Author: dpugh007

As strange as it may be to see the coastal city of Karnaca populated by balloon toting tourists, YouTuber Brad Hamilton has recreated the entire city from Dishonored 2 complete with banners dedicated to “her majesty, Delilah Kaldwin.” Most impressive of all, however, is the roller coaster that guides you throughout major story beats and locations in the game.

Departing from Addermire Station, the ride begins in line with a short video featuring Meagan Foster who greets you and explains the game’s story, encouraging you to embark on the ride, saying “Hurry! – You can sneak aboard the Duke’s private transport system!”

Twisting and turning, the coaster takes riders past towering clockwork soldiers and Grand Serkonan Guards who shoot at you along the way as you pass through memorable locations like the Addermire Institue, the Clockwork Mansion, and The Palace. Along the way, riders help “defeat” Delilah’s retainers, before finally dispelling the evil witch herself and sending her spirit back to the void. Throughout the video, Dishonored 2’s haunting main theme plays, which is just the icing on the cake. For the full video of Brad Hamilton’s expansive project, you check it out below. 

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In an interview with USGamer, chief Tetsuya Takahashi of the Nintendo-owned studio Monolith Soft spoke about all things Xenoblade, the RPG series which makes up the bulk of the developer’s output these days. When questioned about Xenoblade Chronicles X, though, the Wii U semi-sequel released in 2015, Takahashi suggested it’s not in the cards.

“Personally speaking, I’d love to play the game on the Switch, but it would be really difficult to make it,” Takahashi told USGamer. When asked why it would be such a problem, he simply laughed and replied “Money. It’s a massive game. Re-creating it would be really difficult.”

The second Xenoblade Chronicles title was the centerpiece of Nintendo’s infamous and panicked January 2013 Direct, which announced a number of software titles for the console that had only just begun development and would not be seen again for years. Xenoblade Chronicles X came as Wii U software was winding down and Nintendo themselves had fully moved on to the Switch, having already announced its successor NX that year. This means a lot of players missed the game, though fans of the more narrative-driven Xenoblade Chronicles expressed concerns and criticisms about the new title’s more MMO-style focus.

With so many Wii U games getting second chances on the Switch, like Bayonetta, New Super Mario Bros. U, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Captain Toad, etc., it’s surprising when a game is said not to be on the docket. Hopefully Nintendo sees fit to bring games like Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fatal Frame: Maiden of the Black Water, #FE: Tokyo Mirage Sessions, and other late-life games that even Wii U owners likely missed.

[Source: USGamer]

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After weeks of store listings and speculation, Rockstar has finally decided to give exact numbers on how much space you need to clear out to play Red Dead Redemption II. The numbers differ a little on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and, at least in the PS4 case, will differ depending on whether you go physical or digital.

From Rockstar’s support page:

Disc Installation:

• PS4 – 99 GB installation space
• Xbox One – 107 GB installation space

Digital Installation:

• PS4 – 99 GB installation space with an additional 50GB for the installation process
• Xbox One – 107 GB installation space

The reason the digital installation requires more space on the PlayStation 4 is the way the file and installation systems work on that console. When the PS4 downloads a game, it needs extra space to unpack it and install it. Microsoft’s file system does not require that, so the Xbox One version will only ever need 107 GB of free space before any updates or DLC.

If you’re planning to go digital on PS4, then you should go ahead and make sure you have 150 GB of free space on the harddrive to unpack and install, but the actual game will only take up 99 GB before any updates or DLC.

Basically, it’s time to either invest in a new HDD or start clearing out space if you own a 500 GB PlayStation 4 or just never delete installs. If you are going digital and have prepurchased the game, you can start preloading as of 12:00 a.m. EST tonight ahead of the game’s release next week. It is unknown how exactly the physical version will be handling the large file size, whether it is including multiple discs or if it will have a hefty update on day one.

Don’t forget to check out the game’s launch trailer, either, which released today.

Red Dead Redemption II releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next Friday, October 26.

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Update: Six Foot has sent us a statement from COO Christian Svensson confirming the layoffs, which we are posting in its entirety.

“In August, Six Foot informed its staff of the upcoming potential for major changes to our company structure, including continued development of Dreadnought as a live product. Everyone on the games team was given the option to stay on and continue working or begin searching for other opportunities with the full support of the company and the aid of our staffing team, while still receiving pay in the interim. New updates on the company’s status were delivered to the full team every two weeks from there.

Today we regrettably confirm a reduction of about a third of our game dev workforce. We’re continuing to make available the full resources of our company to try to help those affected and their families land on their feet as quickly as possible.  

We remain committed to Dreadnought’s ongoing development, growth, and the pursuit of new projects. We are also dedicated to remaining active in helping our affected family to transition as smoothly as possible.”

The original story from 8:30 a.m. CT is as follows:

Sources close to Six Foot, developers of the spaceship war game Dreadnought, have told Game Informer that the studio is attempting to stay afloat by letting a number of employees go. Dreadnought, which was made in collaboration with Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager, only released four days ago.

The situation has been a long-time coming for the company, which reportedly began telling its nearly 200 employees about money issues earlier this summer. A team meeting was held with the Six Foot CEO Matt Ballesteros, who explained to the staff that the company only had enough money to continue development for a few months, later pinpointed as mid-October. He warned his employees that anyone not comfortable with rolling the dice should feel free to leave and insisted there would be no judgment for doing so.

At the time, the Steam release of Dreadnought, which had enjoyed moderate success on the PlayStation 4, was pegged internally for a mid-Summer release. As development timelines continued to get pushed back, though, the idea of the game releasing and suddenly infusing much-needed capital into the development studio began to look more and more like a fantasy. Ballesteros tried to convey the extent to which the studio was teetering on the edge to his employees and seemed to want everyone to be keenly aware how precarious the whole situation at the studio was.

Internally, it seemed fairly well-known that October 12 would be the last day the studio could confidently pay their employees. After that date, without more money, pay could only be determined on a day-to-day basis. Six Foot shifted their entire focus to making sure Dreadnought launched as quickly as they could possibly get it out to keep everyone employed.

On October 14, the game officially launched to a fairly muted response. As Steam reviews and feedback started coming in, Six Foot started trying to stamp out the major issues, but one developer described the work as “simultaneously both hurried and spiritless.” The writing was on the wall, even though the CEO had not yet confirmed it, and it was hard to keep working knowing anyone could get ejected soon within a matter of hours.

A bi-weekly meeting two days after launch, standard through the development of the game, was pushed from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to give the team more time to gather data on the game’s sales and to let everyone concentrate on working on the title. From launch, reviews on Steam were mixed, and they had not rallied within the intervening days. Even fixing the game’s major issues would likely not be able to reverse the momentum, so the extra day to monitor response felt to some like it was only prolonging the inevitable hammer. By 4:00, an all-hands meeting confirmed what everyone already knew, but were still struggling to accept.

Dreadnought launched too late, the team was told. The money wasn’t there, the game wasn’t successful, and the company couldn’t keep everyone employed in the hopes that it would suddenly become successful. There were only grim solutions left for Six Foot.

“It cost about $400,000 for the last blitz/crunch/push to get Dreadnought launched on Steam,” a source familiar with the numbers told us. “Paying everyone in general costs about $80,000 a day. The game has not made anywhere near that; I do not recall the exact number, but it was less than $20,000 a day.”

The studio chose 45 employees and offered them the option to voluntarily take an unpaid leave of absence with the opportunity to resume their jobs when – if – Dreadnought ever becomes successful enough to generate a profit. Alternatively, any of the 45 could simply choose to be laid off for unemployment and remain in good standing with the company for potential rehire options should, again, Dreadnought ever come to life.

It’s the sort of choice no one there thought they would ever have to make. One developer told us that they genuinely believe, if not for a few small decisions leading to a few small delays, they would still be employed right now. The choice weighed heavily among the those affected – the game could end up simply never making enough money to get Six Foot running again and waiting for the phone call to get off the bench sounded potentially ruinous for those already struggling. 

“I’m scared out of my mind right now,” one developer said after being told about the option. “I’m scared s–tless.”

The 45 employees were told to report their choices to Human Resources by 10:00 a.m. on October 17, with those who say nothing being presumed to choose the latter option and are automatically laid off. To make matters worse, not all of the 45 were present for the meeting explaining this, with several out of town after the game shipped or simply not clocked in for their shift at the time.

A source told us that they were still in shock for much of the night and simply missed the deadline, having mentally opted to take a leave of absence but, having not emailed HR until after 10:00 a.m., has since been laid off instead.

While there is some disagreement among those we talked to over how this was handled, the developers we talked to all agreed that Six Foot’s higher-ups were transparent through the game’s development that this situation was likely. The team wanted to believe that Dreadnought could release and find a place in the market, but the spreadsheets simply worked against their favor when push came to shove. For months, management told the developers that they were gambling their futures there and asked them to do what is best for them, even if it meant leaving the company. Six Foot staffing is working to help the 45 workers in any way they can, according to some of the people let go.

At the moment, a reported skeleton crew remains working on Dreadnought among the studio’s other employees, though it is unclear for how long. “It reminds me very much of the Telltale situation,” one of the sources told us.

Our best wishes go to everyone affected by the layoffs.

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This morning @majornelson tweeted out four new backward compatible Xbox 360 games now available with enhanced graphics for the Xbox One X. Joining the enhanced library, players can now experience classic titles Half-Life 2: The Orange Box, Portal: Still Alive, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 now with upgraded visuals and higher resolutions on the Xbox One X. 

The four games announced today join 17 other enhanced titles including Crackdown, Assassin’s Creed, Red Dead Redemption, Halo 3, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and more, making for a grand total of 21 enhanced Xbox 360 games available on the Xbox One X.

Enhanced graphics for these games are turned on by default lending higher resolution to the games, nine times the pixel count and greater detail, allowing for crisper visuals and better clarity without touching the existing game code. Players can optionally turn off the enhanced graphics setting, returning the games to their original graphical status, comparable to anything played on the standard Xbox One.

So far the Xbox Backward Compatible library includes over 500 Xbox 360 games, 21 enhanced titles and 23 original Xbox exclusives. With a promise of more to come, it’ll be interesting to see what Xbox continues to add to the enhanced roster. 

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