New Game Plus (September 23 - 30)
State of Play
This week we got our third episode of State of Play, PlayStations answer to Nintendo Directs. After the marked improvements we saw from the first episode to the second and after they way they announced it last week, it seemed like we would continue seeing gradual improvements on the formula. It’s not that the state of play was bad but it was just ok for something that felt like once again didn’t manage expectations well. Especially considering this episode was almost 20 minutes and it has been about four months since the last episode.
The show started of with a new game reveal of Humanity, the next game from the team that is coming off the very well received Tetris Effect. It’s hard to understand what this game is but it looked like something along the lines of Lemmings meets Portal. I enjoyed the originality of how it looked and look forward to hearing more about it but all we know is that it’s coming in 2020.
We also got a cinematic trailer for the campaign of the upcoming Call of Duty Modern Warfare. In my opinion it looked amazing, but it would have been just as great if it was revealed by Infinity Ward on their channels instead of using the State of Play. We have already seen through the beta that the multiplayer is shaping up to be a great experience for the shooter fan with an injection of freshness the series badly needs.
My personal preference is always playing the campaigns first and then diving into the multiplayer suite. We have been hearing so much about this campaign so far and how it’s pushing limits and the trailer really emphasizes how they are trying to go for that serious modern political climate story. It’s easy to see inspiration pulled from gritty war dramas like Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker. I am looking forward to the campaign after seeing the tone Infinity Ward is going for but I am apprehensive because at the end of the day it’s still Call of Duty. My fear is that it will be very similar to how the campaigns have been structured throughout the series with corridors of enemies and big action set pieces that feel like a Hollywood blockbuster which is juxtaposed against the stories serious tone. It is a very fine line to walk and I hope Infinity Ward can do it.
At the end of the trailer we got a teaser for what looks to be part of the third tier of offering, known as Spec Ops. It looks to be a wave based survival mode that you can play in co op, first on PS4, however in the fine print it did say that it will be a timed exclusive, for a whole year. A whole year is the lifespan of Call of Duty games since they release a new one annually. There is very little we know about the rest of the mode and at this time its too early to make judgment on whether it actually matters that much.
We also got a reveal for a new limited edition Death Stranding PS4 Pro, and as expected from PlayStation, it was fairly lackluster. I think the limited edition controller is quite sharp looking as its trying to emulate the BB’s from the game with its transparent yellow tinged controller, however the system itself just has a few drippy handprints on it. I would love to see PlayStation go a little farther on their limited edition consoles instead of what is essentially just decals normally.
The show ended on a high note with an expected new trailer and a release date for the Last of Us 2. The much anticipated sequel from Naughty Dog currently has a release date of February 21 of next year, which is a little earlier than I was expecting based on their track record of releases they tend to release near summer. The trailer looks great and I don’t want to spoil anything, so if you haven’t seen it then you should check it out. Its no surprise that the game looks stunning
PlayStation Block
In keeping with the PlayStation theme, this week, on top of State of Play, Sony had some other news for us. Both of original stories were found on the PlayStation blog with the first being that on October 4th the PlayStation Hits lineup will expand once again. The heavy hitters being added include God of War, uncharted: The lost Legacy, and Gran Turismo sport. Obviously if you haven’t by now there is no better time to try god of war and if you’re a fan of the uncharted series then lost legacy will be exactly what you are looking for.
The other big story is that as of Wednesday September 25th you will be able to buy your console, accessories and games directly from PlayStation.com. The initial offering of products and games will be somewhat limited at first but I think this is just the first steps in the right direction. Competition is good for gamers.
The initial offering of games is basically the PlayStation hits lineup so far but with the new games that were just added most likely those games will be as well. I also imagine that sooner than later all games will be available as well day and date. This is currently only available to customers located in the USA for the time being. It will most likely be brought to other regions once the logistics have been worked out. One of the things from the article that I appreciated was that similar to Amazon Prime benefits, PlayStation Plus subscribers are eligible for free one day shipping. Combine all of this information with the article saying that “fans will find prices on the new store align with those found at other retailers” and this are looking good for PlayStation fans.
Google Arcade
Even though Stadia is just around the corner, Google doesnt want to be left out in the cold and missing out on mobile gaming subscriptions like Apple Arcade. This week Google announced their foray into the mobile gaming subscription market with what they are calling Google Play Pass.
It’s has already launched with a combined 350 amount of games and apps. That’s right, one of their strategic differences is offering apps on top of the games that people want. The cost will be the same as Apple Arcade at 4.99 month and as google says “will feature zero ads, in app purchases or pay walls”
Some of the games on the list are actually pretty great if you have never played them before and you are an android user. I am not sure what the Venn diagram is on that but I have to imagine it’s a small percentage. Limbo, Stardew Valley, and Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic are just of few of the more blockbuster hits that people might recognize and try out.
Google sent out a press release explaining how the sausage is made. “Developers earn a royalty that incorporates time subscribers spend in their app and captures how users value all types of content...We're continuously refining the model to make sure it fairly rewards titles that bring the highest user value”
This sound fantastic if you are the consumer and can play all of these games for only 4.99 month and even better if you are google paying out using the Spotify model. The wording here ensures that only the longer games that keep people engaged for greater lengths will see higher royalties. Google would greatly benefit from this from having a lot more content on their store with little risk to them and only seeing benefit by having a larger offering. If you only have to pay out minimal royalties for people playing and finishing shorter games that are only a few hours or less then the system only favors google and not the developers.
Many developers have taken to social media to voice their opinion on how unfortunate this situation is and the bad precedent that it could be setting going forward if people get on board. IGN had a great article up by Matt Kim in which they centralized a lot of the tweets regarding the problem and even spoke directly with some. One Indie game developer, will O’neill had this to say “Think about it like this: if it took you three hours to beat the Untitled Goose Game, that probably would have translated into a payment of a few nickels rather than the $20 or so you paid for it. Indie game developers are not indie musicians. We don’t tour. We can’t flip out singles quickly to take a blind shot at some godlike curator at a streaming service. Nobody likes photos of us. This is not a future that finds a new equilibrium”
Mike Rose, indie game publisher furthered the conversation by saying “Give it another couple of years, and we’re going to be drowning in these services and it’s going to force developers to build games with ‘how do I make money?’ in mind. Short narrative games will be forced out, we’ll be drowned in a sea of Fortnites and pachinko machines. I know I must bore a whole lot of people with this stuff but god, we’re just so on the cusp of a crash, and I feel like barely anyone realizes it.”
As you can see, not a great scenario for indie games but you would also be remiss to think if google can succeed with this pay structure other people wouldn’t adopt it. If you are already complaining about how annualized games are a problem for the industry then imagine what developers would do to try to keep you engaged longer.
Mario Kart Tour
To say that Nintendos venture into mobile gaming has been smooth sailing would be an understatement. There are obviously a few exceptions to the rule such as Pokemon Go. However, certain games that should have been massive smash hits seemed to miss the mark including Super Mario Run. It had all the ingredients for a recipe for success. One of the most recognizable characters on the planet, one of the most popular mobile platforms on the market (iPhone timed exclusive launch), and a very low price point.
It was termed free to start as the beginning of the game was free but to unlock the rest of the game you needed to purchase it one time for $9.99. This is a very cheap price for the quality of the product that Nintendo delivered to mobile phone users, but the mobile market wasn’t used to paying such a high price tag. Most games were either nintety nine cents or free, with the catch being that you would be plagued to death with micro transactions. I thought the pricing model was smart idea, but clearly I was in the minority as the general consensus was that the game was a rip off and the constant need for an internet connection rubbed some potential buyers the wrong way. The game has gone on to be successful in its own right but not nearly at the level Nintendo has hoped for.
On Wednesday, the long awaited Mario Kart Tour arrived on the Apple App Store and on Androids. I am not a big mobile gamer, which means I will most likely skip this title but the early reviews that I have read for this game are not great with the main criticisms being that it doesn’t control as well as you would like, it is overly confusing with multiple types of currency and is very unfair with its micro transactions. However, it is a good thing that causal mobile gamers don’t check reviews before they purchase a mobile game like hardcore gamers do because this game is selling extremely well.
According to an article on Venture Beat the game has been downloaded over 10 million times in the first day which means that it “had a better first day than Pokemon Go or Clash Royale” As is the standard these days, Mario Kart Tour also includes a subscription model in which you can pay 5 dollars monthly to gain additional rewards and unlocks. This is a very smart idea in todays entertainment culture where its all about passive income. According to the article the free to play model has gone over well with mobile gamers as “the game has already reached the 19th highest revenue for a mobile game” All of these sales and downloads after just a day are quite impressive and it certainly seems like Nintendo may have finally figured out how to navigate the mobile gaming waters.