games / Columns

Gaming 3Rs: Cyberpunk 2077’s Revival, The PS5 Heist, More

November 29, 2021 | Posted by Stewart Lange
Cyberpunk 2077 Keanu Reeves

Hello everyone and welcome to the second edition of the current run of the Gaming Rs! Before I say anything else I’d like to thank every single one of you who checked in last week and read the column. I really want to keep evolving and improving so if there’s anything that you want to see from me then let me know! I have a few ideas for extra features, maybe mini-reviews, a “what I’m playing” feature or maybe even a mini return of Ask 411 Games? Comment below if any of those would be interesting to you!

In the meantime though, let’s get into it this week and run down the Right, wRong and Ridiculous in the world of gaming!

COMMENTS

Since I have had some, it’s going to be nice to recap your comments! Last week we discussed Epic Games, Phil Spencer condemning Activision and the GTA remasters!

First, PocketCommie and Lord Regal had kind words for me.

Glad the column is back. Always a fun read.

A welcome return for the column. Great to see.

Genuinely means a lot to see comments like this! I hope to continue providing you with a weekly fluff piece for a long time, and if you enjoy it then even better!

D2Kvirus has some simple but honest words for us.

Once again, as always, #FuckFortnite

As it got a decent number of upvotes, I’m going to say that most people agree. I’ll let my silence speak for me.

With the Xbox news we had both sides of the argument from Jed Shaffer, 411 legend Jeremy Thomas and F1E3F1Y (that was tough to type but I managed).

Welcome back! (Thanks Jed!)

For me, Phil Spencer gets a wRong, for saying Microsoft was “evaluating [their] relationship with Activision/Blizzard”. BULLSHIT YOU ARE. No way is Microsoft and X-Box going to take any sort of action to cut ActiLizzard out of the console. They may be dismayed and disgusted by what has happened, but to say you might take action? No, you won’t, and don’t pretend like you are, Phil. No way are you going to cut off the company that makes Call Of Duty.

Jeremy replied-

That gets a Right for me for one reason. Sure, Xbox won’t cut off Activision, but publicly suggesting they might puts additional pressure on Activision to deal with the situation. The way that some stockholders quickly jumped on board the “Kotick needs to step down” train is evidence of that.

I still don’t think Kotick will go, but Xbox saying something like that is the kind of thing that people need to keep doing to make it even a remote possibility.

F1R3F1Y also added-

Indeed, words are cheap. Let us see some actual action, then we will start to believe.

I agree with both sides. I put the news initially in the Right column because it just feels refreshing for this behaviour to actually be getting called out for a change. It does bear repeating that without action there’s only really smoke and there’s not really a way that Call of Duty or other massive Activision games get blacklisted from the consoles but every journey starts with a step and I’d rather be optimistic than not.

Speaking with first steps, lets get this week started with the Right, wRong and Ridiculous gaming stories of the week!

 

THE RIGHT

The right side of gaming this week unexpectedly comes by way of CDPR, who have suddenly seen Cyberpunk 2077 shoot up the Steam charts and finally it appears we’re getting the game we should have done all along. “But Stewart, it’s taken them a year to get the game to a launch worthy place!” I hear you declare, but please bear with me. I decided to make this the Right this week as Cyberpunk does seem to have become something of a cautionary tale to developers and having it hit the headlines again this week seems to have fanned the embers somewhat as a reminder to the industry what not to do. The issues Cyberpunk held at launch lost Projekt Red all the goodwill they had built up with the Witcher 3 but what seems to be the case this year is that, Farcry 6 aside, we seem to be getting shorter reveal windows. Even with Farcry in mind, after it’s delay they didn’t give a date at all until around 3 months before launch- late for a Triple A reveal. If Ubisoft have learned a lesson then I think that’s as big a deal as any. If Cyberpunk becomes a precautionary tale for launch dates and as a result we get reveals with a shorter time to wait before getting our hands on the game, then I’m 100% in. Plus if you struggled through it at launch it’s probably time for another playthrough- in working condition it’s a seriously good game indeed. Maybe in another life we’d have had a generation defining title rather than an asterisk against a developer that has never had one against anything it’s ever done.

 

THE WRONG


The wRong this week sees us on the wrong side of the law in Tokyo, where a man has been arrested for the theft and reselling of approximately $51,000 worth of games consoles that were set for delivery. Having been entrusted with the rather high value delivery by “an acquaintance,” our hero sold the cargo to several game shops around the city before being apprehended where his crime spree came to an end. Playing out like what I can only imagine as an early Grand Theft Auto mission, there is yet to be a link revealed between the unnamed perpetrator and the original delivery driver. Having slept his adrenaline crash off in Internet cafes, where they supply free drinks and even some have showers, it’s now alleged that most of the money was gambled away on horses and will be unrecoverable for investigators. I almost switched this into the Right category for the week but it just shows you kids, crime doesn’t pay. But then, assuming you’re being asked to deliver a van full of PS5s and Switches, neither do jobs. Assuming of course you ask a vagrant to do that job for you. Maybe the fact that the Japanese black market suddenly has a flood of PS5 consoles right in time for Christmas, this might have a positive effect on the stock demands in the UK and US. Roll up and get a laundered Playstation, while stocks last.

THE RIDICULOUS

The Ridiculous this week is actually rather heartwarming, but the more you delve the more it fits the category rather neatly. In the year 2000, as Microsoft was setting themselves up for the launch of the original Xbox, the rather important point of launch date games came up. Given the fact the company were taking their first steps into the gaming market, they looked to a company that had revolutionised the industry- maybe even were responsible for it existing at all after the 1980s. That company was Nintendo. But, rather than seeking a working relationship or some sage advice, Microsoft decided to write a letter to Nintendo asking them for a price. The meeting was leaked earlier this year but as Xbox celebrated it’s 20th anniversary, more details of the fabled meeting between the two giants have come out. In the hour long meeting, it’s been claimed by Kevin Bachus, the director of third party relations for Xbox at the time, that the Nintendo reps “laughed their asses off” for the duration of the meeting. This must have been disheartening for the US giants but seemingly it was taken quite well by Nintendo, who had big plans for the upcoming Gamecube console. After they wiped their tears and politely declined, the rest is history as the Gamecube became a hit and the Xbox was helped along by it’s own massive exclusive, Halo. Who knows how the landscape would have changed had that gone any differently.

With that I bid you farewell for another week! Let me know in the comments if you’d like anything else from the column! Failing that, have a great week and I’ll see you in seven!