Gaming news impressions Jan-Feb 2022

It’s been a wild start to the year in world of gaming, and we’re only mid-way through February! As there has been so much going on, I thought I’d do another one of my gaming impressions round-ups. Let’s go!

Microsoft purchasing Activision-Blizzard

My previous impressions ended with the news that Microsoft had acquired Zenimax, and this time we’re kicking off with their latest, and even more impressive purchase, ActiBliz. With this move we can safely say that Microsoft now has a catalogue of IP that could rival, maybe even eclipse, what Nintendo has to offer, though whether they will fully utilise it is anyone’s guess at the moment.

As for how this will effect the end consumer, that isn’t really clear right now. Microsoft have stated that they intend to honour existing contracts with Sony and Nintendo, and have even pledged to continue releasing Call of Duty games on Sony systems past their contractual agreement, although I’m sure we can expect some exclusive content being set aside for Xbox and PC users.

Activision had built a reputation for scummy, anti-consumer behaviour, and it would be nice to hope this lessens under the xbox banner, but considering how heavy MS has previously leant into micro-transactions and live-service game models, I’m not holding my breath for any great overhaul here.

Microsoft have insinuated that there may be more acquisitions to come, and if that’s the case, my money is on the next one being a Japanese studio. MS are desperate to get a foothold in that market, and that would seem like the easiest way to do it. Platinum games have started hinting they’re willing to give their partnership another shot, so who knows, maybe they’re the next square on the monopoly board?

Sony purchasing Bungie

Just as we were all recovering from the shock ActiBliz announcement, Sony announces they’ve acquired Bungie, who were for many years synonymous with Microsoft and Halo. It’s not hard to see why gamers are already calling this a return to the console wars, as old favourites are changing hands, and we may be looking at more exclusive games on both Sony and Microsoft consoles than we have in the last couple of generations. It feels like everything went multi-platform back in the PS360 era, and now battle-lines are being re-drawn.

I do think that the deal feels a little over-priced, as Destiny doesn’t feel like that valuable of an IP, compared to say, Minecraft, which was bought for a lower price.

On the other hand, its likely they’re acquiring them for their tech and networking expertise, which honestly, Sony badly needs. The networking features on PS4 are a bit shoddy, with the dropdown information under each game on the main screen taking ages to load in, if it even does. Don’t get me started on trying to download a game off their store.

Another out-there theory is that Sony intends to assign them to their FPS property Killzone, now that Guerrilla Games is busy with their Horizon franchise. I think it’s unlikely, as Bungie have never worked with an existing IP before, but I could see it working well if they decided to go that route.

Martha is Dead Censorship

And from positive Playstation news to negative, it appears that Sony are continuing down their recent path of demanding more and more censorship of game being released on their platform. This time it is the multi-platform horror title “Martha is Dead”, that will be getting an inferior version released on Playstation consoles, while PC and Xbox will be left alone.

This follows on the heels of last summer’s “Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!” which saw the Playstation version of the cult horror game recolour blood in order not to offend Sony’s delicate sensibilities. Laughably, the game was released untampered with on Nintendo’s Switch console (this being the same Nintendo that, in the 90’s, also insisted in blood being recoloured, for their release of Mortal Kombat). If you’re being more conservative than the traditionally family-focused Nintendo, you need to take a good long look at yourself in the mirror.

I really have no idea what is pushing Sony to go in this direction, as since the PS2, it feels like they’ve had a very hands-off approach to what’s allowed on their platform, from a prudishness angle at least. So long as a game was able to avoid the dreaded Adults Only rating from the ESRB (a pretty hard bar to clear outside of H-games) they appeared comfortable letting it on their console. I feel if their current policies were in place back then, Silent Hill 2 would not have been allowed to release, and considering that it’s typically held up as the greatest horror title of all time, this would have been a massive detriment to gaming as a whole. You’re really dropping the ball here Sony.

Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series

This is the best news I’ve received in years! The original “Klonoa: Door to Phantomile” is right there on my “Favourite Games of All Time” list, and the follow-up was also absolutely fantastic, so to have them both remastered and packaged together is nothing short of a dream. I will be getting this on launch day, no doubt whichever is the fanciest edition available. That is all I have to say about that whole Nintendo Direct. Klonoa is back, baby!

Wii U and 3DS eshops to shut March 2023

While we’re on the topic of Nintendo, the closing of the legacy eshops for Nintendo devices was announced the other day. I wasn’t really going to comment on it, because, while it is a blow for game preservation efforts, it was kind of inevitable, but then I had a thought; what if Nintendo is shuttering the store in anticipation of their next console, and desire to only support two consoles at a time? The Switch will be five years old next month, so Nintendo are presumably gearing up to announce its predecessor within the next year or two.

I don’t think we’ll actually see a new console till at least fall 2023, what with global supply chain issues still ruining everything for the foreseeable future, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we get an official announcement on Nintendo’s 9th gen console early next year, maybe in another February Direct? I already made a list of predictions for said console several years ago, so it will be interesting to see if I got any of them right. Probably not :/

RPG Maker Unite

Depending on who you ask, RPG Maker is either the backbone behind hundreds of scrappy indie RPGs, or the bane of gamers worldwide for allowing a proliferation of cookie-cutter swill to flood the market. While the truth is, as always, somewhere in-between, I have in the past leaned more towards the later. The engine has always offered great customisation of visuals, and the speed with which you can get up-and-running with it is rightly one of its selling points, I’ve always found gameplay customisation rather limited. Sure, you could add your own code into it, but there were no tutorials for doing so, and you were expected to code in JavaScript. Blah.

So the news that the newest entry is to be built with Unity, and allow integration with their store and tools is an interesting one, as it will end up giving those with the least amount of technical skill access to a much wider range of assets and plug-ins, as well as drag-and-drop programming. This may even be the bridge needed to introduce several amateur game-makers to simple coding. Like previous titles, this new Gamemaker is going to produce a lot of shovelware, but maybe also a greater number of gems.

Cyberpunk 2077

I bought Cyberpunk on launch for my PS4 Pro, and yeah, it performed pretty awfully. Far from the worst thing ever, but it did crash about once per hour, on top of melee combat sometimes dropping to literal single-digit framerates. After the first patch, it got better, but I decided to put it aside until it was in better shape. Cue one year later, when they announced version 1.5, which is supposed to have finally fixed the worst of the problems, and polished up the unfinished content. I installed the eye-wateringly large patch and… nope! If you bought the disc version, turns out the game doesn’t even start any more. Come on CD Project Red, this is just getting embarrassing now!

Capcom Countdown

Last but not least, there’s a mysterious countdown timer on Capcom’s website, that ends early next week. Considering the font looks a little Resident Evil, I’m inclined to agree with everyone saying it’s probably an announcement for a Resi 4 Remake. The rest of the smart money seems to be on an official Street Fighter VI announcement, as the game has been confirmed to be in the works.

If I may posit a more unlikely suggestion; the original Devil May Cry is over 20 years old now, and considering how well the fifth game did just a few years back, would be ripe for a remaster. Even if it isn’t announced next week, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a more up-to-date version of this classic title in the next few years, to tide us over until we get a DMC 6, hopefully.

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