We Need "AAA" | Cold Take
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- čas přidán 18. 12. 2022
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This week on Cold Take, Sebastian takes a look at the AAA industry and discusses both its positive and negative influences.
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Triple A is incredibly valuable for attracting talented developers, burning them out and driving them to start their own indie studios where they actually do something interesting
Yeah, as if "indies" aren't an endless line of clones themselves.
@@aleksanderolbrych9157 how's that for a completely unsubstantiated claim lmao
@@splitprune sure, because every second indie isn't a Dark Souls clone, every third a boomer shooter, every fourth a roguelike, every fifth a turn-based RPG, every sixth a pixel-graphics 2D platformer, every seventh a narrative piece which is an allegory about cancer... Somewhere around "every fifteenth" I'll get to walking sims with jumpscares.
There are worthwhile indies but the proportion is the same as with worthwhile AAA which aren't open-world action RPGs.
@@aleksanderolbrych9157 you also have to mention the fact that Shovelware are also indie games too by nature which if you have ever been in online store like Steam you will see that there are alot of them and most are not even good by their own merits.
@@DetarakoRax obviously, but they’re still „Indie”. Saying shovelware doesn’t count is like saying “game as a service” doesn’t count for AAA.
This man needs to put out a noir audiobook or something. He was born with the voice for it.
He nails both the voice and most importantly the way to write the inner monologue of neo noir as seen in sin city or the spirit. Fun fact, very few old scholl 50's movies actually had that kind of narration except Double Indemnity, arguably one of the very best though.
This is straight his real voice.
Shut up and take my money!
Ya. The Noir style is my favourite part of this all.
He does audio books, not sure where to find his portfolio but hes mentioned it in videos.
Once in a while, Johnny AAA releases something that makes me glad that he's around. But these are the exceptions to the norm because Johnny AAA is all about the money. Some say money's the root of all evil, and Johnny would have to swim upstream on his streams of revenue not to be sucked down to a bad place. But sometimes, Johnny AAA's tired of swimming. When he's at rock bottom once again, Johnny AAA remembers he needs us more than we need him. It only lasts for a little while, but that's when the magic happens.
@@aturchomicz821 Not sure I see the connection but curious what you meant. Could you please elaborate?
Perfect analogy
I absolutely love this series! The Noir-inspired style of commentary is brilliant.
I'm just leaving this comment for the algorithm. Cold Take really needs more attention, I love this series
I think the most fundamental truth of every industry is that the less bargaining power it has, the more it will have to do right by consumers, but the better it does and the more it grows, the more bargaining power it will gain. I think we're nearing a tipping point for AAA game studios where it gets bad enough that regulation and consumer disinterest start to cut them back down to size, and soon the cycle will begin again.
AAA has always been an ongoing saga of highs and lows, of failure and success and twists and turns. All we can do is sit back and see where it goes and do our part to make good happen, big or small.
I have been a spectator of gamss for a long time, and right when I take action on getting things, I arrive where the party is already done...
@@matheusbarbosa999
Well, they'll always be ways to support developers you like. Even if it's just buying one of their games
I think Cold take has become by favorite Escapist series. Which is saying something as I have been here for a long time.
I wouldn't say my favorite, that's still a Yahtz monopoly. But this is gooood
Definitely my favorite series they've come out with in awhile! Starting to get excited seeing them pop up in my recommended. That smooth smooth voice and the nuanced discussions are great.
Loving this Noir detective audio novels that u are putting!!
I read that as “painting” at the end there, and didn’t question it. I feel like that sums up the feeling of these quite well: he’s painting with commentary, and it’s a work of art
Looking back, it's incredibly easy to understand why I appreciate indie gaming so much today. Back in the adolescence of gaming, I was growing up with NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS1, PS2 and Gamecube, and the AAA industry in *those* days were what gave us restless, overabundant creativity and adventures. The industry started from investing in anything that had remote potential, and from there they built up to bigger, better experiences and even more creative ideas. Indie gaming today is the same, an endless number of people putting their passion into gaming form, succeeding or failing on their own merits and often working to improve upon what they made.
I don't *hate* modern AAA gaming, but it doesn't try to fill every niche or create new ones anymore. The last trends they were able to make were lootboxes and battle passes, not new mechanics or new gameplay fusions. I still go back to it whenever they happen to have something that appeals to me, but nowadays I never expect them to release something niche, understated, or cryptic (in the fun ways for games to be cryptic) that really grabs me for months.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - love it. Smart commentary in a unique, beautiful style. This is top tier games commentary.
This guy has a hell of a voice.
I love that Cold Take has only been around for a month or two and it's already my absolute favorite Escapist thing.
We can always add more spaces to the Monopoly board. Although they might not do much for very long, just the mere fact we can do it is an amazing tool in if itself.
I’m not entirely sure what I just listened to, but I enjoyed listening to it
Some days I wish some big businesses would go through the cycle of Ragnarok or the Chinese Dynastic cycle. The giants become too powerful and lose control of their servants, the servants find ways to gain power and overthrow the giants to eventually become the giants themselves. It’s a cyclical part of human history to overthrow oppressors and slowly become the oppressors. But more often I worry for the hypothetical parasites attached to these giants. Economies are often a product of filling holes left by giants in their wake, when things work everyone could prosper. But similar to the situation in China, the loss of the stability for the giants could mean less people or no one could prosper.
ChatGPT, write a script discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the modern video game industry, in the style of a smooth-talking jazz cat from a noir crime drama set in New Orleans
"Downloading dev tools and deleting them after fooling around for 5 minutes."
I did not need to be called out like this, and I resent it.
I'm similarly unhyped, but not ultimately down on, AAA games. I pick up 3-5 of them in a year, and a bit more gets spent on indies and AA games.
I do quite like a well executed, big budget game; and it's practically ecstatic when they hit just right. But I also really love many of the wonderful things that are coming out of those other spaces.
As far as the thesis of this piece goes, I'm glad that unions and some regulations are finally making it into some US markets again. I can only hope that Japanese developers can follow suit at some point-and maybe even Chinese devs over enough time-but those work cultures and environments are deeply ingrained. It's still gonna be a minute.
Yeah, no, that's not happening on the chinese side in a million years.
If your chinese game isn't from a solo indie dev, you can bet your BlackRock-approved tripled investments it's being heavily regulated from top to bottom by a branch of the CCP; in communist China, there is no such thing as a private company.
This dude could read me his plan for how he'll ruin my reputation and then torture and kill me and I'd just be like, "...sweet that sounds cool"
Again another instant classic. Take your time and keep them coming.
I am loving these cold takes. This was was especially fun, and I love the way it looks at the ways in which the AAA industry was needed to help build up the games industry but still acknowledging the problems that have developed over time. I am looking forward to more of these segments.
This video is out-fucking-standing. :3 thank you for your effort making it, and your impeccable sense of style.
I'm so happy these are still going. Keep up the amazing work!
Happy holidays to you too, Uncle Frost. Stay smooth.
That reference to Home Alone 2's fictional movie really wrapped it up. Merry Xmas too 🕵🏻
I love the noir vibe, you got going here, Frost ♥♥♥
I also suddenly very much want to hear you say thing like: 'I hate rain' and 'Lulu, Sweet thing' 😅
Yahtzee accents are getting better every week.
This dude's voice soothes my soul.
I thought i was playing Metal Gear Solid 4, watching that intro for a sec!
Great talk as always, Frosty!
8 minutes is way too short for a MGS cutscene
Such a great voice and writing. Love these vids.
You sound like the narrator of The Big Lebowski.
I love it.
In much the way we "need" any other parasite. They're good for the ecosystem (somehow) and moderate your immune system.
That would be, symbiotic, not parasitic.
for me, AAA went from "Attracting All Audiences" to "Allowing Almighty Advertising".
these are really enjoyable, i gotta say
AYYYO, WHY IS YOUR VOICE SO SMOOTH
This is the most relaxing game discussion vid I've ever watched
My issue with AAA isn't that they're mainstream, they're more than that. They're everything. Indies (so nowadays: everything that isn't AAA) are the nice thing on the side while you wait. So many people that are supposed to care about games (be it gamers or press) just don't see indies as real games. And at the same time they act like they're above marketing :|
It's as if every cinephile in the world and every movie critic suddenly cared about Disney and nothing else.
Frost! We've missed you! Is this your new gig?
While I don't usually play AAA games (since so few JRPG's are AAA), I appreciate what they do as far as giving people experience in the industry. I also agree that it's a pain when companies are made from alumni that just get eaten by the bigger companies.
Well said, and cheers
If there's one thing Disco Elysium taught me, it's that being a centrist makes sense but it doesn't work. Thankfully, I ain't working! So no problems with my porch chair analysis.
Love this new series!
Triple AAA companies feel like that one relative who was praised for being so smart and talented, yet finds themselves in unsavory sercomstances and now nobody talks about them as fondly
I don't mind a world without AAA games 🤷♂️
No FromSoft? Fuck that
Then you wouldn't get masterpieces like elden ring, Gow, GTA, Red dead redemption, Witcher 3 etc.
The line about the fastest way to make 40k in the gaming industry is firing a full time employee is scary true
this is a beautiful script for the current state of the games industry
I say the same.
Well, I don't know what relies for the gaming industry, but All I know is that I will find a way to enjoy it, even that the time has come or it's fully coming.
Gearbox didn't acquire Hopoo. They acquired Risk of Rain.
The more I watch this series, the more I love it.
I have a Computer Engineering degree, and I still can't get work with the big studios near where I live (San Francisco Bay Area), because they all demand more experience than I have. Same for the small "indie" studios.
I see "Cold Take" I click.
love ALL OF THIS!
Thank you.
Great thoughts! God bless the positive games media!
Lol, I'll be here as long as Frost is here
Hey, I was just about to go wash, needed to finish the video first!
I love the video aesthetic of this series
This mans buttery smooth voice is just the cherry ontop of this video.
damn, that was so soothing
I can't say with any great certainty why, but when I hear this dude I picture a Lobster in a fedora with a cigar and a whiskey at a corner alcove type table in a Jazz club.
this video was so good.
Regulations are a double-edged sword at the best of times, mostly 'cause the people making them are at best Congresspeople who've been in their seats since the Cretaceous and don't know what a game is, or realistically a committee of unaccountable bureaucrats who sought out their seats because the idea of lording it over the economy without anyone able to actually take them to task appealed to them. Ideally the industry would self-regulate, but that ship's sailed and hit an iceberg, so we're left with the question of which is worse: no regulation, or bad regulation, since good regulation's too much to ask of either Johnny AAA or the dinosaurs on the Hill.
Triple A should also not that abundant. Back in the PS2/XBox/Gamecube days, triple A games were something special, because they were ao rare. But ever since gaming exploded in popularity, seemingly 90% of games, that are not indie titles, are triple A. And the greater gaming populace seems to avoid any game that isn't a highly polished and shiny triple A title.
New ideas in AAA. it's why veterans form indie studios and have new ideas. Some want to continue the IP they had Mighty No9, Bloodstained, Yooka Laylee being obvious of their past IPs. Not veterans making nostalgic games or something new and some inspiration with a spin on it (platformer revival right now, ok ish arcade racing games, fine enough old school RPGs, fine enough Metroidvanias). While others do Nightingale or something completely different especially for a survival sansbox with interesting ideas (cards to create regions similar to a Minecraft mod is the closest comparison I can make even besides the different theming it has for a artstyle and setting of characters) and it's great to see. AAA for mass appeal snorefest for money coming in for the industry sure while the Indies keep the core games interested I guess and if they are actually good and not too nostalgia boring and been there done that also.
Nothing really to say, but I enjoyed this video. Thanks for making and sharing it.
Get this man an audio book to read!
fascinating
Film noar as well!
Get, this, man, in, adventure is nigh immediately.
What's interesting with AAA is its peak unleashed capitalism and a taste of what awaits consumers in the future : we've already seen some car campanies starting to make subscription services and some sort of DLCs for their cars. I'm not looking forward to when you will have to pay 0.99 for ketchup on an app at McDonald's after you already ordered in a few years (not that I ever go there, but still).
Forget it, Jake - it's AAA town.
This is 3Dog, AWOOOOOO, and you're listening to Galaxy News Radio
Rewatch thank you
My new favorite show on this channel. Sorry Yahtzee
leaving a few words here for big Al
I think most triple As serve to consolidate 'popular' or 'notable' game mechanics(notice how much god of war was influenced by the souls series and the numerous other games who got similar mechanics).
Is FromSoft AAA?
Is Zelda team AAA?
If the answer to either of those is yes, then I want AAA
FromSoft seem triple A to me, and first-party Nintendo is without a doubt triple A. I think most triple A games that people complain about keep coming from the same developers or publishers with bad track records, like EA and Ubisoft.
Fast forward to June when the top selling game on Steam is a 127v127 fps made by like 3 devs.
what vid is Yahtzee being interviewed in @ 3:25?
czcams.com/video/hkbHI2grNLo/video.html this one
@@TheOtherFrost thanks
This guy's good...
How is this sleuth not talking about triple AAA like it's a seductive temptress that he just can't give up. Missed trick, I say.
All that crunch-time, and they still release unfinished, buggy games. How is that possible? Where is the time and effort REALLY going?
Crunch time is the company forcing the developers to essentially rush everything to get it out. Crunch is not a positive it's a negative as it leads to poor quality as the product was not given enough time.
The title of this video should be: 'We need (to hold) AAA (accountable for their bullshit)'
Monuments to sin can only grow into cesspools. Is such a crucible worth leaving unchecked for the talent it leeches and repulses within its walls?
S tier content
That's quite a leap to say Mr Hilter of the National Bocialist Party is responsible for video games. I'll allow it. 😅🤣
Epic preemptive invocation of Godwin's Law to also shut down several related distractions from the point
Same thing is wrong with the games industry as what's wrong with every industry.
Once a company becomes lucrative enough, it stops being about making something of value for its customers and starts being about generating revenue for venture capitalist shareholders. That's just how we do business these days.
Companies no longer compete to make the best X. They compete for market share, quarterly revenue increases, etc. that directly increase the price of their shares.
Was I wrong or did Hopoo stay independent? I thought Gearbox just bought Risk of Rain?
Came here to say the same thing. Gearbox bought the IP not the studio (including the existing games)
This has long been the issue for art. Sure anyone with a canvas and some paint can make something but if you want to spend years painting the ceiling of an entire chapel SOMEONE has to make sure you're being fed and housed while you work on it.
“Ya wanna know a quick way to make 40,000$ or more in this industry in one simple step? Fire a full time employee”
Obviously titles have to be concise an catchy, but it sounds more accurate to say that we need triple-A because capitalism kills and buries anything that doesn't have enough money behind it. We really can't expect innovation or experimentation from big publishers because if it's not guaranteed to make money they won't take the risk, so really the one thing they do contribute is keeping people employed and interested, which you mentioned. In truth we only need AAA studios because our attitudes around work and money are so fundamentally broken.
What did Sebastian do before Escapist? Did he ever say in a video? The Google machine there doesn't tell me anything. I'm curious. He's a fascinating guy and he talks with Yahtzee like he's been doing it for decades.
Channel called OtherFrost, mostly content for Smite. Streamed a bit on twitch as well under same name.
That voice... Holy shit
I LOVE SEBASTIAN!!! I LOVE SEBASTIAN!!!
I don't think Johnny AAA even can innovate anymore at this point. Maybe when the costs of game development were lower, but now...? Innovation means taking a risk and a risk that doesn't pay off could mean millions or billions in losses for President Business. Innovation is for indies to do and for Johnny AAA to copy.
Leaving comment for algo
I have a hot take: aa is the new aaa. They have just enough tech, talent, and bank to be able to make the exciting, new, and innovative games we crave, without running into the opposite problems of being so big that artistic and design vision are diluted into nothing, and you have the corporate warring of aaa politics, but also don't have the risks of an indie developer and are more confident that they can take risks since they can make more technically demanding, expansive, and visually detailed games, not having to sacrifice as much technical display, graphical fidelity, or game play depth since they have the support and confidence to make those risks, unlike smaller or solo indie developers.
I discussed this recently with a friend but most aa right now is in somewhere between the PS2 and PS3 aaa generation of game design philosophy, both in visual and mechanical design, and this is exciting because it means that we get those games that were aaa at the time, but with the heart and interest of game design from something that feels more indie. They can make games that "look good enough" but play fantastically, because they not only want to make fun games, but do so with the confidence that they won't be shackled by the faults of being indie or aaa.
AA still has its faults, but it is in a good place right now. And techinally some of our favorite games now started off aa. Dark Souls for example was absolutely considered a aa game from my memory. And I think the aa market will always remain the sweet spot between both hemispheres of the game industry for me.
You see Voice guy, when you are talking slower, not Yahtzee like fast in that dark souls video, your voice is smooth so keep listening to me and you will go far :) On the AAA topic I have nothing to add....o shit it says that the add will begin in 3,2,1...dammit...ok it beck.... even CZcams is AAA so the poor can't enjoy a video without brands bombing and brain washing us peasants with their products that we can't afford. I can't buy AAA games and even if I could I would buy 1 per year because they suck, Judas (no, not you) or not yet ....is the only AAA game I am looking forward to and that is only because Levine is the brain behind the project. I got lost.....anyway I hope I will be able to catch one of the FREE streams so the Chat Monster in me awekens :) All the best Voice guy
Making something new and unique doesn’t sadly guarantee its success. AAA doesn’t want to spend money time and resources on something that may fall apart fail and give nothing in return.
Better to do the same magic trick for the fat price rather than attempt something new and risk not wringing every penny out of their loyal customer base.
Let me fix the title. "We Needed AAA". The big guys did a good job setting up the industry but now they have grown so greedy, so desperate and so indulgent that they have become untenable. Very few AAA games these days launch finished or with everything they promised. I barely play any modern AAA game anymore and even those I have played are often over a year or more past there launch. Indies have taken the role of AAA used to have and I only this this as the path forwards.
So no more god of war or souls games, we only need stray and cult of the lamb now? That’s some of the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard
@@2canwin635 No, I'm saying we don't need the same copy pasted half finished live service shit again.
This is why we need to support game dev unions. They deserve better than to be stepped on by billionaires to make cheap, soulless toys. They have to be able to stand up for themselves to make the meaningful, engaging works of art they went into the career for, and unions are the only way to do that.