RoomWithaMoose

@Nei Don't take such an absolutist stance. Acquisitions are normal, and often aren't damaging.

It's literally a large publisher buying a small team from another large publisher, all of which have a long history of working closely. I'd barely count it as consolidation. And, if anything, I'd assume the team will be in a better position being a subsidiary of Nintendo instead of Bandai Namco.

@PuppetMaster This is a weird hill to die on. Death Standing and No More Heroes are bad examples of egregious sequels, as both series are fairly small. MGS, like Mario, reinvents itself; 1 and 2 are the only two entries I'd say are closely alike, but certainly not to the extent of something like Modern Warfare to Modern Warfare 2. The expectation isn't for a developer to throw out everything and start from scratch. Super Mario Galaxy feels like a successor to Super Mario 64, but it doesn't feel like the same experience.

I would add to Max_the_German's point by saying there are degrees of egregiousness to consider. It depends on the size of the series, how alike a sequel is, if it can do ANYTHING to differentiate itself (doesn't necessarily have to be gameplay), how derivative the original was to begin with, and how far apart entries are.

Now, if you think Sony's output isn't that egregious because of the small size of most of the series they've put out sequels to, I'd like to add another point: holistic originality output. Sony has a few problems that exacerbate the unoriginality vibes. Of course, the lack of new IP this gen is the biggest problem. It was literally only last gen that we got Horizon, Marvel's Spider-Man (which we'll pretend is a 'new IP' ), Death Stranding, Days Gone, Bloodborne, Dreams, Astro Bot, and Ghosts... (and Gravity Rush and Tearaway, if you include Vita) — and I'm sure I'm forgetting some like Resogun. This gen, really just Returnal, with Tokon, Wolverine, and Soros finally adding to that roster. Concord, too, I guess. And then we're on to the next big problem: most of the PS5's exclusives are direct successors to PS4 games. Almost all the PS4 era new IP I just listed have already gotten sequels, sequels in very close proximity to their predecessors. Without enough new IP to balance them out — or even series reinventions, like God of War saw last gen — it really feels like we're getting the same suite of games from 5 years ago. Also, contemporary PlayStation games have the problem of all feeling alike. Over-the-shoulder camera, high-fidelity, cinematic adventure games, all with a fairly cohesive art style. One of the things that helps Nintendo's HOO is that few of their series are alike, but the uninitiated might have a hard time differentiating between Horizon, God of War (Norse), and Death Stranding. Also-also, Sony's relatively smaller output makes it feel like these alike sequels are all we get.

LONG PARAGRAPH. To sort of co-opt Max's words, it's really not about sequels in general. Sequels are fine. I don't have much issue with how Nintendo mostly puts out sequels. But it's easy to fall into a rut if you don't handle those sequels correctly. To ease up on Sony, modern Halo and Gears are great examples of how to kill a series with derivative, frequent sequels.

Weird. The coolness of Kill Bill and Tarantino are really clashing with the dorky lameness of Fortnite for me.

Also really gives off '2000s movie director knows what video games are' vibes. Which is usually lame per se. But I'd still rather this exist than otherwise. And the cinematography looks neat. I'll probably try to give it a watch at some point.

No, it definitely still looks expensive.

@Northern_munkey Honestly, though, is BF6 superior in every department?

Its campaign wasn't really regarded any more highly than CoD's. People love the multiplayer, but no one's complaining about Blops' multiplayer — in fact, what I've played of BF6's multiplayer felt like it missed the mark compared to BF1 or 1942. It doesn't even have a mode comparable to Zombies, which I've mostly heard praise for apropos Blops7. And Redsec just came off as a cheap WarZone clone to me.

I've always thought the CoD vs. Battlefield rivalry — as boring and tired as it is — really just came down to preference. CoD's better for high-octane s***s-and-giggles, whereas Battlefield is better for grand-scale shenanigans. Throughout their history together, neither has been that spectacular, nor has either been significantly better than the other (post BF3, at least) — and Blops7's weird campaign doesn't change that.

@LogicStrikesAgain Oh, that's my misunderstanding, then. I was trying to give a nuanced take because I thought you were assuming people opposed to Sony's efforts are absolutely against any and all of their attempts at live-service.

That you were specifically questioning the reasoning around someone being an anti-live-service absolutist I actually empathize with. I have A LOT of negative opinions about their live-service push, and am not a fan of live-service in the first place. But with Helldivers II — not to mention all the other industry-wide success stories — live-service is absolutely here to stay. And, if the game's good and not too predatory, who really cares either way? The biggest thing for me is that it feels like they're planning on releasing a lot of non-live-service games here in the near future. Which makes it really hard to be that upset about it anymore.

@LogicStrikesAgain The problem isn't that Sony is doing live-service. The problem is they drunkenly and haphazardly bought several studios and asked many of their top partners to make 'em, just so they could greenlight 12 of them at once. Which, itself, is just bad business.

But where it really goads our gobs is that the move very apparently gutted their output of traditional games for several years. No one really minded that they did Helldivers II. Many were legitimately excited for Factions. I personally see nothing wrong with with that Horizon MMO being developed by an outside studio. But those and the 9 other games that are mostly cancelled now should not have came at the expense of the experiences most of us buy PlayStations for.

There's a right way to do it. Sony did it the completely wrong way. I have no personal vendetta against any of their live-service games — especially now that they're ostensibly shifting gears and deemphasizing live-service. And am kinda rooting for Bungie just because they're Bungie (single-player Marathon reboot would've been sick as f***, though). But when it seemed like the entire company was barreling towards a live-service, multiplayer focused factory, I think it was fair to hope they would fall flat on their face and return to what most people follow them for.

EDIT: Although I generally agree about the doomposting. I'm very exhausted of every mention of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 being a circle jerk of hate validation. I can't stand the internet's obsession with s***ing on Mario Kart World. And, yes, I agree that people disinterested in Marathon shouldn't feel the need to complain about it every chance they get at this point. I just find online gamers completely insufferable now, honestly.

@wildcat_kickz This guy gets it. All of Blops 7's problems stem from mismanagement. Not from anything the internet has cried about over the last year, but rather the reality of an annual franchise that's been going for over 20 years now.

Call of Duty itself still has plenty of life in it. But, like Modern Warfare III and Black Ops 4 before it, the results from Activision forcing one of its helmers to release a CoD back-to-back is never great. But, like Modern Warfare (Remake) or Black Ops: Cold War shows, all it takes is some decent development time and the fanbase will be there. And the internet will have a complete turn around, just like they did with Battlefield 6 after s***talking 2042 for years.

But historical accuracy.

@McBurn Not too sure why people have convinced themselves lower sales = more effort. Especially in this case, where Blops 7's problems really don't have much to do with polish or lack of funds.

The next entry will have more effort put into it. Not because of this ostensibly below expectations release, but rather due to Infinity Ward and/or Sledgehammer Games being given more than a year to put it together.

@TicklefistCP This is just the US. I'm pretty sure most of Shadows' sales came from the UK.

Talking worldwide, and using the most up to date — but not necessarily verified — information, Shadows sold 4.3 million in 6 months while Deliverance II sold >4 million in 9 months. I think it's reasonable to assume, then, that Shadows has sold more globally than Deliverance II. That's despite Deliverance II charting here.

Does that make it more profitable? I don't know. Does that make it a success per se? I don't know. Was it really annoying for me to find this information, and more annoying yet that it's partially unconfirmed and fairly vague? God yes.

Translation: If a company says a game's successful, just take their word for it. You will not find enough information to make any real conclusion to the contrary. Case in point, according to Take-Two and Capcom, respectively, Borderlands 4 and Monster Hunter Wilds fell short of expectations.

@TicklefistCP It was never suggested that Trump should be added against his will.

Maybe take a breath...

@TicklefistCP Not really. Game has silly celebrity cameo. AdamNovice muses about what would happen if they added another silly celebrity cameo.

It wasn't even phrased in an evocative, coveting way. Literally just: 'Ya know what would be crazy...?'

Certainly doesn't warrant jumping on them, assuming their political beliefs, and disparaging an entire political demographic.

Having tuned in halfway through this trailer, I cannot begin to articulate the amount of confusion I experienced.

Hoping they retroactively rename it 'Slim Shady vs. Swim Shady.'

@TicklefistCP They can do Trump and Obama, if that satisfies your 'us vs. them' worldview.

@Kraven That was more directed at the live chat — where I noted several people disparaging the frame drops — than you specifically.

But, I mean, still, I wouldn't say it's much worth mentioning this far out from release. It's very much to be expected that performance wouldn't be perfect yet.

I was honestly really digging it until the Rogue-like reveal.

@Oram77 I thought character movement seemed too slow for the scale of the boss and arena, couldn't really notice any significant comboing, and half of the fight was cutscenes.

It did LOOK cool (I especially liked the portal wall effect). But I always feel people are bad at observing actual gameplay for spectacle games like these.

@Kraven Never sure why live show chats are obsessed with performance when the games are works-in-progress.

Literally no reason to assume it won't be buffed out by release.

@Dalamar Honestly, I liked Aloy's characterization in Forbidden West. That was probably one of the better things about the game.

I mean, yeah, she is kinda insufferable. But that's also the point. Her knowledge of lost history and actual 'chosen one' status has made her jaded, disconnected, and self-destructive. Literally all of her friends understand this, and try to help ground her. It isn't until later in the story that she learns to slow down and appreciate her life and connections. And she ends the story a better person for it.

It's literally her character arc, supported by the game's plot and themes. I'm always confused when people complain about her characterization. Like, they understand how stories work, right? You can still dislike her, of course, but it's not bad characterization.

If Mario Kart World taught us anything, it's that gamers don't like open worlds unless they're designed to abuse their dopamine addiction.

So expect a lot of "empty, tacked on open world with nothing to do" feedback when this is out.

@Oram77 Check back in a year when Infinity Ward and/or Sledgehammer games has a "course correcting, single-player focused" entry ready to go and the conversation about the series completely turns around.

The internet is as fickle as it is angry.

@Doomcrow There's nothing about this that's similar to Halo.

It's about as alike Halo as it is Call of Duty 2.

I think there's two important things people are missing here:

1. Treyarch had one year to make this game (disregarding any overlapping development time they had). The last time Activision forced them to do this, they shipped a game with NO campaign at all. And when Infinity Ward was forced to do the same, they shipped a piss-poor WarZone campaign mod. That they managed to put together a campaign with actual levels in the first place is somewhat admirable. Regardless, anyone paying attention knew this wasn't going to be anything to write home about.

2. The CoD mines are a real...figurative thing. I think if the zany, wacky antics are the campaign are indicative of anything, it's that Treyarch would desperately love to work on anything other than a military shooter.

@Can-You-Believe-Sith Make an actual bad game.

@MonkeyGibs I highly doubt Microsoft is giving Activision much input on anything as of yet. Kinda like how Sony let Bungie do its thing before it started imploding, only Activision is worth 10 times as much and, hence, can be trusted to keep making the dough.

Outside of demanding GamePass support and the occasional brand synergy, I think it's safe to assume Microsoft will have little to no influence over Acti's biggest franchises for a long while.

@Darude84
"[Absurdity] overshadowing anything it manages to get right, such as another extensive multiplayer suite."

"There is a certain charm to the absurdity..."

"The excellent feel, controls, and gunplay of a Call of Duty game making each combat encounter enjoyable."

"Some genuinely fun sequences are getting lost in the chatter"

"However, there’s still some joy to be found in its silliness."

"Multiplayer [...] remain[s] one of the best examples of online action in the business."

"Zombies rounds out the package and impresses once again"

"More examples of quality than trash"

I'd say the review goes back-and-forth a bit too much on if the absurdity ruins its overall quality. But that seems to be more of a striking point about the game's extrinsic circumstance; quality-wise, there's several references to the campaign being decent fun. And the multiplayer and zombie modes are really given nothing but praise.

The review gives off more a tone of disappointment rather than outright objection to its quality. So yeah, overall NOT BAD, but with a lot of caveats.

@Rich33 Given that the 'ongoing' news is limited to UK physical sales and Steam concurrent players, I doubt it had anything to do with this.

I'm sure it was planned beforehand. American gamers will be home for Thanksgiving, a lot probably already have the game mostly downloaded for Redsec, and CoD's release will have military shooters fresh in their minds. Perfect time to give them free access to the game and see if they can secure some purchases.

@Darude84 Nah, bruh, that's 'Blackest' Friday. Black Friday starts whenever the deals start, and every day is Black Friday until the deals end.

It's basic economics.

@ShadowRJ Pretty sure the logic is: "GoY didn't get the big nom, so we have to compensate by putting it in a bunch of other categories. While Bananza got the big nom, so we don't have to worry about putting it anywhere else" (you're telling me Bananza doesn't even deserve a nom for art direction, game direction, action/adventure, audio design, or best score?).

Also, Bananza is their obligatory Nintendo big that gives them the right to ignore Nintendo everywhere else (Mario Kart World certainly deserves a best score nom). And since Death Stranding 2 is repping Kojima and PlayStation, GoY doesn't to fill that obligatory PlayStation role.

The funny thing is 33 is such a darling, they gave zero s***s and just nominated it for half the categories, most of which it'll probably win (three of 33's performances nominated, and not a single from Death Stranding 2. Funny).

Doubt this will revitalize much. Do we even know Switch 2's region-free model vs. Japan model sales? Pretty sure the Switch 2 is just selling because it's the Switch 2.

Still, any sign of Sony getting serious about their Japanese market share I appreciate. Most of the DNA I think they've lost this generation was that Japan flavored goodness of yore.

I personally don't think the rumored portable PlayStation 6 will do too much to disrupt Nintendo's homeland dominance. But surely it'll make some heads turn, and hopefully that will warrant a reinvestment in Japanese software.

Side-note: I just realized I should buy Tokon at launch just to contribute to the pro-Japan demo shift.

@Dalamar Trigger would not be a good fit for Zelda.

Love their work, but it's a completely different vibe.

Looks more 'Zelda' than I thought it would. The recent Galaxy trailer actually got me more excited for Nintendo's cinematic future. Hopefully this is good and Sony Pictures establishes itself as a strong partner, and we can fast track to live-action Metroid and Sony Pictures Animation Splatoon.

@ATaco "They" seems pretty nebulous here.

@UltimateOtaku91 That's actually not just from Tour, Heroes, and Pocket Camp, but ALL of their mobile efforts sans Pokemon Go. And Heroes accounted for over half of it. Which is why Nintendo insisted to just do a girl gacha game — a GGG, if you will.

And sure, that's still $2.2 billion in revenue. But we don't really know the profits, since I believe it was total revenue reported. And that's between, what, like 8 games? How much did they all cost? F*** if I know, but the costs certainly increase with every game. So you can probably assume most of their games weren't worth the effort, aided by the fact that most are delisted. And with no other title even reaching half of Heroes revenue: "Generally not worth it. Just make some Gacha with anime women and call it a day."

I dunno. Let's ask Nintendo how it went for them when they brought some of the biggest gaming IPs to smart phones.
...
What's that, Nintendo?
...
"Generally not worth it. Just make some Gacha with anime women and call it a day."

Thanks Nintendo!

@Frmknst Well, there's definitely a correlation. Quality often increases chances of success, whereas lack thereof deceased chances.

Regardless, the majority of people are convinced they understand something's quality from watching a trend-following-for-clicks, 40-second TikTok. So no, general people will never disassociate success from quality.

@kmtrain83 Despite what the worst part of the Internet wants you to think, the issues with the designs were never political. They were just uninspired, incongruous, and dull.

A few of them looked okay, none of them looked great, few of them looked like they belonged in the same game.

The Deck is barely competition for the Switch, the Machine will barely be competition for PlayStation. I honestly doubt it'll even do much to undermine Xbox's next console, despite how many outlets have already ran with the idea Steam has beaten Microsoft to the punch.

The Machine looks slick — don't get me wrong. And I think I've finally found my VR headset. But this isn't going to completely disrupt the console market.

@Bionic-Spencer CoD has been releasing medicine campaigns at full price since the 2000s. Battlefield just released a mediocre campaign at full price and sold better than anticipated.

They'll be fine.

@dodgykebaab Given that the CoD launcher has been s*** for years, CoD's quality varies year-to-year, and Microsoft doesn't have a history of releasing single-player always online games, I see little rain to attribute any of this to Microsoft.

With the size and success of Activision and Call of Duty, I doubt Microsoft has canooded with series direction aside from mandating GamePass releases and marketing.

...Is, uh, is everyone here forgetting that CoD campaigns have always been hit-or-miss — mostly miss for over a decade?

Battlefield campaigns also tend to suck, and 6's was no exception.

And those sucky campaigns haven't dissuaded many buyers from purchasing games in either series in the past; why would that change now?

I swear, half the people on this site have some weird CoD mania this year that's keeping them from understanding CoD-adjacent reality.

@johnedwin Shrugs

I just think Sony has done a lot better in the past.

@MrPeanutbutterz @Rich33 I can respect your guys' opinions. And I'm not saying Sony's modern stuff is bad.

But, for me, Ragnarok didn't best GoW 1 or 2, the Spider-Mans are Insomniac's least inspiring works, Astro Bot is phenomenal (that's the closest to top-tier PlayStation this generation), Forbidden West is worse than Zero Dawn (and honestly mediocre) — haven't played Yotei, but it doesn't really look much more interesting than AC Shadows. Rich, you forgot Returnal, which I actually do think is fantastic, even if I don't like the Rogueness of it. I love Rift Apart, but wouldn't call it much more than a solid-ass Ratchet — and not necessarily the best one, at that. And Demon's Souls isn't Bloodborne.

And that I can summarize an entire generation of first-party releases in one paragraph really says it all.

@Rich33 The generation, in general, has been great. PlayStation's output? I wouldn't say so.

I don't think Sony's put out anything on the level of Bloodborne, The Last of Us, and Shadow of the Colossus so far. And I think it's undisputed fact at this point that they've put out significantly less than any generation beforehand.

They still release high quality games. But not at the quality or quantity standards I'd expect from them.

Honestly, we hear so much about PlayStation and Switch breaking records that I'm completely numb to it at this point.

@Northern_munkey Literally just read two That Park Place (shudders) articles to see what the hubbub was about. And it amounted to practically nothing in both cases.

I'm very glad PushSquare doesn't report on all the culture war nonsense. Especially when there's not much of a story there to begin with (oh no, the lead posted a pic jokingly showing two fictional women that were called ugly for no reason by the internet drinking 'incel tears.' She's definitely the aggressor there, and the whole project is tainted now...). Tangentially referencing it as ineffectual boycotts is the most it deserves.

@Frmknst I do not think I would consider Red Dead Redemption 2, a $400 million sequel from the GTA guys, either arthouse or anti-mainstream. It's kinda like saying Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an obscure arthouse movie.

Honestly surprised. I know it's a Rockstar game, but I never even hear about its sales numbers. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and GTAV constantly charted for over half a decade. Where were RDR2's sales? Steam? It's the 23rd best selling right now, and has been on a top 100 streak for...1 week now.

Not that I'm saying Take-Two is lying. I'm just...surprised.