@-wc- "Slightly odd writing here, as the (admittedly slight) improvements on the design are sandwiched between statements that seem to claim there are no improvements"
Printing some text on the casing doesn't constitute a massive improvement in my book, but each to their own
@cakeashi I didn't notice that during the review period, I have to admit. I was mainly playing solo, so will investigate a little more and update the review if I find anything. Thanks for the info!
@GlamorousAlpaca This piece pulls from existing sources as well as new interviews with the developers to present as full a picture as possible on the making of the game.
Your continued negativity in the comment sections of this site has been noted, so consider this your first warning. If you don't have anything constructive to say, then I'd rather you posted elsewhere.
@dequesi It's probably not as big a deal as I've made out, to be honest. The majority of the text flows perfectly fine. There's no indication whatsoever that this is machine-translated.
@KitsuneNight I wasn't sent any instruction documentation with the console, so if you can find a source for that, I will gladly update the review. I only knew about the screen filter options because someone else told me about it!
@axelhander "AI fear-mongering supports capitalism, straight up. This is a tool that gives people access to time savings that previously was the sole domain of the rich."
You're confusing "rich" with "talented" there. The vast majority of artists are not rich.
@axelhander I think we're debating two different things here.
I'm not defending IP law and capitalism, which you seem to assume I am. I'm saying, in black and white, that the theft of human art to train AI - which then replaces the human artist - is massively unethical, and if you want to put AI-generated slop on the cover of your game, then you should be ready for a less-then-positive reaction from the general public.
"Art is in the editing and presentation. And only a human can do that. You can piss and moan about how AI is theft all you want: in reality it is just doing more quickly what is already done and has already been done before."
It's not "doing it more quickly" - it's mushing a bunch of art it doesn't have any ownership over and creating something which approximates art, but without any soul. Why would anyone (beyond the rich people you constantly keep mentioning, who can avoid paying artists and make more money) want that?
"The fearmongering over AI remains silly, and distracts from the true cause of hardship for both unprivileged artists and everyone else who isn't rich."
Given that companies are already using AI art to cut real artists out of the picture, I would say this fearmongering is laser-focused on what's actually happening here, and certainly isn't a distraction.
@axelhander I never said IP law doesn't protect big companies - it's there to protect everyone, from corporations to individuals. Whether or not it is applied fairly is another topic entirely; I'm well aware that IP law has been misused multiple times in the past. That doesn't have any impact on the fact that AI art, built directly on human art without credit or permission, is unethical.
"Big tech corporations already scrape all of our data all the time, to their financial enrichment, and we receive no compensation." Yes, and we sign away that when we tick the terms and conditions on Google, Facebook, etc (always read the small print). The difference here is that these companies are scraping images online to train their AI art bots despite the artist not having agreed to the 'value exchange' in any way beforehand.
"And if using AI in the creative process is "theft" then Shovel Knight is also "theft" for iterating upon Mega Man and Ducktales among other things."
A human being inspired by another piece of art isn't theft - it could be branded a lazy imitation at best. You're attempting to make some kind of connection between a living, breathing artist and a computer program which, rather than being inspired by art, merely takes it and mushes it together to create something which approximates human art, without treating it as an homage or a piece of work with clear influence.
I cannot fathom why anyone who appreciates the talent and hard work that goes into art would be in favour of AI art. It boggles my mind.
@SlangWon The AI used to create the image will have been trained on human art. The fact that the artists who trained this AI cannot be named only proves my point more keenly!
@SlangWon The comparison with the printing press doesn't hold weight, sadly. The printing press allowed writers to spread their work to an even wider audience, with continued protection / credit and enhanced reward.
AI art doesn't credit or benefit the original creator - it steals.
@-wc- If you zoom into the artwork, there are clear red flags, like the 'melting' effect on the finer details of the spacesuit. Given that the rest of the image has perfect lines and clarity, this sticks out like a sore thumb.
It's still relatively easy to spot AI art. That isn't always going to be the case, sadly.
@axelhander IP law may well protect businesses, but it also protects individuals.
The use of AI to create art is a shortcut. A money-saving exercise, nothing more. Without human art - much of which has been scraped from the internet without permission - AI art simply could not exist. It is nothing more than slop meshed together from actual, real art.
I'm not 100% anti-AI - the internet is built on algorithms, and there are AI services that make my life easier every single day (spellcheckers, for example).
But AI art is a completely different prospect; it is stealing human work to create an approximation without reimbursing those artists - but it does double damage, as not only are the original artists not getting rewarded for their original contribution, they're also losing potential work because some tightwad is getting a computer to do it instead.
To label something that is literally going to take work away from artists who are already struggling to make ends meet bad is not "fear-mongering" - the fear is 100% real, and it's happening right now.
@KraniX Highlighting the use of AI art in video games certainly isn't clickbait.
It's a very real danger to the livelihoods of thousands (millions, even) of people. This is just the beginning, and if we hand-wave this kind of thing now, it will get much, much worse in the future.
@Azuris The unit wouldn't power on via the port on my TV, I had to source a 5V PSU brick from elsewhere. It's not a massive issue, sure, but it's one that might throw some people off who aren't as savvy about these things.
@gingerbeardman I'm loving it so far, and if I get chance, I'll try and do a review of it. But so far, so good - it's basically Tetris with a few "modern" upgrades (hold, etc). They really haven't messed around with it much at all.
@nocdaes "Incidentally... I've got £20 here that says AA batteries become obsolete before a USB C Cable ever does. That's a truly bizarre pro!"
The 'pro' in that case relates to the fact that the Chromatic will never suffer from a dead internal battery, as you can either use AA batteries or replace your rechargeable battery pack.
And AAs have arguably outlived USB and Micro USB, and I can't imagine them not being around when USB-C is eventually replaced!
To anyone who is confused about why there are comments from 2013 here, this piece was originally published on Nintendo Life over a decade ago and has been updated and republished here to better reflect recent developments.
@Daniel36 He owns the rights to the English-language localisation, so it certainly can't happen WITHOUT him on board, even if there are other rights issues to tie-up. But, given that some of these titles were re-released digitally on PSP / PS3, it should be possible.
But yeah, it ain't happening without Victor Ireland being involved. He spent the cash localising these games when nobody else would.
@obijuankanoobie It technically wasn't a Sega product, but one made by AtGames under license. Not that your average person would make that distinction, of course!
@TransmitHim You've missed the point of this by some margin. Many games are now unplayable due to the nature of their media (floppy discs, cassettes, etc) and even CDs and carts aren't going to last forever. If the industry wants to be serious about preserving its history, then what the VGHF is suggesting should be happening. It's not because the ESA and the industry at large is only concerned about making money, not preserving history.
And besides, anyone who merely wants free games doesn't have to look very hard online to find them.
@GrailUK Video games can be studied on an academic level, too. And, as this site hopefully attests, there's the historical aspect to consider, too.
And to take your 40K example, sure, why shouldn't issues of White Dwarf and the associated battle manuals be preserved in some way so people can study / learn about the history of tabletop gaming?
Comments 734
Re: Hands On: Genki And 8BitDo's PocketPro Collaboration Is Neat, If A Little Pointless
@-wc- "Slightly odd writing here, as the (admittedly slight) improvements on the design are sandwiched between statements that seem to claim there are no improvements"
Printing some text on the casing doesn't constitute a massive improvement in my book, but each to their own
Re: Review: Retro Fighters BattlerGC Pro - Time To Finally Retire Your GameCube's WaveBird
@cakeashi I didn't notice that during the review period, I have to admit. I was mainly playing solo, so will investigate a little more and update the review if I find anything. Thanks for the info!
Re: "Only Zombies Buy Physical Games" Says Digital Code Retailer CDKeys
@hste Whatever your opinion of CDKeys they are a pretty big retailer when it comes to games and digital codes, so it's worth highlighting.
Re: This Christmas, You'll Be Able To Play SNES Batman Returns On Your Genesis, For Free
@TJSpyke No profit is being made from this project.
Re: This Christmas, You'll Be Able To Play SNES Batman Returns On Your Genesis, For Free
@bring_on_branstons The majority of traffic for our network comes from the US, so we tend to use US names (when we remember, at least).
Re: The Making Of: Powermonger, Bullfrog's Forgotten RTS Follow-Up To Populous
@GlamorousAlpaca This piece pulls from existing sources as well as new interviews with the developers to present as full a picture as possible on the making of the game.
Your continued negativity in the comment sections of this site has been noted, so consider this your first warning. If you don't have anything constructive to say, then I'd rather you posted elsewhere.
Re: Review: The GBA Pixel Book - A Gorgeous Tribute To The Last Great 2D Console
@dequesi It's probably not as big a deal as I've made out, to be honest. The majority of the text flows perfectly fine. There's no indication whatsoever that this is machine-translated.
Re: Review: Atari 7800+ - A Welcome Yet Rather Redundant Tribute For The Console That Lost To The NES
@KainXavier I was referring more to the chipset which is driving the machine, which I believe is totally identical to the one in the 2600+.
Re: Review: Atari 7800+ - A Welcome Yet Rather Redundant Tribute For The Console That Lost To The NES
@Slider2711 Aha! Thanks! I've updated the review
Re: Review: Atari 7800+ - A Welcome Yet Rather Redundant Tribute For The Console That Lost To The NES
@KitsuneNight I wasn't sent any instruction documentation with the console, so if you can find a source for that, I will gladly update the review. I only knew about the screen filter options because someone else told me about it!
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@Stocksy We will never, ever use AI to create content such as reviews, videos or anything else a human would do.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@axelhander Using someone's art without permission to deny them future work doesn't "exploit artists"? Sure...
I think we're done debating this, as you've shown your hand quite clearly. Have a good one!
Re: Polymega System Update 1.1.32 Now Available, And Boy Does It Do A Lot Of Stuff
@slider1983 Five so far: NES, SNES, Mega Drive / Genesis, TG-16 and N64.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@axelhander "AI fear-mongering supports capitalism, straight up. This is a tool that gives people access to time savings that previously was the sole domain of the rich."
You're confusing "rich" with "talented" there. The vast majority of artists are not rich.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@-wc- No worries dude, any time!
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@axelhander I think we're debating two different things here.
I'm not defending IP law and capitalism, which you seem to assume I am. I'm saying, in black and white, that the theft of human art to train AI - which then replaces the human artist - is massively unethical, and if you want to put AI-generated slop on the cover of your game, then you should be ready for a less-then-positive reaction from the general public.
"Art is in the editing and presentation. And only a human can do that. You can piss and moan about how AI is theft all you want: in reality it is just doing more quickly what is already done and has already been done before."
It's not "doing it more quickly" - it's mushing a bunch of art it doesn't have any ownership over and creating something which approximates art, but without any soul. Why would anyone (beyond the rich people you constantly keep mentioning, who can avoid paying artists and make more money) want that?
"The fearmongering over AI remains silly, and distracts from the true cause of hardship for both unprivileged artists and everyone else who isn't rich."
Given that companies are already using AI art to cut real artists out of the picture, I would say this fearmongering is laser-focused on what's actually happening here, and certainly isn't a distraction.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@axelhander I never said IP law doesn't protect big companies - it's there to protect everyone, from corporations to individuals. Whether or not it is applied fairly is another topic entirely; I'm well aware that IP law has been misused multiple times in the past. That doesn't have any impact on the fact that AI art, built directly on human art without credit or permission, is unethical.
"Big tech corporations already scrape all of our data all the time, to their financial enrichment, and we receive no compensation." Yes, and we sign away that when we tick the terms and conditions on Google, Facebook, etc (always read the small print). The difference here is that these companies are scraping images online to train their AI art bots despite the artist not having agreed to the 'value exchange' in any way beforehand.
"And if using AI in the creative process is "theft" then Shovel Knight is also "theft" for iterating upon Mega Man and Ducktales among other things."
A human being inspired by another piece of art isn't theft - it could be branded a lazy imitation at best. You're attempting to make some kind of connection between a living, breathing artist and a computer program which, rather than being inspired by art, merely takes it and mushes it together to create something which approximates human art, without treating it as an homage or a piece of work with clear influence.
I cannot fathom why anyone who appreciates the talent and hard work that goes into art would be in favour of AI art. It boggles my mind.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@SlangWon The AI used to create the image will have been trained on human art. The fact that the artists who trained this AI cannot be named only proves my point more keenly!
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@SlangWon The comparison with the printing press doesn't hold weight, sadly. The printing press allowed writers to spread their work to an even wider audience, with continued protection / credit and enhanced reward.
AI art doesn't credit or benefit the original creator - it steals.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@NinChocolate Exactly.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@KraniX This is the official cover art key art for the game, as seen here (it's getting a physical release, but it's a code-in-the-box deal):
https://system3.com/
Even if it was only used on social media, that doesn't make this any less objectionable.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@-wc- If you zoom into the artwork, there are clear red flags, like the 'melting' effect on the finer details of the spacesuit. Given that the rest of the image has perfect lines and clarity, this sticks out like a sore thumb.
It's still relatively easy to spot AI art. That isn't always going to be the case, sadly.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@axelhander IP law may well protect businesses, but it also protects individuals.
The use of AI to create art is a shortcut. A money-saving exercise, nothing more. Without human art - much of which has been scraped from the internet without permission - AI art simply could not exist. It is nothing more than slop meshed together from actual, real art.
I'm not 100% anti-AI - the internet is built on algorithms, and there are AI services that make my life easier every single day (spellcheckers, for example).
But AI art is a completely different prospect; it is stealing human work to create an approximation without reimbursing those artists - but it does double damage, as not only are the original artists not getting rewarded for their original contribution, they're also losing potential work because some tightwad is getting a computer to do it instead.
To label something that is literally going to take work away from artists who are already struggling to make ends meet bad is not "fear-mongering" - the fear is 100% real, and it's happening right now.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@KraniX Highlighting the use of AI art in video games certainly isn't clickbait.
It's a very real danger to the livelihoods of thousands (millions, even) of people. This is just the beginning, and if we hand-wave this kind of thing now, it will get much, much worse in the future.
Re: Accusations Of AI Art Deflate Archer Maclean's DropZone 40th Anniversary Announcement
@PinballBuzzbro Archer isn't involved with this, as he passed away in 2022.
Re: Talking Point: With Sonic's Movie Series Set To Cross A Billion Dollars At The Box Office, It's A Shame His Creator Doesn't Get Credit
@Olmectron They don't believe in properly crediting people in Asian culture? And the film in question here is produced by an American studio?
Re: Talking Point: With Sonic's Movie Series Set To Cross A Billion Dollars At The Box Office, It's A Shame His Creator Doesn't Get Credit
@raider266 You've kinda proven why Ohshima should get credit, because you've confused him someone else there.
Re: Review: The Spectrum - Does Sir Clive Sinclair's Legacy Proud
@Azuris The unit wouldn't power on via the port on my TV, I had to source a 5V PSU brick from elsewhere. It's not a massive issue, sure, but it's one that might throw some people off who aren't as savvy about these things.
Re: Mario 64 Speedrunning Declared "Dead" After Insane Feat From "The Greatest Speedrunner Of All Time"
@Spider-Kev The 'star' count refers to numbers of stars collected in the game.
Re: Review: ModRetro Chromatic Is So Close To The Real Thing You'd Think Nintendo Made It
@sdelfin @amishpyrate You'd never get 24 hours of battery life out of 3 AAs with a screen as bright as this one.
@KingMike The original GBC doesn't have a lit screen.
Re: Review: ModRetro Chromatic Is So Close To The Real Thing You'd Think Nintendo Made It
@gingerbeardman I'm loving it so far, and if I get chance, I'll try and do a review of it. But so far, so good - it's basically Tetris with a few "modern" upgrades (hold, etc). They really haven't messed around with it much at all.
Re: Review: ModRetro Chromatic Is So Close To The Real Thing You'd Think Nintendo Made It
@nocdaes "Incidentally... I've got £20 here that says AA batteries become obsolete before a USB C Cable ever does. That's a truly bizarre pro!"
The 'pro' in that case relates to the fact that the Chromatic will never suffer from a dead internal battery, as you can either use AA batteries or replace your rechargeable battery pack.
And AAs have arguably outlived USB and Micro USB, and I can't imagine them not being around when USB-C is eventually replaced!
Re: This GameCube Mini Is Downright Adorable
@trevofour I've updated the post to include mention of this.
Re: This GameCube Mini Is Downright Adorable
@DeciderVT Is a cheap SoC inside a tiny SNES case really a SNES Mini?
Re: Two Lost Sega Channel Games Have Been Found And Preserved
@KingMike Sorry, I should have been more clear there. Fixed!
Re: What's All The Fuss About Princess Crown, The Saturn Game At The Heart Of A Fan Translation Face-Off?
To anyone who is confused about why there are comments from 2013 here, this piece was originally published on Nintendo Life over a decade ago and has been updated and republished here to better reflect recent developments.
Re: Want Your Very Own Sega Neptune? You'll Need A Spare $2,600
@slider1983 Nope, sadly. There's the MultiMega / CDX, which is a Mega Drive and Mega CD, but they never had plans to combine all three systems.
Re: More Classic PS1 RPGs Could Be Coming To PS5
@Daniel36 He owns the rights to the English-language localisation, so it certainly can't happen WITHOUT him on board, even if there are other rights issues to tie-up. But, given that some of these titles were re-released digitally on PSP / PS3, it should be possible.
But yeah, it ain't happening without Victor Ireland being involved. He spent the cash localising these games when nobody else would.
Re: 29 Years Later, A New Donkey Kong Country 2 Cheat Code Has Been Discovered
@EarthboundBenjy To give some wider context about the game.
Re: Remember When A Sega Genesis Got Fused With A Digital Camera? Yep, We'd Forgotten About It, Too
@obijuankanoobie It technically wasn't a Sega product, but one made by AtGames under license. Not that your average person would make that distinction, of course!
Re: Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Is Getting An Impressive Fan-Made Remake On Master System And Game Gear
@BLAZINOAH SMS and GG
EDIT: Sorry, it's for PC - I was incorrect!
Re: Review: Evercade Alpha - This $250 Bartop Arcade Is A Glorious Gateway To Hundreds Of Retro Classics
@Bod2019 Correct, there's no Capcom cart for Evercade. And I heard the same thing, this is due to Capcom wanting the licence to be tied to hardware.
Re: Monster Hunter, Mortal Kombat And Resident Evil Director Paul W.S. Anderson Is Making A House Of The Dead Movie
@-wc- I knew precisely what he meant, I was just saying that critical reaction is less important to business people than money in pockets.
Re: Monster Hunter, Mortal Kombat And Resident Evil Director Paul W.S. Anderson Is Making A House Of The Dead Movie
@Hydra_Spectre Critically, sure, but commercially his films have been successful.
Re: Legendary YouTube Channel Mega64 Is Facing Closure
@RootsGenoa I've added something in!
@Markiemania95 - Oops - thanks for the save!
Re: Original Super Mario Bros. Gets Upgraded Game Boy Color Port, Complete With Yoshi And Wario
@Markiemania95 That's my bad! Fixed!
Re: The US Copyright Office Doesn't Want To Give You Access To Video Game History
@TransmitHim You've missed the point of this by some margin. Many games are now unplayable due to the nature of their media (floppy discs, cassettes, etc) and even CDs and carts aren't going to last forever. If the industry wants to be serious about preserving its history, then what the VGHF is suggesting should be happening. It's not because the ESA and the industry at large is only concerned about making money, not preserving history.
And besides, anyone who merely wants free games doesn't have to look very hard online to find them.
Re: The US Copyright Office Doesn't Want To Give You Access To Video Game History
@GrailUK Video games can be studied on an academic level, too. And, as this site hopefully attests, there's the historical aspect to consider, too.
And to take your 40K example, sure, why shouldn't issues of White Dwarf and the associated battle manuals be preserved in some way so people can study / learn about the history of tabletop gaming?
Re: The US Copyright Office Doesn't Want To Give You Access To Video Game History
@GrailUK Video gaming is an entertainment medium, like any other. People read for pleasure, just as they play games for pleasure.
Re: Hands On: HyperMegaTech Super Pocket Technōs And Atari Editions
@XiaoShao That was super-limited edition and only sold via Funstock here in the UK, I think?