The Friday paper: gaming news you may have missed

Business

October 10, 2014

Probably the biggest news going down right now is that rAge 2014 is happening, and I’m not there.

But while we may be missing out on some killer times at SA’s biggest gaming expo, there are other happenings in the world of gaming.

Here’s what’s going down.

Assassin’s Creed Unity lockdown?

This week, Ubisoft producer Vincent Pontbriand caused quite a stir when he said that the PlayStation 4 version of the next Assassin’s Creed game would be “capped” on a technical level, to avoid having Xbox One owners feeling inadequate.

Ubisoft has now come out and told games media that, surprise surprise, Pontbriand’s comments were misinterpreted.

What he was trying to say was that overall gameplay is what matters, and trying to push pixels would impact that. Ubisoft wants the same user experience across all platforms, but they’re not capping anything apparently.

“We made the right decision to focus our resources on delivering the best gameplay experience, and resolution is just one factor,” Pontbriand told Eurogamer.

“We wanted to be absolutely uncompromising when it comes to the overall gameplay experience. Those additional pixels could only come at a cost to the gameplay.”

Okay, but why is the frame limit capped at a “cinematic” 30fps, Ubisoft?

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan ups her case against Rockstar

Meanwhile, it looks like Hollywood actress and star of Mean Girls, Lindsay Lohan, is still set on suing Rockstar for allegedly using her likeness in Grand Theft Auto V.

She claims that the character Lacey Jonas is an “unequivocal” reference to her.

In a renewed action against Rockstar, she’s now issued a 67 page complaint against the company, according to VG24/7 – 45 pages of which include photographic evidence.

Rockstar says she’s just looking for attention. Looks like she’s getting it.

Final Fantasy XIII is out on PC, and it’s big

Final Fantasy XIII is out now on Steam, and if you’re planning on getting your hands on it, well, get ready for a massive download.

The game clocks in at 60GB, so be prepared for a long wait – especially if you’re on a slower connection.

And if you were wondering if Square Enix hates PC gamers, don’t wonder – they do. The game is locked to 720p – so you’ll have to find a patch to fix that oversight.

Here’s a good place to start.

Dragon Age Inquisition

Dragon Age Inquisition is going all Skyrim on us

Dragon Age Inquisition is going to be a long game. A looooong, looooong game.

According to BioWare producer Cameron Lee, speaking to Polygon, you’re looking at 150 to 200 hours to complete all the content the game has to offer.

The main storyline will be between 20 and 40 hours, as is the usual BioWare modus operandi, Lee said, but the aim was to create a world that players can really explore and discover and see shaped by their actions.

That sounds like a big promise.

A 200 hour content package sounds impressive, but remember that Skyrim’s content is effectively unlimited, and that was accomplished by having a lot of, well, rather bland ‘mission’ rehashings.

I remain cautiously optimistic.

Shady of Mordor?

As an added bonus, there appears to have been some controversy surrounding how WB Entertainment’s Shadow of Mordor was marketed.

Popular YouTubers were given access to early copies of the game, but only on the condition of positive game coverage – meanwhile, critics who refused were snubbed.

Shadow of Mordor is an amazing game, so a heavy-handed approach, tying people into contracts and such to guarantee positive sentiment, was probably unwarranted.

But it’s a reminder that we should all be a little bit more cautious when it comes to where we get our information.

The Escapist’s Jim Sterling added his view on the matter. Thank God for Jim Sterling, right?

What gaming news stories grabbed your attention this week? Let us know in the comments and on the forums.