Hames Mielke from 1UP writes:
"When I recently found myself with a little free time wandering the streets of Tokyo, I gave some ex-Team NINJA members a call to see what they were up to. After all, what Tomonobu Itagaki and his loyal band of producers, designers, programmers, and artists most recent projct has been a mystery since the last time I interviewed him, back in July of last year.
Some obvious questions were on my mind, like, "Is Itagaki working on a new game?" "Is it for Xbox 360 or has he moved on to other platforms?" "Does he have a new team, and, if so, what is it called?" "
Plenty of unforgettable games have completely messed up their players throughout the years, all the way back from the PS1 days to the dark recesses of the modern internet.
With so many games fighting for players' attention and interest losing out over time, time sink games are at risk of eventually losing steam.
It was worrisome to begin with.
It's a niche genre with only a handful of hits that can stand the test of time.
I like the sound of that!! I will for sure never support these gaas games.
Sony must be shocked at gamer's reaction, making them cancel a few of these and hopefully go back to the good heavy hitters they had us used to..
now bring on that PSPro reveal and show us some SP 1st party awesomeness.
It's pretty ridiculous.
Imagine having a breadth of data at your disposal to see the statistically low success rate of these games, only to be laser focused on the exceptional case studies.
Only a few will catch on. You need a perfect storm to be successful in GaaS and a bit of luck on top of that. But a potential cash cow will keep them trying and some will go out of business because of it.
Helldivers 2 manages just fine…
Keep production costs low… don’t just make custscenes until the mechanics and enemies are perfected first.
Make so much content that you can drip extra content for years, and the game already feels complete without them.
Most importantly: make weapons, enemies, levels, and mechanics that will stand the test of 1000 hours. This might require more devs embracing procedurally generated leveled, which I think separates Helldivers 2 from Destiny’s repetitiveness.
Nameer from eXputer: "Some exceptions aside, I don't think the battle pass is a net positive for gaming with how they're implemented in most live service titles."
I like the way Helldivers 2 does battle passes. It allows you to make purchases on each level of the battle pass and gives you the option of choosing which item to unlock first. The more purchases you make using medals the further you progress. There is no timer and you can earn medals towards purchasing stuff via personal orders and Major orders.
I haven't played much live service games that have battle passes but I remember some games that have battle passes where you progress through it linearly using an exp system. What makes it really bad is that the battle pass will have like 50 or more levels with the cooler stuff being closer to the end. They also have an in-game shop that sells exp boosters so you can reach the end of the pass before it refreshes. Everyone ilse will have to grind their way through.
battle pass in fortnite is perfect; buy one and it buys the rest for every other season as it gives you more money than the first cost. so 8.50 and season ends with you getting 13.00, it pays for the next and you have some pocket change to save up for cash shop. All of which is optional
Itagaki despite his is attitude is a really cool game developer, good to see his is back!
Edit: Itagaki did say he wanted to make a World War II game from Japan's perspective, like Clint Eastwood/Letters from Iwo Jima. It would be cool to see that especially if portrayed properly and not like how many western developers have done so with the war.
one of my fav developers...
Itagki is a 360fanboy i can't wait to see what he is working on.
Hell YEAH!!! The master is back!
I really hope he spends more time working on his next game.