Videogame News

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
Stanshall
Member
Posts: 2370
Joined: January 31st, 2016, 6:45 am

Re: Videogame News

Post by Stanshall »

Interesting that this topic took up a good chunk of the recent MvC discussion on the 2017 show - and here's the unfortunate conclusion.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: February 13th, 2018, 9:21 pm The joys of intellectual property and licensing. It's why I like my physical copies of games, and dread the future of streaming, where everything and nothing can exist.
Amen to that.

I'm not a physical-only hardliner purist, but I treat every digital purchase like a glorified rental. Precisely because of stuff like this. Nothing could ever beat the reliability of physical products.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by ratsoalbion »

The thing is, the physical version of the vast majority of games released in the past 10 years or more are essentially incomplete and quite often broken anyway, so in many cases owning the disc isn't all it's cracked up to be.

'GotY' editions may be the exception, where they've had all the patches they're going to, and all the extra content is in the box - although in many cases you still have to (re)download a lot of the package.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Very true, unfortunately.

I try to wait for the complete editions whenever I can for this exact reason. Which is why it's such a gut punch when one is either composed of the base game + DLC code (like Arkham Knight), or isn't being released in physical form at all (like Nioh).

I've sometimes wondered if publishers / console manufacturers couldn't find a way to give consumers the possibility to print their own physical copy at the cost of their digital license with the help of dedicated hardware. I'm sure it would be completely infeasable from a technical point of view, but it would pretty much solve all the issues associated with digital distribution at once! The few who care about this sort of thing could manufacture their own discs at no extra cost for the many who don't. Sounds nice in my head, at least!
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

Limited Run Games seem to have etched themselves a little niche here then it seems.

Not that I own any of their products but they’re essentially doing just that aren’t they ??
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by ratsoalbion »

Limited Run is/are very cool - yeah. But you're still ultimately locked in to the version that's out when they press those discs, and that's not always the final version.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

Yes, there is that.

Although I suppose generally they are releases of established digital only games, to the degree that they’ve been patched to a playable state already.

Therefor the pressed disc holds a playable version of the game, even if it’s taken down online.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by ratsoalbion »

Yes, I think for the most part that's going to be the case.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by Alex79 »

I'd assume that even when a game is removed from the store, people who've purchased it can still download it from their download list, right? In which case I don't really see it any different to then stopping production of discs for any particular game.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

Alex79uk wrote: February 14th, 2018, 9:18 am I'd assume that even when a game is removed from the store, people who've purchased it can still download it from their download list, right? In which case I don't really see it any different to then stopping production of discs for any particular game.
Yes, that's correct, as far as I know.

If you bought the game when it was initially on sale you can still download it from wherever you downloaded it.

But Transformers; War for Cybertron - is no longer available to buy for anyone that didn't buy it 4 years ago. For instance.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by Alex79 »

I suppose the difference is that there is no secondary market for used digital games. I'm sure I read something years back that said it was going to be made a law that digital downloads would be able to be traded or re-sold at some point. Maybe I imagined it though. Wouldn't hurt though, Sony or MS or whoever could take a cut of the selling price or something. They'd be better off than they are with second hand physical sales anyway.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Videogame News

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

I'm sooooo glad I bought disc-based versions of all my Xbox 360 Cave games, excluding Guwange which was digital only (and if I'm wrong about that send me a link you I can buy it right away!).

Of course, the only catch is that I have to hope that my Xbox 360 doesn't die... ever!
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Yo, real talk: Why on earth does the new God of War have a crafting system of all things?! And RPG mechanics? And what looks like Naughty Dog-style barely interactive climbing sections?

My anxiety level is through the roof.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Videogame News

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

KSubzero1000 wrote: March 19th, 2018, 10:02 pm Yo, real talk: Why on earth does the new God of War have a crafting system of all things?! And RPG mechanics? And what looks like Naughty Dog-style barely interactive climbing sections?

My anxiety level is through the roof.
I feel it could also use an open world, full of collectables for no reason.

And mirco-transactions. Yeah... that would be good...

Oh, oh, and a persistent online connection! That will take care of those pesky pirates! ;)
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: March 19th, 2018, 10:06 pm I feel it could also use an open world, full of collectables for no reason.

And mirco-transactions. Yeah... that would be good...

Oh, oh, and a persistent online connection! That will take care of those pesky pirates! ;)
Uncouth, man.
Why hurt people who are at their most vulnerable?! :cry:

I'm only half-joking with this, btw. This is freaking me out.
Cory, please. Don't faff about now.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Videogame News

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

KSubzero1000 wrote: March 19th, 2018, 10:12 pm
Joshihatsumitsu wrote: March 19th, 2018, 10:06 pm I feel it could also use an open world, full of collectables for no reason.

And mirco-transactions. Yeah... that would be good...

Oh, oh, and a persistent online connection! That will take care of those pesky pirates! ;)
Uncouth, man.
Why hurt people who are at their most vulnerable?! :cry:

I'm only half-joking with this, btw. This is freaking me out.
Cory, please. Don't faff about now.
Sorry... couldn't resist! :D
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Image

Quick, let me list those of my favourite franchises that I consider to have gone to shit in descending order of quality differences / joke factor:

- Ninja Gaiden
- Silent Hill
- Resident Evil
- Metal Gear
- Fire Emblem
- Metroid
- Devil May Cry
- Fable
- Halo
- Castlevania
- Zero Escape

God of War is... one of the few remaining fortresses. I don't want to see it reduced to some design-by-committee walky-talky TLoU clone bullshit, focus-tested within an inch of its life. I welcome the effort of telling a more mature story with open arms, but I completely reject the harebrained notion that this somehow has to come at the expense of proper gameplay. I don't even know where this idea that games have only started taking narrative qualities seriously in the past few years is coming from?! Xenogears, Suikoden, Silent Hill 2 and MGS2 all manage to tell interesting stories dealing with mature subject matter without sacrificing interaction in the process, and those are all 17+ year old games. I mean, these games are older than some people's parents.

Dear industry, maybe take a look at your own backyard instead of so desperately trying to copy other forms of media for cheap respectability points. Let Naughty Dog do their Naughty Dog thing and treat your other franchises with the respect that they (mostly) deserve.

At this point, I'm almost glad F-Zero ended on such a high note, rather than having to write a eulogy for that as well. And I can almost smell that 50 km/h gyro-controlled version lurking in the shadows. Don't think I'm not onto you, Ninty.

This is kinda not funny. I'm getting some anxiety shakes just typing this. Nothing to do but finish my CVX write-up, gulp down two cans of 4.5% cider and go to bed early, I guess.


PS: I'm out of cider.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Videogame News

Post by Flabyo »

You can probably ‘blame’ Horizon Zero Dawn for being great for the changes to God of War.

Developers gonna make what people are buying.

(I’m expecting the Fable reboot to do much the same)
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

I'm not going to blame Horizon for being great at what it does. But I simply can't wrap my head around this notion of every game being this amalgamation of the same allegedly popular design tropes to the point of losing their unique voice and what made their series great in the first place. I know it's partly a budget thing, and that publishers are (understandably) becoming more risk-adverse with rising development costs, but I feel like we're all losing out in the long term.

People are buying Nutella, too. Doesn't mean I want to find Nutella in my steamed buns. Stick to your strengths, please.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Videogame News

Post by Flabyo »

This isn’t anything new though, publishers have always shifted games to whatever is the thing that works.

In the 80s every movie licensed game became a mini game collection.
90s it was all about platform games.
00s it went all first person shooter.
Now it’s open world.

By this time next year you can probably expect every major studio to stuff a battle royale mode into their games.
Post Reply