Ben’s Week In Review: May 11

Happy Mother's Day to all! 🙂

This is one of the many reasons why I don't like the digital revolution

During the entire Driveclub Plus fiasco, which resulted in Sony reversing a key policy , I was just saying to myself, "I miss the time when you bought a game, owned it, and that was it."

Now, it's almost as if nobody has any idea what they own, what they're entitled to for what they paid, what something should cost, how far an experience should go once paid for, etc, etc, etc. It's ridiculous. Just buy the freakin' product, play it, and be done with it. This has gotten so overly complex that it's hardly worth the effort to even discuss. Season Passes, downloadable content, digital distribution, updates, patches, free-to-play, subscriptions, microtransactions, blah blah blah. To be honest, I'm not sure any of these has greatly amplified my enjoyment of the hobby, anyway.

I understand the positive concepts behind each of those modern-day occurrences. I really do. I don't need the lectures pertaining to why each is God's gift to the industry. All I see is a lot more difficulty and complexity whereas before, there was none (or very little). I know that there was a time, when I bought a game, I knew I owned it, I knew what I was getting, and I expected no more or no less. It really was a pretty straightforward process and it worked just fine. As usual, though, we have to over-complicate everything in the guise of "progress," which I'm sure the tech-heads love. Well, that's fine.

I'll still take a time when I pressed a button and played a game, thanks.

Can Destiny really sell 15 million+? Sure, why not?

Everyone flipped out when they heard that Activision would be investing a cool half-billion dollars into Bungie's highly anticipated Destiny . This means, according to analysts, that the game will have to sell in excess of 15 million copies just to break even. That may sound ridiculous but it's really not. The Battlefield games have often sold 12-14 million and while Destiny is indeed a new IP, it's massively hyped. And everyone knows the team behind it is responsible for the venerated Halo series. On top of which, it's exactly what everyone seems to want these days: A co-op, open-world shooter. They combined all the "trending gameplay elements" of today, as far as I'm concerned.

On top of which, if Activision and Bungie really do intend to support the game for a full decade, why can't it sell 15 million? Hell, it should double that in the span of ten years. Activision typically knows how to make money and while $500 million is a very large amount, I have a feeling that every executive is 100 percent confident they'll still turn a hefty profit.

Personal gaming update

I'm finally working my way through inFamous: Second Son after abandoning it to handle other things. It's still a great game, but I always have a problem with the climbing mechanics; they're too floaty because the game thinks I'm trying to fly. It was better with the "stickier" Cole in inFamous 2 , because you always knew you were climbing. Other than that, it's just tons of fun to play, as all these games always are. I'm also trying to finish the excellent Child of Light , which is worthy of your attention if you have an appreciation for subtle beauty.

I'd play more of Trials Fusion if I didn't get so frustrated with it, and Daylight was a straight-up waste of my time. Interestingly enough, my girlfriend is going through Uncharted 2: Among Thieves . She's never played a third-person action/adventure game before so she's playing on Very Easy, but she's getting the hang of it. Up to Chapter 8 now. 🙂