The first weapons and tools you’ll craft in co-op survival RPG Enshrouded will be made of wood and stone, but pretty quickly you’ll want to make yourself some sturdier gear. Once you begin finding metal scraps you’ll be able to craft better tools, weapons, and armor, and once you’ve met the Blacksmith you’ll even be able to start smelting those metal scraps into metal sheets to unlock even better equipment.
But where’s the best place to reliably get metal scraps? In survival games you typically expect to find metal ore by mining, and that’s true for resources like copper ore. Metal scraps, however, are a bit different, and you won’t find them by digging or mining.
Enshrouded metal scraps are typically found:
Inside the Cinder Vault where you started
As drops from humanoid scavenger enemies
In scavenger camps on tables or near crafting benches
In scavenger camps by smashing objects like barrels or furniture
In scavenger camps or stashes by disassembling objects
One easy spot to find metal scraps early on is inside the Cinder Vault where you began the game. Remember that metal urn you climbed out of? That, and all the other urns in the vault can be smashed with a pickaxe and will drop 3 metal scraps when destroyed. They’re durable so you have to bang on them for a while, but it’s easy because there are no enemies around and you can fast-travel there at will.
Otherwise, the best source of metal scraps is killing humanoid enemies called scavengers, which are found above the shroud, not in enshrouded areas. You can find scavengers in camps and settlements throughout the world, and sometimes within castles or temple ruins. Killing these enemies will almost always provide you with some metal scraps.
If you’ve killed all the scavengers in a camp or settlement, look around for metal scraps on tables or crafting benches, where it can simply be picked up. There are often small lootable piles of wood and metal that will show you a prompt when you get close enough to them. Occasionally you’ll also find an object that will have a ‘disassemble’ prompt.
(Image credit: Keen Games)
Just about any prop or decoration you see in a camp, building, or tent, like metal cages, furniture, barrels, crates, and urns, can be smashed with a weapon or tool and will often give you metal scraps. Spend extra time in each camp or settlement you come across smashing anything you find that looks like it might have some metal in it.
If you’re just starting out, a good location to visit is Rookmore, a small camp with about a half-dozen enemies. You’ll find it by crossing Braelyn Bridge to the north of your starting area, then turning west. You’ll need a grappling hook to cross the bridge and a glider to safely jump from the ledge into Rookmore. Every enemy and object in Rookmore will respawn over time so it’s a great spot near the starting area to loot for metal scraps over and over again.
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You know that thing in games where you finally get acquainted with the controls, make it through the opening level, and then get a billion popups at once about the DLC you’ve unlocked? Those pop ups are how I discovered I was playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth‘s $110 Ultimate Edition. I didn’t intend to get it (it came with a code provided by Sega), but I’m glad I did, if only so I can warn you that it manages to make the game worse. It’s bad enough that Infinite Wealth’s new game plus mode is locked behind the $15 extra Deluxe Edition, but the Ultimate Edition is annoying in an entirely different way.
The Ultimate Edition’s problem is one of gluttony. The bundle of bundles comes with a few harmless cosmetics that feel pretty standard for a big game release—more swimsuits, throwback outfits, extra karaoke songs, that sort of thing. But then, in an attempt to justify the $40 markup, Sega also packed in piles of boosters, upgrade materials, and literal level-up canisters that seriously screw with Infinite Wealth’s natural progression.
Here’s the full list of what you get in the Ultimate Edition:
Master Vacation Bundle: Bonus dungeon, special Sujimon, resort guests, outfits, new game plus (Also included in the Deluxe Edition)
Assorted Outfit Bundle: Outfits and swimwear
Sujimon & Resort Bundle: Legendary Sujimon, Resort Guests, Special Boosters
Yakuza CD Collection Set: Classic karaoke tracks
(Image credit: Sega)
Those “special boosters” have been a real thorn in my side. Hundreds of these items were automatically added to my inventory sometime in Chapter 1. At first I was confused because I didn’t know what most of them were even for. Before I was aware Like a Dragon had a weapon upgrade system, I had already accrued enough materials to level up Ichiban’s bat dozens of times. I’m over 40 hours into the game now and still discovering currencies I didn’t know I had.
Infinite Wealth will occasionally tell you what level you should be at to tackle a quest, but there’s no such levelgating for weapon upgrades that I’m aware of. As such, nothing is stopping me from using free upgrade materials to be a level 10 Ichiban with a level 40 bat. Infinite Wealth isn’t a super challenging RPG even if you’re not flush with Ultimate Edition bonuses, so I’ve had to be careful about accidentally making myself overpowered. It’s actually led to an opposite problem where I wait too long to upgrade my stuff and get destroyed.
The worst casualties of the Ultimate Edition are the Sujimon and Dondoku Island minigames. These are genuinely great riffs on Pokémon and Animal Crossing with Yakuza humor, but they lose a lot of their impact if you have the “Sujimon & Resort Bundle.”
(Image credit: Sega)
Standard edition players ease into Sujimon collecting by picking a starter. With the Ultimate Edition, however, I started with a full stock of Legendary Sujimon starring characters from past Yakuza games that are immediately better than anything I can catch on the streets of Honolulu. It’s even worse on Dondoku Island, where I was taught to chop down trees and break rocks to craft resort amenities before realizing my account came pre-stocked with hundreds of every crafting material on the island. This one really ticked me off, because it’s one of the only boosters that’s applied automatically rather than being activated manually.
That’s not to say I’ve completely resisted my embarrassment of riches. I’ve used a good chunk of those free upgrade materials at this point (and lots of ones I earned myself, too) and cashed in a few health items in tough battles. I just wish there was a way to get rid of the stuff I don’t want, like the XP boosters and personality buffs, so I don’t feel like I’m playing a version of the game with cheats pre-installed. It’s weird how much of the “bonus” DLC is just shortcuts to play the game less.
As for the cosmetics—they’re fine. I don’t care to dress Ichiban up in Kiryu’s Yakuza 0 outfit or make Chitose wear a golden bikini, so I’ve kept everyone in their default outfits that already look great. There is so much going on in the standard Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth experience that I’m confident you’re not missing out by skipping on Deluxe and Ultimate. In fact, I’m jealous that everyone else got a more intentional, less confusing progression path than I did.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706316740_I-have-Like-a-Dragon-Infinite-Wealths-110-Ultimate-Edition.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-27 00:19:542024-01-27 00:19:54I have Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s $110 Ultimate Edition, and it’s making the game less fun
Sometimes a game will make its way into the public spotlight not because it’s good, inventive, or bad—but simply because it is. It captures a specific moment and gets a bunch of attention at a specific point of time. A small moon that casts a big shadow, like a solar eclipse. Palworld is one of those games.
Arriving at the height of anti-Pokémon sentiment—or at least the mirage of such, I don’t play Pokémon, and I know that ‘people complaining online’ is different from reality—Palworld has ticked some specific boxes which I think have launched it into the stratosphere.
It’s a somewhat-edgy, competent survival game with a core concept just dumb enough to be streamable. I don’t mean ‘dumb’ as an insult there—in fact it’s a compliment. I can pretend that I’m some bastion of fine taste all I like, but even I cannot deny the allure of blowing bad guys up with a chicken’s explosive eggs.
As PC Gamer’s own Rich Stanton puts it, it’s a game that promotes “sheer fun”. But depending on who you ask that’s either all games are required to be—or paying deference to an antichrist of gaming. One which tolls the bell for a game-pocalypse of AI-generated slop. I’m exaggerating of course, but I feel the need to take a deep breath and say: I don’t think Palworld itself is worth the energy, for good or for ill.
The AI/Plagiarism thing
(Image credit: Pocketpair)
First up, let’s look at the AI-generated Cufant in the room. Palworld is a derivative game from a design perspective and a visual one. Design-wise, it’s a base building survival crafting game, and we all know how many of those there are. Visually there’s the whole Pokémon thing.
To be perfectly clear: I do think it matters whether or not Palworld uses AI, and to what extent. Considering the CEO of Pocketpair’s past fascination with the tech, it’s a totally understandable gut reaction. It’s one I’ve even shared to an extent. At present though it’s just that—a gut reaction. A feeling. A vibe.
I think the fear of what Palworld might represent is linked to a wider industry context. 2023 was a year of catastrophic layoffs, and 2024 has already had a rotten start with huge, sweeping reductions at Blizzard and Riot. None of these fears of AI or asset-flips are unreasonable, but I can’t help but question whether this particular $30 early access game is the big fish to fry.
(Image credit: Pocketpair)
Does Palworld actually represent a corporate boot currently kicking talent out of the industry in favour of machine learning? I don’t know if it does. For starters, it’s an independent studio. Though its past and future projects are cynical—Craftopia, AI: Art Impostor, and the upcoming totally-not-Hollow Knight Metroidvania Never Grave: The Witch and the Curse. In a way, Pocketpair mimics corporate trend-chasing to the same extent with it mimics design elements in its games. That is to say: A lot.
But does artistic integrity matter when the game is decent fun? Well yes, but also no. I’m being very helpful today.
If it’s true that Palworld used AI, you could also argue that its success will set an example that creates dangerous industry trends. But I feel like those trends are already—to the detriment of everybody—potentially happening at much larger studios, with a far bigger say in what becomes the normalised industry standard.
Palworld’s distinctly bootleg vibes also call into question its artistic integrity. To be clear, I do think the game has taken—let’s call it ‘hefty inspiration’—from existing Pokémon designs, and while I don’t think it’s some innocent homage, I do think Palworld’s characters are substantially different enough to just be uncomfortably similar or parody, rather than overt plagiarism.
But does artistic integrity matter when the game is decent fun? Well yes, but also no. I’m being very helpful today.
Games shouldn’t ‘just be fun’, but it’s fine if they are
(Image credit: Pocketpair)
I have never agreed with the idea that games are ‘”just fun”, and that’s all that matters. For starters, it’s false. Plenty of games that create unpleasant, unsettling, and frustrating experiences are valuable. Games that are “just fun” are also valuable and enjoyable, but simple joys aren’t the only metric.
The idea that a game’s “fun” is all that matters is something utterly criminal to me—it’s a boring way to think about something you like. We should think about games in lots of different ways, and we should view them through lots of different critical angles. Because it’s interesting, and it’s what the medium deserves.
The idea that a game’s “fun” is all that matters is something utterly criminal to me—it’s a boring way to think about something you like.
Palworld may be fun to play, but it’s also a valid and valuable critique to point out the ways in which it feels lab-grown. It isn’t wrong to say that Palworld feels like a game designed in a meeting, that it was created to catch the updraft it did with a surgical precision. Even if none of those things will stop people, myself included, from enjoying it for a spell.
On the other hand, the fact people are playing and enjoying Palworld isn’t some great sign that games are in decline either. Music, films, and books have always had cynical works engineered for mass appeal, but none of those mediums are devoid of big-A art.
(Image credit: Pocketpair)
On a third, secret hand that I have hidden under my coat—fatcat corporate machines can crush budding artists and snuff out incredible works in the name of mass appeal, and that’s something to be wary of. It does, unfortunately, cost money to create and market just about anything, and smaller studios can’t rely on the luck of the draw that thrust Palworld into the spotlight.
Despite me and my three mutant hands, I don’t think Palworld’s success is that complicated. It should surprise nobody, and the idea that it’s a “bad game” because of its engineered appeal strikes me as strange. Is it really a sign of moral decay that people like sipping on some mindless sludge from time to time?
Is it really a sign of moral decay that people like sipping on some mindless sludge from time to time?
I do get it, though. It stings to watch great works fall into the drain of obscurity, especially when the current soylent slurry of the month is yet another survival game. But Palworld itself didn’t start that particular fire—it was simply shunted centre-stage by both a willingness to do the popular thing and a heavy dose of luck. As such, I don’t know if Palworld is the hill anyone should die on.
Ultimately, walking into an ongoing discourse and saying: ‘Hey, maybe the discourse itself is bad?’ won’t stop anybody, buzzkills aren’t popular. But Palworld is the first game in a while where the anger feels aimed at a target simply because the target is there.
Discourse, dat-course
(Image credit: Pocketpair)
Palworld—whether these criticisms are true or not—has become the temporary symbol of AI-generated slop, corporate trend-chasing, and bootleg knock-off derivatives all at once. And this may well all be unfair and unfounded.
But in a fantasy world where Pocketpair did do all that, and combusts to the strong arm of justice, what did we actually accomplish—returning a chunk of Nintendo’s market back to the fold? What did we prove, that you’ll only get in trouble for using AI if you’re small enough to be impacted by public opinion?
I’ll grab a pitchfork with the rest of you in the unlikely scenario that all these ‘maybes’ turn into one big great ‘definitely’. But I’ll have a bitter taste in my mouth—a feeling that the only reason we found any proof at all is because Pocketpair wasn’t experienced or rich enough to play the game it needed to play.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706280721_Palworld-isnt-good-enough—or-bad-enough—to-warrant-us-losing-our.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-26 14:34:132024-01-26 14:34:13Palworld isn’t good enough—or bad enough—to warrant us losing our collective minds over it
There’s a hint for today’s Wordle waiting for you just below if you need to give a floundering game a bit of direction. You can also find plenty of helpful tips and tricks if you’re doing fine but would just like to make sure you’re getting the most out of every guess. Need something a little stronger? No problem. The answer to the January 26 (951) Wordle is only a quick click away.
Today’s puzzle had me a bit lost in the first half, the yellows and greens I could find not really giving me enough to form a clear path forward. The second half technically went much better—I did find the answer in time, thank goodness—but I do wish it hadn’t taken me until the final row to uncover today’s Wordle answer.
Today’s Wordle hint
(Image credit: Josh Wardle)
Wordle today: A hint for Friday, January 26
Someone who behaved like today’s answer would act as though they were above the petty concerns of others, taking on a distant and reserved air.
Is there a double letter in Wordle today?
Yes, a letter is repeated in today’s puzzle.
Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day
A good starting word can be the difference between victory and defeat with the daily puzzle, but once you’ve got the basics, it’s much easier to nail down those Wordle wins. And as there’s nothing quite like a small victory to set you up for the rest of the day, here are a few tips to help set you on the right path:
A good opening guess should contain a mix of unique consonants and vowels.
Narrow down the pool of letters quickly with a tactical second guess.
Watch out for letters appearing more than once in the answer.
There’s no racing against the clock with Wordle so you don’t need to rush for the answer. Treating the game like a casual newspaper crossword can be a good tactic; that way, you can come back to it later if you’re coming up blank. Stepping away for a while might mean the difference between a win and a line of grey squares.
Today’s Wordle answer
(Image credit: Future)
What is today’s Wordle answer?
Let’s save your win streak. The answer to the January 26 (951) Wordle is ALOOF.
Previous Wordle answers
The last 10 Wordle answers
Past Wordle answers can give you some excellent ideas for fun starting words that keep your daily puzzle-solving fresh. They are also a good way to eliminate guesses for today’s Wordle, as the answer is unlikely to be repeated.
Here are some recent Wordle answers:
January 25: BLOCK
January 24: RELIC
January 23: STILL
January 22: TWEAK
January 21: NORTH
January 20: LARGE
January 19: THING
January 18: STOLE
January 17: COURT
January 16: BLOND
Learn more about Wordle
(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)
Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and you’ll need to work out which secret five-letter word is hiding inside them to keep up your winning streak.
You should start with a strong word like ARISE, or any other word that contains a good mix of common consonants and multiple vowels. You’ll also want to avoid starting words with repeating letters, as you’re wasting the chance to potentially eliminate or confirm an extra letter. Once you hit Enter, you’ll see which ones you’ve got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn’t in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you’ve got the right letter in the right spot.
Your second guess should compliment the starting word, using another “good” word to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn’t present in today’s answer. With a bit of luck, you should have some coloured squares to work with and set you on the right path.
After that, it’s just a case of using what you’ve learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there’s an E). Don’t forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS).
If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips, and if you’d like to find out which words have already been used you can scroll to the relevant section above.
Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle, as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle, refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn’t long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures. Surely it’s only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706244659_Wordle-today-Hint-and-answer-951-for-Friday-January-26.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-26 04:06:442024-01-26 04:06:44Wordle today: Hint and answer #951 for Friday, January 26
Yeah, I know, there have already been a couple big co-op survival games released in just the past week, the record-smashing monster-managing Palworld and sprawling fantasy RPG Enshrouded.
But there’s always room for one more, isn’t there?
This one isn’t taking its cues from Pokémon or using Valheim and Zelda as an inspiration: co-op survival game Abiotic Factor is more like a mad science mash-up of the original Half-Life and Lethal Company. It looks delightful, and ahead of its May 2 release date there’s a new demo on Steam you can play right now.
As part of a group of labcoated science eggheads, you’re working in a sprawling underground blacksite (think Black Mesa or SCP Foundation) when the thing that always happens suddenly happens. A science experiment goes terribly wrong and horrifying alien monsters from other dimensions invade our world. This time, you (and up to six players total) are not the heroic Gordon Freeman but one of the hapless nerds left behind to deal with the mess.
On the bright side, who better to start taking things apart and crafting them into useful sci-fi gizmos, gadgets, and weapons than the brainiest people on the planet? You can choose a specialty for your scientist in disciplines from genetics to physics to engineering, then start stripping the facility of computers and circuit boards to craft gravity guns, laser cannons, and more. You’ve gotta eat, too, so raid vending machines, build cooking stations, and… well, alien meat is still meat? Dig in. Just cook it thoroughly.
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(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
(Image credit: Deep Field Games)
You’ll need the nourishment because you’ll be facing all sorts of enemies from interdimensional horrors to automated defenses to meathead soldiers arriving to cleanse the place with fire. You won’t be escaping the facility so you’ll need to build an operation full of crafting stations and protected by traps. There are all sorts of vehicles to fix up and commandeer too, from forklifts to SUVs, and naturally, teleporters.
The Abiotic Factor demo is out now and will last until the end of Steam Next Fest on February 12.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/This-co-op-survival-game-looks-like-a-mad-scientists-mashup.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-25 18:07:002024-01-25 18:07:00This co-op survival game looks like a mad scientist’s mashup of Lethal Company and Half-Life—and there’s a demo out now
Is viral survival game sensation Palworld a fair parody of Pokémon or an act of plagiarism, potentially incorporating AI-generated fakémon? This is the argument that’s consumed social media since Palworld’s release, and while it seems like everyone has weighed in on the topic, The Pokémon Company itself maintained a dignified silence. Until now.
In a statement you can read on its official corporate website in both Japanese and English, The Pokémon Company has addressed “Other Companies’ Games” in a way that is clearly referring to Palworld. Here’s the statement in full.
“We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon. We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future.”
The stance basically reads as, “We’re going to take a long hard look at all the stuff you’ve been doing under this rock and if we don’t like it we’re going to crush you,” which sure is a weird one to follow with, “We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world”. What is essentially a legal threat flipping to a paternal promise is as jarring a juxtaposition as, say, giving guns to Pokémon.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706172441_The-Pokemon-Company-releases-a-statement-about-Palworld-says-it.png382679Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-25 04:33:202024-01-25 04:33:20The Pokémon Company releases a statement about Palworld, says it intends to ‘investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon’
Only five days post-launch, Palworld has sold over seven million copies and become the second game ever to log over two million concurrent players on Steam. Its unexpectedly absurd level of success has led to much speculation over the source of its appeal—as well as some condemnation—but the simple notion that it’s “Pokémon with guns” must be at least part of the answer.
Finding someone to design Palworld’s firearms was apparently a big challenge for Japanese developer Pocketpair, though.
“Japan makes a ridiculous amount of RPGs,” said Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe in a lengthy blog post last week (translated from Japanese). “But how many Japanese-made shooters are there? The only one that comes to mind is Resident Evil, and that didn’t have guns as the main focus. I decided that Palworld would be a shooter at the very beginning of the project because those are the most popular games globally.”
There are other Japanese-developed shooters out there—you could count Splatoon and the Earth Defense Force games, for example—but it’s certainly not the most popular genre to develop in Japan, and Mizobe said it wasn’t easy to find a developer with experience in the genre.
“We wanted someone experienced in FPS/TPS game production. If we couldn’t find someone in Japan, we’d have no choice but to hire someone from abroad—but none of us are fluent in English, which would make things tough.”
A miracle occurred when, while browsing Twitter, Mizobe stumbled upon an anonymous account filled with gun-reloading animations (see the video below for an example). After exchanging messages, it was revealed that the mystery artist was a 20-year-old part-time convenience store employee from Hokkaido with a middle school diploma and zero industry experience.
The artist had taught himself how to animate entirely by watching YouTube videos. He had also become near-fluent in English by playing FPS games, according to Mizobe.
“Sure, the team could have learned how to do these animations given time. But I wanted someone working on Palworld to be obsessed with guns. I’m so glad that I met him.”
Pocketpair invited the artist to join the company full-time, and found him housing in Tokyo—an offer that the artist wasn’t expecting, Mizobe says.
“A small, unknown game studio asking a junior high school graduate with no experience to quit his convenience store job and move to the capital as a full-time employee? I would have thought it was a scam, too.”
Palworld is technically in early access, which it’s easy to forget given how successful and controversial it’s already been, and its development roadmap includes PvP, raid bosses, and more.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706136384_Palworld-struggled-to-find-a-dev-with-shooter-experience-in.jpg6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-24 22:27:002024-01-24 22:27:00Palworld struggled to find a dev with shooter experience in Japan before stumbling on a self-taught hobbyist who worked at a convenience store
It was only the other day we reported how HP has been slapped with a lawsuit in response to measures that disable its printers when fitted with a third-party ink cartridge. Now the company’s CEO, Enrique Lores, says HP wants to “make printing a subscription.” Nice. Not.
It’s well known that printers are routinely sold at a loss, with the real revenues made from selling replacement ink cartridges. The move to a subscription model, as reported by Ars Technica, is just another attempt at maximising that profit stream.
“This is something we announced a few years ago that our goal was to reduce the number of what we call unprofitable customers. Because every time a customer buys a printer, it’s an investment for us. We’re investing in that customer, and if this customer doesn’t print enough or doesn’t use our supplies, it’s a bad investment,” Lores says, turning “selling at a loss” into a neat “investment” euphemism.
HP’s CFO Marie Myers has also expanded on the subscription approach, noting that the company’s existing cartridge subscription service, known as Instant Ink, can deliver a “20% uplift on the value of that customer because you’re locking that person” in.
In 2023, HP made over $3 billion in profits from its printer business. So, a 20% uplift implies many hundreds of millions of dollars in added profits.
Needless to say, forcing printer users over to a subscription model would likely require that the machines rejected third party cartridges to make any sense. So, it’s easy to see how HP’s Dynamic Security feature, which rejects non-HP cartridges when implemented, is laying the ground work for a subscription model.
Moreover, any court decision pertaining to existing printers, which are purchased by consumers, probably won’t apply to printers that may be supplied for free alongside a subscription contract for the ink, perhaps similar to those associated with mobile phones and network charges.
HP has also previously justified the Dynamic Security feature on the basis of security, claiming that third party cartridges can be infected with viruses. While digital security experts have doubted the veracity of that claim, in any case it doesn’t seem consistent with, say, HP allowing USB devices to connect to its laptops, an interface that surely offers more opportunity for viruses and malware to access critical hardware than a printer cartridge.
But hey ho, such is the murky business of inkjet printers. Oh, and one more issue to note. Not all HP printers implement Dynamic Security. However, HP has said those that currently omit the feature may be updated in future. So, buying an HP printer today that is Dynamic Security-free is no guarantee it will stay that way in future.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706100296_Our-long-term-objective-is-to-make-printing-a-subscription-says.jpeg450832Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-24 12:35:012024-01-24 12:35:01‘Our long-term objective is to make printing a subscription’ says HP CEO gunning for 2024’s Worst Person of the Year award
Discovering just how many pacifist choices you could make in the original Fallout was a delight, because not only were you allowed to talk or sneak your way out of problems, but the game recognized you were doing that and rewarded you for it. Subsequent RPGs and immersive sims sprinkled peaceful options in, but an entirely pacifist playthrough often ends up being a masochistic challenge that feels more like you’re breaking the game than playing it. Just have a look how much of a hassle it is beating The Outer Worlds as a pacifist.
Given that Avowed is drawing inspiration from Vermintide’s best-in-class first-person combat, it’s no surprise that Obsidian’s upcoming RPG won’t let you go 100% nonviolent. Speaking to PC Gamer this week, game director Carrie Patel said, “This isn’t a game where you’re gonna have a pure pacifist run.”
That doesn’t mean spilling blood will be the only way to clear your questlog, however. You’ll still be able to talk your way out of some problems, like you could in Pillars of Eternity. “Players can expect to see solutions and opportunities to use dialogue, maybe take advantage of reactivity with regards to characters they might have helped or met earlier in,” Patel went on, mentioning there will be “some stealth solutions,” but players should expect a “focus on combat.”
During development of The Outer Worlds, Obsidian experimented with adding a knockout gun to help facilitate less murdery playstyles, but ended up scrapping it because, as Tim Cain said in NoClip’s documentary, “it was causing a lot of confusion.” Players weren’t sure how long enemies would stay unconscious for, and what does it mean to knock out a robot anyway? Plus, when bounties task you with collecting people’s fingers, should you be able to knock them out and take them?
Though Avowed won’t let you go full Gandhi, it sounds like giving you freedom in how it lets you explore and approach problems is one of Obsidian’s aims. “We’re not planning on one specific linear path that players are going to take through that world,” Patel said. “So we’re trying to account for the various places they could be, and the various points of interest they might find and what they might see from there.”
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706064212_Obsidians-next-RPG-Avowed-wont-have-the-option-to-do.jpg5621000Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-24 01:37:182024-01-24 01:37:18Obsidian’s next RPG Avowed won’t have the option to do ‘a pure pacifist run’
Obsidian (the studio behind Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, and The Outer Worlds) released an extended gameplay trailer diving into its first-person RPG Avowed last week. PC Gamer’s own Ted Litchfield sat down with both the game’s director Carrie Patel and the gameplay director Gabe Paramo to talk shop.
First-person melee combat is hard to design. In any third-person action game, you have all kinds of tools at your disposal—bespoke animations, the situational awareness of bird’s-eye view, cool flips—things that are much harder to execute on when you’re in your protagonist’s skull. Especially the cool flips thing, that’ll just get you motion sick.
Luckily, Obsidian is looking to a dev studio that’s basically perfected it over the years: Fatshark, developer of Warhammer’s Vermintide and 40k’s Darktide.
“Our goal was to try to make it feel visceral, right?” Paramo explains. “To make the sense of hitting [enemies] feel impactful … like Vermintide. We’re trying to get our inspiration from there, just that masterclass in having a sense of hitting and impact.”
Honestly, fair play. If you want a great example of meaty first-person blade swinging, then both Vermintide and Darktide are great places to look. Fatshark took Left 4 Dead’s formula of mowing down zombies with a frying pan and expanded on it—adding complex systems that sent enemies stumbling and ragdolling in certain directions based on both the weapon type and the angle of attack (as per this excellent video by Polygon’s Patrick Gill).
“I’m definitely really proud of what the gameplay team has done … even our melee combat is feeling fantastic,” says Patel. “I really do feel like it’s going to stand head and shoulders above when it comes to fantasy first-person action RPG melee combat.”
Honestly, I’m pretty stoked about this all on paper. It’s been a while since we’ve had a non-horde shooter game with properly meaty first-person combat—where are our Zeno Clashes? Our Dark Messiah of Might and Magic games? Likely locked behind the fact that first-person brawling’s a pain in the rear to design, but still—here’s hoping Obsidian pulls it off.
https://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/1706028119_Obsidians-next-big-RPG-Avowed-is-looking-to-Vermintides-masterclass.png6751200Carlos Pachecohttps://gamingarmyunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Website-Logo-300x74.pngCarlos Pacheco2024-01-23 15:53:592024-01-23 15:53:59Obsidian’s next big RPG Avowed is looking to Vermintide’s ‘masterclass in having a sense of hitting and impact’ to make its first-person sword-swinging feel weighty
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