Top Positive Moments of Gaming 2020
Top Positive Moments of Gaming 2020
With 2020 almost behind us, thankfully, it’s a great time to take a look back at the past year, but not just in a best game of the year that we played (although, that will happen soon). Instead, it seems like an opportune time with the holidays and giving thanks to the ones you love, happiness and everything else to look at some of the brightest things to happen to gaming in the dark year that was 2020.
Although there was a lot of negativity in 2020, there were a lot of great things that happened in the world of gaming. You can always find darkness and negativity if you go looking for it, but its just as easy to find the light and positivity. Here are some of the best things to happen this year in gaming.
Next Generation Consoles
There is a very good chance that in a parallel universe, the expected next generation of consoles from Sony and Microsoft don’t release in 2020. It actually seemed like a possibility earlier in the year and even almost into Summer when both monolithic companies were basically at a stalemate. Neither was talking about full details about specs or pricing and release date definitely wasn’t in the conversation early on. There were many reports early in the year about how quarantine and social distancing had drastically impacted the logistics of many companies, especially ones that strongly relied on silicon and manufacturing happening overseas.
For a while the only next generation console reveal we had was from The Game Awards 2019, when Microsoft unveiled the form factor of the Xbox Series X. After that things we very tight lipped as these companies likely were trying to navigate the unknown waters of 2020. Occasionally, Microsoft would have a post on Xbox Wire discussing the specs of the new system or some of the new features that were coming to the new line of Xbox consoles, including features like Smart Delivery. With Sony being quiet aside from the very dry Mark Cerny talk that was intended for GDC, discussions started to rise about how Sony might be losing already by staying quiet.
Fast Forward until today and both consoles eventually came out in November, separated only by a week and priced very competitively with one another, thanks to different models. Although both consoles had their pre-order woes, that is less on the shoulders of Sony and Microsoft but more on the shoulders of the retailers for not having precautions in place to stop bots and resellers. As we know, despite the economic troubles for some industries, gaming saw massive increases and due to this factor along with being the newest thing on the market, both Xbox and PlayStation are incredibly hard to purchase. Usually when they become available, they are sold within minutes at most.
One of the best things about the PlayStation 5 is the Dual Sense and there is no better display of just how much of an actual game changer the controller is than by playing Astro’s Playroom. The game is magical from start to finish and the best thing about the game is that it was packed in for free with the system. We gave Astro’s Playroom a glowing review for a lot of reasons. The inclusion of this wonderful game is one of the best things about this year because not only does it provide a next generation experience but it is done at zero extra cost. It’s been a very long time since an actual full game was included with a system launch with the last being Wii Sports for the Wii but this might be the first time that a new console launched with a game preinstalled.
Nintendo Switch and Animal Crossing
Although Nintendo likely had a lot more planned for 2020 than what ended up happening, it was Nintendo existing lineup of evergreen games and wonderful IP that was a shining star this year and kept the focus away from their lack of premium releases. More accurately after March and the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons was their lack of premium releases.
There was almost no way that anyone would have predicted Animal Crossing to have the success that it did on the Nintendo Switch. New Horizons has sold over 26 million copies as of September 30, which makes it the second best selling game on the Switch, only behind one of the most marketable and accessible Nintendo titles of all time with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with almost 29 million units. The only difference here is that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been on the market since about a month after the Switch was released and Animal Crossing has only been available for a few months.
There is a chance that when Nintendo announces their third quarter earnings in early February that Animal Crossing will be the best selling game on the Switch. Although, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is currently the second best selling game on the Eshop, while Animal Crossing is 4th, which means that it might not have the longevity like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Ring Fit Adventure made waves for Nintendo in 2020, a clever interactive exercise game that came out in 2019. However, it was with the quarantine, gyms closing and the popularity of the Nintendo Switch that caused this game to surge. As of their last fiscal earnings Ring Fit Adventure had sold almost six million copies and that number would be a lot greater if stock was able to keep up with demand.
Demand for Ring Fit Adventure clearly outpaced the supply as the game was a hot commodity with resellers early in the year with the game selling for double to triple its price. The other supply issue was with the actual Nintendo Switch consoles and this was caused by people being encouraged to isolate and what better way than with the familiar cast of characters that can be found on the console. Despite a lack of premium titles released in 2020, Nintendo was a great way for people to reignite their passion for gaming.
Finally, it would be wrong to talk about the great year that the Switch had without mentioning the console exclusivity of Hades from SuperGiant, who is known for Bastion, Transistor and Pyre. Surprise released on the Epic Games store on early access in December of 2018, word of mouth quickly started spreading about this rogue-like, dungeon crawler. Fast Forward to September of 2020 and Hades 1.0 gets a surprise drop on the Nintendo Switch following an Indie Direct Showcase. Hades is in the conversation for game of the year at pretty much every outlet and has already won best indie and best action game at The Game Awards in December. Having this game as a console exclusive is another feather in the cap for Nintendo in 2020.
Half Life Alyx
There are few games that seem like they will never happen again and Valve returning to any of their franchises like Portal, Counter Strike and Left 4 Dead seem to fit the mold, although the recent reveal of Back 4 Blood looks to be exactly what fans would want from a Left 4 Dead sequel. Back 4 Blood is being developed by Turtle Rock, who have made Evolve, which was a very good 4v1 asymmetrical game that didn’t catch on and the studio was founded by many of the key players from Left 4 Dead.
However, the one series that seemed like it would never happen was a return to the Half Life universe. Revealed only a few months before its release at the end of 2019 and how it was kept secret is impressive during the age of leaks. Virtual reality was the reason for returning to the series because Half Life has always been known for innovation. The first game was about injecting story into what was a genre that wasn’t known for having excellent story and characters. Half Life 2 was all about physics and the gravity gun and Half Life Alyx made sense to show what virtual reality is capable of.
Most of the games available in VR are considered experiences more than they are considered full games. Not only did the team at Valve create a full fledged game inside of VR, but they did it just as you would expect they would as Half Life Alyx is considered to be one of the best games of the year by many outlets including many giving the game a near perfect score. Despite being gated behind VR, the hope is that since the team is back in the Half Life universe that more games will happen as a result. In an interview with Game Informer, Robin Walker, one of the main developers on Half Life Alyx said “We absolutely see Half Life Alyx as our return to this world, not the end of it”
The only downside to Valve finally returning to Half Life after a thirteen year hiatus was that it was only release on PC VR headsets, which means that console owners had to miss out. There have been patents for what could potentially be PSVR 2 with improved controllers to offer full range of motion, but that is likely at least a year away, if it ever gets released. Not owning a VR headset currently, my hope is that if PSVR 2 does get announced that Half Life Alyx is right there with it. Nonetheless, Valve returning to Half Life was a great part of gaming in 2020.
Free to Play
Despite, the economic boom that gaming saw in 2020, there were millions and millions of people around the world who were adversely affected. These people saw their hours cut at work due to many restrictions that were put in place around the world, many people were furloughed during the initial window and many people were completely out of a job. Granted when you are out of work, you should be trying to find a new job and not playing games but sometimes people just need a temporary escape from reality.
The good news was that there were plenty of free to play games that came out in 2020 to make life just a little bit easier. Whatever the reason for playing games, it’s a good escape, it’s a decent way to talk with friends or loved ones when you need to social distance and its just simple fun when you need it.
Some of the biggest games of the year were free to play and I don’t think that was a coincidence. Early on in the year Call of Duty released their latest iteration in the Battle Royale genre, which quickly skyrocketed to over 75 million downloads in the first few months. Fall Guys had its moment in the sun when it was released as one of the PS Plus games in late summer. Genshin Impact came out of nowhere emulating a lot of the qualities that drew people into Breath of the Wild. Finally one of the biggest games of the year which didn’t come out this year but blew up in 2020 was Among Us. This social deception indie game was free to play on mobile and eventually even made its way to Switch just recently for a few dollars.
These were many of the popular free to play games in 2020 but with MTX these could have the opposite effect of trying to save money with social distancing and economic hardships. However, very early when the pandemic was just beginning or possibly not even labeled a pandemic yet, Sony announced their Play At Home Initiative. Not only does PlayStation usually give away a few free games to subscribers of PS Plus, but this program also provided two free games to non PS Plus users as well as set up a fund for indie developers who were affected by the quarantine.
These two free games are not only quality games, but they are technically four games. Nathan Drake Collection, which includes the first three games in the series are very highly rated games and will also provide some lengthy play time. The other game included was the indie darling Journey that was originally release for the PS3 back in 2012 but then got remastered to the PS4 in 2015. The game included a visual style that aged very well allowing for its inclusion in this initiative. Journey is also a very peaceful game, which is just what people needed during these times.
On top of providing around 30-35 hours of great gaming, Sony also created a fund for indie developers who were struggling during these times by earmarking ten million dollars. This goes a little off topic on the free to play but its worth mentioning. Sony was the only company to offer this kind of value during the pandemic. Nintendo offered to try to keep everyone active by offering a free skip rope game, but its highly unlikely that anyone got 30-35 hours of value from that game.
Anti Anti Social
Gaming has been trending upwards for decades now and is much more of an accepted form of entertainment than just for anti social people in their parents basement. However, this year, gaming got a massive influx of first time users and lapsed gamers. We learned that gaming is not only great escapism, which was greatly needed during certain times of the year, but it was also a great way to stay social with friends and family when you can’t see them.