Metroid Prime 4: is 4k 60fps in quality mode and 1080p 120fps in performance mode

Breath of the wild/Tears of the kingdom: is 1440p 60fps

Mario Kart World: is 1440p 60fps

Donkey Kong Banaza: is 1080p 60fps

DuskBlood: is 1080p 30fps

Elden Ring: is 1080p 30fps

CyberPunk 2077: is 1080p 30fps with pixel counts as low as 540p but that 540p count is most likely handheld

Final Fantasy 7: is 1080p 30fps

NONE of these games appear to be using DLSS at all as it all seems to be native but that could change.

What I mean is, are there games that you played solo or with a friend where you disregarded the primary game mode rules, or exploited a gameplay mechanic? A few example:

In 007 Nightfire, we only played with the remote rockets on the snowy multiplayer map and tried to see who could fly the rocket farthest into the buildings before exploding

In Goldeneye Rogue Agent, we used to play with the remote detonated grenade launcher and played on the Golden Gate Bridge map, trying to exploit the rag doll physics to land in exactly the right spot out of bounds. What are some examples from your gaming past?

Also found a game boy bag

I just thought it was worth reminding everyone of this. I know there is a lot of discussion right now about GTA6, the Nintendo Switch 2, the prices of skins in games like League of Legends, etc. There's a whole lot of discussion about how these prices are absurd, are going to alienate the playerbase, etc.

Something that really isn't being given proper attention is that the justification for why these price hikes need to happen are directly in contrast to the reality of the gaming industry.

Just in the past week, I've seen memes pointing out how "games haven't kept their pricing in line with inflation", while failing to account that many games now include a base price, microtransactions, season passes, DLC packs, etc. We recently had the head of Saber Interactive go on the record, bragging about how their strategy is to "cut costs" and outsource development to emergent regions as a means of bolstering profits. You can read more about it here:( https://www.eurogamer.net/saints-row-reboot-developer-didnt-know-what-they-were-building-saber-ceo-says-criticising-shuttered-team )We've certainly heard the trope of Phillipe Tremblay of Ubisoft and the whole "Gamers need to get used to not owning games." and whatnot. And even though he is no longer there, I think everyone recalls when John Riccitiello of Unity had once suggested charging gamers for the ability to reload their weapons. We're now even hearing about how "GTA6 is going to kill a lot of studios and publishers" making the rounds

What seems to be slipping under the radar is that, despite posting record profits, developers have been getting laid off for nearly 2 years now. It was attributed to the "COVID hangover" at first, then it came down to "inflated development costs", now we're circling back to "games haven't kept up with inflation", and I expect (undoubtedly) that we'll soon see the newly-minted tariffs as a reason why the business needs to raise prices. There doesn't seem to be any discussion about the job losses that already took place. There doesn't seem to be any discussion about how the very same companies crying foul about development costs have already moved their operations overseas as a means of cutting costs.

These price hikes have nothing to do with the business being unsustainable, and everything to do with corporate greed. Companies don't get to outsource their operations to Poland, Brasil, China, Vietnam, Turkey, the Phillipines, and outsource providers and also complain that they aren't making enough money. These same companies are actively trying to cut headcounts and incorporate tools that replace even more humans, such as Activision starting to include generative AI to build assets, or using deceptive contract language to replace voice actors with AI generated lines. Whole divisions of game development have been outsourced to 3rd party providers, who pocket anywhere between 20-60% of the contract's value while underpaying contractors who don't have any benefits or protections; companies like Keywords and Pole to Win now, almost assuredly, do the majority of testing for your games. They charge the biggest players in the field full price salaries, while subcontracting the work to people for $10/hr. When developers tried to unionize, they were already being let go. Unionization efforts are effectively failing across the industry.

If these proposed price hikes went to ensuring development teams were being maintained, staying together, promoting longevity and sequels and the opportunity to create more new titles, I think gamers would consider it more tolerable; but that isn't happening. Studios are cutting costs, firing staff, and paying out even bigger bonuses to a handful of C-suite members. C-Suite staff do not make video games. People like Matt Karch, a person wealthy enough to own a private jet, are doing press tours telling everyone how expensive game development is while his company pays people a fraction of what they would have earned 5 years ago. These price hikes aren't going to ensure that developers and studios can build new titles freely; they're going to ensure that the financial class which has actively been ruining this industry for a decade gets to reap even bigger rewards off the backs of consumers. All while they whimper and whine about how difficult, how expensive, how unsustainable game development has become.

EDIT:I thought I would add this, after commenting it in response to another user's reply.

Keep in mind that many developers are already:

• using a pre-existing Engine to expedite game development
• using AI to generate assets (art, audio, V/O, missions/narrative design)
• using outsourced shops to control quality and handle player support issues
• using volunteers to moderate social media/manage communities
• using content creators for marketing/pushing product sales
• in a specific instance, using players to create free content for the game, as noted in the case of Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite Creative/UEFN where modders work for free and the parent company takes a share of any profits generated

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/kayruuuu/art/640200525

“Honorees like Vivarium and Stellar Blade are leading the charge in pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation online,” said Nick Borenstein, General Manager of The Webby Awards. “Being chosen from nearly 13,000 entries this year is a remarkable accomplishment and a true testament to their excellence.” Vivarium has been awarded Honoree for Best VR Headset Experience in AI, Immersive & Games, with Stellar Blade being awarded Honoree Action and Adventure Game. Winners for the Webby Awards will be announced April 22 and will be recognized at a May 12 ceremony, which will be held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. Ilana Glazer, who also received a nom for her stand-up special Human Magic, will host.

I swear to god, if you all do this say hello to the mythical $100 price for GTA6. And you'll deserve that pain for backing up this kind of BS from Nintendo. Cause if they pull it off, others will follow.

edit: for the love of god, get a better damn cope than "inflation"

a game will sell well if it's a good game, and the devs / publishers will get their investment back and more in no time if it's good to the people who buy. A great example since you all wanna talk expensive shit, RDR2 estimated budget including marketing was around $550 million, they got a profit of over $700 million in the first 3 days of launch, like I said, if a game is good, and it's good to it's players even with the price, it will be successful. I can't honestly believe you're all backing up the company that dicks over their own fanbases for the most insane reasons, and it's now at the edge of changing the industry for the worse. I get that Nintendo does good and talented stuff, there's no doubt about that, but this change they are pushing will only give you shit AAA games from other companies at worse prices if you let them get away with this.

It's already bad enough that there are morons out there buying "Deluxe Editions" for over $100 (that don't even come with real stuff to at least display on a shelf.)

Clever way to beat scalping, or an ingenious way to target people that Nintendo knows will buy into the $80 games?

Disclaimer: This is about the genre of pirate games! It contains NO instructions regarding illegally obtaining games!

Link to the original guide:

https://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/the-most-piratey-guide-to-pirate-games-that-has-ever-pirated-in-the-history-of-piracy.34594/

Cover image created by our members and developers Hammie and Nomad. Used with their permission.

Ahoy there!

We, the ladies and gentlemen of PiratesAhoy!, a community focused on pirate games, have banded together to create a comprehensive guide to games set in the Age of Sail. It was made to raise awareness that the genre is more alive than ever, and to provide a counterpoint to the "Nobody makes good pirate games anymore"-narrative.

It was planned to post the entire guide right here, but it was too big for reddit, so the reddit-thread will be a very short version. It will still include the entire list, but without any detailed descriptions. If you want to read the whole thing, feel free to pay a visit to our site via the link - it will directly lead you to the guide in question. It's also recommended to save that to your bookmarks, since the reddit-thread won't be updated once it gets archived.

The original starts with quite a lot of rambling regarding the genre itself, so if you want to jump right to the list, just scroll down until you hit the big, bold text, which is also the title of this guide.

For your convenience, and to not make this list explode, it's limited to pirate games where you control a ship (in)directly that is integral to the gameplay instead of being mere fluff. It will also only list games set in the Age of Sail, otherwise, you would have to take tons of sci-fi games too.
Not included are games that aren't playable in any form as of the time of writing, are abandoned in EA, frankly bad, nobody of us has played (yet), and have PlayWay as a publisher. They are notorious for clogging the stores with concepts, which are then developed depending on wishlists. Suffice it to say, their pirate games will never come to fruition.

If the games have optional multiplayer, are in Early Access, have demos available as of the time of writing, and/or are free to play, I will mark those with (MP), (EA), (D), and (F2P) respectively.

They are divided into categories, depending on whether you look for titles similar to Black Flag, Sea of Thieves, and such, and are all in alphabetical order.

Now, let's go!

Pirate Simulators (Black Flag and Sid Meier's Pirates!; feature both land and sea content)

-Blood & Gold: Caribbean!
For Germans, purchase over GOG.

-Buccaneers! (D)
Feel free to give my review a read.

-Captain Bones (EA)

-Caribbean Legend (D)

-Corsairs Legacy (D) (EA)

-Forgotten Seas (MP)

-Man O' War: Corsair - Warhammer Naval Battles

-Neverseas (EA) (D) (MP)

-New Horizons (F2P = Beyond New Horizons)
Also has a TVTropes-page, that gets updated now and then and should give you a great overview regarding the features.

-Sailist (EA) (D)
Have this review of mine right here!

-Tempest (MP) / Under the Jolly Roger (PlayStation Store)
I can only recommend reading my review of it.

Naval Simulators (Skull & Bones; No or barely any land, only sea)

-Fluffy Sailors (D)

-King of Seas

-Mystical Maritime Adventure

-Pirates of the Polygon Sea
Not available in Germany.

-Terror of the Seven Seas
My personal GotY of 2024.
Just have my review here - that is so long, I had to continue it in the comments.

-The Pirate: Caribbean Hunt (F2P) & The Pirate: Plague of the Dead (F2P)

-Windward (MP)

Pirate Adventures (Sea of Thieves; may or may not feature both land and sea content with low amounts of combat, if at all, and a high focus on exploration)

-Sailwind (EA)

-Sail the Seas (EA)

-Salt (MP) & Salt 2: Shores of Gold (EA)

MMOs (Online-MP only; and no damn Sea of Conquest)

-Battle Sails (F2P)

-Blazing Sails

-Legend of Pirates Online (F2P)

-Puzzle Pirates (F2P)

-Naval Action (F2P)

-Pirates of the Burning Sea (F2P)

-Uncharted Waters Online (F2P)

-World of Sea Battle (F2P)

Miscellaneous recommendations (Don't necessarily fit any category, but are still noteworthy)

-Abandon Ship

-Black Legend

-Blackwake (F2P)

-Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond

-Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

-Republic of Pirates (D)

-Return of the Obra Dinn (D)

-Rogue Waters (D)

-Survival: Fountain of Youth (D)

Future releases worth keeping an eye on:

-Ahoy

-Corsairs - Battle of the Caribbean

-Crosswind (MP) (F2P)

-Dawn of Piracy

-Following Seas (D)

-Rise of Piracy (MP)

-Seven Seas: Adventures (D) (MP)

-Sink Again (Delisted)

-Windward Horizon (MP)

Got any games you think should belong in the list? Then absolutely message me, and I will work it in right away!