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Ben’s Week In Review: January 19

I don't care about Trophies at all but for some reason, it bugs me that I don't have even one Platinum… Not one. 🙁

Next-gen = the decline of the shooter?

For the first time in years, a Call of Duty entry didn't end up at #1 on the annual sales charts . Grand Theft Auto V proved the enduring popularity of that franchise and furthermore, given the marked decline in quality Ghosts represented, it seems the market may shift a bit. Perhaps shooters like CoD and Battlefield won't dominate sales charts as they did in the current generation. Developers can use the increased power of the next-gen consoles to produce bigger, more immersive, more realistic worlds; it'd be a little boring to waste that potential on a simple FPS.

So, maybe what we'll see is an evolving genre. Rather than the standard formula – a ho-hum campaign and a bunch of maps for basic multiplayer action – maybe we'll see a shooter revolution. Perhaps titles like Destiny can help it move along. When I say the "decline of the shooter," I'm referring to the FPS as we currently know it. And as for Call of Duty , if Sledgehammer really is designing the new entry , that could be awfully intriguing. However, I doubt Activision would give them much in the way of wriggle room…then again, maybe they're tasking Sledgehammer to deliver another series reinvention, ala Modern Warfare .

Good luck with that .

The Square Enix Dominion of Confusion Reigns

Nobody can figure this publisher out. We hear that Tomb Raider finally breaks even , and we learn that because Square Enix dumped over $100 million into the project, it took most of 2013 for the game to even turn a profit. Obviously, that massive budget is also the reason they expected the title to move 5-6 million copies in one month. How many franchises in this industry can do that? Three? Four? Tomb Raider ain't one 'em, by the way. How could Square Enix not know this? A reboot of a franchise that had been ailing for years? $100 million? 5-6 million anticipated sold in 30 days? What planet are S-E executives living on? It's amazing the game sold what it did (3.4 million in the first month).

And I'm not saying it didn't deserve those sales; I loved Tomb Raider . But it didn't really play like a $100 million game and the publisher's expectations were, to say the least, painfully unrealistic. It also helps to explain the upcoming Definitive Edition. Everyone at both S-E and Crystal Dynamics probably knew the game would take a while to reach profitability (if it ever did); hence, they came up with a plan to help boost sales. I mean, let's face it, it's the same game. And I really do appreciate all the cool upgrades the next-gen iteration will get.

Still can't convince me it's worth $60.

Personal gaming update

My girlfriend and I are going through The Cave because she loves puzzle-based adventures like that. She's also playing Portal 2 single-player…I'll turn her into a gamer yet. 😉 I'm back to GTAV after finishing up with Gran Turismo 6 , and I'm very much looking forward to February. Thief is gonna rule! I'm also really interested to learn more about R.B.I. Baseball 14 ; the resurrection of that iconic IP is pretty awesome. I just hope they don't try to make it a simulator like The Show . We desperately need an over-the-top arcade-y sports game. There's a reason I played the hell out of that NBA Jam reboot; these days, that's what I want from my sports games.

Lastly, I'm of course excited about that Kickstarter campaign started by Final Fantasy Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno. Unsung Story: Tale of the Guardians is probably the closest we'll ever get to FFT2. Sadly, I despise playing games on a smartphone or tablet, so I just have to hope it makes to the Vita. Unlikely, I know. But I can dream.

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PC_Max
PC_Max
10 years ago

Well Ben if you love the inFamous series or Sly Cooper HD series or Uncharted series or .. even some of the LEGO games such as Pirates of the Caribbean… you should be able to get at least one Platinum if you so wish to just get at least one.

Depends on if you want to work for it or not. Or like you mentioned, even care.

I am not one to go for trophies but admit that if I love the games, and replaying it, it adds a little to the replay.

As for Tomb Raider, again, they probably only broke even in the sales of the game against the budget. Enormous budget as it was although I suspect a lot went in to marketing. Unit sales are one thing but would be interesting to know if the game was profitable. My guess is if they spent $10o million on it they would have to make close to $300 million for a profit. Assuming they want to spend another $100 million of a second games.

I finished Bioshock Infinite. Was disappointed at the end. It seemd to just end … abruptly for me. It was fun, but…. I would give it an 8.

Bored now. I guess I will go back to Uncharted series and replay those. Well the third one since I only played through once.

Anyway… Keep playing and get at least one platinum trophy, if its bugging you!

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
10 years ago

I'd love to see the core design of FPS games evolve in this next generation, along with less importance being placed on them. It just doesn't make sense to me how CoD managed to be the highest selling game for four years in a row when there are much, MUCH better games on the market. We're seeing some interesting new directions with the likes of Destiny, and Titanfall has unique properties of its own, but I think that there is more promise in the idea of developers taking on the ideas of Bioshock or Dishonored and merging the core shooter gameplay with magic or gadgets to expand what the players is capable of doing and really expanding the game in different ways. That's my preference, of course and others will feel differently.

Personal Update:
So, I finished GTA V yesterday. Then I reloaded it and chose a different ending. Then I reloaded it and chose the final ending. Gotta say that there should only have been one because the other two were just so dissatisfying that it tempered my enjoyment of the game as a whole. It was a good game, but so many of the choices just felt kinda hollow, but there is the potential in its new elements for the next iteration to be very, very different and much more engaging… Thinking back over my time with GTA V I keep thinking about the areas that seemed a missed opportunity and that saddens me somewhat.
Not sure what I want to play now. Thinking either Castlevania: LoS or Beyond again to see how much choice really does impact the way the scenes play out. Maybe Darksiders. I just want something short to pass the time until Lightning Returns… Yeah, I said it.
On the last book of what's been written of A Song of Ice and Fire. I say again that it often feels as though Martin has let the scale of the story grow beyond his reach, but he tries valiantly to keep it all under control. I'll almost certainly have it finished by the end of the week and then I have no new books on my shelf :/ Thinking of going back to an older one. Not sure what though.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
10 years ago

I'm hoping that FPS gets the same changes TPS did. Instead of being a camera on skates with a mounted gun I'd like to see efforts to make it seem like you are controlling a human being who lives in a world with physics and realistic movement. I mean look what Uncharted 2-3 accomplished, getting many other games to follow suit.

I'm looking forward to a bunch of PS3 jrpgs that are coming soon but it looks like the PS4 is gonna be chillin mostly. Warframe was dumb/generic. Free 2 Play isn't a viable way to have fun.

Kind of needed a palette cleanser, and after all this talk of Dreamcast I started a game of Grandia II (helped by my new VGA box). Such refreshing combat!

Remo Williams
Remo Williams
10 years ago

If you want to get that platinum trophy monkey off your back, I suggest going for the platinum in Tearaway. I only have three platinum trophies, but Tearaway was by far the easiest.

Banky A
Banky A
10 years ago

Haven't finished Tearaway yet but I'd vote this.

Danny007
Danny007
10 years ago

Finished GTA5. Best in the series. And, I'm loving Puppeteer! So glad it was on sale for so much so I could finally try it out.

___________
___________
10 years ago

yea, dont hold your breath!
shooters will be just as flooded this gen as they always have been, if not more!

ill never understand the chicken hen mentality at $E.
the x is doing x, so if we do it, will get the same result.
yea, sorry bub, but it does not work that way!
the sooner they get that through their thick arrogant skulls, the sooner we can stop destroying beloved franchises, both by trying to change them, and also destroying them because of them not selling well enough so they kill them.
i mean come on, no one in their right mind would of set the sales figures $E did for TR, hitman, and sleeping dogs.
especially sleeping dogs, a new IP, from a unproven iffy developer, in a crowded very competitive genre.
does not take a brain surgeon to tell you that was never going to fly off the shelves!

start of year drought still going on, god i hate the dec- feb period it gets SO boring theres nothing new to play!
then march comes and your off like a headless chook, then april deserted again, then may headless chook, than june-august deserted, than were back to the holiday rush.
seriously, publishers, for f*cks sake, learn how to read a calendar and organise your releases appropriately!
really dont understand why there is zero games releasing in the dec- jan period, especially thats when people have there longest holidays due to closures and such, or even uni or school breaks, so its the perfect time to squeeze in some binge gaming time!
but as usual it goes to waste because theres nothing new releasing.
sigh.

ulsterscot
ulsterscot
10 years ago

Maybe this year's COD was a let down (its made for snipers / campers – the vermin of FPS games) but Ghosts, BF4 and KZSF were the main PS4 / Xbone launch titles.
M$ were not able to make their own exclusive blockbuster – but they threw money at Respawn to ensure Titanfall didn't come to Playstation – from what footage Ive seen of the "Alpha" release – this game looks absolutely fantastic – its the reason im now being forced to buy an Xbone as well.

The PS4 controller is clearly built for shooters – the triggers are freakin fantastic.

I think rumours of any FPS demise are greatly exaggerated and probably wishful thinking on some peoples part. RPGs on the other hand – so 2005 …

Solid Fantasy
Solid Fantasy
10 years ago

PGU / Person life update :
Made the Olympic team last week. Won't be using any North American PS3 or PS4 any time soon.
I'm done with FC3. What a fun game. My labtop can handle mostly ultra settings. If I overclock the CPU the frame rate looks silky smooth. Pretty much next gen. It doesn't long for the CPU/GPU too get a little too hot for comfort though.
Soul Sacrifice is great. A lot of level grinding just to keep up the main story, but what ever. Tomorrow I'm going to start in on Bio Shock Infinite. Eventually finish off KZ:M. Then I'll be playing Vita FFVII in Sochi. What a great combo of the past and present!

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
10 years ago

Awesome! What sport/s are you participating in?

Solid Fantasy
Solid Fantasy
10 years ago

Thanks! Biathlon

Banky A
Banky A
10 years ago

Congats man! :')

H8WL3R
H8WL3R
10 years ago

Congrats! 🙂

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
10 years ago

So freakin' cool. Love the Olympics.

Congrats!

Underdog15
Underdog15
10 years ago

Cool! What country you representing?

Beamboom
Beamboom
10 years ago

PGU:

Far Cry 3:
This game got me hooked ever since that mushroom-trip very early in the game. Can't wait to see what else madness awaits.

Skyrim:
This time around I got a better "feel" of the game. I've never been a fan of fantasy settings so the Elder scroll games never really hooked me, but maybe it's cause I've seen the TV series "Vikings" in the meantime that I'm now more open to this style adventures.

Either way, this time I'm going for a more mage-oriented character and so far I'm digging it more than I did with my 1h melee/bow thief on my first attempt at the game.

Also, this time I play the PC version and I have to say: I don't think the graphics are *that* much better on PC, not as I remember it on the PS3. So they really did *amazing* work on getting this game to work on the PS3.

There is one thing that do annoy me though: That they kept the console shortcut system to the weapons/spells instead of spreading them out on the 1-9 keys as is common on PC rpgs.
I got a friggin SEA of buttons in front of me, and I have to use that shortcut list to change weapons? GTFO.


Last edited by Beamboom on 1/19/2014 5:54:50 AM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
10 years ago

Seems like a weird oversight for a PC dev.

Beamboom
Beamboom
10 years ago

Well, I can sort of understand it. It takes extra work to implement a different control scheme for one platform, both in regards to interface and mechanics.

But still… It *is* annoying. The short-cut menu were a clever solution for a controller, but really is just meaningless on a keyboard.

Lunar_Miyuki
Lunar_Miyuki
10 years ago

i completely understand what Square Enix is trying to do and why their company is in this pitiful state here ill quote SE
" we wont remake FF7 until we make a more successful game than it"
now you may ask me whats this have to do with the decline of FF
heres another Quote from SE "Lightning is like a female cloud"

ok if those two quotes don't give you the hint its very simple and ill spell it out to you

SE doesn't know what made FF7 so successful in the first place they keep asking themselves was it the graphics was it the gameplay was it the story was it the Minigames was it the world map?

so basically the way SE saw 13 as a failure was everything but the world map was there so they gave it back in 13-2 which did worse their idea on this was simply Lightning the wannabe female cloud wasn't a Main character so thats why Lightning returns is focused on Lightning

they think they know what made FF7 great but they fail to realise
it wasn't just gameplay graphics and story it also was the Minigames and the Music which made every scene and event feel like it was part of the game and not just thrown in
also FF7 had Diversity as you could set up your chars to use commands skills like mime morph deathblow 2 cut 4 cut
or you could go magic and summons or you could play even more strategic with Materia like Added effect + status effect materia which would add defense against that effect if it was on your armor or add it on your weapon if it was on your weapon slot

SE honestly doesn't understand they hit everything just about perfect with FF7 and not just 1 or 2 features the entire game just flows together smoothly

on a personal note im playing PSO2 still and picked up Samurai warriors 3Z
which is fun the AI is actually AI and doesn't just block on Normal difficulty they can actually stun lock you and work together


Last edited by Lunar_Miyuki on 1/19/2014 7:15:36 AM

Killa Tequilla
Killa Tequilla
10 years ago

@Ben, don't have a single platinum? I can fix that.

The easiest way to get one or two, is to play The Walking Dead for Ps3/PSV and complete the game. You get a trophy for completing each chapter. All you have to do is finish the game. Easiest platinum ever.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
10 years ago

Well, that's cool and all, but it would always feel like a bogus Platinum to me.

Killa Tequilla
Killa Tequilla
10 years ago

First it's a hobby. Then an addiction. After that it becomes an annoyance. Trophy hunting. I can see why Telltale made the trophies like so. So that people aren't influenced to make decisions based on the trophies. You play the game your way. I am against the trophies Quantic Dream implemented in their games. You may not think so but many gamers play only to get the platinums. After finishing Beyond Two Souls, I really dont want to go back and change the way my story was told just so I can get the trophies/platinum.

Anyway, I've lost appeal to trophy hunting a while ago. If you really wish to get a platinum, go with portal 2. It's straight up fun, especially because youll need a coop partner to get all trophies. You and your significant other can have a bit of fun doing that.

Banky A
Banky A
10 years ago

Nothing will feel like a bogus Plat unless it's one of the Hannah Montana or WWE games :')

JackC8
JackC8
10 years ago

I just wish shooters would die. I've been bored to death with games that consist of nothing but panning the camera around, putting the crosshairs on the guy and pushing the button ever since the end of the PS2 era. It's the most monotonous, shallow and trivial genre in existence. And when games I really like, such as Dead Space and Resident Evil, are turned into shooters because Call of Duty sold a trillion copies, it really makes me mad.

PGU: I got two platinums this week: Gran Turismo 6 and Jak And Daxter: The Precursor Legacy. When I finished Jak and Daxter I realized that I'd have to go back and find all the orbs, power cells and scout flies in the entire game. I thought it would be a huge pain in the butt, but it wasn't bad at all really.

Now I think I'll start on Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus and Ne No Kuni. Should play some more Skyrim on the PC as well.

Godslim
Godslim
10 years ago

I think shooters do need to evolve now or at least cod does, bf4 on ps4 is great!

slow and smart
slow and smart
10 years ago

I hope the fps genre will evolve so that we will see less games a la COD,

PGU:
i finished the DLC from Skyrim
and now i'm playing Fallout new vegas,i like it!,it's not so great as fallout 3 but stil,the exploring/collecting stuf/shaping of your gamecaracter,i'm glad i bought it while i did hesitate for a looooong while

Axe99
Axe99
10 years ago

If you're interested in a plat, where you don't have to work for it, but the game is all quality, give season one of "The Walking Dead" a run – from memory you plat it just by playing it, and it's very good :).

bldudas1
bldudas1
10 years ago

I only have one Platinum: Project Diva f. If you want an easy platinum, play that. I knew my only platinum would be in a game I imported. >.<

I finished my second play through of Mass Effect 2, and am now going to play Saints Row IV before moving on to another play through of Mass Effect 3.

The one game I really want for my PS3 this year is Drakengard 3. I f I knew more Japanese I would have imported.

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
10 years ago

Don't feel bad Ben,

Most plats seem more like a chore to me than fun, so out of all the 360 & PS3 games I've played, I've still don't have any fully achievement 360 games done and I've only got 1 PS3 game that I've received a plat for….Mafia 2.

BTW, I found Mafia 2's trophies really fun to do but I'd have to say the 2 hardest trophies were,
#1. keeping my speed clocked & maintained at a certain race speed zooming down the expressway while traffic & cops tried to slow me down or wreck me,
#2. getting the perfect jump while veering off the freeway to land on top of a small building's flat roof.

And maybe sometime after my next 20 years of playing, I'll even be able to get my 2nd plat, LOL

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
10 years ago

Yeah, that's the problem. Feels too much like a chore…if only there had been Platinums back in the day!

I could've easily Platinumed games like FFT, FFVII, Castlevania: SotN, and it would've been FUN. 🙂

BikerSaint
BikerSaint
10 years ago

My own PGU….
Just finished Dishonored, Sniper Ghost Warrior 2, Spec Ops: The Line, Sniper Elite V2, & Bioshock Infinite

And after all these decades that have gone by which I've never been able to get into any of the RPG's like any of those FF's(not counting action ones like Mass Effect, which I love), I've finally found myself one that caused me lose enough hours to not know(or even care) what day it is, or what time of AM or PM it was.

The one that's finally been able to keep & hold my attention is….Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen & I've already got my character past level 20.

And although I probably suck at it since I still hate crafting magic & medicine,
I pass most of those potions to my 3 pawns in the hopes that they'll use them to help me when needed, LOL.

I've powered everyone up enough to be to kill off one of those LionGoatSnaketailed creatures, but we still keep getting our a*sses handed to us trying to kill just 1 large skeleton that kills us with one swipe of his hugesword.
Guess I'll have to forget about taking him on till I can level up more & also equip myself & my pawns with better weapons, armor, etc.


Last edited by BikerSaint on 1/19/2014 6:54:22 PM

JackC8
JackC8
10 years ago

Ben you should just get the plat for Gran Tursimo 6. If you got gold on the license tests the rest is gravy. Just drive enough miles for the Autobarmy trophy. And with all the stuff they're supposedly coming out with for it – track creator, new track each month, etc. that should be easy.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
10 years ago

I can't get gold on all the Super license tests. I'm just not good enough for that.

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