I feel “early access” has this implication that it’s not just a product that is unfinished being sold for money with a pinky promise that it’ll get better in the future. It’s better than a normal release that ends up being unfinished, but only by being somewhat open about it.
That being said, game looks fantastic. If they keep at this, could become something really really cool in the future.
And there’s so many new kids entering gaming all the time who have never known a better world.
That’s the real big issue here, IMO: The North Korea approach. Kids are starting to become able to spend money who were indoctrinated with this. Because to them it’s the north. It’s just a part of this entertainment that you continuously spend small amounts of cash. To them it’s normality.
TL’DW? It’s >1 hour, and would probably be <5 minutes read as an article.
(edit)
Well, got this rather generic description of the game itself out of Gemini at least:
Scanner Sombre is a walking simulator with horror and desolation elements made by Introversion Software, a UK based indie developer. The game centers around exploring caves with a laser gun that shoots in random directions. The laser gun creates a color gradient on the visor to map the contours of the cave and reveal the player’s surroundings.
The caves are shrouded in darkness and the only light comes from the player’s laser gun. The sound design is important to the feeling of isolation as the player can hear their own footsteps and the constant whine of the laser gun. There are also strange apparitions that show up on the visor, adding to the creepy atmosphere.
The player character, Ethan, is trapped in a cave and doomed to relive his journey forever. He descended into the caves to explore ancient ruins but never made it out. The upgrades the player finds throughout the game are actually downgrades that Ethan experiences on his journey downwards.
The story for the game was added after the main development process was finished and some aspects of the storytelling are not well thought out. Scanner Sombre was not a commercial success and Introversion Software did not make another game for seven years.___
and what little they did release was insultingly barebones
I mean OTOH for those who bought it, the content there at the time was worth the money asked. Sure it was somewhat barebones but the game is also cheap-ish and if you get a bunch of cool hours out of it with friends, well worth.
It is quite a gimmick, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing tbh. Its neat if you’re a hobbyist dev in particular to expand the way you think about input vs in game design so that when faced with things such as analog triggers, gyro controls or touch surfaces you got a better intuitive thought process.
I will however say that to me, the main use ends there. A neat gimmick in particular for gamedevs.
Oh I had not yet heard that they’re turning the ship around. That’s really really cool. After all this time I just stopped following stuff around it since it got so depressing over the years.
Can they please not? I’d rather not have Blizzard stay Blizzard, seeing what they did to WoW, SC2, D3, D4, DI, Overwatch and worst of all, Heroes of the Storm.