NishimaruX

@ZYDIO

How can they deny me from using my physical media?

They can't, however some have convinced themselves that digital physical media are exactly the same and can be treated as such. They're not obviously.

Indie games are where I'm finding the brunt of my gaming enjoyment these days, particularly in the horror genre.
Sure I still find time for the occasional big hitter, but generally indie devs have my attention. It's also a bonus that on Steam the majority come with a demo and all are very cheaply priced.

More people should give indies a chance. They don't break the bank and, more often than not, are more creative than many AAA titles.

Wasn't that taken with the original, it felt like whole areas were empty, almost as if the developers didn't have time to fill it with content. Combat was clumsy as well. Visually, as is often the case with Ubisoft, it was very impressive. Sailing the high seas also paved the way for the much better AC Odyssey.

However, the AC series has been very hit and miss so I won't be picking up Resynced

Still chipping away at Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, although not as much this past week.

Returned to Fallout 3, fully modded. Remains a true classic.

Finished a short indie, phycological horror title, Left Alone, then began a new one, Hallowseed. These games are generally quite short, (3-5hrs), so perfect for a quick slice of horror gaming. They're a lot of fun and, for the most part, very well made. Also looking to begin dinosaur horror title, Oakwood.

It's been too hot to dedicate any real amount of time to gaming this week. Find myself catching up on sleepless nights.

edit

As the evening cooled off I decided to play the original Alan Wake again. Remains a very good game. I love setting, it's very Stephen King.

@armondo36

No doubt much of the reasoning behind abandoning franchises before they have chance to grow is down to the time and money it takes to develop new games with little chance of return.

Take the GTA series. Between GTA 3, Vice city and San Andreas all three were developed and released within a 4-5 year period. GTA 5 to 6 - 13 years with an estimated $1billion in development costs.
Even though GTA is well established and continues to generate money it's quite a difference. For other, lesser known franchises the risks are much higher.
So while disappointing for fans of Avowed, ditching a sequel in favour of focussing on the far more established Fallout series makes sense.

Basically it boils down to the risk vs reward scenario.

@ILuvGames

Yes a new Quake would be great. I play through the original at least once a year. It's a masterclass in design.

Looks good, but won't be something I look at until a much later date.

I do think the disc-to-digital idea is a good one, as long as it eventually allows for Xbox 360 titles. I've a bunch that I'd like to transfer.

Nothing in my catalogue sadly

@Mr-Cage

Hopefully laws get updated on digital ownership in the future

I can't see that happening. If it were going to happen it would have done so already. Steam has been going for two decades and no legislation that genuinely protects the end user has been put in place. It will be the same with consoles. The publishers have the upper hand and the time to kick back has long since past.

Anyway, I do buy digital games (got no choice if I want to pick up new games for my PC), and I'm about to start a new horror game I bought via GoG that I enjoyed watching YouTuber 'KingWoolz' playing. Horror Story: Hallowseed.

@dkxcalibur

Are we approaching an era where even physical consoles don't exist? All games are streaming directly to your TV, monitor, or phone?

I think that's most certainly where things are headed.

@Jenkinss

I would say the closest thing to this would be when Gamestop stopped carrying PC games in stores

Indeed. It was retail chain Game here in the UK. Shelf fulls of PC games, wall to wall. Now all gone.

Here's the thing, though. I don't hate digital content and engage with it, (obviously), but I won't buy into this lie that it somehow was designed to serve the customer and not just the industry. It was never designed to serve us, only the corporate suits. It's the removal of choice that narks me. Having less choice is never a good thing.

@armondo36

And it's because Avowed only garnered a minority audience that a sequel has been cancelled. Fallout has a much bigger draw, so while disappointing it's not surprising.

@Titntin

I'm not in control of my physical movie and music collection unless I'm offline? Riiight.
You know that's complete nonsense. Prey tell, how does a company stop my records from working? How do they remove the content? That's some serious wizardry! 😂

Modern games are arguably a different story in some instances, but anything you bought on a disc up until the 7th generation is perfectly safe whether online or not.

You say I'm deluded, but it strikes me you're the one who's been happily slurping down the digital koolade these corporations have been handing out.

@Titntin

When you buy a physical disc you are also buying a revokable license - its no different

In the small print yes, but not in my entire life has a physical product I've purchased been taken away from me. Not once have I had some shady looking men in corporate suits turn up and remove my movie or music collection. Nor has a single CD or DVD I own stopped working because the licence expired.

Nor has anyone else.

THAT is the key difference between physical media and digital.

With digital it can all be taken away while you're asleep and there's nothing you can do about it.

Its not that people don't understand it, its that you, like so many who have fully jumped ship, are trying to justify the existence of digital media versus physical ownership by placing both scenarios in the same ballpark and it doesn't wash I'm afraid.
The recent entire removal of people's digital movie library from their PlayStation, with no refunds, shows how very different these two positions are.
I'm still waiting for my front door to be kicked in and my movie collection taken away - but we both know that's not going to happen. Not ever.

So yes the small print might paint the same picture, but the outcomes are very different. With physical media YOU are in control as to what happens with the product. With digital you do not.

Unfortunately this is the way it's going for video games - much sooner than music and film. The public has shown its willingness to give up their rights for the sake of "convenience".

The wording around purchasing digital content needs to be addressed.
When you click "buy" on digital games, movies, or e-books, you are actually purchasing a revocable license that can be legally taken away at a moments notice. You're not buying anything, you're merely renting.

"Buy" implies ownership and that is misleading.

If buy = rent then arguably piracy = preservation.

This industry wants its cake and eat it and consumers are allowing it to happen and, as I say above, all for the sake of convenience.

Convenience has been weaponised into a dirty word by politicians and corporations to get their own way and in turn have more sway over the populace.

But hey, think how "convenient" all that extra shelf space is...

A new Fallout will do much better than another Avowed. A wise decision to cancel the sequel.

Xbox can barely make up the numbers now, what makes her think they'll engage with a billion players a day when the brand is falling about their ears?

Has she been taking a leaf out of the Square Enix book of unachievable numbers?

@PsBoxSwitchOwner

There's a valuable lesson here in that one shouldn't start throwing out statements like "fake news" until all the facts are present. However, it's a lesson that a certain member won't learn from.

So here's until the next time "fake news" is bandied about to then only turn out not to be fake news after all...

@ILuvGames

My nards are out of commission at my age so kick away! 😂

@Nall3k

I was trying to be positive...😂

But yes, and as I said yesterday, I doubt any of these studios will survive.

While I enjoyed Black Flag I won't be investing in the remake. I'm more interested in what Ubisoft will do with the next Ghost Recon.

Contrary to what I said yesterday maybe, just maybe, these studios will fair better without the albatross of a company that is Microsoft hanging around their necks.

@ILuvGames

😂

I sincerely hope SoD3 gets released. I loved the first two. I'm just becoming more jaded and cynical as I get older!

I'm currently sat here playing KCD 2. Absolutely love it.

@ILuvGames

I'm a big horror fan and PC is brimming with some great horror games not available anywhere else.

I take back the naivety comment, my guy.

@Millionski

We shall see.

@dreadful

So it's agreed then, this is all down to Microsoft and mismanagement, not the studios themselves who are now reaping the fallout of said mismanagement.

@Millionski

But as a hybrid even Helix will have limitations. No script extender for modding, (which is needed for the absolute best mods), GoG due to the DRM policy, (even Steam and Epic stores are yet to be confirmed) and no doubt a whole bunch of other stuff will have restricted access on Helix.
No, the only true way to experience PC gaming is with an actual PC.

@Coletrain

Fact of the matter is for all the "which is better" talk PC gaming really has grown into the best platform for gaming (well, it's always been the best if we're being honest). The openness, versatility, flexibility and so forth cannot be beaten.
Most of the negative dialogue put out there is either massively outdated or misinformed. 99% of it doesn't even hold up and hasn't done for a decade or more - and it's only getting better.

Yeah I game on console occasionally, they're okay and suit a purpose, but I could never make them my primary platform. They're just too limited for my tastes.

Seriously mate, stop thinking about it and just do it. Ditch this walled-garden console nonsense and build yourself a decent gaming PC. You'll open up a world of gaming you'll never experience on console.

(I imagine I may have invoked a list somewhere down the line with the above post)

@NeoRatt

It's a line from Red Dwarf.

@BacklogBrad

Yes it might please the Xbox faithful, but the average consumer won't know and will care even less.
Unfortunately the Xbox die-hards aren't enough to prop up the brand which is why I can't see any other future for Helix other than it winding up in the Microsoft graveyard along with all their other failed projects.

@NeoRatt

In the current climate I wouldn't trust Microsoft to have the smarts to open a tin of sardines - that were already open.

@Coletrain

I honestly don't know, mate. A whole bunch of reasons no doubt.

Funny thing is if I wasn't coming to these pages I would likely be none the wiser as being a PC gamer my gaming life is thriving - I'm finding fun, new games almost every day that I add to my wish list or buy on the spot.
To quote myself from another post it seems that in spite of everything PC gaming is experiencing massive growth, with industry reports projecting PC revenue to surpass consoles by 2028 and the player base on track to exceed one billion.

While the hardware situation is affecting all platforms it seems that on the software side consoles are coming off worse.

@ILuvGames

Very true. I posted just the other day that in spite of everything reports show that PC gaming is experiencing massive growth, with industry reports projecting PC revenue to surpass consoles by 2028 and the player base on track to exceed one billion.

I'm finding new, fun and interesting games on my PC most days. Unfortunately while consoles have a strong indie/smaller studio presence it seems few can look past the big AAA publishers for their gaming kicks.

@ILuvGames

Whipper snapper? I wish!

@ILuvGames

I've nothing to learn me old cocker.

@ILuvGames

If the buyer didn't want the game or studio they wouldn't be buying it

Again. Microsoft. If they didn't want the studios and games why buy them?

Learning yet? 😂

@GuyinPA75

Why are you copying and pasting this into every thread? 😂

@ILuvGames

I think you should have learned by now that having a buyer is not a confirmation of anything.

Example? Oh, I don't know, Microsoft perhaps? Bought everything only to shut most of it down or bin it off..

@demian

NO studio is closing

Correct. They've just been let go to close of the own volition at a later date...

@ILuvGames

The only game and studio I cared about from those 4 lives! State of Decay 3/Undead Labs got a new owner and lease on life

For now. As a fan of SoD I hope number 3 surfaces, but I'm not optimistic.

I've been made redundant twice in my working life. It's never pleasant, certainly when 99.9% of the time these scenarios come about through mismanagement.
Yet as always it's the little people that feel the pinch, never the tossers in their ivory towers that allowed it to happen.

@Fiendish-Beaver

You don't think this move by Microsoft to "let these studios go" was to lesson an even more negative response than they already have recieved had they shut them down?
Do you honestly believe the studios let go have much of a chance of survival?
I want to play SoD 3 as much as anyone else who enjoys the series, but I think it wise to resign ourselves to the very likely possibility that it'll never see the light of day.

@FraserG

Ah I see. Thanks for the clarification.

A sad day indeed.

Any good news? 😂

@NeoRatt

I want them to own the Unreal Engine

Good God, no.

Given what's transpired any future attempts by Microsoft to acquire studios and the like should be thoroughly and properly investigated with a mind to blocking such acquisitions.

@FraserG

The BBC are reporting 4,800 jobs cut. Not that I trust the BBC'S ability to report the news correctly and haven't done so for a long time, but what's the official number? 4,800 is significantly more than 3,200 jobs let go.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c36yy27rnpeo

@Runex2121

I chalk this one up as a win

Good grief. 😂

Tell that to the 3.2k jobs lost and the inevitability of the studios let go shutting their doors a little down the line.

@HonestHick

Again i am ok with these 4 studios going off and doing their own thing

Which would be fine if it weren't for the highly likely possibility that they'll not survive.
Microsoft know this, but from the outside it looks more agreeable cutting them loose to "carve their own path" than shutting them down entirely.

@Jenkinss

They aren't trying to stop the ship from sinking. They're trying to make as much money as they can before it sinks.

And like the Titanic there's not enough lifeboats.

"Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein."

Even though I'm a fan of all these IPs I would say go a step further and just focus on TES and Fallout as a primary. They're guaranteed sellers.