Q&A: October 28th, 2020

Dacody Asks
Amd, Nvidia, or Intel?

Picking between big corporations is a bit like picking between a line of cheap sodas, but if I have to root for anybody, I prefer AMD as they've consistently been smaller than both Nvidia & Intel. At the time of writing, AMD's GPU is going to go up tomorrow, I'm hopeful, but they've disappointed previously, so we'll see how it goes.

The Great Leveler Asks
What title that you enjoyed when you were younger has disappointed you the most revisiting it later in life.

Call of Juarez Bound in Blood. I recall not really getting into Red Dead Redemption, but loving Techland's quiet little Cowboy Romp. However, I recently revisited it for capture and by god, it has aged like milk. Hideously dated visuals, bog standard linear shooting, and big shoot go boom setpieces with none of the technical skill of its rivals.

Matt Koster Asks
AOC recently streamed a round of Among Us with popular streamers to the tune of 440,000 viewers. This action seems to be in stark contrast to the simple videogame politics of the past, namely, "videogames cause violence". Has that view finally died? How did we get from there to here?

As the current President brought up rating systems just a few years ago, no, it's definitely not died out completely. In my own family, one of my Aunts didn't let her kid play Counter Strike because it's got real guns (but he's allowed to play Fortnite & Team Fortress 2).

It's definitely not the default adult stance like it used to be though. These days, plenty of gamers are also parents, and lots of people are now growing up having had games in their lives since they could walk. It's no longer considered that weird taboo thing only a select group of dorks do.

Dim Asks
With Demon's souls getting remade and mass effect 1 (Along with 2 and 3) getting remastered, how much do you think is appropriate for an updated version of an older game to cleave or change around certain design decisions that, in the eyes of some, have aged poorly/ become outdated?

This is where we get to the destination between Remasters & Remakes. In my mind, with Remakes, it's open-season. As long as it follows the same general outline of the original game, then all the changes you make are fair game. Remasters however? In those, you're only supposed to make changes which the original creators would've made had it been possible. 

For instance, in Modern Warfare Remastered, lots of levels that had a blue tint now have a more realistic gentle orange, and that's because the original game didn't have the benefit of an advanced lighting engine, that's a change which is completely in reason and I'd argue, improves the experience.

Halo: Combat Evolved Remastered makes changes to levels that completely augment the atmosphere, most notably, 343 Guilty Spark.

So it's a grey area, but I think there's a general rule to follow. Remakes are supposed to feel like the original, Remasters are supposed to be the best version of the original.

Billy Punton Asks
Would you consider adding youtube channels to your recommendations section on this here platform?

It's not impossible, but I generally post Games, Albums, Movies, etc, because I imagine there's a lot more crossover when it comes to Youtube, it being more easily accessed and consumed. That, and ironically, I don't feel nearly as well tuned into Youtube as I do regular entertainment.