Posts Tagged ‘indie’
Let me be honest and upfront: I haven’t been super excited about a big budget AAA video game in years. This does not mean I don’t like and enjoy such games, because I get them and I do like them and play them and have a good time. But… they don’t move me like some indie games have in the last few years. Maybe that’s because the AAA hype machine is usually reserved for sequels and “safe” new IPs with PR campaigns that cost nearly as much as the game development itself. I was in the room when MGSV was officially announced, and I didn’t get excited for it until about 6 weeks before the game came out (truly, for the best). I will admit, E3 2015 has made me hype for the return of The Last Guardian, the new IP Horizon, and a few others, and with E3 2016 having happened relatively recently, I’m excited about more things, but I digress. That’s for another time. Here… I want to talk about game that while small, have huge expectations and bigger ambitions. Two games, one on the precipice of release, that have made me feel things about video games I don’t feel often. These games are thatgamecompany’s Journey, and Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky.
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(Formerly on another site)
With Microsoft’s recent announcement that the Xbox One would no longer require the new Kinect to be attached to function, I as a consumer cheered. Gone are the draconian “daily check in” requirements, the unclearly outlined used games policy, and now the Kinect requirement. As a consumer, this is amazing! Microsoft listened to its fanbase (I mean preorder numbers and possible loss of sales), and is trying to fix what it can to make you, me, us, the end users, happier! This is a win! Now just sell it to me sans Kinect for $400! It’ll be great!
As someone who craves difference and uniqueness, I weep. Sure, the initial Xbox One MS tried to sell me on was odd, had features I didn’t care about (oh boy, I can yell at my TV to change the channel), and was pricier, but I had to hand it to MS for at least trying to be different. I still feel some of the features they wanted will be rolled out over the years, once the base is already installed. It’s a much better plan, to add one of those features in every so often, instead of trying to do it all at once. But now, well… We essentially get the same specs as a PS4, with more TV capabilities, and nearly the same games.
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