The Road to Cyberpunk: Less than 1 month to go

 By my own rules I can't quote my favourite line up here; but it was a good one!

Yeah, I know that's not the most impressive sounding subtitle but I wasn't really given a choice now was I? At least it seems that from this point on CDPR's hands are well and truly tied and they cannot get out of it; December 10th will be the launch date of Cyberpunk 2077 and that judging by the way all the other titles have been announced, this puts them firmly out of the running for Game of the year 2020. (Still deciding whether or not I'm going to cover the game awards this year, maybe not) To celebrate we had one last Night City wire to send things out with a bang, this one covering the two things we must wanted to hear about (or at least I did, anyway) story and music. Thus allow this to be my last dive into my thoughts on Cyberpunk before the game is out as which point I'll be far to busy to keep updates coming. (Everyone would be too busy to read those updates anyway)

First let me start by saying that I'm honestly surprised by how much detail this video went into in regards to story, they pretty much laid the entire first chapter of the game out for us. (Okay, maybe more the 'prologue' first chapter, but in TV show terms that's still like an entire introduction episode.) Albeit we did know much of the story for a while now thanks to a rather straightforward Steam page which mentioned the 'Chip which contains the key to immortality', now we know what that means and how it has the potential to affect the story. (so turn away if you want to play the story fresh. But if that's your prerogative, I don't know why you're reading this anyway, come back in December.) Now we know that this chip does indeed contain the digitised soul of Johnny Silverhand, and it's his influence which will try and make V destroy the megacorp who created the chip, (not sure why) whom I believe to be Arasaka. Thus the beginning of this quest will likely turn into something of a power struggle between Johnny and V for direction as Johnny tries to coerce the player's body into acts of terrorism whilst the player tries to be rid of him. (Rather antagonistic, no?)

Honestly, as someone who had quite some qualms when wondering what the scope of this story might be, I'm quite happy with what the team has settled on. There's plenty of breadth to go practically any direction with this, and I'm already envisioning some Metal Gear Solid level showdowns between V and Johnny wherein they struggle for control of V's soul, whilst there could be other directions which would be entirely distinct. The promise of a story like this told within gaming is that the narrative could potentially go any which way, and I want to see them all! (Although if there's a chance to have a metaphysical death-fight against Johnny I'm probably going to B-line for that questline, personally, I love all the metaphorical transhumanist stuff!)

Apart from that, this Nightwire really put into focus the importance of Johnny Silverhand as a sort of secondary protagonist, instead of just a drop in sidekick who offers a funny situational quip every now and then. (That being said, one of his more vulgar lines from this event was truly brilliant, I hope there's more in the full game.) Keanu Reeves took the spotlight to talk about his work and I have to say, quite contrary to my original thoughts, I genuinely think he's thrown as much of himself into this as he could. I'll admit that when the initial shock wore off I did slightly role my eyes and go "Star power, eh.", but seeing these brief glimpses of his performance has really put that to rest, I really think he may have instilled the energy and passion to bring this icon of anarchism to life. He needs to have, because I have a feeling that winding ourselves to the heart of Mr Silverhand is going to be one of the big payoffs of the narrative, so it has to be worthwhile.

Aside from that there was some sections about the soundtrack and ways in which the diversity of the situational suite aims to range from location to location. Now admittedly, that alone isn't exactly the most revolutionary thing that we've ever heard out of these conferences, it sort of goes without saying on a triple A project this huge, but it's nice to have that officially confirmed, I guess. Seeing the artists that are working on the official OST soundtrack was also rather interesting, if just for the range of musicians we saw up there. But of course the highlight interviewees were Grimes and Run the Jewels; the former of which encapsulated all of our excitement rather succinctly whilst the latter diffused that balled up anticipation coolly. Needless to say, the soundtrack is really going to make or break the atmosphere of Nightcity and I'm over the moon to see how seriously the team are taking it. Also, it's nice to finally hear why this version of Cyberpunk feels different to the one I'd seen pictured, it was a move from 80's aesthetic to 90's, I could never quite put my finger on it!

As a consummate curiosity hound, I love all the glimpses into the behind-the-scenes tech to make stuff work, and the JALI face animation stuff was just amazing. The last time I remember sound based facial animation tech really standing out to me was back in the Fallout New Vegas Modding days, and this is several hundred steps beyond that. I really does go to show how natural facial animations can look even when handled by an AI, where subtlety and understated movements can sell the illusion. Think the exact polar opposite to Mass Effect Andromeda and that horror-show of a facial suite. Of course, at the end of the day this is still notably inferior to full-facial tracking, as you see from other (smaller) triple A games, but in a manner that I can see myself forgiving pretty quickly. (Heck, I tend to play with subtitles on anyway, I won't notice anything.)

And then there was the gameplay trailer, likely the final trailer we're getting out of Cyberpunk 2077 (at least until the inevitable TV spots) and again it was a delightful visual treat to behold. Taking a sort of condensed evolution upon the 'everything to expect' trailers that Ubisoft makes, (which is funny considering that CDPR literally just copied that formula for the Witcher 3, and now they're subverting it) this is pretty much the perfect trailer to show to someone who has no idea what Cyberpunk is and needs a crash course as to why it should be in their library ASAP. (More marketing teams need to take note, this is how you sell your game!) I'd like to say that I'm not excited, because I've been burnt out of that enthusiasm, but darn it I am. (You keep hurting me and I keep coming back, CDPR.)

Again, this is probably going to be the last blog I make on Cyberpunk until the game releases (excluding one I've already scheduled for next week which isn't strictly about the game itself, so doesn't really count.) So let me take this opportunity to say, my vibes are feeling good about this game, and they've been that way for a while. I'm going to put my weight behind it and say that I think Cyberpunk is going to be the experience that it promises and likely reshape the mould for the industry as it goes. I really hope that's the case at least, else 2020 will have really taken all joy from the world and left us in perpetual darkness. Be the light at the end of the tunnel, CDPR, please! (Oh, but no pressure or anything...)

Nintendo really needs to sort itself out

Everyone disliked that

So the other week or so back there was this little hubbub around some person from the Stadia team who thought it made the utmost sense for streamers to spend their money on acquiring licenses before they provided free marketing; because otherwise they were acting like a bunch of freeloaders. Now obviously all that really did was lionize everyone with critical thinking skills to point out all the ways that would be literal self sabotage for these companies to engage in, but in doing so we were reminded of another game company who had, once upon a time, implemented exactly that thing which Alex was talking about. Because, you see, Nintendo were once in the position of people with no scruples that would crack down on anyone playing their games unless they agreed to some archaic sponsorship program that most people just laughed in the face of. The result was that during the launch of their last console, The Wii U, whilst everyone was confused about what it even was, Nintendo was actively strangling all free coverage of the console and it's games from the public. You'd think the abject failure of the Wii U would then prove a point of learning for Nintendo.

But that would be hoping a little too hard, it would seem, because Nintendo have recently revealed that they very much intend to stretch their muscles over simple issues that could easily be resolved by cooler minds, that's just their prerogative nowadays. Though they've recently abandoned the Sponsorship program, realising that was a literal self assassination, they are eager to prove to the wider gaming world that they still aren't ready to be taken seriously through more juvenile antics. There's so many reasons why Nintendo are considered backwards, and almost all of them come back to policy choices that the Japanese offices implemented and the international offices have broken their backs over rectifying. Though I think this latest scandal is going to require a little more than an apology in order to smooth over considering the damage it left for consumer trust. I certainly would be thinking twice about streaming in these folks shoes.

If you've not heard, then buckle up because we've got a total of two incredulous stories coming our way out of the Nintendo space, and one I absolutely do not understand one as much as the other so you'll have to bear with me. First lets start with the one I do understand, and this one is probably the more comprehensive; (Although, you know, only if you are accepting of absolute incompetence) Nintendo went around on a copyright spree striking down those that streamed 'Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity' early. Now I know what you're thinking; "they're well within their rights to do that, no? What were these streamers doing playing the game early, how did they even get it?" Well, as it turns out, they got it early because the game released; apparently Nintendo of Japan are new to the concept of 'timezones' and no one thought it prudent to remind them.

The other big issue troubling the Nintendo fan world is, again, something I have trouble understanding, but do try to bear with me for a while. So tournaments have been a culture that's taken a hit due to the pandemic, as folk aren't allowed to meet together, but some people have found ways around this by hosting 'at home' tournaments utilising infrastructure to accommodate for that in the fairest possible way. A old-school smash tournament was using a service called 'Slippi' in order to emulate Smash Bros. Brawl because it would hold online framework which obviously no longer functions in the original game, and in doing so found themselves hit with a cease and desist from Nintendo for daring to emulate a 12 year old game which absolutely is not generating income for them in today's day and age. (I imagine you can see the issue here.)

So that's two gaffes for the price of one, woowee, Nintendo sure knows how to stack them! First there's the debacle with the release time zones, harmless enough as a concept but still indicative of supreme incompetence on Nintendo's end. What is less harmless is the way that Nintendo went after people, throwing around weighty copyright claims that have the potential to harm one's entire Twitch or Youtube Channel, all for providing free coverage of an anticipated title. Quite honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this has a blowback on the amount of folk willing to cover a Nintendo game, and rightly so! Apologies should be the absolute least of their actions, there needs to be active attempts on Nintendo's end to rectify these bans and get this mark expunged from records, that is the only way in which Nintendo can start to win back support.

Then there's the 'Slippi' issue and this one is a bit more nuanced, because whilst this is another undeniable screw up on Nintendo's end, this is also part of their antiquated policy and there will be no walkbacks on this matter. Nintendo want it to be known that they are deathly against Emulation, because it hurts their own business of reselling old games at a premium, thus they'll defend that platform until they legally cannot anymore. It's archaic, draconian and especially moronic given the climate we currently live in, where people are making the utmost through concessions in order to celebrate their fandom of Nintendo products, but we're arguing against the money here and that will never end up in our court. As sad as it is to say, I don't see the Smash brawl tournaments happening this year, Nintendo just don't have that empathy within them.

To be clear, I have no personal gripes with Nintendo for either of these issues, I come from them purely as an outsider looking in, which is why it should be a little telling how I find it hard to see Nintendo's point of view in either case. The first case is inexcusable and they deserve to feel like idiots for messing it up, whilst the second is a butting of heads that was entirely uncalled for. We've know for a while that Nintendo tend to get overzealous whenever one of their big brands is threatened, but this was merely an emulation job done in order to hold a tournament, this was supposed to be positive press; something which I feel like companies becoming increasingly blind to the larger they grow. I know it's insane to imply that Nintendo should have turned the other cheek in this case, (Why change the habit of a lifetime, right?) but given the reasoning behind it, a literal global pandemic which made this event impossible without emulation, guess who ends up looking like the unequivocal badguy here.

Nintendo are grandfathers to the gaming industry, one of the few still around after the trials of the past decades wiped most of the others out, but that doesn't mean they aren't capable of updating their polices. Much of the reason why Nintendo isn't taken as seriously as Sony and Microsoft comes from the absolute disdain with which Nintendo views modern media, and whilst that remains the case these executives are only managing to actively harm their own bottom line. So many of these industry's problems could be solved by high level reshuffling, to the point where it isn't even funny. Poor form, Nintendo, poor form.

Character themes; Storytelling done interesting!

Music is my weapon

I am not a music blog, that much should be pretty much apparent by now, and that likely comes a distinct lack of a music background. I mean sure, I've played a few instruments throughout the years (about 3) but never found one that I was truly serious about and likely never will. In fact, the most music exposure I've had lately has been me teaching myself how to play the keyboard during all this extra in-doors time we've been having this year. (It's fun, I can play most of 'Dearly Beloved' now, the ending always slips always from me.) But none of that makes me ineligible from enjoying and appreciating great music whenever I experience it, and how could I not? Music is everywhere! We hear it blasting out of radios in our cars or out of other peoples', blaring down on us during grocery shopping, assaulting us on every advert everywhere; and sure, most of it is so generic that we forget it within the hour, but sometimes you get a great song that can really make your day and/or elevate your current experience. Music can do that, thus as you can imagine when it comes to the way that music is used in gaming I'm always hyperaware whenever I hear something great which really hits me in a way I wasn't expecting or am inspired by.

Quite a while back you might remember me writing a piece about the forbidden love I shared with 'Dragon's Dogma' which ended with an incredibly rudimentary analysis of it's theme, which just goes to show you how much I pay attention to this stuff despite having literally no idea what in the heck I'm talking about. And gaming is such a ripe ground for music and it's potential applications that there are innumerable opportunities for me to totally embarrass myself, so that's exactly what I'm going to do today. You see, I've understood for a while now that some of the most prevalent uses for Orchestras in the modern age has been in the gaming world outside of concerts, thus gaming has been awash with increasingly more epic soundtracks throughout the years. But rather than undertaking the herculean task of reviewing OSTs, I want to take a more nuanced approach at a single aspect of video game soundtracks; the humble Character theme.

'Theme', obviously, is a term used to describe a common idea permeating through a piece of work or several, and in terms of music it's usually used to describe a piece of music which is associated with a specific event, location or character. In art they exist as an extension of the storytelling in portraying the sorts of ideas that are difficult or impossible to express through dialogue or even visual stimuli. I'm talking emotions like Joy, Sorrow, Guilt and Anger; but it can even extend further to express traits such as Innocence, Duplicity or Insanity. Music can be such a powerful tool when used effectively, as it speaks this sort of universal language that our minds just respond to without even really understanding what's going on. A skilled storyteller can use this to make the audience feel a certain way without their knowledge, setting them up for a powerful story beat or emotional send-off. In fact, I think that character themes are the most rewarding of all types of musical themes.

That's because a Character Theme needs to achieve a number of things; it needs to be elucidating, reflective and versatile, (Not all the times, admittedly) it needs to be the sort of thing that can play over several different points in the story and fit the situation, as well as be distinct enough to wrestle the attention of the audience and let them know that it's this character's turn to take the centre stage. And a powerful enough theme can exist beyond the character itself and echo as a mere memory which evokes all the emotions you once associated with them. This is the sort of thing that I live for as a lover of entertainment, and anyone who's ever picked at my Youtube music recommendations or even my plain playlist can attest to that. (I've listened to 'Stardust Crusaders' so many times it's the theme tune to my dreams now.) But as fun as it would be to break down 'Il Vento D'oro' and all the ways it's one of the greatest themes of all time, I should probably keep on brand with gaming for the time being. (We can explore The Golden Wind at a later date)

If I think back to one of the most evocative and memorable characters in gaming they are almost always synonymous with a sound, and that can either be just the sound of their voice or the theme that accompanies them. I think that one of the best examples of this could be one character who recently had her theme officially remastered, Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII. A track that's almost as memorable as the game which spawned it, Aerith's Theme never fails to kindle fond sorrow in it's romantic yet lonesome tunes. I've always found that the disparity between the sweeping orchestra and the single instruments were really powerful in conveying the true isolation that Aerith, being one of the literal last of her kind, endures. It's a side of her that you rarely see through the course of the narrative, masked by her inherently cheery attitudes, but one which you hear nonetheless through this tune. It's also a truly fantastic piece of music that deserves all the recognition and appreciation that it enjoys.

In stark contrast, yet somehow along the same emotional frequency, and that is the sombre track known as Gwyn's Theme. Situated in the notoriously esoteric Dark Souls franchise, 'Gywn, Lord of Cinder' has a slightly more important role in the Dark Souls franchise as in itself it should elucidate the listener to another layer of the story, however sleight. The Dark Souls franchise is full of call backs and rhythming phrases in their music alone, but I think most can agree none do so more memorably than this one Piano theme. A masterpiece of simple complexity, Gwyn's theme forsakes the large orchestras and the bellowing choirs in favour of two simple pianos immediately bringing the player in for an intimate moment to this intimate duel. One piano plays this relentless and desperate rythym whilst the other cuts in with this beautiful but shrill melody. Of course, anyone familiar with the Story of Gywn will know how this reflects the god-king's determination to preserve the First Flame from which birthed his entire legacy. Everything he has ever worked towards is dependant on keeping this flame alive, which is challenged by nature itself as the flame is doomed to die. By the time you reach him you've stripped his lords of their souls and am merely facing off against an iron-willed yet hollowed man who's last prevailing desire is to protect the flame until he breathes his last.

But that's not all, because I want to look at Dark Souls once again in order to pick out a mostly different (with emphasis on 'mostly') character theme in 'The Soul of Cinder', the final boss of Dark Souls 3. Here is a theme that lays on the scale and drama, even kicking off will a church bell and deep choirs to make you instantly aware of the gravity of this foe you're facing. But beneath all of that there's this vicious and unpredictable string section that's fast and sharp in a way that captures this sense of serious danger. Once more you are facing off against a single huge enemy, hardly a sight for sore eyes in the Dark Souls world, but with the horns and Church-esque thematic touches there's this sense that this Soul of Cinder is of more consequence than perhaps anyone you've ever faced. And that's because the Soul is a deific representation of every single previous Lord of Cinder who has ever linked the flames. (I.E. every single past player of Dark Souls 1 and 2) Funnily enough the gameplay also tells a bit of the story here, as The Soul's entire moveset is based upon player abilities and animations in order to make the comparison more apparent. But all that merely covers the first half of the theme, because there is a distinct difference for the rest of it. For the second phase of the fight there is a moment wherein the theme grows higher than it has ever done before (coinciding with the Soul of Cinder calling upon his second half bar) and at the pinnacle the track morphs into a shade of that same shrill Piano melody from Dark Souls 1. (the one representing Gwyn) This also marks a trend toward the track becoming a lot quieter and more solemn, mirroring the way in which this fight is no longer against all the Lords of Cinder, they've been beaten, but now it's a fight against the one Soul more stubborn than all of them, that of Gwyns. Again, the gameplay reflects this as the Soul's moveset literally becomes Gwyns, providing an incredibly powerful call back through merely the musical theme and the gameplay; for reference: this is one of the reasons why I consider Dark Souls the pinnacle of video game storytelling potential.

And finally I want to mention a very different character theme in just about every fashion, although that doesn't mean it isn't an epic, just in an entirely different manner. I'm talking about 'Pledge of Demon' from Yakuza 0. There's less of a narrative within the music with this one, but the theme still exists to colour in the image of one of the game's more enduring characters, the Dojima Family Lieutenant, Kuze. Rather contrary to the classical influences that make up Dark Souls, 'Pledge of Dragon' features harsh and relentless electric guitars, drums and just some brilliant production tricks thrown in there to spice things up. Quite simply, it a theme that conveys this power and anger to it, perfect to accompany the man who will "tough it out to the end", as Kuze himself preaches. Rather then a elucidation upon a side of this character we may not see too often, 'Pledge of Demon' is a reinforcement of everything that Kuze claims to be, fitting as he is one of the most upfront and straight villains in the game, but in way that absolutely plays to his strength. A strong theme for a strong character.

Those are just a few of the character themes that have been playing over and over in my head for the past couple of weeks, but of course there are so many more like them. If I didn't find the lyrics so ear scrappingly cringey, I might have even mentioned 'Bury the Light' or any of the newer Sonic themes. (I could have written an entire blog on the way that 'Big Arms' portrays both the hero and villain in the story. Okay, maybe just a couple of paragraphs, but they would be passionate paragraphs!) I think character work is so of the most interesting and most diverse tasks that a storyteller can embark on, and when that collides with music I just find it utterly fascinating. I'll be sure to keep my ear out for any more instant classics and maybe even create a sequel blog, who knows.

SEGA Arcades in trouble

 And like that; he's gone.

Arcade machines are some of most beloved parts of gaming history that folk just refuse to leave behind. Even in the modern age of phones with the capabilities to outstrip previous gen game consoles and smart fridges running DOOM, there will always be that dedicated audience for the old fashioned fun of hobbling down to the arcade in order to play games blockier than Minecraft on a machine that's bigger than your toaster. (In fact, the real dedicated players even lug these machines home so that the inconvenience can be closer than ever!) A lot of gaming's most heartfealt and longstanding traditions date back to these days, including a lot of early monetisation-hungry tips and tricks that we have since been completely eclipsed thanks to the tireless avaricious efforts of modern day developers. (Bless you, EA/Activision, you're keeping the classics alive.) But what if I was to tell you how that piece of living gaming history was in danger of being lost to the annals of the long-lost past? Would you be surprised? Because I was surprised that there's still arcade shops at all...

Yeah, as you can likely deduce, arcade machines were never really my idea of 'iconic representatives of gaming'. I've played a couple in my day but there were so many other places to play these sorts of games and the hands-on experience soon was outdone by the Nintendo Wii anyway so one might wonder; what's the point? Well I'd imagine there's something unattainable about the sort of nostalgia that those old machines provide for those who were active for their heyday, personally I lack that connection, so it should hardly surprise anyone to hear that I'm immune to those charms. But for those who drift asleep dreaming of the old Arcade cabinets there will always be the familiar hum of those antiquated machines to serenade your dreams. (I assume they hum, I haven't played an arcade machine for literally over a decade.)

However, it is undeniable that niche industries such as Arcade machines are some of the one's that operate on a dime's edge, to the point where they have to rely off of repeat business and familiarity to make their day-to-day profit. That's just the way these sorts of business' operate. It is a dangerous world where all it takes is one major disruption in order to throw your entire way of doing things into significant doubt, thus you're likely already picking up where I'm going with this before I even say that the Covid pandemic has ravaged Arcade machine businesses. It makes sense, doesn't it? Having people meet in a crowed environment in order to touch the same surfaces as other people doesn't really sound like the sort of thing that'd fly in the modern age. But that makes it no less sad to witness the unfortunate effect on this lesser-touted end of the games industry.

As such, Sega Sammy has taken a huge brunt in this past year and plans to sell themselves out of the business after almost 16 years in operation. (What a shame.) Sega Sammy is, to my knowledge, the name given to the merger of Sega and Sammy entertainment which combined both company's supremacy for the 'amusement industry'; which basically covers arcades and Pachinko machines. So perhaps in some way I'm not overly distraught at this news, (Me and Pachinko machines have a very fraught past in that they went for the only thing in this world that I love and I'll never forgive them for it) but I do mourn what seems to have been a popular industry in Japan. Whereas in the rest of the world we have barely any Arcades aside from curio shops, over there remained something of a haven for Arcade culture and it's sad to see that die.

Or rather, wither, because whilst those industries have been fraught with massive closures and loses, no one's pulling the plug quiet yet. SEGA Sammy is selling their stake in the operations to Sega entertainment (Marking around 20 billion Yen in losses) so whilst there will undeniably be a cutback in the number of machines around the place perhaps there's a little hope in future once all this is behind us. (That's certainly the sort of hope that movie theatre chains are holding out for.) But it's foolish to pretend to know what SEGA are thinking about doing with a industry that's literally haemorrhaging money for them right now, we can but imagine that the outlook isn't so bright. (No one quite knows right now.)

It should probably be noted that although SEGA is an undeniably huge name in the industry, theirs isn't the only arcade machine business on the block. It may be a tad presumptuous to tell people to start lighting up a candle in honour of their local Club SEGA just yet, as Taito appear to be holding onto their business so there must be some vague form of hope. Personally, as a gamer with no interest in the arcade scene, I will say I'd be glad if something could be done to preserve this industry, because software preservation has proven to be surprisingly tough for gaming. The last thing we need to lose one of strongest venues of such on the back of this pandemic. It would be a very unfortunate cap off to this whole trainwreck of a year.

I've been wondering about preservation quite a lot recently, and the way in which the inherent growth of technology often stops us from playing the games of the past. Sure we have emulators and remasters to keep the back catalogue alive, but things are never so easy as just throwing on an old Video and watching a movie. Games have to be specifically worked into collections or fitted to work in an emulator and even then you have to teach folk how to work that emulator to begin with, not making it the most accessible software in the world. (On top of that is the legal grey-area which emulators sit within, but let's not get into that can of worms.) Arcade machines seemed like the single most pure way to preserve these games of yesteryear, and now it seems they might be slowly disappearing.

Ultimately I suppose that's just the general trend of industry, some markets will get left behind if they can't adapt and others will replace it. If nothing else this all lends credence to the assumption that console-free systems like Stadia will never fully dominate the gaming landscape, because there's just so many more games out there than those companies are capable of supporting. Maybe given the sombre occasion one might go so far as to seek out ROMs of some of these old games to partake in their memory. (Although, from some perspectives that could be seen as literally dancing on their graves) Oh well, that's what I'm gonna do anyway.

Avengers is now officially a loss

 Avengers disassemble!

'The Avengers' is a multibillion dollar property in the entertainment medium, and that is a mathematical fact. Say anything you want about Super hero movies, but the past 30 odd Marvel movies have proven that audiences are looking for the sorts of stories that they can become invested in for long periods of time over those one shot stories here and there. In some ways I guess you could say that people are going to the cinemas to watch TV shows nowadays, but I wouldn't want to start a debate about something like that with the movie lovers out there. Such is the power of the Avengers name that the two most recent movies baring it, which released one after the other, grossed 2 and 2.7 billion dollars each; that's almost 5 billion raised by only two movies, think about how many executives straight passed out when they heard about those sorts of figures! Kevin Feige, mastermind behind this movie series, has ridden the wave so well that he used it to clamber up from his position as head of Marvel films to head of Marvel altogether and one can only imagine the number of companies just gnawing at his feet like rats to get a chunk of those profits. And yet, with all that sheer power behind the name, Avengers the videogame by popular publisher Square Enix and the talented folk at Crystal Dynamics is now, officially, a financial loss.

Whilst the player numbers that we were seeing for the game, which are still sub 1000, were not promising, there was still no indication that the game itself underperformed. It was announced to be the best selling game of it's month and the second best selling Super hero game of all time, (trailing just behind Sony's Spiderman) but I suppose many of us failed to take into account that this game, as well as Sony's Spiderman, were unique amongst superhero titles as these were very much primed to be blockbusters, which means that normal success wouldn't be enough to break even. Such was proven during Square Enix's earnings call for this quarter whereupon they revealed that the game sold to just over half of what they needed to break even, basically meaning that the venture has cost they somewhere near to 60 million or 40 million US dollars depending on which sources you pull from. (Certainly not the sort of rainfall one would expect.)

To their credit Square appear to be taken it to the chin whilst promising an impending switching of fortunes. They remain stalwart in the fact that players will soon 'return' to the game given all they have planned in events and expansions, because as a famous game director once said "It's not about what you launch, it about what it becomes." (Or something to that effect, I try to forget the drivel out of Todd's mouth sometimes.) But I and many more wonder honestly about the proof behind that assertation, especially when the sorts of events that they are referring to seem absent from their original launch dates. The 'Two Hawkeyes' event has been delayed (Which is a shame because all of 5 people were looking forward to that) and basic game fixing seems to have taken a priority due to the rampant bugs and frame drops which hit basically all platforms. (Although as I understand it, PC got the worst deal) In many ways this whole saga is reminiscent of another 'promising' live service.

Yeah, I'm invoking the name of Anthem once more, but can you blame me? Both games were hyped before launch based on questionable grounds, both presented decent gameplay that buckled under the weight of the systems meant to support it and both titles since abandoned their roadmaps in desperate attempts to fix the mess they shot out the gate. Although in Anthem's case I believe the gameplay itself was slightly better received, whilst in Avengers I've heard serious doubts about whether or not this game has the ability to secure repeat play even if there were solid loot incentives to keep up the play cycle. Anthem has the potential to turn things around, but they've had to retire to a year long (at least) restructuring project to even be in the running for that sort of comeback, whereas Avengers may not even that have that prospect. (Things are grim, to say the least.)

The question must be asked, at the end of the day; what is the cause of this distinct lack of interest in a game baring the biggest name in entertainment? And yes, I've asked this before, but it is a fascinating topic to discuss, is it not? 'Avengers' should be one of those names that qualify under the 'too big to fail' category of brands but that doesn't seem to be the case and it could spell interesting revelations about the way we look at entertainment. If we take this at it's face-most value, perhaps this could be another concrete example of the way that movies and videogames just do not fix in any fundamental fashion. We already know that the process behind telling a videogame story and a movie story is very different, but this has the potential to prove how even beyond that they the very psyche and public zeitgeist differs; which I suppose makes sense given the sort of investment that each medium demands. Watching a movie is decently inexpensive (provided you're careful with concession stands and don't have a family) and takes merely a couple of hours out of your day, games are roughly six times that cost and demand 10s of hours stretched over months from you; maybe that's the sort of equation that these companies should be taking into account more often.

Then, of course, there are the failings of Square Enix's 'Avengers' itself; and those are plenty fold. First is the plain and widely reported fact that the game is buggy; a pretty big turn off nowadays that folk are wise enough to look out for given how many high profile messes have fallen to that trap. (Fallout 76, Anthem, etc.) Then there is the fact that Square couldn't even be bothered to secure the licenses for the Avengers actors' faces, and maybe that was never on the pitching table, but if so then that is a huge missed opportunity on everyone's part. Avengers is more than just a name, it's a brand that is supported by the talent and investment of the actors and actresses in the roles. There's a reason that securing a Marvel movie is so sought after and that's because it can be a career defining role. (And whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up to you) Thus is it any wonder why people are more than a little turned off by the prospect of an Avengers game which feigns a realistic aesthetic yet fails to mimic these famous faces of those heroes? Heck, to be honest the character design is so bad that these don't even look like main characters half the time, how are we supposed to get behind them?

The other problems with Avengers are much more mechanical but equally as difficult to solve. Being a live service, there needs to be some base incentive to return day in and day out, usually to acquire the best possible loot to fit your build, unfortunately there's both not a great enough challenge demanding this gear and not enough cool loot to fuel such a search, leaving most people stuck in those categories. Then there is the gameplay which is fairly mindless and difficult to take advantage of with the limited scope of the enemies in the game. The base story is rather dull, there's not enough bosses to run through over and over again, missions are visually repetitive, objectives are embarrassingly rudimentary; the entire game is just weak in all the most important and basic ways.

And so we're left with a few queries, chief of which being what can be done and is there any hope for the Avengers game? Well I believe there is, though I suspect that Square won't really want to hear it... With the apparent lack of content offered in this game it simply doesn't earn it's premium pricing, however the name and brand is interesting enough to rope in a decent player base if this title were to go free-to-play. And yes, I know that a decently strong monetisation effort would need to be launched to make that worth it, but that's seriously the one way a game as dry as Avengers has a chance in the modern age. Genshin Impact has changed the dynamic for games like these and it's time for Square to shift with the times. But hey, what do I know; I'm only your target demographic...

Mass Effect is back, baby!

 Time to back to the Milky Way, when these games were still good!

After all these years finally, my favourite Bioware franchise is ba- okay maybe not my favourite, but their best space ser- okay not that either. Best modern seri- Nah, 'Dragon Age' has really outstripped them there. Why is it that we want Mass Effect back again? Okay, I'm being a little facetious, Mass Effect has been as much a beloved part of my past as it has been for a great many others, actually going some way to solidify my definition for what makes a solid Science Fantasy world. It's a setting with just enough science in it to seem kind of believable if you tilt your head and squint your eyes, an undeniably epic narrative that set's it's scope so ridiculously high that we're literally talking about the fate of the sentient galaxy and, most importantly, a whole cornucopia of really well-designed and interesting aliens to make the whole affair more interesting. (are you paying attention Starfield?) Even as I heard news of this series and tried to act all aloof and uninterested, all it literally took was that glorified teaser trailer in which new character models were shown off to win me over whole heartedly. I want me some old school Mass Effect.

But what new trailer am I talking about? Well that would be the trailer which was released on N7 day to finally reveal that which the wider gaming audience have theorised to be true for an obscenely long time now, that Bioware have been working on an all-in-one remaster pack for the Mass Effect trilogy. (Talk about the worst kept secret) Following the trend of profiting on your already released content so late that this game is going to come out solidly rooted in the next generation of consoles, 'Mass Effect Legendary Edition' proposes to do the impossible and smoosh together these three humungous games into one affordable package with all the DLC intact. (Would you believe that I still haven't played the Mass Effect 3 Citadel DLC? I actually have some reason to buy this!) Of course, there are still some finer details that we don't know regarding this pack which we can only hope the coming months will elucidate us on, like if the final game has been retrofitted in order to make it so that the multiplayer isn't heavily necessary to get the best possible ending, but I just wanna bask in the glory of the announcement right now, thank you very much.

Rather confusingly, these remasters are said to be headed our way by Spring of 2021, yet the only consoles listed currently for release are of the current Gen. (Which I think can now be considered officially 'Last Gen', no?) The team have promised there will be some targeted upgrades made for the 'next gen' consoles, but it does seem like a trick has been slightly missed in not letting newer consoles have their very own copies. It's just sort of weird for such an anticipated release to come out and then immediate expect it's audience to get on the backwards compatibility train in order to play it. (I mean, I would totally be down for it, it's just a little odd is all.) But even with that sleight blemish I have to admit that the prospect of diving into this adventure once again is more than a little tempting.

The original Mass Effect trilogy is perhaps Bioware's greatest achievement to this day, in that there's a three act epic resplendent with memorable set-piece moments, unforgettable characters, emotional highs and Aliens. Mustn't forget the Aliens. Personally I consider it the watershed moment for Western RPGs where they learnt the ways in which they could define themselves distinctly from their Japanese counterparts. There was choice and consequence, events that would bleed into multiple games and multiple endings realised through slideshows. (Oh those multiple ending slideshows, how I don't really miss you but a lot of other people out there seem to think they're really important so I'll pretend I care too.) I genuinely do believe that every significant Western RPG that has launched since Bioware's first renaissance owes something in it's inception to Mass Effect and Dragon Age; they're an immutable part of gaming history now.

Personally I've always held these games very close to my old ticker. I was first introduced to the franchise through an article in a gaming magazine which remarked in the complexity of the lore, and that was enough to get me interested. (Games back then were almost insultingly straightforward, I wanted something with a bit more substance) Then I found myself lucky when a friend straight-up offered me the first game from their recently acquired collection after remarking that it was a game they probably wouldn't enjoy. And in stark contrast I enjoyed the game tremendously, too much, one might say. I completed the first game in a week. (For those who haven't tried it, that's pretty darn fast considering the amount of side content alone.) Since then I have completed Mass Effect 1 almost as many times as I would a Bethesda game, I'm that helplessly hooked!

Of course, being this familiar with the franchise does mean that I understand a lot of people's concerns when they remark that it's a little strange to include the first Mass Effect in a pack along with the next two. Whilst Mass Effect 2 and 3 are logical escalations from one another, both in story and gameplay, Mass Effect one feels like a messy and like a slightly too-experimental jump into the world of third person action by Bioware. The gameplay is clunky at times and the difficulty levels clearly haven't been balanced, the characters in animation and ability are incredibly stiff during action moments and the talents are either pitiful weak or so essential that your entire gameplay experience will revolve around spamming them. Essentially, Mass Effect 1 had huge gameplay issues that were almost entirely rectified for Mass Effect 2, and many hoped that ME 1 would therefore be granted a slight remake for such a collection pack. If that is the case, however, Bioware certainly aren't telling anyone about it. (Almost definitively indicating that it most certainly is not the case.)

However, Mass Effect Legendary Edition isn't the only 'surprise' that Bioware had up their sleeve for N7 day, because the team also took the time to reveal (once again) that they are working on yet another Bioware game and they haven't abandoned the franchise the same way that they abandoned both the DLC and plain patching plans for Andromeda. (Good thing we've all forgotten about that betrayal.) To celebrate this momentous re-announcement, Bioware greeted us all with a single picture representing the new game and yep... that sure is some concept art... I don't know what we're really supposed to say about the picture, there's nothing identifiably Mass Effect about it whatsoever and, in fact, with the 'whole wide-open tundra' and 'twin celestial bodies' vibe going on this sort of looks like Tatooine from Star Wars. You guys are going to have to pull a little more out of your hat if you wanna charm this old lug.

But that's all in the future and this event was all about unashamedly cementing ourselves in the past like the nostalgic windbags we all are deep down. (I guess not so deep for me, eh.) For now we have opportunity to entwine ourselves in the war against the Reapers whilst feigning complete ignorance to the mediocre sequel series that is desperate to start budding itself despite literally showcasing nothing thematically unique about itself. (Deep breaths, focus.) In many ways I see this as an impending reunion with old, beloved, friends; the likes of which makes me smile to think about. To see Liara, Rex, Mordin and, most importantly, Garrus, again, is a late Christmas gift I could have never anticipated, and am already thankful for. Good move Bioware, if severely delayed.

Like a Yakuza

 Say that again!

Ryū ga Gotoku, (or Yakuza) it's become a little bit of an obsession for me in the past year as you may have noticed, to the point where I'm finding myself thinking back on it almost weekly. It's already entered that state of fond recollection in my mind, with the rosy-haze of a nostalgic dream, and I've only just finished it a few months back. I even started picking over my thoughts on it during my Dark Souls time, and you have to have something darn interesting on your mind if it can cut into Dark Souls time. (Either that or you're procrastinating because you've just realised how stupid it was to mount a low-armour run now that you've made it to 'Ornstein and Smough'. I did beat them, but it took a long while.) I think it's safe to say that I'm absolutely enamoured with Yakuza 0 and consider it to be one of the most understated masterpieces of the last generation. Although it's surprising to me to say that, as understated as I consider it to currently be, that's nothing compared to the levels of obscurity the series apparently suffered under before 0. In fact, in many ways Yakuza 0 was the game which saved the entire franchise for the West, and it all comes down to the localisation.

I've spoken a bit about localisation before in my blog about 'Subs vs Dubs', but essentially it's the work that goes into making the content of the game understandable to overseas audiences who perhaps don't speak the native language of the game. Cyberpunk 2077's official Youtube has uploaded an extensive video going into their localisation efforts for Russian, (No, I don't know why they did that, they just did) so if you want a glimpse at the nitty gritty of these sorts of works then I recommend you watch that. But to summarise, localisation is about more than just translating the subtitles and calling it a day. Just as with translation there's a decent amount of interpretation and even remodelling of the text in order to strike a cord that matches the original with an entirely different audience. Essentially, I'm saying that there are times when a direct translation would elicit a different reaction over a complete restructuring or remodelling, and it's up to the localisation team to figure out where that sweet spot sits.

Inverse recently published an exhaustive article going into the way in which Yakuza 0 saved the series and even touching base with the localisation team to talk. (Which is a great read, by the way.) And I wanted to touch on my personal experience with some of the topics that they mention. For one, I absolutely understand the problem which the author highlights with the Yakuza franchise, "the lack of an easy elevator pitch". If I were to have anyone to recommend games to, I think the best I could do would be to say it's like Saints Row 2 but crazier and better. But even then the comparison is muddy and weak at best. How do you really get to selling a franchise that is as defined by it's wacky antics as by it's melodrama and even the odd bout of genuine emotion? It's like a great anime perfectly captured in game-form, only with somehow less gloating and more fighting. And as I struggle with these comparisons I start to see the issues that a marketing team would have marketing this game across the world where people haven't even heard of it.

According to the article, Sega themselves had reached a point where it was looking grim for the Western future of this franchise, people just weren't buying these localisations enough to justify their existence. And for my part I suspect there may be a few reasons behind this, but I feel they all link back to a central idea: a distinct lack of exposure. Take me, for instance, someone who's heavily invested in the gaming landscape, back when I was into gaming magazines I never read a single article pertaining to Yakuza excluding a single article which referenced it as an example of a fighting game. (Which, again, is a bad categorisation. Just because it's a game with fighting that does not make it a fighting game.) I genuinely had no clue what these games were about and my older brother had actually played some, he couldn't even really explain what they were to me. (But then again I was pretty young at the time, he probably just didn't want to.)

Nowadays the world has changed and Yakuza isn't just recognised in the West, but praised heavily; and rightly so. One man who apparently doesn't feel comfortable taking credit for that is Scott Strichart, who is the localisation producer as Sega, as he remarked "A good localization is not gonna win you points, but a bad localisation loses points." To which I have a direct response, at it would just so happen. You see Scott is right, and wrong. A decent localisation isn't going to stand out to anyone except those with interest in such things like me, but I am being absolutely honest with you that there were times during Yakuza 0 when I literally threw myself back in my chair and said "This localisation kicks ass!" No joke and I'm not pandering, that is the absolute truth. (I think I even mentioned it in my review, you can look it up for proof!)

Now I've endured all kinds of localisations and truly bad ones are usually a relic of the past. Past Yakuza games, for example, where context got kind of muddled and a bit of a reputation was developed for the translations being unfaithful. The team back then experimented with getting some big names for the english VO, including Mark Hamill, but its hard to really get into this inherently Japanese games when simple custom is ignored such as the way Kiryu seems introduce himself by his first name, Kazuma, wherever he goes. (That's not right.) In fact, that particular pet peeve still haunts me to this day, because the recently released Steam version of Persona 4 Golden does the exact same thing, even when I have the Japanese voice track on and can literally hear the voices saying the second name. (It's nitpicky but infuriating! "He did not say 'Yukiko', he said 'Amagi-chan'")

Yakuza 0 has no English VO, which means all the weight of the translation effort has to go into the phrasing of the English text and that is where this localisation team blew me away time and time again. What they managed to capture, more than anything else, was character; and when you're dealing with a cast as crazy as this one, character is everything! Let me feel that bitter pride pouring out of Kuze with every exchange, the sleaze oozing off of Awano's cocky drawl, the nigh-on-perverted mania seeping out of Nishitani's every delighted exhale. The pitch-perfect performances and diamond-strong writing prepares the dish, but it's the localisation team who delivered it without fail and completely intact, fresh off the stove. Thiers is work that can be easy to overlook, but if you've never noticed a localisation effort for it's quality before then I implore you: let Yakuza 0 be the first to show you a bona fide masterclass in the art.

Yakuza 0 was a great game, and it's success has pretty much single handily revived the Yakuza franchise over here. In it's wake 2 Yakuza games have been treated to full remakes in order to bring us Western fans up to speed, and we've even been treated to the release of 'Yakuza: like a Dragon' over hear with a full English voice track. (I mean, I'll ignore it for the Japanese track, but it's an option!) The next step is, of course, a simultaneous world wide release, but that's a big step to take that (given how 'Like a Dragon' just came out) Sega won't have to deal with for a while yet. But until then I can smile to myself in the knowledge that a spectacular game franchise that deserves it is steadily gaining the recognition that has been absent for oh so long. Maybe there is a little justice in this world.

Uh oh, Godfall sucks

 Allegedly...

The PS5 is finally among us, which means that the age of the launch titles has now officially begun, and these are always interesting times as we see the deluge of games that touch upon what gimmicks the next console can do and see if it's interesting enough for future developers to capitalize upon. (Basically the difference between PS' Six-axis and Xbox Kinect's voice commands.) And right away I can say that from what I've seen, Bluepoint's Demon Souls' remake looks absolutely gorgeous. That seems slightly weird to say about a game set in an intentionally dreary and depressing world, but the developers have done such a great job sprucing things up to the point where Demon Souls looks positively delectable. Those moments in the firey world pop so well it gives me shivers. Of course, this is coming from someone who just recently started a playthrough of the entire DS franchise (I'm reaching the DLC portion of 2) so I'm definitely a little biased. As for the other big launch title (Excluding Spiderman, Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty... and Bugsnax, I guess.) Godfall appears to be everything I thought it would be.

Now to be clear with you all, I have not played Godfall. Nor, judging from what I'm seeing and hearing, will I ever, because it appears to be the sort of game built specifically to piss me off. (I'm sorry that I still haven't finished 'Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel', Gearbox, but I hardly find this as an appropriate recourse) As I recap, from the very first trailer I saw of Godfall I remarked on how unremarkable it looked. I don't know why, but literally everything about this game looked out-of-focus and without purpose to me. The shiny textures looked far too clean, thus losing that sense of realism, the visually impressive armours looked overdesigned, to the point where a visual that could have been cool just looks cluttered and impractical, and the dialogue from the trailer was just a single step better than faux gamer talk. (That doesn't make it good, just better than the absolute worst thing imaginable. Not a high bar.)

But that was the past me, the present me can look at the game as it stands and see... I was mostly right. The textures aren't as bad as I remembered, but everything else pretty much stands. Visually, it must be said, the game looks super pretty in that 'it's the next gen so lets bump everything up' sort of way, but graphical fidelity is only half the battle with me, I'm afraid, I need some solid artistic intent too, and I just don't feel it's there. It's strange to say, because all the essential ingredients are there, from the colourful shrubbery to the large glittering courtyards to the epic sprawling dungeons, but all of it just feels so heartless and barren, and worst of all lacking in identity. If you were to take a screenshot of this game and take out the enemies and the player character it would be impossible to tell what game it was, (aside from through the cool next gen resolution) and even the genre would be a little murky. It would look sort of sci-fi fantasy maybe? (Actually, I guess that does sort of describe the game, doesn't it?)

In fact, this game sort of reminds me off titles like 'Killzone: Shadow Fall' or 'Ryse: Son of Rome'; they're these big polished up extravaganzas of visuals and effects which eclipse what the last generation was capable of in a way which makes the audience "ooh" and "ahh", but the substance isn't there to make the game itself stand out. Not to say that either of those games are terrible (they certainly aren't good) but I think you'd be hard-pressed to say that they stood out as particularly memorable games. Killzone had some gameplay issues and story failing whilst Ryse suffered from- well, mostly the same except the gameplay issues were arguably slightly worse and the story was at least enjoyably corny. So does Godfall improve upon either of those game's track records? Apparently not, if the reviewing public is to be believed.

Now before I go any further it's important that I clear up one thing, this game is a live service. (I honestly don't know why I never made a 'live service' tag given the frequency at which I mention them. It feels a bit 'too little, too late' now.) Now if you're a regular game consumer or just spend your time paying way too much attention to every game which comes out because you have literally nothing better to do, then you'll know two things about this game immediately from that fact alone. Firstly you'll know that there's an inherent lack of content at launch which the developers are already promising to start supplementing as time goes on, and secondly that the gameplay has a good chance of being really rudimentary to the point where it's starting to feel like people forgot that Destiny did so well because it's gunplay was literally impeccable. (Why does it feel like these Live Service games are getting worse with practice?) Oh, and both those points you assumed are true by the way, good job, 5 points to Ravenclaw.

This title is built around a hack-n-slash model which has a distinct and troubling lack of ranged combat. (Don't get me wrong, I usually prefer to be up close and personal in games like these but even I understand the importance of combat variety) As for the hacking and slashing, it's perfectly serviceable for a mid-range title from about 5 years back, but when this is a game advertised alongside Demon Souls, you can't stop me from laughing my butt off. Once again the ingredients are all undeniably there, there's a heavy attack, a light attack and some combo potential, but it all just doesn't come together in any manner you'd be able to get behind. I've been looking around and most all the criticism is the same, combat feels repetitive, enemy variety is lacking and... I'm sorry why do all these Live Service games end up all with the same issues as each other? How is that even possible? Maybe life is just a sick play written by George Lucas and his obsession with 'rhyming'. (I hear it's like poetry)

As for the heart of the game, maybe it's the Dark Souls in me speaking but I like to think we see that best reflected in story. I think that the right story has the potential to unite all the fragments of lore into a sweeping great chain through context given the right conditions, maybe not working as a solve all for every problem, but at least providing the glue that holds it all together. And yes, I know that not every story can be this intricately crafted thematic suite which covers the breadth and morality of the tale whilst simultaneously also touching on the gameplay; those are standards a little too high. But even admitting that, gosh does this goes storyline bore me, I mean seriously. I can barely read a synopsis without falling asleep, let alone watching it myself. It's just about a man who wants to 'become a god' with you (their sibling, I think) working to stop them, it's so barren it really feels as though literally no-one cared enough to devote their creative soul to the project. Apart from the concept artists, I think they really tried, they were just a little lacking in direction.

So is it fair to say Godfall sucks? Well somehow it's turned into one of those games that folk out there have really latched onto, so I suppose not. I've even seen reviews that have gifted it in the mid-range tier whilst admitting that the only thing which makes it so is the graphical fidelity, which doesn't quite compute to this guy over here. We are talking about a game here, right? Shouldn't the gameplay, be a priority? (Oh wait, is this secret game reviewer speak! Like how '7/10' means "This game sucks but we're too scared of being denied our access rights to rate this any lower"? Big if true.) I dunno, but if there's one thing I'm taking from this it's that my gut is better at reading things then I initially thought, so I'm just gonna go ahead and do some back patting, don't mind me.

Game Over

Momento Mori

Death. The true final frontier. From the moment we are gracelessly shoved into this bitter unfeeling scape there is but one force that accompanies us all. One that is our promise and inalienable right. One that unites us all from pauper to king. And which, most importantly of all, gives our everything the meaning it demands. That force is death, and it's unquenching thirst is the enemy to all things living. Whether characterised as time, disease or sheer unforeseeable accident, death awaits us all and it is merciless. A reductionist might go so far at to categorise one's entire life as a flight from this inevitability or a surrender to it, whilst an optimist might call it all a play capped off with the perfect flourish. In the end it matters not what you make of it, it will treat you equally regardless. Today, that force claimed a very popular venture, and one which I like to think had it's part in making me continue this daily blog up until this long. (Yes, I started before them, but I felt the encouragement nonetheless.) That venture was Unus Annus, and in their honour I'd like to discuss something of importance under the inconsequential light of video games.

So 'death' is quiet the ending, wouldn't you say? I doesn't get more final than that. (Unless you live in the Marvel universe or DBZ, in which case it's just a mild inconvenience.) Thus I find it interesting how modern game design, at it's best, seems to regard the act as unsatisfying and seeks to usurp it. What I mean is thus, most games since time immemorial have operated on a instantly identifiable premise; you must do this task and should you fail then you will die and the Game will be Over. You've recognised this in Pacman, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and just about every single game you can think of which isn't based on a sport. It just makes the utmost amount of sense because, just as we flee from death in life we feel the need to feel from it in our entertainment; can't get more intense than life and death. Although that hasn't really been the way that things have trended in recent years.

You see, the problem with dying and reaching the Game Over screen in video games is that it never rings with the finality of the real thing, and that's because all one must do is start again. (And ever since 'The Legend of Zelda' they can do that from a save point.) Now the alternative would be a game which you could only play once, but outside of an indie art project that's not really an idea which would fly in the games market. (It would be terrible value for money, if nothing else) Still, the final note loses it's lustre when performed again and again with no variation. Thus in the last couple of gaming decades  there has been a slow, but steady, shift towards over systems which indicate the Game is Over, and funnily enough a pull in the exact opposite direction towards games where only death can end the fun.

Now to be clear, Game Over doesn't always mean death, and it hasn't for quite a while. Pretty much ever since games became complex enough to host different types of objectives there have been fail states wherein underperforming a task can end your run. Take it in Grand Theft Auto when you're asked to follow a target and you accidentally alert them, or Saints Row where you're asked to deliver a car unscratched and within 20 seconds it's a burning wreck in a ditch. Because of the way these activities exist, as none life-or-death scenarios, a new standard needs to be established for what constitutes the Game Over screen. Video game failure can be just as punishing as video game death, stealing from you precious progress, but it somehow strikes even lesser than the faux Death of games, thus general consensus deems this permutation of Game Over 'antiquated'.

From there, let me surprise exactly none of you by bringing up Dark Souls. This is a franchise whereupon Death is a heavy theme in the entire franchise, and in many ways it's the ever elusive final reward, but you will never be granted it. Each time the player dies they are thrown back into the world weaker and frustrated, and this is part of the cycle of the game. The Undead curse drives you to slam your head against the same tasks over and over until they finally give, or you give. (Whichever comes first) In this sense, there is no actual 'Game Over' state in Dark Souls unless you abandon the game altogether, even beating it just immediately shoves players into New Game +. Of course, this is all by design as at the heart of the narrative lies a tale about defying nature and attempting to resist the inevitable call of the end. Rather contrary to it's mechanics, the ultimate lesson of Dark Souls is that all things must end.

On a lighter note, who remembers this little game called Cyberpunk 2077 which is apparently still being made somehow? Apparently, sources have claimed that the design philosophy of this game is leaning towards a relatively new trend in open world game where only death can stick you with a Game Over. This means that should you ever fail a task or kill someone you weren't meaning to, the game will go on and the story will adapt to your screw up, encouraging players to live in a world of their consequences. This sort of approach to Game Design does have the effect of making the game flow more nicely and that story feel that extra bit more dynamic (being able to effect the narrative with more than just dialogue boxes is always a plus) but there's certainly a lot of additional pressure involved there as well. Everyone's aware of how stressful it feels to live with one's own consequences.

Than there are the game wherein Death itself is not the end but the finality of it is not removed. Typically we see this in game wherein the player controls a team because there one can feasibly be killed without halting the entire Gameplay experience. Of course I'm talking about games like Shadowrun and X-Com, but the most recent example of this might be Watch_Dogs Legion. We call this phenomena 'Permadeath' and it's a concept wherein the player assumes the role of an entire team, so that the mistakes they make can play out in their entirety whilst the survivors live with the guilt. Oftentimes these can be the most intense games as misfortune can mount and mount with no relief until everyone dies and the game is forced to end. (Scary stuff)

Death is a curiously varied concept in the world of video games, and what it ends up meaning to different games is fascinating to ruminate on. Sometimes you'll find yourself leaping off of tall towers just to get to your destination quicker through death, and othertimes you'll be white knuckled and sweating as the hand of the inevitable looms over you. And all of this isn't even to mention the way that Death can effect a narrative story (although those effects are hardly unique to game stories anyway, so I ignored them) At the end of the day, though, it's failure which gives victory it's sweet taste and living our lives would be pointless if they wouldn't eventually end. So with that note I suppose there's nothing more to say but that you should respect the end, and remember to live, especially in spite of it. Momento Mori.

Is the Xbox Series X exploding?

 Burn, baby burn!

Launching a brand new console is always a risky venture and has been known to come with a few bumps and issues along the way; it's just the nature of these things. Putting together a new piece of cutting-edge (relatively) hardware is all fine and dandy in a bubble, but as those folded-screen phones from last year should tell anyone; there's any number of potential issues in the wild that most absolutely fail to account for. (In the phone's case it was lint.) Thus we've had situations where consoles have launched with errors that hit one day one or a deathly red ring that haunts that entire machine's legacy, and even beyond the mechanical errors there have been straight production errors such as when Nintendo under-manufactured their product and ended up playing right into the hands of scalpers. (That happened... oh that's right; everytime Nintendo have done anything ever.) But in all that time I don't think anything has happened on the scale of what some are alleging from the Xbox Series X, like not even nearly this bad, which should be one's first redflag that something fishy is going on.

So perhaps you've heard the stories and honestly, by now, the story has likely been wrapped up, but at the time of writing this there is some serious shade being thrown towards the Xbox Series X and her ability to... well... not explode. You see, circulating around Twitter there has been an image of an Xbox Series X literally engulfed in smoke as it pours out of every chamber like an overpriced kettle. I mean it looks bad, like the nasal cavity of a Dragon who's just finished a Phaal Curry extravaganza meal, there's steam just about everywhere. Needless to say, this isn't really the sort of thing any console should be doing, it's possibly the worst example of a system malfunction possible. It's so crazy it's almost comical, and almost defiantly fictional. 

You see, whilst the image of a machine literally spewing balefire and brimstone from the pits of hell looks really impressive, it doesn't really make any sense when you think about what you're working with. The Xbox Series X is a computer, one that isn't even liquid cooled, so where would all this billowing smoke be coming from? This isn't some car which might pop a gasket and break down, (I'm not a car guy, I don't know if that even makes sense) this is a boring old computer, malfunctions look like an error message screen. The worst I get to this day is a sputtering sound out of my machine whenever I want it to read the license for the game that I've already downloaded and instead it treats me like I'm a pirate who somehow magicked this data into my machine with the power of tech wizardry. (No explosions yet, maybe I should keep trying.)

 In order for an Xbox to seriously display the sort of symptoms that this viral tweet is suggesting the actual motherboard would have to be on fire; and how in the heck could that have happened? Electrical fires wouldn't even be this pronounced, this is silly. Perhaps with liquid cooling systems there might be a little malfunction there that could make this effect, though I'm struggling to figure out how such a situation could get so bad. (Although I'm no technician, perhaps it makes perfect sense to some folk out there) And as if it needed to be done, some outlets went the distance of actually sticking a vape in the box and observed how the effect was identical to the image, what a surprise.

Therefore I guess this can be summed up as a smear job from some rando out there who wanted a bit of the 'ol Internet fame, but can we talk about how nefarious this really is? Hardware growing pains are something that is the utmost fear of most early adopters, because it appears to happen more often than not. You have the Joycon drift issue for the Switch, the aforementioned Red Ring of death for the 360 and the actual shipping of Xbox One Xs to folk who ordered Series Xs because Microsoft's Marketing team are dumb. If this sort of story had picked up traction without being immediately challenged this might of had an actual effect on the early sales of the Series X people as worried consumers hold off demanding that Microsoft get their act together, all so what: The Playstation 5 would be better situated to a console age it's already in the lead for? It baffles me.

But if nothing else this has highlighted the inherent childishness that still haunts the console fandom to this day. Somehow, despite everything which we have been through as a society, people are still going out of their way to actively try and sabotage another corporate entity and the people who buy their product out of some dystopian worship for a company they bought a box from. And it's not just Playstation people; Xbox folk have been just as dumb in the past too; it all just makes absolutely no sense to me. If it weren't for the literal billions of dollars being thrown around securing console exclusivity for practically every cool game for the next half decade, I'd be tempted to just say 'screw em' and commit to PC. (But then the PC market tends to be ludicrously overpriced too so everything sucks, is what I'm trying to say.)

Completely disregarding the old adage about not getting in a fight in a pigsty, Xbox went so far as to debunk this 'smoking console', as though that were needed for anyone to see. Perhaps in a more enlightened age we could take this as a cautionary tale in how not to believe everything we see from a random tweet on the Internet, but there's been too many identical examples of situations like this over the years for me to believe anything will be learnt. People will continue to believe the absolute first thing that gets shoved into their face and there's not a thing that you or I can do about that stupid fact. Just wait until the Twitter video comes out showing how the Playstation animorphs into a katana wielding death machine if you plug it into your wall; coming soon!

I know that this particular blog might read a little exasperated, but I am. Heck, I can't even get my old Xbox One to play discs and there's people straight lighting their brand new £450 console on fire for Internet points, it just saddens and upsets me. (Not to mention makes me jealous, I wish I was comfortable enough to go pyromaniac on half a grand's worth of hardware) But hey, maybe when the month is over and games actually start releasing on this platforms, people will lose the motivation for stupidity like this. In the meantime however, if mister vape-Box doesn't want his Xbox I'd gladly take it off it hands. (Yes I have no shame, don't you judge me!)