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Ben’s Week In Review: December 8

Even after a new system launch – or in this case, two new system launches – things always seem to calm down a bit in December. 🙂

I understand microtransactions but I really don't like slippery slopes

Sony confirmed the Gran Turismo 6 microtransaction prices and not long after, boss man Shuhei Yoshida explained that the concept of microtransactions involves "busy people." Now, I understand that. I really do. For a huge game like GT6, which will require hours and hours of dedication in order to earn enough credits to unlock the best cars, not everyone has the time. And yet, everyone who buys the game certainly wants to test out the greatest vehicles the world has to offer. Some may say it's cheating, others may say it's exploitation by taking more of your money, but in truth, it's just a way of jumping ahead in a game. You're paying for a cheat code.

Remember all those old games where cheats and codes were a big deal? And remember how so many of them gave you infinite money for a given game? That's really all this is. They're charging you for it, yes, but that's business. If nobody pays for it, the business fails and that's that. If people do pay for it, then that's the only justification business requires. And yet, the slippery slope is obvious- at what point do we say a microtransaction feels necessary in order to effectively progress in a game? At what point do we feel like we have to fork over more money in order to earn a better game experience? That's what worries me.

Deus Ex better NOT become an MMO

I'm as excited as anyone for the next series entry, which is apparently called Deus Ex: Universe . However, the title sort of implies that the game might be a MMO of sorts; at the very least, it may involve a persistent world with multiplayer interaction at the forefront. I get that this is the ongoing trend, I get that many future big titles feature similar elements. Look at Destiny , The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt , and many others. I'm sure many such titles will be fantastic but Deus Ex: Human Revolution does not need to go in that direction. Human Revolution featured an excellent blend of linear storytelling and a bit of exploration and player freedom. RPG-like customization and other elements mixed really well with the narrative.

That's what we've come to expect from Deus Ex . That's what makes the franchise great. Let's not abandon that which makes something great, shall we? If everything starts to give in to trends and fads and "what's hot," we'll end up with a bazillion titles that all feel…exactly…the…same.

Personal gaming update

For now, it's all about Gran Turismo 6 . I can't say anything about it just yet but as you might expect, the gearheads out there will love it. I'll also freely admit that I had quite a bit of fun with FIFA 14 but when all is said and done, I'm just not a soccer fan. Besides, I've still got plenty to play, and I want to try catching up on a few more reviews. There's not much else coming out this month, so it'll give me a chance to get stuff done. Also, I will remind everyone that if you own a Vita and haven't yet played Tearaway , you owe it to yourself to give it a try. I beat it and didn't regret one minute of it. It's just so impossible to put down!

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Geobaldi
Geobaldi
10 years ago

I thought Deus Ex Universe was referring to the series of interconnected games for all platforms, books, tablet and phone stuff, graphic novels, etc. And not as a title for any one individual game.

Beamboom
Beamboom
10 years ago

Oh man how I hope you are right.
And it at least sounds plausible. They can't possibly screw up this franchise.

Temjin001
Temjin001
10 years ago

The GT6 micro-transaction justification is just false. If the designers feel their game is too much of a grind for all the many players it may appeal to then simply provide a casual setting. Or something that allows the credit multi-player to go up quicker. Problem solved.
I really need to play through the latest Deus Ex. I played through the first two and enjoyed them a lot. The original PC game was ahead of it's time. It's design was in a world of it's own back then.

PGU: I've been hooked on GRID 2. It hits this hard to nail balance of arcade and dynamic feeling physics I'm really critical of. I generally can't play most of the NFS games for this reason. Grid 2 glorifies the drift but keeps it grounded with dynamic feeling responsiveness, reminiscent of Burnout 2 before it went too fast and light weight and skid'ish feeling as it's sequel did. The graphics are really great too. The Cote d'Azur never looked better. The track atmosphere is real rich. Cars look good from game play cam and in general but miss the GT level of detail. Unfortunately, the graphics are all a little too lavish as the 12 player races can really choke the frame rate, including also some nasty screen tear problems. I'm also okay with the lack of cockpit and gear changing. Initially I wasn't but as I played it I felt the cockpit would just be way too constrained feeling to drive at the dramatic level it asks you to.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 12/7/2013 10:34:09 PM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
10 years ago

I think the "busy" people thing is just a plausible excuse. It's something that is true but has nothing to do with why it's being done. Ultimately microtransactions undermine a game no matter what because the product isn't equal across income brackets. Poor people are busy too.

Deus Ex was neat but I never finished it so I'm like whatever, BUT I do think when games are tuned into an MMO atmosphere the combat always suffers. MMO combat is always less satisfying, which leaves even a single player campaign inside an MMO mechanic unsatisfying. See White Knight Chronicles.

I got Killer is Dead, it is so unique and imaginative that I can't help but love it. We need more Suda51s in the gaming world. Also got Atelier Ayesha. Turned based combat and bishoujo FTW!

Beamboom
Beamboom
10 years ago

Funny you mention White Knight Chronicles cause that's *exactly* what it felt like: A single player game inside a mmorpg shell. But boy did a certain jrpg fanboy get furious when I pointed that out.

I actually rather like the classic mmo combat style as long as it fits the game. Everything runs like a clockwork, all determined by the outcome of dices, influenced by modifiers. It's almost as you can see the code float by (oooh yess… Matrix).

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
10 years ago

I really wanna play WKC2 through but I got stuck at this one early boss and no amount of horrible grinding seems to help. Why did they have to make it such a pain?

Beamboom
Beamboom
10 years ago

I'd rather play a *real* mmorpg the next time I fiddle with these mechanics:
Final Fantasy 14. That's the game I am searching for excuses to start playing.


Last edited by Beamboom on 12/8/2013 3:16:25 PM

Underdog15
Underdog15
10 years ago

I can't get enough of FFXIV so far. Next week, the first major patch comes. Lots of additions… a PvP arena… new dungeons… housing for your group…

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
10 years ago

Im not buying the microtransactions are for busy people. Sorry people dont want to invest more money into something they rarely play. Especially at those prices.

I missed the VGAs or VGXs, but I meant to tune in. I did see the results and Spike loses more and more credit every year. There were some excellent games and most of them won something. But thats the problem. It seems like they wanted every game to win something to justify that it was good. Of course there are a few I disagree woth also. *COUGH* GOTY *COUGH*.

PGU: Just been playing BF4, KZ Shadowfall, and started AC4 last night. Im really liking AC4 so far. Story feels rushed at the beginning, like it moves to quickly without explanations but Im holding out hope for later tid bits in the game. BF4 needs some patches and KZ is the most underrated game and probably will be the rest of the generation.

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
10 years ago

While I think that everything becoming an MMO is a dreadful idea, I don't think that it is necessarily a detriment to the games themselves. I mean, think about the way that it was in Demon's Souls where players could invade your game… and a lot of people loved the dynamism that it introduced. But it's more than that. We've seen it increasingly with FPS game this generation, where they basically all coalesced into the same formula and we started to see people lose interest, so developers took a step back and really started to make them their own again in order to stand out from the crowd. Take a look at this year: Bioshock Infinite, Metro Last Light, Crysis 3, Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, Aliens, Blood Dragon, Dust 514, Killzone: Shadow Fall; they may not all have been great, but none of them really followed what we might term the blockbuster ideal of CoD and BF.

That's what I envision this online evangelism will result in: games that are all connected but really rely on their own ideas. Done right it could be more than interesting, it could be phenomenal, but I think that we're still several years from seeing it done right as developers first need to get over the love affair of the idea in order to settle in and make it work properly.

Personal Update:
Finally decided to cave and read A Song of Ice and Fire. I'm about halfway through A Game of Thrones and absolutely loving it. Been ages since I read any new fantasy and the way that Martin has constructed his world is really quite incredible. Can definitely see why they're so acclaimed, but I'm not about to start watching the TV series.
Playing Bioshock Infinite. It's a damn good game, but it really is too reliant on the violence and combat for my liking. I find it to be a real shame because it feels as though the story keeps getting broken up by these ridiculously, almost sickeningly, frenetic combat sequences that make it feel so standard. I actually find it detracting from the story, as I really couldn't give a damn about and Elizabeth and Booker when I keep having to kill dozens upon dozens of enemies just because its a game. It's really frustrating because I was expecting to love it… but it doesn't have the same feeling of uniqueness and creeping tension as the original game.

slow and smart
slow and smart
10 years ago

as mentioned before i played Deus ex human revolution director's cut and finished it:what a great game it is,good sf atmosphere/good gameplay,for me a must have.
Never change such a good game in a mmo,there's no need for it,it's already great!

Also i fully agree with Ben!:"If everything starts to give in to trends and fads and "what's hot," we'll end up with a bazillion titles that all feel…exactly…the…same".

wambo
wambo
10 years ago

When I get round to purchasing GT6 I will play it the way i've always played a GT game an thats earning credits by winning races.

Lunar_Miyuki
Lunar_Miyuki
10 years ago

i guess everyone has those games they have to take their shots at every chance they get but whatever

to busy = excuse us gamers came up with and devs stole it and are using it now
if you ever actually played WKC2 online when it became a nest for modders and hackers before it was shutdown people would litterally use my life is to busy as an excuse to buy a illegally moded save with beyond max stats max items all the best weapons max $$ and half those people once they bought those saves would litterally play for 6 to 8 hours a day

Fun fact WKC was designed to be an ORPG online RPG but its not the first game to do something like that lets go back to PS2 with Arc the Lad games
they tried it first but PS2 almost nobody cared 4 the online adapter that was sold seperately

Deus X ill start off saying this an MMO version would likely Flop i don't see a way to properly implement the games style in our current MMOS and servers

and on your personal stuff glad you found a game you couldn't put down

JackC8
JackC8
10 years ago

I was supposed to get GT6 on Friday but UPS screwed up; hopefully I'll get it Monday. It's been sitting at the "carrier facility" in town since 2:10 AM Saturday morning. I thought they delivered on Saturday?!?!

Picked up Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction and Ni No Kuni to put under the Christmas tree. Played a bit of GT5 and as always a bit of Skyrim on PC.

Solid Fantasy
Solid Fantasy
10 years ago

Did anyone else encounter a game stopping glitch in the Tearaway demo? I threw the apple into a tight corner and couldn't pick it back up.

PGU: this week has all been about Far Cry 3 and Soul Sacrifice. FC3 really is a less deep version of Skyrim with guns. This is a good thing b/c I don't have the time for another skyrim. Sure do hate the characters though. It's so!! cold in norther MN right now. The tropical island on FC3 helps. Soul Sacrive is indeed very repetitive, but it makes for a decent level grinder. But man is it impossible to find an RPG that doesn't have a dodge mechanic these days?

maxpontiac
maxpontiac
10 years ago

Ok, I might be going against the grain of popular thought here, but I am going to put the Micro Transactions to good use in GT6.

Why?

Well for the first time in a long time, I do not have the time I want to spend in a GT game due to how busy my life has become.

Since Friday, I have only two hours plus of drive time in the game. This is not because I dislike GT6, but is due to the fact that I have been very busy with my personal life. I am actually kind of bummed over this due to how I "planned" to have over 2 hours on launch day.

About GT6 and the MT's…

With that said, earning credits in this game is still easy, as I have 65,000 in the bank and purchased a few cars. After checking, it seems the prices of the cars from GT5 to GT6 has stayed constant so there shouldn't be any alarms raised over the micro transactions in GT6.

Anyways…

I look forward to what PSXE has to say about GT6 and I am pretty sure I know where the review is going to fall in terms of scoring.

PlatformGamerNZ
PlatformGamerNZ
10 years ago

yeah so i have nailed down the details and i will be getting a vita for christmas and teraway with in (the bundle it's in) and 1 or 2 or 3 games with it and i memory card of course thats required. as for gt6 that won't be happening for awhile as i had the vita money aside months/weeks ago and it'lljust have to wait for quite a bit more resourses to cme bk in

happy gaming =)

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