Forbes: This Father’s Day I had a dilemma on my hands. My dad had expressed an interest in seeing what this newfangled Netflix thing was all about, and I thought a good gift would be a box through which he could get the streaming service.
Naturally, as a gamer, my first thought turned to which console I could get him that would serve as a primary Netflix box. Yes, I could go with AppleTV, but if I’d never used it, teaching him would be a chore. Plugging in a laptop each time via HDMI would be too much of a hassle, and so I went with my original assertion, picking and choosing between which gaming console I’d get my dad. It was a present I never thought I’d give.
The premium Sony Inzone earbuds are designed for PC and PS5, and they're finally getting a discount after launching in late 2023.
The first three Tomb Raider games are coming to an Evercade Cartridge!
Their newer giga cart tech should make for even bigger games coming to the platform. I'm hoping for a Resident Evil collection with the first 3 games.
Huzaifah from eXputer: "With Larian Studios washing their hands of the IP, what is the ultimate fate of the legendary Baldur's Gate series?"
If anybody's gonna mention BioWare, then look at Archetype Entertainment, they're the new BioWare
or else
Obsidian is still a good choice but not independent anymore.
No, WoTC is pivoting to mobile. They can use Larian's work to justify DnD Go and everyone will accept it.
Correct answer. Most people don't realise that the companies that are still making good games using common sense and a customer focus are generally not American. They are from Poland, Belgium, Japan, or other countries that have not yet become completely corrupted by 'extreme capitalism'.
Before you down vote me into oblivion I am not anti-american. I just don't like greed and corruption which unfortunately seems to correlate with power.
I would guess the next Baldurs gate will probably be filled with GaaS.
Honestly, we're talking completely new engine and none of Larian's built-in stuff with regard to environments and the like that they had from their past divinity game. No one is going to have that just ready to go. So, they need to shop for a dev studio that has a past game that shows what they want.
Obsidian doesn't have that, maybe the closest being Dungeon Siege 3 or Pillars of Eternity, but those are very basic, not as open, very little environment related and altering capabilities. So, we're talking a step way back on what Larian delivered. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Okay conversation tree designs, but still needs more complexity.
inXile has Wasteland 3 as a base model engine, and I think that's better than Pillars of Eternity from Obsidian. But, still needs to be more open world, more environmental effects, and a much heavier rules set adaptation. But, not a bad overall engine as a base, but still a ton of work. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Needs a ton of work on that entirely.
Tactical Adventure did the Solasta game. Really good and more accurate as far as 5e rules than BG3. But, again, if the expectation is similar to what made BG3 a big hit, engine isn't designed for moving the camera, is a bit outdated in graphics, doesn't have in-game scene elements, and needs much better writers/voice actors.
Owlcat of pathfinder games is another choice, even though they've recently moved on to WH40k licensed games. Again, though, the engine is the biggest issue here to match up, but it's a much better option overall than Tactical Adventure. Another question is writers/story telling, as much of their overall story telling bits are very limited with a lot of random worldbuilding elements that are just +\- of some attributes.
TBH, no matter who takes over, it's just not going to be like BG3 much like how BG3 isn't at all like BG1/2. And BG3 was so successful because of how much Larian was able to put in with their engine and how focused they were on players having ridiculous control over the story being told. I just don't see the next BG being the same and depending on what it is, it might be good but I'm not as big of a reach as BG3. It's way more likely players are going to go into BG4 (or its spiritual successor if it moves away from Baldur's Gate and into Neverwinter or something like Plansescape) expecting much of what is in BG3 with more options, new and older characters, and the same level of control over what they're doing. If it doesn't have that, regardless of who makes it, it won't be as successful, IMHO.
Yes, I completely concur.
As good and talented as inXile and Obsidian are in their own specific way of making their particular games, none of them have Larian's attention to detail, dynamic worlds, and reactivity, so even if they end up making a new Baldur's Gate, it's going to be a significant step-down in terms of gameplay if not narrative.
Seems like an obvious choice if you were to pick a console to stream Netflix for a not techy person. But why not a Roku box?
A Roku player would have worked as well. XD
Yeah, don't get why you'd get a console in the first place. I get his choice of one with a 'friendlier' user interface, but I'd rather show my dad how to navigate to the Netflix icon on the PS3 and give him a Blu-ray player as well as the other video streaming options out there without any annual costs.
The other obvious advantage for PS3 over 360 as one's "Netflix Machine" (if your not gonna go for the cheaper Roku or AppleTV) is that it plays Blu-Ray.
If he is a gamer I can see getting him a console. However I wanted to get my girlfriend's parents something to watch Netflix on, so I got them a Blu-ray player....only 80 dollars, watches Blu-rays, and an easy keyboard style peripheral to type on Netflix, all through wi-fi too.
The only reason I'd get my (or her) parents a PS3 was for free chat on it. However we live within a good radius and see them all the time, so no need for it.