Digital Foundry

Geobros · May 16, 2020

Ion Fury pushes the ancient Build engine - powering classics like Duke Nukem 3D - to its very limits, but fundamentally, how difficult can a port to current-gen consoles be? The answer turns out to be more complex than you might think. John Linnemans checks out the PS4, Xbox One and Switch versions of the game, addresses the frame-rate concerns and goes in-depth on the surprisingly challenging process of delivering these console conversions.

raketenrolf · May 16, 2020

Deadzones. One of the things that devs still can't get right most of the time after all these years. I already thought the game won't play as well because of this (also the speed of the game) on consoles. I also don't understand why a feature (gyro) makes in into one console (Switch) but not the other (PS4).

Makes me more excited to see the breakdowns/faceoffs of Wrath and Dusk when they come out.

Messofanego · May 16, 2020

The bigotry of the devs and in the game isn't brought up by Digital Foundry, btw. Sure, maybe they didn't know when they filmed this. But a disclaimer or content warning is not even in the description box after they were made aware of the bigotry in the other thread, maybe to inform the audience (who do care about bigotry and are personally affected) who might want to know before purchasing the game.

Night Hunter · May 16, 2020

Messofanego said:
The bigotry of the devs and in the game isn't brought up by Digital Foundry, btw. Sure, maybe they didn't know when they filmed this. But a disclaimer or content warning is not even in the description box after they were made aware of the bigotry in the other thread, maybe to inform the audience (who do care about bigotry and are personally affected) who might want to know before purchasing the game.

Thanks, I had something about this game in the back of my head, didn't know what exactly though. Just knew it was a bad memory. So thanks for bringing it up.

Deleted member 3010 · May 16, 2020

I just ordered the Switch physical version on 3DRealm's website.

Good to know about the Contra Code unlocking the framerate on Switch, very good to know, thanks John!

Acidote · May 16, 2020

Fantastic video once again by Dark1x . I find specially interesting the videos on all these new retro-style games.

Juan · May 16, 2020

I've tested the Konami code to switch to the 60fps mode on Switch, it works quite well! Doesn't change the game too much, but it's nice to have the choice.

That said, am I the only one having issue with the gyro on Switch? It's not really smooth like can be DOOM 2016 or Fortnite on Switch, and it only registers straight motion, and not small adjustments. I'm playing without gyro because it doesn't work very well, but haven't seen complain about it on the internet, so maybe I'm the only one? :/

Rei dos Vermes · May 16, 2020

Another detailed and well-produced analysis by John Linneman! Ion Fury is a fantastic retro FPS, BTW. I couldn't recommend it more.

Zor · May 16, 2020

Messofanego said:
The bigotry of the devs and in the game isn't brought up by Digital Foundry, btw. Sure, maybe they didn't know when they filmed this. But a disclaimer or content warning is not even in the description box after they were made aware of the bigotry in the other thread, maybe to inform the audience (who do care about bigotry and are personally affected) who might want to know before purchasing the game.

That... is a REAL shame. John said he's eager to check in with the game after the update goes live addressing the stutter, so I truly hope he actually acknowledges this in the new video now that he's aware of this stuff.

RoboitoAM · May 16, 2020

Looking forward to this video, I keep meaning to buy Ion Fury but have been busy with school and work. I'll probably get it this Steam sale and enjoy it, since I've enjoyed most of the other 90s throwback FPS recently.

MrH · May 16, 2020

Zor said:
That... is a REAL shame. John said he's eager to check in with the game after the update goes live addressing the stutter, so I truly hope he actually acknowledges this in the new video now that he's aware of this stuff.

It's not really his job though is it? He's a tech reviewer.

Zor · May 16, 2020

MrH said:
It's not really his job though is it? He's a tech reviewer.

It's not his job to be decent and arm people who, just like him in the other thread, might have somehow missed this information and may have preferred to know it beforehand in a video like this that may encourage them to check the game out? Okay.

Onebadlion · May 16, 2020

Zor said:
It's not his job to be decent and arm people who, just like him in the other thread, might have somehow missed this information and may have preferred to know it beforehand in a video like this that may encourage them to check the game out? Okay.

Well, no. It's not. He's looking at the game from a tech perspective. It's not a review or buyers guide.

MrH · May 16, 2020

Onebadlion said:
Well, no. It's not. He's looking at the game from a tech perspective. It's not a review or buyers guide.

Exactly. Jim Sterling would be more appropriate to talk about such issues, for example.

Zor · May 16, 2020

Onebadlion said:
Well, no. It's not. He's looking at the game from a tech perspective. It's not a review or buyers guide.

It's literally a video showing you how the game performs on platforms people might be interested in purchasing it on. Do you honestly think everybody watching this is simply doing so because they're interested in how the Build Engine runs on modern consoles? Of course people will decide a purchase after watching something like this. It's just being responsible. That's all there is to it.

Zipzoom · May 16, 2020

Messofanego said:
The bigotry of the devs and in the game isn't brought up by Digital Foundry, btw. Sure, maybe they didn't know when they filmed this. But a disclaimer or content warning is not even in the description box after they were made aware of the bigotry in the other thread, maybe to inform the audience (who do care about bigotry and are personally affected) who might want to know before purchasing the game.

yeah, disappointing.

Deleted member 3010 · May 16, 2020

Zor said:
It's not his job to be decent and arm people who, just like him in the other thread, might have somehow missed this information and may have preferred to know it beforehand in a video like this that may encourage them to check the game out? Okay.

His job is to analyze the game, its engine and its technical behavior between each of the consoles, not the parts of the dev team's bigotry.

The attacks against John are useless and only will drive away a great contributor to the community.

medyej · May 16, 2020

The stuff with the bigotry by the devs came out so long ago now and we know that dark is aware of it that if it's not addressed in the video, it's because he doesn't want to.

Which is his decision, but let's at least be honest about it.

newmoneytrash · May 16, 2020

Onebadlion said:
Well, no. It's not. He's looking at the game from a tech perspective. It's not a review or buyers guide.

tech videos are absolutely buyers guides

Zor · May 16, 2020

Seik said:
The attacks against John are useless and only will drive away a great contributor to the community.

I'm attacking no-one, please stop with the hyperbole. Implying someone informing the public about the troubled history of this game as being decent is not raising pitchforks or mud-slinging.

Last Jon Standing · May 16, 2020

MrH said:
It's not really his job though is it? He's a tech reviewer.

Yeah, I keep trying to remember if DF ever addressed that sort of content in their videos, whether good or bad, and I honestly can't say they ever did. It's a channel heavily focused on technology, and I struggle to think how John should approach the subject. Would a "While I do love the game, I do not support the developer's stances on the LGBT+ community, and people interested in buying this game should be aware of some offensive content in it. Follow the link in the description to get the full story" suffice?

Nerdkiller · May 16, 2020

You don't have to input the Konami Code each time you boot up the Switch version to unlock the frame rate, do you?

Messofanego said:
The bigotry of the devs and in the game isn't brought up by Digital Foundry, btw. Sure, maybe they didn't know when they filmed this. But a disclaimer or content warning is not even in the description box after they were made aware of the bigotry in the other thread, maybe to inform the audience (who do care about bigotry and are personally affected) who might want to know before purchasing the game.

There's no bad stuff coming from the porting team, is there? Since John is focusing predominantly on the challenges of porting an ancient engine to consoles that those developers were tasked with, and not the Ion Fury's original devs. That said, it is tone deaf of them to not include a disclaimer at the beginning of the video addressing the controversy behind the original devs.

Onebadlion · May 16, 2020

newmoneytrash said:
tech videos are absolutely buyers guides

Solely from a tech perspective though. That's the key point.

Springy · May 16, 2020

Seik said:
The attacks against John are useless and only will drive away a great contributor to the community.

"Attacks"

MrH · May 16, 2020

Seik said:
His job is to analyze the game, its engine and its technical behavior between each of the consoles, not the parts of the dev team's bigotry.

The attacks against John are useless and only will drive away a great contributor to the community.

If you check the other thread he has already been run out of the forum, which is a damn shame.

newmoneytrash · May 16, 2020

Onebadlion said:
Solely from a tech perspective though. That's the key point.

but it's still the tech of pretty open bigots. there is value in a disclaimer in a video like this

rsfour · May 16, 2020

Should've been mentioned.

newmoneytrash said:
but it's still the tech of pretty open bigots. there is value in a disclaimer in a video like this

Yup.

Zor · May 16, 2020

Last Jon Standing said:
Would a "While I do love the game, I do not support the developer's stances on the LGBT+ community, and people interested in buying this game should be aware of some offensive content in it. Follow the link in the description to get the full story" suffice?

I mean... that's it, really. That's all it need be.

TaySan · May 16, 2020

I mean he still could have said something in the description that he wasn't aware of the bigotry and that he does not endorse these views. I'm kinda disappointed, but i hope he will take this into consideration when covering any of their future games. Dark is a good guy and i love their content.

Deleted member 3010 · May 16, 2020

Zor said:
I'm attacking no-one, please stop with the hyperbole. Implying someone informing the public about the troubled history of this game as being decent is not raising pitchforks or mud-slinging.

You literally implied that he's not a decent person and purposefully disinform people so that they check out a video game for which parts of the authors hold bigotted views.

If that's not an attack, tell me what this is.

Dark1x · May 16, 2020

grandwizorb said:
The stuff with the bigotry by the devs came out so long ago now and we know that dark is aware of it that if it's not addressed in the video, it's because he doesn't want to.

Which is his decision, but let's at least be honest about it.

No. The video was done and finished by that point. Beyond that, this is about General Arcade - the porting company. This is the final video on this game.

sirap · May 16, 2020

Messofanego said:
The bigotry of the devs and in the game isn't brought up by Digital Foundry, btw. Sure, maybe they didn't know when they filmed this. But a disclaimer or content warning is not even in the description box after they were made aware of the bigotry in the other thread, maybe to inform the audience (who do care about bigotry and are personally affected) who might want to know before purchasing the game.

Thanks for the heads up. I can't believe I forgot about that shit and I almost bought the game.

Deleted member 3010 · May 16, 2020

MrH said:
If you check the other thread he has already been run out of the forum, which is a damn shame.

Just saw it, fuck. Same shit happened last year when the game came out.

Dark1x said:
No. The video was done and finished by that point. Beyond that, this is about General Arcade - the porting company. This is the final video on this game.

Thanks for clarifying.

medyej · May 16, 2020

Can we stop treating DF with kids gloves please just because they post here? This thread and the last people have used words like shaming and attack to describe literally 2 or 3 posts that said they were disappointed.

You realize it just comes off as trying to silence criticism right since it's defending someone from the mildest possible language you could get on this forum. It becomes clear you just don't want people talking about this.

Zor · May 16, 2020

Seik said:
You literally implied that he's not a decent person and purposefully disinform people so that they check out a video game for which parts of the authors hold bigotted views.

I said it was a shame he couldn't put something in this video but hopefully the next one will contain something. Where am I accusing him of "disinformation?

Zor · May 16, 2020

MrH said:
If you check the other thread he has already been run out of the forum, which is a damn shame.

He literally JUST posted in this thread.

newmoneytrash · May 16, 2020

grandwizorb said:
Can we stop treating DF with kids gloves please just because they post here? This thread and the last people have used words like shaming and attack to describe literally 2 or 3 posts that said they were disappointed.

You realize it just comes off as trying to silence criticism right since it's defending someone from the mildest possible language you could get on this forum. It becomes clear you just don't want people talking about this.

yeah, this forum has a pretty bad double standard when it comes to people who post here or who are known to read posts

ElNerdo · May 16, 2020

MrH said:
If you check the other thread he has already been run out of the forum, which is a damn shame.

He wasn't "run out of the forum". Geez.

He didn't know about the developer's viewpoints and what they believe in. When he looked into it, he didn't know what to do.

People told him that since he put a lot of work into the video, that he should still upload it. The only thing people requested is to put some sort of disclaimer. That's all.

People looking to buy games will look at reviews and look at videos talking about the tech to see how it performs.

He can most definitely still love the game and the tech that powers it. No one is saying he can't.

The issue was that people should know that while the game is great from a tech standpoint, the developers shouldn't be profiting from said game.

MrH · May 16, 2020

Zor said:
He literally JUST posted in this thread.

True, he felt the need to defend himself, but from reading the other thread he's clearly going to be taking a backseat in the future, he said so himself.

llLeonhart · May 16, 2020

Messofanego said:
The bigotry of the devs and in the game isn't brought up by Digital Foundry, btw. Sure, maybe they didn't know when they filmed this. But a disclaimer or content warning is not even in the description box after they were made aware of the bigotry in the other thread, maybe to inform the audience (who do care about bigotry and are personally affected) who might want to know before purchasing the game.

Their job is not politics, leave them be.

They criticize games, not people.

BTW, I don't agree with the developers, or their stupid opinions, that being said, I don't think we should enforce everyone to adopt our politics or view of political/social affairs. Even if Digital foundry doesn't care about it, they should not be forced to. Not criticizing something does not necessarily mean they endorse it.

TaySan · May 16, 2020

grandwizorb said:
Can we stop treating DF with kids gloves please just because they post here? This thread and the last people have used words like shaming and attack to describe literally 2 or 3 posts that said they were disappointed.

You realize it just comes off as trying to silence criticism right since it's defending someone from the mildest possible language you could get on this forum. It becomes clear you just don't want people talking about this.

This! I love Dark and Digital Foundry, but that doesn't mean they are immune from criticism.

Deleted member 3010 · May 16, 2020

I think my love for old school FPSs and DF may cloud the better of my judgement, so I'll play it wise and steer out.

Cheers.

newmoneytrash · May 16, 2020

Dark1x said:
No. The video was done and finished by that point. Beyond that, this is about General Arcade - the porting company. This is the final video on this game.

you can edit youtube descriptions. this is a choice

Zor · May 16, 2020

Seik said:
...so I'll play it wise and steer out.

Cheers.

Same.

medyej · May 16, 2020

Dark1x said:
No. The video was done and finished by that point. Beyond that, this is about General Arcade - the porting company. This is the final video on this game.

Ok but you also used the game in your best of last year video, so that's two videos you've made covering the game now past the point we know the developers are bigots and you didn't address it in either of them.

Also whether it's about the porting company or not it's still promoting the game and purchases of it are going to put money into the pockets of bigots, and you have to know that. People should know who they are supporting with this game.

Deleted member 56306 · May 16, 2020

llLeonhart said:
Their job is not politics, leave them be.

They criticize games, not people.

BTW, I don't agree with the developers, or their stupid opinions, that being said, I don't think we should enforce everyone to adopt our politics or view of political/social affairs. Even if Digital foundry doesn't care about it, they should not be forced to. Not criticizing something does not necessarily mean they endorse it.

It's always just "politics" for you folks lmao.

ElNerdo · May 16, 2020

grandwizorb said:
Ok but you also used the game in your best of last year video, so that's two videos you've made covering the game now past the point we know the developers are bigots and you didn't address it in either of them.

Also whether it's about the porting company or not it's still promoting the game and purchases of it are going to put money into the pockets of bigots, and you have to know that. People should know who they are supporting with this game.

He just found out about their viewpoints not that long ago. Chill.

Decarb · May 16, 2020

llLeonhart said:
Their job is not politics, leave them be.

They criticize games, not people.

BTW, I don't agree with the developers, or their stupid opinions, that being said, I don't think we should enforce everyone to adopt our politics or view of political/social affairs. Even if Digital foundry doesn't care about it, they should not be forced to. Not criticizing something does not necessarily mean they endorse it.

Being a bigot, sexist homophobe is not fucking "politics".

scitek · May 16, 2020

grandwizorb said:
Can we stop treating DF with kids gloves please just because they post here? This thread and the last people have used words like shaming and attack to describe literally 2 or 3 posts that said they were disappointed.

You realize it just comes off as trying to silence criticism right since it's defending someone from the mildest possible language you could get on this forum. It becomes clear you just don't want people talking about this.

What kind of language would you suggest be used?

MrS · May 16, 2020

Great video Dark1x. Will wait for next weeks patch before booting it up on Pro. Excited to jump in and thanks for the info!

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