It’s a tough time to be making AAA games (or consoles) | Friends Per Second
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- čas přidán 18. 05. 2024
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This week we take a good, long look at the state of the console business and the AAA releases that underpin it. For that conversation, we're lucky to be joined by Andy Robinson of Vidoegame Chronicle, regular news breaker and a former game developer. He brought an incredibly insightful perspective as someone who not only has worked as a game maker, but also soemone with a rich stable of sources to tap for inside info.
Timestamps:
00:00 Check In
06:24 Console Crisis with Andy Robinson of VGC
01:07:10 AG1 (ad)
01:10:15 Incogni (ad)
01:13:07 Nintendo Direct Discussion
01:23:51 User Question 1
01:34:13 What We've Been Playing
02:13:15 User Question 2
02:18:00 Show and Tell
02:36:13 Wrap-Up
Let's meet our hosts:
- Jake Baldino (aka the Before You Buy Guy) is pretty much the most watched reviewer on CZcams across both Gameranx and his personal channel ( / jakebaldino . If you're obsessed with Delorians, The Mummy and Pizza you can discuss that stuff with him directly over on Twitter: @JakeBaldino
- Lucy James is a Senior Producer at Gamespot and a Creative Producer at Giant Bomb. She's actually, like, experienced and credentialed and has real life skills and stuff, while the rest of the gang would be funemployed if the YT algorithm didn't kiss them for random, inexplicable reasons.
- Skill Up used to work at McDonalds but he got fired for skimming too many chicken nuggets. He says he regrets it since he hasn't had a better job since.
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FPS Exclusive! Try AG1 and get a FREE 1-year supply of Vitamin D3+K2 AND 5 free AG1 Travel Packs with your first purchase exclusively at drinkag1.com/friends Thanks to AG1 for sponsoring FPS
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Thanks to our friends Incogni for sponsoring this episode! Use code FRIENDSPERSECOND at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: incogni.com/friendspersecond.
in reality no - it isn't a tough time making AAA games, developers and companies are just shit and scummy pushing $400+ million for games that aren't sustainable
a AAA is $100 minimum don't let them tell u otherwise, but they spend more for more's sake cause shareholders and "constant growth" which isn't possible
they push to live service to try to make it back and end up with dark pattern design microtransactions and egregious predatory addiction based systems they hire psychologists to push towards addiction based design
even single player games (spider-man, alan wake 2, etc) don't sell cause A) social politics leading to ugly characters, agenda pushing and mediocre story and character designs and B) mediocre stories written by non writers and trying too hard to be movies and failing
its far better to be smaller, more niche and experimental and good enough for its target market than shoot for unsustainable growth and flop
even Baldurs Gate 3 over praised game is flailing as its current patches kill the game, its buggy, in a shit state and came out months ago, how long til its stable, 3 years!?
bro you missed the second part of that Phil quote ""but I get it": “There's a legacy in console gaming that we're going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places. We do the same thing.” He clearly explained it. That was an unusually misinformed take from skillup.
I was listening on Spotify and there is a problem with your audio. Jakes voice recording is playing over the interview unsynchronized with the rest of the podcast. Not sure if that is Spotifys compression or an issue with the audio export. Just wanted to mention it here in case you didnt know.
You guys are great btw, keep it up. The one podcast i look forward too in the week.
Same issue with the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Jake’s having his own chat in the background from about 20 mins in
Counter to Andy's point about not talking about indies enough, I reckon skillup is doing a great job of highlighting up and coming games. My steam wishlist is full of indies that I only heard about thanks to the weekly vids.
I wouldn’t have played through Jusant recently if Skillup hadn’t reviewed it.
Yea I feel like he doesn't watch his content (which fair enough yknow), but don't then go and speak on behalf of someone saying they don't highlight these games when as you said, he's put a lot of great indie games on a lot of people's radars. Skillup is the big indie highlighter for me. Also andy would just not let anyone else speak which came off as a bit rude. Felt like he was there to try debate people, not have a conversation.
@@adamburke4738same, jusant was awesome. Will probably play pacific drive at some point as well
@@kwoni3337 I finished Jusant and was left wanting more. Such a beautiful game.
How many wishlisted indies has the OP actually bought and played and enjoyed, though? Just wishlisting something doesn't help a game once it's released.
More than a decade ago Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails commented on the games industry and how "modern games" were made back then, and he said that they were following the Hollywood studio model of big budget projects that will become unsustainable in the long run with fewer games to show overall.
Is safe to say we've reached that point 💀💀.
The quake 1 music and sound guy sounds smart.
@@Tututu22The Downwards Spiral guy sounds pessimistic (jk ofc)
@@Jumsut_
*HOPE* has left the chat
I'm impressed you guys managed to get Ricky Gervais on the show!
Lucy must be connected deep in British affairs
Lmaooo Ricky Gervais brother maybe
2:22:50 Lucy's Goofy/Kingdom Hearts joke went unnoticed and that is a crime.
Glad someone pointed this out - true underappreciated talent right there
KH love is still there. Personally i take 2 over 1. Just finished critical mode and yeah the story... is a story. Lol. But its fun to slip back into the combat and the vibes. Gonna go back to wrap up post game stuff at some point.
yup went down to the comment to see if anyone noticed it as well. We're with you, Lucy.
PS4 also had its heavy hitters in the latter half of the generation to be fair. GoW & Spider-Man came out in PS4's 5th year. Horizon Zero Dawn & Gran Turismo Sport in 4th. Death Stranding in 6th, Ghost of Tsushima and TLOU 2 in 7th.
Main difference I guess is the lack of a new Naughty Dog game like Uncharted 4 in 2016 that showcased PS4's true capabilities. Although you can argue Insomniac filled that spot with games like Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart and Spider-Man 2.
Maybe with Rift apart but I really don't think Spiderman 2 stressed the full graphical capabilities of the PS5 apart from the last loading.
@@ColombianThunder Yeah but it had a stable 60 fps mode with good ray-traced reflections on every building and very fast world traversal mechanics without any noticeable pop-in which is difficult even with the new SSD solutions. So despite the fact that graphics aren't that crazy, from an overall technical perspective it's a good PS5 showcase.
@@ColombianThunderI thought that until I went back and tried to play Spider-Man on the ps4 and I think it definitely is a full showcase of the ps5’s abilities. I think people think too much about how it compares to remastered because that’s definitely closer to spiderman 2 graphically, but the original ps4 Spider-Man did not look anywhere near as good as the sequel.
This is so on point, it feels like people are comparing the first 3 years of ps5 to the last 3 years of the ps4
@@kristiannabizadeh8608 Exactly. If anything, overall quality of PS5 games so far have been better than early PS4. Only thing is that since games like GoW Ragnarok, HFW, Ratchet & Clank, Returnal, Sackboy A Big Adventure, Helldivers 2 etc. also released on PS4 or PC they don't consider it "PS5 exclusive". Which is just an old-fashioned sentiment from gaming media that needs to change at this point. What matters is the quality of games & properly leveraging the new hardware we pay for, not exclusivity for the sake of it.
He guys on the podcast app there’s like two different conversations playing on top of one another around 26 min mark
THIS!!
I switched to the video version due to that problem
It sounds like a replay of Jake's intro of the guest conversation over again.
Left a similar comment, can’t use CZcams much so it was really disappointing
Yes, came here just to check if my device or player had any issues. 😅It was quite funny though, because only Jake's audio seems to be messed up. 😂
Ralph’s silksong comment killed me
It feels similar to the film industry right now. It's the post-Covid streaming bubble bursting, everyone spent way too much accumulating and pumping money into creating content. Everyone is now consolidating and re-evaluating after realizing it's not making enough money.
@@therotten6152🤣
Jake is great he is so open minded and is the only one of the bunch with the mentality of a normal dude that just likes videogames.
Totally agree, I like the balance these 3 have. I think the conversations work well because the 3 of them all do have a unique perspective
Jake is a man of culture. Mount and Blade, hell yeah.
I’m glad these smaller games are beating out the AAA industry. It’s a crazy idea that fun is beating out greedy bull
Pacific Drive is not for everyone, it's only for a very specific type of person as Jake said
It is a struggle game, everything is a struggle and you overcome it by upgrading, gathering tools and learning but the gameplay loop and 'enemies' didn't evolve enough to make the struggle interesting after a few hours.
It’s interesting cuz that’s what I said was flat about the presentations. Interesting concept but mediocre execution
The fact that you can't save is a huge turn off for a lot of people.
(Insert game name here) is not for everyone can be said about literally every game. The "is not for everyone" statement is so unbelievably stupid, and I don't understand why people use that.
@@Zeklyon because it’s an excellent way to indicate the topic of the coming sentence(s) are a description of what type of person will enjoy it, exactly as done here.
@@njsteereWrong, that is for people that are incapable of understanding that not everything is for everyone.
It should be a given at any moment when someone talks about a game, that said game is not for everyone.
Glad Andy pointed out that while MSFT is growing and valued at $3T, that doesn’t reflect growth in the gaming business. MSFT growth is driven by AI and Office mostly
it's all that azure monies with AI hardware
Thank you for putting the dollar sign in front. 😮💨
oh yea, Microsofts gaming division is a rounding error on their total value as a company, a fraction so small that the money it makes in the next 20 years will still be nothing compared to the rest of the company
I wonder if they would ever sell Xbox if it starts to lose enough money
@@bencarlson4300 that's their tax write off department. they would never unless the rest of the ship has sunk. and only thing left is the husk of that brand for the rest of the debt collectors to sell pieces .
Just wanted to say returnal has FANTASTIC haptics
There are so many great games that already exist that I would need a few lifetimes to play… not worried.
Shout out to the darkness. Such an awesome Fall/Halloween game
How cool is it (to you) that you guys can just casually say, "we should get someone else in on that episode," who is another massive creator, or that you're getting consistent pretty high profile guests on. It's just cool to see. Good for you :)
Can you guys stop talking? I'm trying to sleep
Can you stop sleeping? I'm trying to sleep and you're stealing all the snooze
I know right these people are speaking yapanese like just stop lmao
What a dumb comment
*opens window *
AYYYY STOP SLEEPIN 'EERRRE
IM TRYNA WATCH THESE NERDS
Can you stop snoozing? I’m trying to snooze and you’re stealing all the snare
1:18:26 Because of the nature of Hi Fi Rush, it have to run flawlessly. There should not be any input delay or frame dip.
Genius
I think the way games companies get past the current financial slump is to stop making these massive games with massive budgets, cut these massive teams down into many smaller teams and make a higher volume of smaller with a more specific vision.
So many big budget AAA games feel so homogeneous because they're design by committee, they have to appeal to everyone, and anything unique about the game can be either the USP or the thing that turns people off it.
Sony and Microsoft can use first party studios backed by hardware money to create the big exclusive games that sell hardware and push what graphics can be achieved on the hardware.
Meanwhile, smaller groups can be pushing innovation on what mechanics, narrative, art style, look like in a video game. And you can take those risks because smaller budgets.
The problem is that you need to stop the snake eating its tail, as it has done over the last 10-20 years, where small teams get given the big budget and big expectation and just get added into the soup. It's not enough for Dead Space to be a great game by a small team, it has to be bigger and more realistic graphics and then it "fails to meet expectations" and you're then into filling the game with monetisation.
Did anyone not enjoy the vgc guest? like he’s obviously super knowledgeable and knows his shit. No criticism in that regard.
But in the sense of being a guest on a podcast and the flow of conversation: he basically dominated the discussion and hardly let any of the hosts get a word in, prompt questions, direct the conversation, or pushback on what he said. Idk maybe just me though.
he had stick up in his backside. Dudes a robot
Surprised not more people comment on that. The way he does not even realize he’s been talking non-stop forever is annoying to listen and is disrespectful to the crew.
Yeah agreed, he also had a "holier than thou" attitude, as if his opinion has more weight because he breathes industry news. Not really conductive to the overall vibe of the podcast.
He had some interesting discussion points and ideas but it was super frustrating how he wouldn't let Ralph get a word in to counterpoint anything and would just talk louder
@@heidisparklebottomcompletely agree.
Everyone did a great job during the Andy Robinson interview. Awesome listen
They're likely holding Hi-Fi Rush for Switch 2 because having a good and estable framerate is essential for the gameplay. Having bad frame pacing or framerate dips can throw you off when you're supposed to stay on beat.
You're right, it was a bit of a challenge to run smoothly on Steam Deck, I can't imagine the Switch 1 having a chance. People assume all cartoon style games are easy to run, but there's a lot going on in Hi-Fi Rush.
Andy Robinson Per Second
That Andy is a cheery chap 🙄
Hated him, he just keeping whining on and barely letting anyone else talk. Ralph wants to try and get his opinion out about the need for a new gimmick at the 50 minute-ish mark and he just talks over him and doesn't let him get a word in. It's so frustrating.
@@BulletFever409He also felt weirdly antagonistic. Everything they said he interrupted them with what basically amounted to an "actually you guys are wrong and I know better than you, so I'm gonna talk and you can't disagree", before they could even get their points across.
They actually agreed with him a couple of times and they just wanted to throw a comment about it, but he immediately interrupted them to show the public his superior knowledge of the industry 😒
@@jorgeporras9262 exactly! what a fucking loser.
Great interview with Andy, great vid
Schill up so tired on the interview part that seens almost fall asleep 😅
...I just want this guy to hush and let Ralph say what he wants to say. Every time he tried to speak, the guy just talked over him.
it's the video call effect. As someone who works with marketing and media. Andy needs some training.
It would be so bad if he was not just flat out wrong. New Tech (not just better versions of old tech) has not been a driving force for Video games since like the Original Gameboy, his example of the Wii was great for Nintendo's bottom line but disasterous for the Gaming Industry as a whole, with both Microsoft and Sony wasting hundreds of Millions of Dollars trying to create their own Wii with Kinetc and PS Move. The "non-gamers" who bought a Wii used it for Wii Sports maybe Wii-fit and then boxed it up after a year and promptly forgot that Video Games exist; there was no major cross pollenization where your 45 year old mother transitions from playing Wii Sports to buying a PS3 or Xbone.
@@tanmaypanadi1414can you elaborate? is it just because its harder to see body language on video or what?
@@_holy__ghost to be lore accurate, i am not a scienctist. there are many factors.
All the hosts are across different time zones and there is a real world input latency to even speed of light (even over fiber internet its like over 25-30 milliseconds which for a host/ audience full of gamers is noticeable) ( some VC programs skip or fast forward the audio speed to avoid notice- able delays to play catch up).
even the video is compressed down to 25-30fps so your missing out on facial cues.
so you are playing a juggling act either being too silent or constantly interrupting. compared to when you are face to face.
At times people get excited to share a thought in the spur of the moment end up being perceived like a dick who only cares about his/her opinion on the matter.
now multiply all that with 3x or 4x the speakers on a video call.
Depending on which part of the world you are from. it has different consequences in different cultures.
most of this gets hidden behind post production workflow. as for most podcasts you ask the guest to record themselves locally via obs or audacity for the best audio/video experience.
As part of PR training you ask for a list of topics or questions to be pre approved so they can be well prepared. you have like a baton system where you only speak when it's your turn.
The best practice is to repeat the question as you understand it or verbatum. so there is no miscommunication. followed by the answer. its very methodical. it also protects the speaker and allows the speaker to change the subject or show receipts when certain publishers omit certain stuff for the clicks.
Have a good day.
@@tanmaypanadi1414 thank you for such a detailed overview. the baton system especially is a very good analogy. cheers!
Lately I've just been enjoying indie/AA games...spending hours upon hours in Last Epoch, and occasionally breaking that up with Deep Rock Galactic Survivor. Gonna check out Pacific Drive too.
Feel like AA/indie are making actual games and trying different things.
Japanese still make good games with clear vision though.
@@stanislavkimov2779Thing is most Japanese games are not good
That is exactly my plan too.
@@daksans6764 almost all good games I play are somehow Japanese.
Big releases this year, all Japanese. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2, Dragon's Dogma 2, Rise of Ronin, Elden Ring DLC. RE4 Remake last year.
This was a pleasant conversation to listen to. Not necessarily the most optimistic regarding my favorite hobby, but well articulated from multiple angles discussing why this generation of gaming feels so lackluster despite Big Gaming's that we've reached a peak.
You four discussed the length of Triple A games becoming conflating quality with length, and my immediate thought was that I'm on another playthrough of Carrion (2-4 hour 8-bit game), and all I keep thinking since I played it was I hope another game like it comes along.
It's honestly extremely rare now for big AAA games to ever leave you feeling craving for more. They would rather drag you to the end so you can vomit it all up instead. Singularity is still one of my favourite games ever despite being only 5-6 hours long and yet I've replayed it about 3-4 times and continue to miss it.
I've said this forever and it's even more true now. Graphics doesn't make a game. We don't need better graphics, we need more creative experiences. Look at Nintendo and how much they sell. Even at full price all these years later. Shorter games with less graphical fidelity. Cheaper to make and can be done quicker. A well stylized game vs realistic any day. I'd rather have them make them actually fun and creative vs realistic and hollow 🤷🏻♂️
Weird crossover maybe but I would actually really like to listen to a conversation down the road between Maximillian and Lucy in regards to FFVII.
The dichotomy between one who is deeply connected to FFVII, and the other with none.
I'm so glad some major voices mentioned Phil being a hypocrite with his Helldivers 2 comment. Everyone seems to completely gloss over XBox buying to major publishers to make XBox exclusives every time he drops a "[people should be able to play wherever they]", and it's maddening.
SkillUp was in denial about this a few months ago, me & many others have been talking about Phil's double speak since last year in the summer. Xbox has been clueless with their direction since Don Mattrick, 6+ years ago lol. People just liked Phil better at the start because he seemed "relatable", which doesn't mean shit when your company is clueless & can't make a direction to compete even as the largest company in the world
It's about time people started calling out Phil Spencer on his BS
I think the "PLAY ANYWHERE" changing to "GAMESPASS IS EXCLUSIVE TO XBOX" is worse lol.
It's not exclusive to xbox, its on steamdeck, PC, phone and TVs already. You do not need an xbox to access gamespass lol. The only reason it isn't on switch or PS is Microsoft being told no lol.
Yep. Forget the giant AAA first party big names like Halo and all that. They specifically carved out several minutes of their Business Update thing talking about how great Palworld was for being on Xbox and Gamepass.. and then go and make the comments about HellDivers 2 a couple days later.
You talking about this quote? ""but I get it": “There's a legacy in console gaming that we're going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places. We do the same thing.”
You also say 'your company is clueless & can't make a direction to compete even as the largest company in the world'
Are you referring to MS? "Xbox content and services revenue, which includes Xbox Game Pass, is up by a massive 61 percent"
"MS leapfrog Sony and Apple to become second largest gaming company behind tencent"
I’m loving the show and tell of non game related things. Keep them up please. Another great pod. 👍
Triple A games? What about quadruple A?! 😵
In THIS economy?!?
AAAnflation
Well, you’ve got the Callisto Protocol right there.
So let me see of I've got this right.. After 4(aaaa game) it's.. gamtacular, gamtrocity, gamanjaro, gamtastrophe, gampocalypse, gazillionaire?
AAAA gaming
Alarming
Absence
(of)
Anything
Acceptable
´´Now in terms of you being happyyy, ahhhh you played skull and bones?´´
That line made me fall off my chair 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Never have that guest on again he talks over everyone non stop.
I'm surprised I'm not seeing more comments about this tbh, it had me fuming!
Like a steam roller powered by depressing vibes ffs. I get that times are rough atm given all the layoffs but Ralph had a FAR more intelligent, much wider perspective on things in the future. I'd have rather just listened to him and not the human freight train of doom that was their guest
29:30 as a good example.
Ralph tries to answer Lucy and dude just cuts him off. So rude!
Great show guys! Glad to seeTom Warren joining you
I hope it remains just these three hosts cause I love their dynamic together! Love the podcast 🎉
Almost at a million subs, well deserved
Happy Saturday, Everyone!
1:02:58
Aw man so sad that you guys didn't bring up Returnal. That game utilized the haptic feedback and controller features SO well. Returnal is so underrated man 😕
We just came home from my birthday dinner with family and friends and saw that there's a new FPS to watch. Happy birthday to me. 😂
Happy Birthday. live long and prosper
@@tanmaypanadi1414 Thanks! 🖖Funny you said that because Star Trek is my favourite thing, ever. 😄
I feel like Andy Robinson’s perspective is super business minded. Jesus, I felt like I was in a corporate meeting
Yeah, very pessimistic arguments for the first 30 minutes. Didn't we have one of the best years for gaming releases in 2023? The layoffs and lack of exclusives are downers but there still amazing games being made.
And that's a good thing. We want different perspectives in a discussion, not an echo chamber.
@@whazzas5023 I tremendously agree with your comment.
@@whazzas5023 I don't think he was claiming at all that there weren't any good games last year. He's talking about the state of game development, and how difficult it has been for developers especially recently.
I love that you forgot that video game companies are not your friend and are indeed a BUSINESS. I hate that 90% of gamers cannot understand this. What will it take for you to realize the ONLY thing they care about is your wallet?
The 3 headed goats have dropped on this beautiful Saturday morning. What a blessing
Industry needs to return to smaller games, where gameplay is king. Good for quick session with maybe some progression. My best memories of gaming come from SSX, Tony Hawk, Burnout and fighting series. They should revisit this template
I hope Sony swoops in and cleans out Bungie management. They had 10 years. Time to appoint people who know what they are doing.
It's a double edged sword I feel like. I think D2 is just going to keep going downhill
@@chrisj320ac3I think it’s just gonna come down to can they gain back the goodwill they shat on with the D2 community. That being said….would not want to be in those shoes whoever’s gonna spearhead that
Except we've seen that when that happens, its almost never people who know what they're doing. Even Battlefield and Zampllea has me worried, because despite being qualified, what is he being given to work with? What are they expecting out of him in terms of hard numbers? I partially suspect this might be EA trying to set him up to fail, so can take over Respawn... and its not like this isn't the first time they've done exactly this to another studios.
They brought them in to help in their live service expertise but had to help them instead.
Pls dont have andy back on. He never gave anyone else a chance to talk, constantly interrupted everyone else, and had probably the worst take I've ever heard about the Nintendo switch 2
Andy Robinson seems like a real glass half empty kinda guy
The dudes English what did you expect
Adapt or die. That's the core of anything that not only wants to survive but thrive as well.
Don’t sleep on Pepper Grinder, which had a demo on Steam’s Next Fest, and was in the Nintendo showcase. It’s so damn good, I promise you!
Man……the guy from VGC DOESNT STOP TALKING 😩
and his opinions are rather eyebrow raising
i thought he was smart until he said switch needs a new gimmick like dual screens to revitalize gaming lmao@@anaguma90
@@anaguma90What was wrong with what he said?
@@gamerinatrance3618nothing 'wrong', because you cant be factually (in)correct when youre just making predictions, but his takes around the switch 2 were genuinely baffling. even ralph obviously disagreed but decided to let it go for the sake of the show
I'm in the same boat Lucy. Didn't play the og FFVII. But it's my husband's fave game of all time. I walked down the isle to Midnight Rendezvous and we exited the ceremony to the Victory Theme.
We are also naming our first kid, due in May, Zack.
I loved Remake so am really excited for Rebirth. But my god the way hubby reacts to it compared to me is so different 😂😂
Playing the OG game back in the day and the playing this just hits different I guess
Wow just wow. The thing is that that game really hit hard back in the day. The tech aspect and story marked a whole generation.
@@GamingNStuff777 yea I am three years younger than hubby so I was still on Croc, Spyro and Crash lol
Sucks that I didn’t play 7 growing up lol.
Its like how being present for a history defining moment changes how you perceive things. A war memorial is just a rock with names carved into it. But for anyone alive and impacted by that war, that thing represents the state of a culture and the state of a person. Something like that only ever really being understood by those who were also there.
FF7 changed what people thought games were capable of. A game so big that it required multiple disks for the Playstation 1, its an absurdly long game at ~50 hours just for the main story, but most importantly, stellar writing and 3D models made characters 'pop out'. Not a lot of games in those days were capable of getting a player invested in an 'entire' roster of characters like this. Most would barely resonate with the main character, and most likely got attached to a secondary character and their arc through the main story.
If I were trying to give an example, the modern day equivalent would be probably be Persona 5 or Nier Automata. Everyone had something going on worth caring about. And its something the successive FF games kind of struggled with. To dismiss it as nostalgia would be a grave mistake; because its effects still permeate in gaming culture to this day. And you gotta remember... this game came out right around the time internet access was on the rise, and the web forming. Before there was even a way to find communities easily, there were countless fan pages dedicated to all aspects of this game. Its status as a cultural icon was immediate. Its also one specifically unique to gamers, like Halo and Starcraft.
I never played the original FF7, because I never had a Playstation 1. And even I recognize how important this game is to a generation of gamers.
Lucy menioning the Hinterlands gave me an instant trauma reaction to when I knew Dragon Age was ruined.
I just did my first play-through of fallout new vegas on my ps3 super slim. To say that playing this way is rough is an understatement. Sometimes it runs for hrs mostly good. Sometimes i turn it on and it crashes immediately. I like the main game more than the dlc’s.
When I did NV on ps3 for the platinum, I made the mistake of doing literally everything in game (including DLC's) before talking to Benny...that resulted in my game being so bogged down by that point that I woukd have to hard reset my console every 45 minutes to make it unfreeze. I then had to get every ending under those circumstances, what a nightmare that was lmao but I did make it through eventually.
I remember I would get around the 30-40 hour mark and the game just would not work anymore. It would freeze as soon as the world loaded in. Compared to Fallout 3 where I could have a 160 hour game file and it would only freeze in certain areas.
@DaedrinMolkre It's a really shitty oversight by Bethesda that this has been a problem in just about all of their games and they've just never bothered to fix it.
Super Slim ?
For Bethesda games, i think SSDs can help them run better on PS3. Most games see very minimal benefit, but Bethesda games seem yo run a lot better. Skyrim famously goes from terrible with high hour saves to just fine with an SSD.
It was really interesting listening to Andy on todays Podcast, his insight is really valuable and you can tell that he has a bit more of a realist/pessimist view of the games industry. It almost clashes with the rest of the cast, not in a bad way, but simply because I think you guys interface with the games industry from a totally different angle.
He’s the polar opposite of Jake, it was hilarious
That dude was a huge downer, for a fan of the podcast he really didn't integrate or change his tone to match them at all, it was all round an uncomfortable segment.
Lol my non gamer mum also got super hyped about the Wii fit and used it well into the next generation bless her.
Yo I don’t know if you guys know, but the Spotify episode’s audio mixing is screwed and everyone is talking over each other from about 36:37
Their discussion of WiiU sparked a lot of nostalgia from me! Assassins Creed Black Flag was an ultimate experience for me - the game looked ass, but the map/UI on the gamepad, while the game was on the TV - was soo clean. Same with the Windwaker!
It would be nice if the guest wasn't constantly shutting everyone else down while theyre talking, it felt like not a single person got a chance to speak uninterrupted. What a waste of a potentially good episode/discussion
andys take on needing random new tech to sell consoles to new people was fucking absurd
Yeah & Ralph wanted to push back on that too. He's going to be wrong about the switch 2 for sure, we already had insider analysis saying it wasn't going to be revolutionary by any means. Nintendo is always slow on the uptake to modern decent standards, so my ass pull guess is a more improved switch that won't already be completely outdated when it launches, backwards compatibility, & then called the "Switcheroo" or some dumb shit haha. Nintendo is always late to the party so if they can at least put out something that isn't missing basic functionality, their IP will carry their bad business decisions like always
I could see Ralph holding it in and not pushing back. A much better Switch with full backwards compatibility is EXACTLY what many of us want but are worried Nintnendo will try something weird
I agree. This man is acting like he’s still a normie gamer but talks like a regular corpo.
@@MrValentinjr I'm glad someone else has this opinion because I came to the comments expecting the exact opposite sentiment. He sounds like the kind of guy who thinks he's the type of gaming journo people like, but couldn't be any closer to the exact opposite side. All the "we know better" attitude and "we understand the in between the lines stuff that you plebes don't" talk about Xbox, Sony and Nintendo all... Man's insufferable to me...
I get what he was saying but that doesn't apply to gamers imo, vast majority of us aren't tech enthusiasts and don't care much beyond a stable frame rate and good visuals/art direction. And to me, innovation already took place when the Switch launched, just took a couple years for other platforms/manufactures to take it seriously.
Actually super dig the guest this time. feel like I don’t see many with his tone, perspective and expertise in my feed typically. I enjoyed jt
This is my favourite content on CZcams. Thanks friends.
"Oh, for the last ten years the backwards brains have been increasing their pushback on the stuff i so love to include in my product, i need to push even further for the greater good!"
When did that ever work?
The lack of conversation around supporting Super Earth and spreading democracy around the galaxy could be seen as desertion, but I'll let you off this time soldiers.
JUST GET TO THE FRONT LINE AND DO YOUR PART!!
thanks for the content while im out driving for work.
Game developers are hired based on their shipped titles sometimes. If the game doesn't ship, it isn't really something you can put on your resume. I have no knowledge about this specific Singapore deal, but that could be one reason the deal required the title to ship. If you want to grow a game developer workforce within your community you need to have developers with shipped games under their belts and credits and not just a place to outsource too.
Please never have Andy Robinson on again. Guy is a know-it-all who talks over the hosts and insists on taking a contrarian view on everything. Really tiring to listen to
100% agree.
How was he contrarian?
Unfortunately really didn't like the guest this week. He came off as very combative and made it seem like he was putting you guys on a back foot in what is supposed to be a casual conversation. Didn't really fit with the normal vibe of the show.
Perfectly put and totally agree.
1:03:31 in pacific drive as well the use of the dualsense haptics is crazy
When talking about PS4/PS5 divide I'd point way more towards how the leaps of tech happened with pre-PS1, PS1, and PS2. SNES to PS1 was huge using CDs, memory cards, great audio and a push for 3d graphics over 2d sprites. PS1 to PS2 which a large power/ability leap with some clutch launch titles to highlight that like Dynasty Warriors 2 (basically the first warriors game) among a legion of other big launch titles clearly saying "This is PS2 and this is what it can do!" and it would go on to have a huge library of amazing games and new games that were different from what you'd have ever played before.
Then PS3 came out and it pushed online play as a more central idea and pushed closer to parity to PC gaming and you saw more PC style games on console. Then PS4 came out and nothing really changed? It was a stronger console, but ultimately nothing really changed. Then PS5 came out and again nothing really changed or was revolutionary it was just a stronger console.
Sure from PS3-5 graphics improved, loadtimes improved, etc. Though Call of Duty was still Call of Duty. Madden was still Madden. All of these sorts of things didn't really see any huge changes. Even the first party big titles were remakes, remasters, and sequels that basically did the same thing. Monster Hunter World shows up huge for consoles/PC as opposed to be stuck on handheld for what felt like eternity yet look at most of the truly innovative and interesting games to come out with the past few years.
To that end something like Hi-Fi Rush felt like a breath of fresh air not just for being a good game, but for being different. It wasn't meant to be this "blockbuster" it was just a great game in the style of "what if Sly Cooper was a rhythm game" and that was great. They could have made Hi-Fi Rush tech wise a decade ago and that really highlights just how lackluster the console generations have felt for the last two or so generations... its just "same shit, but better... I guess!?".
Day 13 of begging Skillup to review Talos Principle II. One of the best modern puzzle games ever made.
the signapore thing regarding a new IP makes complete sense as part of a larger contractual obligation
I love it when Ralph’s feed pops up and it’s this podcast! You guys just made my weekend.
I'm probably in the minority of people who watch this show but I honestly can't keep up with all the new releases. I feel like I have time for 3-5 games a year and hopefully finish 2 of them. If the industry wants to release smaller scope games I'm all for it.
Even if you were playing 24/7, it would be physically impossible to play every game currently available or even just as they come out. I too would love smaller AAA games but titles like The Order 1886 permanently scared off publishers from trying that, and unlike other mediums gamers have this fundamental view that longer = better. It's honestly quite destructive when you consider how much of our gaming history would not be viable today solely due to this attitude.
Nice! LSM references this guy 20 times a week and always wanted a face to the name.
I still have not played 1 second of Elden Ring as I am terrible at souls games but I respect the hell out of them and the people that dig them.
Give it a shot. Power through. I was in the same boat as you never had touched a souls game. But once you power thru the struggle and get a handle of the mechanics it’ll still be hard but worth it. When I bought it I played until the tree sentinel got killed a dozen times. Gave up. Uninstalled. Reinstalled months later got my ass whooped learned everything I could got “Gud” and it’s now easily in one of my top 5 games of all time. Give it a shot bro, just accept getting fucked up as a natural learning curve
I bought it Day 1 and still haven't touched it lol. Pretty much the same with Armored Core 6. I have plans to play them, but mainly I just like supporting really cool games.
@@isaacmclean6259There are actual better games to play than wasting time and money on formulaic AA Japanese games
@@nathandrake9737If those games are not for you they will never appeal to you. I find From Software games ugly and janky so I don't play them
@@daksans6764 Ok. Im gonna keep trying while you continue being a negative nancy
the Kingmakers trailer was crazy, but it kind of gives me "The Day Before" vibes
First thought I had, as well. Believe it when I see it.
They're a "proven" dev, if that's what you're worried about. They made Road Redemption, which has a similar mid-range look to it, so I'd say chances are pretty good that they've actually made a video game. The wonders of proprietary game engines.
@@rioplatsI hope so
There’s certainly more headroom for higher image quality and simulation complexity with future consoles but it does seem difficult to pitch the in between of a pro model.
When it’s just about an incremental bump in resolution or promise that games will be on the analogue of very high vs high graphical settings, it’s not that appealing.
The talks of next gen already is disappointing, especially since as Dunkey highlighted there are so many cross gen games and remasters of last gen games (though that said, would still love a Bloodeborne Remaster). Cross gen has definitely held this gen back, and with how long it took for people to get their hands on it it feels far too soon for next gen to be a thought. But if next gen is a substantial leap, I'm here for it, I just hope it last longer than this gen and is more well utilized. Last year was fantastic, and I do think we have exciting things on the horizon that should land this gen, Rise of the Ronin (which looks insane), Dragon's Dogma 2, FF Rebirth, Stellar Blade, Witcher 4 & Remake, GTA 6, Resident Evil 9, Judas, Hades 2, Elden Ring DLC, and I'm sure we have a lot more surprises to look forward to. Helldivers 2 kinda came out of nowhere.
I do hope we have more small studios be formed, because AAA has gotten unsustainable. It not just the size but it's the corporate nature of those bug studios. Like Bobby Kotick got an obscene amount of money in severance, when he contributes nothing but toxicity and poor decision making. Like how many of these massively profitable companies are laying off people while their execs and shareholders make record profit. Its BS, and its definitely a driving force killing AAA games.
Also very upset the next Nintendo thing isn't coming this year, we need it so bad. It'd be nice to see something innovative, I suspect itll be a stronger switch. They did say it would surprise and delight though. Basically all they've said about it. But maybe they will dip their toe into VR again. Like you can dock it in a headset or the tv. Who knows. But on that, I wish PSVR 2 would take off more. Many great games in the first year, Resident Evil 8 and 4 in VR were tremendous. And cool stuff on the way. Metro, Behemoth, Wanderer, and so much more.
DUDE! Andy!!? Can you let them answer on what you are saying? Interrupting them 3 seconds into their response. You can see that Ralph is disagreeing with you, but you are not letting him talk. Sorry about the negativity , but that really irritated me. 😅😅
That interview was so cracked lmao
The audio podcast is doing a thing 27 min in where Nicks intro is laying over the conversation again or something
On the audio version (podcast app) at around 27:00, it sounds like there are overlapping voices recorded at different times
Nice show. Also, thank you for having a splash screen clearly visible during all sponsored segments. This should be a requirement..... it also has the advantage of making it easier to skip, but it's important that we know what parts are sponsored and what are not.
Anyway..... keep up the good work.
@SkillUp Thank you for the Lucy Rose shoutout. Checked out that album and now I'm listening to her entire discography! Cheers!
Hey, just a heads up, the podcast is all messed up on the RSS (podcast) feeds. I listen on PocketCasts and at roughly 27mins in Jakes audio seems to duplicate and play in unison with the rest of you.
I would love an impressions video for Nightingale, or even a mention in "what we're playing" next podcast.
Y’all need some sleep and time away from the games for like a week at least. Your mouths say one thing but your faces are saying something else completely.
Love you guys❤
Thanks for doing these podcasts - it is one of the treats of each week for me.
Lucy explaining her experience as someone who did not play the original was pretty close to what the experiance was in the original game, the first Disc was very focused and by Disc 2 the world was more open with more things to do and more stories intertwining , Disc 1 had a serious doom and gloom vibe , Disc 2 was more of the fun light hearted parts and story expansion, and Disc 3 which would be the next part of the Remake would be Serious but more action and tense moments . Cant wait !
I wanted to like Pacific Drive, but I couldn’t get past the view inside the car with no option to switch. I couldn’t see where I was going and having the map barely out of the screen to the right and having to turn back and forth between driving and map reading got old quick. Everything else was a positive for me.
I wasnt interested in final fantasy before... But the first minute has me interested. Great podcast as usual, always a good listen while working.
love the podcast
Love the show!
I'll be honest that kingmakers game looks suspicious. Looks a little asset flippy or like one of those mobile games that actually is nothing like the ads.
Really hope it lands and doesn't fall apart. It's such a weird and interesting concept that it deserves to be a real honest game.
finally an fps episode
I think a lot of people have started coming around to the idea that "more hours" does NOT mean "better game" at this point. The idea was nice when it meant "really good, meaty content that goes on for 10 hours more than it would have last gen" but it doesn't mean that anymore, it means "this game has 40 hours of busy work." Now most people when they're talking about game length will go, "Oh it's 100 hours? How much of that is real content and how much is filler nonsense put in to pad out the length?" So they actually expect it now that games with those high length numbers are not actually that long. I think it would be good for studios to start pulling back and putting their dev time into quality over quantity and spend a lot less time and money putting all that padding into their games. A lot of people don't want that bloat in the game, they would be fine if it wasn't there.
I have no problem shelling out 50-70 for a great 5-10 hour game. Time sinks i can do without. It' s ok for me for Elden Ring but now hearing FF 7 is endless turns me off. I would prefer the next Persona with a length around 50 hours, too.
What people undersell is that good *pacing* is something that matters a lot and can boost your engagement with a game if handled well.
You can still get an experience that feels worthwhile even if it's short. You've got your Devil May Cry's, Armored Core's, Metal Gear Rising and Titanfall's. Short games with great replay value (or in Titanfall's case endless hours through multiplayer). Or in cases like Uncharted, there's note even much replay value, but the ride is fun enough to leave you satisfied.
That's why BG3 is one of the greatest. 100+hrs of real contents rather than fillers, with infinite replayability.
I, still to this day, have never finished far cry 3. I enjoy that game but it was the first game that, to me, really felt like a lot of it was just there to make the game longer for the sake of longer.
@@marccreation1052 I feel like Persona is one of those things where the length makes sense by just how these games work. It isn't filled with useless quest but a bunch of social links that give you more potentially interesting characters. Then of course how it plays out over a year which you need if you want to experience all links. And of course JRPGs with how the combat works just generally being longer.
They would need to completly change what they are known for in Persona to make it work. I do hope they make sonething with adults in work or at least college life next.
The draw of a pro is 60 fps modes not looking soft. Getting a console that can do actually native 1440p 60 would make a huge difference. Being forced to use AMDs poor upscaling software with a 2070s equivalent is really hurting game graphical quality for new games
True, but they should just bring these games to PC faster. 😅