bin.pol.social

mysticpickle, do games w Steam Deck / Gaming News #10

Amazing work as always! Gaming journalism as it should be.

Nintendo really doubling down in the heel turn recently 🤢

PerfectDark,
@PerfectDark@lemmy.world avatar

I think they might have finally beaten their Nintendo curse though: one console is a huge success, the next is a fair failure. The Switch 2 will be a winner, but there’s no way it can be the same cultural phenomenon that the first was (I’d say)

And thank you, you’re very kind to say!!!

swordgeek, do games w What is the best Sea based game out there in your opinion?

I read this as “Sea Bass game” at first.

Honestly, I don’t know.

Kolanaki, do games w What is the best Sea based game out there in your opinion?
@Kolanaki@pawb.social avatar

Ecco the Dolphin. (Genesis)

Sid Meier’s Pirates! (PC)

Subnautica (PC)

Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (SNES)

I would really like something that is a modern Uncharted Waters or Pirates! game. They are both very similar games, and both are also quite old.

OminousOrange,
@OminousOrange@lemmy.ca avatar

I just replayed Subnautica in VR. Such a great game.

jasoman,

Which sid meiers i play the og way back.

Thcdenton, do games w What is the best Sea based game out there in your opinion?
@Thcdenton@lemmy.world avatar

Cold Waters

GoodLuckToFriends,

Best simulator ever. And then you find the mods.

philpo, do games w What is the best Sea based game out there in your opinion?

Definitely not the best, but still worth a mention is “Stormworks: Build and rescue”. Basically a Lego like “build a ship/plane and do missions on the oceans” game - missions nowadays are also including far more than rescue.

mlg, do games w What is the best Sea based game out there in your opinion?
@mlg@lemmy.world avatar

Probably will get some groans but World of Warships is actually modeled very nicely. And yeah its a free to play monetized game, but it is miles ahead of war thunder in terms of actually having fun and playing the game at high FPS and great quality even with a potato computer.

The engine has some cool tricks that really makes it shine with water spraying and sloshing onto your vessel.

GoodLuckToFriends,

War thunder for planes, world of warships for ships, tanarus for tanks (obviously in the push mode, the only battle mode worth fighting).

BigBenis, do games w What is the best Sea based game out there in your opinion?

Dave the Diver!

The_Ferry,

Dave the Diver has a very good early game, but eventually the grind just became needlessly tedious in my opinion. I liked going down and getting the fish etc. but the grind in mid to late game is just very time-skip heavy

UnbrokenTaco, (edited ) do gaming w Why doesn't Steam support Android?

I agree with you however I have one barrier to entry that others haven’t elaborated on.

Firstly, I’ll say how they could overcome some of the other challenges mentioned.

  1. Steam would just have to add the ability for developers to upload android builds of games alongside the windows, Linux, Mac builds. All of a sudden, users would have huge, existing libraries of games. Most games built with Unity can target Android. I suspect a lot of indie developers would happily add the build.
  2. Leaks have implied they were working on an arm emulator/translation layer but I assume this had to do with VR prototyping. Possibly the same effect as above but so many more configurations to target, they couldn’t handle it the way they do with steam deck.
  3. Require/recommend to users to use a controller on Android

If either or both of those first 2 points succeed, Valve doesn’t need to do much more to ensure the utility of Steam games on Android. PC gamers are considered among the most willing and able to jump through hoops for a result. Going to a website to download the steam store plus a little warning on Android wouldn’t stop a reasonable percentage of them. It wouldn’t stop me.

It’s almost 0 risk to them, right? Right? I don’t think so.

Here’s the big barrier I mentioned. I assume they have a not-insignificant number of sales through the the android app. If they start allowing users to install android games, Google is going to stop them from having purchases in their play store app. And while I said that users would install their app from a website, what percentage of users would do it? How many fewer PC game sales would they make (from the Play Store app) in order to let their current users play games on Android?

Additionally, what would Steam do if they started getting android-only games being submitted. Or mobile-quality games dominating their store? Does this dilute Steam’s identity?

Additionally, it might be something they’ve discussed but they would have rather focused on steam deck-type gaming for mobile. Or perhaps an ARM-based steam OS+steamdeck approach would make more sense for them and then the difficulty/cost (and opportunity cost) increases do instead they simply don’t pursue it.

The cross-buy thing is something that Gog or Epic could do but they don’t have nearly the same “customer profile” (size, behaviour etc) so it isn’t as likely to have the same impact.

Regardless, in my view you’ve asked a great question and it’s a solid idea.

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

If they start allowing users to install android games, Google is going to stop them from having anything useful in their play store app.

They would have to distribute it independently. Google would have no say in the matter.

what would Steam do if they started getting android-only games being submitted. Or mobile-quality games dominating their store?

…cash their checks? I don’t understand the question. That’s the point.

it might be something they’ve discussed but they would have rather focused on steam deck-type gaming for mobile.

perhaps an ARM-based steam OS+steamdeck approach would make more sense

…why not both?

Although Valve seems to like staying in their lane so that seems like the most likely explanation.

UnbrokenTaco,

They would have to distribute it independently. Google would have no say in the matter.

That’s exactly my point. The current app lets you buy PC games despite being distributed through the store. If you can buy Android games on it, well, I doubt Google will ignore it. And even if Google was okay with it, there’s no way to easily communicate to users who start using the app there that they need to download another app from a website.

I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. I’m just saying I think there are reasons they haven’t done it (yet?). I think they certainly must have considered it. I’ve certainly been wondering about it for a long while too.

why not both?

Sure. I would assume they would do it the same way as steam deck, where that’s the priority. The wide variety of phone specs on the market might have an impact on how they could support it etc.

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

That’s exactly my point. The current app lets you buy PC games despite being distributed through the store.

And they could continue doing so while also distributing a separate app independently that allows you to buy Android games.

Notice if you try to buy a movie from Amazon on Google TV they redirect you to the website. They could do the same or redirect you to the non-Google version.

I’m just saying I think there are reasons they haven’t done it (yet?)

I agree, I just find it very curious what those reasons are.

UnbrokenTaco,

I don’t think they would get away with selling games in the app if games were playable on Android (demonstrating Android compatibility). I think they would have to do what Amazon kindle does and tell you to go buy your game somewhere else.

Edit: Here’s the policy. You might be right but it looks like a grey area to me.
support.google.com/googleplay/…/9858738?sjid=1516…

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

I don’t think they would get away with selling games in the app if games were playable on Android

I’m saying they would need a separate app to purchase, install and play Android games.

UnbrokenTaco,

Oh… I see!

I personally prefer the “also play PC games on Android” strategy so was looking at it from that angle.

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

Now that I’m thinking about it they’d probably have to de-list those cross-platform games from the Google app or make them unavailable, which would probably lead to a lot of confusion.

O_R_I_O_N, do gaming w Todd's not asking

Kcd2 is out brother. Grab a blade and defend the castle

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@pawb.social avatar

I hella want to mod KCD2 to have magic spells and dragons. Though I do find it funny to say “It’s a great RPG based in reality. You get to do awesome quests like digging a ditch or herding sheep!”

HappyTimeHarry, do gaming w Why doesn't Steam support Android?

And give google 30‰ of what every android user purchases? Nutz!

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

No, they would have to create and distribute their own app store, just like Epic.

HappyTimeHarry,

And hows that working out for epic?

Valves strategy of not doing anything new in the last decade while every other publisber shoots themselves in the foot seems to be working pretty well for them.

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

And hows that working out for epic?

I don’t know, it’s only been around for a few months.

Valves strategy of not doing anything new in the last decade

That’s not their strategy. I mean, among other things you may have heard of this thing called the Steam Deck? Or Family Sharing? SteamOS? Shit there’s a new video every week about Steam Client updates and improvements.

HappyTimeHarry,

Given the choice between gaming on your phone or a steamdeck, why would anyone choose the phone?

So i guess thats one reason why.

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

…because a phone fits in your pocket? And it already goes everywhere with you?

Even if you think it’s dumb (which I mostly agree with) Apple alone makes more money from mobile gaming than every other gaming platform combined.

HappyTimeHarry,

I think it ultimately comes down to having to support another platform ads more work and risk then its worth.

For example theyd have to convince people to essentially break androids walled garden which means valve has to make sure everything they offer for android isnt malicous. Then there is the fact that phones are different specs, more testing, potential customer support … Its a whole can of worms, but valve would gain little. There arent many people who want steam on their phones but dont already have it on pc.

Vavle is good at what they do, they have basically cornered the PC and portable PC markets already, i think not mucking around in an already monopolistic mobile market is a pretty wise business decision on their part overall.

Ulrich, (edited )
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

more work and risk then its worth.

It’s worth billions.

theyd have to convince people to essentially break androids walled garden

It’s not anymore a “walled garden” than Windows.

Then there is the fact that phones are different specs, more testing

There are billions of potential PC configurations. Android would be extremely easy by comparison.

valve would gain little

Did I mention billions? 💵

i think not mucking around in an already monopolistic mobile market is a pretty wise business decision on their part overall.

You could be right.

Kolanaki, do gaming w Why doesn't Steam support Android?
@Kolanaki@pawb.social avatar

What more do they need to do besides having Steam Link to let you stream your PC games to your phone?

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

Aside from the fact that Steam Link is pretty terrible and requires a high-speed local connection, native Android games.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@pawb.social avatar

It hasnt needed a local connection for a while. I usually play Civilization over it when out of the house.

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

I didn’t realize that but it doesn’t change the fact that:

  • The PC draws way more power than is needed
  • The PC must be powered on (mine draws ~40 watts at idle)
  • A monitor has to be plugged in and turned on.
  • The aspect ratio on the devices have to match or you’ll get letterboxing.
  • If your main display is 4k it will run the game at 4k even if you’re playing on a 720p display so you have to go in and change the graphical settings every time you switch devices.
  • In my limited experience it literally just doesn’t even work at all.
  • Even if you’re running over the web you’re limited to the strength of your data connection.

It just doesn’t work like it should, in my opinion. Hopefully they can fix this in the future with Steam Machines.

Maven, do games w Steam Deck / Gaming News #10

You should make a community specifically for these. I’d love to be able to add them to my RSS feed!!

socsa, do gaming w Todd's not asking
@socsa@piefed.social avatar

Yes Skyrim daddy

Zoomboingding, do gaming w Todd's not asking
@Zoomboingding@lemmy.world avatar

Isn’t that background from the teaser for ES VI?

callouscomic,

Yes. Which was revealed closer to Skyrims original launch than to today.

biscuitswalrus, do gaming w Why doesn't Steam support Android?

What would you suggest they sell on their Android store that users would be so encouraged to install a new store and then what they want?

Steam already has a store on Android, you just can’t play games there because most games on steam either already exist on the native google play store, or aren’t compatible with mobile architectures like Arm64. Most mobiles unlike a arm laptop, have no x86/amd64 emulator which is what those games are compiled as by their developers.

So what’s left?

Ulrich, (edited )
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

What would you suggest they sell on their Android store that users would be so encouraged to install a new store and then what they want?

…games?

Steam already has a store on Android

Uhhhh they have an Android app which you can use to buy and manage PC games. That’s not what I’m talking about.

because most games on steam either already exist on the native google play store

…no? Even if they did you’d have to buy 2 licenses instead of 1. As I mentioned in the OP.

Most mobiles unlike a arm laptop, have no x86/amd64 emulator

I’m not suggesting emulation or translation (although that would be great as well), I’m suggesting an app store for selling and installing native Android games.

biscuitswalrus,

I’m trying to figure out the gap in the market you’re trying to fill other than “for steam fan boys it would allow us fans of steam games that already exist in a native place, in a non native place!”

Correct me what is going into it that isn’t already somewhere, and who that appeals to?

Or is this just thought experiment?

Ulrich,
@Ulrich@feddit.org avatar

Well there is that but there’s also the example I gave in the OP where devs could potentially extend their existing games into a new market, increasing their potential audience. A single license would gain a new platform with potential sales opportunities.

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