Morning friends. I had plans last night and none of them really panned out as expected. I had been planning on watching The Game Awards which began at 5:30 pm my time. I also planned on running a Mythic +2 or two with some of my friends in Facepull in World of Warcraft. However as has been the case more recently we were limited by the lack of healing options. So instead of doing this… I ended up logging for the night and telling Kelsas to ping me over discord if it looked like we had healing options. This meant instead I spent my evening playing Cyberpunk 2077… which is a game that is not really conducive to watching a live stream during.
It was around this point that I had a realization. I don’t actually care about The Game Awards. I care about the fact that a bunch of Game Trailers get released during the show, but I don’t actually care about the awards themselves or the talking heads that appear in between them. The thing is… I have no skin in this game. Sure it is cool when a game that I like wins an award but it has absolutely no bearing on my life. What I care about is all of those game trailers and by the time I wake up the next morning those will all be available and syndicated on the internet in a number of various means. For example I was able to just tune in this morning and watch this playlist full of trailers.
So here is that thing where I run through a bunch of things I personally found worthy of talking about. Let’s do this!
Some sort of Dragon Age Game
To be honest… the thing that I was looking forward to information about before the Awards show as Dragon Age. While I was never really able to get into Inquisition, I loved the first two games quite a bit and was looking forward to more adventures in this universe. What I had hoped to see was some signs that a game was happening here, but instead we got another vague demo reel of footage. This is a sizzle reel and not anything even vaguely resembling a game. As such I figure this game is at least two to three years away and possibly even more… and has not really coalesced into anything resembling a playable experience. This honestly concerns me more than it bolsters me.
Some sort of Mass Effect Game
We also received “trailer” footage of Liara T’Soni wandering some snowy planet and retrieving a piece of armor bearing the imprint of N7, which is in theory supposed to make us think that this is Sheppard’s armor. Once again this is not even vaguely resembling any sort of game yet, so I would imagine this probably has the same timeline trajectory as Elder Scrolls 6 at this point of being vaguely somewhere off in the future. There was a message at the end saying that Mass Effect would continue… which combined with this footage would make one think that they are returning to the original Trilogy and extending it. What I actually want is more Andromeda to be honest, but I legitimately think this is something that was rushed out in order to combat the news of the Studio head and Dragon Age producer both recently leaving.
Crimson Desert
On the positive side… I am significantly more interested in Crimson Desert than I was before. The footage shown would lead you to believe that the game is a sort of God of War style single player narrative experience. There however is reportedly some sort of online multiplayer functionality, but it doesn’t seem like an MMORPG along the lines of its precursor Black Desert. The game looks incredible, but so did Black Desert. I guess the proof will be once the game gets closer to launch because Godfall also looks gorgeous but was a soulless husk of an experience.
Back 4 Blood
It seems like it is officially time now to reboot the Left 4 Dead franchise… or at least a spiritual successor to it. Turtle Rock Studios the folks behind the original Left 4 Dead and the ill fated Evolve… are presenting a new game called Back 4 Blood. By all evidence this would appear to be a modern reboot of Left 4 Dead under a brand new name. I guess we can all hope that it will bring a fresh perspective to this style of multiplayer shooter experience.
Evil Dead: The Game
Apparently also there is going to be an Evil Dead game that may or may not also be attempting to reboot the Left 4 Dead concept? There isn’t a lot to go on with this trailer but it certainly feels like it is going to be some sort of four player co-op vs hordes type gameplay mechanic. It also appears to be drawing characters from across the entirety of the confusing Evil Dead universe. It might be really cool, but it also might be a confused mess. It appears to be lead by Saber Interactive the folks behind the 2019 World War Z game.
League of Legends: The Ruined King
This appears to be a fixed party RPG surrounding League of Legends characters and the Bilgewater setting from Airship Syndicate. These are the folks that developed Battle Chasers: Nightwar and Darksiders Genesis, and it appears to lean more towards the original of those two titles. The over world looks very Diablo style, with also combat taking place in a Final Fantasy style console RPG style. I am most definitely interested because League of Legends is a setting where I have been interested in the world building… but just not any of the games released so far.
Scarlet Nexus
Scarlet Nexus continues to look really interesting. It reminds me quite a bit of Astral Chain… which was a really cool game stranded on a console that struggled a bit with its graphics. I think ultimately will have to see how the final product comes together. Definitely something I am still keeping an eye on however.
Monster Hunter Rise
This game really makes me wish a Nintendo Switch Pro existed. This is appears to be the Switch getting a game in the open world style of Monster Hunter World. The only problem here is the console will not be able to output the sort of visuals that Monster Hunter World did. Still going to play it because it looks great and also both Palicos and Doggos to go adventuring with.
Evil West
The last of the games that looked interesting to me was Evil West, which is from Flying Wild Hog studios the folks behind the most recent Shadow Warrior games. So what I expect is a fast paced over the top shooter with melee combat. I like the mash up of Van Helsing with the Wild West that appears to be going on in the trailer. It should be an interesting game with a lot of really visceral combat if the lineage of this studio is any indication.
obviously the thing that some folks are going to be talking about is Sephiroth in Smash Bros… but I could give a shit about Smash Bros. If you watched the show last night, or did what I did this morning and catch up on only the trailers… what were some of your highlights? What are some of the things you are looking forward to? What are your thoughts about the Bioware “trailers” and non-announcements? Drop me a line below because I would love to hear your thoughts.
The post The Game Awards 2020 appeared first on Tales of the Aggronaut.
So yesterday I made a post that is a bit out of the ordinary for my blog. Largely it was a thought experiment about whether or not we would actually get consoles this season. In a normal year I would take that both companies had announced a Holiday launch to be a done deal. However 2020 is the year when everything has been cancelled, sometimes rescheduled and often times cancelled again. We are not playing under normal circumstances and there are likely unforeseen supply chain issues that are being impacted by Covid-19. However regardless of that a Sony show happened yesterday and as they suggested there was no major PlayStation 5 news, but instead some discussion about things that had already been announced.
If you are curious about the entire show, then you can check out this link that should forward you right to the beginning of the broadcast. Of the things shown, I think Crash Bandicoot 4 was probably the most interesting to me. We have been in this time of reboots and re-imaginings, so I find it extremely interesting to get an official sequel to Crash Bandicoot: Warped from 1998. The gameplay looks to have evolved as well and I am pretty excited to get to play it. Additionally it appears that the game will be coming out for PlayStation 4 and won’t actually be a PS5 launch title. Availability to more players is always going to be a good thing, especially considering I think the PS5 will be in extremely short availability this year.
We also got to see more information about Godfall and while it still sorta looks like if Skyforge and Destiny had a kid, it appears there are also elements of Warframe factored in with your ability to find and unlock new “suits” with their own unique abilities. The designer giving the demo went out of his way to state that there would be no micro-transactions and that the game has all of its content on day one. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it. I am hoping that means the game is something more akin to Diablo 3 in the way it grows and progresses, but even D3 released a Reaper of Souls expansion and a Necromancer DLC pack. The combat looks fun, so I will likely be checking this out on PC, because it doesn’t seem like the type of game I want to play on a console.
Other than watching the Sony show, I spent the majority of the night piddling around on the Shaman in World of Warcraft. I managed to ding 60 and say goodbye to the old world and move my way into Borean Tundra. I contemplated starting over in Howling Fjord because I like that zone significantly better, but the last character I ran over there seemed to level significantly more slowly. The quests are spread out and the hubs are less conducive to batching things up. I am still really enjoying the Elemental Shaman and up until this point I don’t feel squishy, which really helps the enjoyment of a caster.
All of that said… forward momentum on the Shaman is probably going to grind to a halt given that Horizon Zero Dawn complete edition releases on PC at some point this morning. I was able to log in and pre-load last night and I can see this more or less eating the rest of my free time. I played through the original game on PlayStation 4, but never really touched the DLC. My hope is that by replaying the experience of transitioning into the DLC will feel more seamless. I also think playing with a mouse and keyboard is going to make the bow combat feel significantly better. I’ve heard some weird issues with performance, so I am hoping that gets patched quickly. I’ve been running Death Stranding which uses the same engine so my hope is that I can at least get it to look as good as a PS4 Pro.
So… what does your weekend look like? Will you be dipping your toes into Horizon Zero Dawn? Drop me a line below with what you have planned.
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Today we have a press conference scheduled for the Sony Playstation 5, where in theory we are supposed to be getting the price it will be launching at as well as pre-orders opening. I say supposedly, because this is not the first time we have heard rumors through 4Chan sources stating that a price announce and pre-order are coming. Right now it feels like both Microsoft and Sony are playing an intricate bluff, with neither wanting to show their cards before the other. I feel like this is largely pointless given that to me Microsoft and Sony are pursuing two different strategies for this general.
It feels like Sony is very much setting up for the traditional console experience of wanting to push total units sold and with that total volume of software sold. Microsoft on the other hand seems to be rolling out a significantly more service based approach with its multiple tiers of product offerings in the form of the Xbox Series X, the rumored Lockhart, XCloud for those without devices and on all platforms the extremely strong offering that is Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft appears to care more about getting that monthly subscription from you and providing varied entry points to their ecosystem than they really do about “pushing iron”. It makes sense given that Microsoft has been shifting to service based solutions on the business side for years.
While we have played this game of cat and mouse on console reveals and the dates associated with them… I have to admit there have been a few seeds of doubt planted in my head. We know both consoles exist and are preparing to launch, but I do wonder if maybe the delaying tactics are not due to price competition but instead due to the fact that they are about to announce delays in shipping the hardware due to the ever present complications of Covid-19. No one wants to deliver that news to a public that has likely built up some seriously toxic expectations surrounding the ability to have a shiny new console sitting under their tree come Christmas morning.
With that I decided to do a bit of a thought experiment to determine how late we are on this announcement. I decided to mine available data through some careful google searching and figure out the key dates associated with the last two generations of consoles.
Xbox 360
Date Pre-Orders Opened Officially – 8/18/2005
Date Console Launched – 11/22/2005
PlayStation 3
Date Pre-Orders Opened Officially – 10/10/2006
Date Console Launched – 11/17/2006
PlayStation 4
Date Pre-Orders Opened Officially – 6/11/2013
Date Console Launched – 11/15/2013
Xbox One
Date Pre-Orders Opened Officially – 6/10/2013
Date Console Launched – 11/22/2013
So what can we take away from this. Firstly I think it is pretty clear when the launch window is going to be for new consoles. I would predict the viable dates for launch would be either 11/10/2020 or 11/17/2020 with myself personally leaning on that second date. Essentially an early November launch is critical because that first shipment of consoles is going to sell through in its entirety and retailers will be clamoring for a second shipment before Christmas. Given the reality of logistics that means early November is key so they can send shipment number two early in December.
With a target launch window, we go back to the problem that we currently have that pre-orders have yet to begin. We are very much not following the pattern experienced with the most recent generation. In that case both announced price of console and began pre-orders at E3 2013. We are looking to be setting up for something more akin to that of the 2005/2006 360 and PS3 launch. In both cases it was a Christmas plagued by console shortages that were not remedied until the second quarter of the following year.
If there are no delays and we don’t get an announcement pushing back the launch to first quarter of 2021, we are going to experience severe shortages of consoles for this holiday season. I feel like that is still a significant “if” because it seems like the clock is ticking on what would be a viable launch strategy. That said we are living in a different world than we were in 2013, with more and more things being handled digitally. Game Stop is not the juggernaut that it once was and Best Buy is seemingly struggling as well, so I have a feeling this is going to be the generation where the vast majority of console units are purchased online and drop shipped to the waiting hands of gamers.
That said this is also shaping up to be a console generation plagued by bots and scalpers. Right now we are dealing with constant shortages of the Nintendo Switch, a console that three years ago because each new shipment gets gobbled up by resellers. I expect that to largely be the norm going into this console generation, in that you will be fighting against an army of cleverly scripted bots that are trying to snag your console and sell back to you at a 50% mark up. So even if the consoles do in fact launch this year, it is highly unlikely that most of you reading this post are going to be playing with it for a few quarters.
Right now we roughly thirteen weeks away from a possible launch window for these consoles, and the clock is ticking. I personally have been prepped to put in my PlayStation 5 pre-order as soon as they open, because I figure I will have a day at most window of being able to secure one. I have a bunch of Discover cash back bonus sitting there waiting to hopefully blunt whatever the launch price ends up being. I hope the announcement today does in fact signal the opening of pre-orders, but there has been some significant messaging floating around from Sony trying to blunt the expectations, which leads me to personally believe that we are not going to get a price or an official launch window. Which leads me back to the original title of this post, are we in fact actually getting consoles this year?
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Birthdays are always a weird time for me, because they seem like they should be these important occasions in your life… but in reality it is just another Thursday. Traditionally I take today off, and as a result you don’t get a post because I go into “vacation mode”. However with the whole Covid 19 situation and the fact that I am still working remotely, combined with some stuff going on at work that I don’t feel like I can miss.. you are getting me in the flesh today. I had a subtle realization this morning and I thought I would share it with you, my friends and readers.
I have been writing to you through this blog for a quarter of my life. Back in April Tales of the Aggronaut turned 11, and as of this morning I myself turn 44. It is weird when numbers line up like that, but in truth I am not sure if I could have found a better group of companions to listen to me as I ramble on about nonsense. Thanks for being there on this journey, even if it has been in passive lurker mode. I do appreciate however each time someone comments about something going on in my life because I feel significantly less alone in the world.
Once upon a time I was one of those kids who made zines, and I was especially prolific during the fighting game heyday. I would print them up at home and then go pass them out at the various arcades I visited, because they also sorta served as a general guide for new players when something like Mortal Kombat II was booming. Admittedly there was a lot of rumor filtered in with the truth, but for the most part they were a guide to how to do all of those things like Friendships and Babalities, allowing new players to stop getting dunked on with a simple guide to all of the abilities. Writing my blog post each morning is sorta like trying to hand you a zine, and even the folks who didn’t want to take it… I appreciated them not throwing it away while I was still watching.
There are still several events happening in the winding down of what would have normally been E3 week. Today at 6 pm my time I should be able to tune in and watch the EA Play Live show, at which point I am hoping EA continues its path towards being a less horrible company. I mean to be truthful we have some pretty solid evidence that something has changed there recently. For starters instead of nuking it into oblivion, they are rebuilding Anthem and going to give it a second chance. A few weeks ago they put all of their games back on Steam, and even though they still require the presence of Origin… that is a start. Lastly we have the evidence of Jedi Fallen Order being a phenomenal game that exists without any micro transactions in spite of EA’s once stance of cramming them into every game. I am willing to give the company an olive branch, and also I am wondering if it is only Americans that personify companies like this.
Last night I played some Destiny, and I admit I am feeling a little rudderless. I am not exactly sure what I want to be doing or how I should be doing it. In theory I should be focusing the various avenues to get powerful or pinnacle gear, but this season doesn’t really seem to have a clear path forward. At the very least I am not exactly sure what I should be doing to level up the magical engram box for the Drifter. The acquisition of that level up currency seems significantly slower than any of the other similar seasonal mechanics. I feel like we are missing something like the Vex event to pour our energy into, because the planetary events are just painful to try and get started. I think right now everyone is focused on the next easiest way to get engrams… grinding Nightmare Hunts.
I’m also still playing a significant amount of Phantasy Star Online 2, but I gotta admit things have slowed to a crawl there as well. I’m level 68 and about halfway through it, and in truth what I really need to find is a group to grind advance quests with. The challenge there is that my natural play group that is associated with AggroChat podcast is time shifted from me. Kodra, Tam and Thalen are all getting on about the same time that I am logging out for the night. Ash is an option but I think he is back engaged with Guild Wars 2, and Grace never really attached to PSO2. In theory I should be running with Pizzamaid and friends but I am not exactly sure if those times line up either. Essentially it leaves me in a state of limbo where I spend most of my time soloing.
I realize this post turned weird all the sudden. I guess birthdays become a time for introspection. I hope the day goes smoothly, because there are significant landmines in front of me to cross. The day could go south really fast if a few things go the wrong way. Regardless thanks for hanging out with me all of these years and listening while I talk some nonsense. I write like I am talking to myself, but as I have said many times before I do greatly appreciate knowing there are real people out there reading what I write.
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