ShreddieMercury

2 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Do an AMA for your thousandth. I do one every 10,000 posts.

 

Which means I've done one and the next one is scheduled for about 7 years from now.

Can't imagine it'll be an interesting AMA but fire away if you wish!

36 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

Did you initially join in 2010 like most here or is 2019 when you actually joined?

I was here from about 2011 on, and I was on the IGN boards in the early 2000s as well.  When the site broke in 2018 (?) I took a break and then came back a year or two later I believe. 999.

Pretty cool.

23 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

I personally don't get the vitriol against MS that I see on the internet.

 

They spent a lot of money making games that otherwise wouldn't have been made on a business strategy that hasn't worked out.  They can't continue to throw good money after bad.

It does seem quite unbalanced, but that's just the console wars that weird 40 year olds continue to fight online.  This news just is really great cover for the most strident warriors.  This death spiral is a bummer because I vastly prefer the Xbox ecosystem and hardware relative to the other options, and their backwards compatibility initiative is/was really the only effort of its kind, and it's amazing when you see what is playable with enhancements on these modern systems. 

There have been some really cool smaller games that it seems were possible perhaps only because of the lower-risk gamepass model.  But overall, I think the general frustration about the lack of games is completely warranted, relative to the total portfolio of studios that are under MS and the time that they've had.  A few years back you could reasonably make the case that they just hadn't sorted out the pipeline given the recency of acquisitions, but by now it really begs the question: what on earth have they been doing?  It seems like a gigantic failure of management to not have at least something that can energize the brand or drive sales of their hardware.  I think Halo Infinite was the point where I realized how dire the situation was, as it was the third debatably bad game in a row in their (once) flagship series. 

10 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

Everyone's talking AAA, but are Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush at all that? Hi-Fi Rush was a surprise Game Pass drop, to which they said it exceeded their expectations.

No they aren't.  What this signals to me is that MS is having to completely restructure around their slim list of existing major IP, since that's likely the only way to get even marginal ROI.  The market for mid-budget games - in my opinion where the most interesting things come from - is basically toast.  Hellblade 2 might be the last of that kind of game from MS in quite some time. 

1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

I keep coming back to the fact that Spider-Man 2 cost over $300 million and Insomniac themselves wondered whether it would be noticeable on-screen.

 

Does the game look/play better than the original?  It sure does!

Does it look/play $300+ million better?  It sure doesn't!

The margins are just not there for AAA games.  It's clear why these companies are putting their foot on the gaas, even if that's also very short-sighted pretty clearly not going to work out.

Sony plunged $10 billion after its PS5 sales cut. But a bigger issue is its near decade low games margin

WWW.CNBC.COM

---

Around $10 billion of value was wiped off Sony's stock this week after it cut its sales forecast for its flagship PlayStation 5 console for the fiscal year.

4 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Wasn't it already $400 for the digital edition with a game last Xmas?

Looks like the digital edition is $450 now from what I can tell.

The line is not going up enough for anyone.  This is only partly a leadership issue, and has much more to do with how the entertainment industry, not just gaming, functions economically now.  We can expect lots more of this to come across the industry from all players.  AAA gaming is completely unsustainable.

A $350 gaas machine sounds better than a $500-$600 gaas machine.  Alas.

Insane news.  These are some of the only interesting studios under the Bethesda umbrella.  The industry is essentially full-on imploding at this point.  Really hope everyone enjoyed 2023!

I've really wanted to get a PS5 for the past couple of years, but it's tough to justify at $500+ for me right now.  In previous generations, the introduction of different console models usually meant a good deal on the original/base consoles.  I'm curious if that will be the case or if it'll just be that the Pro model is a few hundred dollars more, and then the base console stays where it is price-wise.  For some reason, I feel like it'll unfortunately be the latter.  What's your take on this?  Will I be able to secure a more reasonably priced base model PS5 in the coming months?  Or be stuck as I always am replaying Dreamcast and Xbox games?

@Biggie Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it.  Was planning to get the NSO expansion as long as I could get the controller too.  Waiting for payday but I'll hop on this next week.

Thanks again!

3 minutes ago, Biggie said:

It appears available. But I haven’t actually signed in and added it to my cart. 
 

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/nintendo-64-controller/

I see that you can sign in and add it to your cart, but I'm wondering if it's gonna be "out of stock" once I sign up for NSO and actually am granted the ability to purchase.  Weird that it won't at least indicate that it's available, subscription or not.

I want to sign up for NSO so I can play the N64 games on offer, but ideally I'd want the N64 controller as well.  But it doesn't appear to let you buy it from Nintendo without already being a member of that service.  So I also can't see if it's in stock or not.  Incredibly annoying Nintendo thing to do here.  I recall these being really tough to get, but maybe they've manufactured enough to meet demand at this point?  Does anybody know, or have NSO so that they can take a look?

I think I would only trust the Coen Brothers with an adaptation given how effectively they understand and are able to transmit what is transcendent about McCarthy's writing.  No Country For Old Men is the best adaption of his work, and one of the century's best movies.

That said, while Blood Meridian is my all time favorite book, I've said before here that I cannot see how this is adaptable in any way that retains the power of the novel.  It is biblical and cosmic in a way that is impossible to translate to film.  I've read the Steve Tesich script from 1995, which is interesting, but it convinced me that this is simply not possible, unless liberties are taken and it's essentially a completely different approach to the story.  But I also think that would likely lead to disappointment.

All I need to hear is that there is a good single player career mode, and that the MTX are unobtrusive.  If so I'm gonna get this.  Love tennis and miss sports games so much.

I'm going 3.

Can you guys let me know which indie games have the type of vision, polish, music, and emergent game design of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom??  Will rush to buy immediately.  Already played Outer Wilds btw.

On 3/31/2024 at 4:05 AM, Xbob42 said:

I dunno, Game Pass seems to have done alright, as has moving their games to more platforms. Dude's only been in charge for a single console launch.

 

Hard for me to look at their "main" competition in Sony and think any better. They've gutted their most creative teams and most of their AAA releases are third-person Sony sludge that all feel very samey.

 

Only big boy out there still trying new and interesting shit is Nintendo, and we all know neither company would dare copy Nintendo on any more than a superficial, corporate "I don't really understand why this is successful but it looks similar" level.

This is all from my personal perspective of what I want to play and actually care about. Don't give two shits about what is successful in terms of business, that ain't my problem. But yes, in general, our bizarre stock-market-centric world is very antithetical to creative endeavors, or doing anything but seeking growth for all eternity, at the cost of literally anything else.

This is accurate.

If people want interesting games, play what Nintendo puts out.  Tears of the Kingdom is more radical from a design perspective than anything from the last two generations of AAA gaming, and it's on a console that gamers yell constantly about being underpowered.

@best3444 the graphics are out of control, and I know you enjoy that.  It's up there with the best I've ever seen in games.

4 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

I was busy with many other games and I currently do not have a job so I have all the time in the world to play it. I didn't HATE it and I have played and beat all Remedy games up to this point (minus dlc). I was following along with the story just fine about 10 hours in. Does it stay ok from a story perspective that I will enjoy the 10 other hours to complete this? 

 

I just don't want it to go off the rails story wise with its super natural stuff. 

Yeah I think the story stays pretty consistent.  It's very interesting, but it's also less impactful than the first because it gets so twisted up in its own mythology that eventually the rules don't make sense and as a result the stakes get lowered.  This is the problem with all multiverse stories in my opinion.

7 minutes ago, best3444 said:

Ok. I might try this again lol. Is the story difficult to follow? I got about 10 hours in but dropped it like a hot potato. 🥔 

Haven't you waffled back and forth on this game like two or three times already?  I'd say just give it up at this point.  If you weren't enjoying it after 10 hours, then the next 10 aren't going to change your mind.

This is how I feel about the majority of modern AAA games.  It's hard not to be blinded by the production values and visuals of some of these titles, and initially I have a great time.  But it's not long before I start to see the cracks and realize that the production values are coming at the expense of interesting and fun game design.  Lots of Sony stuff falls into this category for me.  Alan Wake II is a more recent example - I do still think it's a great experience, but the way it's designed makes me unlikely to ever revisit it like I do Remedy's other games.

GTA 6 Production Reportedly Falling Behind, Rockstar Urges Staff To Return To Office To Avoid Delay

KOTAKU.COM

---

The open-world sequel is set to launch next year, but leadership is worried it could get delayed until 2026

What kind of horse-testicle-physics are they hiding up their sleeves this time?  Gotta get everything right, this game isn't coming until 2026.