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Blizzard's cancelled 'StarCraft: Ghost' leaks in playable form
Blizzard's cancelled StarCraft: Ghost has been the stuff of gaming legend. It was supposed to mark Blizzard's big leap into 3D action games, but it never came to pass -- delays, changing developers and evolving game platforms led the studio to put the game on "indefinite hold." Now, however, gamers appear to be getting a first-hand look at what they've missed. YouTube users Leers Meneses, Delso Bezerra and others say they've obtained a playable build of Ghost for the original Xbox through a leaked developer kit. It's unsurprisingly broken (the first two missions don't work properly, Meneses said), but appears to have been well into development -- you can fend off Zerg and engage in Metal Gear Solid-style chats.
StarCraft: Ghost was announced in 2002, put on "indefinite hold" in 2006, and officially cancelled in 2014. Blizzard is attempting to squash the leak:
In January 2020, videos appearing to be from the Xbox version of the cancelled game started appearing online. On February 16, 2020, numerous videos showing different missions, areas, and gameplay were uploaded to the web. Reports of the Xbox development version game files leaking to the public started to emerge. Journalists at gaming publications such as Kotaku verified the legitimacy of the code that began to disseminate online. Throughout the day, infringement notices were issued to channels hosting footage of the game on YouTube, resulting in many videos being removed. Eventually the files widely disseminated online through filesharing methods such as public torrent trackers. This was the second time a playable, albeit unfinished and rough, version of a Blizzard game has leaked online, after Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans being leaked online in September 2016.
Also at Wccftech.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Freeman on Monday February 17 2020, @09:32PM (17 children)
Your initial statement throws up your bias.
There's plenty of Japanese games that are awful games. While there are also plenty of "Western" games that are good as well. Something being Japanese, doesn't automatically plop it in the good category and something being "Western" doesn't automatically plop it in the bad category.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Monday February 17 2020, @09:43PM (10 children)
I disagree. Japanese games are always just superior. That's an objective reality for me, not a bias.
Just like, certain political perceptions of, say, Russia, are objective reality to Western media and not considered bias by them.
I just keep to their paradigm of opinioning. Western games are decadent. Always.
Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 17 2020, @09:52PM (2 children)
jRPGs are pretty much always inferior to RPGs. Final Fantasy was one of the worst series ever.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:58AM (1 child)
Your opinions are like ogres. They have layers. Layers of stench.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:37PM
Someone doesn't like Onions.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 5, Touché) by tangomargarine on Monday February 17 2020, @10:02PM
Fatal error: incompatible terms used in declaration. Compilation halted.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday February 17 2020, @10:12PM (3 children)
That is the kind of thinking that led to World War II. Which the Japanese and Germans lost. Thus, proving that they aren't always superior. Too harsh? I think not.
FYI, the only Japanese people I have known are/were nice people. Are you Japanese, just trolling, or both? There's all kinds of people everywhere.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Mojibake Tengu on Tuesday February 18 2020, @12:37AM (2 children)
We will see, what the non-World-War-II-thinking media of yours will do to Julian Assange, one of their own, very soon, in just couple of days.
My affinity to Japan is cultural. When I wanted to play Japanese games, it was a necessity to understand all the complex culture, so I began to study it, long time ago.
I am Czech. And I very well remember through my family history and fates, how the West, our Allies, betrayed Czechoslovakia at the table and gifted it to Hitler in 1938.
That's why I hate Britannia, from the depth of my heart. Same, as I hate Germany. And that's why I respect Russians, for it was they who liberated us for the cost of their blood.
But more, in 90's, I spent several months in India, where I learned many witnessed stories about British atrocities over there, many surpassing even what Hitler did in Europe.
So, not trolling at all, my wrath on Saxons is real and rooted in experience and my genes.
Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:11AM
Minor nitpick, not all British people are of Saxon descent..in fact, I leave it for you ponder the origins of the name British and that of the bit of the British Isles that is fair infested with these pseudo-germanic immigrant buggers...England.
And, regarding the Japs, if we're talking atrocities, have a word with the Chinese, Koreans etc. etc. about some of that 'complex culture' the Japs charmed them with in the second world war...
I may be trolling...
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday February 19 2020, @04:10PM
Julian Assange's goose is well cooked, if he ends up in the USA. There's no way he ends up here and not in prison. Well, I guess, he could end up here in a pine box, but that'd be less than ideal for him too.
I can't say much about World War II with regards to things that happened, before the USA even entered into the war. Most of Europe was essentially steam rolled and even Great Britain was nearly lost during WWII. I've never heard anyone refer to the United Kingdom as Britannia and the only time I've heard that term thrown around was in the Ultima series of games. The leader of the Russian people was sacrificing his people and committed atrocities on his own people, so I don't have respect for him.
Regarding the revered leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during WWII:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin [wikipedia.org]
The Soviet Union was the enemy of my enemy during WWII. I can see why you could hold respect for the people who bled to fight your enemies, but I would think Stalin, the secret police/KGB would have turned you into a little less of a fan of the Russians in general.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Funny) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday February 18 2020, @03:56PM
Mojibake: Somebody set us up the game.
Freeman: Main reply turn on.
Lawn: All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us.
Lawn: You have no chance to argue make your time.
Mojibake: Move 'Absolute'
Freeman: For great justice!
This sig for rent.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Booga1 on Wednesday February 19 2020, @03:40PM
May I introduce you to this little gem: OneChanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers [wikipedia.org]
I bought a copy on a lark seeing it on the shelf in a Game Stop for like, $1.73. It should have been less. The entire series has averaged around a 3/10 scale for reviews. It's got weak game play, the level designs are all over the place, and the dialogue is like so corny I think they're actually trying to make it "so bad it's good." I did laugh and it makes a little conversation with other gamers that haven't heard of the series.
Here's a video of a typical arena stage. [youtube.com] Some of them spawn all the zombies at once and can be finished in as little as 17 seconds.
Shovel-ware games are made for every platform from every continent that actually has a game developer on it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 17 2020, @10:15PM (4 children)
I'd disagree as well. There are "awful" Japanese games because their choice of game mechanics, storyline, game world, etc. doesn't fit my personal preference - but I've never really had experience to the level of Western games where it is clearly pushed out prematurely with bugs galore rendering the actual gameplay a nightmare.
Sure, there are low cost Japanese games where you can see cheap graphics and low quality audio, but that kind of experience is unlike buggy games. And most of the buggy games are from big studios!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday February 17 2020, @11:20PM (3 children)
There may be a bit of a difference in that way, but that's not what I was understanding the OP say. I'd also, be pretty surprised, if there's no equivalent buggy game releases. Maybe, I'm just a bit too pessimistic with regards to game developers nowadays.
Still, some of the best games ever have come from independent game dev studios. A lot of what we're seeing, with regards to the very buggy releases, etc. are behemoth corporations that used to be good dev studios. Then, the corporate takeovers happened and it's release early, release often, move fast and break things. When I look at the state of mobile games and what they've introduced into traditional games, I can't help but think that they asked for it. Sure, there have been games with DLC, with some DLC being worth it more than others. What we didn't have is the fake money buying schemes in every single game, because Money. Though, I guess you could possibly trace that back to Ultima Online and people selling virtual money for real money. It just used to be so much easier to avoid. Whereas now, you have a $60 Activision/Blizzard game that has in-app purchases for random rewards.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Tuesday February 18 2020, @02:00PM (2 children)
There's a ton of buggy releases in Japanese gaming too. They just usually aren't released internationally in that state - they typically get released in Japan first, bugs and all, then are patched, then get an international release. Sometimes (mostly on consoles) they get a re-release in Japan as an "International" version that has new features and bug fixes that were made for the exported edition (plus lets them sell the game twice domestically, in case you were thinking they were less greedy than the Western companies, too).
This whole process leads to a perception in the West they are higher quality products sometimes. I've often wondered if the Japanese end up with the same misconception for Western games, which go through a similar process when they're exported...
I agree with the assertion Japanese games not inherently better. They are a different breed entirely. They produce just as much shovelware as the West does; the nature of their shovelware is a bit different but it's not better or worse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @11:48PM (1 child)
Yeah, it is a clear survivorship bias [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @11:51PM
And I just realized someone else beat me to that point.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by SunTzuWarmaster on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:35PM