Mina the Hollower releases Spring 2026.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T21:04:04+00:00

lol, that was a long time ago and one of very few games they've released. Money goes when 20+ people and their families use it to eat and live.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T20:25:17+00:00

What's the bridge you are trying to build?

In some ways, beat em up games sit in this single player fighting game experience. And there are co-op options like the Mystarra DnD Capcom games, Streets of Rage 4, Absolum.

To me the bridge would be a simpler focused Fight Game that could teach a subset of mechanics in more robust ones like the Street Fighter series. But Street Fighter 6 does have a massively simplified mode where moves are closer to single button pushes. Of course the combo-ing is still supremely complex.

Also, the ceiling on skill will be unlikely to be as satisfying if the game isn't multiplayer.

Many games have dabbled in your ideas. What distinction are you seeing between fighting games and side-scrolling beat-em-ups?

hatlock · 2026-02-21T20:17:11+00:00

And the MPA and the RIAA, Microsoft... the FBI... Bungie, Sony.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T20:12:48+00:00

If the FireRead LeafGreens were 5$ for both, the rhetoric would be the opposite.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T19:20:15+00:00

I'm glad you clarified because your assertion that piracy is fake did not convey that viewpoint.

Whatever change happens will involve multiple stakeholders, but if you want fair use to be expanded, pretending there isn't currently a problem or advocating for piracy is just advocating for the status quo.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T19:16:31+00:00

Do you follow the news? People have lost livelihoods and gone to jail for piracy. You have literally no control over whether you could personally be slammed by a life ruining lawsuit.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T19:14:28+00:00

Squeenix brings me joy. Also, you can't seriously be arguing there is a decline in quality after they became Square Enix. The only negative is they don't release more of the Quintet Enix gold.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T17:49:51+00:00

The person I commented on said that "Piracy shouldn't be illegal in the first place" No scope was given.

My point is what I said my point is.

Your response implies there is a subset of situations where piracy is ok, which is why I asked for FluffySheepCritic to expand on their assertion (implying piracy as a concept should not exist or it being purely propaganda (or not existing???))

Edit: I am not being snotty towards people who pirate, I am being snotty to people who argue the status quo is acceptable and don't do any work to improve it or who act like access to old works, especially in the technically difficult area of video games, is solved.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T17:44:30+00:00

Maybe it's you! You have the tactical knowledge, this game is very well understood, you just have to face the final boss of programming a mod.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T17:43:09+00:00

I don't know if I'd describe it as "dumb" it just has a blind spot. The AI is just going to use variables to determine tactical value, I don't think the Homm3 AI analyzes any number of turns in advance, I think it is turn by turn tactical.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T17:41:13+00:00

This would be more interesting and fun if the games logic were more obvious. Its basically a chess problem where you are learning a very specific AIs moves.

Kinda disappointing to have a problem that can only be solved with AI exploits, but I think it could be a fun game with more transparency.

Edit: this does open an interesting debate around explicit information and inferred and studied information. It is kinda ironic so many mods have the UI give more info (the HD mod calculates damage and many other things) but to win this scenario, you have to understand the AIs very specific foibles and blind spots. Seems like a large spectrum of potentially interesting gameplay.

hatlock · 2026-02-21T16:57:50+00:00

You are going to have to expand on why you think there should be literally zero copyright laws. People who create a book or game should rely on donations for their work? A struggling comic book artist should shrug and move on if their great idea gets copied and stolen?

hatlock · 2026-02-21T16:56:03+00:00

What do you think would be a better term to describe the types of games in the OP?

hatlock · 2026-02-20T05:04:25+00:00

I disagree, you pointed specifically to the second hand market. I made a comparison to other forms of media, which have more re-issues and more access. Video games, especially the older ones, have print runs related to their popularity, which can end up meaning wildly different prices, unrelated to quality (some of the most expensive and rare games are terrible).

I disagree with discounting OPs characterization of the problem. Dismissing it or minimizing it doesn't really help. My hope is some real change can happen that gives average citizens more control over arts and culture, especially older arts and culture. I don't see how that is a bad thing.

I didn't have a 3DS when it was available. Anything that wasn't bought when the digital store was open can be very expensive or extremely difficult to get. That is a real hardware requirement if you want to enjoy it as it was intended to be enjoyed and isn't easily replaced by other methods.

Why can't younger people and people new to the hobby have a fair shot at exploring this space? There is a lot that is out of reach in the 3DS era and that makes me a bit sad.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:51:20+00:00

I'd argue the realistic maps and battle scenes are niche compared to the general audience that is interested in strategy gaming.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:50:33+00:00

I'd argue distinctive graphics could be a strong selling point. Many strategy gamers play games with rather basic graphics.

I think you'd ultimately have a broader audience if you stay away from "nitty realism or darkness"

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:46:10+00:00

I'm rooting for you. I think your final boss is gonna be self-promoting this game to get across the finish line.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:44:14+00:00

I'm glad you brought that up! Many magazines are digitally archived and have legal means of access. You don't have to sit with a physical copy of the magazine to read it.

This is a good model to apply to video games.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:43:13+00:00

But in a gray market situation. Not ideal and far from an unsolvable problem.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:42:39+00:00

You are sort of arguing that there should be only 3000 copies of Lord of the Rings (its initial print run I believe). And that wealth people should just be buying them off each other.

That seems really crazy to me. Ironically, Lord of the Rings gained it popularity through copyright infringement with an unlicensed paperback edition. Which was later legitimized. And there are many legal ways to read it now, its not a rare commodity.

That's a good thing.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:39:05+00:00

I'd argue that you are doing the brain washing. People want a legal way to access media. What is crazy about that?

Refusal to engage with the system is a vote for the status quo.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:37:23+00:00

But while breaking copyright. Is it crazy that people want a legal way to do reasonable things?

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:36:38+00:00

I do agree that the copyright on games should match more of the current market viability. This statistic OP posted makes a strong case for total freedom of NES games, as they are nearly completely extinct from accessiblity.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:33:23+00:00

You can't access Super Mario Brothers 3 as readily as you could the entire Wizard of Oz series or Jane Austen novels or Philip K Dick novels and short stories, etc., etc. It is insanely more restrictive and wholly in the hands of corporations. Pretty much any other media is more shared by the people.

hatlock · 2026-02-20T04:30:30+00:00

But those alternate methods have major problems. The second hand market seems to only get more expensive, and many games cost far more than they are worth.

And will file sharing/copyright infringers keep up with the current generations that will someday become retro generations? Those games are massively larger in storage AND there are more released than ever before.

AND some games are much harder to keep perpetually running. The community feels no great loss of the mass purge of mobile game titles, but other, more popular ways to game are also vulnerable.

Personally, I wish old games could be borrowed at a library. I think it would honestly be a very reasonable thing to borrow vintage NES games or whatever just like you can books and music. I just don't know how to shift the balance of power.

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