Community MetaSteam | May 2024 - Wake up samurai, we gonna get this Persian kitty home

[yuraya]

Did Nintendo get lucky with the Switch?

I don't see Playstation disappearing so easily without putting up some type of fight.

Assuming console gaming dies out Sony will at the very least still attempt to get their own Playstation store on PC. And they will do all the dumb EGS shit in trying to take users away from Steam by throwing money around. All the dumb console exclusive tactics will keep rearing their head in PC space for a long while imo.

Really tho both Microsoft and Sony need to create very affordable consoles next gen. Stop chasing power and graphics...and instead focus on penetrating living rooms.

This covid gen made no sense top to bottom. Its still baffling to me that these consoles cost the same today as they did 4 years ago when the gen started. It makes no sense for any tech product to sit on store shelves for 4 years and not drop in price. No other tech sector/company would get away with some dumb bs like that. And on top of all that games/services have increased in price too. Its the dumbest gaming gen I've ever been apart of.

The end of year 4 of the previous PS4 gen I was able to get a 200$ PS4 slim that was bundled with a physical copy of Spider-Man. Compare that to what we have today in year 4. These companies are just hurting the industry as a whole and layoffs will only be the beginning if they don't go back to the way things were.

 

[Ascheroth]

I think the "traditional" 300M AAAA blockbuster on the big TV in the living room experience is just a dead-end for the industry. It's a mode of entertainment primarily for a shrinking older audience that grew up with it, whereas the newer generation is growing up with different values that don't really mesh well with this.
I know someone who has a big TV but still watches some shows on the small phone screen because it's just more convenient and also was never really a gamer but recently bought a Switch.
The future is probably portable/hybrid devices like the Switch or Smartphones/Tablets and software platforms that run on various different devices like Steam where you have the option of running it on the big screen, but can also take it with you during a commute and stuff.
And platform-agnostic games with crossplay and -save, where you can switch between your devices (PC, phone,...) depending on your mood and what part of a game you're currently playing.

Steam and Nintendo are very well positioned for this future, though we'll have to see how the transition to the Switch 2 works out.
Microsoft is best positioned to pivot to this future with Windows and cloud, and it kinda looks like they are trying to do this. But they are also a complete mess so who knows if they actually manage to do that or just continue imploding.
Sony is not set up at all for this, so that will be interesting.

 

[curi0usBystander]

This covid gen made no sense top to bottom. Its still baffling to me that these consoles cost the same today as they did 4 years ago when the gen started. It makes no sense for any tech product to sit on store shelves for 4 years and not drop in price. No other tech sector/company would get away with some dumb bs like that. And on top of all that games/services have increased in price too. Its the dumbest gaming gen I've ever been apart of.

We've reached the point were we can't simply get cheaper chips in the same time frame (die shrinks are not what they used to be or rather they don't happen at the same speed) then you factor in inflation and that's why it's not dropping

 

[thekeats1999]

I am not sure what changed for me, but I used to love AAA gaming. I just hit a point where I realised that the gameplay wasn’t as interesting to me as it used to be. Plus the heavier focus on stories in these tent pole action games never sat right. Why would I play Uncharted when I could watch Indiana Jones instead (with more likeable characters and no bullet sponges). Why would I play Spider-Man when I can read the comics or watch the movies (with no forced stealth or chase sequences). Hell, I think The Last of Us made for a better TV series than it did a game (even if the series felt rushed in the last couple of episodes). I think Citizen Sleeper had a far better story than all of the above.

I am looking forward more to something like Dawntrail than the eventual PC releases of Rebirth or 16. Stardew Valley, Terraria or Minecraft interest me far more than Assassins Creed or Far Cry.

The odd thing is, that things like Indie RPGs/JRPGs still hold my attention. Maybe it’s, at their core, they still retain elements of the old school gaming I appreciate.

Or maybe I am just getting to old and want something that reminds me of the joy I had playing games back in the 80s and 90s. I know some of this is nostalgia and rose tinted glasses. I think indie games are where I am happiest (recently added Hades 2 and Wargroove to my Steamdeck for when I am finished with Stardew)

 

[Le Pertti]

I am not sure what changed for me, but I used to love AAA gaming. I just hit a point where I realised that the gameplay wasn’t as interesting to me as it used to be. Plus the heavier focus on stories in these tent pole action games never sat right. Why would I play Uncharted when I could watch Indiana Jones instead (with more likeable characters and no bullet sponges). Why would I play Spider-Man when I can read the comics or watch the movies (with no forced stealth or chase sequences). Hell, I think The Last of Us made for a better TV series than it did a game (even if the series felt rushed in the last couple of episodes). I think Citizen Sleeper had a far better story than all of the above.

I am looking forward more to something like Dawntrail than the eventual PC releases of Rebirth or 16. Stardew Valley, Terraria or Minecraft interest me far more than Assassins Creed or Far Cry.

The odd thing is, that things like Indie RPGs/JRPGs still hold my attention. Maybe it’s, at their core, they still retain elements of the old school gaming I appreciate.

Or maybe I am just getting to old and want something that reminds me of the joy I had playing games back in the 80s and 90s. I know some of this is nostalgia and rose tinted glasses. I think indie games are where I am happiest (recently added Hades 2 and Wargroove to my Steamdeck for when I am finished with Stardew)

For me I really can't play linear cinematic games anymore, it's like it goes fundamentally against what games could be. As you say if I wanted just story I would watch a movie. But I have also realised that just pure game play is not enough for me either, it has to be a complete package. That's when a game can be something that makes games great.

 

[Lashley]

Pitchford. Predictor. Prick.

 

[STHX]

Theme Hospital in space coming this month

 

[Arc]

Did Nintendo get lucky with the Switch?





Back in the day those indie devs were lucky that Breath of the Wild turned into a huge success.

Nintendo is well managed. They bowed out of the graphics race over 20 years ago and while you can give them flak for using ancient hardware, it is obviously working out for them. They're currently running at a 30% operating margin while Playstation runs at a 6% margin.

Valve stays in their lane and doesn't have grandiose plans that burn billions of dollars. Getting on the ground floor of digital PC gaming sales and having dominant market share obviously helps, but they were smart enough to see its potential and reap the rewards.

 

[yuraya]

Nintendo is well managed. They bowed out of the graphics race over 20 years ago and while you can give them flak for using ancient hardware, it is obviously working out for them. They're currently running at a 30% operating margin while Playstation runs at a 6% margin.

Looking back at these last 7 years it worked out really well for Nintendo.

Yea their hardware is old and very dated now but it was mostly fine back in 2017-2020. If you look at all the first party stuff they released this gen its only a small handful of Zelda and Pokemon games that really struggled with the hardware. And even those games were still playable. The rest 90% of the games they released were very acceptable by all metrics. And yea some big 3rd party games became memes because of their funny ports but wtvr. All the best indie and small budget games were a good fit on the Switch as well. Overall from both a hardware and software perspective the Switch is a massive success.

It would be really hard for them to mess up the Switch 2 imo. The only real thing that can hurt it is being too expensive and pricing out their core audience.

Even if they try to do some stupid risky gimmick it wouldn't even be that crazy as long as they try to do it at start of the gen. If it doesn't work they just shove it aside.

The likely thing to happen is they launch Switch 2 with Metroid Prime 4 and new 3d Mario. And that would along with 3rd party support will carry them for first 2 years. They will sell out all stock regardless.

 

[Paul]

Valve stays in their lane and doesn't have grandiose plans that burn billions of dollars. Getting on the ground floor of digital PC gaming sales and having dominant market share obviously helps, but they were smart enough to see its potential and reap the rewards.

What I particularly enjoy about this is the fact that Valve actually did not want or intend to build Steam themselves and went to RealNetworks (anyone remember them?) who laughed them off and then to Yahoo and Microsoft who did the same. So they had no choice but to build it themselves.

We went around to everybody and said "Are you guys doing anything like this? We need this for our games, and therefore other people are going to need it someday soon." And everyone was like: "Blah, blah, blah...That's a million miles in the future." So we said "We need it now" and everyone said "Well, we can't help you."


So we just went off and started doing it. Once we pick something we just start going after it and we're not really too concerned with what other people are doing because that's just an easy way to get distracted.

 

[Derrick01]

Did Nintendo get lucky with the Switch?

To some degree yes. Most of nintendo's consoles in the last 30 years were flops and the wii was a clear lucky gamble but then they found themselves immediately back in the hole with wii u. I wouldn't say the switch was as much of a gamble as the wii was because ultimately what happened was they condensed and shrunk their business, going from 2 separate systems and markets into 1, and that I think was a much less risky move because their handhelds have always been pretty successful. Even the 3DS managed to do 70m+.

But this is also why I'm not really impressed with switch's hardware sales. They took two markets that a couple of gens ago they did 250m combined sales and now they're at 140m. The real key to their success was eliminating the $30 handheld game and charging $60 for everything and still managing to sell millions of these games.

I don't see Playstation disappearing so easily without putting up some type of fight.

Yeah the recent dooming with PS is absurd. MS' failures are not their failures, people are forgetting they bring in like $25b a year with PS. Their issue is profitability and that can be fixed by not making a bunch of $500m games lol.

PS5 is still on track to match or surpass ps4's sales and when that happens they'll have had 4 100m selling consoles out of 5 and that one was ps3 and finished at almost 90m.

 

[Stevey]

V Rising 1.0 is out now.

 

[Li Kao]

V Rising 1.0 is out now.

It's super not 18 euros on my side.

 

[STHX]

Mashs up your gunpla 4 is coming out August 29

 

[lashman]

 

[PC-tan]

To some degree yes. Most of nintendo's consoles in the last 30 years were flops and the wii was a clear lucky gamble but then they found themselves immediately back in the hole with wii u. I wouldn't say the switch was as much of a gamble as the wii was because ultimately what happened was they condensed and shrunk their business, going from 2 separate systems and markets into 1, and that I think was a much less risky move because their handhelds have always been pretty successful. Even the 3DS managed to do 70m+.

But this is also why I'm not really impressed with switch's hardware sales. They took two markets that a couple of gens ago they did 250m combined sales and now they're at 140m. The real key to their success was eliminating the $30 handheld game and charging $60 for everything and still managing to sell millions of these games.



Yeah the recent dooming with PS is absurd. MS' failures are not their failures, people are forgetting they bring in like $25b a year with PS. Their issue is profitability and that can be fixed by not making a bunch of $500m games lol.

PS5 is still on track to match or surpass ps4's sales and when that happens they'll have had 4 100m selling consoles out of 5 and that one was ps3 and finished at almost 90m.

That makes sense and it does go hand in hand what others have been saying, how well over 75% of Nintendo money form the Switch has been from their first party titles that have been selling very well at $60 a pop, and in some cases sell as little as 1 million copies to well over 20+ million copies for some games, all while not costing nearly as much as what Sony's first party titles cost to develop. Which in turn leads to more money for Nintendo.


I think I said this already but I can't remember if I did or not. But with indie games on Switch they still sell well for some but the eShop itself is still a mess and hurting growth for those games. And in some cases for stuff like the watermelon game to gain a lot of traction it has to be both unique and cheap, cheap enough that you can basically get it for free using your Nintendo gold coins.

I will likely buy a Switch 2 at some point but likely not at launch though. Just so that I have a method to be able to play those Nintendo games. Hopefully they don't end up all of a sudden saying how Nintendo Online is all of a sudden going to cost even more now, for now real reason.

 

[kio]

Just my two cents on the whole new switch thing:
1 - I'm tired of reading about it. The damn thing won't be out for another year and I'm already sick of it. I dread to think what the honeymoon period will be like.
2 - If the nu switch isn't backwards compatible it'll be a suicide move by nintendo. Granted I have no idea how the game's transfer would be possible since they are tied to the console and not a costumer account, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that's something for them to figure out.
3- Nintendo's problem isn't this next generation but the one after that. I'm having a hard time imagining the need for a dedicated portable games machine when your general purpose tablet and/or phone will become more than capable of also being a gaming machine in the segment nintendo wants to operate, and some might argue they already are. All that's missing is a service that isn't shit and filled with shovelware and that people can trust.
4- No matter how underpowered it is or how much it feels like a toy you can bet it will heralded as the greatest invention of humanity.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

The games aren't tied to the hardware and it's tied to an user account now. It's been like this for a while now.

 

[ezodagrom]

2 - If the nu switch isn't backwards compatible it'll be a suicide move by nintendo. Granted I have no idea how the game's transfer would be possible since they are tied to the console and not a costumer account, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but that's something for them to figure out.

Nintendo Support: How to Transfer Digital Games / Nintendo Accounts Between Nintendo Switch Consoles

en-americas-support.nintendo.com

4- No matter how underpowered it is or how much it feels like a toy you can bet it will heralded as the greatest invention of humanity.

With how things have been going for MS and Sony, they'll be better off with underpowered hardware, it feels like the raw power race has reached a breaking point, games that focus primarily on graphics are unsustainable.

 

[lashman]

 

[Shahem]

Pitchford. Predictor. Prick.

What a complete moron.

 

[lashman]

What a complete moron.

 

[dex3108]

Depression The Game (Plague Tale 2) finally gave me slow chapter but why i have feeling that it is just calm before the storm xD

 

[lashman]

 

[AHA-Lambda]

This is such a confusing release =/

 

[STHX]

This is such a confusing release =/

I can only speculate they need more time to finish the translation considering what's written on the page. But at least it seems a weatern version is coming

 

[prudis]

Jalopy successor , but you drive the isekai truck-kun instead

 

[fantomena]

You mean it's not a platform for fans of games. But sure, this is what I've stated for a long time. Game pass deals are pretty much the only reason Xbox is getting some Japanese games.

With the closure of Tango Gameworks, Xbox sends an accidental message: it is not a platform for fans of Japanese games

No matter what Xbox leadership says in its livestreams or in statements, one thing remains true: it's relationship with Japan never came first.

www.vg247.com

 

[thekeats1999]

Jalopy successor , but you drive the isekai truck-kun instead

And straight on the wishlist with that one.

 

[lashman]

And straight into the trash with that one.

FTFY

 

[Arc]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/steam-review-bombing-is-gamings-most-powerful-method-of-protest-3-takeaways-from-helldivers-2s-weekend-meltdown/

This whole episode has me wondering why we pay attention to Steam reviews in a way we don't on any other platform. Steam ratings can singlehandedly elevate an unknown game's profile overnight, or turn the air sour on an otherwise promising project. Steam reviews are constantly active, and we genuinely care what they have to say.

Review bombings can be confusing and entirely misleading for people who aren't plugged into a game's happenings. I've had friends who were scared off from playing great games they heard were "mixed" or "negative," not realizing they were only poorly rated for a few weeks because of a balance patch nobody remembers. The 200,000 people who thumbs-downed Helldivers 2 over the weekend do not actually believe it's a bad game, but how is a new Steam user looking for a fun co-op game supposed to know that?

Of course, that is the point of tanking Steam reviews: it works. The aggrieved want publishers to panic, watch money leave the room, and course correct. If Steam users were forced to take their review bombing elsewhere, such as a less visible corner of Steam like the Discussions tab, they simply wouldn't bother. Review bombs only matter because reviews matter.

I don't love the reflex of punishing game developers for minor infractions by sinking Steam ratings that are supposed to be overall buying advice.

But the games that get hit hardest by angry review mobs aren't in danger of going under because of them. Its new "Mixed" rating be darned, Helldivers 2 is still the best-selling game of 2024 and a homerun success for Sony and Arrowhead. I find Steam reviews genuinely useful for finding cool games and gauging safe skips at a glance. When there is a genuine instance of toxic or off-topic review bombing, Valve is pretty good about flagging it.

One thing I might change is the name: "user reviews." What Valve says you're getting is an aggregate of user reviews, but what you're actually reading is a smattering of jokes, single-issue complaints, some detailed reviews, and a lot of attention-seeking memes. It's not a reviews hub, it's a forum with measurable cultural sway—a highly visible chatroom that imperfectly represents how pissed off or delighted its posters are.

Sometimes a gut-check reading of the room is exactly what you need, just make sure you check who's in the room and what they're mad or happy about.

It feels weird seeing PC Gamer praising Steam so much the past few months.

 

[Nabs]

New Humble Metroidvania Mania Bundle. Any of these worth playing?

Metroidvania Mania

Epic adventure awaits in this Metroidvania bundle—get 7 games including 9 Years of Shadows & Axiom Verge 2! Your purchase helps the Global Foodbanking Network.

www.humblebundle.com

$14
9 Years of Shadows
Axiom Verge 2
Cookie Cutter
Ghost Song
Death's Gambit: Afterlife

$6

The Knight Witch
Axiom Verge
50% off Death's Gambit - Ashes of Vados

 

[Le Pertti]

New Humble Metroidvania Mania Bundle. Any of these worth playing?

Metroidvania Mania

Epic adventure awaits in this Metroidvania bundle—get 7 games including 9 Years of Shadows & Axiom Verge 2! Your purchase helps the Global Foodbanking Network.

www.humblebundle.com

$14
9 Years of Shadows
Axiom Verge 2
Cookie Cutter
Ghost Song
Death's Gambit: Afterlife

$6

The Knight Witch
Axiom Verge
50% off Death's Gambit - Ashes of Vados

Tempted for axiom verge 2, how are the other games in the bundle?

 

[Sobatronix]

New Humble Metroidvania Mania Bundle. Any of these worth playing?

Metroidvania Mania

Epic adventure awaits in this Metroidvania bundle—get 7 games including 9 Years of Shadows & Axiom Verge 2! Your purchase helps the Global Foodbanking Network.

www.humblebundle.com

$14
9 Years of Shadows
Axiom Verge 2
Cookie Cutter
Ghost Song
Death's Gambit: Afterlife

$6

The Knight Witch
Axiom Verge
50% off Death's Gambit - Ashes of Vados

TIL that there is an Axiom Verge 2 lmao

 

[Kal1m3r0]

TIL that there is an Axiom Verge 2 lmao

Surprise surprise, it was an EGS exclusive

 

[Line]

Tempted for axiom verge 2, how are the other games in the bundle?

• 9 years of Shadows I didn't stick to, it feels stiff and not super responsive for such a combat-heavy game... and the light platforming was very clunky too. Looks great though.
• Cookie Cutter is the opposite, the combat feels amazing with hand drawn animations, but the rest is just serviceable and it lacks variety, ends on a frustrating cliffhanger too. I liked it, still.
• Ghost Song I just didn't like anything in it, especially not the strange souls-like inspirations that make it slower and more annoying, from the levelling to scarce "bonfires" and painful overheating mechanic that's like a worse version of stamina.
• Death's Gambit is a straight souls-like, and this one I liked because it didn't mean just massive backtracking for no reason (with much smarter checkpoints), the build variety and combat are not super deep, but it has great boss fights and an oddly comedic tone to the dreary souls formula with a really well done interconnected world. Bunch of annoying side quests like in souls, however.
• The Knight Witch is my list to play so I can't say!

(Also Axiom Verge 2 was not particularly good, I thought. But then so was Axion Verge 1, but it was at least was a bit more unique in the later game, AV2 is really by-the-books, strange for a follow up game.)

 

[Ge0force]

Tempted for axiom verge 2, how are the other games in the bundle?

I enjoyed Death's Gambit and Axiom Verge a lot

 

[prudis]

By all visible metrics, Hi-Fi Rush in particular is an extremely successful and widely acclaimed game. So just being really good at making games is clearly not enough to prevent you from getting shut down.

given this was a smaller scale game
this probably just show how much bigger of a disaster Ghostwire was

 

[Deku]

I thought it was strange the Axiom Verge 2 is on a bundle before the first game, then I saw that the first game is also in the bundle

 

[fantomena]

This is actually really funny.

 

[Madventure]

This is actually really funny.

 

[Le Pertti]

• 9 years of Shadows I didn't stick to, it feels stiff and not super responsive for such a combat-heavy game... and the light platforming was very clunky too. Looks great though.
• Cookie Cutter is the opposite, the combat feels amazing with hand drawn animations, but the rest is just serviceable and it lacks variety, ends on a frustrating cliffhanger too. I liked it, still.
• Ghost Song I just didn't like anything in it, especially not the strange souls-like inspirations that make it slower and more annoying, from the levelling to scarce "bonfires" and painful overheating mechanic that's like a worse version of stamina.
• Death's Gambit is a straight souls-like, and this one I liked because it didn't mean just massive backtracking for no reason (with much smarter checkpoints), the build variety and combat are not super deep, but it has great boss fights and an oddly comedic tone to the dreary souls formula with a really well done interconnected world. Bunch of annoying side quests like in souls, however.
• The Knight Witch is my list to play so I can't say!

(Also Axiom Verge 2 was not particularly good, I thought. But then so was Axion Verge 1, but it was at least was a bit more unique in the later game, AV2 is really by-the-books, strange for a follow up game.)

Yeah all that unsold me on the bundle lol

 

[fantomena]

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

Jalopy successor , but you drive the isekai truck-kun instead

I don't see a thing linked, what is it?

 

[Sobatronix]

Goddamn Xbox is fucking dead. I wanted them to be more competitive against Sony but after the Tango and Arkane Austin fiasco they can go fuck themselves lmao.

 

[STHX]

Gamepass isn't working
Thinks the teams are spread too thin
Fires up 1900 employes so there are even less GP games coming out

Wait a minute

 

[fantomena]

No shit. I've been saying this for years here (my dislike for game pass if of course known).

 

[Blu]

Out of Early Access.

 

[Cacher]

I cancelled game pass sub and packed the series X into the closet yesterday.

I wish all the people who are affected will be able to land on somewhere else smoothly.

 

[Alexandros]

I think it's safe to say that Xbox's days as a platform holder are over. With the rumors about the next Xbox basically being a PC, there is a high possibility that 'Xbox' will be a gaming PC brand moving forward. Hopefully Microsoft can retool the Xbox OS into a gaming-optimized custom version of Windows, Steam OS style.

I still like the concept of a gaming subscription. It's a cheap way to try out lots of games, I discovered several of my now favorite games through Game Pass. I think the part where it went wrong was the day-one releases, those services seem to work better for catalog content.