Zombies? In a video game? At least Days Gone went where no other game went before, right?

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑April 25th, 2019, 11:09 pm Zombies? In a video game? At least Days Gone went where no other game went before, right?

...I was biting my lip all day not to get all snarky about this and then you just had to swoop in with all the grace and subtlety of a flying mammoth, didn't you?


EDIT: I was completely making it up, but I looked up "flying mammoth" just in case, and apparently it's a well-known glitch in Skyrim. Because of course it is. How poetic.

KSubzero1000 wrote: ↑April 25th, 2019, 11:34 pm

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: ↑April 25th, 2019, 11:09 pm Zombies? In a video game? At least Days Gone went where no other game went before, right?

...I was biting my lip all day not to get all snarky about this and then you just had to swoop in with all the grace and subtlety of a flying mammoth, didn't you?

I couldn't help it!!!! If I bite my tongue any harder I would sever it!

Good horror and sci-fi understands and uses monsters as metaphors: vampires/addiction, werewolves/puberty, Frankenstein's Monster/playing God, zombies/consumerism, etc, etc... it's a visually striking way to explore various themes.

There's not much depth to a lot of video games about killing a shit load of zombies. Granted, there are exceptions, and, also, games don't necessarily have to be well written if the gameplay is fun and engaging (I'm certainly not above dumb fun).

But, yeah, I mean... yeah... don't know if there's much else to say really. I guess zombies are a safe bet sales-wise. I get why that path is chosen, but there's just a profound lack of imagination with the undead.

Don't mind my rant: I'm currently play Nier: Automata, a game with a crap-load of imagination and originality. And charm. And great music, and characters.

If Days Gone had come out 5-10 years ago, it probably would have been a critical and commercial hit. From the second it was announced, the response was a resounding, "Another one?" And it came out the same month as a World War Z game I didn't know existed, to boot. It's just a matter of bad timing. I'm really surprised no one had the self awareness to say, "Can we not retool this idea into something that's not zombies?"

Haven't played either, but World War Z has reviewed slightly better too.

Magical_Isopod wrote: ↑April 26th, 2019, 3:44 pm If Days Gone had come out 5-10 years ago, it probably would have been a critical and commercial hit.

Gotta say, seeing as the game has only been released today, it may be a little early to presume it won't sell, regardless of the critical reception.

After all, the majority of the game buying public couldn't tell you what a Eurogamer, Polygon or Kotaku was and seeing as streamers carry far more influence for videogames than any other medium at this point, the few that I've been watching such as The RadBrad (10 million subs) were enjoying the hell out of it.

JaySevenZero wrote: ↑April 26th, 2019, 6:04 pm

Magical_Isopod wrote: ↑April 26th, 2019, 3:44 pm If Days Gone had come out 5-10 years ago, it probably would have been a critical and commercial hit.

Gotta say, seeing as the game has only been released today, it may be a little early to presume it won't sell, regardless of the critical reception.

After all, the majority of the game buying public couldn't tell you what a Eurogamer, Polygon or Kotaku was and seeing as streamers carry far more influence for videogames than any other medium at this point, the few that I've been watching such as The RadBrad (10 million subs) were enjoying the hell out of it.

Never say never. If Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero sold enough to warrant another Mythologies game, anything is possible. My personal sphere of "influencers" has been lukewarm to negative on Days Gone, but if some people are loving it, all the power to 'em.

JaySevenZero wrote: ↑April 26th, 2019, 6:04 pm

Magical_Isopod wrote: ↑April 26th, 2019, 3:44 pm If Days Gone had come out 5-10 years ago, it probably would have been a critical and commercial hit.

Gotta say, seeing as the game has only been released today, it may be a little early to presume it won't sell, regardless of the critical reception.

After all, the majority of the game buying public couldn't tell you what a Eurogamer, Polygon or Kotaku was and seeing as streamers carry far more influence for videogames than any other medium at this point, the few that I've been watching such as The RadBrad (10 million subs) were enjoying the hell out of it.

Yep, number one in the charts, outselling the multi-format Mortal Kombat 11 and securing a bigger launch than The Division 2, Far Cry New Dawn and Anthem.

Although the expectation is that MK did most of its business as digital download, fighting games have tended to. (They we’re reporting 11 million units of global pre-sale, a lot of that will be digital preorder)

Developers and publishers don’t really pay much attention to the physical sales chart anymore. It’s mainly a thing that only GAME and HMV care about now.

Yes, it would be kind of handy if the industry had a proper mechanism for accurately reporting digital sales.

Surely they're a lot easier to track than physical, too!

Exactly.

I wish digital games had some mechanism for trade-ins too. If I walk into EB Games and I see 20 copies of a game that came out last week... I know it's probably garbo. Or just really short.

Microsoft toyed with the idea in 2016 but nothing materialised. PS5 is rumoured to be looking at supporting it.

ratsoalbion wrote: ↑April 29th, 2019, 8:11 pm Microsoft toyed with the idea in 2016 but nothing materialised. PS5 is rumoured to be looking at supporting it.

Very interesting. To me, it makes good business sense to have a trade-in system - especially in a digital economy where data tracking is much easier. For instance, let's propose there's a price scaling system in effect, similar to the supply and demand system of a used game store. If Sony observes that people spending $80 on a new AAA game are returning it within the first week, they could feasibly create a system wherein anyone who opts to return the game is given a generous credit -- as to not make the player feel like they've been scammed. Conversely, you could create a system wherein folks who buy sports games every year could "trade in" last year's model for half off the new one.

Using that data can also pressure dishonest publishers who sell games on false pretence to get in line - perhaps a Fallout 76 or BEAttlefront 2 doesn't even happen if the platform holders can throw shade at the publishers for pumping out games with a massive turnover rate.

If such systems were implemented, it would be a nightmare for archival... But it would also make me much less wary of purchasing digital games, which often feel like more of a gamble, and more of a temporary product, than on-disc releases.

They could do that, yes, but I can't think of any reason it would make sense from a business point of view. The people who buy FIFA every year will buy FIFA every year, discounted or not. I can't see it benefitting anyone but the consumer.

Well, if games companies don't start learning how to worship the customer, they're going to lose out as bedroom indie devs keep making better and better games.

My system for what will sell is very simple: if it doesn't appeal personally to me - huge sales!

Case in point: Days Gone. There is a very good reason I don't work in the industry, because no one would ever make a profit.

I personally doubt we'll see the ability to resell digital media become a thing anytime soon, not least until it has first established itself as practical within other avenues such as music, books and film.

Although companies like ReDigi have been around since 2011 they've hardly become widely known or used for that matter and have faced an uphill battle against music labels that view their reselling as copyright infringement.

This leads into the other aspect for this to become commonplace is that it would requires various laws and consumer protections to be changed accordingly and is rife with complications regarding specific regions and licences. For example, in 2013 a New York court ruled that the First-sale doctrine, one of the limitations and exceptions to copyright, did not apply to digital media in the US. However, the year before, the European Court of Justice ruled that it did stand in regards to digital media.

All in all, I don't see it being worth either the time or the cost to implement such things, certainly within the console space at this particular juncture.

May PS+ games are:

What Remains Of Edith Finch
Overcooked

Both good. One incredible.

Shame I already own both