These things do take time, but not an entire decade. A decade ago, Marvel was still in bed with Capcom, and ArcSys was not yet enough of a household name to be able to negotiate something like this.
I am aware that some corporate infrastructure is hopelessly tangled up in legacy systems. But we are talking about consumer support here, which I know you know is very different.
Edit: Y'know what I'll properly expand on this. The Steam Controller failed because it tried to replace vital functionality people expect from a controller. The Steam Deck learned from this mistake and just supplemented that functionality.
TBH, the way I see it, the Steam Controller was designed for games I don't want to play on controller, while being bad for games I do want to play on controller.
I want to shed light on a tactic that involves collecting data as you play, feeding this data into complex algorithms and models that then alter the rules of your game under the hood to optimize spending opportunities.
I think there's an argument to be made that some level of retention strategy may be a necessary evil in today's market, especially when all your competitors are doing it. No developer wants to run the risk of letting that playerbase dry up. You can have the best multiplayer game in the world, but all the brownie points for playing fair wouldn't mean much if I'm sitting in an empty queue with no one to play with.
It's fine line to walk to make sure players are coming back for the right reasons, but you do want them to come back.
We all know that decent games exist, somewhere. But the amount of effort it would take to wade through all the shovelware and gacha to try to find an even halfway passable game on Google Play simply isn't worth my time.
And with the mobile market being what it is, it arguably isn't worth it for developers to try and sell any serious game as mobile-first, because it's so difficult for those types of games to succeed when mobile gamers want gacha and those that don't simply aren't playing on mobile. If it's truly worth my time, it should be ported to other platforms.
Word of mouth is certainly a large part of it, yes. People talk about successful games. One way or another, the games I like make it onto my radar when I see buzz about them.
But what are the most successful games on mobile? What are the games mobile gamers talk about? Gacha. It's all gacha. Whatever else is out there, nobody's talking about it and I'm never going to see it. Nor do I have any reason to go searching through a toxic cesspit in the hopes that maybe I'll eventually find something, when it is far easier to look elsewhere, on platforms that haven't been thoroughly corrupted by the race to the bottom.
But again, the real takeaway I want to stress is that the market has been this way for long enough that both gamers and developers know the well is poisoned, and it will never be unpoisoned. The fact that mobile has become dominated by gacha has reinforced itself - everyone not interested in gacha has left the platform, and mobile developers will keep selling more gacha because that's what the remaining audience wants. They even know that the average mobile gamer won't spend money on a more ethical business model.
I know that developers know that I know that this is what mobile is. The way I see it, mobile itself has become a red flag. If a game is trying to be more than gacha trash, well why don't the developers have the sense to put it on other platforms where non-gacha gamers are? If not, they're shooting themselves in the foot and I have no pity.
Mobile is so thoroughly dominated by gacha that any game that tries to have an ethical business model has almost no hope of succeeding on the platform, no hope of competing with the endless sea of gacha.
And I'm sure you're about to cherry-pick like two counterexamples, but I know you know that those exceptions are so scarce that I have every reason to decide that it simply isn't worth my time to go out of my way looking for them.
So what, you just buy games at random and hope maybe you landed on something good? Without anything that would make for an informed purchase? Sounds like a horribly inefficient way of running headfirst into Sturgeon's Law.
I do. But to me, step one of filtering out Sturgeon's Law is looking in the right place - platforms that are not overflowing with so much poison that I already know I'm unlikely to ever find what I want.
With gachapon, you always "win," there is no chance that your money is spent and you get nothing in return.
Although you're technically getting something, typically the common items are nearly worthless, and may as well be nothing. You only "win" when you actually get the ultra rare 5* SSR Jackpot waifu.
I'm just at a point where so few new releases excite me anymore. The mainstream AAA industry has moved far away from my tastes, and when it comes to the niche stuff I like most, I've already got my favorite forever games so it's actually hard for something new to tear me away from grinding those.
I’m sure you’ve seen by now that I’ve been arranging interviews with developers of various Linux and Steam Deck programs and projects, done in a question-and-answer style, and posting them here to Lemmy....
I'd say the DS was the best handheld of all time, and GBA was close behind it. 3DS had its share of bangers, but if you compare its library to the DS it's not even close.
3DS was the era where we started to see the conflict between handhelds being a place for experimental low budget titles, versus the need for larger budgets on better hardware. This also just made it more difficult to juggle supporting handheld and console platforms at the same time. And halfway through the system's lifespan, mobile gaming exploded in popularity, which really ate into the system's marketshare. There's a very observable trend in how third party support kept dropping over time.
A bonus perk for Switch 1 owners. Digital Foundry confirms multiple Switch 1 games that ran like butt on the OG hardware are almost like remasters on the Switch 2. Not just improved frame rates, but many of the games also add in higher internal resolutions and/or upgraded settings!
Hoping to see more third-party devs update their games. It's ironic that the worst ports are the ones that benefit the most. Games that were just thrown onto the Switch 1 with no effort to reach acceptable performance suddenly perform well now. As long as the framerate wasn't capped, it might just hit 60 on Switch 2.
But games that were downgraded to properly fit onto the system can't revert those downgrades. Capped framerates remain so, those games need patches to uncap them.
Some of the games I most want to play on Switch 2 are ones that remain stuck at 30fps still...
They're not charging for performance upgrades. The only paid DLC packs are the ones that are, well, actual DLC. What makes that more "disgusting" than any other DLC?
If you don't already have a Switch 1, it's got a pretty great library to catch up on. And I would still recommend getting a Switch 2 over buying a Switch 1 now, because that'll last you this whole generation too. It's also worth noting that the Switch 2 kinda has a secret bonus library of ports that ran poorly on Switch 1 but are miraculously good now.
I also have to be that guy and say to take most of the negativity here with a grain of salt. Put it this way, if you want informed opinions on the system, ask people who actually have one rather than people who don't.
This weird little persecution complex came out of nowhere. The post-gamergate crowd randomly latched onto this game thinking it's somehow gonna own the libs, and when no one gave them the reaction they wanted, they decided to declare themselves the winner of a battle nobody was actually fighting them on.
No one cares bud. Go play your game, whatever, have fun, no one's stopping you.
The thing I miss most about handhelds is all the mid-budget experimental spinoffs made for them. That was where weird truly flourished, and I'm sad that there's not really a place for that in today's market. Hideo Kojima's Boktai trilogy is one of my favorite games of all time, and there will never ever ever be another game remotely as weird as that.
Despite the fearmongering going around about bricks, this is only online bans. Same thing they've always done, same thing Sony and Microsoft do too if you get caught there.
Frankly, if you try to go online with pirated games, you're an idiot.
Yes, they've always banned users for going online with pirated games, and the T&C has always warned you that they would. Sony and Microsoft do the same thing too.
They asked what's different from the others, because Sony and Microsoft will also ban you if you try to go online with pirated games. This news isn't actually anything new.
The point I'm making is this: if you wanna pirate, you're on your own. If you can't get it working, tough shit. You played stupid games and you won stupid prizes.
If you wanna take the attitude that you can do whatever you want with it including piracy, fine but you're on your own. If you can't get your flashcart working offline, tough shit. Too bad, so sad. It's your fault for using the flashcart.
JoyCon 1s also have a flap that dust can get into, and that's likely a large part of the problem. This is fixed with JoyCon 2s, so I'm not sure why everyone's jumping to the assumption that they will be equally brittle.
A New Guilty Gear Game Has Been Canceled (insider-gaming.com) angielski
Not actually cancelled but “back to the drawing board”. It’s weird how 4 or 5 years between entries actually feels short these days.
EA reportedly shelves Need For Speed completely to focus on other projects (www.notebookcheck.net) angielski
Switch 2 vs Steam Deck: the Cyberpunk 2077 face-off (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
Modder behind the 'Swiss army knife of PC gaming' deletes their 20 year-old Steam account with anti-Valve manifesto: 'By the end of my bitter dealings with Valve… there was zero hope' (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
The Steam controller was ahead of its time angielski
The original Steam Controller is undoubtedly one of the coolest pieces of gear I own—and one of the most innovative, too....
Predatory tactics in gaming are worse than you think (www.gamedeveloper.com) angielski
I want to shed light on a tactic that involves collecting data as you play, feeding this data into complex algorithms and models that then alter the rules of your game under the hood to optimize spending opportunities.
How Nintendo locked down the Switch 2’s USB-C port and broke third-party docking (www.theverge.com) angielski
Archive.is version
Old gamers don't understand what mobile gaming has become angielski
Old gamers often misunderstand the quality of mobile games....
Nintendo’s Anti-Consumer Anti-Piracy Measures Also Reduce The Value Of The Switch 2 (www.techdirt.com) angielski
Young Americans Are Spending A Whole Lot Less On Video Games This Year (www.gamespot.com)
Developer Interview: my Q&A with the dev who runs 'the' Switch piracy freeshop angielski
I’m sure you’ve seen by now that I’ve been arranging interviews with developers of various Linux and Steam Deck programs and projects, done in a question-and-answer style, and posting them here to Lemmy....
Nintendo's free Switch 2 upgrades for key Switch 1 titles are remasters in all but name [Digital Foundry] (www.eurogamer.net) angielski
A bonus perk for Switch 1 owners. Digital Foundry confirms multiple Switch 1 games that ran like butt on the OG hardware are almost like remasters on the Switch 2. Not just improved frame rates, but many of the games also add in higher internal resolutions and/or upgraded settings!
Hesitating getting a Switch 2 (1st game console in 15 years)... angielski
I haven’t had a proper game console since the PS3....
[Stellar Blade] This game completely broke them (www.youtube.com) angielski
The (undeserved?) shitstorm who have tried to Hide Stellar blade success....
Nintendo Is Already Punishing Switch 2 Users Over Piracy ‘Suspicions’ (www.techdirt.com) angielski
Nier creator Yoko Taro reveals the sad reality of modern AAA game development, “there’s less weird people making games” (www.videogamer.com) angielski
After just 12 days, Nintendo is already nuking Switch 2 console accounts for players caught using Mig Flash (www.tomshardware.com) angielski
Switch 2 Teardown: Still Glued, Still Soldered, Still Drifting (www.ifixit.com) angielski
Joysticks: Probably Still Drifty...