Episode 90
Is Nintendo excluding gamers with accessibility needs from tournaments?!
Nintendo has changed it's tournament community rules to exclude gamers with accessibility requirements, and more stories today on Thursday 26th October 2023.
INDUSTRY
Nintendo is shaking up its Community Tournament Guidelines to lock down issues it has with the current protocols, but it has had an unintended consequence to a large sub-section of the gaming community.
New rules added to tournaments with Nintendo games are a 200-participant cap on events, banning the sale of goods, banning third-party compensation after sponsorship and players can no longer use third-party controllers.
It's this last stipulation that has the accessibility community in uproar. You might be aware the Nintendo Switch joycons aren't the easiest controllers to handle - this is significant for players with accessibility needs and without third-party modifications, this will exclude them from competition.
Arevya on Twitter has spoken out strongly about this change to advocate for the accessibility community in games.
I'm sure we all understand, and aren't surprised, that Nintendo are pushing for their own products to be the only valid tourney standards but inclusion is an extremely important aspect of games and community today. They may not see it as such, but hopefully there's a change coming to enable accessibility in community tournaments soon.
Nintendo details more aggressive social media guidelines | GamesIndustry.biz
But the Nintendo news doesn't stop there! They've also changed their social media guidelines. This shift means that they will be able to target unauthorised content with DMCA takedowns.
Unauthorised now means "[Content that] features unauthorised game consoles and/or software not licensed by Nintendo or features video, images, sound sources, etc. that cannot be used in regular gameplay, extracted through game software via data mining and other methods".
So they want to come after emulators, mods and other content displaying Nintendo IP. Like they needed a bigger legal team anyway…
Here's everything featured in the Xbox Partner Preview showcase | Eurogamer.net
The Xbox Partner Preview aired yesterday, and here's a quick rundown of what we saw.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is a side-release from the popular series, and seems to be like Animal Crossing.
Futurlab, developer of Powerwash Simulator, has announced Iakro: Will Not Die - a staisfying flow-state rogue-lite action title.
Developer The Chinese Room announced "Still Wakes the Deep": a spooky first-person horror title set on a 70s North Sea oil rig.
RoboCop: Rogue City saw some fresh gameplay before its release on the 2nd November.
Ark: Survival Ascended is the remake of its predecessor, Survival Evolved and it's currently in Steam Early Access.
Honorable mentions also include The Finals, Manor Lords, Spirit of the North 2, Dungeons of Hinterberg and, of course, Alan Wake 2.
For trailers and more, jump into the show notes.
GTA 6 age listing is fake, launch date a mystery, ratings board says | PCGamesN
The Australian Classifications Board makes the news again, but this time it wasn't their fault. An age rating for Grand Theft Auto 6 was submitted, which would have fans thinking that the game release would be close to hand.
Unfortunately the age rating submission was a fake, and the Board has admitted that anyone can submit an age rating for any game and have it appear on the website. Hopefully something they can vet in future.
The Australian Classifications Board has also mentioned that they have no information about release dates of GTA 6 at this time.
Nintendo pulls drink driving game from digital store due to PEGI 3+ rating | GamesIndustry.biz
On a similar note, Nintendo has pulled the drink-driving game "Need for Spirit: Drink and Drive Simulator" from the Switch store after it was self-assigned a PEGI 3+ rating.
The game necessarily includes references to use of alcohol and tobacco, which automatically means it can only be given a PEGI 16 or PEGI 18 rating.
The publisher had submitted the rating through the International Age Rating Coalition, which is a self-submitted process. GamesIndustriy.biz's article doesn't make clear whether the process is at fault, or whether the game publisher has been rapidly changing the age rating to boost sales.
Twitch now allows simulcasting to other platforms | Eurogamer.net
News for the streamers out there, Twitch has announced at Twitch Con Las Vegas over the weekend that users are now able to simulcast their streams to other platforms. This means you can stream to Twitch, YouTube and Kick all at the same time.
The only limitation appears to be for Twitch Partners with an exclusivity deal that won't be able to simulcast, but if they have left the Partner Program, they will be able to resubmit for Partner status.
They also announced the re-branded "Stream Together" function for streamer collabs.
GAMES
Sony's Optional PS5 Disc Drive Will Reportedly Require An Internet Connection - GameSpot
It seems that the new optional disc drive for PS5 consoles will require an Internet connection to be functional. Articles muse that this is likely to prevent piracy and other dastardly deeds, but with game preservation online being an issue it has some fans perplexed. We're hoping that it’s a function that could be switched off in future, perhaps when the threat of piracy is overwhelmed by gamer uproar on social media.
Cities: Skylines 2 released a couple of days ago, and the reception has been lukewarm. While fans flocked to play the game (over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam) the reviews have been middling due to performance issues.
Paradox Interactive, publisher of the game, has admitted that they released the game in a less-than-stellar state of performance. They opted to allow fans to have fun with the title, while they develop patches to improve performance.
If you're playing it yourself, fixes for performance issues can include lowering refresh rate and turning off volumetrics, but check the show notes for a full list.
Konami debuts ‘first in-engine look’ at Metal Gear Sold 3’s remake | VGC (videogameschronicle.com)
Konami has announced and released a bunch of remastered and remade Metal Gear titles over the last while, and has revealed a trailer for the new version of Metal Gear Solid 3 at the Microsoft Partner Preview earlier this week.
The game is described as a faithful remake, and the trailer shows in-engine gameplay using Unreal Engine 5.
For those unaware, Konami has been in and out of games for the last decade it seems, first with the unceremonious ejection of Hideo Kojima from Konami. Being responsible for the Metal Gear series, there is now speculation about whether he was involved in these remakes but Konami has confirmed that he was not.
There is also an uproar about whether Kojima is credited or not for the original content, though its likely Konami will claim its own IP and won't praise a game dev dissident.
Konami is also known for resisting feedback from fans, so someone has seen fit to create a 1080p and 4K mod for the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection.
Amnesia: The Bunker ups the terror with hardcode Shell Shock update, out today | Eurogamer.net
If you're after a hit of horror this Halloween weekend, Amnesia: The Bunker has received the teased "Shell Shock" update. This adds a more difficult, immersive and frightening mode to the game and should give you the tingles and shivers you're after!
Included in the update is random locations for puzzle solutions, a locked Fuel Storage Room and now the safe room is no longer safe with the steel doors replaced by wooden ones. That's right, the monster can get in!
Mario Bros. Wonder is the fastest-selling Mario game ever in Europe | VGC (videogameschronicle.com)
And lastly, Mario Bros. Wonder is reported as the fastest-selling Mario game ever in Europe in the first three days of release. Physical sales alone puts it 3rd in the UK Chart History, which likely means when combined with digital sales it is the best performing Mario title ever.
It's reviewing very well and appears to be a contender for game of the year already! Might have to jump on the Mario train myself…
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