General Gaming thread

TheMarlin

It could be a negotiation tactic, such as Amazon did with Visa.   But, I agree. They no longer need the FIFA license.  

RedRabbit

TheMarlin said:

They no longer need the FIFA license.  

I've no interest in FIFA games or football in general so I could be talking out of my arse but I'm just not sure that's true.

I think 2k is a likely home for FIFA and, if you've got an option between EA football 2024 and FIFA 2K24 I think a lot of people would go with 2k.  If it does go this way EA's only real advantage is that they'll likely have a one year gap to release a non-FIFA game before the new developer is able to get anything out.

Grumpyrocker

RedRabbit said:

TheMarlin said:

They no longer need the FIFA license.  

I've no interest in FIFA games or football in general so I could be talking out of my arse but I'm just not sure that's true.

I think 2k is a likely home for FIFA and, if you've got an option between EA football 2024 and FIFA 2K24 I think a lot of people would go with 2k.  If it does go this way EA's only real advantage is that they'll likely have a one year gap to release a non-FIFA game before the new developer is able to get anything out.

EA's advantage is they already have hundreds of licenses that cover everything other than (1) the FIFA name, and (2) the FIFA world cup. 

That's it. EA doesn't need to creat a new game. EA isn't starting from scratch here. The same game continues, just with a different name. 

Anyone else has to start again. And gain the many many licenses required to cover all the clubs,.players, and competitions. 

Game development on this scale takes years. No one is going to create a better game and launch it with that FIFA brand in two years time. 

Stratavarious

I’ve played and loved Skyrim and Witcher.  How like those is Elden Ring?

And,, how is it on PS4?

Cheers.

guitargeek62

Well it looks like I might finally have a reason to upgrade to next (/current?) gen in January:

https://www.eurogamer.net/eas-dead-space-remake-gets-january-2023-release-date

Grumpyrocker

Stratavarious said:

I’ve played and loved Skyrim and Witcher.  How like those is Elden Ring?

And,, how is it on PS4?

Cheers.

Not very similar. Elden Ring is part of the Soulsborne series, rock hard rpg-lite combat game. It does have a more open world compared to previous games in the series but it's not really similar to The Witcher or Elder Scrolls in terms of being a very open RPG. 

ThePrettyDamned

Stratavarious said:

I’ve played and loved Skyrim and Witcher.  How like those is Elden Ring?

And,, how is it on PS4?

Cheers.

Not much like it. Imagine castlevania but 3D and open world. Dark souls is nearly 3D castlevania, but without requiring skills to open locked doors. 

Ps4 performance is excellent. 

PolarityMan

Stratavarious said:

I’ve played and loved Skyrim and Witcher.  How like those is Elden Ring?

And,, how is it on PS4?

Cheers.

Imagine everything in Skyrim can one hit you and you have no idea where you're aupposed to go and you're nearly there.

RaymondLin

And everything can one-hit kill you too, or at least very quickly!

In most other RPG I am always able to level up with additional armour to make myself practically invincible when walking around.  Elden Ring, no matter how strong my character is, even the average NPC can take a chunk of health off of me, so when i am surrounded I die very quickly. 

RedRabbit

Just a passing thought - has anyone got a steam deck yet?  I'm assuming not or it would have been posted on here. 

Just checked on my reservation after not thinking about it for ages - it was originally Q2 2022 but has been pushed back to Q3 now.  I'm still looking forward to it but I can't say I'm desperate to get my hands on one.  Basically, it will mean I can play most of my Steam library in bed so I'll probably just end up playing Skyrim again.

TeleMaster

RedRabbit said:

Just a passing thought - has anyone got a steam deck yet?  I'm assuming not or it would have been posted on here. 

Just checked on my reservation after not thinking about it for ages - it was originally Q2 2022 but has been pushed back to Q3 now.  I'm still looking forward to it but I can't say I'm desperate to get my hands on one.  Basically, it will mean I can play most of my Steam library in bed so I'll probably just end up playing Skyrim again.

I'm waiting for mine. I have a large Steam library of games I bought on offer for a few quid that I never played that I'm looking forward to playing. Whenever it comes.

Hades will be particularly cool. 

Moloch

RedRabbit said:

TheMarlin said:

They no longer need the FIFA license.  

I've no interest in FIFA games or football in general so I could be talking out of my arse but I'm just not sure that's true.

I think 2k is a likely home for FIFA and, if you've got an option between EA football 2024 and FIFA 2K24 I think a lot of people would go with 2k.  If it does go this way EA's only real advantage is that they'll likely have a one year gap to release a non-FIFA game before the new developer is able to get anything out.

Wildly incorrect, I'm afraid. The biggest cash cow in the game (possibly in gaming globally, but I'm not up to date on the numbers) is the Ultimate Team franchise. That alone gives EA a gargantuan lead that no other developer is going to be able to get near without a minimum of five years of development. And even with the required effort from another developer, EA will be developing and enhancing their own UT, as well as the franchise as a whole.

RedRabbit

Moloch said:

RedRabbit said:

TheMarlin said:

They no longer need the FIFA license.  

I've no interest in FIFA games or football in general so I could be talking out of my arse but I'm just not sure that's true.

I think 2k is a likely home for FIFA and, if you've got an option between EA football 2024 and FIFA 2K24 I think a lot of people would go with 2k.  If it does go this way EA's only real advantage is that they'll likely have a one year gap to release a non-FIFA game before the new developer is able to get anything out.

Wildly incorrect, I'm afraid. The biggest cash cow in the game (possibly in gaming globally, but I'm not up to date on the numbers) is the Ultimate Team franchise. That alone gives EA a gargantuan lead that no other developer is going to be able to get near without a minimum of five years of development. And even with the required effort from another developer, EA will be developing and enhancing their own UT, as well as the franchise as a whole.

I've no idea what ultimate team is and a quick google leaves me none the wiser.  Happy to be proved wrong though.  Really don't have a dog in this race.  I've obviously overestimated how much weight the FIFA name carries - I just kind of assumed it was the be-all and end-all of football.

RedRabbit

TeleMaster said:

RedRabbit said:

Just a passing thought - has anyone got a steam deck yet?  I'm assuming not or it would have been posted on here. 

Just checked on my reservation after not thinking about it for ages - it was originally Q2 2022 but has been pushed back to Q3 now.  I'm still looking forward to it but I can't say I'm desperate to get my hands on one.  Basically, it will mean I can play most of my Steam library in bed so I'll probably just end up playing Skyrim again.

I'm waiting for mine. I have a large Steam library of games I bought on offer for a few quid that I never played that I'm looking forward to playing. Whenever it comes.

Hades will be particularly cool. 

I've got 96 games in my steam library (not sure if that counts as large or not) and a quick scan through them suggests that maybe 50% have never been played.  Most have been bought in sales or through humble bundle but there are a few that I know I paid full price for and have never played that cause some level of distress.

Apparently, I bought the RE2 remake on release in Jan '19 and still haven't got around to playing it.  I've probably put hundreds of hours into replaying skyrim/fallout/dark souls though.  That said, I've still got DLC for all of those I've not played yet - usually, my motivation for starting a new playthrough is "I'll do all the DLC this time " but I never do.

Barnezy

Just started playing FryCry for the first time. I’ve started out on 3. Playing on Series S at 60fps and can’t believe how good it looks and plays for its age! What a great game though. It moves along quickly enough to keep me interested, which is what I struggle with in a lot of the massive games that exist now. 

RaymondLin

RedRabbit said:

Moloch said:

RedRabbit said:

TheMarlin said:

They no longer need the FIFA license.  

I've no interest in FIFA games or football in general so I could be talking out of my arse but I'm just not sure that's true.

I think 2k is a likely home for FIFA and, if you've got an option between EA football 2024 and FIFA 2K24 I think a lot of people would go with 2k.  If it does go this way EA's only real advantage is that they'll likely have a one year gap to release a non-FIFA game before the new developer is able to get anything out.

Wildly incorrect, I'm afraid. The biggest cash cow in the game (possibly in gaming globally, but I'm not up to date on the numbers) is the Ultimate Team franchise. That alone gives EA a gargantuan lead that no other developer is going to be able to get near without a minimum of five years of development. And even with the required effort from another developer, EA will be developing and enhancing their own UT, as well as the franchise as a whole.

I've no idea what ultimate team is and a quick google leaves me none the wiser.  Happy to be proved wrong though.  Really don't have a dog in this race.  I've obviously overestimated how much weight the FIFA name carries - I just kind of assumed it was the be-all and end-all of football.

I think it’s like you are a manager and you can buy your own players, to get these players you draw pot luck random “cards”, I think you get one free one for doing something or every so often, or you can pay and buy these cards.  A bit like collecting football stickers.  

Essentially, people spend millions, hundreds and hundreds of millions trying to get their favourite players into their team.  It’s basically gambling. 

Moloch

RedRabbit said:

Moloch said:

RedRabbit said:

TheMarlin said:

They no longer need the FIFA license.  

I've no interest in FIFA games or football in general so I could be talking out of my arse but I'm just not sure that's true.

I think 2k is a likely home for FIFA and, if you've got an option between EA football 2024 and FIFA 2K24 I think a lot of people would go with 2k.  If it does go this way EA's only real advantage is that they'll likely have a one year gap to release a non-FIFA game before the new developer is able to get anything out.

Wildly incorrect, I'm afraid. The biggest cash cow in the game (possibly in gaming globally, but I'm not up to date on the numbers) is the Ultimate Team franchise. That alone gives EA a gargantuan lead that no other developer is going to be able to get near without a minimum of five years of development. And even with the required effort from another developer, EA will be developing and enhancing their own UT, as well as the franchise as a whole.

I've no idea what ultimate team is and a quick google leaves me none the wiser.  Happy to be proved wrong though.  Really don't have a dog in this race.  I've obviously overestimated how much weight the FIFA name carries - I just kind of assumed it was the be-all and end-all of football.

Oh I get you, mate. I wasn't have a pop at all.

Back in the day you would almost certainly have been right. FIFA was kept ahead of Pro Evolution Soccer on name brand recognition and higher advertising budgets. It was a close race, but FIFA stayed significantly ahead on sales, even when PES was a massively superior game. Then Konami went down the toilet with PES and EA started nailing the coffin shut when they invented Ultimate Team. It almost instantly became the biggest thing in online football gaming.

Basically imagine an old sticker book and the packs of stickers. Lots of common stickers and one popular 'shiny' card. Ultimate Team works very much like that, only the 'stickers' that you get can be fielded in matches against AI and human opponents. You get your packs either as rewards for success in competitions, by buying them with an in-game currency (coins) that you get for match performance, or finally through use of a second in-game currency called FIFA Points, which you pay real money for. The last of those is by far the least time consuming and the most popular. That's why UT brings in such an incredible sum of money for EA.

 There is also a transfer market, where you can sell your cards/stickers for in-game coins with which to buy other players who you want. Trading is a solid way to become 'rich' in-game if you know what you're doing, but most of the players are either children, idiots or idiot children, so they pay the real money for packs instead, looking for the competitive advantage. It's a form of gambling that is somehow still being allowed to market directly to children alongside adults. EA maintain a continual flow of promotions with upgraded cards, to keep the marks buying. So throughout the year, other than a lapse in August and early September as people wait for the new edition, EA brings in millions. How many millions?

 Well, for the 2020/21 tax year EA made £1.1 billion from sales of whole games (their entire library, including all releases new and old).

Ultimate Team, combined across all of its iterations (FIFA, NBA, NHL, UFC and NFL) made £1.15 BILLION just from Ultimate Team pack sales across those five games alone. And FIFA's version of Ultimate Team is by a substantial distance the most profitable of those five.

And now it's also an extremely valuable e-sport.

That's the behemoth that every developer looking to gamble on buying the FIFA brand will have to reckon with.

CavemanGrogg

Finally get time to fire up Horizon Forbidden West, and find out that this months free games are now available for download, to be added to your library, Fifa 22 the full game is one of this months free games.

sinbaadi

Only just bought a PS4 after selling one in, apparently, 2014!  Mind blown by that alone, but despite having a new baby and zero free time of any significance, I couldn't resist the new Gran Turismo.  Much nostalgia, such a polished product.  Shame the ps5 experience is just stupidly expensive, but maybe in another 8 years I'll think it's worth getting one.....

I also have Ride 4 which seems okay but doesn't really inspire like I hoped it might.  

racefaceec90

i just bought a copy of jet set radio future (i did play it back in the day). it wasn't cheap but am glad i got the game again it is still brilliant.