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kung-fu-owl

Alt account
Banned
Jul 27, 2019
513
This is what AA games look like nowadays, so I think MS are on the right track.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
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Plague Tale: Innocence
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The Outer Worlds
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Psychonauts 2
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Wasteland 3
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CrypticSlayer

Member
Oct 27, 2017
647
Good stuff. I like this strategy of diversifying and providing more contained experiences to supplement the tentpole games.
 

Xumbrega

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,080
Brasil
This 'AAA or nothing' way of thinking is so disheartened to see, do you guys only watch blockbuster movies? only listen to high production albums? Cause damn, some of you are really missing some special entertainment/art, not everything has to be the next big game, let's say that Microsoft in 10 years releases like 15 games per year, 10 AA and 5 AAA (their quota right now is one AAA per quarter) this should be more than fine.
 
Oct 26, 2017
6,151
United Kingdom
He also uses Hellblade as an example for what they expect from their developers. Games that are well made 10 to 15 hour gameplay experiences.

I'm only really talking about the scope of games being funded by MS for GamePass.

Perhaps you're having trouble following the issue here?

I took exception with Alienous' beliefs that 1) GaaS games will dominate Game Pass, and 2) they would be poor implementations of that business model. Evidently the first point isn't true now, nor is there any reasonable indication that it will be, which is why I asked him if he uses Game Pass or has played the game Booty referred to as a great example of what they're looking for in terms of content for the platform.

Regarding the second point, my first response outlined exactly what you've just written - GaaS is neither inherently good or bad. Alienous' assumption that Game Pass would be riddled with games with shitty GaaS models, i.e. micro-transactions and expansions packs is something I took exception to also, because, again, that isn't the case now, nor is there any reasonable indication that it will be.

I'll be charitable here and assume some wires crossed while reading our posts because your responses so far suggest you haven't actually read properly.

Based on Alienous's reply to you:

I'm not saying GAAS titles are bad, as Ubisoft have showcased. But trying to make sense of the Game Pass business model I've struggled to see how games like God of War could fit into that portfolio, and this reinforces my perception that it doesn't. That void would be filled with economical 'AA' titles, instead of putting huge resources behind games that don't 'live' beyond the month they release in.

I could be wrong but this reinforced that perception for me. I'm not saying it to antagonise, just that I feel like I'm understanding the choices that would make Game Pass viable.

It seems you're the one not reading posts kung-fu-owl. Anyway, since you're resorted to arguing in bad faith, now, I'm out.
 

MistahS

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Sep 2, 2018
3,729
I can definitely see Obsidian going AAA but the others staying small but tidy.
 
Oct 25, 2017
12,569
Arizona
I've always felt small to mid-sized/-budgeted AA single player games were the logical direction for GamePass. It's exactly the format that would allow them to thrive, as a "free" short term commitment with less wallet competition, and there's a bigger incentive for Microsoft to back them as a way to fill out the catalog more quickly than your typical huge budget 3+ year project.
 

gremlinz1982

Member
Aug 11, 2018
5,331
I'm not saying GAAS titles are bad, as Ubisoft have showcased. But trying to make sense of the Game Pass business model I've struggled to see how games like God of War could fit into that portfolio, and this reinforces my perception that it doesn't. That void would be filled with economical 'AA' titles, instead of putting huge resources behind games that don't 'live' beyond the month they release in.

I could be wrong but this reinforced that perception for me. I'm not saying it to antagonise, just that I feel like I'm understanding the choices that would make Game Pass viable.
There is so much that is wrong with this take. There are so many games that are on the service that are not GAAS, not only from Microsoft themselves, but from third party developers too, some of them AAA.

"We believe that Game Pass is fantastic for our players because of the ability to discover games and the chance to circle back on games that they missed when they first came out. They're also being exposed to things that, because it's available on Game Pass, they might like to try and maybe become a fan of. We think that what drives a lot of that is variety and creativity. So when we think about: 'Why Ninja Theory?' They really just fit into that category of developers that's getting harder and harder to sustain in the industry. A developer that is right on the cusp of large AAA content, making very well-crafted content. I don't think we'd use indie to describe Ninja Theory. But at the same time, it's not the same as a studio that has multiple hundreds of people working on the next iteration of a AAA franchise, like a Halo.

"We started looking at studios that are built around creative leads and people. An amazing thing about Ninja Theory is that it is very clear that the studio orbits around ideas and creativity, and the characters, storytelling and settings really come first for them. That just meshes really well with our desire to provide our players, especially those in Game Pass, with content that is new, unique, has variety and sits outside of the stuff we are doing with our bigger franchises."


"I don't want to seem like we're going out to fill a quota," he says. "It's not about filling a spreadsheet by any means. We will, however, have an interest in studios right now that fit this criteria of 50 to 100 people, who are making games on a two to three year cadence, and have content that we think will be of interest to our Game Pass subscribers. That means content that is a little different to what our big AAA franchises can deliver.

"One of the fantastic things about Game Pass is that it can support different kinds of content."

These were comments that were made when they had just purchased Ninja Theory alongside Undead Labs, Compulsion, Playground together with the announcement that they were building a new studio. At no one time has there been a need to have the service littered with GAAS titles, or only games that can sustain months upon months of gameplay. If anything, it has been curated in such a way that if you want single player games, you can get those. If multiplayer titles tickle your fancy, those too are in there, if it is the smaller indy titles or games with episodic content.....it is all there.

All one would need to do is maybe look at the games they currently have on the service and what is going to come into it in the near future to maybe, just maybe see that this GAASfest people talk about is far from the truth.

 

dgrdsv

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,813
I fail to see how anything being perfect or not for some subscription service is a good thing for me as a gamer.
 

TheGhost

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,137
Long Island
Funny that you mentioned "as opposed to games like God of War", when Microsoft is coming out with a couple of big open-world-ish single player games like Gears 5 and Fable. Their output is not very frequent, that's fair. But in a couple of weeks they're literally coming out with a big AAA single player campaign coming to Game Pass.
It's funny....like I've lost interest in gears over the years, the new game is coming out and I'm not following the news at all....but it will be there with my gamepass, day 1...and with these basement level expectations....I'm probably going to be blown away by this game.
 

MilesQ

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,490
It's funny....like I've lost interest in gears over the years, the new game is coming out and I'm not following the news at all....but it will be there with my gamepass, day 1...and with these basement level expectations....I'm probably going to be blown away by this game.

Gears news is pretty light on the ground, so you haven't really missed much.
 

khamakazee

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,937
I fail to see how anything being perfect or not for some subscription service is a good thing for me as a gamer.
Try it then and see if you can get $10 worth of value in one month. If not then don't renew. It really is kind of simple to figure out. I've played many hours of Forza Horizon 4, Slay the Spire, Gears 4, Metro Exodus, Shadow Tactics, Worms WMD, going to try out Operencia, really like Void Bastards,. So yeah, I think it's good for me but everyone is different.
 
Feb 10, 2018
17,534
I stopped after 3, skipped judgement
Gears 4 came with my Xbox but I don't think I hot beyond the E3 demo area.

It's gets better after the first 1-2hrs.

Its probably one of the best gears games made, visuals are amazing and enemies are varried and pretty tough, the story is better too, it does not try and be some drama, has jokes and banter similar to an uncharted game.
 

khamakazee

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,937
It's gets better after the first 1-2hrs.

Its probably one of the best gears games made, visuals are amazing and enemies are varried and pretty tough, the story is better too, it does not try and be some drama, has jokes and banter similar to an uncharted game.
The game is just mindless fun but after awhile I get bored. Just walk a bit, then you see a bit of a clear opening, enemies, duck and cover, shoot. Then a bit of a cutscene. Rinse and repeat.
 

TheGhost

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,137
Long Island
It's gets better after the first 1-2hrs.

Its probably one of the best gears games made, visuals are amazing and enemies are varried and pretty tough, the story is better too, it does not try and be some drama, has jokes and banter similar to an uncharted game.
If I remember the robot enemies turned me off, I'll redownload it tonight when I get home. The set pieces I remember where pretty huge. I remember

Marcus's house and this....swarm of something. It was a great mission
 
Feb 10, 2018
17,534
The game is just mindless fun but after awhile I get bored. Just walk a bit, then you see a bit of a clear opening, enemies, duck and cover, shoot. Then a bit of a cutscene. Rinse and repeat.

Lol you could say that about all games.
E. G god of war - walk around a bit, kill baddies then some story, some light puzzle rinse repeat.

I do actually like gears (and games like Uncharted, TLOU) simplicity, no upgrade bullshit and loads of menus, just straight into the action.
The robot section in gears 4 is tedious but overall gears is a good game, with good gameplay variation.
Hopefully gears 5 will do a bit better in breaking the monotony.