If you wanted to know more about "Skyrim Grandma" from the video, her name is Shirley Curry. She's now 88 and still uploads daily videos about Skyrim. Bethesda is going to have her as a character in TES 6. Edit: If you'd like to join the private Discord community, here's a link to get in. It'll work for the next week. discord.gg/EPQCY4NM
@@bsherman8236 I hadn't thought of that game in a long time. It's probably been close to ten years since I played the original. There was a mod I was running at the time that really boosted the graphics, and the gameplay itself was great. The new one looks like it'll be a banger too.
Indie and AA games is where the industry is at. As long as the game is good people will play it. AAA has lost this idea. Its all micro transactions, live service, DEI agenda pushing, crappy optimization, etc. Not all AAA games are like that but most of them coming out today are. The upcoming Dragon Age title adopted the DEI principles and it just looks disastrous for that game. But it hasn’t been released yet so we’ll see…
AAA gaming has gone to shit in the past few years. I had to think about what games I've bought since 2022 and the only AAA was Elden Ring (I waited for the launch bugs to get fixed). The few AAAs I've been playing are all older. The indie market is shit hot right now. A small team with a great idea and execution matters a lot.
I don't believe in voting by money works these days any more. They think that they are smarter than us. Mostly same dudes doing favours for M$. But gaming wise, gamers are tough clients, more vocal, not like generic windows users, so less concerns. It's all about bad rep, scandals, feedback... buying... nope... but bad press helps.
This is a good point and I think applies to the AAA studios. Most of them are sitting on so much money (Ubi and Blizzard especially), that they can do the opposite of what people want for years without issue. Enough backlash can change some problems though, like what happened recently with Helldivers.
@@KenHarrisio Yea, as a result from Helldivers saga, being from Latvia, I have no means to buy Sony on Steam any more. Anything Sony related need to be tax avoided through other countries. Shame EU doesn't ban Sony for selling anything across territory because of unfair business practices among members.
13:41: if people say that the game industry is "beneath" anyone, it is because a game developer have a hard time making money, it is not because it isn't culturally acceptable, any piece of software is a piece of software, and there aren't more shiny bits here or there. The game industry produces a lot of good AI:s that don't suck like the ChatGPT hype, but still! Where is the money in a branch with a hellish competition?
I'd take PS2 level graphics with more content over these "playable movies" we have right now. But that's just me. And mobile ones? Designed to be sustained by rich people lwoth all the paywalls they have.
Alan Wake 2 blew me away with it's story. I also loved last of us and uncharted series. Elden Ring I always thought was so overhyped. Keep up the videos Ken.
Agreed, the AW games have great storytelling. I finally played Uncharted 4 last year and thought that was a great one as well. Elden Ring is good for wasting some time, but I'm burned out on it for the next year at least. There's really nothing more to it than the combat aspect.
I played Forspoken. The MC's abrasive personality is intentional, and a central theme of the story that is equally as woven into the central conflict as her background. The combat mechanicsare initially rocky, but become excellent quickly, as you unlock the various skill trees. The story was compelling, the combat was fun, and I had a fucking blast. Anyone who calls Forspoken a turd and doesn't manage to elaborate on WHAT was bad in the game is simply allowing themselves to be told whatto think by other people who hated it regardless of whether they actually played it, or for how long.
I'm glad you had fun with it though there were many many legitimate reasons to dislike the game. People can experience the same product as you and come to a different conclusion, and many did.
@@ferybrand1990 Sometimes it is. Sometimes companies push wokeness in games so they can access cheap cash initiatives. It varies. Though I've never seen it be a good sign.
@@BusesAreFatCars yea and won't consider that those games are bad because of a lack of proper funding or a time frame to create art properly but sure it's because woke and not greed
@@ferybrand1990 Those things are a factor as well. Though the wokest of games often have the largest budgets, the largest teams, the longest development cycles and the most developers with blue hair.
If you wanted to know more about "Skyrim Grandma" from the video, her name is Shirley Curry. She's now 88 and still uploads daily videos about Skyrim. Bethesda is going to have her as a character in TES 6.
Edit: If you'd like to join the private Discord community, here's a link to get in. It'll work for the next week. discord.gg/EPQCY4NM
Bad for triple A but good for modding and indies, i just avoid anything mainstream these days
I just started another playthrough of Fallout 4 recently and damn, the modding scene has done amazing things for that game.
@@KenHarrisio S.T.A.L.K.E.R has some good mods too if you like fallout
@@bsherman8236 I hadn't thought of that game in a long time. It's probably been close to ten years since I played the original. There was a mod I was running at the time that really boosted the graphics, and the gameplay itself was great. The new one looks like it'll be a banger too.
Sucks when the coolest new game is a Lethal Company reskin called Pilgrim.
N64 was a time of good memories. I was a teenager then.
"So, why have your games come unprepared?"
- Lord Dagoth
"They aren't bugs, they're features."
- Todd Howard
Indie and AA games is where the industry is at. As long as the game is good people will play it. AAA has lost this idea. Its all micro transactions, live service, DEI agenda pushing, crappy optimization, etc. Not all AAA games are like that but most of them coming out today are. The upcoming Dragon Age title adopted the DEI principles and it just looks disastrous for that game. But it hasn’t been released yet so we’ll see…
AAA gaming has gone to shit in the past few years. I had to think about what games I've bought since 2022 and the only AAA was Elden Ring (I waited for the launch bugs to get fixed). The few AAAs I've been playing are all older. The indie market is shit hot right now. A small team with a great idea and execution matters a lot.
I don't believe in voting by money works these days any more. They think that they are smarter than us. Mostly same dudes doing favours for M$. But gaming wise, gamers are tough clients, more vocal, not like generic windows users, so less concerns. It's all about bad rep, scandals, feedback... buying... nope... but bad press helps.
This is a good point and I think applies to the AAA studios. Most of them are sitting on so much money (Ubi and Blizzard especially), that they can do the opposite of what people want for years without issue. Enough backlash can change some problems though, like what happened recently with Helldivers.
@@KenHarrisio Yea, as a result from Helldivers saga, being from Latvia, I have no means to buy Sony on Steam any more. Anything Sony related need to be tax avoided through other countries. Shame EU doesn't ban Sony for selling anything across territory because of unfair business practices among members.
13:41: if people say that the game industry is "beneath" anyone, it is because a game developer have a hard time making money, it is not because it isn't culturally acceptable, any piece of software is a piece of software, and there aren't more shiny bits here or there. The game industry produces a lot of good AI:s that don't suck like the ChatGPT hype, but still! Where is the money in a branch with a hellish competition?
He worked on "Outer Worlds" not "Outer Wilds"
I'd take PS2 level graphics with more content over these "playable movies" we have right now. But that's just me. And mobile ones? Designed to be sustained by rich people lwoth all the paywalls they have.
The Outer Worlds*
It's greed and capitalism in games, games are art and capitalism doesn't like art
Alan Wake 2 blew me away with it's story. I also loved last of us and uncharted series. Elden Ring I always thought was so overhyped. Keep up the videos Ken.
Agreed, the AW games have great storytelling. I finally played Uncharted 4 last year and thought that was a great one as well. Elden Ring is good for wasting some time, but I'm burned out on it for the next year at least. There's really nothing more to it than the combat aspect.
@@KenHarrisio Glad you enjoyed Uncharted 4. It's one of my favourites. The PC port is brilliant too.
I played Forspoken. The MC's abrasive personality is intentional, and a central theme of the story that is equally as woven into the central conflict as her background. The combat mechanicsare initially rocky, but become excellent quickly, as you unlock the various skill trees. The story was compelling, the combat was fun, and I had a fucking blast. Anyone who calls Forspoken a turd and doesn't manage to elaborate on WHAT was bad in the game is simply allowing themselves to be told whatto think by other people who hated it regardless of whether they actually played it, or for how long.
I'm glad you had fun with it though there were many many legitimate reasons to dislike the game.
People can experience the same product as you and come to a different conclusion, and many did.
go woke go broke, all i got ta say
Yea not how it works lmao
@@ferybrand1990 Sometimes it is. Sometimes companies push wokeness in games so they can access cheap cash initiatives. It varies. Though I've never seen it be a good sign.
@@BusesAreFatCars yea and won't consider that those games are bad because of a lack of proper funding or a time frame to create art properly but sure it's because woke and not greed
@@ferybrand1990 Those things are a factor as well. Though the wokest of games often have the largest budgets, the largest teams, the longest development cycles and the most developers with blue hair.