Guardian writes: "We're well into the summer software slump now, which explains why Pool Party even gets a look-in. Sadly, it's hardly worth the effort. Visually it's not too bad, with crisp-looking 3D tables and convincing physics governing cue and ball movement. The problems start with using the Wiimote as a cue, with a clumsy prodding motion that feels nothing like the real thing."
Games keep aiming for endless cash flow instead of responding to creative ideas or the desires of their audience.
I always find it weird to see opinion pieces reminiscing about a time when the article's author wasn't even alive to see it. This "switch" to profit over creativity in the industry started way back in the NES era when Nintendo controlled the number of games each publisher could release in a given time. This, in turn, made publishers carefully choose what was going to be released.
Things only really got better with the 3DO and later PlayStation, which changed how licensed games were handled. That improvement more or less lasted a generation and a half. By the time of the Xbox 360, we had another enormous cash cow trend in the form of the "casual audience." Since then, there has always been this chase for the next biggest thing to maximize profit.
It's not new; it's been going on for more than ten years now. And it's not going to stop when we have the production costs of the industry going higher and higher.
Summer is the perfect time for multiplayer party games, and Pool Party seems to bring just enough chaos and silliness to the billiards formula to keep it entertaining.
"The Novato-based (CA, the US) indie games publisher Mindscape and Geneva-based (Switzerland) indie games developer Lakeview Games, are today very happy and excited to announce that their chaotic physics-based party game collection "Pool Party", is coming to PC (via Steam) and consoles (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and the Nintendo Switch) in 2024." - Jonas Ek, TGG.
