Arkane's Dishonored

Eww. Gross.

Wow. I just sent an email to Bethesda asking them to reconsider this. I've bought pretty much every Bethesda game for the past 15 years. This would make me feel bad to support Dishonored. I hope they back off it.

Violence is perpetuated in communities by elders and peers (i.e. people), not by the video games, books, and movies the community consumes. Hell, I bet as the consumption of those things goes up, violence goes down.

I agree with your first sentence to some degree, not so much the second, but I have to ask: what's your point? I'm honestly failing to grasp why you said that...

Agreed, but... is this a response to the article I posted, or is this a new discussion that's related to the game? That's the bit I'm confused about

I think video games have a positive affect on the brain and reduce the incidence of actual violence. One day I bet they will seem as benign and educational as books are today. New forms of media are always decried as having a negative and corrupting influence on society.

The first human to tell a story around a prehistoric campfire was probably roasted in that same fire for being a "conjurer of falsehoods" and "a corrupter of younglings."

Maybe it is me who is confused.

The article wasn't saying that video games cause violence. It was that Vice was filming people who try to prevent revenge violence, to promote a game about revenge violence, while not telling the the people their intentions....I think.

I think that is it, but part of the ire in the article is about the the fact that the intended use of the footage was for the promotion of a violent video game.

I still submit it would not be unethical to use the footage as long as the filmmakers secured informed consent from the subjects, although it is certianly in bad taste. If they filmed under false pretenses, however, then they definitely crossed the line.

I did get that sense but once I read...

To be clear, I'm not condemning Dishonored itself for being violent. After all, one of the game's features is that it will be possible to beat it without killing anyone. However, considering that the Dishonored ad campaign emphasizes the killing parts, and considering that one of the goals of CeaseFire is to prevent retaliation murders in the city's complex web of gang-related violence, it's shocking that Vice would even send a film crew to Chicago to follow violence interrupters knowing that the footage was just going to be used to promote the very idea the interrupters risk their lives fighting against every day.

I felt better about sympathizing with the article. At that point it didn't feel like a "video games are bad" rant.

An update to the gapersblock article:

UPDATE 9/26/12: As of this afternoon, both parts of Chicago Interrupted have been removed from Vice's Eye For An Eye website. I have been in touch with representatives of Cure Violence and Vice Media, and am awaiting official comment from Vice. Stay tuned for further developments.

So the min PC specs for the game are:

OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor: 3.0 GHz dual core or better
Memory: 4 GB system RAM
Hard Disk Space: 9 GB
Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible with 512 MB video RAM or better (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / ATI Radeon HD 5850)
Sound: Windows compatible sound card

Anyone else find it hard to believe that the minimum GPUs are that high level and yet only need to be DirectX 9 compatable? I wonder if there was a copy/paste error. Also the min and reco GPUs are the same.

Does anyone know, categorically with a source, whether the retailer specific bonuses are exclusives or early unlocks?

Nevin73 wrote:

So the min PC specs for the game are:

OS: Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor: 3.0 GHz dual core or better
Memory: 4 GB system RAM
Hard Disk Space: 9 GB
Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible with 512 MB video RAM or better (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / ATI Radeon HD 5850)
Sound: Windows compatible sound card

Anyone else find it hard to believe that the minimum GPUs are that high level and yet only need to be DirectX 9 compatable? I wonder if there was a copy/paste error. Also the min and reco GPUs are the same.

Given that it's a port, that's got to be all wrong.

Nevin73 wrote:

Anyone else find it hard to believe that the minimum GPUs are that high level and yet only need to be DirectX 9 compatable? I wonder if there was a copy/paste error. Also the min and reco GPUs are the same.

I'd say the requirement is for DX9 seeing as it's an unreal engine console port, but that they don't want to support xp.

I have a GTX 285 and the system specs were seriously making me reconsider getting this game.

Wait for a while, that's what I'm doing, although for different reasons.

I must confess, I cancelled my pre-order.

Not because I think the game will be bad, I expect it will be excellent. I sat down and evaluated my own game habits and realized that I am just bad at FPStealth. Sure, I know that you can go guns-a-blazin' through the missions but if I'm an assassin, I should be stealthing up and shiving suckers like Ezio. If I did drop the money on this it would end up sitting next to Thief and Deus Ex as another game that wow'd me with atmosphere but frustrated me with my own clumsiness.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for "let's play" videos and be jealous of the prowess of others as I slog my way through more straight-up shooters.

Stab an aristocrat bastard in the throat for me!

1Dgaf wrote:

Does anyone know, categorically with a source, whether the retailer specific bonuses are exclusives or early unlocks?

All the communities I am in there's no details whether those will be available as a post-launch DLC or not. I am in the same boat though. Currently weighing my first ever GameStop purchase versus getting a free game - Arkane Studious previous one (which has had the fan do-over as Arx Libertatis) - on Steam.

Holy cow, this wasn't even on my radar, but I saw it in Steam's coming soon area, came to check out this thread, and wow! I watched the stealth video, and the creature at the end pretty much sealed the deal. It was just a matter of finding out what DRM was in play, and when I found out it was Bethesda and Steamworks, I was in.

Ordered the Amazon version. I think I'd probably like the Gamestop stuff more, but I avoid them whenever possible.

I wish they wouldn't do that. Just do one goddamn version for every retailer.

Dark Messiah was an awesomely fun game, with ridiculously bad voice acting, so I'm hoping the lineup of Real Actors posted upthread will mean it will just be immersive and fun. Dark Messiah, man, that had some of the most memorable levels I've seen in an FPS. If you went down the thief/stealth path, it was just about as good, mechanically, as Thief, but with MUCH better graphics. The story was something a 14-year-old might have written, and the voices were enough to make you shudder, but the levels were outstanding.

Under embargo until Monday, but we do have code and we'll be talking about it next week!

Certis wrote:

Under embargo until Monday, but we do have code and we'll be talking about it next week!

Ouch.

I saw the youtube video of this that was an interactive trailer and it sold me on the game, I am tempted to pick it up for 360 this coming week because I will be picking it up on PC eventually as well,

This is the video I saw. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dta5G...

Malor wrote:

I wish they wouldn't do that. Just do one goddamn version for every retailer.

Youre going to wait for the all-in-one edition too, eh? Good choice.

1Dgaf wrote:
Malor wrote:

I wish they wouldn't do that. Just do one goddamn version for every retailer.

Youre going to wait for the all-in-one edition too, eh? Good choice.

I've been on this boycott too but with everything that's happened recently, I'm really worried that bethesda isn't going to survive long enough to merge it all if it's not already underway. It's going to be a terrible day when they fold, I've been a huge fan for a long time.

Lothar wrote:

I saw the youtube video of this that was an interactive trailer and it sold me on the game, I am tempted to pick it up for 360 this coming week because I will be picking it up on PC eventually as well,

This is the video I saw. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dta5G...

If that's the interactive trailer, I caution people who don't want to be spoiled on missions not to watch it.

ibdoomed wrote:
1Dgaf wrote:
Malor wrote:

I wish they wouldn't do that. Just do one goddamn version for every retailer.

Youre going to wait for the all-in-one edition too, eh? Good choice.

I've been on this boycott too but with everything that's happened recently, I'm really worried that bethesda isn't going to survive long enough to merge it all if it's not already underway. It's going to be a terrible day when they fold, I've been a huge fan for a long time.

What? Skyrim sold more than 3.4 million copies in the first two days; total sales to date have netted Bethesda $640 million (http://www.statisticbrain.com/skyrim...). The game's development budget was $85 million; even assuming that every member of the team made $100k/year for 3 years, they still ended up with more than $500m in pure profit.

I suspect they're fine.

I think they will be fine. On amazon Dishonored is the third highest pre-ordered game right now, behind Halo 4 and Cod:Blops 2. I'm sure part of that is because it's almost out, but still. I suspect good reviews and word of mouth will help as well. Could be another [size=8]Bioshock[/size]

However, I'd say even though their current stuff is bringing home the bacon, I think they've got some costs/risks looming on the horizon.

Their MMO of which I'd say overall opinion has been cautious at best, and MMOs are freaking expensive. Also for their big map Fallout/Elder Scrolls games will they be able to flog more life out of their current engine or redevelop it on the next generation, and going up another step in fidelity for such huge games isn't going to be cheap. That's Bethesda/Bethesda online, id I would say is an unknown quantity, but right now I don't expect them to hit anything out of the park. Arkane is an external developer, just as Splash Damage was for Brink, and a whole load of other publishing deals in the past.

Overall, I think Bethesda will just keep ticking along. I can't say I'm pessimistic or optimistic about them.

TheHipGamer wrote:
ibdoomed wrote:
1Dgaf wrote:
Malor wrote:

I wish they wouldn't do that. Just do one goddamn version for every retailer.

Youre going to wait for the all-in-one edition too, eh? Good choice.

I've been on this boycott too but with everything that's happened recently, I'm really worried that bethesda isn't going to survive long enough to merge it all if it's not already underway. It's going to be a terrible day when they fold, I've been a huge fan for a long time.

What? Skyrim sold more than 3.4 million copies in the first two days; total sales to date have netted Bethesda $640 million (http://www.statisticbrain.com/skyrim...). The game's development budget was $85 million; even assuming that every member of the team made $100k/year for 3 years, they still ended up with more than $500m in pure profit.

I suspect they're fine.

Are you sure that didn't all go to the publisher? Remember 38Studios? If they made even a 10th of that, why would they need kickstarter? Successful companies don't beg for money. Combine that with review embargo not lifting until it's too late to cancel pre-orders and the pre-order fiasco... You can see how must of us think they're in financial pain.