Life’s had me busy and that’s my excuse but games are the best medium on the planet and I’ve been dying to write about stuff that’s been going on in their domain.
Sega the Trend Setter
Video games are a volatile industry and this year is unique in the sense that there have been more successes than failures. The monetary and time investment required to make a game is starting to become a bigger conversation point among fans and it’s often eye-opening just how much of both are expended. Even with that being said developers are trying to go above and beyond. The Initiative talked about making an AAAA game a few years back which was intriguing but I think Sega will beat them to it. I don’t think people discuss the streak that Sega has been on with Sonic, Like a Dragon, Persona, and even some smaller newer titles like Two Point Campus and Endless Dungeon. For them to give an update saying they expect a 2026 release for its nearly 1 billion dollar game is both exciting and concerning. I don’t want this to be the new industry standard thus taking games an even longer time to be developed, but with a budget this big I can only be interested in the outcome, and with the aforementioned track record, have hope for something good. Personally, I want a new non-MMO Phantasy Star game but a new IP with either a large scope or extremely fine details could be just as satisfying. I think the thing that has me worried is that I know current-generation hardware will hold it back which is a different conversation. I can’t wait to see what this game will be, hopefully, it’s good.
More is Always Better with Remedy
In October I played Alan Wake (the 360 version) to understand why people were so pent up about this series and to say I was enlightened is an understatement. Luckily, this was my first time playing it so I didn’t have to wait 13 YEARS for the sequel. That being said I haven’t bought AW2 yet but I’m really itching for it because everyone is saying it’s delivering a high-quality evolutionary experience. In late October Sam Lake (lead writer at Remedy Entertainment) said that he wants to make a large-budget dark fantasy game and I’m here for it. I think every major publisher should look at his previous works and consider granting his wish. I think his narrative writing ability is a masterclass putting his hands to some great games like Max Payne, Control, and Quantum Break. Someone get that man the money he needs… please!
Continuing on the topic of Remedy, the Max Payne remake has been moved to the production readiness stage. This means physical work is being done to work towards delivering the game. Rockstar and Remedy are teamed up to make this happen so I’m hopeful because both money and talent fields are, in theory, covered. The investor report informing us of this also stated that Control 2 is in the proof of concept phase. I think I’ll be there on day one for control due to how it ended. The day we get a trailer of in-engine footage or, more preferably, gameplay I’ll be glued to the screen.
Gaming Industry Shows Its Volatility
During the pandemic, consumer spent more than plenty of time in their homes resulting in them finding new and different ways to entertain themselves. This made videogames surge in popularity and the investment in the industry followed. According to Eurogamer, citing Jan David Hassles (EA Dice senior game designer) social media, games investment was in the 14 billion range in 2021 and 2022 and TANKED to 2 billion in 2023. This is extremely stunning and surprising. Here I am thinking the time spent gaming in the last 2 years would stick among the larger population leading to more games being made and it’s starting to/is looking like the exact opposite is happening. Throughout the year there’s been major layoff reports one after another with the most recent and prolific being Bungie’s. I won’t go into the details because it’s been well documented and you can find them anywhere, but this is in my opinion, the essence of layoffs in the game industry. Great talent, seasoned talent, new talent, losing jobs, and being stripped away from the medium that allows them to showcase their art. I hope the economy as a whole repairs itself but the games industry specifically (because that’s what I’m interested in) recovers and we can get some really good games.
What I’ve Been Up To…
- Even though I’ve been on a LONG hiatus (long being an understatement) I’ve been playing the most games I’ve ever played in all my years of gaming. I won’t list everything but as of right now I’ll list them by console:
- PC
- Black Mesa
- Red Faction Armageddon (Finished)
- PS5
- Uncharted 2&3 (Finished Both)
- FF7R (Finished)
- Spiderman Remastered
- XBOX
- Starfield
- The Darkness (Finished)
- Project Warlock
- Ion Fury
- Nintendo Switch
- Forgive me Father
- SMT 5
- Like I said I won’t list them all but these are the ones I spend the majority of my time playing. I’ve also been reading manga/books and going to see some pretty decent movies. The content I’ve been consuming has been satisfying, to say the least. Games are cool that’s all see you next week!
36th Gen 