Tag: playstation

How Rockstar Boxed GTA VI

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The pre-orders for GTA VI are FINALLY here! After what has seemed like the better part of forever, players and gamers all around globe can at long last pre-order their copy of the most anticipated video game in well over a decade, if not of all time! With all this momentum and hype that has been building since GTA V came out in 2013, you would think that the release of GTA VI could redefine pop culture in a way that hasn’t been seen since at least Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Even with all the chaos and mayhem that is going on in the world in the year 2026, you would expect that Rockstar Games would be doing everything in their power to make GTA VI the biggest and most unifying moment in gaming history. And now that we have pre-order sales that is well underway, what could POSSIBLY go wrong?! Well, quite a lot actually!

Earlier this week, Rockstar announced that GTA VI would be getting two separate additions: the standard edition for $79.99 & the ultimate edition for $99.99. It was also stated that the game would received both digital and “physical” editions (there’s a reason I put the latter with parenthesis. You’ll find out why in just a moment!). The digital edition gives you the option between the main standard edition, which unlocks the main campaign of the game, and the ultimate edition, which gives you access to in-game clothing, hairstyles, locations, missions, tattoos, vehicles, and weapons, while all preorders receive theĀ Vintage Vice City Pack, featuring in-game items inspired by GTA: Vice City. Both versions you can begin downloading on November 12th, in preparation for the game’s full release on November 19th. However, the physical edition doesn’t include a separate ultimate edition of the game but only the standard edition+ a few pre-order bonuses that come with it.

Oh, and although it comes with it’s own case that includes the box art on the cover, you only get a downloadable code in it and NOT a disc!

In case you need that last part read out loud to you, here you go again! The physical edition will NOT include a disc of the game, ONLY a downloadable code for it! You just heard me right there, right?!

Once again, the most anticipated video game of all time will NOT have a disc of what is suppose to be part of the PHYSICAL edition of the game, ONLY a mere code you can start downloading a week in advance but have to wait seven days to actually being able to play the damn game. And if recent reports by The Hollywood Reporter are anything to go by, this is how Rockstar Games is choosing to release GTA VI, with NO plans on releasing a full disc version of the game at launch or even after it once the hype dies down.

To repeat that one more time, GTA VI will NOT have an actual physical disc! Despite this being one of the most hyped games of all time, despite this being in production for God knows how long, and despite all of the goodwill and momentum from the people at Rockstar, there will not be an actual disc that will come with GTA VI!

And keep in mind, this is NOT a game that is from an unknown property or that nobody knows if it’s going to be a big hit or not. EVERYONE is going to get this game! It will sell like HOT CAKES! It’s already making hundred to millions or even billions in pre-order sales ALONE! (It’s said to have already made over $3 billion dollars in pre-sales, with over 39 million copies already pre-ordered!)

No matter how much money Rockstar threw at this game, it is almost CERTAINLY going to make all it’s revenue back in the first week ALONE! You seriously mean to tell me you couldn’t afford to or have the human decency to release a REAL physical edition of a game that will likely go down as the most successful video game release of all time?! I’m calling bull and I’m calling s**t!

And I’m sure someone is gonna come at me with the two main excuses I keep seeing everywhere in regards to this dreadful business decision. Firstly, NO, this is NOT because there won’t be enough spaces on the discs. You can EASILY make MULTIPLE discs to give many different modes of the game the extra spaces that it needs. You can have one disc for the campaign, one disc for the bonus/DLC missions of the game, and one disc for GTA online ALONE! You can certainly use three discs to cover ALL of that and more while making the game function just fine. While updating each one would be a mild annoyance and a bit of patience, it would be worth it just as long as the game still plays strongly.

And secondly, NO, this is NOT done in order to prevent early leaks of the game. Even taking into the fact that game has been facing leaks for over the past FIVE years, everyone is going to get this game regardless of what gets spoiled online. While I’m sure there are plenty of people that will be invested in the main campaign and what happens to our two main leads in Lucia and Jason, there’s MANY that play GTA for two other main reasons: to interact with their friends through the online mode and to just f**k s**t up whenever they feel like it (I can’t tell you how many hours I wasted on GTA V just blowing stuff up and shooting people just to get to five stars!). You really expect me to believe that a game THIS massive could lose all that money in pre-sales just because a couple of spoilers got leaked online early?! Of course not!

The real reason for this cynical move is yet again modern gaming developers wanting to take ownership out of the hands of gamers everywhere and making it to where THEY can control the new games that you play. All you have to do is look at all of the unlockable content that you can only get at launch if you chose to buy the $100 version and NOT the $80 version and the fact that you will not be able to own a proper disc of the game, only a mere downloadable code. Do you really think this move was made in regards to just preventing leaks and reduce reselling? I think you know the answer to that question and so do I!

This all leads to a dark and haunting road that the gaming industry is headed in, where physical media is on it’s way out and that the only way to purchase a game is through digital. And I’m sure those out there that are not a physical media collector and prefers to buy their games through online shops and services such as PlayStation Plus, Xbox Gaming Pass, and Nintendo E-shop, you might wonder what the big deal is? After all, the majority of games nowadays are purchased through digital media and NOT physical. It’s just a change in the times we’re living in and is the industry evolving in ways that we just can’t go back to. Well, to those people, I should also share a story that broke out about Sony deleting over 500+ movies from PlayStation service through customer accounts.

That’s right! Just a few days ago, Sony had deleted over 551 movies from player accounts and they are all gone from their services forever. Regardless of if you paid full prices for it or not, those movies you purchased through PlayStation are gone and there’s NOTHING you can do about. You can’t get a refund for it or some version of that movie back. That is just 20 to 30 bucks or however much you purchase on digital movies flushed down the drain and you have nothing. And if you think gaming companies won’t fall into those footsteps and decide to take digital games off their services whenever they want to, I got a bridge to sell to you.

Granted, there have been MANY different occasions in the past where a company would respond to backlash of consumers whenever they pull a very cynical move that’s all for business and greed and they would eventually change course to satisfy their consumers. For example, when the Xbox One originally was showcased in 2013 and promised baffling stuff like online check-ups, DRM restrictions, and preventing you from actually fully owning their games or sharing them with your friends and family, the players lashed out and demanded better from Xbox. And guess what? They GOT it! Microsoft eventually caved and removed all of that crap they were trying to forced down everybody’s throats with the Xbox One. If a company feels like controversy is so overwhelming that it’s gonna tank their brand, they will pull a complete 180 and changed what they can to avoid any potential major losses.

Unfortunately, I don’t see Rockstar making that exact decision here. The main reason being that you already have millions upon MILLIONS of gamers out there that are going to buy GTA VI no matter what! As I mention, it has already sold over 40 million copies and made over 3 billion dollars in pre-sales ALONE! Unless there is a strong desire for the majority that pre-order game to just cancel all of their pre-orders to make a statement to Rockstar that is not acceptable, I don’t see any major changes happening. Even with the reports of many stores that refuse to sell GTA VI because the physical versions won’t include a disc, they can EASILY make up for any potential lose revenues with the $80-$100 price tags through digital. It’s business, greed, and capitalism at it’s absolute finest and Rockstar can EASILY get away with it.

For those that are digital collectors with their movies, shows, songs, books, and games that they buy, I do hope this is a least one giant WAKE-UP call for you to start taking physical media a little more seriously. Because as it’s been said many times before, you buy something with a full disc, it will 100% belong to you FOREVER! No ifs or buts about it! That’s why I and many others out there act in complete horror at this story. The horror that we are losing our ownership and security over the things we buy. The horror that a company can EASILY take something you already bought away from you whenever they feel like that. The horror that just the mere though of being able to physically own a copy of your favorite movie, show, song, book, and video game is slipping away with every single passing day.

That’s why there has been a stronger push for physical media in recent years. That’s why you are hearing reports about Gen Z beginning to abandon digital and streaming altogether because they actually like to physically own the things they love. Whenever people buy something, they want to be able to own it until the end of time. They don’t want to spend so much money on something with the thought of it getting taking away from them someday. Physical media matters and I don’t think there has been a recent example that showcases that more than with GTA VI.

The only positive I can possibly get out of the way Rockstar has completely BUTCHERED the release of GTA VI is maybe this will finally be a wake-up call for everyone to take physical media seriously. Perhaps this will empower players and gamers all across the world to invest more in physical media than ever before with the video games they buy. If Gen Z is making a statement that they want physical media to still be a thing, the rest of the world should join together with them for that exact same reason.

My advice to everyone is whenever there’s a new game, movie, book, or album that comes out and there’s an option for a physical copy of it, invest in the physical copies more times than not. Send a message to companies that we will no longer tolerate the complete erasure of physical ownership and demand that they give us the full and complete version of what they are selling. If not, then stop buying from them altogether until they can promise not to scam us and gives us everything they are selling.

This might legit be the final stand to preserve whatever future of physical media remains but let’s NOT go out without a fight. Even in the age of physical media is over, let’s preserve what we can so we can lead to some sort of future where physical media still remains a thing and will ALWAYS be an option. Digital media will always have it’s place but physical media will ALWAYS be timeless. And unless Rockstar is able to get that exact memo before November, GTA VI will be dead on arrival for many players out there!

On the plus side, three cheers for Insomniac to actually given Marvel’s Wolverine…..an actual disc!

The Console Wars Are Over

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Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s finally happened! Most of us probably thought this day would never come but it finally has! This week, Microsoft has announced that Halo is coming to the PlayStation 5!

I repeat because this bears repeating: HALO IS COMING TO THE PLAYSTATION 5!

Imagine telling yourself that over 25 years ago, around the time where SEGA was failing in the console business and would eventually be forced to put Sonic on Nintendo consoles! Xbox and Microsoft fans all around the world got to experience just that this week when Microsoft announced Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake of the campaign for Halo: Combat Evolved, for the PlayStation 5, set to come out in 2026, alongside the PC and Xbox Series S/X!

To say this announcement is big news would be a MASSIVE understatement! This was not only an announcement of a new remake of a beloved classic but this was the announcement that Microsoft has finally thrown in the white flag in the console war!

They have acknowledged that they are no longer serious about convincing others that their console is the best of them all! They have acknowledged they are no longer at the top of the game at what they do in regards to console making! They have acknowledged that their once beloved exclusive IPs such as Halo are better off being shared with their neighbors rather than staying strictly at home where they previously belonged! Above all, they have acknowledged that the console war is now officially over, and both Sony and Nintendo have won!

For those that have been following the gaming world for the past few years, you probably saw this coming from a mile away! It was just last year where Microsoft was considering the idea of moving their well-known IPs and prior exclusive franchises to other consoles in response to the lackluster sales of the Xbox Series S/X! (Something which I did write about and will leave a link for at the end). And for the most part, we are starting to see that in action!

First came Sea of Thieves, which made it’s way onto the PS5 on April 30th, 2024! Next, came Indiana Jones & The Great Circle, which was previously an Xbox exclusive that eventually made it’s way to the PS5 around Spring time of this year! Then, came Gear of Wars: Reloaded, a remaster of 2015’s Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, came to the PS5 in August of this year! And finally, for the final nail on the coffin, Halo, perhaps Xbox’s biggest and most beloved gaming franchise, is set to come out on the PS5 next year!

Not gonna lie, a big part of me is sad about this! The console wars was among the most fun things about pop culture and entertainment throughout the 21st century! It made for a nice distraction for all the political chaos that was going on from around the world, going back and forth on who is delivering the best among video games! Sure, there might’ve been a bit too much name calling and obnoxious fanboy behavior but to most people, it was mostly all tongue-and-cheek and felt it was always encouraging the likes of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo to deliver the best possible product imaginable for players and gamers all around the world!

However, things have changed! Now, Microsoft more than likely has slammed the door shut on being serious on participating in any future consoles wars! They no longer se themselves as being enough to compete with Sony or even Nintendo! Those two companies have their consoles, exclusives, and overall brand pretty much logged in for the foreseeable future with no momentum slowing them down! Sure, they might’ve made their mistakes in the past with the likes of the disastrous handlings of the PlayStation 3 (at least at launch) and the Wii U but they were at least able to bounce back from those missteps and come back stronger than ever with the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch! It doesn’t seem like Microsoft will be able to have that kind of redemption arc in the near future!

And you know what, they literally have NO ONE to blame but THEMSELVES! Everyone has been calling our their bulls**t ever since the Xbox One reveal back in May of 2013! And not only did they not improve from their mistakes of that but they basically doubled down on it! From confusing console titles to severe lack of exclusives to absurd prices to the killing of physical media to the focus on anything but the actual gaming experience, Microsoft brought down the downfall of the Xbox on themselves! Despite having over the past 12+ years of getting a chance at redeeming themselves, they have only dig themselves further and further down! And it’s now gotten to the point where they have no choice but to share their exclusives onto other consoles for the foreseeable future!

While Microsoft has gotten on record in saying that they are in preparation for their next gaming console, I don’t think anybody will ever take them seriously as being a legit threat to Sony and Nintendo ever again! Unless they are able to complete the biggest comeback arc in the history of gaming with their next console (assuming that even gets made), the days of Microsoft being an absolute dominate force in gaming and entertainment are long gone! So much so that they shouldn’t even bother with a new console because that will likely do even worse numbers than the DreamCast, especially if the rumors of it being over a thousand dollars is true!

Once again, Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remaster of the campaign of the original Xbox exclusive, Halo: Combat Evolved, will be coming to the PlayStation 5 in 2026, alongside the PC and Xbox Series S/X!

The console war is officially over!

RIP Xbox (2001-2025)

Also, Microsoft, if you are seriously considering shipping your prior exclusives onto other consoles, would you be willing to get together with another certain gaming studio that once partnered with you but are now with Sony for a remaster of a certain gem of game from over a decade ago?!

*Hinty hint hint*

PLEASE MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League- When Game Development Turns Out To Be A Waste of Time

Adam1 Comment

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has been one of the year’s biggest talking points within the gaming industry. It’s been coming to be one of the biggest gaming flops of 2023 thus far, losing Warner Bros over $200 million for the first quarter of the year. Despite being in development for nearly a decade, the long-awaited installment in Rocksteady’s successful Batman: Arkham series could not have been more of a critical and financial disappointment if they tried.

For months to even years, many folks have spectacled just what the hell went wrong behind the development of this game and why it took so long to come out. This was set to be Rocksteady’s next main game after concluding the Arkhamverse in 2015 with Batman: Arkham Knight. After the success of that series, it seemed like they could have done ANYTHING and leave plenty of folks excited for what was to come next for the studio. But yet after all that time and waiting, they come up with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, a game that basically puts all of the worst trends in recent memory in terms of gaming development and pop culture all into one, basically making it doomed from the very start.

Recently, there was an article that was published by known gaming insider, Jason Schreier, which he interviewed over 20 folks from Rocksteady that were part of the creative team of Kill The Justice League to get a sense as to what happened with the development history for this game. And let me tell you, there is some juicy, JUICY stuff in here! Not only going into great detail about everything wrong when it went to making this game but just how you can’t help but feel like Rocksteady wasted nearly a decade of time and money to a game that was basically dead on arrival.

I’m not going to go word-by-word of what was reported by Mr. Schreier but I will certainly give a cliff notes version of what was stated in that article. I will provide a link at the end of the piece of that article along with other sources that have info on what went behind the scenes for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.

  • After Arkham Knight, Rocksteady’s co-ceos Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker set out to make an original multiplayer puzzle-solving game, codenamed Stones.
  • However, Warner Bros was eager to get a Suicide Squad game out ASAP after the 2016 movie was a big hit at the box office.
  • WB Games Montreal already had a Suicide Squad game in development for a few years but it wasn’t coming together. Warner Bros then approached Rocksteady to helm the Suicide Squad game by the end of 2016 and they agreed. This put an end to the development of Project Stones and WB Games Montreal’s involvement with this Suicide Squad project.
  • Rocksteady began development on the game in 2017 but were entering unfamiliar territory, as neither Hill or Walker had experience making online multiplayer games nor did they do much research on it or even played much online multiplayer games beforehand.
  • Nevertheless, they decided to make Suicide Squad an online multiplayer game with live-service elements added to it.
  • When the duo confirmed to the rest of the studio they would be making a live-service multiplayer Suicide Squad game, new hires of Rocksteady were SHOCKED by this, resulting in many of them leaving the project as that was NOT what they signed up for.
  • Due to Hill and Walker’s inexperience with making online multiplayer games, that led to big chunks of the scripts being scrapped and the studio struggling to convey the ideas that the co-ceos had in mind.
  • Devs would have to wait for weeks to months for Hill and Walker to review their work and provide feedback, which caused constant slow downs in production.
  • The constant delays made staff members want to abandon the project, as barely any progress was being made in development.
  • Rocksteady adopted a “Toxic Positivity” policy, where no criticism of the game was allowed, with management kept going on to it’s staff about how the game will turn out great no matter what by the final stretch, just like it did with the prior Arkham games.
  • Hill pitched an elaborate vehicle system that allowed for players to equip their vehicles with weapons and navigate the streets, similar to the Batmobile in Arkham Knight.
  • This BAFFLED the staff as the Suicide Squad members already had their own means of transversal through the skies and wondered why the players would chose to patrol through the streets of Metropolis in a large vehicle over quicker methods of transversal. This idea would later be scrapped.
  • The visions of the leaders kept shifting throughout development, most notably going from an emphasis on melee combat to focusing heavily on gunplay.
  • Changes like that left the staff confused as to why a character like Captain Boomerang would carry around a gun as his choice of weaponry instead of just…..you know….a BOOMERANG, like the name of the character states. However, Captain Boomerang with a gun would stay in the finished product.

And here is some behind-the-scenes info that came from another notable source in the gaming industry, Miller Ross. This goes into the spoilers of the main plot for the game. If by some chance, you haven’t been spoiled yet and don’t know what happens in the main plot of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, then click off this article RIGHT NOW because I’m about to dive deep into the controversial decisions in the story.

  • It was Sefton Hill, the mind behind Rocksteady’s Arkham trilogy (JUST SO YOU KNOW!), that acted as the lead visionary behind the story and premise of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
  • The story 100% came from Hill, who took inspiration from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, with the main campaign acting as Infinity War and the post-launch seasons would act as Endgame.
  • The plot was designed to make the audience believe that the heroes did in fact die for real and the bad guys actually won, creating a shocking twist and setting the groundwork for the post-launch seasons.
  • Developers at Rocksteady BEGGED to include hints that the Justice League were not actually dead to avoid inevitable backlash but Hill was persistent, wanting to keep it a complete surprise.
  • Future seasons is set to see new playable characters that will join the fight with the Suicide Squad to eliminated the remaining Brainiacs, including Mrs. Freeze, Deadshot’s daughter, and Deadstroke.
  • Each upcoming season will have the player resurrecting a previously fallen member of the Justice League.
  • Season 2 will resurrect The Flash, Season 3 will resurrect Green Lantern, and Season 4 will resurrect Batman (still voiced by the late great Kevin Conroy, who did record lines before his passing).
  • This will all come together with Season 5, which will see the Justice League resurrected and coming together to stop the final Brainiac.

And now in regards to the aftermath of all this and what awaits the future of Rocksteady and Warner Bros, going back to what was stated in Jason Schreier’s piece.

  • Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker left Rocksteady in 2022 to start their own gaming studio, which is now titled Hundred Star Games.
  • Their departure SHOCKED the staff at Rocksteady, giving little to no hints that they would abandon ship right before the game was scheduled to come out in 2023, which would again get delayed to 2024.
  • Hill and Walker told the staff that they wanted to make games of their own and free of the mandates and pressure from Warner Bros, giving the confirmation that they will no longer be associated with WB or their franchises.
  • Despite the financial failure of Kill The Justice League, Warner Bros do NOT plan to layoff staff members at Rocksteady and are committed to releasing the remaining seasons of the game.
  • Because Rocksteady is more understaffed compared to other gaming studios they collaborate with, WB doesn’t view layoffs for them to be necessary.
  • Rocksteady staff are now working on a director’s cut for Hogwarts Legacy, the best-selling game of last year, while some members will commit to complete the remaining seasons for Kill The Justice League.
  • The newest leaders at Rocksteady are currently planning to pitch a new single-player game to Warner Bros, hoping it will bring the studio back to its roots.

It’s also worth noting that both Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker declined to be interviewed for this story.

So……..yeah! That is QUITE a development history! When taking all of that info into account, it’s no wonder why this game was in development for so long and why it turned out so bad?! From WB handing the Suicide Squad torch to a studio that had ZERO experience with making online multiplayer games to visions constantly changing to the developers having to wait FOREVER for feedback on their work to the founders literally bailing at the last minute in order to avoid consequences, is it any wonder why the finished product turned out to be as half-assed and half-baked as it comes? There are plenty of great games out there that were able to overcome troubled development, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League was certainly NOT one of them!

To make matters worse is just imagine all that time and effort that could have went into something COMPLETELY different! Imagine if Rocksteady spend the last seven to nine years crafting a game or even multiple games that are actually worthwhile and involves them doing what they do best! Just imagine if we got that Arkham-style Superman game that everyone wanted for them! Imagine if they made a Batman Beyond game, that follows the plot threads of the Arkhamverse in a RESPECTFUL way! Imagine if we got a proper Justice League game where we had to take down the Suicide Squad members ourselves instead of the other way around! Heck, there’s some folks out there that would even take a sequel to Urban Chaos: Riot Response, the first video game they ever made and their only video game that doesn’t involve Batman in some way! Instead, we all exist in the elseworld where we just got Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League from Rocksteady! And man, does that all feel like a waste of time!

And that is the worst part of all of this is! Whenever a game has been in development for as long as it has, you have to make sure it has the proper payoff and success that you envisioned! Otherwise, you just get a sense that the entire development cycle felt like a GIANT waste of time! All that time, work, and effort put into a product that was received poorly and failed financially! It’s bad enough when that is just a couple of years but when you have put nearly a full DECADE into something and it turned out so bad, well….that’s just a full decade of your life you will NEVER get back! And I imagine that’s the exact feeling that Rocksteady is feeling right now with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.

It’s bad enough that development of Triple A gaming is now longer than ever in this day and age. Instead of a traditional two to three years of development, it now ranges somewhere between four to five years! That’s why you are always seeing teasers for games when they first get announced and then you literally hear NOTHING about that game until at least two or three years later on down the road! Ex.) Insomniac with Marvel’s Wolverine, Monolith with Wonder Woman, and MachineGames with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. You don’t hear much from them until much later on because they are no where close to being done! That is why it’s apparent that video games turn out as great as they should to not only justify the 70 dollar price tag but also justify the long as hell development cycle of it. When it doesn’t, you get games like Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, a game that was a waster of time to not just the players but also the developers who made it.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League should act as a perfect example of what NOT to do when developing Triple A games. The whole idea and premise of a game where you play as the Suicide Squad and literally kill the heroes of the Justice League was questionable at the start and it was only made worse with what Rocksteady put out after over seven years of work! WB should have NEVER given this project to a studio that was known for making single player experiences, Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker should have done more research on developing these online multiplayer live-service games and brought in staff members who had that experience and they CERTAINLY should have known better to rely on tiresome trends that was going to be dated by the time the game was released. Making games is already hard enough as it is but it’s even harder when so much time goes into making a game and it brings very little satisfaction to players and the companies themselves.

While I’m glad that Warner Bros will not layoff staff members from Rocksteady, both sides are going to have to work BIG TIME to win back the trust of gamers everywhere! A pitch of a single-player game and developing a director’s cut of Hogwarts Legacy is a good start but they have a LONG way to go before being trusted to deliver high quality games again. We can all only hope they learn their lesson with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League and never feel obligated to put this much time and effort into a project which does not suit their reputation whatsoever. If not, then I look forward to them throwing another decade of development away in favor of chasing the trends from the 2020s! Let’s all hope we don’t have this exact same talk when Insomniac releases Thunderbolts: Kill The Avengers in 2035, which will have Peter Parker being shot and killed by Screwball!**

Jason Schreier’s Full Article

Miller Ross’s Tweet About The Story Direction and Spoiler-Filled Plans For The Upcoming Seasons

Batman Arkham Videos on What Happened with Suicide Squad and What’s Next for Rocksteady?

**That’s actually gonna happen, isn’t it?!

Is Microsoft About To Become The Next Sega?

Adam1 Comment

This week, it has been reported that Microsoft is considering bringing most of their exclusive IPs and upcoming games to PlayStation. These games include Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, the Gears of War franchise, and Indiana Jones & The Great Circle. This was all reported by Giant Bomb’s Jeffā€‚Grubb, an insider within the gaming industry. While this is all not 100% guaranteed, it is certainly being considered by Microsoft.

To see this many prior exclusive games and franchises from Microsoft consoles such as Xbox Series X and PC potentially going to their main competition of Sony and their PlayStation 5 is quite mind boggling to here. While it’s far from the first time that a previously exclusive game off Microsoft consoles would make it’s way to Sony consoles (Just look at, Rise of the Tomb Raider!), to have a big portion of Microsoft biggest IPs and franchises working it’s way to their main competitor is certainly a sign that things could be changing drastically for Microsoft and for gaming. So much so, that it’s starting to make folks wonder whether Microsoft’s days in console wars are being numbered and shall soon fall into the footsteps with the likes of Sega, abandoning console making and going full-third party with their games.

In case one doesn’t know, Sega at one point in time did in fact develop consoles of their own. This included the likes of the Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sega CD, Sega Dreamcast, and many others. However, in the 2000s, due to not selling enough consoles and facing potential bankruptcy, Sega had no choice but to stop developing consoles and sell software onto the consoles of their previous rivals. With the Dreamcast failing to compete with the original PlayStation, Xbox, and the GameCube, the days of Sega consoles were no more and would eventually see the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends on every other console known to man for the foreseeable future. While this is likely won’t be as sudden as the way Sega dropped out of the console war, one has to wonder whether Microsoft is destined for a similar fate. The main difference being that this has been in the making for quite a while, a making that is the textbook example of death by a thousand paper cuts.

I plan to make a separate piece about this in the future but Microsoft has had a hard time keeping up with Sony and even Nintendo for quite some time now. This largely goes back to their reveal of their eighth generation console, the Xbox One, back in May 2013. The Xbox One was promised to be more than just an evolution in gaming but evolution of entertainment medium in general. Microsoft marketed their console as an “all-in-one entertainment system”, which was the reason it was called Xbox One. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the concept of the console itself involved a lot of controversy.

From the overreliance of television features to the required online connections to the lack of backwards capabilities to the potential erasure of physical media to barely any focus on their upcoming exclusives/IPs, it was about the worst possible reveal for a new console imaginable. Things got even worse when E3 came around and Sony promised the PlayStation 4 would be the exact opposite of everything that Microsoft was trying to force onto gamers. It would put the major focus on gaming, online services weren’t required, backwards capabilities would still be a thing, physical media still had a major presence, and there would be plenty of exclusives/IPs made strictly for that system.As if all of that weren’t bad enough, a little salt in the wound was added when previous Microsoft CEO Don Mattrick responded to the criticisms of required internet by telling those who didn’t have internet to just get an Xbox 360.

Despite having all the momentum in the world heading into the eight generation with coming high off of the Xbox 360, Microsoft fumbled the ball big time when it came to trying to sell the Xbox One. Sony was basically handed the eighth generation console war on a silver platter and made for the best use of it. They were able to steamroll the Xbox One and made way for the PlayStation 4 being one of the most successful gaming systems of all time. Microsoft found themselves passed by Sony during the mid to late 2010s and eventually Nintendo once the Switch became a thing. The mistakes that Microsoft made for the Xbox One before and after it’s release was simply baffling. So much so that one could argue that they are still paying for it to this day.

Even if the way Microsoft handled the build up to their next console, Xbox Series S/X, wasn’t nearly as bad as the way that they handled the Xbox One, some of their biggest fatal flaws from that console would eventually carry over. From still too much focus on other entertainment assets such as televisions and music to not enough intriguing exclusives or IPs to doing jack s*it with the exclusives and IPs from companies that they actually bought to it’s confusing as hell console titles, unable to tell the difference between which is which, the Xbox Series S/X was not the answer they were looking for, following their humiliating defeat in the eight generation. To this day, I still am confused on what the Xbox Series is even to suppose to be. And when I’m confused about something that should be so simple, then that must mean the majority of the human population would feel the same way.

Because of all of the mistakes I’ve mentioned and more, one can’t wonder if what’s happening with Microsoft right now could be something that has been nearly a decade in the making. The aftermath of a disastrous console reveal, the constant focus on everything except the actual games themselves, the lack of self awareness with the consumers they are suppose to cater to. It’s now all beginning to crashing down hard on Microsoft. Over ten plus years of bad company decisions and focusing on the wrong things had led to this moment. The moment where Microsoft waves the white flag to Sony and Nintendo and will now find themselves joining alongside SEGA and others where they will only deliver software to consumers and no longer hardware.

Regardless of what the future holds for Microsoft and the Xbox, things are not looking too bright right now for them. According to Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer, the company will share details about what their future awaits them sometime next week. It’s only then will we know exactly where Microsoft head is truly at and if it’s heading in the direction we all think it’s going. And if it is, then I would be lying if I said I didn’t see it coming. And Microsoft has no else to blame but themselves for letting it happen.

Another link with more detail from Jeff Grubb himself:

Insomniac Games Got Hacked….And It’s Messed Up

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Last week, it was reported that Insomniac Games, the studio responsible for some of the most well- received triple AAA Sony exclusives in recent memory such as Marvel’s Spider-Man series and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, got hacked by a unknown ransomware gang called Rhysida. The hackers behind Rhysida claimed to have accessed to massive amounts of info regarding Insomniac Games’ future projects and threatened to release all of it to the public, unless a ransom of two million dollars was paid in one week. I’m willing to bet that Insomniac didn’t meet that offer because it was then reported yesterday, just mere minutes after the supposed ransom deadline expired, there were numerous of files from Insomniac Games that leaked out everywhere all over the internet.

These leaks could each of the following:

  • Massive amount of info regarding one of Insomniac Games’ upcoming installments in Marvel’s Wolverine. These include concept art, cast leaks, gameplay footage, and the entire plot of the game!

  • Insomniac’s entire slate of games they have planned and their intended release dates up until the year of 2030. These include games that were already announced to be in development such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 and Wolverine along with a couple of titles that were not confirmed yet with a clear desire to reveal them later on down the road. I won’t say though what those titles are here but the road map of their upcoming games are all out in the open.

  • Personal info regarding many of the employees that work for Insomniac. These include possible phone numbers, email accounts, home locations, and direct names of folks who work at the company. This indicates that a fair amount of doxing has taken place. Pray to god for the safety of all of those that work at Insomniac Games!

  • More than 1 TB of internal data leaked, estimating about 1.3 million files total. These involve just about everything that I have just mentioned and even more.

While I can’t give 100% confirmation just yet but this may legit be the biggest hacking scandal in regards to video games in a very long time! Not even the hacks of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI or the recent plot leak of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could compare to this! At least that was just one game that didn’t include data about anyone’s email account or the company’s future plans for the next decade. This hacking scandal on the other hand is comparable to that of when Sony Pictures got hacked back in late 2014 (which also ties back to Sony given their current partnership with Insomniac Games). Just about every bit of juicy info that can make for as much clickbait-y headlines in articles as humanly possible! It’s all messed up!

You might think this article might be going over every single detail and game that got leaked but I rather not do that. Not just because if I did that, then I would literally be here all day because of how much stuff got released but out of respect to those at Insomniac Games. Not a single person working there deserve this level of hacking and doxing at any kind! This is a company that has been one of the most consistently reliable gaming studios out there at delivering huge quality games that gives players their full money’s worth! To have all this info that has been revealed of what goes on from behind the scenes is incredibly disrespectful and quite frankly, dangerous! Even if you are someone that don’t care for their games, you would be genuinely heartless to claim that anyone working at Insomniac deserves this kind of treatment!

Hacking has been more prevalent than ever before! With how so much folks spent their time on the internet nowadays to the advancement of technology to the emergence of A.I., there are now over numerous ways to hack into things, particularly in regards to big companies such as Insomniac Games. Whether it’s to force out leaks to upcoming titles to build up anticipation or just to be a dick, it’s much easier to hack than it was in the early days of the internet. Of course, this is not just for gaming as it goes for just about everything involving entertainment and politics but in recent memory, it’s mostly been the gaming industry that has been affected by this.

It just makes you wonder how Insomniac themselves will respond to this scandal! Of course, you pray for the safety and stability of everyone that works there in the hopes that this does NOT lead to any harm of any kind to come to them or their loved ones! Once that is taken into consideration and is dealt with, how will this impact the releases of their upcoming games? Will they push Wolverine back even further to change elements of the story since the entire plot as been leaked? Will they actually commit to an open-world *bleep* game now that cat is out of the bag? Will any of the other previously unconfirmed games be in the works anymore? Those are questions that everyone has got to be asking themselves right now and hopefully will be answered in the best way possible by Insomniac.

If you desire to seek out all the information that got leaked by hackers for the planned future at Insomniac Games, I’m not going to stop you. I understand being tempted to see what’s going on from behind the scenes since there are now plenty of info out there that will give you just that. Even I’m tempting to do so! But, just know when you are looking through all of those leaks is that NONE of this is what Insomniac had in mind! They clearly wanted to give out info about their upcoming entries of their gaming library whenever they felt the desire to and when they felt the most eager to give their fans a taste of what’s to come. They wanted to give out all of this info when they felt the most confident and the most good and ready to do so! This was all clearly not the moment of time that Insomniac was aiming for and that’s just messed up!

I can only hope that those from Rhysida that took place in this awful action that they are jailed and fined in the harshest way possible! I’m talking decades behind bars and fines that they won’t be properly paid off even after they die! They took private information from all those great folks at Insomniac Games and let the whole world see it! That is cruel, distasteful, and absolutely f*cked up! I wouldn’t wish that kind of action on my worst enemy! I can only hope this will not lead to any harm to any employee at Insomniac Games or potential firings of any of the staff! They all deserve better than this!

To the great folks of Insomniac Games, I’m so sorry all of you have to put up with this crap! You are perhaps my favorite gaming studio working today, delivering some of my favorite gaming experiences of the past several years! Speaking as a die hard fan, you all deserve much better than this! I can not stress that enough! Good luck getting through all of this and I eagerly await to see what you guys and girls have in store for the future!