I have been thinking slightly differently to most of the doom and gloomers out there. While most are thinking that I-phone/pad and android gaming will spell the end of console gaming, I think the reality is very different.
The way I see it is that they will actually help console and PC gaming. How? By getting rid of all the devs and publishers who are only interested in making a quick buck off the back of the casual market. As they defect to flogging their wares on smartphones and tablets it clears up our market. Along with those developing the games, also the casual gamers disappear from our market thus taking their drivel with them.
Devs will be able to stop making games that have to be accessible to morons and go back to making games that don't hold your hand the whole way through. I mean seriously, before this gen of consoles games were soo much harder (or maybe I just didn't try hard enough?) did anyone complete Desert Strike on the Mega Drive (Genesis for the Americans)? I know I did, but it took me forever, and bucket loads of sweat and tears! I put so much effort into that my Dad took me shopping for a new game as a reward! Nowadays the only requirement to finish a game is time, not skill.
I don't want games to be overly difficult just for the sake of it though, I mean they are still supposed to be fun not frustrating. But at least give me a challenge! Killzone on the PS2 for example took me ages to finish, Killzone Liberation on the PSP was even harder! But KZ2, easy peasy and KZ3? There were moments of difficulty but nah, it wasn't that taxing. Even the COD games used to be hard, hard to believe considering they were the first games to have regenerating health! Something I hate in shooters but it is pretty much the standard now. I mean really, can anyone remember the last time they played a shooter where you're health didn't re generate just by hiding for a few seconds? At least in Bad Company 1 you had to inject yourself. The injection pens might have been infinite, but at least you had to do something other than hide behind cover for 5 seconds. Being on the brink of death brings new excitement to a game, always praying there will be a health pack in the next room, edge of the seat stuff.
There are a few games on the horizon which seem to be going back to the old school (Hard Reset being one) and I for one am quite happy about that. Old school is the new, new school?
It's not just about difficulty and hand holding though. The overall quality of games will improve too, story, graphics, new gameplay ideas the lot. It'll all be better without the butt loads of shovelware on our shelves and publishers who just want to milk old tired casual franchises. As they leave for the money mounds of smartphone gaming only the serious devs and pubs who actually care about creating a quality gaming experience will remain.
Anyway, what do you think? Is casual gaming leaving our market good for us the core gamers? I think it is. It might not be good for the money men in suits, but I'm not one of those I'm a gamer and from our side of the desk things are looking up.
PEAK was released just a week ago, and it has already managed to hit over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam, to the devs' surprise.
While few, the games that are included in Irem Collection Volume 3 are some of the most fun and obscure shoot ‘em ups you’ll play.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach ranks as one of the highest rated PS5 exclusives on Metacritic, placing in the top 3 for pure exclusives.
I don’t think there has been confirmation it’s going to any other console yet but most likely it will like the first one.
If not then atleast a PC release.
It's what I was thinking anyway, the first game eventually came to other consoles so this one will aswell.
Also lets be honest, it's not like the PS5 has many other "pure" exclusives these days so it's a pretty low bar.
Good catch. Why are they saying it's a pure exclusive here? I'd just say it's the 6th best console exclusive on PS5.
Astro Bot – 94
God of War: Ragnarok – 94 (Also on PC)
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – 92 (Also on PC)
Demon’s Souls – 92
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – 90 (Also on PC)
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – 90
Do we have a ETA on when its coming to any other platform? Yes the 1st came to other platforms but how long did that take? So for next 12-18 months the only place where someone can play this is PS5
After that it will be available on Pc and than maybe 3 years down the road on Xbox. And that's if MS offers Kojima some sort of deal. Some of you are acting like timed exclusives have existed before this game and that Sony is the one funding the cost 💯%. Sony would have gotten it in writing that this game will remain PS5 exclusive for a time period than PC and years down the road on Xbox like the 1st games
So yes in year 2025 and until end of 2016 DS2 is a PS5 exclusive and you are welcomed to wait. (coming from someone with a Pc so I will wait but I don't like this questionable behavior
" The overall quality of games will improve too, story, graphics, new gameplay ideas the lot."
This might just be me, but I tend to find that casual games sometimes are more enjoyable in that regard.
Visuals (in the form of art design), catchy music, a whimsy story and a quirky gameplay idea. PopCap is/was good at making those kinds of games, and a lot of other casual games seem to have those qualities too.
As for games becoming difficult. It seems unlikely. Games appear to becoming highly-interactive movies, with the goal of entertaining the viewer instead of frustrating them with a challenge.
Online has become the arena for those that want a challenge... mostly because programming difficult AI is hard.
Overall, I'm not entirely sure if it's a good thing. The money men in suits kind of control the industry's direction, and if bigger money is made elsewhere, then that's where the focus will shift.
Console gaming currently enjoys dominance over PCs in that regard as the bigger console market means more big budget games. If mobile gaming takes off, then you can expect similar to consoles...
... on the flip-side, this also means that bigger publishers who can be blamed for the degeneration of modern games, would also be gone, and could leave room for smaller more passionate devs to make some 'real' good ole' fashion games. (Similar to what's happening on the PC, with relatively unknown dev groups rising to fame)
Kind of a far stretch, but I can dream, can't I?
No it is not. These smartphone games are taking us back to PS1 quality games or arcade games. We need progression like when each new gen comes out for consoles. Peeps that have not been gaming probably think those games are amazing but they dont even come close to the quality of current console games.
The PSV is progressing to console quality games which is a great thing for people who actually like to play games instead of playing games just to past the time by.
games are games, who gives a fuck