When Driveclub arrived last year, it was a hot mess.
The servers were so flaky, not only was the game's main selling point - its online clubs - reduced to a scintillating game of 'can I even connect today?', Sony decided it was pointless releasing the PS Plus-exclusive trial edition.
Well, that's all changed. Not only is the PS Plus edition now on PSN, the original game has been updated (for free) in so many ways, our original review no longer reflected its quality. So it's time to evaluate the Driveclub experience once again.
Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.
Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.
The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.
@car
The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans
https://www.pushsquare.com/...
@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.
@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.
Cacabunga
Helldivers 2...
Redemption-64
In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.
So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.
@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.
@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.
True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.
I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.
Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.
Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.
Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.
Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.
I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.
Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.
I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.
Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?
GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.
I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.
Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.
Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.
They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.
Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.
You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.
700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out
Christopher
I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.
There are tons of live service games that are profitable.
Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.
I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.
Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.
I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.
Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.
I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.
And Im a single player gamer.
How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.
Sony has patented to add multiple dialogue modes to let players switch between how many conversations with NPCs they want in the game.
Sony is like the only ones outta the 3 that has atuff like like this pop up changing thing in ways.
Sony in the past has always been first at bat with new ideas/tech but in the end never fully use it or just toss it away.
I think they did use some but yeah most usually never happened but at least they thought about it. Sony seeks things like this and other, Nintendo seek different ways of playing going by there different controler designs and console designs.
some of the other stuff sony want's/owns never used
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://gamerant.com/sony-p...
https://www.eurogamer.net/s...
https://metro.co.uk/2023/03...
https://decrypt.co/114754/s...
monitor/adjust game difficultly as you play
https://www.techradar.com/g...
Sony nfts
https://www.theblock.co/pos...
Pay ai to play the game for you
https://thebusinessofesport...
Oh all the above last 12 months
I just imagine a evil scientist with test subjects when it comes down to sony recent patent reports.
Genuine Enabling Technology was seeking damages, claiming the tech allowing PlayStation consoles and controllers to communicate infringes its rights.
Crazy to think the savings from this lawsuit allows them to develop one AAA game.
Make it Bloodborne 2, please and thank you.
Sounds like patent trolling they tried the same thing against Nintendo with the same pattern.
Motion and control input traversing over higher and lower frequencies seperate from each other allowing the controller to do both
So to recoup the money Genuine is going to take on Nintendo or Microsoft next. I hate patent lawyers they are some of the worst bottom feeders out there.
Playing the ps plus edition nd ppl this game is amazingly fun, visually best racing game i seen on the ps4. The sense of speed in this game is top to none in my opinion, im definitely upgrading tothe full version soon.
Holy balls, Driveclub really is fun.
This game is meant to played in cockpit view.
I love all the little presentational flourishes; the HUD is very active and neat, even though I prefer to turn it off whenever I can. There were flickers of disappointment with the environments but something weird happened to me the more I played. I think the graphics have a visual learning curve, in a way. You start to pick out the good stuff and your eye learns what to focus on. It has a certain something; it's very immersive. The presentation in Driveclub isn't always perfect, but when it sings it REALLY sings.
You see I'm like you: I hate racing games. I've always had my eye on this one, though. Now that I own it, the sim/arcade hybrid gameplay (which feels awesome in my hands) and gorgeous presentation/sound effects just works for me.
The thing about Driveclub's presentation is the incredible variability of the visual SYSTEMS it employs. It utilizes volumetric, dynamic cloud cover to diffuse actual physical light sources. If the game looks ordinary for a moment you need only wait for conditions to change.
Some will see the occasional sleepy-looking texture and immediately fail to digest the deep considerations that were made to put sterling visuals on underpowered hardware.
I think I know where my capacity to LOVE a pure racing game comes from. It brings me back to one of the best gaming memories I have: Super Monaco GP for Sega Genesis. That game set a precedent for me for getting immersed in a straight racing game and, for some reason, I get that same feeling with Driveclub.
Can you customize your car? Can you tweak and tune and make it yours? Thankfully there is none of that nonsense. It's just racing on gorgeous tracks inside gorgeous cars with (in my opinion) perfectly tuned driving mechanics.
HUGE amount of content. Tons of free stuff and the season pass is massive.
The handling model underpinning the great presentation needs to be recognized. This game is hardcore challenging and very nuanced. I really didn't quite know to expect that, going in. The handling model is perfect for me: not trying to be sim, but aiming instead for a fun metaphorical version of reality that is all about nuance, tension and action. Racing in this game makes my neck sore from the tension.
And yeah, drifting is so fun: you can usually opt for a clean line through turns OR drift. It usually seems like both are viable options, which is an AMAZING gameplay balancing act.
Tense.
That's the word. I wouldn't have known without experiencing it first hand and never really read anything about the game that pointed that out before I got it, at least that I remember.
Tension. Tension. Tension.
This is one of those games that is underrated because of a legitimate gripe (poor launch) but also because it's smarter than your typical gearhead gamer and goes over the head of the Forza/GT crowd, strange as that may sound. They mistake options for depth.
This game has immense depth, but it's sneaky how it's baked into the experience. The greatest graphical achievement I've ever seen, I think, but also a gameplay achievement.
Hardcore. Very hardcore.
I have a special category in my brain for stuff like this. I'm not sure why, but it seems like a universal truth that if a game has to overcome bigotry to achieve a semblance of underdog respectability, you can bank on it being somehow special.
Is it more compulsively playable than TLOU multiplayer or the enigmatic lodestone that Bloodborne is? No. But it's not nearly as far behind as it may appear.