games / Columns

The Gaming Rs: Sony Launches Game Pass Competition, Titanfall Pulled By EA

December 8, 2021 | Posted by Stewart Lange
Sony Playstation 5 PS5

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Gaming Rs, where we look back at the Right, wRong and Ridiculous of the gaming news from the week! As always, thanks for checking in last week and even coming back and reading this! It’s been a super quick week and with the run up to Christmas really gearing up I feel like not a minute has past since I submitted my column last week. So, given the fact we all have lives to get on with lets get stuck right in and run down the Rs this week!

COMMENTS

Last week we looked mainly at Cyberpunk being playable, but also Microsoft revealing they tried to purchase Nintendo back in the day, plus an overlooked story about a Japanese guy hawking tens of thousands of dollars worth of stolen games consoles.

Bishop had probably the view on Cyberpunk I agree with the most, but there was a lot of conversation in the comments about it so thank you! I’d post them all but I can’t in good conscience pad my word count like that.

CDPR fell into the Peter Molyneux trap and learned a very costly lesson.

But that lesson should serve as a wake-up call for an industry that for quite a few years now has been so focused on pushing the boundaries of games, that it has too often failed to release captivating and polished titles.

The last generation didn’t feel like it quite hit things out of the park the way the previous generation did. And the current generation, through a myriad of circumstances, is still struggling to find its footing in a world of supply chain issues and delayed titles.

While limited in scope, that’s part of the reason why the Switch is as successful as its been. It has its niche, it plays to that niche, and ultimately provides consumers with two areas that are key — accessibility and games that are fun.

There’s a reason why so many companies are releasing remastered versions of older games. There’s still very much a market for them. That’s probably more telling than has been widely acknowledged.

That third paragraph is what I’ve focused on, because for me, graphics are only part of a game. Cyberpunk, as an example, looked incredible but the fact the game was lackluster really remains the talking point. While it has charm, Breath of the Wild cannot be called a graphical juggernaut but is considered one of the greatest games of all time. Likewise with Farcry 6- graphically amazing but competely forgettable.

In-Home Tooter and i8mypants respecitively had this to say about the Microsoft/Nintendo situation.

To this day I’ll never understand why neither Microsoft nor especially Nintendo bought Sega when they had the chance. Sure, it’d mean relatively little now. In 2002? Nintendo could’ve potentially locked down 80% or more of the well-known and regarded video game IP’s of younger Gen Xers and older Millenials for a decade or more.

Not really germane to this particular F or F but it’s always something I think about when one of these gaming what-ifs pops up anywhere.

I8mypants replied-

Nintendo only seems to care about its own IPs.

the lack of 3rd party licenses is why i switched from Nintendo to Playstation. i get all the hits and Sony exclusives as a bonus. i adore the Mario, Metroid, and Zelda franchises, but it’s not enough to warrant buying another $300+ system.

no doubt i am in the minority. but i’m okay with that.

i can visit one of my friends who’s a Nintendo fiend if i ever get the itch. :p

I’m the same, although I did own a Switch for a time. It sat largely unused and the exclusives I did own for it never really captured my attention. Zelda and I never got on and I maybe got to the final world or two of Mario Odyssey and got annoyed with a particular part, if I remember right.

I love reading the comments so keep them coming! Let’s take a look at this weeks Rs, though!

THE RIGHT

The right this week comes by way of Sony, who have under the code name Spartacus seemingly set the wheels is motion for their own version of the Xbox service Game Pass. For those of you unaware, Game Pass may be the best deal in gaming, as for a few bucks a month on top of your Gold subscription you get in the region of 100 downloadable games, from indie hits, right through to Xbox exclusive AAA titles like Forza Horizon 5 and the upcoming Halo Infinite. Given the astounding value of the service, it could be argued that this was difference maker between the choice of consoles for some gamers, with some smartly manipulating the Quest system to even pay for their subscription. You can imagine it was only a matter of time before Sony attempted something in a similar vein and it would seem it’s coming in 2022. While we have no specific details as yet, it’s exciting to consider what a Sony equivalent service would look like- given they’re often credited as having the “better” exclusives, but also given the agreements Microsoft already have in place might a Sony equivalent be doomed to appear as a more diluted rip off? Either way, it’s an exciting prospect and another step forward for gaming going towards a subscription model alongside the more traditional methods of physical media and now standard digital purchases.

THE WRONG

The wrong this week is more of a eulogy than a news piece, as it’s been confirmed that Titanfall will no longer be available for purchase by EA. This signals a death toll for what was the first truly massive online shooter of the Xbox One although rather than just turning off servers, the game won’t be on storefront or EA Play at all. While this maybe isn’t too shocking for a 7 year old game, the original Titanfall was something of a landmark in terms of it being a wide release, AAA online versus play experience with no campaign options. While not the first, it was arguably the biggest game of this type at its release and caught a lot of people off guard as the thought of being able to dual control a mech and its pilot on the battlefield being a tantalising prospect but maybe being unwilling to play online. It’s a shame because I personally found Titanfall upon launch to be one of the fairer, more balanced online FPS games but it would seem that was slightly short lived. The game had suffered from hackers and server issues but it just shows the digital path of games is going to lead to an issue one day where legal rights, server support and developer whims will decide what games we can play or not. While Titanfall will survive as physical copies, however worthless they might be, some other games may not be so lucky and we could lose them forever.

THE RIDICULOUS

It’s been a while since we’ve had a “video games are to blame” story, but here we are in 2021 with none other than Fallout 4 at the centre of a controversy following a school shooting in Michigan. Aside from the fact that 3 students being shot by a 15 year old while they’re at school is fully ridiculous, the boy quoted “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” within a Tweet. The link to Fallout 4, you ask? During the Far Harbor DLC, (optional) companion Nick Valentine quips this during one of the crescendo events. While we cannot rule out fully that the quote inspiration did NOT come from Fallout 4, it seems quite unlikely given that it’s been a famous part of the public zeitgeist due to Robert Oppenheimer after the detonation of the first nuclear bomb. The roots of this go back even further than 1945, as the saying is of Hindu origin and is seemingly Oppenheimer trying to make sense of his actions. Anyway- as we go back to the days of violent video games being blamed for the fact a 15 year old can take a gun to school, maybe it’s worth noting that it’s ridiculous this can happen whether it’s because of the 4th best Fallout game, Marilyn Manson or stepdads arsenal of weapons. Thoughts with the victims families.

On that sombre note, it’s time to say farewell to another week in gaming! I finished Farcry 6 this week so I’m back to jumping between a few different games, but hopefully I settle on something over the Christmas period. I’ll be doing some year end stuff over the next month or so, so please tune in and I’ll see you all in seven!