[Mentalist]

http://arstechnica.c...ere-hoping-for/

What the fuck happened to Blizzard?

This is making me want to buy a copy of WarCraftIII Battlechest off Amazon, before Blizz completely scours one of its best games out of existence.

Edit: and ordered. I want a copy of those disks for peace of mind.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 01 February 2020 - 01:43 AM

[Aptorian]

It makes you sad seeing what Blizzard has become. Ten years ago companies and studios like Blizzard, Valve, BioWare and Bethesda were seen as legendary game makers, now there's nothing of that quality and good reputation left.

[Maark Abbott]

Blizzard got greedy, BioWare got bought out and made into another EA bitch, and Bethesda... I don't know about Bethesda. They went a little too hard towards overly simple open world stuff that was sadly lacking, until they finally caved and became Murmorperger developers.

[Mentalist]

Maark Abbott, on 03 February 2020 - 08:51 AM, said:

Blizzard got greedy, BioWare got bought out and made into another EA bitch, and Bethesda... I don't know about Bethesda. They went a little too hard towards overly simple open world stuff that was sadly lacking, until they finally caved and became Murmorperger developers.

At this point, Zenimax might still turn things around with Starfield. Highly unlikely, but possible.

Bioware... Dragon Age 4 is described as "Anthem with Dragons", so I'm not holding my breath.

And Blizzard.. just... ugh... sigh. D4 is a "shared world game", so I will never care about it. Blizz stopped making things I like. The fact that they couldn't get a simple remaster for Warcraft III right is just indicative of them not giving a shit.

[Mentalist]

Good day for games:

Platinum started a Kickstarter to port a Wii U exclusive "The Wonderful 101" to Switch, PC and PS4. They hit all 3 stretch goals (PS4 was half a million, Steam was quarter of a mil) in 2.5 hours.

Demon X Machina, the Switch exclusive mecha-fighting game is coming to Steam next week.

Platinum has 3 more projects to announce on their teaser website; Given they recently got a cash injection from Tencent, these are rumored to be small new IPs they'll be self-publishing.

[Maark Abbott]

Mentalist, on 03 February 2020 - 03:22 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 03 February 2020 - 08:51 AM, said:

Blizzard got greedy, BioWare got bought out and made into another EA bitch, and Bethesda... I don't know about Bethesda. They went a little too hard towards overly simple open world stuff that was sadly lacking, until they finally caved and became Murmorperger developers.

At this point, Zenimax might still turn things around with Starfield. Highly unlikely, but possible.

Bioware... Dragon Age 4 is described as "Anthem with Dragons", so I'm not holding my breath.

And Blizzard.. just... ugh... sigh. D4 is a "shared world game", so I will never care about it. Blizz stopped making things I like. The fact that they couldn't get a simple remaster for Warcraft III right is just indicative of them not giving a shit.

I think Inquisition was my enlightenment moment with Bioware, because I bought all the DLC for that game taking it to about £70 total... And then a GOTY was announced for like £25 release price.

Realistically, I don't think a lot of big game companies give a shit any more. Their sales are assured by how big their franchises are. The most fun I've really had with games lately has been smaller studios or indie developers.

My real bugbear with a lot of major developers is this 'games as a service' mindset. I admit that I spend a bit of money on gacha games, but that's optional, the game I play there would be F2P entirely if I wanted it to be. Stuff like season passes every few months, etc etc... Can't stand it.

[Tiste Simeon]

Anyone played any of these so called background games? Find the Coffee Talk concept quite intriguing...

https://www.theguard...-almost-nothing

[Maark Abbott]

Tiste Simeon, on 04 February 2020 - 11:05 AM, said:

Anyone played any of these so called background games? Find the Coffee Talk concept quite intriguing...

https://www.theguard...-almost-nothing

May I recommend you Nekopara, officer?

For that matter, all visual novels usually have a choice here and there but not much else to do.

Anyway, that game sounds like a ripoff of Va11-Hall-A (or however the dick you spell it) which is a cyberpunk bartending game with loads of dialogue.

[Malankazooie]

Hey guys! Sony just launched a PlayStation 5 website. That's audacious! The revolution with be televised!

[Mentalist]

Anyone remember Outriders? that game by People Can Fly that Squeeenix revealed last E3?

Apparently there've been some preview events and more info is coming soon. Looks like a Borderlands with better shooting and a more hardcore sci-fi aesthetic.

[Aptorian]

Malankazooie, on 04 February 2020 - 09:33 PM, said:

Hey guys! Sony just launched a PlayStation 5 website. That's audacious! The revolution with be televised!

I can't find any Playstation 5 website. Got a link?

[Traveller]

My 7yr old is playing Sekiro.

He's gone from Pokemon Go, to Pikachu Let's go, to Botw.

Now he's actually stealth killing guards in sekiro - and parrying!

Just makes me want to play now.

[Mentalist]

In May Ubi will tell us more about the five AAA games they plan to release in the second half of the fiscal year

-Watch Dogs: Legion
-R6: outbreak
-Gods & Monsters
-AssCreed
-Far Cry 6

Ubi's going all in on the launch window hype.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 07 February 2020 - 03:50 PM

[Aptorian]

I've lost all faith in Farcry.

I'd rather have a new Splinter Cell.

And what's up with Skull and Bones? Still in development hell I assume. Just make it an Assassin's Creed spin off with pirate fun and call it Black Flag 2.

[Mentalist]

Aptorian, on 07 February 2020 - 04:20 PM, said:

I've lost all faith in Farcry.

I'd rather have a new Splinter Cell.

And what's up with Skull and Bones? Still in development hell I assume. Just make it an Assassin's Creed spin off with pirate fun and call it Black Flag 2.

Apparently S&B was rebooted to add single-player. So we won't see that till late next year, at least.

Splinter Cell.... yeah, that series really doesn't fit the GAAS framework. Hard to make an open-world stealth game that can be monetized effectively.

[Mentalist]

From the people who brought you Bulletstorm...

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 11 February 2020 - 04:30 PM

[Aptorian]

Looks terrible but maybe the combat will be fun.

[Khellendros]

Aptorian, on 11 February 2020 - 04:58 PM, said:

Looks terrible but maybe the combat will be fun.

Outriders is a terrible name. I'm getting serious third-person Destiny vibes from this (wait, wasn't that Anthem?).

[Malankazooie]

Guys, please join me in poring out a Mountain Dew Code Red for a fallen homie; Geoff Keighley will skip E3 this year.

[Aptorian]

The Doritos Pope will truly be missed this year.