Alex Donaldson
@apzonerunner
Video game critic. Final Boss @RPGSite.net & @Respec.net. Ronin writer & consultant. Formerly Editor-at-large for Eurogamer/VG247. Love: Arcade cabs, Watches, Dogs, Whisky, fighting games, RPGs, NFL (Rams), Lego, Poker & Blackjack www.donaldson.zone
The 'every device is an Xbox' experience in a nutshell: booting the ROG Ally X for the first time in weeks, an inescapable soft lock on a screen which is asking you to rate the device experience
Gotta be a new low of this bullshit (the story is about Octopath Traveler 1 & 2)
We've now reached the point where the shit click baiting vague headlines (R) are simply being rewritten by AI in Discover (L), so maybe now we can go back to headlines that respect the reader instead? Please?
This week's Respec podcast is out. We talk the Xbox layoffs, launching the site, the fight to keep discs, some retro nostalgia, and as two eras of VG247 collide, it all naturally ends in bullying: www.respec.net/podcast/95-r...
Literally recorded a podcast yesterday where I joked that the headlines about Ever Crisis closing would be something like this. I know poor journos are just following style guides, but frankly I'd rather put a bullet in my head
The Titanic received at least six distinct messages over the ship's wireless from others in the region warning of heavy ice sheets and icebergs as it sailed towards disaster; but for various reasons they were ignored
Forever thinking about the tiny OOT detail of how, as everybody else parties & dances at the end, King Zora & Mido sit depressed off to the side. Yeah, 'cos the King has no standing animation -- but also bc while Link set everything right, the loss of their daughter & best friends was not reset.
All the FF7 off Nintendo stuff of the time is amazing. Martin was right, after about a decade.
LBC are saying that he was told this by the ambassador, who presumably said it in confidence until it was publicly announced, only for him to put the phone down and tweet it. If true, the President might have a strong future picking up scoops for some games media outlets
These new Star Fox cutscenes are changing the narrative too much for my liking now
Never mind the art and livelihoods smashed to bits; the new regime lets them say 'fuck' in a showcase it must be absolutely blissful to be so thick & morally free
Got a bit of time with the First Light Omega at the premiere. It's gorgeous, and those bronze elements really pop and increase readability... But it is chuffing enormous. 44mm, almost 18mm thick -- this is for big lads only. Ironically I'm not sure it'd even look right on Patrick Gibson irl
It's like, people praised the details in RE9 for passing as legit at a glance (pic related). The funny thing about FH6 is lots of the details don't really pass at a glance, even if the overall vibe is pretty immaculate.
Tetsuya Nomura appearing in this as a disembodied voice talking from an empty chair as Kitase enthusiastically nods along has sent me to the fucking MOON
Everyone's all-in on the RE9 Grace one for good reason, but I can't get over the Hogwarts Legacy one. Not a game I care about, but here we have a less-detailed model that passes for a 15-year-old schoolkid (the character's age!), where the DLSS5 model detail-stuffs them to look a decade+ older
The joker make up is appearing on my face in real time as I read shit like this. Anyone who says anything like this in such an absolute manner needs their head flushing down a toilet. Part of the beauty of art is that it is borne out of the limitations of the medium dipshit
The big time halo effect stuff reminds me a whole lot of that first gen of base ray tracing though so hopefully with more game-specific training/setup and the hand of an artist it'll be... less transformative to the artistic look than THIS, while retaining technical gains