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. 🙂
I think all the new crap that makes ownership confusing only helps the money makers and does little or nothing for the gamers.
Destiny should be fine due to said microtransactions.
I much prefered Cole's stickiness as well, that's what I was trying to tell people back in the day. If you remove that then you become a floater. The reason I have trouble getting anywhere is that there are just so FEW powers to play with. I don't understand, we had so many with Cole but Delsin has like 3 per conduit set and he can only have one conduit set working at once. There's no mayhem, no destruction, no fun. I don't know how I'll ever finish it or if I can.
After reviewing Child of Light I'm just done, that game feels like a corporate imitation of an indie game.
So I'm really enjoying Bound By Flame right now, it is a BBB production that is hard (but not Demon's Souls hard) and strangely addicting. It's the perfect RPG snack to get ready for Dragon Age.
You should join Dillon and I on our discussion about Bound by Flame in the forums. Look for the thread called Bound by Blood lol
word
Having to jump out of battle to switch between conduit types is a very odd design choice. I haven't played it but it must totally kill the flow if you would like to switch during battle. Baffling really, since it goes against the series fast paced accessible mayhem.
you also have to tap the touchpad to get out of water with a cut to black scene. Delsin can't frickin swim.
I've been having some fun with Bound by Flame as well. Some of the dialog is downright hilarious and the acting can be terrible but, all in all, I think it's a fun game.
nice to hear ben and yeah i had the same thinking about activision and destiny and i might just give trial a go some time as for 'child of light' maybe another time i have gone back to very little game time so i have to just concentrate on one game and atm that is just cause 2 great game btw recommend it to anyone who's willing ot give it a go. and i will have to try uncharted some time since i own the lot note to self uncharted
as for ownership back with the 1st 2 playstations and PC back then too the ownership system was simple and now it is too overly complicated you're right and we should try to go back to simplicity if its possible
happy gaming =)
Last edited by PlatformGamerNZ on 5/11/2014 12:05:13 AM
Agree on the digital thing. Like, why can't I just get a whole game on day one and be able to play it at my own pace?
Disagree on Destiny. There's no way that the first entry is selling 15 million copies; I don't care how much money Activision is pumping into advertising. It's getting a lot of positive buzz, but then, so did Titanfall and it has only 2.5 million copies sold across its three platforms. I really don't think that they're going to be able to recoup their losses from this first release, but they're building a franchise, so maybe the second or third game, in five or six years' time will be able to pull down that figure. Doubt it though. I can only hope that the lustre of FPS games has worn off for the majority by that point.
Personal Update:
Haven't played anything this week. At all. Been preoccupied with assignments, procrastination, Angel Beats and a little bit of writing thrown in for good measure.
Angel Beats! god i keep forgetting to start that
Didn't know what to expect from it. A bit trippy in its conceptualisation, but a good show nonetheless. I thought the ending was a bit weak, sadly.
For Destiny to get those numbers it will have to do everything right. Most importantly to have Halo fans truly believe that this is the new Halo.
I hope that half-billion already includes advertising :p.
PGU
Down to what I believe to be 4 more bosses in The Answer portion of Persona 3 FES.
I started playing the first Infamous again. Still alot of fun but it's surprising how much of the destruction was fairly tame in that game.
Last edited by Teddie9 on 5/11/2014 2:52:27 PM
Ben,
You pretty much summed up my objections to digital media. The question of whether or not I have any rights to downloadable content is what's really holding me back from embracing it. I can see the convenience factor, but the law hasn't caught up to the technology and with the amount of money that the content producers can bring to bear for lobbying, the result isn't likely to favor consumers. It's not just games of course. If you download Moby Dick (public domain) for your Kindle then you can't jailbreak it to another device and your iTunes library dies with you.
My friend was banned from psn because of an "error" or so he said…. All his thousands worth of games are gone. Cannot be downloaded again.
Here's a shout out for all the momma gamers:
Happy mother's day!