Superhot VR removing "disturbing scenes" from the game

Chary

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I see this as being akin to George Lucas editing Star Wars, like someone else pointed out. Not just with superhot but just games in general that make changes post launch that you can't revert. Imagine if Nintendo was able to patch out Bowser dropping in to lava in the first Mario Brothers game for the NES because it depicts animal cruelty. It wouldn't make a difference to gameplay but to change a work like that doesn't feel right. Games are creative work and should be preserved in their current state for future generations. This is already the case for films, books, and music so why not games?
I'd be more inclined to care if it were something with a story that mattered. Yes, that's a tad subjective, but the gameplay of Superhot is its biggest reason to play it. And that's unchanged. Like the creator said, it's a bit of an edgy nonstory about giving your soul away, or something. It was barely there. Star Wars was ALL about its story. The effects from the 70s/80s were a major part of it, that added to the experience and were even historical, for their time. How much do two scenes of making yourself awkwardly point a gun to your head in VR matter to the game in the long run. (and let me point out, in a lot of cases, doing that caused problems for the hand tracking lol)

And it's quite easy to have the backed-up versions of the game, either via piracy or through recorded footage. This is perhaps the best time to live in for backing up things, as tons of people document every little change made to anything ever online.

That's not to say it isn't silly of them to take it out of the game entirely, but just as Lucas changing the special effects...it's their property to play and mess around with. I think it's a stupid decision either way, but it's even more ridiculous for people to make such drastic comparisons or claim the game is ruined because of this.
 

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I'd be more inclined to care if it were something with a story that mattered. Yes, that's a tad subjective, but the gameplay of Superhot is its biggest reason to play it. And that's unchanged. Like the creator said, it's a bit of an edgy nonstory about giving your soul away, or something. It was barely there. Star Wars was ALL about its story. The effects from the 70s/80s were a major part of it, that added to the experience and were even historical, for their time. How much do two scenes of making yourself awkwardly point a gun to your head in VR matter to the game in the long run. (and let me point out, in a lot of cases, doing that caused problems for the hand tracking lol)

And it's quite easy to have the backed-up versions of the game, either via piracy or through recorded footage. This is perhaps the best time to live in for backing up things, as tons of people document every little change made to anything ever online.

That's not to say it isn't silly of them to take it out of the game entirely, but just as Lucas changing the special effects...it's their property to play and mess around with. I think it's a stupid decision either way, but it's even more ridiculous for people to make such drastic comparisons or claim the game is ruined because of this.

If you consider only SteamVR, the issue is one purely of principle, yes. The issue is however a much more tangible for at least PSVR. Yes, let me just go on my fully up to date PS4/PS5 and downgrade the game. Oh wait. I can't. The existence of backups/piracy for some versions of something available to some people should never be treated as a cop-out for something that shouldn't need to be dealt with in the first place, and IMO "recorded footage" is not an acceptable substitute for a playable experience. Imagine if you wanted to watch the original editions of Star Wars, but only had the audio tracks.

Removing content, especially so far after launch as this, isn't and has never been a positive. The value of this content is entirely subjective, and frankly I believe the lead dev is flat-out wrong. On principle it's worth arguing that the practice of Day 1500+ content removal should not be tolerated in the slightest. Some day there will be games that cannot be backed up, acquired, or otherwise modded to have their content nerfed content restored, and there is nothing the end user will be able to do.

Yes, it's their IP to "mess around with", but that is not a valid reason to shield them from criticism. Content customers paid for has been removed. It's as simple as that.
 
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I'd be more inclined to care if it were something with a story that mattered. Yes, that's a tad subjective, but the gameplay of Superhot is its biggest reason to play it. And that's unchanged. Like the creator said, it's a bit of an edgy nonstory about giving your soul away, or something. It was barely there. Star Wars was ALL about its story. The effects from the 70s/80s were a major part of it, that added to the experience and were even historical, for their time. How much do two scenes of making yourself awkwardly point a gun to your head in VR matter to the game in the long run. (and let me point out, in a lot of cases, doing that caused problems for the hand tracking lol)

And it's quite easy to have the backed-up versions of the game, either via piracy or through recorded footage. This is perhaps the best time to live in for backing up things, as tons of people document every little change made to anything ever online.

That's not to say it isn't silly of them to take it out of the game entirely, but just as Lucas changing the special effects...it's their property to play and mess around with. I think it's a stupid decision either way, but it's even more ridiculous for people to make such drastic comparisons or claim the game is ruined because of this.
That's fair. I haven't actually played Superhot so I don't know how much this effects the story. I just feel like it's bad to forcefully take something away from an experience that people have paid for, even if it's something minor. Yeah people can revert to an older version but I don't think you should have to break the law or frequently make backups of all your games like some sort of paranoid schizophreniac just in case someday a developer decides to rob you of something you have a right to experience.

Some day there will be games that cannot be backed up, acquired, or otherwise modded to have their content nerfed content restored, and there is nothing the end user will be able to do.
Actually there already are games like that. Anything exclusive to Stadia will never be able to be played again after Stadia shutdowns. On the console side there are no public methods to hack the XBox One (Xecuter has one) so any exclusives on there have not had backups made. The list of XBox One exclusives is hilariously short (seriously there's less than 10 iirc) but there's still lost media from that console that no one will ever be able to experience again. Anything added to and removed from Halo 5 between launch and now will never be experienced again. There was a method to dump XBox One games but the window for that was brief and there's no way to play them without an exploit.
 
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Chary

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That's fair. I haven't actually played Superhot so I don't know how much this effects the story.
Narrative-wise, it's about as impactful to the story as Bowser not falling into lava. The game has like, 4 scenes of environmental storytelling, iirc. Two of which are giving you a gun to point to your head cuz ooooh cool edgy submit yourself. It's like story in an arcade game, effectively, mattering nothing at all. You could even argue they're like the Animus in modern Assassin's Creed, yanking you out of the fun of the game to do something else. That's all they are. Like you have to shoot yourself in the head to play the next level. Honestly, removing it makes getting to the levels even faster...fine by me lol. That's what I'm there for.

Like I said, if it mattered more to the game or was a dramatic message then the removal would be bigger than it is...which is really making a mountain out of a molehill.

I think the devs are catching flak more on the potential that this means to gaming in general and the problem of digital-only releases, rather than their actions specifically or what the scenes meant to Superhot.
 

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superhot VR is great but this company is dumb af saying shit like "superhot is a place where time stops until you move. You cannot possibly experience that without virtual reality" while the vr game is only like an hour long they continue to make more non-vr content like mind control delete and remove more of the VR game....
 
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Narrative-wise, it's about as impactful to the story as Bowser not falling into lava. The game has like, 4 scenes of environmental storytelling, iirc. Two of which are giving you a gun to point to your head cuz ooooh cool edgy submit yourself. It's like story in an arcade game, effectively, mattering nothing at all. You could even argue they're like the Animus in modern Assassin's Creed, yanking you out of the fun of the game to do something else. That's all they are. Like you have to shoot yourself in the head to play the next level. Honestly, removing it makes getting to the levels even faster...fine by me lol. That's what I'm there for.

Like I said, if it mattered more to the game or was a dramatic message then the removal would be bigger than it is...which is really making a mountain out of a molehill.

I think the devs are catching flak more on the potential that this means to gaming in general and the problem of digital-only releases, rather than their actions specifically or what the scenes meant to Superhot.
That's not as bad as I was expecting then, I still don't like the idea though. If they already had an option to disable it why force adults to not see it? Hell they could just make not seeing it the default, they still achieve the same thing but nothing it taken away from the people who want that content (however few there may be). Is there a Superhot speed running community? If it makes getting to the next level quicker I wonder if it will effect them negatively. I know other speed running scenes have dealt with stuff like this before but it seems like a pain in the ass for whoever moderates the leaderboards.
 
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bobmcjr

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Actually there already are games like that. Anything exclusive to Stadia will never be able to be played again after Stadia shutdowns. On the console side there are no public methods to hack the XBox One (Xecuter has one) so any exclusives on there have not had backups made. The list of XBox One exclusives is hilariously short (seriously there's less than 10 iirc) but there's still lost media from that console that no one will ever be able to experience again. Anything added to and removed from Halo 5 between launch and now will never be experienced again. There was a method to dump XBox One games but the window for that was brief and there's no way to play them without an exploit.
Yeah fully I'm aware of the many unpreservable exclusives/platforms, and already pulled games, just not aware of any games in the exact niche of being on one of these unpreservable platforms specifically and also having gratuitously post-censored content.
 
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Xzi

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I don't understand the emphasis here. Is there much of a difference between Superhot VR and the standard version?
In terms of the narrative, not really unless you're observant. You play one side of a conflict in Superhot, the opposite side in Superhot VR. The other major difference of course being: it's VR. You actually point the "gun" at your "head" and "shoot." Replace with 'controller,' 'HMD,' and 'trigger button' respectively of course, so it feels more like shooting yourself in laser tag.
 
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I think instead of having the scenes on by default, just keep the toggle, and switch it to the scenes being off by default.


Because the thing is, chances are people will just mod the scenes back in if they want them, so not much of a point in removing them.
 
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Localhorst86

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So wait, what's being removed, exactly? What's so "disturbing" about Superhot VR, and why isn't it being removed from regular ol' non-VR Superhot?
There are a few scenes where the game forces you to pretend to harm yourself.

There is a moment where the game requires you to jump off a building to leave the virtual reality and return to the appartment room. At the very end of the game it is implied that the appartment is part of another virtual reality and the game gives you a gun. The only way to end the game is to take the gun, point it to your head and pull the trigger

This has been removed only from the VR Version of the game (I don't know if it is even part of the non-VR version) because of the immersive nature of VR gaming - the developers feel that it is a more serious issue to have that experience in VR.
 
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Why not just offer 2 versions of the game? Let's say a standard version that doesn't offer the ability to toggle the self harm scenes, and a director's cut that does let you toggle the self harm scenes on or off. Seems like a smart way to cover your bases, while still allowing your full original vision to be out there for those that want to experience it that way.
 

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Why not just offer 2 versions of the game? Let's say a standard version that doesn't offer the ability to toggle the self harm scenes, and a director's cut that does let you toggle the self harm scenes on or off. Seems like a smart way to cover your bases, while still allowing your full original vision to be out there for those that want to experience it that way.
Doing so would mean that they're condoning that act, and will render their stance on this, kind of.. meaningless (in their mind).
 
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