Community MetaSteam | March 2022 - Try Finger But Hole

[Stone Ocean]

There is something surreal about how SE keeps releasing these weird low/mid budget games where everyone can tell they're going to be mediocre/bombs and they try to salvage them in the weirdest ways, like with demos, high budget CG cutscenes (Balan Wonderworld), callbacks to the Metal Gear series (Left Alive)
And then they fuck up the most important part: releasing it at the highes price possible. How, how is Babylon's Fall 70 euros. And with a "Digital Deluxe" edition at 110 euros! With that money I could buy 2 Elden Rings. Are they so desperate to make back the game's budget? But then why not just, I don't know, don't go overblown with the budget

Square Enix is ran by dumb fucks in suits who basically want free money. They want cheap games to make a fuckton of cash, which leads to troubled development and mind blowing decisions to try and recoup costs.

The games published by Squeenix that turn out to be great are more often than not passion projects spearheaded by actual designers that the execs never cared about in the first place.

 

[Cacher]

SQEX released some great games in recent years, but they somehow always released one or two really, really bad games in-between these releases, bombing so hard that people would think the high-ups are all idiots.

And how they handle all their games is usually bad. Bad marketing, or exclusive deals, just makes them look really incompetent and greedy as fuck.

 

[Avern]

Nailed it! Was a pretty good fight too. Please include me for this one, Mor

 

[ezodagrom]

 

[PC-tan]

 

[Cacher]

Knowing how Sony works, probably lewd content cut from the PS version?

 

[Li Kao]

How has Babylon Fall been reviewed ? It’s bad ?

 

[NarohDethan]

This looks terrible and I hate myself because I probably gonna buy it down the road.

 

[thekeats1999]

This looks terrible and I hate myself because I probably gonna buy it down the road.

If it's any consolation I will probably be doing the same.

Oh and again time for the usual Public Service Announcement. No Game Is Worth £60/€70/$70.

I may have said this before, but Square is one of the more bizarre companies around. That's saying something when you look at Atlus with it's Exclusivity (I won't use deals as it never seems to be paid for) or Nintendo and it's shitty retro deals (especially limited run deals on fucking digital releases). However Square has come off the highs of Endwalker being well received, the work they did around getting servers stable for it (stopping people from buying the damn game while they tried to stabilise things) and the positive work they did in compensation.

Then they antagonise their customers with talk of NFT's and Metaverses (Dungeon Seige deserves a lot better than that). Ridiculous pricing, I mean it was bad enough FFVIIR being released as a £60 but the platinum game What the Fuck where they thinking. There exclusivity deals designed to piss off people who own either an Xbox and to a lesser extent PC. The quality of their games being all of the place, Kingdom Hearts is meant to be a decent port. But the less said about FFVIIR the better. The pixel remasters having some of the best music (but worst fonts) but then letting a war crime denier of a cunt have so much control over how the music is done on DQ games.

Much like Atlus I firmly believe that their entire upper management should be taken out back and shot, or made to work on mobile games. Whichever is the greater evil. Then again I don't think mobile games deserve that pushed on to them...
Oh and I see Tomasety has joined us in March. Nice to see you.

 

[Mor]

Nailed it! Was a pretty good fight too. Please include me for this one, Mor

it is done!

 

[Amzin]

If it's any consolation I will probably be doing the same.

Oh and again time for the usual Public Service Announcement. No Game Is Worth £60/€70/$70.

I may have said this before, but Square is one of the more bizarre companies around. That's saying something when you look at Atlus with it's Exclusivity (I won't use deals as it never seems to be paid for) or Nintendo and it's shitty retro deals (especially limited run deals on fucking digital releases). However Square has come off the highs of Endwalker being well received, the work they did around getting servers stable for it (stopping people from buying the damn game while they tried to stabilise things) and the positive work they did in compensation.

Then they antagonise their customers with talk of NFT's and Metaverses (Dungeon Seige deserves a lot better than that). Ridiculous pricing, I mean it was bad enough FFVIIR being released as a £60 but the platinum game What the Fuck where they thinking. There exclusivity deals designed to piss off people who own either an Xbox and to a lesser extent PC. The quality of their games being all of the place, Kingdom Hearts is meant to be a decent port. But the less said about FFVIIR the better. The pixel remasters having some of the best music (but worst fonts) but then letting a war crime denier of a cunt have so much control over how the music is done on DQ games.

Much like Atlus I firmly believe that their entire upper management should be taken out back and shot, or made to work on mobile games. Whichever is the greater evil. Then again I don't think mobile games deserve that pushed on to them...
Oh and I see Tomasety has joined us in March. Nice to see you.

Yea I showed that character creation clip to my gf and tried to explain the absolutely opaque company that is Squenix. From their shadowdropping of beloved titles to squirrely ports that never get patched to ports that get patched a LOT to absolutely middling releases mixed with the occasional great idea, it truly is a baffling experience from the consumer side.

 

[Cacher]

For Switch. Maybe PC release after six months?

 

[Ganado]

At last on Steam!

 

[didamangi]

For Switch. Maybe PC release after six months?

Would love it if they added a typing of the dead mode on steam for this. Or just put the original typing of the dead 1 and 2 on steam.

 

[Mor]

For Switch. Maybe PC release after six months?

Yes, it is likely to follow the same line as Panzer Dragoon so, Switch > Stadia > PC > PS > Xbox

We will see.

 

[thekeats1999]

Yes, it is likely to follow the same line as Panzer Dragoon so, Switch > Stadia > PC > PS > Xbox

We will see.

If the rumours are true and google are pivoting on Stadia and focusing on selling the streaming tech to other companies then (hopefully) Stadia is dropping out of the exclusivity deals. We can only hope.

I would love to see some of these come across as collections. There where so many arcade lightgun games. PC is probably the perfect place for them. They at least have the perfect control system for them.

 

[LEANIJA]

If the rumours are true and google are pivoting on Stadia and focusing on selling the streaming tech to other companies then (hopefully) Stadia is dropping out of the exclusivity deals. We can only hope.

I would love to see some of these come across as collections. There where so many arcade lightgun games. PC is probably the perfect place for them. They at least have the perfect control system for them.

If Google had any sense and reason in them, they'd worked with others to integrate their tech from the start. Like Steam, Origin, GOG and the others we dont speak about. Steam streaming is great and all, but it always needs the main PC running; having servers do that for you with your exisiting library, and all integrated into Steam directly (i.e. not using GFN) would be nice to have.

 

[Blu]

Out now.

 

[Tomasety]

https://biznes.pap.pl/pl/news/listings/info/3244828,kolejni-producenci-gier-z-gpw-moga-zawiesic-sprzedaz-w-rosji-i-bialorusi-(opinia)

CD Projekt reported that the total share of Russia and Belarus in revenues from the sale of their own games is estimated at approx. 5.4%, in the case of GOG it is 3.7%. 11 bit studios in response to a question asked by PAP Biznes estimated that it is 5-6 percent. revenues. Krzysztof Kostowski, president of PlayWay, informed PAP Biznes that sales in Russia previously accounted for approx. 2.5 percent. Group sales, but now the share has dropped sharply, below 1 percent. Creepy Jar (Green Hell) also reports that revenues on PC and consoles in Russia have so far been around 2.5 percent. all sales. Two other game producers and publishers say 2-3 percent. share. The companies emphasize that the sales volume in Russia is relatively large, but the prices of games are significantly lower than in Western Europe and North America.

Ten Square Games, a producer of mobile games, also estimates that revenues from Russia will be several percent. The company told PAP Biznes that payments in iOS and Android systems are working so far, but "the situation is dynamic".

According to experts, the risk of blocking the sale of games in Russia is the so-called review bombing, i.e. a large number of negative user comments lowering the ratings of games, mainly on the Steam platform.

"Negative comments, the so-called this is obviously a risk for the industry, but I think that the average user does not participate in such actions. It is shown, for example, by the problem of the so-called crunch, where the average player is not aware of the existence of this phenomenon and it does not affect his decisions "- assessed Wojciechowski from Ipopema Securities.

Regardless of the producers' decision to withdraw games from sale, the purchase in Russia is probably currently hampered by the sanctions imposed on the Russian banking and payment system. According to the Twitter Steam Status account, Russians can only buy games through PayPal and the so-called Steam wallet. Official sources have not yet confirmed these reports.

 

[Mor]

glad to see you again around here Tomasety

 

[Alextended]

For Switch. Maybe PC release after six months?

Looks okay, a big generic like Overkill rather than stylish like actual HOTD sequels (they nerfed the bullet holes/dismemberment?) but pointless without a gun.

Maybe PC release will support mouse and it can be played with the SInden lightgun or similar solutions. Gyro or stick controls for a lightgun game though, meh.

 

[Tomasety]

Elden Ring is the biggest non-FIFA or Call of Duty launch since Red Dead Redemption 2 | UK Digital Charts

Elden Ring is the biggest UK video game launch since Call of Duty: Vanguard, according to the latest digital and physic…

www.gamesindustry.biz

Elden Ring is the biggest UK video game launch since Call of Duty: Vanguard, according to the latest digital and physical data supplied by GSD

Its sales are 2.5x that of last week's big new release, PlayStation's Horizon: Forbidden West. In fact, it's the biggest game launch outside of the Call of Duty and FIFA franchises since Red Dead Redemption 2 in October 2018.

Its week 1 sales are bigger than Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which delivered significant opening sales back in 2020.

According to GSD's figures, digital downloads accounted for over 68% of Elden Ring's sales. Xbox and PC were the biggest digital platforms. Almost 85% of Elden Ring sales on Xbox were downloaded, and on PC it was 73%. For PS5 and PS4, the sales were just over 50% digital.

----
Extra info regarding PS4/PS5

【ソフト＆ハード週間販売数】『エルデンリング』PS4、PS5版が計27万本を売り上げ1位＆2位に！ PS5累計販売台数は140万台を突破【2/21～2/27】 | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com

ファミ通発表の売上ランキング。今回は2022年2月21日～2月27日のゲームソフト＆ハード週間推定販売数まとめをお届け。

www.famitsu.com

According to famitsu estimates, Elden Ring (PS4 and PS5) sold nearly 280,000 copies (278,507) in Japan in its first week.

*PS4 ELDEN RING 188,490 units
*PS5 ELDEN RING 90017 units

 

[Deku]

Agony Unrated will be available as a DLC for the original Agony. Looks like there will be a launcher that will let you choose which version you want to play

Hi everyone, in a couple of days we plan on releasing a DLC version of UNRATED which will allow Agony owners to download this adult-only expansion without payment.

As we're still waiting for full confirmation from Steam's side, I cannot share all the details, but once it's up, we'll release a full announcement.

Cheers

The DLC is separate from the game so it's possible to have both Agony and Unrated in your library if you bought the latter.

However, the DLC version will be launched via Agony (the launcher will ask if you prefer to play Agony or Unrated).

Steam Community :: Error

steamcommunity.com

 

[Stone Ocean]

How has Babylon Fall been reviewed ? It’s bad ?

The few people who decided to review it instead of Elden Ring or Gran Turismo say it's awful.

 

[oipic]

I'd somehow missed the fact that Valve opted for a 16:10 screen on the Steam Deck - how interesting!

I clung on to my old 16:10 monitors until their dying days, and loved that aspect ratio for work and web browsing and whatnot, but it's a curious choice in a world where 16:9 is so obviously an established 'standard' now. Will be interesting to see how devs tackle this (or not, as the case may be).

 

[Line]

Concerning Babylon's Fall, it must also be said that beyond the dubious quality of the game, it's also one of the remnants of the early GaaS model: full price and MTX everywhere.

Except that now, those games are launched as F2P and then they try to nickel and dime their players. You can't launch a crappy GaaS in 2022 for 110€. It might have had a better chance starting like this, but now with a failed start, it's dead and everyone knows full well it won't be saved even if they try a relaunch (which they won't anyway).

 

[Panda Pedinte]

I wish more people would check the numerous free games that keep getting released on Steam.
Some are student games, some are prototypes, some are the work of amateur coders. Pretty much all of them are the work of people looking for some feedback, and a bit of attention, but sadly most people ignore them. It's really too bad, because quite frequently, they are highly creative.

The next time you're bored, and are in the mood for a short experience, do consider checking some of the free games available. I'm sure the developers appreciate the attention, and more often than not, you'll find that you haven't wasted your time.

Here's a few recent examples (the last game releases tomorrow):

So true! I still have some free games on my wishlist for those moments where I want to play something new and short.

 

[Kal1m3r0]

yep yep yep

 

[Mor]

yep yep yep

Will add you in no time

 

[Cacher]

Small rant. I saw so many people on different places that try to argue Breath of the Wild 2 or Starfield will not be able to compete with Elden Ring in GOTY.

Geez, I mean Elden Ring is absolutely a great game, but this kind of discourse is so stupid. Can't we all celebrate rather than comparing dick sizes? It's only February March, we know literally nothing about Botw 2 and Starfield at this moment, and I am sure that all three of them will be great games in their own way. I remember back in 2015, every time a GOTY award was given to Witcher 3, someone had to jump out and said Bloodborne was robbed. I don't think there are insufferable fans like these on MC, but god are they annoying.

Back to something positive. This pinball roguelike game looks pretty fun.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Elden Ring is the biggest non-FIFA or Call of Duty launch since Red Dead Redemption 2 | UK Digital Charts

Elden Ring is the biggest UK video game launch since Call of Duty: Vanguard, according to the latest digital and physic…

www.gamesindustry.biz

----
Extra info regarding PS4/PS5

【ソフト＆ハード週間販売数】『エルデンリング』PS4、PS5版が計27万本を売り上げ1位＆2位に！ PS5累計販売台数は140万台を突破【2/21～2/27】 | ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com

ファミ通発表の売上ランキング。今回は2022年2月21日～2月27日のゲームソフト＆ハード週間推定販売数まとめをお届け。

www.famitsu.com

this makes elden ring the biggest ps5 game launch in Japan, and possibly actually the best selling overall too

yes PS5 sw sales are that bad in Japan

 

[Tomasety]

New historical lowest price for:

 

[Stone Ocean]

Concerning Babylon's Fall, it must also be said that beyond the dubious quality of the game, it's also one of the remnants of the early GaaS model: full price and MTX everywhere.

Except that now, those games are launched as F2P and then they try to nickel and dime their players. You can't launch a crappy GaaS in 2022 for 110€. It might have had a better chance starting like this, but now with a failed start, it's dead and everyone knows full well it won't be saved even if they try a relaunch (which they won't anyway).

Game is expensive as fuck, has a deluxe edition and day 1 bullshit paid currencies and a season pass.

Square Enix is high on fumes if they thought anyone would buy this garbage.

 

[Mivey]

this makes elden ring the biggest ps5 game launch in Japan, and possibly actually the best selling overall too

yes PS5 sw sales are that bad in Japan

I wonder if due to the strong preference for handhelds, Steam Deck could pretty much open up a new market in Japan, once and if it becomes widely available there.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

I wonder if due to the strong preference for handhelds, Steam Deck could pretty much open up a new market in Japan, once and if it becomes widely available there.

Doubt it personally. PC gaming on the whole is a niche in Japan and Switch has most of the market locked down in general these days

 

[MomoVideo]

It's only February, we know literally nothing about Botw 2 and Starfield at this moment

It's march actually

But yeah, you got a point. From Soft games are always praised to high heavens. They are great of course but that doesn't mean there won't be better games. Time will tell.

 

[Mivey]

Doubt it personally. PC gaming on the whole is a niche in Japan and Switch has most of the market locked down in general these days

Of course, because until the Deck there was no easy way to PC gaming that didn't involve having a stationary PC setup*. Once (and if!) the Deck is easily available, you will be able to play all the latest and greatest games, plus lots of other older titles, on the go.

While I don't expect the Deck to compete with the Switch, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if a handheld PC, with its larger library couldn't still carve out some market share over there.


* I ignore laptops here, because gaming laptops are crazy huge, and their batteries barely last an hour if running games at decent settings. They are also way to big and therefore not something you can just pick up and jump into on a train or a bus. Also cost twice of what an equivalent desktop machine would cost.

 

[Cacher]

It's march actually

But yeah, you got a point. From Soft games are always praised to high heavens. They are great of course but that doesn't mean there won't be better games. Time will tell.

Lol that's embarrassing. Yeah, it's not really about better games or not, just really stupid to say something will win over other stuff completely. It is sad that some people just can't stop comparing stuff.

 

[Ascheroth]

Doubt it personally. PC gaming on the whole is a niche in Japan and Switch has most of the market locked down in general these days

You say this, yet the Japanese Elden Ring SKU outsold the global ones on Steam last week.
Clearly there is an audience there.

 

[hersheyfan]

At last on Steam!

My favorite Kairosoft game!! Will absolutely cop, I love me some GDS.

Small rant. I saw so many people on different places that try to argue Breath of the Wild 2 or Starfield will not be able to compete with Elden Ring in GOTY.

Geez, I mean Elden Ring is absolutely a great game, but this kind of discourse is so stupid. Can't we all celebrate rather than comparing dick sizes? It's only February March, we know literally nothing about Botw 2 and Starfield at this moment, and I am sure that all three of them will be great games in their own way.

Fully agreed, I hate this kind of discourse. I know a bunch of people like this in real life, and hearing them extol the virtues of [Game X] vs. [High Profile Game Y, usually on gaming hardware they don't own] just makes me grit my teeth and try to get out of the conversation.

Like, I'd agree that Elden Ring is an early favorite for the best game I'll play this year, it's incredible. But that only makes me more excited to see if BotW2 or Starfield can impress in the same way, not preemptively sling shit at them. It's infantile, and is commonly just thinly veiled coping behavior ("See, its not so bad that I can't play BotW2, because I have Elden Ring! Lololol").

Belated: Thanks for the thread, Mor! Lots of good stuff this month.

 

[r3n4ud]

At last on Steam!

That's all sorts of awesomesauce! I hope their other games come as well. Loved the racing game

 

[Joe Spangle]

I did it! add me to the list please Mor

I beat Godrick. Phew, tough fight. Hands are sweaty.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

You say this, yet the Japanese Elden Ring SKU outsold the global ones on Steam last week.
Clearly there is an audience there.

Oh wow, wasn’t aware of that, thanks

 

[Parsnip]

I imagine bunch of people who previously didn't have a capable PC at home suddenly found themselves with one because of the pandemic and work from home mandates. True all over the world of course, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Japan in particular grew more than most, relatively.

Steam download stats are pretty interesting if you are curious about how much various countries download from Steam these days.

Steam: Game and Player Statistics

Japan's traffic is only 1.8% of the global total which doesn't sound like a lot, but if you filter out stupidly big amounts from China and the US it's suddenly not too small of a chunk.

 

[fantomena]

Feel like Im in indie haven now between games like Chicory, Jump King and Huntdown. So fun games.

 

[Mor]

I did it! add me to the list please Mor

I beat Godrick. Phew, tough fight. Hands are sweaty.

Adding you to the wall!

 

[Sobatronix]

Will add you in no time

I also have that achievement I just don't know how to post screenshots here. I'm dumb lmao

 

[derExperte]

I really can't agree with Valve's "all is permitted" policy. And don't get me started on the profiles filled with swastikas and stuff.

I barely use social media, so I don't get to interact with this level of toxicity elsewhere, but on Steam, currently, just following a game, or clicking on a store page, pretty much guarantees I'll get pissed off, because I see this crap all over.

Wondering if screencapping some of those nasty posts and sending them directly to Gaben would help? I've always defended Valve's approach and if you asked me two weeks ago I still would've because imo the positives did easly outweigh the negatives. Literally every other social media platform has issues with curbing extremism, there's no perfect solution, no matter how much you moderate, they'll be there (and of course we know Facebook and their ilk love conflict since it raises 'engagement').

But things have dramatically changed and Valve has to be already thinking about implementing changes, the more companies cut out Russia (doesn't matter if it's purely a PR move), the worse Valve will look without any actions or statements. It's also not only about users, they have to better protect their business partners or at least give them better tools to protect themselves.





&

Fanatical

www.fanatical.com

 

[Mor]

I also have that achievement I just don't know how to post screenshots here. I'm dumb lmao

Do not worry, I trust you all if you say you did ^^

I will add you too.

 

[dex3108]