I saw this today, and it sure was interesting: https://kotaku.com/xbox-ps5-switch-console-pc-revenue-profits-2022-1850552857

Still, traditional gaming alone still beat U.S. movie box office revenue by almost three times. At $5.99 billion, movies are now dwarfed by gaming. The U.S. film industry is currently valued at $25.8 billion, making it worth less than half as much as the games industry.

So it looks like “traditional” gaming is still massively profitable. It’s just that in game advertising and microtransactions are ludicrously profitable.

But I also think people doing nothing but lamenting that trend should also open their eyes. Gaming has literally never been better. Because Elden Ring did get made. Tears of the Kingdom exists. Great single player games are not dying, they’re better than ever.

For now.

I wonder where the future will be. Will AAA be largely service, with indies being most of the games? Will there be an equilibrium with games and service? Or will the pendulum swing one way, and which way?

Seems like all the companies I used to admire are having the worst outcome here, Naughty Dog excepted.

I saw this today, and it sure was interesting: https://kotaku.com/xbox-ps5-switch-console-pc-revenue-profits-2022-1850552857

Well, one of the example scenarios in the Vidoc was running into a Compiler and having an "oh no" moment, so...I struggle to see how that is anything but PvE unless they're incorporating Dead by Daylight-esque gameplay by default (much less likely). XD

Gambit is an entire Destiny PvP game mode where you spend the majority of your time fighting non-player combatants. I'm not sure I see why you think that seeing a Compiler couldn't fit into this style of play.

Maybe you misunderstood, what I meant was that I don't see how what was described is something other than a PvE element. As in, yeah, I'm positive they were describing PvE elements, and I absolutely see how it would work.

Well, one of the example scenarios in the Vidoc was running into a Compiler and having an "oh no" moment, so...I struggle to see how that is anything but PvE unless they're incorporating Dead by Daylight-esque gameplay by default (much less likely). XD

Gambit is an entire Destiny PvP game mode where you spend the majority of your time fighting non-player combatants. I'm not sure I see why you think that seeing a Compiler couldn't fit into this style of play.

And look how great Gambit is presently! :-/

I don't actually know, I just go by what I hear

Exactly. That tension between PvE and potential PvP is the core of what makes an extraction shooter interesting. Without that, what even is it? It would just be like doing a patrol in Destiny, which is an okay distraction if you’re really bored, but it’s not something that could make an entire game.

Shows what I know. I don't know squat about extraction shooters. But if you can get rewarded for being cooperative, that's a potential positive, and I'll continue to hope for a good narrative that is somehow layered in. If it's sweaty all day long, I don't think it's for me.

Precisely why I now want to play games that love you. That are thrilled you picked it and gave your money and time, and which seek to make every second you choose to spend with it as meaningful and engaging as possible. And that let you walk away and end the experience on a high note when you’ve explored it as much as you want.

You should definitely start Tears of the Kingdom.

No grinding for items and consumable resources in that game?

Not really, no. Not in the sense people typically mean when talking about live service games. The resource economy is an important aspect of balance in the game, but that’s sort of the entire point. It’s not about grinding bullshit currencies to upgrade something. Every resource has multiple uses from being used for upgrading gear, selling for rupees, cooking into power boosting elixirs or foods, or just fusing to weapons for upgrading that weapon’s attack power and durability. It’s not about grinding (doing the same thing over and over) in the way that Destiny or other live service games are, both in the basic gameplay sense or for asking you to complete battle passes.

Using a resource is Tears of the Kingdom is always a decision. Do I sell this diamond because I need a quick 500 rupees? Or do I save it to fuse it to a sword during a tough moment for the extra damage? Or save it even more because I need it as a material to upgrade a set of armor? At any given moment, you can only choose one of those things (unless you’ve saved a bunch, which is another decision). Over a full playthrough you’ll end up with enough of them to do all of that, but each individual moment is a specific decision for any of those options. The game doesn’t expect you to just spend hours doing nothing but finding diamonds (although you certainly could).

Well, one of the example scenarios in the Vidoc was running into a Compiler and having an "oh no" moment, so...I struggle to see how that is anything but PvE unless they're incorporating Dead by Daylight-esque gameplay by default (much less likely). XD

Gambit is an entire Destiny PvP game mode where you spend the majority of your time fighting non-player combatants. I'm not sure I see why you think that seeing a Compiler couldn't fit into this style of play.

Almost every Extraction Shooter that I can think of heavily employs a PvE aspect and mostly-PvE objectives. The PvP element comes from a need to fight over the same resources, rewards, or limited number of extractions available, but running into other players is at times a secondary aspect of the genre. Sometimes not even that.

In fact, one of my favorite memories in Call of Duty's own Extraction Shooter, DMZ, involved cooperating with another squad to complete PvE objectives for the better part of an hour before we went our separate ways, so the genre alone won't tell us exactly what the game's core focus could be.

Well, one of the example scenarios in the Vidoc was running into a Compiler and having an "oh no" moment, so...I struggle to see how that is anything but PvE unless they're incorporating Dead by Daylight-esque gameplay by default (much less likely). XD

Gambit is an entire Destiny PvP game mode where you spend the majority of your time fighting non-player combatants. I'm not sure I see why you think that seeing a Compiler couldn't fit into this style of play.

Precisely why I now want to play games that love you. That are thrilled you picked it and gave your money and time, and which seek to make every second you choose to spend with it as meaningful and engaging as possible. And that let you walk away and end the experience on a high note when you’ve explored it as much as you want.

You should definitely start Tears of the Kingdom.

No grinding for items and consumable resources in that game?

Blizzard scrapped a campaign with Overwatch that they promised. There is no way Bungie will add one that they did not.

I said I wouldn't bet on it, but it would be a heckuva way to underpromise at this stage of the reveal.

In all the years of Destiny, they have never once underpromised. You’d think if they were going to learn that lesson, the launch of Destiny would have been the thing to learn from. They haven’t yet, so I won’t hold my breath.

Maybe you didn't see the title of the post, or the part where I said I wouldn't bet on it..

Their track record before Destiny was pretty great, and I disagree, Destiny content has exceeded expectations. Even in D1, the raid exceeded expectations. Did anyone see the Dreaming City coming?

Rhetorically, there's been some nod toward PVE (or it could be I'm remembering someone's misinterpretation), and I expect Bungie to try some combination that hasn't been done before. There may be more that satisfies players like me than I can imagine right now. But why be hopeful when we can shit on Bungie again. I lapsed into 2000-era fandom. Pardon me.

Well, one of the example scenarios in the Vidoc was running into a Compiler and having an "oh no" moment, so...I struggle to see how that is anything but PvE unless they're incorporating Dead by Daylight-esque gameplay by default (much less likely). XD

The premise reminds me of The Division's Dark Zone. It's an interesting concept, but hard to pull off in an appealing way outside of its niche.

They also say that you have a choice to interact with other players. I guess I'm remembering how, as Destiny was starting, they struggled not to be boxed in by the MMO label. If I know Bungie, they're trying to do something that's at least a little different than what has been done. Although the've obviously gone with the PVP extraction shooter label, I'm obviously hoping for more.

A side rant: I know this is just a teaser, but these so-called vidocs have become less substantive as time goes on. You used to have people like Jaime Greisemer or Jon Butcher or Paul Bertone saying insightful things about their process and the serious challenges they set up for themselves. Now I get the impression they use 3 seconds of screen time in vidocs simply to boost the morale of employees. We don't have time to get to know much at all about the employees beyond their name and face, and it's a crapshoot whether what they say has any relation to their job title. It's like reading blurbs on a movie poster. If I were at PAX and recognized someone from this cast of 100s, I'm not sure I'm remember what they did or what they said and be able to start an interesting conversation with them (as has happened in the past). It was nice to see Elliott Gray's smile, though./rant

Blizzard scrapped a campaign with Overwatch that they promised. There is no way Bungie will add one that they did not.

I said I wouldn't bet on it, but it would be a heckuva way to underpromise at this stage of the reveal.

In all the years of Destiny, they have never once underpromised. You’d think if they were going to learn that lesson, the launch of Destiny would have been the thing to learn from. They haven’t yet, so I won’t hold my breath.

Maybe you didn't see the title of the post, or the part where I said I wouldn't bet on it..

Their track record before Destiny was pretty great, and I disagree, Destiny content has exceeded expectations. Even in D1, the raid exceeded expectations. Did anyone see the Dreaming City coming?

Rhetorically, there's been some nod toward PVE (or it could be I'm remembering someone's misinterpretation), and I expect Bungie to try some combination that hasn't been done before. There may be more that satisfies players like me than I can imagine right now. But why be hopeful when we can shit on Bungie again. I lapsed into 2000-era fandom. Pardon me.

Well, one of the example scenarios in the Vidoc was running into a Compiler and having an "oh no" moment, so...I struggle to see how that is anything but PvE unless they're incorporating Dead by Daylight-esque gameplay by default (much less likely). XD

The premise reminds me of The Division's Dark Zone. It's an interesting concept, but hard to pull off in an appealing way outside of its niche.

Blizzard scrapped a campaign with Overwatch that they promised. There is no way Bungie will add one that they did not.

I said I wouldn't bet on it, but it would be a heckuva way to underpromise at this stage of the reveal.

In all the years of Destiny, they have never once underpromised. You’d think if they were going to learn that lesson, the launch of Destiny would have been the thing to learn from. They haven’t yet, so I won’t hold my breath.

Maybe you didn't see the title of the post, or the part where I said I wouldn't bet on it..

Their track record before Destiny was pretty great, and I disagree, Destiny content has exceeded expectations. Even in D1, the raid exceeded expectations. Did anyone see the Dreaming City coming?

Rhetorically, there's been some nod toward PVE (or it could be I'm remembering someone's misinterpretation), and I expect Bungie to try some combination that hasn't been done before. There may be more that satisfies players like me than I can imagine right now. But why be hopeful when we can shit on Bungie again. I lapsed into 2000-era fandom. Pardon me.

You're touching on an important point though which is that, in real life and in-game, self expression in itself isn't the point. The point is to communicate status. People don't buy Gucci because Gucci is the one brand that perfectly captures the wearer's innate aesthetic ideal, they buy Gucci because it's high status.

That's part of it, but not the entirety. The irony is that people will buy brands and clothes that someone else made, and use them as personal expression. Few people are out there creating custom clothing to express themselves.

If a game let you create your own outfit and accessories that would be one thing. But the likelihood of that is extremely low.

For good reasons. Everything becomes a penis when unbridled creativity is allowed. Remember how hard they had to work on halo emblems to avoid that possibility. I say this as mostly a joke, but… sex organs are benign compared to other potential expressions.

You're touching on an important point though which is that, in real life and in-game, self expression in itself isn't the point. The point is to communicate status. People don't buy Gucci because Gucci is the one brand that perfectly captures the wearer's innate aesthetic ideal, they buy Gucci because it's high status.

That's part of it, but not the entirety. The irony is that people will buy brands and clothes that someone else made, and use them as personal expression. Few people are out there creating custom clothing to express themselves.

If a game let you create your own outfit and accessories that would be one thing. But the likelihood of that is extremely low.

But the one-two punch of the PvP-only and games-as-a-service bullet points mean that it will be completely D.O.A. for me. I’m sad to say it, but it’s the truth. I do sincerely hope the game finds an audience, but I won’t be in that number. I simply do not possess the interest, the time, the patience, or the money to deal with the “second job” of yet another FOMO hamster wheel games-as-a-service mind game — especially when it’s limited to PvP-only, which does not interest me at all.

I try to avoid sustained negativity whenever possible, so with that out of the way, I do not plan to offer any further comment on this game.

Blizzard scrapped a campaign with Overwatch that they promised. There is no way Bungie will add one that they did not.

I said I wouldn't bet on it, but it would be a heckuva way to underpromise at this stage of the reveal.

In all the years of Destiny, they have never once underpromised. You’d think if they were going to learn that lesson, the launch of Destiny would have been the thing to learn from. They haven’t yet, so I won’t hold my breath.

Blizzard scrapped a campaign with Overwatch that they promised. There is no way Bungie will add one that they did not.

I said I wouldn't bet on it, but it would be a heckuva way to underpromise at this stage of the reveal.

Precisely why I now want to play games that love you. That are thrilled you picked it and gave your money and time, and which seek to make every second you choose to spend with it as meaningful and engaging as possible. And that let you walk away and end the experience on a high note when you’ve explored it as much as you want.

You should definitely start Tears of the Kingdom.

Was just about to post the same thing.