Ambassador_Kong

Better than Crimson Desert? I'll have what your smoking.

Silly how people think that getting a game on disc is any sort of security for the future. Day one patches and updates have pretty much made the disc irrelevant. They're just landfill fodder at this point.

@DennisReynolds 1.2 million sales vs almost 5 million sales. 31,000 players vs 200,000. Yeah, the journalists have their finger on the pulse of the gaming community.

Strange though how difficulty spikes are a con here, but Marathon being a sweat fest is a pro.

Also strange, how the UI is a con here, but not a problem in Marathon.

Even stranger, the hours it takes to get into Crimson Desert are a problem, but the hours it takes to onboard into Marathon were perfectly okay.

Something I've learned over the years is that just because it's a conspiracy theory doesn't mean it isn't true.

@DennisReynolds I'm a tree hugging, hybrid car driving, liberal that happened to notice the endless supply of Marathon puff pieces that PushSquare put out and the PushSquare article that cited those same numbers that you did (for Crimson Desert) as a disaster.

By the way, how's the view atop your high horse?

@Grabberflesh50 Agreed. Gaming journalists seem really salty that they can't build consensus anymore. They flogged Marathon real hard and the audience passed anyways. Now, they tried to sink Crimson Desert and gamers still won't listen. I played both games anf thought Marathon was technically good, but too one note to be worth a purchase. I also played some Crimson Desert and didn't experience any significant technical issues on a base PS5. Is it a 10/10? No, but it certainly is much better than a 6. I think reviewers are just out of touch with what gamers want.

What's the big deal? In Florida, you can marry your first cousin. As a matter of fact, an attempt to change the law failed just a few days ago. This Alex situation is tame in comparison.

@LifeGirl i think he was sarcastically talking about Marathon.

@Hyena_socks Let me fix your comment - Who knew a bad game would attract such negative comments.

Stop looking for bigotry where it doesn't exist.

@Mintie Couldn't have said it better. Every game seemed a step closer to a breakout hit.

@Dogbreath It's amazing, right? The gaming world is a mess with the majority of gamers being blamed for not wanting the games developers are making. The history of business is littered with the corpses of businesses thought they knew better than their customers. 1348 could have avoided a lot of wasted time if they just asked the question - who is this for?

The entire industry seems to be chasing an audience that doesn't exist. No matter how many flops, they just keep doubling down.

@LogicStrikesAgain Notice the word "almost." That should have been your first clue that I was speaking about a "feeling" and not something I can prove as a "fact."

@8bitOG Not rumour. It was a quote from someone inside Bungie.

"But it still remains to be seen whether it’s meeting Sony’s overall expectations."

Spoiler alert - it isn't.

Pushsquare's integrity took a serious hit over this game. Capitulating to Bungie's demand to hold back a review until they could finish the game was quite sad. Sure, Bungie said they didn't have to hold the review, but it's very interesting that all the major sites did what Bungie requested. Almost as if Sony said, "nice little site you have there. Be a shame if you didn't get early access or press releases anymore."

@rjejr The entire point of the deal is to acquire CNN so the Ellisons can turn it into another right wing disinformation machine like they did to 60 miniutes and CBS news. It's part of the standard fascist playbook - control the media.

@get2sammyb Games used to be made because the game makers loved games. If the game was good, it made money. Now games are being designed to optimize the extraction of money from players wallets. Sony used to focus on the player and now they are hunting for a whale magnet. They've betrayed their customer base to chase after a live service unicorn. This entire console generation has been a bust for everyone that built Sony into what it is today. The history of business is littered with the corpses of corporations that ignored what their customers wanted. If Playstation doesn't change direction, this will be my last Sony console.

Also, the tone of this article is repulsive. People have every right to cheer on the failure of games from companies that ignore their customer base. You can't shame people into liking something they don't like. You don't want a game to fail then make a game with love and passion and a focus on what the audience wants. It's not that hard.

Pushsquare needs to read the room better.

Love how Nintendo gets credited for mechanics that have existsed in games for decades. You know games existed before Breath of the Wild, right? As a matter of fact, there was a whole series of Zelda games before it and they were more fun.

@HonestHick The leak was reportes by Paul Tassi from Forbes. It's likely real or he wouldn't have reported it. He's very connected to Bungie.

@HonestHick a leaker from Bungie said that the majority of Marathon players are on PC, so that's pretty dire.

Anyone else seeing a deluge of ads from Trump's Rent-a-Wife on the site? I know they have to keep the lights on, but....

Also, I'm sure Nintendo will find a way to sue. They sue for a lot less.

@x3King84 No, Pushsquare said they are waiting on the review because Bungie asked them to. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else extended this courtesy and I think it severly damages their credibility. The game is out now, so review what is out now. Or, at the least, do a review of what is out and give a score when the additional content drops. Bungie seems to know they dropped a less than complete package and don't want it reviewed. Problem is, no one is going to care in three weeks. They should have waited and launched everything at once.

Still, I don't think it will make a difference. The game ia fun for what it is, but the scope is way too narrow. It feels like a mode in a bigger game, but it's the entire game.

@Stocksy People want it for historical purposes. Look what happened after Lucas tinkered eith Star Wars. The origial versions of the film are much better, but they are really hard to find.

@naruball It might be their last game if sales don't improve.

The problem isn't the difficulty. The problem is the game does only one thing and that one thing isn't particularly popular.

@LowDefAl Sometimes a request isn't a request. Especially, when millions of dollars of advertising revenue and future access are on the line.

This is question of journalistic integrity. The game is out now, so it should be reviewed "as is." Or they should do a review in progress. This situation is gross and pushsquare shouls be ashamed.

In its defense? If this was a one off, I would agree that their response was appropriate. Unfortunately, Bungie has a history of stealing art and getting caught.

@Slayer25c How am I being doom and gloom?

@PuppetMaster I agree that some people are being negative for the sake of negativity, but the review situation...

I can't help but think all those advertising dollars are causing reviewers to give Bungie an advantage that no other developer gets.

Review in progress would have been the right approach.

@Northern_munkey I bounced off the Server Slam and thought Bungie was dead man walking. After reading some of your comments, I decided to give it another go and it really grew on me. I have way too much to play right now, but Marathon does scratch a certain itch that might compel me to grab it over the weekend.

@Artois2 Development costs.

@RoomWithaMoose I don't think we'll know one way or another for awhile, but I can't imagine Sony being really happy with the response so far. Some analysts suggest Marathon needs to move 7 million copies just to break even. The early numbers don't suggest that is happening. The game just seems too narrow in focus.

@Deadlyblack What's weird is Pushsquare complying, but then again... advertising revenue.

@wildcat_kickz I agree with you that @RedRiot193 calling Marathon Concord 3 is unnecessarily inflammatory, but he / she / they have a good point. Bungie was an extremely expensive acquisition for Sony and also an expensive studio to keep open. The current player count is not very promising considering the amount of copies Sony needs to sell to break even. It really does need to reach (and probably surpass) Arc numbers to be a success. Sure we can wait and see what happens over the weekend, but even then, I don't think this weekend is make or break for the game. Maybe the upcoming content will be so amazing that it attracts more players. No one really knows.

I do suspect that the folks at Bungie are looking at the player numbers for Slay the Spire 2 (226,000 vs 64,000) and reaching for the antacid tablets. Some analysts claim that Marathon needs to sell around 7 million copies to break even and these player counts suggest they aren't going to do that anytime soon.

But, who knows. Anyone that says they do know is lying.

I'm still waiting for the PS5 generation to start.

@PuppetMaster Whatever @Blaze215 motivations for his comments are is beside the point. If he wants it to fail or not is immaterial to the fact that game journalists are bending to the will of Bungie and Sony when they do not extend the same courtesy to other developers. I can't help to think that it has something to do with the millions of dollars they are splashing around on advertising on the same sites that are "respecting" Bungie's wishes.

It's a bad look and speaks to a lack of integrity and it really looks like Bungie and Sony are afraid of a bunch of middling reviews during launch week that might hit their bottom line.

This isn't about if the game is good or not (for the record, I found the Server Slam to be more enjoyable the more I played), it has everything to do with gaming journalists setting fire to their reputation by using different reviewing standards for different games.

Or, and hear me out, people are irritated because avatar costumes come out all the time while we have to wait six months for a new fighter skin because Capcom is favoring the avatar whales.

@Sanquine I sit a choice though?

@edgar14 100% this. All of this reeks of Bungie throwung advertising cash around and then asking for a favor. Either review all games at launch or give every game the opportunity to respond to issues that come up after they're released. I honestly think waiting a few weeks is a good idea for reviews, but this "reapecting" Bungie's wishes feels very unprofessional.

@psi_88 Imagine any other game saying... wait until the DLC releases in six months before reviewing. This is really an issue of journalistic integrity. I'm sure this decision had nothing to do with all the expensive Marathon banners slapped all over the site

Bungie doesn't want scored reviews for a few weeks so they can maximize sales before the 6s hit the fan.

@wildcat_kickz Why is rooting for it to fail so bad? If it is a success, Sony will just greenlight even more live service games that a lot of people don't want. They built their reputation on single player games and people (myself included) bought a PS5 based on the belief that single player games would be the focus of the console. Instead, we have been treated to a string of failed "live (predatory) service" games that are designed to milk whales of their cash. I honestly believe rooting for these games to fail is a perfectly ethical position to take.

That said, I actually liked the Server Slam after playing for awhile, but I really don't see how this game will have any legs. It's kind of fun, but... is it enough to bring a person back day after day? I really don't know.

I played it a whole bunch during the Server Slam and liked it a bit more towards the end, but was just left with the feeling of - is this it? It's just lacks depth. I really don't see this lasting very long.

Also, i think the game is really bad at explaining its mechanics.

@Northern_munkey Again... people can express whatever opinion they like because that is what this board is for and the whole purpose of the Server Slam was to give players a taste of the Marathon experience.

People keep making the same points about live service games because Sony keeps stepping on the live service rake. These are all self inflicted wounds. People don't buy Sony consoles for live service games and that is not the customer base they built. The frutration stems from the feeling that the PS5 is a wasted console because Sony hasn't given their customers the experiences they wanted or expected.

The big problem, from what I'm reading, is that Sony is trying to break into a ecosystem they aren't familiar with and they aren't even doing it well. As I said, I've never played an extraction shooter and the genre might just not be for me OR Bungie just made a really bad extraction shooter that can't compete with existing games. I don't know which it is, but a lot of users seem to suggest that it's just not a good extraction game. The over 50% drop in users on Steam seems to suggest a lot of people aren't feeling it.

I'm really not seeing the logic of charging $40 for a live service game when the competition is charging $0. Then again, I don't unserstand Sony alienating their customer base by abandoning their core strengths.

@Northern_munkey Actually, some of us just want to play games we find enjoyable. In my opinion, this game is not fun. In other people's opinion, it is. The fact that you are camped on this board attacking everyone that doesn't like this game says a lot about you. Don't take other people's opinions so seriously.

The purpose of the Server Slam is to give feedback and that is exactly what people are doing. I've never played an extraction shooter, so I jumped on to see if I would like it. I don't get the appeal of running (I mean walking) around and opening boxes so I can get stuff to open more boxes. So... either extraction shooters aren't my thing or this extraction shooter isn't my thing.

Either way, i have just as much right to voice my opinion as the next person even if you don't like it. I personally find the game dull and uninteresting with a game play loop that's about as intersting as Power Wash Simulator.

Sony built a reputation on single player experiences and their continued insistence on chasing the live service unicorn is foolish. They are chasing an audience they don't have while ignoring the audience they do. In the end, they're going to end up damaging the brand they spent 30 years building.

This year has seen a definite decline in quality offerings. I guess Sony needs to make up all the money they wasted on live service slop that no one wanted.

Well, they have to earn back all that money they lost on Concord and other live service slop somehow.

@Frmknst You forgot the sarcasm tag at the end of your commemt.

@HRdepartment I can't unsee it now.