Former Sweet Baby Inc. employee Chris Kindred is talking about me again, this time blaming me for alleged actions of the community. There's one problem: Chris has a history w/me that it is forgetting. I previously talked about how Chris called my old job trying to get me fired. I also cover his interaction w/Second Wind's Nick Calandra, and discuss SBI Employee Amy Leigh-Shaw. Sources: - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2093035453335351464 - https://x.com/BepDelta/status/1763383749553643705 - https://chriskindred.com/ - https://bsky.app/profile/chriskindred.com/post/3mu3os33wz22r - https://x.com/MasteroftheTDS/status/2093036340506194164 - https://x.com/YellowFlashGuy/status/2093047099742912620 - https://x.com/ITrotteln/status/2093090990756110471 - https://x.com/Aurondarklord/status/2093060365693210976 - https://x.com/MadamSavvy/status/2092702971326845035 - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2089001285219672401 - https://kotaku.com/sweet-baby-inc-consulting-games-alan-wake-2-dei-1851312428

Daniel Vávra REALLY doesn't seem impressed with GTA 6. After Rockstar's massive extended look, the Kingdom Come creator praised GTA VI as a technological miracle with an incredible open world, but says Jason and Lucia are "two uninteresting sociopaths" and that the showcase gave him ZERO story hook. He argues great story needs conflict, complex motivations, themes and characters actually cares about. Is he judging GTA 6 too early... or does he have a point? Sources: - https://x.com/DanielVavra/status/2093316502938161483 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISFLDucMgsI - https://x.com/GameSpot/status/2093327915811512355 - https://www.gamespot.com/articles/gta-6-story-is-about-whether-love-can-survive-through-this-storm/ - https://x.com/HazzadorGamin/status/2092664887357092295 - https://x.com/TheDezembro/status/2093455967878836573 - https://x.com/Pirat_Nation/status/2093071962499096736 - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2093368700531605666 - https://x.com/DarkViperAU/status/2093095971559551015

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is sounding the alarm over the rising cost of gaming hardware. Speaking to the BBC at Gamescom, Sharma discussed a "crisis" in computing prices, partly driven by AI spending, and said Xbox needs to think about affordability for its next-generation console. She also discussed Xbox's upcoming physical-to-digital entitlement system. Xbox is making some surprisingly pro-consumer moves, but how expensive is this next console going to be? Source: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txuYKwrbq1M

Laura Fryer is back, and this time she's digging deeper into what's gone wrong with modern game development. The original Halo had roughly 185 people credited on a complete game. Now she's contrasting that with 2,183 people on the campaign-only Halo remake. Her argument: it isn't just HR. It's producers, managers, leads of leads and layers of bureaucracy that add meetings, dilute ownership and create teams that become too big to succeed. BLOAT SANK THE BOAT. Sources: - https://x.com/realLauraFryer/status/2093437696287088732 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5qKN2Yxaok - https://steamdb.info/app/2806050/charts/ - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/1983327749336084935

WTF is happening at Gamescom?! Multiple developers have come forward reporting that laptops were stolen during the event, including teams behind Petal Runner, Escape Academy 2, Mimic and The Zibbo Show. This absolutely sucks to see happen to developers who came to Gamescom to showcase their work. Hopefully whoever is responsible is caught and the equipment is recovered. In the meantime, you can support these developers by wishlisting their games: Petal Runner — Wishlist on Steam Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School — Wishlist on Steam Mimic — Wishlist on Steam The Zibbo Show — Wishlist on Steam Sources: - https://x.com/SmashJT/status/2093469141126828063 - https://x.com/Pirat_Nation/status/2093415408103518596 - https://x.com/iam8bit/status/2093398808650719323 - https://x.com/RyanLaley/status/2093280590996869487 - https://x.com/ukiyostudiosau/status/2093396083049189413 - https://x.com/Grummz/status/2093361755057692974 - https://x.com/tesserastudios/status/2093421439508463879

MARATHON: FALL OF THE PLAYERS. Marathon reached 3,747 concurrent Steam players Thursday, still nearly 96% below its March peak. Now Bungie's Season 3 gamble could effectively split the remaining population between extraction PvP and a major cooperative PvE experience. Marathon desperately needs a RISE of the players. Sources: - https://steamdb.info/app/3065800/charts/ - https://steamdb.info/app/1085660/charts/ - https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2093386407247331707 - https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2093385686565155087 - https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2093479398590877786 - https://www.reddit.com/r/MarathonHate/comments/1w12tun/they_are_really_trying/ - https://x.com/MarathonDevTeam/status/2093369949964456227 - https://x.com/marathonaire/status/2092514779801714966 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvCNiwr6YKs - https://x.com/PolishTamales/status/2093307618689515568 Thumbnail by @NobodyHasSpoken

GTA 6 extended gameplay is finally here, and I'm reacting to what Rockstar has been cooking. IGN's new showcase features gameplay clips from missions, dialogue, combat and more, captured on PlayStation 5. After all the leaks, delays, rumors and questions surrounding the state of GTA 6, we finally have something substantial to look at. GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Source: - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSm9GTUttBs

Take-Two's GTA 6 leak crackdown has gone OFF THE RAILS. Veteran games journalist Stephen Totilo says his X account was hit by a DMCA takedown despite his post containing public court orders and an Xbox executive's tweet, NOT leaked GTA 6 footage. The mass filing reportedly targeted 300 posts, with GameSpot and even Grok caught in the dragnet. Protecting GTA 6 from actual leaks is understandable, but this appears to have gone WAY beyond that. Source: - https://www.gamefile.news/p/take-two-gta-ebrand-dmca-notice