lacerz

Do You Wanna Taste It!

(Think Peacemaker opener)

@HotGoomba
I’ve visited Universal’s Halloween event and it’s definitely not for kids!

Impossible for Starfield and BG3 to not be compared, and it sounds like BG3 will be the standard bearer based on the early reviews. Not an enviable position for Starfield, especially with many “vacant” planets and the unenviable comparisons to the early release of No Man’s Sky.

This has become a Day One for me, which is rare nowadays. Everything about it screams the best western RPG in years…and the reviews in progress support that train of thought.

What a bizarre and hilarious win for Sony!

The U.S. government also deemed lead paint and pipes, tobacco, as well as asbestos, as acceptable for use. So have fun with that.

@Cashews @dskatter
Just to back up what dskatter is saying, the amount of content available is almost overwhelming. Leveling up classes and jobs alone would take more time than most standalone games. Happy it's finally making its way to Xbox.

I gave up on dreams after coming to the stark realization that I suck at artistic things like game design, even with the vast library of user content. That said, I need to jump back in to play the MM games at the very least.

@rjejr That was my thoughts, although the way things are going it will probably release on the PS4, PS5 and PS6.

I mean, if you were a console player who kept getting skate beta invites that were PC only, it’d probably get annoying. If that sort of person were to exist.

In unrelated news, I’m annoyed.

@KAIRU
Nice Diff’rent Strokes reference!

Adam Smith has already "clarified" the comment:

We're not going to say this is a world that changes with every choice you make. What we are going to say - and it's true - is that the characters react to every choice you make. Everything you click will cause something to happen. Sometimes it's small, sometimes it's subtle, but it all means something from the very first clicks.

It's not that you start at point A and then you keep branching and branching and branching. That's often how people think of it, but the problem with that would be that if I make a choice, then I branch over here, and suddenly I'm over here and I can't get back.

The narrative of Baldur's Gate 3 is more like this big spiderweb - the end of the game is the center, and the start of the game is the outer edge. So you're always heading towards the same point, and what happens when you get there is very different. But it interweaves, so you're kind of dancing between plots.

With this releasing September 6 and Spider-man 2 releasing late October, it's going to be a busy fall!

@Sakai
It’s already started. More to come.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/19/23799550/activision-blizzard-esports-layoffs-overwatch-league-owl

If I’m a casual considering a console and looking at games available, and the “big” options are Starfield or Spider-man, the answer is obvious.

@Sakai Good. So you’re aware that there will be a plethora of talent to poach after the M&A when the layoffs go into effect.

This is why a subscription service with a rolling game cycle doesn't work for me. I like to leisurely play the games in my library. I don't want to feel like there's some deadline I need to beat in order to play, much less finish, a game.

@Sakai
They'll be forced out. Too much Microsoft staff. Have you not been reading the news?

I think the FTC will win on appeal, IF the 9th Circuit Appeals court agrees to hear the case. The purpose of the preliminary injunction case wasn’t to rule on the validity of whether the FTC’s case would win or lose, but to determine if an injunction was proper to prevent the acquisition from taking place before the proper federal agency had an opportunity to hear the case. Corley screwed up. It doesn’t matter what the FTC did or didn’t do. Corley went beyond her scope.

Loved Twisted Metal 2 in college. 30 pack of High Life and taking turns trying to win out with each character to see their endings. Memories!

The Guest Actor/Actress categories are all either TLoU or Succession. That’s pretty impressive.

Want to add drama to the drama? The judge who is hearing the Microsoft/FTC injunction hearing…guess where her son works?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/29/watchdog-group-calls-judge-recuse-ftc-microsoft-case/

If Microsoft getting Activision and COD prevents them from acquiring anyone else like ZeniMax, I’m all for it. We all know how Microsoft manages its developers. This was quantified by Redfall. That is why PlayStation is the market leader.

Hard stop.

@IOI You’re reading it, so good job Push Square! Mission accomplished!

I think the biggest takeaway from this event is that Microsoft is a mega-rich corporation that, outside of monopolies, fails to be the class leader. Search engine? Google over bing. Cloud? AWS over Azure. Gaming? PlayStation over Xbox.

Microsoft’s success has been Windows, which it stole from Apple.

This hearing isn’t over the acquisition approval. It’s over an injunction to prevent the acquisition from happening before the merits can be tried. Microsoft is trying to circumvent the law and this injunction hearing is to prevent that.

An Xbox (and PC) exclusive vs. a quasi PlayStation (and PC) exclusive, thanks to Microsoft’s console parity clause.

To think, the most powerful console’s games are tethered to a weaker console’s performance issues.

I think this is the issue with live service games. Even with the ones that I really enjoyed (Destiny and Division), my dedication to them is 6 months max and by the time new and exciting content arrives, I’ve moved on mentally and don’t want to get back into the game.

Considering the overall drought of blockbuster games coming from Xbox, and understanding that games like the latest TLoU and Horizon ran around $220 million, I’d find it disappointing that the majority of what Xbox is trying to do is capture existing or in development IP instead of actually creating a creative environment and developing good AAA games.

$76 billion would be enough to develop roughly 345 AAA blockbusters. Instead, you get Redfall, janky Bethesda games and Call of Duty.

I’d look at my Xbox with absolute disgust if it were my primary console.

Yet Microsoft only bought ZeniMax because Sony was trying to secure exclusives. Such BS.

@Tharsman
Spider-man was offered to Xbox first. Xbox said no because they wanted to focus on their IP. This was in 2014. Looking at what’s been released for Xbox since 2014, I’d say that was a very bad call.

Definitely has a very Don Bluth appearance.

@TheCollector316
That’s what I was thinking!

I went to one of Universal’s Halloween nights at the Orlando location. It was a blast! The costumes walking through the park are amazing and the people on stilts do an excellent job of picking up on people not paying attention and scare the living **** out of them!

The “rides” are well put together too. They had The Walking Dead as one when I went, but it was a bit of a let down. More factions and less zombies.

And the lines were awful. I wound up getting a fast pass when they went on sale an hour before closing. Was able to take in all of the rides after that.

Considering the volume of games Sony has, I don’t see a reason to release day one. There are plenty of older games that are amazing. My backlog is to the point where I’ve stopped buying games before they’re discounted. I’m currently wrapped up with Midnight Suns and Hogwarts. I’ll be good for some time.

@Keyblade-Dan Naughty Dog is also an exceptional studio. They still releases garbage for TLoU on PC. You can buy day one. I choose not to based on current trends.

@Keyblade-Dan
I love your trust in corporations. Hope you enjoyed Cyberpunk and Redfall Day One.

There are enough half finished games released as it is. Why would anyone support this trend? Release a good, playable game, and I will buy it (once it’s on sale for at least 30% off).

@BeerIsAwesome
What a country!

Looking forward to trying this out. Bought my PSVR2 but haven’t tried it yet I'm in the middle of a move.

Checked my sub and I’m good through the end of March 2027. I’ve been signed up since the Qore days, so, yeah…I have a problem.

I’m thoroughly enjoying Midnight Suns. Making the core MS group come from the “younger” Marvel teams like New Mutants and Runaways adds a nice flair, as I’m not as familiar with their backstories…although I do remember the Inferno series when Magik was tricked into opening a portal from Limbo so the demons could attack Earth.

MS is a great remote play game. You just have to either know the cards or have a large screen. Teeny tiny text otherwise.

I’m still baffled that this wasn’t somehow linked to the PlayStation showcase, or that the Ratchet & Clank to PC announcement came a week after the showcase.

It’s literally baffling.

@Dobbos There are some minor movements, such as ducking or moving right/left to avoid walls, but you should be able to sit and lean.

At this point, it is what is. Great games will be released and I will play great games. It’s disappointing that the PlayStation event was lacking PlayStation games, but…it is what it is.

A company that is willing to eat the development costs and game sales by offering its exclusives as a part of their subscription service wouldn’t take the loss of not releasing on PlayStation? And this is an organization that is supposed to protect consumers from monopolies? Okaaaaaaay.

The show itself was fine. There were plenty of good looking games and the pace was spot on. The issue for me was it reminded me of the type of show Xbox puts out. Limited first party stuff with CGI trailers…and for the first time in at least 15 years Sony gave us an Xbox show. Thoroughly disappointing.

@Stevey_Mac
I’ll take Capcom with a side of Square Enix.

Loser: PlayStation 5 early adopters. Most games have been cross gen and no clear understanding on what the future holds.

Loser: PSVR2 early adopters. No London Studio? No Half Life: Alyx? At least Beat Saber is a free upgrade, but that wasn’t an encouraging showing.

Winner: Gamers in general. This was basically what I would expect from something like the Summer Game Fest, which is great…if it weren’t a brand specific showcase.

It was a brutal (non)showing yesterday. Two games that look “meh” at best, and a splattering of multiplats. FF XVI looked good, and I’m interested in Phantom Blade 0, but the lack of first party games is alarming. All these award winning studios, and this is what we get?

If Sony reveals any first party game at SGF after this, it would be criminal!

I think this sums up Sony's PlayStation Showcase precisely:

There were so many failures on what to show, and I’m stunned at what was shown.

Haven’s project looks like something that could end up being either a Fable Legends / Scalebound and cancelled, or a Crackdown 3 / Halo Infinite/ Redfall with a poor release.

Nothing from Bend, Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, Media Molecule, London Studio, Team Asobi! Bungie was there…with multiplatform games!

And VR? RE4, Arizona 2 and Beat Saber among others, but no Half Life: Alyx seems like an absolute failure.

There were some great games shown, a lot coming to all consoles, but not much PLAYSTATION.

I was hoping for more on the VR front, as I just purchased a PSVR2. Beat Saber is always good, but having owned it on the PSVR, it will be more of the same with (hopefully) better controls. I was pretty disappointed in the lack of gameplay. And there were a lot of first party studios that didn't make the party. The fact that the ones that did were CGI trailers is not a good sign.

Just my .02