMA look like retards.

Also, my favorite moment so far:
Lee: "I can talk more about the survey for your honor if it helps."
Judge: "That the survey you didn't read?"
Lee: Doesn't say anything, just laughs

 

[yuckyyaki]

View attachment 33059

I knew it was a circus but this is a cirque du soleil, how can anyone after reading all of that (and past information, let's be honest) think that a) Jim Ryan isn't a rat in a human costume, and b) Microsoft shouldn't be allowed to make the deal, is beyond me. This shitshow of a merger should just end already so Kotick can fuck off onto epstein island never to be seen again for all of our pleasure.

 

[MrProcessor]

The retarded "rationale"

Spoiler: From MightyZug: Game Director

Hey everyone,

As many of you know, Skullgirls has had a long and colorful history shaped by a variety of contributors over the years. As we look ahead towards the future of Skullgirls, we have reflected upon past decisions regarding certain content that has undermined the many things that make Skullgirls truly unique and special.

As such, as part of our most recent round of updates across all platforms (console and mobile), we have decided to make some changes to certain legacy content in the spirit of better reflecting our values and our broad vision for Skullgirls moving forward.

Below is an overview of many of those changes and some insight into our rationale for the adjustments.

ALLUSIONS TO REAL-WORLD HATE GROUPS​

While the Renoir family and the Black Egrets were always intended to evoke imagery from an oppressive militant regime, we felt that the way that manifested (most notably via red armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too close for comfort - especially given the unfortunate reality that some of these hate groups are still active in various respects to this day.

As such, you will notice that Egret soldiers no longer feature armbands and that the heraldry of the Black Egrets organization has also been adjusted. This is a holistic pass that applies to in-game frames, concept art, story mode art, and more.

CHARACTER SEXUALIZATION & AGENCY​

While Skullgirls is no stranger to characters that confidently express their sexuality, there are instances in the game where characters are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them. This includes a few depictions of unwanted predatory behavior, particularly towards younger characters.

While alluding to some of this can be narratively meaningful, we have made a number of small adjustments throughout the game to ensure that this content is less exploitative (e.g. the opening of Filia's Story Mode).

RACIAL SENSITIVITY​

While there are numerous playful references to pulpy themes that we feel respectfully allude to certain stereotypes (e.g. the Saxploitation VO pack), we have made adjustments to some content that we believed to be in poor taste (e.g. references to racial violence in Big Band’s Story Mode).

UPDATE DETAILS​

A more detailed list of the changes can be found in the following platform-specific update notes:

• CLICK HERE for Skullgirls Mobile changes
• CLICK HERE for Skullgirls 2nd Encore changes

CLOSING THOUGHTS​

We of course realize that some members of the Skullgirls community may disagree with these changes, either in terms of how we chose to address them or whether they were in fact issues that warranted addressing in the first place. Please know that all of these choices have been made following careful consideration and lengthy discussion amongst all members of the current development team. Beyond this post, we do not intend to discuss the particulars of these changes further.

We are confident that this will provide a more sound foundation for Skullgirls that we can all be proud of as we continue to grow and expand the universe in the years to come.

Needless to say, thank you all so much for your support over the years. The future of Skullgirls has never looked brighter, and it is all thanks to you and your efforts to help us get to where we are today.

Best,
Charley (MightyZug) and all of us at Hidden Variable, Future Club, and Autumn Games

They had to check every box for this one.

I actually went through the steps to delete it from my Steam Library after this. I haven't touched it in years anyway. I'm wondering if there's something behind the scenes with this one (in other words, they had to share profits with someone for those assets that they removed). There are a lot of other fighting games with similar themes on Steam anyway, like Vanguard Princess.

 

[Brosnan Pierce Brosnan]

I'm glad I have it on Vita and 360. Ever since Valve did a source engine update back in the day that made the games unplayable on my rig at the time I've soured on downloadable only games as I figured that who knows what else they could do. And with Rockstar removing songs from the games and current censorship it kind of has proven my fears.

With the price of new games I'd still strongly prefer a physical option. Doesn't have to be a disc, give me a USB/SD card option.

Now downloadable has been more prevalent on console even with "physical releases" with the likes of Smart Pass. Thanks microsoft.

 

[MrProcessor]

I'm glad I have it on Vita and 360. Ever since Valve did a source engine update back in the day that made the games unplayable on my rig at the time I've soured on downloadable only games as I figured that who knows what else they could do. And with Rockstar removing songs from the games and current censorship it kind of has proven my fears.

With the price of new games I'd still strongly prefer a physical option. Doesn't have to be a disc, give me a USB/SD card option.

Now downloadable has been more prevalent on console even with "physical releases" with the likes of Smart Pass. Thanks microsoft.

Physical is best, next best would be DRM Free downloads so you can create your own archives. This is why I prefer GoG when possible to Steam. I bought Gameboy Advance and Sega Genesis cart rippers so I can make my own archives of games. Of course, it's pretty silly since I can find roms of everything I own online, but I just liked messing with making my own. I figured out with games with batteries it's probably the best way to play them after the batteries die. Yes, you can replace the battery, but it's a pain. I'm glad I have GTA: Vice City on an actual physical disk for PC, even if the version I usually play is the PS2 version running in an emulator.

The future of game preservation in the streaming future will likely be piracy. Of course, I'm not sure how difficult pirating GamePass games will be, but I guess we'll see.

 

[Ｍｕｒｒａｙしないで]

There are a lot of other fighting games with similar themes on Steam anyway, like Vanguard Princess.

A notable difference in the English version is that the game edits the explicit content in the original Japanese version.

And that game's even older than Skullgirls. Can't escape this nannying crap.

 

[Superduper Samurai]

Oh hey, Skullgirls got an update today.

That censored half the game, and CENSORED THE FUCKING DIGITAL ARTBOOK PEOPLE PAID MONEY AND KICKSTARTERED THE GAME FOR.

The kicker is that there is no real big push to get their new crowd into the game besides some characters releasing, no rework, no big update, nada

The game is still gonna flounder since you can outright get better games that were older on PC now like UMVC3 or newer competitors like DBFZ , emulation is better now

Also, within the same month, people didnt stop cooming about SF6's Juri, Chunners and especially fucking Cammy, so the coom audience for fighters are alive and fucking well, even a viable way to grow if you're an artist/modder

Unless they get the same type of insufferable tards who got into strive, which is probably not happening since strive is dumbed down to fuck, this will just kill it harder than it already was

 

[PleaseCheckYourReceipts]

@Superduper Samurai Capcom knew what they were doing with SF6. Someone in Japan figured out a way to toe the line without running into much issues. It's no DoA, obviously, but they figured out a way to navigate the stupidity of "current day".

@Jambalaya is the Judge a secret member of r/PCMR? (More likely has children has has gone through the entire Gaming Cycle with them, thus actually knows a lot more about the industry than apparently the FTC.)

As for the Activision acquisition, Sony basically gave up that CoD actually isn't that important to them. Which also highlights that I think everyone is forgetting how few games Activision has that are on Console. The company is primarily a Mobile Gaming group via King, more than anything else.

 

[God's Strongest Dragoon]

The company is primarily a Mobile Gaming group via King, more than anything else.

Even Microsoft stated this during the trial, where they see the mobile gaming portion of ABK as the real profit machine, not the console games that ABK produces.

 

[Banana Hammock]

The retarded "rationale"

Spoiler: From MightyZug: Game Director

Hey everyone,

As many of you know, Skullgirls has had a long and colorful history shaped by a variety of contributors over the years. As we look ahead towards the future of Skullgirls, we have reflected upon past decisions regarding certain content that has undermined the many things that make Skullgirls truly unique and special.

As such, as part of our most recent round of updates across all platforms (console and mobile), we have decided to make some changes to certain legacy content in the spirit of better reflecting our values and our broad vision for Skullgirls moving forward.

Below is an overview of many of those changes and some insight into our rationale for the adjustments.

ALLUSIONS TO REAL-WORLD HATE GROUPS​

While the Renoir family and the Black Egrets were always intended to evoke imagery from an oppressive militant regime, we felt that the way that manifested (most notably via red armbands, flags, and symbolism) was too close for comfort - especially given the unfortunate reality that some of these hate groups are still active in various respects to this day.

As such, you will notice that Egret soldiers no longer feature armbands and that the heraldry of the Black Egrets organization has also been adjusted. This is a holistic pass that applies to in-game frames, concept art, story mode art, and more.

CHARACTER SEXUALIZATION & AGENCY​

While Skullgirls is no stranger to characters that confidently express their sexuality, there are instances in the game where characters are fetishized and/or have sexualization imposed upon them. This includes a few depictions of unwanted predatory behavior, particularly towards younger characters.

While alluding to some of this can be narratively meaningful, we have made a number of small adjustments throughout the game to ensure that this content is less exploitative (e.g. the opening of Filia's Story Mode).

RACIAL SENSITIVITY​

While there are numerous playful references to pulpy themes that we feel respectfully allude to certain stereotypes (e.g. the Saxploitation VO pack), we have made adjustments to some content that we believed to be in poor taste (e.g. references to racial violence in Big Band’s Story Mode).

UPDATE DETAILS​

A more detailed list of the changes can be found in the following platform-specific update notes:

• CLICK HERE for Skullgirls Mobile changes
• CLICK HERE for Skullgirls 2nd Encore changes

CLOSING THOUGHTS​

We of course realize that some members of the Skullgirls community may disagree with these changes, either in terms of how we chose to address them or whether they were in fact issues that warranted addressing in the first place. Please know that all of these choices have been made following careful consideration and lengthy discussion amongst all members of the current development team. Beyond this post, we do not intend to discuss the particulars of these changes further.

We are confident that this will provide a more sound foundation for Skullgirls that we can all be proud of as we continue to grow and expand the universe in the years to come.

Needless to say, thank you all so much for your support over the years. The future of Skullgirls has never looked brighter, and it is all thanks to you and your efforts to help us get to where we are today.

Best,
Charley (MightyZug) and all of us at Hidden Variable, Future Club, and Autumn Games

They had to check every box for this one.

God, what a femboy.

Watch cybershell if you like obscure trivia videos about old vidya

Pretty cool. Thanks.

 

[NeneHATE]

I never understood the full extent of the drama behind skullgirls or why the game was in some kind of development hell/limbo but FGC shenanigans are so autistic I don't think I wanna know.

 

[PleaseCheckYourReceipts]

I never understood the full extent of the drama behind skullgirls or why the game was in some kind of development hell/limbo but FGC shenanigans are so autistic I don't think I wanna know.

Original programmer/owner might have been a colossal ass or something. It was something around that. But considering how bad we've found out the FGC to be, especially on the Nintendo side of the perspective, I'm not sure I want to know either.

 

[That Chuuba Enjoyer]

The only thing I keep up with on FGC end, is lowcows and the hilarious posts about people's hygiene's at some of their events. Like the Smash Bros ones.

 

[The Holiest Hole]

I never understood the full extent of the drama behind skullgirls or why the game was in some kind of development hell/limbo but FGC shenanigans are so autistic I don't think I wanna know.

Spoiler: Wild Skullgirls Ride Timeline

• Skullgirl's publisher Autumn Games and Konami got sued over a crappy Rap game.
• Autumn Games fires the skullgirls team cause no cash
• Skullgirls team reforms under a new name
• Indiegogo campaign gets megafunded and the team release everything they promised and more in a timely manner (Honestly one of the landmark successes of crowdfunding and is used as an example of the possibilities)
• Konami does fuckall to help so they break ties. Due to copyright and possible revenge fuckery they have to release the game as Skullgirls Encore so they don't get their ass plowed by Konami's legal team

• Everything is cool for a couple of years other than the fact that most of the top players are furries (Alex Ahad the original concept artist and designer leaves during this time. No public drama but there was a sue threat into settlement.)
• Skullgirls becomes a mobile game under a different developer because they love the IP so much (They also did a scum tactic by saying hey fuckers buy our microtransactions and maybe we'll get DLC for the actual fighting game)
• They actually release a DLC character (??? what the actual fuck this never happens ???)
• Sonicfox does the cringe thing at the game awards
• MikeZ gets meToo'd
• Both the publisher and the mobile game developer say they don't want to work with a disgusting sexist pig. Original dev team goes belly up.
• The mobile game developers absorb the original dev team and make the second round of DLC characters
• They pander to the progressives <- WE ARE HERE

The game has gotten fucked with by all kinds of different entities that the IP is known as cursed. Here's a post that details most of the dumb shit skullgirls has had to go through to where we are today. It's very sad because the only reason why the game has survived so long is because it was a project that had passion fueled in not only from developers but the community supporting them.

Also as a weird thing to note from being a close observer of the game/community, the game has a noticeably high amount of openly LGBTQ+ participants. Like the other games have around 5-10% but skullgirls clocks around 25-30%. Even the MLP fighting game doesn't have that much.

 

[NeneHATE]

Spoiler: Wild Skullgirls Ride Timeline

• Skullgirl's publisher Autumn Games and Konami got sued over a crappy Rap game.
• Autumn Games fires the skullgirls team cause no cash
• Skullgirls team reforms under a new name
• Indiegogo campaign gets megafunded and the team release everything they promised and more in a timely manner (Honestly one of the landmark successes of crowdfunding and is used as an example of the possibilities)
• Konami does fuckall to help so they break ties. Due to copyright and possible revenge fuckery they have to release the game as Skullgirls Encore so they don't get their ass plowed by Konami's legal team

• Everything is cool for a couple of years other than the fact that most of the top players are furries (Alex Ahad the original concept artist and designer leaves during this time. No public drama but there was a sue threat into settlement.)
• Skullgirls becomes a mobile game under a different developer because they love the IP so much (They also did a scum tactic by saying hey fuckers buy our microtransactions and maybe we'll get DLC for the actual fighting game)
• They actually release a DLC character (??? what the actual fuck this never happens ???)
• Sonicfox does the cringe thing at the game awards
• MikeZ gets meToo'd
• Both the publisher and the mobile game developer say they don't want to work with a disgusting sexist pig. Original dev team goes belly up.
• The mobile game developers absorb the original dev team and make the second round of DLC characters
• They pander to the progressives <- WE ARE HERE

The game has gotten fucked with by all kinds of different entities that the IP is known as cursed. Here's a post that details most of the dumb shit skullgirls has had to go through to where we are today. It's very sad because the only reason why the game has survived so long is because it was a project that had passion fueled in not only from developers but the community supporting them.

Also as a weird thing to note from being a close observer of the game/community, the game has a noticeably high amount of openly LGBTQ+ participants. Like the other games have around 5-10% but skullgirls clocks around 25-30%. Even the MLP fighting game doesn't have that much.

Damn, I watched a video about the game's history and stuff but forgot most of it, how can some studios just work normally for decades but these people went to hell and back...

As for the lgbt thing, I always thought the game was pretty "tumblr", the designs and general aesthetic remind me of a lot of artistic projects that proliferated around tumblr and deviantart in the early 2010s and are notoriously infested with troons, degens and furfags.