There’s been a little bit of a theme that I’ve found in the news stories that got the most comments this week, as I looked for posts to stick into the Hot Topics. It’s all about evolution and revolution, whether it’s the consoles themselves, the games or the business practices. You’ll see what I mean in just a moment.
Microsoft announced Forza 6 at the North American International Auto Show earlier this week, coming off the back of the unveiling of the new Ford GT, which is set to be the game’s cover star. The Ford GT itself won’t be out in the wilds until next year, tying in with the 50th anniversary of the company’s iconic and landmark victory at the Le Mans 24hrs in 1966, but Forza 6 seems like it will be heading for consoles this year.
It sparked an interesting reaction from some, though I had to cleave my way through overly fanboyish sentiments, and Scythgpd felt this was too many games in too short a time:
Good for those who like racing games, but this is why I gave up on my 360 and currently haven’t bothered with its successor. Forza, Gears, Halo, Forza, Gears, Halo and so on. Those are their continual go-to franchises, especially later in the console lifecycle and if you don’t like 2 of those 3 franchises there’s not a lot else.
So this would be what, less that 2 years on the market and 3 games with the Forza name already?
Avenger countered by saying, “Frankly you could ask that question about several other games too. Loads of game franchises get milked to varying degrees.” Yet Scythe did find support from double-o-dave, who noted that the Xbox One has “only been on the market about 14 months and they’re already announcing the 3rd (admittedly it could be a year away, but probably not) [which] does seem a bit quick. Hell, that even makes Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed look a bit slack!”
However, Eldave0 cut right to the heart of the matter, with just how different and varied the two sides of the series can be these days:
With two teams handling the Forza brand these days (Turn 10 and Playground Games) they seem to alternate between the “Motorsport” series, i.e. sim racing, and the “Horizon” series, i.e. arcade/Burnout-esqe racing.
Given how different the two series are, I’m perfectly happy with this arrangement.
The real thing to be aware of is that Forza 5 was very much a launch title. It suffered at review from complaints about the unlock system, the dearth of content and the extremes of repetition, and Turn 10 will be taking these things on board to create a much larger and expansive game in Forza 6. Horizon, meanwhile, is a very different series, albeit one that share the Forza name.
Given how good it looked back at PlayStation Experience, there’s a lot of people who are overjoyed to be seeing another sequel to the Uncharted series, but Bruce Straley talked about the ever tiresome topic of frame rates this week and how, while 60fps might be desirable, it might not be achievable for Uncharted 4 and Naughty Dog’s vision for the game.
This sparked an interesting debate with gazzagb saying, “To be honest I’d be disappointed if Uncharted 4 was anything but 1080p, 60 FPS. This could arguably be one of the PS4’s most important titles early on in it lifecycle, and if it doesn’t reach that target […], it probably just shows the PS4 isn’t anywhere near as powerful as we first thought.”
In response, Avenger pondered, “I do wonder as well what the default should be. Shouldn’t it be the buttery smooth, easy on the eye, 1080p@60FPS at this level of tech. Last gen had shaders, HDR, particle effects to offer, a major jump from the PS2 era, so the equipment already had a lot to contend with. The jump this time round is smaller, in fact I’d say this gen is a polish up more than anything at the moment.”
However, this was amidst a swirling discussion about the merits of PC parts and individual components, with a PC capable of besting the PS4 not really coming out at that much more expensive. Yet, Bunimomike pointed out that this wouldn’t have been possible just a year ago:
A year later, things are very different and the ever-evolving world of technology means that the affordable components drop in price and also, finally, become an alternative when looking at spending the exact same money.
Sony had to R&D this hardware, get everything ready for it and manufacturer enough to appease the masses. Not just that but the most successful gaming launch in history, I believe.
The problem with consoles is that they are stationary technological snapshots, and while both Microsoft and Sony went all out with the last generation, to the point where they were losing hundreds of dollars on each console sold, they’ve been forced to switch to more sensible and logical business practices in which they can actually turn a profit within a reasonable space of time.
Speaking of profit, 2K games announced the Evolve season pass the other day, taking the lid off a £21.99 bundle that includes… four new hunters, some monster skins and, if you pre-order, an additional monster to play as. To say the pricing feels a bit off would be an understatement, and it’s put a fair few noses out of joint.
“What little interest I had in this game is now gone,” stated KennyKazey, while Starman said, “I quite liked the look and premise of this but with the pre-order dlc spread all over different packages and this overpriced dlc I’ve lost interest. Very arrogant to suggest it’s a bargain.”
Eldave0 is somewhat more forgiving, as he noted it’s “A bit steep but they have confirmed on their forums that all maps and modes will be free of charge to avoid creating a split community so I can cope with that.”
The plus side is that you don’t need to have the additional monsters and hunters purchased in order to play alongside those that do. It’s rather modular in that sense and as Eldave0 said, maps and modes will be free. However, I can’t help but feel that this DLC pricing is rather misguided.
Youles kicks things off in this section with his milestone 75th platinum trophy for Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition, which he chose because he enjoyed the original release so much. He’s also battled his way through to getting 100% of the trophies in Call of Duty: Ghosts and all its DLC.
Starman also reached a major milestone, but on a different platform, as he passed 100,000 Gamerscore with a little help from completing Stick it to The Man! Lyts1985, meanwhile, must be burning his way through to his own round numbers, as he polished off the platinums for Far Cry 4, inFamous First Light, and Murdered: Soul Suspect.
B_Cambo grabbed the platinum for Assassin’s Creed Unity, but was agonisingly close to claiming the fastest record, as he discovered that Crazy_Del had beaten him by just 19 minutes! Sticking with Assassin’s Creed, The Lone Steven reported that he’d just finished AC Rogue, but had sadly found it a little bit too short for his liking.
Del ought to have got a second record, but was denied by trophy bugs in The Crew, just as R1MJAW is being denied the Binding of Isaac platinum by the SCEE QA team.
We’re nearly done, but you can head over to page two for the return of the Fastest Platinum boards. To finish off this page, we have the usual submission form for photos and accomplishments.