Game News 2.0

Retr0gamer · 19-09-2023 12:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129497#Comment_121129497

Microsoft certainly could be Microsoft and Microsoft games division are different entities. The game division will have to justify the investment to their parent company, a parent company that not so long ago tried to shut them down. MS have infinite pockets but business isnt a simple as some people think.

Grumpypants · 19-09-2023 12:42pm

Japanese corporate culture is different. It's actually about putting the customer first rather than share holders. Where's in the west we say it's about the customer but really only worry about the shareholders.

It's why Japanese companies can be around for hundreds of years. And we see companies go bust trying to fulfil a perpetual growth model.

19-09-2023 12:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129527#Comment_121129527

Ok, so in this context Microsoft means the games division. I suppose that makes sense.

I am aware that business isn't that simple, but when people say "Microsoft couldn't buy Nintendo" for financial reasons it's certainly worthy of scrutiny. It could happen. That's not saying it will.

Edit: funnily enough, the Activision Blizzard deal cost more than Nintendo's market cap. As a parent company, MS seems fairly willing to invest heavily in something that they apparently have little faith in (as you imply).

Let's be real, if Nintendo told Phil Spencer that they were willing to sell, Microsoft would write that cheque in a heartbeat. Mario and Pokémon alone are money printers.

The entire point here is that Nintendo would never do that. They don't want to sell. They don't need to sell. End of.

CatInABox · 19-09-2023 1:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129159#Comment_121129159

Yeah, I'm playing games on my MacBook that would have made my Surface fans sound like a jet engine, and only a little bit of heat out of the laptop, it's actually unreal.

I'd say if MS (and Sony) think that they can get the ARM silicon to the point that it can emulate a current gen CPU, then the next gen will definitely have ARM in it. No ones wants to break backward compatibility anymore, as that's essentially allowing everyone to have a clean break with an ecosystem, and keeping people in the ecosystem is paramount to these companies now.

MikeRyan87 · 19-09-2023 1:34pm

This leak is mad.

GP numbers here on how much Microsoft pay to have games on the service.

https://imgur.io/a/pHi74Dq

CatInABox · 19-09-2023 1:41pm

Imagine being the guy that was in charge of redaction, going home after a shift, waking up in the morning to find that you'd only redacted the main doc and not any of the confidential attachments. My heart would drop out my ass.

Retr0gamer · 19-09-2023 1:43pm

I'd be getting a doctor's note.

CatInABox · 19-09-2023 1:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129797#Comment_121129797

Quite funny reading some of those comments on whether they actually want to get those games. Under one of the Ubi games, there's a comment "Also... More Ubi?".

Honestly, perfectly sums up Ubi games 😂

19-09-2023 1:46pm

I played one Ubi game, I think Far Cry 5. I was so confused by the amount of stuff I was being bombarded with on screen.

Is this the famous Ubisoft model?

Penn · 19-09-2023 1:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129845#Comment_121129845

Assassin's Creed Unity Map

johnny_ultimate · 19-09-2023 1:59pm

If there’s one inadvertent benefit of the MS-Activision merger, it’s that it’s brought some transparency - accidentally though it often has been - to this stupidly secretive industry.

Grumpypants · 19-09-2023 2:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129845#Comment_121129845

They just copied BOTW 🏃‍♂️

McFly85 · 19-09-2023 2:01pm

Well, if anything, their Baldurs Gate 3 estimate looks to be way off!

Fascinating all the same to see how much money goes into it all.

19-09-2023 2:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129875#Comment_121129875

CD Project Red take a very similar approach to map design and seem to get away with it, imo. Those question marks in The Witcher 3 were awful. And the Cyberpunk map was smothered in map markers.

19-09-2023 2:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129959#Comment_121129959

Ah, the game that has no map markers but has mysterious yellow dots on its map. 😉

awec · 19-09-2023 2:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129978#Comment_121129978

The Witcher had a strong story though.

Ubisoft games just bombard you with tons of menial tasks to do and the story is fairly half baked. Their games are a lot more repetitive. If you take Assassins Creed, the last few games are all very similar, just with a different artistic skin applied.

19-09-2023 2:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129991#Comment_121129991

The Witcher and Cyberpunk are leagues ahead of those games, I just feel like they could have dialed it back a bit. In fact, the new edition of The Witcher 3 removes these markers as an option. So they seem to acknowledge it at least.

Penn · 19-09-2023 2:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129978#Comment_121129978

It's definitely an issue throughout open world games as a whole, just busywork all over the place. Question Marks are an absolute bane and The Witcher 3 was definitely annoying for that. Ubisoft are probably the worst offenders for this kind of design though, with how samey, repetitive and collectathon-like so much of their content is. It never awards or encourages exploration or doing things at your own pace, but instead tries to constantly aim you towards what it wants you to do.

This image is what it would look like if Ubisoft made Elden Ring.

Retr0gamer · 19-09-2023 2:14pm

I think Witcher gets away with it because it's quests are mostly worthwhile and worth doing. BotW other than the main quest only adds markers after you've discovered stuff. Ubi on the other hand fills the map with icons for activities that are designed to bore the arse off the player for the most part.

19-09-2023 2:14pm

Yeah I really enjoyed Elden Ring and its map design. It made me explore more than I would if there were markers everywhere.

Retr0gamer · 19-09-2023 2:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121130071#Comment_121130071

I was hoping that this type of map design would be the future of open world games but I get the feeling it's that or ubi map design as there's a market there for turn your brain off open world games. I much prefer the BotW, Elden ring approach but also perfectly happy if both can coexist and maybe the Ubisoft minigames can even take a little from the other style.

19-09-2023 2:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121130101#Comment_121130101

I think it will be a new branch/offshoot in open world design for sure. But quest markers are going nowhere, in general.

Penn · 19-09-2023 2:24pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121130101#Comment_121130101

I imagine some games will start to veer more towards copying some elements of Elden Ring's design such as its map and exploration philosophy, but it'll probably take a while.

19-09-2023 2:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121130138#Comment_121130138

I'd like to see a game with a combination of Elden Ring's map with something like Morrowind's journal, where it noted what happened but didn't hold your hand or tell you exactly what to do.

My one issue with Elden Ring is I often forgot what I was supposed to be doing, or who an NPC was, or what their name was, etc.

I remember someone gave me poison to give to another NPC and they told me their name and I was like:

Retr0gamer · 19-09-2023 2:47pm

I think that's more from software vague NPC nonsense.

When I get stuff like that it's, I'll check the FAQ and if there's not a significant quest or reward associated then you ain't getting your macguffin. Not ideal game design, a journal as you say and maybe a list of discovered NPCs and rough location would be nice.

McFly85 · 19-09-2023 2:54pm

My wishlist for open world design is basically:

Encourage the player to explore on their own by putting interesting looking things or places in the world instead of just on the map
Reward the player with actual stuff for exploring off the beaten track, instead of just “generic uncommon crafting material”. Even if it’s not something I might use immediately, it feels more rewarding. Endless crafting materials just feel like cheap padding and absolutely do not encourage me to explore the rest of the map.

Exclamation Marc · 19-09-2023 3:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129875#Comment_121129875

Funnily enough, Unity is actually quite an enjoyable game these days post patches, not to mention one of the better parkour AC experiences.

The problem with the Unity map, in my opinion, is that half of that stuff doesn't need to be on the map. That map is a 'Platinum Trophy' map but Ubisoft stupidly forced it down people's throats as the standard map, and its absolutely exhausting.

Penn · 19-09-2023 3:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121130265#Comment_121130265

In fairness to Ubisoft, I know for Assassin's Creed Odyssey they did have settings where instead of map markers and the likes, it would summarise the clues about a quest and you would have to try figure it out a bit yourself. I did enjoy that a lot. Though as per the image of a Ubisoft-ed Elden Ring, the clues would be on the side of the screen pretty much screaming at you about where you should go.

Elden Ring perhaps does go too far the other direction with a lot of things. Rather than holding your hand sometimes it feels like it's slapping your hand away. You talk to someone and they instantly die or attack you because you did something minor 40 hours ago that you have no recollection of.

Exclamation Marc · 19-09-2023 3:31pm

Phil's comments on Nintendo just go to show how delusional and out of touch he and Microsoft's Gaming Division is.

Also shows their frighteningly blasé attitude to acquisitions.

quokula · 19-09-2023 4:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121130545#Comment_121130545

I love how the email was titled "RE: random thought" like he just came up with the idea that they should buy out Nintendo in the shower that morning.

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