@BSlyTheGamerGuy I know right. Microsoft shot themselves in the foot being ahead of the curve multiple times.
They wanted to champion Xbox one as entertainment console not gaming console. Got mocked relentlessly now here we are with every console having every media platform.
They wanted to push digital. Got mocked (that Sony as was gold). Now Sony are charging for the disc drive separately to encourage digital purchases.
Now they want a platform beyond the console. They are doing it terribly. Their pc store is garbage so no sales coming on their or people entering the eco system on pc for 3rd party games.
Now epic won the lawsuit Vs apple and Google their is a precedent that manufacturers will have to allow 3rd party stores on their devices. I predict Microsoft allow epic store on the next Xbox and the 2 companies push Sony for stores on there too. All on the intent of eventual cloud gaming, boxless, gaming. (Though of course a subset of consoles will always exist even for Xbox imo)
@Kooky_Geezer I believe it was more that Microsoft had no talent capable of taking over management in a Japanese studio. Now they are taking the reigns from Xbox they are looking to get more hands on with their studios and setting up a strong line of communication and management with tango was gonna be more effort than moronic msft corpos were willing to put in. Any of the likes of Phil Spencer, Matt booty are a dozen other Xbox people could've told them that's was public suicide.
Art piece games have been around a long time. All with varying degrees of gameplay focus, art focus, narrative focus.
Many people champion until dawn, telltale games, Detroit become human as fantastic games. As they are in their own rights. Hellblade 2 is still a game. A game in a very narrow genre. A game that is one of the best in that genre.
I somehow doubt when until dawn remake comes out this year people will be arguing nearly as much. Granted it has choice as it leans into it's take on horror as opposed to hellblade with it's 'along for the ride' narrative design.
Sadly as studies are showing, narrative games, strategy games are seeing a down tick in player preferences year in year with occasional exceptions. Media is training our monkey brains to demand stimulation.
I always champion gameplay over graphics but it is genre specific and always has been. Halo was at its best delivering solid character driven campaigns that played well, as was gears. Both retain the meaty gameplay but have lost the story. And people say so with each release. So saying gameplay is solely important is somewhat of a fallacy
There is a simple dividing line between games where gameplay is a driving force and games where narrative is a driving force.
Senua is no superhero like Spiderman or god like kratos, she has no power armour or future tech like on halo. She is a self trained warrior with her own story internally that is beautifully represented in the art and especially sound design.
I'm am generally no fan of walking sim games but this series manages to balance in a way you are rarely walking in silence with nothing to marvel at. It's intentional, well designed pacing is something most open world games could stand to learn from and remember.
Don't judge this game based on genres it is not. That does it a disservice. It's not 10/10. The gameplay COULD have been better without detracting from the story but this isn't a AAA game it's AA. It's easily an 8.5-9/10 comfortably for me
@TheLastHarbinger console market. Microsoft plays ahead of the game, Sony plays current game better. This entire generation Sony has been doing what Microsoft does just a little afterwards. Microsoft buys publisher's, Sony buys publisher's, Microsoft emphasises pc and cross platform, Sony emphasises pc cross platform, Microsoft lays people off, Sony lays people off. Sony simply has a decade + of better received games and marketing.
Microsoft are in the position to get a monopoly of cloud gaming which is set to be a far larger market than console gaming.
@Sanquine @TwoDents considering the state of the industry in terms of layoffs at supermassive games and embracer on top of msft and Sony I'm somewhat on board with msft saying the Activision layoffs were going to happend whether they bought them or not. Activision were getting dragged through the mud pre acquisition anyway.
Definitely not the same situation between msft and Sony. Msft spent a looooooot and made promises but on the other end of the spectrum Sony's console division is in a much better position no?
Comments 8
Re: Xbox To Start Selling Games 'Directly' On Android App Next Month (US)
@CutchuSlow to play those games directly on the android phone without a connected console?
Re: Xbox Exec Reveals How Much Money Microsoft Has Made From Halo
@Tyrant_T103 and even the cosmetic focus lacked a lot of features present in games like reach to put them behind pay walls.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Console Sales Estimated At Under Half Of PS5 In New Report
@BSlyTheGamerGuy I know right. Microsoft shot themselves in the foot being ahead of the curve multiple times.
They wanted to champion Xbox one as entertainment console not gaming console. Got mocked relentlessly now here we are with every console having every media platform.
They wanted to push digital. Got mocked (that Sony as was gold). Now Sony are charging for the disc drive separately to encourage digital purchases.
Now they want a platform beyond the console. They are doing it terribly. Their pc store is garbage so no sales coming on their or people entering the eco system on pc for 3rd party games.
Now epic won the lawsuit Vs apple and Google their is a precedent that manufacturers will have to allow 3rd party stores on their devices. I predict Microsoft allow epic store on the next Xbox and the 2 companies push Sony for stores on there too. All on the intent of eventual cloud gaming, boxless, gaming. (Though of course a subset of consoles will always exist even for Xbox imo)
Re: Rumour: Rocksteady Founders Sign New Studio Game Deal With Xbox
@Kooky_Geezer I believe it was more that Microsoft had no talent capable of taking over management in a Japanese studio. Now they are taking the reigns from Xbox they are looking to get more hands on with their studios and setting up a strong line of communication and management with tango was gonna be more effort than moronic msft corpos were willing to put in. Any of the likes of Phil Spencer, Matt booty are a dozen other Xbox people could've told them that's was public suicide.
Re: Digital Foundry Analyses 'Next-Level Visuals' Found In Hellblade 2 On Xbox
Art piece games have been around a long time. All with varying degrees of gameplay focus, art focus, narrative focus.
Many people champion until dawn, telltale games, Detroit become human as fantastic games. As they are in their own rights. Hellblade 2 is still a game. A game in a very narrow genre. A game that is one of the best in that genre.
I somehow doubt when until dawn remake comes out this year people will be arguing nearly as much. Granted it has choice as it leans into it's take on horror as opposed to hellblade with it's 'along for the ride' narrative design.
Sadly as studies are showing, narrative games, strategy games are seeing a down tick in player preferences year in year with occasional exceptions. Media is training our monkey brains to demand stimulation.
I always champion gameplay over graphics but it is genre specific and always has been. Halo was at its best delivering solid character driven campaigns that played well, as was gears. Both retain the meaty gameplay but have lost the story. And people say so with each release. So saying gameplay is solely important is somewhat of a fallacy
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Critics Are Saying About Xbox's Hellblade 2
There is a simple dividing line between games where gameplay is a driving force and games where narrative is a driving force.
Senua is no superhero like Spiderman or god like kratos, she has no power armour or future tech like on halo. She is a self trained warrior with her own story internally that is beautifully represented in the art and especially sound design.
I'm am generally no fan of walking sim games but this series manages to balance in a way you are rarely walking in silence with nothing to marvel at. It's intentional, well designed pacing is something most open world games could stand to learn from and remember.
Don't judge this game based on genres it is not. That does it a disservice. It's not 10/10. The gameplay COULD have been better without detracting from the story but this isn't a AAA game it's AA. It's easily an 8.5-9/10 comfortably for me
Re: PlayStation Follows Xbox In Announcing Significant Layoffs For 2024
@TheLastHarbinger console market. Microsoft plays ahead of the game, Sony plays current game better. This entire generation Sony has been doing what Microsoft does just a little afterwards. Microsoft buys publisher's, Sony buys publisher's, Microsoft emphasises pc and cross platform, Sony emphasises pc cross platform, Microsoft lays people off, Sony lays people off. Sony simply has a decade + of better received games and marketing.
Microsoft are in the position to get a monopoly of cloud gaming which is set to be a far larger market than console gaming.
Re: PlayStation Follows Xbox In Announcing Significant Layoffs For 2024
@Sanquine @TwoDents considering the state of the industry in terms of layoffs at supermassive games and embracer on top of msft and Sony I'm somewhat on board with msft saying the Activision layoffs were going to happend whether they bought them or not. Activision were getting dragged through the mud pre acquisition anyway.
Definitely not the same situation between msft and Sony. Msft spent a looooooot and made promises but on the other end of the spectrum Sony's console division is in a much better position no?