VGChartz's Thomas Froehlicher: "The Switch is starting to look very much comparable to the Wii. Both were smashing sales successes that gave rise to a lot of enthusiasm at first, but eventually resulted in disillusioned third parties, new release drought, and a demoralized fanbase. From my perspective Nintendo seems to be repeating the same mistakes it made in the middle of the Wii era, by being technology-adverse, persisting with outdated hardware, and failing to capitalise on incredible sales figures by building up third party relations and ensuring a steady stream of AAA software support.
Despite initially dominating the Xbox 360 and PS3, the Wii collapsed around five years after its debut, when both third parties and the casual audience moved on. It got an original Metroid game at around the same time that this happened; is this a sign that, as they say in SoulCalibur, history is eternally retold? Considering the respective momentum of both systems at the same period in time, I don't see the Switch declining so quickly, but third parties might not be prepared to wait around to find out."
Microtransactions have gotten ridiculously overpriced in recent years, with titles now offering cosmetic skins worth more than some games.
The elephant in the room tho is personal accountability. It’s easy (albeit basic) to blame the big, bad corpo, but microtransactions wouldn’t be where they are if gamers didn’t spend money on them. As it stands the MTs usually make more than the game. Publishers know raising game prices will cause backlash, so they do MTs to compensate. But the adult conversation is consumers determine the success of products with their wallets. So if MTs are a huge thing, it’s because we as consumers told them we like them by giving them a lot of money for them. So if you don’t want them to be a thing, convince your fellow gamers to stop buying them and expect that games will be decently more expensive. You all can disagree all you want, but reality is a bitch, and eventually you have to live in it.
Trying to convince people is the least realistic thing. If we are trying to be adults, actual action is what changes things not "convincing campaigns" on platforms owned by the people 'you' are going against. It's madness and idealistic.
Easier said than done. I've told gamers for years to not buy micro transactions, expensive dlc, etc. Gamers bought it anyway. Didn't fit on a DVD that would have fit on a Blu-ray disc.
I also told some gamers to not pay for online like Xbox Live because it would force the rest of the industry to only offer playing online if you pay for it. Told them not to support a broken console that Red Ringed. To not support Xbox One because Microsoft tried to take away game ownership and how you play your games. To not pay for a console by one manufacturer where a, now 3 trillion worth, didn't make enough games at the level of Nintendo or Sony who are worth less money.
How much of that did you support anyway with your money then go back and read your comment again.
yeah that was like telling people not to do drugs or alcohol, these game companies invested a lot of money in researching about how to make people buy MTs, from creating mechanics like loot boxes, purposely make the game grindy, all the way to menu designs and what color and sound effects played when gamers bought MTs.
It was specifically engineered to take advantage of vulnerable and prone to addiction people.
@z2g
People always struggle with issues like drinking, drugs, and gambling. But in games, especially those played by kids, microtransactions are another way companies take advantage of them. It's a problem that needs addressing.
I recommend everyone read this article.
My suggestion is to name these transactions, what they ARE: Hidden-fees.
There never was, the only time I paid for a microtransaction was on Blacklight Retribution (PS4) and it was because I enjoyed the game a lot so I felt the devs should get something for all that entertainment (€5 "membership")
The devs wouldn’t get that though, that shit goes straight to the higher ups who do f*** all let’s be honest.
Probably, but I wasn't as cynical back then and €5 wasn't a big ask to get the guns with grinding instead of renting them, and the game was good (still is on the PS5/4)
I couldn’t believe what Blizzard charged for horse armor and cosmetics in Diablo 4…
I remember back in the day when a season pass was $15 and you got everything included in it. Now, I see them at $60 and you still don’t get everything.
That's just Blizzard. Unlike Bethesda's $0.99 horse armour, Blizzard's first microtransaction, Sparkle Pony, cost $15.
Bethesda out did themselves a few years back with 76. They released a Xmas bundle for half price on day of release! So, was meant to sell for only $12 from day 1, but tried to convince everyone it was half price, by marking it at $24!
As soon as gaming wasn't deemed nerdy anymore, and reached the casuals this happened. We're smart, but casuals play mobile games and other stuff, and don't really have anything to compare. They think gaming is supposed to be like this and pay for in game purchases.
Tanks are getting some hefty buffs for the Overwatch 2 Season 10 midseason patch. After a lot of community discussion about the role feeling the worst to play for a while, the development team is changing some numbers to make these brutes harder for the enemy team to take advantage of.
Danish from eXputer: "Blizzard overpromised the PVE elements of Overwatch 2, and then failed to deliver on just about all of them, despite charging money."
No, no, no. Only the people that paid money let them get away with it. There’s no we.
Support Blizzard at your own risk.
Everyone that I know that used to play overwatch has quit at this point, I don't feel like they got away with it.
For me the original OW was amazing just for the first 2 yrs after that I had enough. Now I play Paladins from time to time.
Same for me, it was my favorite game for a good while after it launched and that's coming from someone who doesn't enjoy competitive shooters. I've considered playing Paladins but never bit the bullet, so many good games coming out that it's hard to spare some hours for a competitive game
So if you just play this POS game without spending a cent Blizzard will not see a profit at all.
I definitely agree they will be hitting that proverbial wall fairly soon here, if it isnt already happening. There has been a severe lack of high quality 1st and 3rd party titles already! Theres a handful sure, but nowhere near the level of quality from the first 2 years. They relied too much on Wii U ports the last year or so, and the pipeline isnt looking incredible by any stretch.
They really messed up by not announcing a real upgraded model, instead giving us this incremental OLED upgrade that no one asked for and that did nothing to the guts of the system. They really needed a system that could at least run some of the new generation games, even if at a lower quality. Even something as powerful as the PS4 and theyd at least get the big time 3rd party games. Im fully expecting the support from most publishers to fall off a cliff relatively soon here.
The Switch cannot survive on indies and vast amounts of shovelware, the Wii proved that already. Unfortunately, it looks like Nintendon't is back to doing its thing, cuz Nintendo wouldnt let this stuff happen all over again! But hey, at least we're getting a new Metroid!
There's good games coming out this year still. Next year I'm not so sure. I plan to supplement it with a steamdeck though by that time hopefully lol
Nintendo is always working on games and their directs have switched over to focusing on games within the near future so who knows wt they have in store for the next 1-2 years
Freakin finally somebody seeing the shovelware that is being created for a while now for the Switch, exactly like the Wii, the thing is just selling cause imo is a fad, cause if you look closely the quality of their games is below average imo.
I honestly do not see a new Switch getting AAA support like this one did. I will explain why.
PS4 and Xbox One (the base models) were never a full generational leap. They were underpowered 2013 consoles and were never as far ahead of the HD era as people made out. PS5 and Xbox Series are full generational leaps so I imagine a new Switch trying to keep up with them would be like PSP trying to keep up with 360 and PS3.
It can't because the default platform is a full generation ahead. PS4 (the base model) was not.
Nintendo ever since the N64 has had issues with 3rd party. A variable combo of either: dated hardware, storage issues, underdeveloped online, weird controllers or high licensing fees, has caused issues for 3rd parties on Nintendo consoles.