It was straight-up free (as in: no tiers, just free) for a long time to early adopters of the Nvidia Shield. I can’t remember when it was introduced but I think it was with the first iteration of Shield TV.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a patent Microsoft just hasn’t been willing to license use of.

I remember when the Sixaxis came out. It was missing vibration. It was because Immersion sued Sony (and ultimately won) over patent infringement of rumble motors. Sony ended up having to pay somewhere around $100 million.

I can’t comment on this title in particular but if you load it on your PS5 and receive a toast which reads something to the effect of “when playing on PS5, this game may exhibit errors or unexpected behavior” then it means some part of the game is absolutely fucked up but still “playable.”

For example, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time messes up very late in to the game on the PS5 where a space ship environment zooms very far out, the controls become locked in such a way where camera control doesn’t work, and directional movement controls seem arbitrarily mapped. While someone more patient and talented than I may have been able to navigate through that issue, I couldn’t proceed until I continued the game on my PS4 via cloud save transfer.

I thought the protagonist was great. It was a man coming to the realization that he wasn’t so much a heroic renegade as he was a malicious bad guy.

I’ve rarely considered it beyond functionality. I’ll play a female in a fighting game if I like how the character plays. If the choice is purely aesthetic, I generally just choose whatever the default is. In Dark Souls III, I played a female because I thought I could make a beautiful character (and I think I did)

Price per unit time suggests that the only value of a game is in how much time it consumes.

The value calculus is going to be different for everyone but for me, I tend to look for:

• A game which is a game first and foremost rather than an entertainment experience. That is to say: something that demands decision making of me in which I can either increase or decrease the payoffs of those decisions. Games which focus heavily on cinematic scenes, heavy QTEs, or long dialogs disinterest me.

• I am often willing to take a punt on a game that tries to do something creative and interesting.

• I tend to not like games that demand a high degree of memorization and/or dexterity.

• Games which perform well. A recent example of a regretful purchase I made was with Shin Megami Tensei V. I adore the series but the framerate on the Switch really brought my experience down to a level where I just didn’t want to play anymore.

The weights of these things will change from game to game and other elements may enter or exit the equation from time to time, of course.

tri-Ace games have fantastic combat mechanics, imo. Give the original Valkyrie Profile, any Star Ocean (later games have more intricate combat), or Resonance of Fate a spin.

I’m not sure how ad blocking is going to work once more and more ads are delivered via the domains you don’t want to block.

Most jobs in the game industry are employment, not contracts.

I recoiled when I read, “my dad actually owned a PS2 when I was born.” Oh time, you cruel beast.

There’s an “up” button as well.

It’s basically just an arcade stick where you replace the lever with buttons.

I’m not sure if we’re talking about the same thing when we say “fun”. When I say fun, I mean entertaining. I find horror games distressing but that’s part of the entertainment. I find grand strategy games confusing for hours but the process of learning is part of the entertainment. I find competitive games often anxiety-inducing but that’s part of the entertainment.

I don’t think all games need to be games of entertainment, though. I often argue as much. However, that argument is intended to include things like the stock market and serious games.

Hellblade is clearly meant to be a game of entertainment. My issue with it is that it puts its message first and puts the player experience second.

I have no problem with games having messages they wish to bring to light. But, at the end of the day, it’s still a game. The message needs to be presented in the context of a gaming experience. I found Hellblade hamfisted. Strip the message away and all you have is a poor action game. I think something that makes gaming such an interesting artistic medium is that you can present your ideas by way of interactions. I think that’s largely what made Spec Ops: The Line so poignant. It was a solid action game first and foremost. You, as a player, were having a blast. Then, the game decides to ask you, by way of a big reveal, why you were having so much fun. I feel that’s a much better approach to delivering a message.

There is more to media and art than whether its fun. Art can be engaging and intriguing without being “fun”. I wouldn’t call Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice “fun” per se, but it’s definitely a good game.

I would say Hellblade was indeed not fun and that’s precisely why it’s not a good game.