[Obdigore]

Aptorian, on 22 September 2020 - 07:51 AM, said:

I was thinking about the Microsoft Bethesda acquisition. It's a pretty big thing for one big publisher to scoop up another big albeit smaller publisher of video games. Seeing as this can be seen in the view of building a Netflix of games service, you could almost look around the market and wonder if somebody will react.

Sony is "only" worth around 40-50 billion dollars. It's hard to imagine that they will react and try to buy up another publisher to compete with Microsoft. But what if a bigger fish comes in and buys Sony + Warner? Capcom? 2K? maybe even EA or Activision if you want to get crazy? Like Apple or Amazon or Disney? Those publishers I mention aren't all necessarily interested in being bought out or merging with other entities but still. This could be the next step towards our Cyberpunk future where there's only 3 megacorporations.

Microsoft has over 140bil in cash reserves alone, they could literally initiate a hostile takeover of Sony if they so desired. I don't know why they would, and then, assuming the US gets a functional government again, they'd start getting AntiTrust probes.

Rumor is that MS was trying to buy Ubisoft but Ubi wanted 15bil. I'm honestly surprised MS went with Bethesda and not Rockstar, but maybe Rockstar wasn't open to it?

Sony was only making money on gaming and movies, and now the movie industry has tanked. Sony Games is literally subsidizing the rest of the organization at the moment, I don't think they have the money to buy anyone without giving up some percentage of Sony stock.

Amazon keeps trying to make their own games with their own game studios, and they keep not launching, I could see them thinking about it. I'm not sure Apple wants to play in that space, and I don't think Disney does either. Disney seems pretty happy to license their properties for a large fee.

Just a reminder that the Video Game industry makes more yearly than music, movies, and tv combined. I could see someone trying to get into that, but not sure who, added to that a huge portion of that yearly money is from microtransactions in mobile games, which is what companies like tencent are really trying to get.

[Aptorian]

I believe both Warner (the game division) and 2K have been rumored to be in talks more than once. In the case of 2K (who own Rockstar) I imagine that they become more expensive to buy with every year GTA Online and to a less extent Read Dead keeps generating truck loads of money.

[Obdigore]

2k is a studio, Take-Two is the owner of Rockstar and 2k. I only know because i just looked it up .

yea they are listed as the 'third largest' US game company, after EA, and Activision-Blizzard. I think mainly because of GTA just printing money.

I guess I hope this means Starfield is closer than Bethesda has let on? Or maybe its MS reacting to Sony throwing piles of money at 'independent' Devs to do timed console exclusives? Most Bethesda RPGs are better on PC for modding anyway, but I think GTA is a huge console hit and GTA Online continues to print money.

[Mentalist]

Supposedly Sony was trying to get launch exclusivity on Starfield. Clearly Microsoft put an end to that.

Take-Two prints money with GTA, and also NBA 2K games, that are apparently insanely popular in China.

[Malankazooie]

MS wants that catalog for their 'Netflix of Gaming'. Is it called Xhamster Pass? or Porn-X-Hub Pass? Or X2daExtreme passs. fuck dunno.

They won't exclusive any it, but I'm sure there will be benefits to Xbox owners, like cosmetic fluff or early release bullshit.

[Mentalist]

Malankazooie, on 23 September 2020 - 05:18 PM, said:

MS wants that catalog for their 'Netflix of Gaming'. Is it called Xhamster Pass? or Porn-X-Hub Pass? Or X2daExtreme passs. fuck dunno.

They won't exclusive any it, but I'm sure there will be benefits to Xbox owners, like cosmetic fluff or early release bullshit.

Starfield and TES 6 won't be coming to a SonyBox.
Sucks (and I'm honest about it, cuz I don't want Sony buying some multi-plat dev and keeping their games off PC), but that's the world we're heading towards.

[Malankazooie]

Something different, but pertinent. Song playing during trailer for Console Wars. Gunna watch that fo-shizz.

[Malankazooie]

[GOT picture Friday]

Sushi anyone?

[Malankazooie]

I don't know much about GPT-3, I've only become recently aware of it. But as I understand it, in game dialog could get a lot more robust and dynamic, giving players another element of immersion. And I guess Microsoft has a leg up in this area. It sounds really fascinating. Can any you guys break it down for us plebs/laymen?

[Malankazooie]

[GOT picture Friday]

Bonfires burning bright
Pumpkin faces in the night
I remember Halloween

This night anything goes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChlW283_33s

[Traveller]

I just got ghost stance. That fight through the besieged camp was great fun - and the leaders' head flying off at the end topped it off nicely! Woohoo, samurai beheadings!

(Also my animal crossing pumpkin patch is looking good today)

[Malankazooie]

I think the game Vampyr has been discussed here, yeah? Not sure though, I never drilled down into any of those particular posts. With that said, the game is available for free download on PS Plus (October free games). So, what is the verdict amoungst you elitist gamers? Should I grab it? What is it? Is it fun? Do I get to bite people? But most importantly is if fun enough to take up space on my drive?

[Mentalist]

Malankazooie, on 06 October 2020 - 05:19 PM, said:

I think the game Vampyr has been discussed here, yeah? Not sure though, I never drilled down into any of those particular posts. With that said, the game is available for free download on PS Plus (October free games). So, what is the verdict amoungst you elitist gamers? Should I grab it? What is it? Is it fun? Do I get to bite people? But most importantly is if fun enough to take up space on my drive?

Action RPG where you play a vampire.
The USP is, every character in the game that's not a mook is named and connected to others. The more you learn about them, the more EXP you gain when you kill them. But each person's death has ramifications on the world state. You are still a doctor trying to get to the bottom of the Spanish flu outbreak in London.

It's generally been described as janky, but interesting. I haven't gotten around to playing it yet, cuz I wanted to replay Alpha Protocol before I do (they seem thematically similar), and that project kinda stalled.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 11 November 2020 - 04:46 AM

[Malankazooie]

Mentalist, on 07 October 2020 - 12:57 PM, said:

Malankazooie, on 06 October 2020 - 05:19 PM, said:

I think the game Vampyr has been discussed here, yeah? Not sure though, I never drilled down into any of those particular posts. With that said, the game is available for free download on PS Plus (October free games). So, what is the verdict amoungst you elitist gamers? Should I grab it? What is it? Is it fun? Do I get to bite people? But most importantly is if fun enough to take up space on my drive?

Action RPG where you play a vampire.
The USP is, every character in the game that's not a look is named and connected to others. The more you learn about them, the more EXP you gain when you kill them. But each person's death has ramifications on the world state. You are still a doctor trying to get to the bottom of the Spanish flu outbreak in London.

It's generally been described as janky, but interesting. I haven't gotten around to playing it yet, cuz I wanted to replay Alpha Protocol before I do (they seem thematically similar), and that project kinda stalled.

I think I'll grab it. The learning/imbuing yourself with hidden knowledge from your victims idea is really fascinating to me. I wonder how much of that is explored and in what detail?

[Mentalist]

I've heard good things about Vampyr. Choice and consequences are kind of Dontnod's thing, what with Life is Strange and all.

In other news, another Steam Games Festival.

I've got like 30 demos to download.

[Aptorian]

AMDs Ryzen 5000 CPU series was revealed today:

https://youtu.be/iuiO6rqYV4o

Won't launch until early November which is disappointing. Hopefully 5900 won't be completely unobtainable otherwise I won't be buying a PC before 2021.

[Aptorian]

Any of you guys checked out Genshin Impact yet?

https://youtu.be/Zc-GGIyC-mo

It's a free to play JRPG with a a lot of gacha elements. Sort of looks like somebody smashed Breath of the Wild together with Dragon Quest.

I'd jump in but I'm already in deep with Persona 5 Royal.

[Traveller]

Anyone recommend a racing game? I havent played a decent car game in ages, would be good to see how far they've come.
Doesn't have to be too bogged down with leagues and championships, just want a good realistic-looking race. Not racetrack so much, something cross country or city.

Split screen would be good too, entertaining crashes a bonus.

Edit.. Wreckfest looks great, but why no 2 player?!

This post has been edited by Traveller: 09 October 2020 - 10:31 AM

[Aptorian]

Wreckfest has a dubious reputation for it's performance and dev support. I think.

In the past month or so several new racing games have come out that have gotten a lot of attention. Inertial drift and Hot Shot racing are two I've heard a lot of good stuff about.

The most recent Need for Speed is also this month's PS Plus game.

[Mentalist]

Played the demo for this game on Steam (supposedly it's gonna be out later this month). It's good.

Like Witcher 2, but with good combat.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 09 October 2020 - 01:23 PM