NeoGAF Vanishes After Sexual Assault Allegations Come to Light About Owner

For over a decade now NeoGAF has solidified itself on the web as one the most popular video game forums. I like to think of it as the Reddit for video games and while yes I am aware that Reddit does have it's own video game thread, when stuff goes down in the industry something always pops up on NeoGAF.

However if you were to fly over to their page now you would be greeted by an error message stating that the site is currently down for maintenance. This has happened after sexual assault allegations were made against the sites over, Tyler Malka, known on the site as Evilore.

These allegations came to light when a Facebook post called Malka out on a particular instance of sexual assault. The post read...

"I remember a man, who claimed to be my friend, going on a road trip to New Orleans. In NOLA we drank and had fun and one night we had been drinking in our hotel room and I got sick. I was throwing up and decided to hop in the shower to feel better. I was surprised when he got into the shower, fully naked, behind me. I had a boyfriend at the time and didn't think I had given him any reason to believe I wanted this. I don't cheat. So I told him that it wasn't ok, that I was sick, that I had a boyfriend, that I didn't want that. He got out and slowly started resenting me, being mean to me, ignoring me... in a city he drove me to. I couldn't wait to get home. I couldn't tell my partner for fear that he would claim I lied to him. My relationship with my boyfriend suffered and we broke up soon after that. I couldn't come out about this situation because the perpetrator is a semi famous man who would have retaliated and I couldn't afford to defend myself. There are websites dedicated to this persons sexual assault history. I didn't know. I was scared. I was tired. I still can't post his name out of fear. Fear for a film he acted in for me. Fear of ridicule. Fear of not being believed. I don't want to be silent anymore. I will post stories until I don't feel like it anymore. And there are so many. Also- street harassment count for the day (so far) is 4. And I only walked 2 blocks from where my ride dropped me off to where I work. Let that sink in."

While this person doesn't name Malka in the post she was later persuaded and in the comments section told people to "google Evilore"

Following this all admins and moderators on NeoGAF walked out on the site allowing a huge rise in shitposts and various threads related to the issue. This combined with a massive rise in traffic has led to the site being shut down.

According to USGamer, NeoGAF are preparing a statement on the matter but have so far issued no word and from my own research it appears Malka has not spoken out on the issue either. We'll be updating this story as it progresses.  

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Activision Are Taking Micro-Transactions to the Next Level

Micro-transactions.

It's a term that's been thrown around the industry for a quite a while now and while most see it as a quick cash grab for developers and publishers some do see it as an ease when it comes to playing some online games.

Personally I was never a fan of micro-transactions right from the get go. I always saw them as an easy way out when it came to certain games. Take Shadow of War for instance, I haven't played the game myself but from what I heard the overall premise involves the player building up an army to take down Sauron. A bit of a grind if I'm being honest but one made substantially easier with the introduction of Loot Boxes. In other words you pay money to make the game less of a grind.

While this is something that really shouldn't be encouraged it seems Activision are going to a new length with a match-making system that does exactly that. In 2015 the company filed a patent, which was recently granted for this new system called, "System and method for driving microtransactions in multiplayer video games" 

This is when "a system and method is provided that drives microtransactions in multiplayer video games. The system may include a microtransaction arrange matches to influence game-related purchases. For instance, the system may match a more expert/marquee player with a junior player to encourage the junior player to make game-related purchases of items possessed/used by the marquee player. A junior player may wish to emulate the marquee player by obtaining weapons or other items used by the marquee player." 

In short this new system, in a game like Destiny for example, would pair a more experienced player with a player that is relatively new to the game in hopes of encouraging the inexperienced player to pay out for more gear to help them perform better in matches.

It's obvious to see why a system like this would cause some players out there to rage out rather quickly. The real question we should be asking now is, should we be worried about this? So far the answer is no, according to an Activision spokesperson, who spoke with Glixel, this patent was "exploratory" and was worked on "independently from our game studios." 

The spokesperson also stated that this system was not yet implemented in-game. That being said it's very possible that sometime in the future this system could be implemented and we could be seeing it in action in upcoming games like Call of Duty: WWII.

We'd love to hear what you think about this new system and micro-transactions as a whole so drop a comment down below.

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EA Shuts Down Visceral Games & Changes Star Wars Development

I can't believe this is happening but it happened.

Visceral Games, best known for their work on Dead Space, Battlefield Hardline and Dante's Inferno has been shutdown by publisher EA and of course because of this the story-driven Star Wars title Visceral have been working on has also been greatly affected.

Today, EA released a statement concerning the closure of the studio and the future of the Star Wars title. The statement reads...

"Our industry is evolving faster and more dramatically than ever before. The games we want to play and spend time with, the experiences we want to have in those games, and the way we play…all those things are continually changing. So is the way games are made. In this fast-moving space, we are always focused on creating experiences that our players want to play…and today, that means we’re making a significant change with one of our upcoming titles.

Our Visceral studio has been developing an action-adventure title set in the Star Wars universe. In its current form, it was shaping up to be a story-based, linear adventure game. Throughout the development process, we have been testing the game concept with players, listening to the feedback about what and how they want to play, and closely tracking fundamental shifts in the marketplace. It has become clear that to deliver an experience that players will want to come back to and enjoy for a long time to come, we needed to pivot the design. We will maintain the stunning visuals, authenticity in the Star Wars universe, and focus on bringing a Star Wars story to life. Importantly, we are shifting the game to be a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency, leaning into the capabilities of our Frostbite engine and reimagining central elements of the game to give players a Star Wars adventure of greater depth and breadth to explore.

This move leads to a few other changes:

A development team from across EA Worldwide Studios will take over development of this game, led by a team from EA Vancouver that has already been working on the project. Our Visceral studio will be ramping down and closing, and we’re in the midst of shifting as many of the team as possible to other projects and teams at EA.

Lastly, while we had originally expected this game to launch late in our fiscal year 2019, we’re now looking at a new timeframe that we will announce in the future.

Bringing new Star Wars games to life for every passionate fan out there is what drives us as creators. It’s what has inspired us to deliver the massive new Star Wars Battlefront II experience launching in just a few weeks.  It fuels our live service in Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes.  Making games in the extraordinary Star Wars universe is truly a dream for so many of us at EA, and we have so many more experiences to come for players on every platform.  We want to take the time to get each game right, to make it unique, to make it amazing.

We look forward to answering more of your questions, and sharing more on our plans and timeline for this new Star Wars experience, in the months to come"

Very little was known of the Visceral Star Wars title, we got a shimmering glimpse at the game way back in E3 2016 and we know that a few major names in the industry are working on the project. One of these being Amy Hennig who worked on the Uncharted series. It's currently unknown if Hennig will continue as director of the project as an email with an EA-spokesperson stated the publisher is "in discussion with Amy about her next move."

As stated up above, Visceral Games were going for a more liner-storytelling experience with this Star Wars title. It seems that EA will have to change this direction if they want to gain the "broader experience" that they want with this game.

It also appears that EA will be pushing out the release of the game, originally stated to be releasing in 2019, as they are currently "looking at a new timeframe."

It's a shame to see Visceral Games go after nineteen years in the industry but with games like the Dead Space series and others like The Godfather they've had a good run. Visceral you'll be truly missed and I personally thank you for giving me my first real video game horror experience.

The next EA Star Wars title is Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and is set to release on November 17th for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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Former Naughty Dog Employee Speaks Out About Sexual Harassment

I guess this dog is more naughty than we thought.

OK that joke was terrible and I apologise for it.

But yes, PlayStation studio Naughty Dog, best known for their work on Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted and The Last of Us has been making headlines this weekend when a former employee took to social media to claim he was sexually harassed while working with the company.

David Ballard, a former environment artist who worked on the Uncharted and The Last of Us series, spoke publicly about the harassment, which occurred in 2015, via Twitter this weekend. His full statement reads...

"In late 2015, I was sexually harassed at Naughty Dog by a lead. My work environment became extremely toxic afterward. In February 2016 I had a mental breakdown at work & Sony PlayStation HR became involved. When I told them about the harassment they ended the call and fired me the next day. They cited the company was moving in a different direction and my job was no longer needed. They tried to silence me by offering $20,000 if I signed a letter agreeing to the termination as well as to not discuss it with anyone. I declined to sign. I have been unemployed for 17 months since. When interviewers ask why I left Naughty Dog, I say I was burned out by the crunch, ashamed to get to the root of the problem of being sexually harassed. I'm speaking out now because of the strength I've seen in others coming forward about their experiences in the TV/Film industry. This is the hardest thing I've ever done. I will not let anyone kill my drive or love for the video game industry, my passions of life."

Naughty Dog also made a statement on their site which reads...

"We have recently read on social media that an ex-employee of Naughty Dog, Dave Ballard, claims he was sexually harassed when he worked at Naughty Dog. We have not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way at Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment. Harassment and inappropriate conduct have no place at Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment. We have taken and always will take reports of sexual harassment and other workplace grievances very seriously. We value every single person who works at Naughty Dog and Sony interactive Entertainment. It is of utmost importance to us that we maintain a safe, productive workplace environment that allows us all to channel our shared passion for making games."

In a statement originally provided to Eurogamer, PlayStation has no record of the allegation.

GameStop's Controversial Advert for Assassins Creed Origins

As the years press on video games are improving at a miraculous rate and it goes without saying that video game retailers would also try and improve their marketing techniques to help boost sales of these games. One retailer who will go to any length it seems to sell a game is GameStop. 

Now GameStop mostly advertise games with a series of bundles or add-ons. In other words you can buy the game for the standard retail price and for an extra tenner you can get some nice peripherals. Alternatively you can throw in another tenner and get some more stuff that you really don't need and so on and so forth. 

But it seems that with a recent advertisement for the upcoming Assassins Creed Origins. GameStop might have taken it a bit too far.

An animated advert has cropped up on the web showing a picture of lead character, Bayek, sliding down the side of a pyramid before being interrupted by the image of a confused camel and a message that reads...

Sorry. The Bonus Mission Is Blocked. Unless you pre-order Assassin's Creed Origins.

Now no gamer is happy about paying out extra for content that really should already be included in the finished game, that's an argument for another day. But given that GameStop relies mostly on pre-order sales, treating these ridiculous tactics as a joke just doesn't seem to be the perfect ways of boosting sales.

Of course there are many out there who think the advert is fake and to be honest I'm in the same boat, it just doesn't seem like something GameStop, or any game retailer for that matter would do, however the evidence that says it's real is rather overwhelming. 

It's a bold move the company are after taking with this advert and it's just a matter of time before we find out if it works or not.

Assassins Creed Origins releases on October 27th for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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Episode 4 - Assassins Creed Origins confirmed, Far Cry 5 and E3 Predictions

Bing Bong, hello and welcome!

In this episode we discuss the latest news including the confirmation of Far Cry 5 and Assassins Creed Origins. We talk about E3 and the games we'd like to see presented at the show and as always we look at some new releases!

Don't forget to like D'Arcade Facebook page to stay up to date with everything!

Episode 3 - PlayStation 5 Rumours and E3 News!

Bing Bong, Hello and welcome.

On the show this week we cover the latest in the gaming news such as the announcement on Darksiders 3 and E3. We also discuss PlayStation 5 rumours and more!

Don't forget to like the Facebook page to keep up to date with the latest on D'Arcade!

Episode 2 - PlayStation Plus Titles Confirmed + Call of Duty WW2 and Star Wars Battlefront 2

Bing Bong and Welcome.

On the show this week we cover the top gaming news including the PlayStation Plus titles for May 2017, lots from the rumour mill and Jason Voorhees. We'll be talking about Call of Duty WW2 and Star Wars Battlefront 2 and of course some of the latest releases.

Don't forget to like our Facebook page to stay up to date and follow us on iTunes and Stitcher to never miss an episode!

Introducing D'Arcade - Episode 1

Bing Bong!

Wow it has been a very very long time since I've updated this blog and I do apologise not only to the blog itself but to anyone who actually stumbled upon this and enjoyed looking at it. Anyway why have I decided that now should be the time that this blog be resurrected? Well I'm glad you asked that and no it has nothing to do with the fact that Easter Sunday was only a few days ago...

No the real reason is because quite recently we have started a new podcast series we're calling D'Arcade. So a bit of background information, D'Arcade was a radio show which was done every Saturday night on my local community radio where we discussed the biggest gaming news stories in the week, we discussed a particular topic in the week and we also covered the new releases in the world. The license for the radio has since ended but we just loved doing the show so we decided to keep it going in podcast form!

So tune in every Saturday for updates on news and other big things in the gaming world on Soundcloud and eventually iTunes. You can listen to the first episode now which I will add to this lovely little post.