Firewatch | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 16 Aug 2023 12:58:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Firewatch | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Xbox is bringing Firewatch and Gris to Game Pass https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/joao-silva/xbox-is-bringing-firewatch-and-gris-to-game-pass/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/joao-silva/xbox-is-bringing-firewatch-and-gris-to-game-pass/#respond Wed, 16 Aug 2023 12:00:45 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=626533 Xbox recently revealed the next wave of games coming to Xbox Game Pass over the next few weeks. Besides Sea of Stars and Texas Chain Saw Massacre, we're also getting two award-winning indie titles: Gris and Firewatch. After yesterday's release of Everspace on Xbox Game Pass, Firewatch will be the next title to come to the …

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Xbox recently revealed the next wave of games coming to Xbox Game Pass over the next few weeks. Besides Sea of Stars and Texas Chain Saw Massacre, we're also getting two award-winning indie titles: Gris and Firewatch.

After yesterday's release of Everspace on Xbox Game Pass, Firewatch will be the next title to come to the game subscription service. Starting August 17th, Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to play the narrative-driven title on Cloud, consoles, and PC. Then, we have The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, also coming to Cloud, consoles, and PC on August 18th. The turn-based RPG Sea of Stars is coming next on August 29th for Cloud, consoles, and PC, followed by Gris on September 5th, also coming for Cloud, consoles, and PC.

In further good news, Xbox Game Pass subscribers are now allowed to play the upcoming Madden NFL 24 for up to 10 hours thanks to the EA Play subscription included with Microsoft's gaming subscription. Moving on to the new Game Pass Ultimate perks, we have the Overwatch 2 New Heroes Starter Pack and the Madden NFL 24 MUT Welcome Pack now available. Additionally, starting tomorrow, subscribers can also claim a Fallout 76 Lunchtime bundle.

With the wave of new games coming to the service, there are also a few leaving. On August 31st, games such as Black Desert (Cloud and Console), Commandos 3 – HD Remaster (Cloud, Console, and PC), Immortality (Cloud, Console, and PC), Nuclear Throne (Cloud, Console, and PC), Surgeon Simulator 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC), and Tinykin (Cloud, Console, and PC) will leave the service.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the new games coming to Xbox Game Pass? Are you planning on trying any of them?

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Valve won’t censor customers engaging in ‘review bombing’ but will add historical data to Steam https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/valve-wont-censor-customers-engaging-in-review-bombing-but-will-add-historical-data-to-steam/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/valve-wont-censor-customers-engaging-in-review-bombing-but-will-add-historical-data-to-steam/#respond Thu, 21 Sep 2017 09:36:15 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=347240 Whenever there is a major controversy surrounding a game or a developer, we often see fans resort to ‘review bombing'. This is essentially where players flood a game's Steam page with negative reviews as a way to get their point across. Sometimes these negative reviews aren't relevant to the game itself, which can be a …

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Whenever there is a major controversy surrounding a game or a developer, we often see fans resort to ‘review bombing'. This is essentially where players flood a game's Steam page with negative reviews as a way to get their point across. Sometimes these negative reviews aren't relevant to the game itself, which can be a problem. With that in mind, Valve is now adding histograms to Steam pages to help customers spot ‘temporary distortions' in a game's score.

The latest game to be hit by review bombing is Firewatch. Historically, this game has had very positive reviews but following on from Campo Santo's recent DMCA claim against PewDiePie, many saw fit to take a stance against the studio and reacted by changing positive reviews to negative ones. This brought Firewatch's rating down from ‘Very Positive' to ‘Mixed', which isn't great for new buyers looking into the game.

As Valve explains it, user reviews are there to make customer voices heard. However, reviews criticising a developer for their political convictions or for things they have said online “aren't very relevant when it comes to the value of the game itself”.

Valve doesn't want to stop customers from voicing their opinions, so review bombing is something customers are still able to engage in if they see fit. However, going forward, a histogram will be included on game pages, which will how the positive to negative review ratio over time. This way, it will be easy for buyers to spot temporary distortions in a game's overall score. For example, if a game gets ‘review bombed' or faces a temporary issue that causes an influx of negative reviews, you will be able to see when and why this occurred and make an informed purchasing decision yourself.

Valve did consider a few other changes to user reviews on Steam, including the temporary locking of reviews and even the removal of the Steam User score. In the end though, the company decided that it would be best not to censor customers in any way and just provide more data.

KitGuru Says: Valve has been very open and transparent about changes to Steam this year. The entire blog post on this matter is actually a very interesting read. In short, review bombing isn't going to be squashed, but customers will be able to see the histogram and decide for themselves whether or not the more recent reviews are relevant to them. 

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Firewatch bombarded with negative reviews after PewDiePie controversy https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/firewatch-bombarded-with-negative-reviews-after-pewdiepie-controversy/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/damien-cox/firewatch-bombarded-with-negative-reviews-after-pewdiepie-controversy/#comments Wed, 13 Sep 2017 16:20:13 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=346698 Following PewDiePie’s latest controversy, Firewatch developer Campo Santo began to distance itself from the entertainer by filing a DMCA takedown notice to all of his content regarding the game. The takedown notice resulted in all Firewatch content disappearing from the YouTube star’s channel, which has prompted those against the developer’s actions to begin an ongoing …

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Following PewDiePie’s latest controversy, Firewatch developer Campo Santo began to distance itself from the entertainer by filing a DMCA takedown notice to all of his content regarding the game. The takedown notice resulted in all Firewatch content disappearing from the YouTube star’s channel, which has prompted those against the developer’s actions to begin an ongoing review-bombing campaign on Steam.

Review-bombing is a relatively new practice that we’ve seen actively influence the decisions that developers make. One of the first instances was Skyrim being bombarded with negative reviews on Steam after Valve tried to roll out paid mods for the game. This resulted in Valve promptly discontinuing paid mods despite wanting to bring them back.

The same thing happened with Grand Theft Auto V when Take-Two opted to shut down the popular OpenIV mod tool and Nier: Automata releasing in Asia without Chinese language support before raising prices in the country. It’s safe to say that since this happened, OpenIV is back and the price quickly adjusted back to what it was for Nier.

In the case of Firewatch, things are a little different as the game has already been released for over a year and many people have finished with it and moved on. These are political statements in the name of free speech and fair use that have little impact on the financial success of the game, unlike previous review-bombing attempts.

PewDiePie has since issued an apology and head of Campo Santo Sean Vanaman shortly followed, expressing “regret” to Buzzfeed over his use of a takedown notice, despite the action being within the studio’s right. “Censorship is not the best thing for speech and if I had a way to contact PewDiePie and take the video down, I probably would.”

KitGuru Says: Review-bombing is certainly an effective tactic to be heard nowadays, so it will be interesting to see where this leads Campo Santo in the future. What are your thoughts on the whole situation?

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Firewatch dev plans to DMCA PewDiePie videos following recent racial slur https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/firewatch-dev-plans-to-dmca-pewdiepie-videos-following-recent-racial-slur/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/matthew-wilson/firewatch-dev-plans-to-dmca-pewdiepie-videos-following-recent-racial-slur/#comments Mon, 11 Sep 2017 10:48:15 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=346363 Sean Vanaman, the lead developer behind Firewatch, has revealed his plans to issue DMCA Takedown notices against PewDiePie's videos following a new controversy surrounding the YouTuber. Going forward, Vanaman says the studio plans to take down any PewDiePie video featuring a Campo Santo game after the video maker blurted out the N-word during a livestream. …

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Sean Vanaman, the lead developer behind Firewatch, has revealed his plans to issue DMCA Takedown notices against PewDiePie's videos following a new controversy surrounding the YouTuber. Going forward, Vanaman says the studio plans to take down any PewDiePie video featuring a Campo Santo game after the video maker blurted out the N-word during a livestream.

While streaming PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds over the weekend, PewDiePie hit a moment of frustration, which ended in him calling his teammate the N-word. Given how large of a following PewDiePie has, clips of the incident began doing the rounds very quickly and various YouTubers and gaming industry folk began talking about it. Vanaman was the first developer to bring up DMCA takedowns in response to this latest controversy.

In a series of tweets, Vanaman said: “We're filing a DMCA takedown of PewDiePie's Firewatch content and any future Campo Santo games. There is a bit of leeway you have to have with the internet when you wake up every day and make video games. There's also a breaking point. I am sick of this child getting more and more chances to make money off of what we make.”

From there, Vanaman said that he would like to see more developers pull footage of their games from PewDiePie's channel: “I'd urge other developers & will be reaching out to folks much larger than us to cut him off from the content that has made him a milionaire. Furthermore, we're complicit: I'm sure we've made money off of the 5.7M views that video has and that's something for us to think about.”

So far, PewDiePie hasn't responded but he will likely post a video at some point. . Update: PewDiePie has uploaded his own response to the situation. You can find an updated article on that, HERE. 

At the time of writing, his videos on Firewatch have been taken down though this looks to be a manual change to avoid any incoming DMCA strikes.

For those wondering about the legality of Campo Santo's DMCA plans, according to lawyer Ryan Morrison, the studio is within its legal rights to issue takedown requests against Let's Play content.

KitGuru Says: It feels like people only just got over the Nazi joke situation from earlier this year but now with this latest incident, things are going to stir back up again. What do you guys think of this new situation? 

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Get away from it all in Firewatch’s Free Roam mode https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/get-away-from-it-all-in-firewatchs-free-roam-mode/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/get-away-from-it-all-in-firewatchs-free-roam-mode/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2016 08:53:48 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=311223 If you thought Firewatch was just another dull walking simulator like Dear Esther or Gone Home, then you're unlikely to be a fan of its new game mode. But if you found yourself entranced by the Shoshone National Forest's beauty and atmosphere, now you can enjoy it even more with Free Roam mode, which lets …

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If you thought Firewatch was just another dull walking simulator like Dear Esther or Gone Home, then you're unlikely to be a fan of its new game mode. But if you found yourself entranced by the Shoshone National Forest's beauty and atmosphere, now you can enjoy it even more with Free Roam mode, which lets you wander the wilderness without story and without walkie talkie chatter.

Firewatch was somewhat of a divisive game. Although generally well received, many people found its minimalist gameplay lacking and the reality of the story a little dull. But it was in the environment that developer Campo Santo created that many more gamers found themselves lost and found again in, but always immersed. Now that experience can be enjoyed by itself, without the additions of the story and its many beer cans.

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Free roam not only removes objectives from the game, but adds a 24 hour day/night cycle, so as you wander through the woods of Shoshone National Forest, you'll see the world transition through brisk mornings, parching days and eventually chilly overnights too.

You will need to have finished the game to gain access to Free Roam mode, but it isn't too long, so that shouldn't take you forever if you haven't completed it yet. It's also a feature that is available on all platforms, Windows PCs, Xbox One and PS4.

firewatch02

Along with this update, Campo Santo also added extra details for PS4 Pro users. Those running the game on a 1080P display will see enhanced detail at distance, smoother loads and much better shadows. Those using the same system on a 4K display will have the same visual improvements, as well as the resolution bumped to 2,560 x 1,440 and a 4K rendered HUD.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I really enjoyed Firewatch. I was a little disappointed in the way the story turned out at the time, but it was a relaxing, meditative experience throughout. 

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Firewatch’s mountain mystery intrigues at PAX https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/firewatchs-mountain-mystery-intrigues-at-pax/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/firewatchs-mountain-mystery-intrigues-at-pax/#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2014 09:12:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=209750 PAX, like many other gaming expos around the world each year, is a hotbed for trailer releases and game reveals. One that's been doing the rounds this morning, is Firewatch, a first person mystery title surrounding a fire lookout named Henry, who doesn't feel particularly at ease with his current position. “Stay in the tower,” …

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PAX, like many other gaming expos around the world each year, is a hotbed for trailer releases and game reveals. One that's been doing the rounds this morning, is Firewatch, a first person mystery title surrounding a fire lookout named Henry, who doesn't feel particularly at ease with his current position. “Stay in the tower,” he's told, but with a trailer filled with abseiling and exploration, it seems he's keen to do anything but.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d02lhvvVSy8′]

Punctuated by a two-way-radio conversation with someone that Henry has done, ‘something,' with that doesn't bear discussing, the trailer shows the exploration side of the game, with our protagonist traversing the rocky landscape surrounding his watch tower, as well as descending into the darkened depths below it.

firewatch
Firewatch's colour palette is a beautiful mix of reds and oranges, making you wonder how you'll ever spot that impending firestorm

Clearly something more than just a forest fire is on the horizon though, as the mysterious woman on the other end of the radio tells you that your job is just to be there when the world burns. With an eager gamer behind the controls, that seems unlikely to happen.

According to the developer, Santo Campo, the above trailer is made of totally in-engine footage, so while it might look a little different when the game finally lands, we shouldn't feel hoodwinked by it.

Firewatch is set for release on PC, Mac and Linux some time in 2015.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This is a pretty cool looking title. I hope it maintains more of an air of mystery rather than horror, as I'd rather go exploring the beautiful landscape than find myself running through the woods with something scary at my heels.

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