The Thursday Inbox thinks NFTs are a bigger threat to gaming than acquisitions, as one reader is upset that Mina The Hollower is on Kickstarter.
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Combiner wars
Unless the state intervenes to put a stop to it, we will undoubtedly see more and more companies absorbed by the industry behemoths. But nothing is certain in this world and even giants can fall. How this plays out in the long term will be fascinating but undoubtedly, if unregulated, to the detriment of gamers and those who work in the video game industry.
But it has gotten me thinking about the relationship between Sony and Nintendo, both of whom are dwarfed by Microsoft, and a fantasy/nightmare scenario that at some point due to competitive pressures the two companies merge.
There are no doubt many reasons for why, at least for the time being, this will not happen, not least the different corporate cultures, histories, product ranges, strategic focus, and so forth. But it is interesting to think of the ramifications for the video game industry were the two combine their resources and how it would play out in respect to their rival, Microsoft.
Their combined IP, for example, would place them at a huge advantage, affording an unparalleled range, quality, and quantity of exclusive content for their own version of Game Pass that even with further acquisitions Microsoft would struggle to compete with.
Ciara
No prisoners
I am confused. Bungie were bought by Microsoft years ago, then after Halo Reach was finished they were released back into the wild. Now Sony have come along and bought them again.
What I really want to know is, how did they manage to gain independence from Microsoft in the first place? Did the talent say they were going to leave and start a new dev; causing Microsoft to offer them the deal of independence if they made Reach for them?
EvilMoomin
GC: Pretty much. It’s still surprising though, even if some key staff did stay on to help set-up 343 Industries.
As we speak
I thought £2.68 billion was cheap for Bungie, I mean it’s Bungie. Looks like the developer wars have started, I wonder if Sony are thinking, ‘Well, you have bought two, so we will?’ I wonder if it will be EA, like the internet is saying, or will they have their eye on GTA and the beast known as Rockstar?
And before anyone says they won’t do that, I bet if you said last year that Sony will have Bungie in its pocket you would be laughed at. Only time will tell, seems to me with what Sony said while announcing they have bought Bungie they’re still not done, they could be in talks as we speak.
David
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Reaching the Zenith
I wrote in for the Hot Topic to mention Zenith: The Last City, the new VR MMO. First of all, thanks for putting in the link to their site.
My expectations were relatively low when it released last week. I knew it was a small team, I knew it was early access and I knew it was launching across multiple platforms, including my beloved but aging PlayStation VR.
After some inevitable server glitches over the first two days things are pretty stable and this fact alone astonishes me. Once I got a proper chance to play at the weekend, I was pretty blown away with what they’ve achieved. It’s sold well as far as I understand but there seems to be capacity for more whenever I’ve logged on.
I should be clear, I am an ex-World Of Warcraft addict, who loves Japanese role-playing games and am a VR enthusiast, so let’s face it, this game was tailor made for me. I’m tolerant of both motion sickness and the imprecise nature of VR generally (I’m using tech from the PlayStation 3!), so I may be more forgiving for some of the glitches, but it’s such a blast so far.
By far the best feature is the gliding, which feels awesome and makes travel fun and fast. Coupled with the fact you can climb pretty much everything, traversal is so flexible that getting to the quest areas has never been so much fun.
Roll on the weekend…
Petersmiler
Bad decisions
I can assure that reader, that he is not the only one that feels like the world is going crazy lately, especially in terms of NFTs. It took me ages to understand what they were and when I did I couldn’t believe that such a stupid idea even existed. And now we’re going through the farce of something being announced and then cancelled just days later when publishers are ‘surprised’ by the response to it.
When even EA doesn’t immediately jump on a money gouging scam that benefits nobody but themselves you know it’s got to be bad.
This whole charade makes it easier to understand how publishers can end up making so many bad decisions when it comes to other things. The only thing they care about is pleasing their investors and even when they secretly know something is a terrible idea they’ll still give it at least a go to show they were willing. I just how more companies can be like EA and avoid the problem before it escalates (now there’s a sentence I never expected to be writing).
Wolfsbane
Casus belli
I still think that people are wildly overreacting when they say ‘these are dark times’ and that ‘it’s going to leave all of gaming in the hands of a few giant-sized companies’.
I’m not sure what we have yet is really an acquisition war either, though I could see the Bungie acquisition as a possible response to Microsoft’s purchase for leverage (and knowhow) per Stew and Owen Pile’s letters. It’ll take a lot more than that before it’s a war. It could yet escalate further, but I’m still not sure that would prompt me to dig out the ‘The End Is Nigh!’ placard.
These might be dark times, but are they really dark for gaming? Gaming feels in a pretty healthy place. I’ve enjoyed a lot of games, both AAA and indie over the last few years, and all formats feel competitive to me for different reasons. Its attractive/lucrative enough to encourage other companies to try to enter the market (both successfully and unsuccessfully).
NFTs are a much bigger threat for me than these acquisitions. I’m hoping they are unpopular enough that they go the way of lootboxes, but we’ll see.
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)
Don’t start
So, Mina The Hollower looks great. Yacht Club definitely have a recognisable style and I can’t wait for their take on Zelda. Does it need to be on Kickstarter, though?
Shovel Knight being crowdfunded made sense as they were a new team and wouldn’t have the cash, but that game and its spin-offs were clearly big hits and it’s not like this new game has a massive budget either. The whole thing is very icky…
ANON
The feeling
I don’t know why but I always knew Dying Light 2 would get about the score it did. It’s 77% on Metacritic at the moment, which seems about right with the consensus. GC gave it a 7/10 but I get the impression it was closer to being a six than it ever was an eight.
There’s just some games you know are never going to be that good right from the start, no matter how much money or hype they get behind them. It’s just that feeling you get and it’s very rare I’m ever surprised by the response to a game. I think Guardians Of The Galaxy, which has been mentioned quite a bit lately, is one of the few times in recent history where something came out better than I expected.
Of course, a lot of that is due to so many games being sequels, so you know pretty much exactly what you’re getting each time, but still, you can almost sense how some games are going to turn out just by who the developer is and how much of a game they show.
That’s why I’m actually a little worried about Horizon Forbidden West as they really haven’t shown much of it at all and I’m not really clear what’s meant to be better about the game, other than the graphics.
Zowie
GC: We did consider a 6 for Dying Light 2, yes. But the parkour is a lot of fun.
Inbox also-rans
The free game on Epic Games Store from 4pm on Thursday is Yooka-Laylee And The Impossible Lair, which has been given away free before by Epic, as it is in my library already. But for those who have missed it they can pick it up now.
Andrew J.
Apologies to Chris Ayub for accidentally downvoting his Dying Light 2 Underbox comment. Sausage fingers here was trying to scroll down the page.
Chevy Malibu
This week’s Hot Topic
This weekend’s Inbox is your chance to vote in the Readers’ Top 20 of 2021. As always, all you need to do is send us a list of your top three games of last year, in order of preference. Here’s our Top 20 if you want some reminders of what came out.
As long as it was released new last year you can vote for anything you like, but if you want to be featured in the Hot Topic itself then we want to know why you voted for what you did and how you think it ranks compared to other top-rated games.
Do you think 2021 was a good year for video games, given the limitations imposed by the pandemic, and what are your abiding impressions of the year? What events do you think will have a lasting impact and how do you hope 2022 will improve things?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
MORE : Games Inbox: Why Sony bought Bungie, Nintendo buying Capcom, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus difficulty
MORE : Games Inbox: Sony x Bungie acquisition worries, yearly Call Of Duty, and Into The Breach love
MORE : Games Inbox: Elden Ring vs. Horizon Forbidden West, Soulsborne difficulty, and Death Squared love
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