Game Controversies – Page 2

Fan Games And Fan Art; The Greatest Expression Of Fan Love

Published August 24, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

AM2R: Another Metroid 2 Remake Fan art, fan fiction, fan films, cosplay and fan games. These are just a handful of the ways that fans of fiction franchises choose to express their fandom aside from passive consumption. Not all fans have the gumption and initiative to go beyond consumption but those that do, often go the extra mile and make something that can sometimes rival the originals.

Fan creations are somewhat of a grey area in copyright law. While a lot of it is openly created and distributed, the vast majority of it is done without the express consent of the copyright owner. However, most of those copyright owners look the other way, but not always.

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American Academy of Pediatrics Pines For Video Game Legislation In New Policy Statement

Published July 20, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

This week, the American Academy of Pediatrics, a psychology guild dedicated to getting money for its members, released one of the most ignorant and laughably bad policy statements on media violence and the supposed link between it and real world violence. I can’t emphasize just how laughable this whole thing is. Thankfully, the level headed and intelligent Christopher Ferguson has responded to this.

The AAP policy statement is a great read if you are looking for some major laughs. Ferguson’s breakdown of it is also a clever thrashing of the statement and is more than worth the read. Here are a couple of highlights from Ferguson’s analysis:

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Game director encourages western gamers to buy Tokyo Mirage Sessions despite localization changes

Published June 28, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

Last Friday, Mitsuru Hirata, chief director of Tokyo Mirage Sessions hit up Twitter to ask western gamers to buy the game despite various localization changes.

“Come to think of it, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE release date is this week on 24th isn’t it! For various reasons we had to change some outfits, contents of events and vocals, but I think the outfits of the overseas version are quite cute! If you live overseas and own a Wii U by all means buy the game!”

Okay, let’s unpack that comment, shall we?

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When covering cleavage on North American box art is NOT censorship

Published June 7, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

To your left is an image comparing the lower left portion of the Japanese and North American box arts for Atlus’s highly anticipated Persona 5. You may notice that Morgana (the smiling cat) has been repositioned in a way that covers up the cleavage of another character.

CENSORSHIP!!!

Not so fast…

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Liyla Makes It To The Games Section In App Store

Published May 23, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

Liyla On The App Store Looks like it is possible to get the lumbering behemoth to budge. Last week we wrote that Apple had rejected Liyla and the Shadows of War as a game. They wanted the game classified in the News or Reference sections. Yet, to anyone that actually took the 10-15 minutes to play through the game, it is clearly a game.

We now learn that Apple has relented and classified Liyla as a game.

UPDATED: Apple Rejects Game Based On War In The Gaza Strip As “Not A Game”

Published May 18, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

Update: Apple has relented and classified Liyla as a game.

When is a game not a game? According to Apple, the answer is when said game has a political message. At least that is what it is telling Liyla and the Shadows of War developer Rasheed Abueideh when it rejected the game.

In a tweet from the official Liyla Twitter account, the developer expressed confusion over the rejection. “Unfortunately Apple rejected the game as a game,they say its not game,it has a political statement.” They instead suggested that Rasheed reclassify his game as “news” or “reference”. This is a confusing but sadly not uncommon move from Apple.

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WaPo Writer Criticizes Uncharted 4, Metacritic Misrepresents It, Gamer Freaks Out With Poorly Written Petition

Published May 16, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End It is a story as old as time. A game critic criticizes a highly anticipated and fan loved game. Metacritic attempts to aggregate the review and messes up. Then angry gamers freak out in the worst possible manner.

So let’s lay out some details. Michael Thompson wrote a critical review of Uncharted 4. In this he writes that U4 is an inevitable but unneeded fourth installment in a game trilogy. He criticizes it further by stating, “The games have always struck me as garish more than gorgeous, more interested in overwhelming the senses than communicating with them.” Overall, this is nothing more than someone who is not a fan of the series writing up his thoughts. Something that is ultimately harmless. Sadly, some people don’t see it that way.

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Microsoft Gives Back Some Of What It Took From Gamers

Published May 11, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

What UWP Taketh Away, UWP Partially Gives Back When Microsoft announced its Universal Windows Platform, it was met with considerable skepticism. Most of the skepticism is centered around the locked down nature of the platform. Tim Sweeney of Epic Games was one such high profile objector.

But what really should have been getting the attention is just how much Microsoft limits the games that use the platform. Because the service requires all apps be usable across a range of devices, developers cannot take advantage of more powerful PC hardware. Now Microsoft is throwing game developers a bone by giving them something they should have had all along.

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I am an imperfect perfectionist

Published May 3, 2016 by Andrew Eisen

I am a perfectionist.

That doesn’t mean I’m perfect and my body of work is a testament to that fact. Of course, realizing I’m not perfect and never will be doesn’t stop me from spending a ton of extra time on little details that probably wouldn’t make a difference to anyone but me.

Let me tell you a story.

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Google Makes Right With Content Creators In Announced Content ID Changes

Published April 28, 2016 by E. Zachary Knight

Monetization During Dispute Since Google launched its Content ID program on YouTube, it has been plagued with problems. The biggest problem is that anyone can claim a video without having to provide anything resembling proof. Additionally, when a video is claimed, the original creator completely loses control over the monetization of their work.

That is all going to change with one little adjustment from Google.

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Category: Game Controversies