WHAT PLAY YOU!? Version 3.0

[Cousin Jim Bob]

3 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

I think the finger pointing is fair in this case - as @The King Of Swing said, they seem to have been hampered enormously by executive interference; I'd use Dragon Age: The Veilguard as an example. It started off as a live-service game before it morphed into what it became. Anthem was another attempt to chase live-service cash - I'd categorise BioWare as being in a similar position to Arkane and Rocksteady - single player specialists with orders from above to develop games they simply weren't well suited to make - the kind of games I strongly suspect they weren't wanting to make in the first place.

By all accounts from Bioware, they pitched Anthem as a live service game to EA, not the other way round.

Edited October 22 by Cousin Jim Bob

[RedTwoster]

19 minutes ago, Cousin Jim Bob said:

By all accounts from Bioware, they pitched Anthem as a live service game to EA, not the other way round.

That's true - but here's an account from a former producer that gives a bit more context. In short, the person making the pitch was essentially telling EA what they wanted to hear. And then he left. 

The pressure across the board was for companies to produce games that create ongoing revenue, and that led to a lot of live service pitches - many of which entered production but never saw the light of day. The logic essentially was, I think, that all it took was for one of these games to stick, and their earnings would outstrip that of several traditional single player games, so companies could absorb the flops. 

I don't know anyone at BioWare, but I do know people in the industry who were affected by that kind of remit and also people who have lost their jobs - I'll freely admit to being biased as a result, but I still think it's hard to dispute that it's become an industry that places virtually no value in the people who actually drive it forward.

[Merzbow]

2 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

but I still think it's hard to dispute that it's become an industry that places virtually no value in the people who actually drive it forward.

I'd imagine that's why so many big name veterans have practically left videogames as a whole over the past 15 years or have gone on the independent path outside of major publishers.

Even Hideo Kojima nearly didn't survive, he's lucky he has such a cult of personality that it was a no brainer for Xbox to grab him, even just as a statement.

[Cousin Jim Bob]

55 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

That's true - but here's an account from a former producer that gives a bit more context. In short, the person making the pitch was essentially telling EA what they wanted to hear. And then he left. 

The pressure across the board was for companies to produce games that create ongoing revenue, and that led to a lot of live service pitches - many of which entered production but never saw the light of day. The logic essentially was, I think, that all it took was for one of these games to stick, and their earnings would outstrip that of several traditional single player games, so companies could absorb the flops. 

I don't know anyone at BioWare, but I do know people in the industry who were affected by that kind of remit and also people who have lost their jobs - I'll freely admit to being biased as a result, but I still think it's hard to dispute that it's become an industry that places virtually no value in the people who actually drive it forward.

 

That guy pitching was Casey Hudson, director and producer of the Mass Effect trilogy and Star Wars KOTR. Bit unfair not to mention that. I think he genuinely thought early on he could make a great live service game, he had the resume to tell EA that Anthem should be a single player experience if he wanted to. Him leaving the project, and tbh leaving the whole company for awhile was a huge blow. 

It's been a rocky road for BioWare for over a decade now. I don't like EA at all, and I agree they were meddling to much, but the studio was not doing great. They basically were down to one shot of needing a new Mass Effect game. And it had to be amazing and sell huge numbers.  I'm convinced they were still capable of that.

Edited October 22 by Cousin Jim Bob

[RedTwoster]

1 minute ago, Cousin Jim Bob said:

That guy pitching was Casey Hudson, director and producer of the Mass Effect trilogy and Star Wars KOTR. Bit unfair not to mention that. I think he genuinely thought early on he could make a great live service game, he had the resume to tell EA that Anthem should be a single player experience if he wanted to. Him leaving the project, and tbh leaving the whole company for awhile was a huge blow. 

I don't doubt that he did - I didn't mention it because it was all in the link, not for any nefarious reason to be clear! 

2 minutes ago, Cousin Jim Bob said:

It's been a rocky road for BioWare for over a decade now. I don't like EA at all, and I agree they were meddling to much, but the studio was not doing great. They basically were down to one shot of needing a new Mass Effect game. And it had to be amazing and sell huge numbers.  I'm convinced they were still capable of that.

I think they were too. There was definitely talent drain, but not to the extent that they were a bust, particularly given that there is a Mass Effect TV show on the horizon - you'd have to imagine every effort was being made to ensure that new game delivered. 

Also worth highlighting that EA has cut staff from a number of companies (link to Eurogamer) as part of this. It's clearly linked to the buyout, and it absolutely sucks. 

[The King Of Swing]

All things considered, I thought DA Veilguard, turned out much better than it could have and I've always found ME Andromeda a blast to play. 

Anthem pretty much fucked BioWare's reputation, though. A complete disaster.

[RedTwoster]

Has anyone played Final Fantasy Resonance yet? Visually, it might be the most beautiful game I've ever experienced. The pixelart/HD-2D style is something else. 

It's to early for me to have a firm opinion on the actual game, but I'm already blown away by how good it looks. 

[FLips]

31 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Has anyone played Final Fantasy Resonance yet? Visually, it might be the most beautiful game I've ever experienced. The pixelart/HD-2D style is something else. 

It's to early for me to have a firm opinion on the actual game, but I'm already blown away by how good it looks. 

I sank the maximum hours into the demo and loved it. I’m a big detractor of the HD2D style, I personally think it’s devoid of any uniqueness and if you’ve seen one game like that you’ve seen them all. The gameplay is tremendous though, a very welcome return to turn based Final Fantasy. If Ocarina of Time wasn’t out in a couple weeks I’d have got it on launch.

[RedTwoster]

22 minutes ago, FLips said:

I sank the maximum hours into the demo and loved it. I’m a big detractor of the HD2D style, I personally think it’s devoid of any uniqueness and if you’ve seen one game like that you’ve seen them all. The gameplay is tremendous though, a very welcome return to turn based Final Fantasy. If Ocarina of Time wasn’t out in a couple weeks I’d have got it on launch.

I'd felt that way until playing this game - they do new things with the HD2D that I've not seen before and it's really beautiful - really interested in your thoughts on this one when you do end up playing it. 

I'm a bigger Final Fantasy fan than I am a Zelda fan, so this was my most anticipated game of the year, but I'm going to move right on to Ocarina when I'm done with it. 

[Ironic Indie Lad]

47 minutes ago, FLips said:

I sank the maximum hours into the demo and loved it. I’m a big detractor of the HD2D style, I personally think it’s devoid of any uniqueness and if you’ve seen one game like that you’ve seen them all. The gameplay is tremendous though, a very welcome return to turn based Final Fantasy. If Ocarina of Time wasn’t out in a couple weeks I’d have got it on launch.

I am in the exact same position. I have STILL not finished Gears E-Day and I just wont have time for FF before Ocarina of Time.

If it wasnt for the OoT remake, Resonance would 100% be my next game. 

[Lorne Malvo]

On 9/30/2026 at 6:09 PM, CleetusVanDamme said:

True Crime: Streets of LA: I remembered this as being shit, but I was in the mood for face kicking and who knows, maybe the PS2 was holding it back? Nope, still shite and it still goes into slow motion the second you start melee combat. I didn't last long. I have to say the map is impressive af for a PS2 game, it's huge.

 

I've watched a few videos online reappraising this and claiming it was better than GTA. That's just a load of bollocks isn't it? I always remembered it much the same way as you, painfully slow and didn't control great.

The only GTA-esque games I preferred to GTA were Sleeping Dogs and The Godfather, loved both of those.

[Chest Rockwell]

Scarface was a GTA-like that I preferred to GTA. 

[Merzbow]

The first Godfather on Xbox was pretty solid too, never tried the sequel though. I don't know if I'd say it was better than GTA but it held it's own and did enough to be different.

[Jazzy G]

The Mafia games came into their own over time as well. 

[CleetusVanDamme]

I love that this thread can never go a few pages without Sleeping Dogs rightfully being brought up and praised. Scarface penised bums too. I have The Godfather for PS3, but haven't got round to trying it yet, I've heard good things.

I'm probably about half way through Gears: E Day: I'd rather we just got Gears 6, but it's fine. The scenario's pretty cool and I like seeing the before/after of a few areas. The gunplay's same as always, I was a little frustrated having to use the OG lancer in act 1, the recoil was like it had a baby holding the gun. Since I've had old reliable back it's been smooth sailing though.

Dom complaining to his wife on the phone that Marcus has been acting "distant" is the most hilariously out of place bit of dialogue I've ever heard. I'm hoping we get more Gears of Feelings scenes before the game's over.