Kane99

https://gamingbolt.com/insomniac-games-has-made-just-567-off-sunset-overdrive So yeah, article above, but to summarize a bit, Sunset Overdrive didn't make a ton of money for Insomniac games back when it released in 2014 for the Xbox One. It later released on the PC in 2018 and wasn't it supposed to come to PlayStation at some point? Anyway, their budget for the game was $42.6M, and they only made in net sales $49.7, selling 1.9M units. Which isn't a whole lot considering the original budget. What's worse is their share in the profit, since this was an exclusive to Xbox at the time, it looks like Xbox got most of the profits, as Insomniac only received $567. Which is crazy to me. How does a studio not be paid majority of the pie? This news came out of the recent Insomniac Games/Sony leak that happened. I'm going to guess we're never going to see a sequel to Sunset Overdrive after this bit of news.

If you watched the recent trailer to GTA VI, you'll notice one of the characters in the trailer looks like a Joker copycat. The man is technically real and he goes by Florida Joker or Miami Joker. He intends to sue Rockstar for using his likeness in the recent trailer. He clearly has no foot to stand on in this case, as Rockstar can simply say it's parody and move on. Plus with the lawyers and money behind them, this guy has no chance of winning a case against him. He wants at least $2M, and we know that's not going to happen. Remember when Lindsey Lohan tried to sue Rockstar for a similar reason, that didn't end up going anywhere, this won't either. https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/gaming/florida-joker-demands-2-million-over-gta-6-parody-red-dead-2-actor-fires-back/ar-AA1ll3w4 Even Arthur Morgan voice actor Roger Clark commented on the story and said this guy is not going to get paid, and said he should instead use this new found notoriety and capitalize off of it. - https://brobible.com/culture/article/red-dead-redemption-2-star-responds-florida-joker-gta-vi-demands/

I'm sure a lot of us here have gotten a console for Christmas one time or another. What was your favorite console that you opened up during Christmas? For me I think it was when my brother and I got a PS1 and a bunch of games. My dad purchased a used PS1 from someone and also got a ton of games with it, a lot of which were never even opened. The second best was when we got a PS2. What console was your favorite present during Christmas?

This looks kind of cool. The gameplay looks a bit stiff, but I'm hoping they iron some things out before release. I like the idea of a parkour style game mixed with obstacle courses. I just hope they work on the movement, because it doesn't all all too appealing to me. Does remind me a bit of creative mode in Fortnite though. If they somehow get the movement in line with games like Watch Dogs 2, then this will be great! It is expected to drop in late 2024, no official release date as of yet. You can view the steam page below: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1959580/Supermoves/

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/12/19/metro/james-mccaffrey-65-max-payne-rescue-me-actor/ I'm hearing he was battling cancer, had no idea. He just had worked on the recent Alan Wake II and I had assumed he would be back to portraying Max Payne someday. He was only 65 years old. RIP to a good one! He had such an iconic voice, he really made Max Payne sound cool.

Remember the news about Sony being hacked and a group allegedly had access to some private details, such as the upcoming Wolverine game. Well it looks like Sony didn't pay up the $2M the hackers requested, so they leaked all of it. Now, this topic isn't about the Wolverine game, but about a possible Venom game being in the works, a spin-off from the recent Spider-Man games that have come out. The game is said to be called “Venom: Lethal Protector." Which looks to be based off of an actual comic series of the same name. It's also said to be a 8-10 hour game. They're also saying Carnage could be a villain in the game. Read more about this news here: https://www.gamescordia.com/venom-spinoff-leak-insomniac-games/

I'm sure you all know by now, but the Last of Us online was scrapped recently, after years of fans clamoring for it. It was originally meant to be a mode released alongside the Last of Us 2, but was put on hold. Then it was revealed they wanted to make it its own game instead, and that too was scrapped. And so far, there is no news of what they might do next. But, the online mode was cancelled, likely due to its troubled development. But with the way live service games have gone, I am kind of thankful they didn't go through with it. I would love to have another multiplayer mode in this world, but I have a feeling they will find some way of hurting it. Like charging tons on cosmetics and random DLC. For all we know, it could become something like a Fortnite, or GTA V. Where everything gets monetized and you have to grind to make enough. Of course I don't think Naughty Dog is as greedy as Epic or Rockstar, but once they see that money rolling in, there's no telling what they take from it. They could become greedy eventually. Are you for an online Last of Us game? Or do you kind of hope they don't go down that rabbit hole? Or at the least, don't make it into some live service game?

Sniper Elite is one of my favorite franchises. I played since V2 back on the 360 and played most of the new games as they dropped. But I heard a while back they had done a VR version of the game and I was hyped. I saw on steam that the reviews were mixed though, and it seems to be mostly due to performance. Anyway, this is not about the first VR game they did, but about the next one. That being Winter Warrior, which dropped just late last month. Would you play Sniper Elite VR? It looks like this new one is pretty cheap at just $15, so I'm going to guess it's a much shorter game than the first one in VR.

The Mario Kart series of racing games are GOATED in terms of some of the best kart games you can play. There is no bad Mario Kart game imo. This is not specifically about Mario Kart, but the ones that are attempting to best it. Like Diddy Kong Racing, or Crash Team Racing, kart racers like those. But are there other kart racers worth playing? Maybe even ones that may be considered better or nearly as good as Mario Kart? I know there was a couple Garfield kart racers, one of which was good I heard. Anyway, are there other kart racers that have gone overlooked over the years? Any good quality kart racers worth checking out that aren't the ones I previously mentioned?

The Arkhamverse is essentially the Batman Arkham Games, along with that recent Gotham Knights game, and the new Suicide Squad game will also be under this universe I guess. Well now that James Gunn has control of the DCU side of movies, he seems to have some say about the gaming side as well. Right now, it seems he isn't too worried about the Arkhamverse, as they have no plans for the new Suicide Squad game to be the last in the Arkhamverse. But I have a feeling that the Suicide Squad game is going to be hated by fans because it's rumored to be another live service game. So idk, maybe if this ends up failing, like I think it might, then I can see them starting fresh again like with the DCU movies. Here's the story: Someone asked Gunn if it'd be the last, and he said there's no plans for it being the last. https://mp1st.com/news/report-james-gunn-has-no-plans-to-end-arkhamverse-with-suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league

Another day and another zombie survival game that looks like DayZ or some asset flip. There is a new zombie survival game being worked on by Ramjet Studios, called Vein. It's said to be more in line with games like 7 Days to Die and mixes in some elements of Project Zomboid. I don't know what to expect from this. I don't see it being a hit or anything, but maybe it'll be far better than the zombie games we have been getting as of late. Story - https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/zombie-survival-game-vein-reveals-upcoming-content-updates-in-new-video

When I saw the trailer for Exodus during the game awards last week, it didn't really jump at me as something I'd be into. I saw people comparing this to games like Mass Effect, Starfield, and Destiny. And I agree that it feels like the same stuff we've been getting these past few years, especially the space exploration style of games. It's kind of cool having Matthew McConaughey working on the project as a voice actor, but I don't think it's enough to warrant a buy from me. But, seeing that it has devs from Bioware working on it, I have some faith this could be a better alternative to something like Starfield. I've been hearing Starfield wasn't that good, and was overhyped. Exodus could be what fans wanted Starfield to be. The trailer can be viewed below.

That's a big difference. I knew in Japan and surrounding countries that Xbox was never too popular, and never was a big seller over there. But I didn't know Xbox didn't sell well in Europe either. According to sales figures in Europe, Xbox has seen a 27% drop in sales, while things are thriving for Sony over there with the PS5 sales rising by 376%. The Switch isn't fairing too well either, but is still selling a lot more than Xbox. This number seems even worse than usual. Is it like this for the Xbox in Europe most years? I don't think Xbox will ever be popular enough outside of the US. https://metro.co.uk/2023/12/14/xbox-dead-europe-sales-drop-27-ps5-rises-376-19975579/

I'm looking at you Microsoft and Rare. As you may have heard already, SEGA announced a ton of their popular franchises coming back with brand new games. The trailer referenced Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio and more. When I saw the trailer, it made me think of other studios who have properties that haven't had a game in years. Much like Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio haven't had a sequel or new game in years. Rare is one studio I wish would tap into some of their older franchises and make new games. I mean Conker is an easy pick right from the get-go, because we've haven't had a true successor to Conker and at this point I don't think it'll ever happen. But it's not just Rare and Microsoft, well Microsoft has a lot of games they could pull from, but we'd probably be here all day discussing those games. I would have said SEGA otherwise, but since they are actively working on games that isn't just Sonic, I am going to give them a break. :D What are some companies that are in dire need of pulling from past franchises? I wouldn't mind a new Jak and Daxter game from Naughty Dog, that'd be nice. But I don't think they are in dire need of bringing said franchise back.

There has already been some clone Squid Games released on game marketplaces, but I don't think there's been an official "Squid Game" Game just yet. And now it looks like Netflix themselves are going to take the challenge on and will make a game based on the hit show. Which makes more sense since they own the rights to the series. Netflix has been trying to get more interest on their video game tier of Netflix. They recently added GTA Trilogy to their service and even offered it for free. How well do you think a video game based on Squid Game would do? https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/netflix-developing-squid-game-video-094023450.html

I think we as gamers can be a bit too much at times. We gamers are very vocal, when there's a delay for a game, it's usually split. Sometimes gamers are fed up that there's another delay and want the game right now. While there are other gamers who are okay with said delays and accept them. I get when a game is delayed multiple times over years and years, and in turn causing frustration with gamers. But it's not like we can push them to finish the game sooner, that in turn hurts the games quality, and why some delays happen. I get delays can suck, but when gamers throw fits about them, it makes me wonder if they even care about the devs making them. Devs aren't miracle workers, if they need a delay I say they should take it. Better to release a game that has a small amount of bugs than a game half baked. I also want to talk about how some gamers think their ideas are better than what the devs implement, and will make it known to them. There is a place for suggestions and criticism, but I feel some gamers go overboard and expect developers to make games their way. I feel devs should make the games they would want to play first and foremost. Gamers aren't all devs either, so I can see devs getting annoyed by the constant barrage of suggestions an ideas "no, you guys have to do it this way", or "I liked how the systems worked in the last game, why change it", etc. I know some happily accept suggestions and that's all fine, it's good to give out ideas and suggestions to help a dev team out, but don't be overbearing and rude about it. What do you think about gamers and how they treat developers?

All the more reasons I am leaning towards getting myself an Meta Quest 3 when I can, because now you can cloud stream Xbox games through a meta quest headset. It is being said that it will work on the Quest 2, Quest Pro, and Quest 3. You will need a Bluetooth controller that works with the Quest, but I guess it supports many different controllers. The downside is that it isn't in VR, but you can stream games via a virtual screen. So there is some limits to what you can do. But, it's a cool option either way. Read more on this news below: https://gizmodo.com/meta-quest-3-xbox-cloud-gaming-game-pass-vr-gaming-1851097065

There is going to be a new Prince of Persia game for the first time in what feels like forever ago that we got a new Prince of Persia game. The last serious game in the franchise released all the way back in 2010 with Forgotten Sands, so it's been a long time coming. Do you think this game will bring us back to the good old days of the series? Check the gameplay trailer below:

I did not see this coming, but one of my all time favorite games, is getting a re-release in mobile form. The game in question is Hitman: Blood Money. One of the best Hitman games and one of my personal favorites. It's the GOAT next to the new trilogy imo. Honestly I view it above the new Hitman games, but they are all good in my book. Anyway, if you want to purchase this game, it'll put you back $15, which imo isn't a bad price. But for a game that's 17 years old, I think a lowered price would have been better. I don't think they remastered it or anything, it looks exactly the same as the PC version. The only thing I'm concerned about, is the controls. Mobile imo doesn't sound like a great way to play this game, but I imagine they did some work on the controls to streamline it a bit. What do you think?

This isn't about game trials where you can download a game for a certain amount of time to test it out. This is more geared towards those weekend trials where you can download the full game, and play it unimpeded for the whole weekend. I know Xbox does it a lot, where they'll say you can play Call of Duty for the weekend. You can still earn achievements like when you own the game, but only for that specific weekend. Unless of course you decide to purchase the game. I've yet to try a weekend trial for a game, but I was close a few times. Do you ever take advantage of these free gaming weekends? I kind of wish they did it more often so we can get more time with games before actually making the purchase for a new game.

Asset flip games seem to happen more often these days as new engines come out making the process of making games a lot easier. But a lot of asset flips are essentially developers throwing stuff into a game expecting to trick people into buying it. An asset flip is basically a game made with assets purchased from specific game engines. They purchase or even use free assets to then make their game, but don't usually do any coding or any work to the controls. They slap it on, and usually call it a day. Now we got Unreal Engine 5, which is making it easier to put an asset flip game out. Look at The Day Before as an example, it's said to have been a complete asset flip without any coding or work done to make it their own. Remember that fake God of War game that came out on Xbox a while back? That was likely an asset flip, but instead they illegally used a character skin from another game. And we also can't forget about that game that tried to be like the Last of Us on Switch, called the Last Hope. With Unreal Engine 5 providing good quality assets, do you think we might see more, shall I say, prettier fakes popping up? Now, I'm not saying asset flipping is always bad. It can work out great, but I think it comes down to if there is any work being done on the gameplay side, because a lot of these quickly made asset flips play like hot garbage. Controls are often bad, or not optimized in any way. Expect more of these bad asset flips with these game engines getting better and better. Whether it be Unity or Unreal Engine 5, or some other engine out there.

This looks like a lot of fun. Reminds me a lot of old Disney cartoons mixed with the recent Cup Head games and show, but all in black and white. This is a first person shooter though and looks to be violent. I wonder if it'll land an M rating or get a T rating due to it being in black and white. You got a bit to wait though, as it's dropping on PC in 2025.

The new Tekken is dropping January 26th of the new year, 2024. Tekken 8 to be exact. I haven't kept up with the series, probably not since like 2 or 3, so it's been a while. I am aware it's a series that has a lot of fans. I've wanted to try out some of the newer games, but never actually bothered to try, but I am kind of interested in checking out Tekken 8, it just looks fresh and new to me. And normally I am not too into the fighting genre, but I always had a soft spot for Tekken growing up, especially since I enjoyed the first two games a lot. Is this a day one buy for you?

I have been interested in getting my hands on a curved monitor since they were introduced, but the cost has always pushed me away or I just never felt the need to buy one. Prices I think have lowered a lot on them, as I think you can get a cheap brand curved monitor, but the problem with that is you get what you paid. They are a bit more affordable today, but do they add anything that a standard monitor doesn't? I suppose you get better viewing angles with a curved monitor, but does it give you any advantage in gaming? What are the pros and cons for a regular monitor versus a curved monitor?

I remember when Amiibos and those Skylander figures were hugely popular, utilizing NFC tech to scan items and characters into select video games. I want to say the 2010s were the years it was the most popular. I don't think there are many games that utilize NFC technology these days, but do you think we'll see it make a comeback? I know the figures like Amiibos, Skylanders and other NFC devices were popular, more so because of how collectible they are. I never wanted to open any of the ones I bought, as I mainly just had them up on a shelf anyway. Do you think we'll see NFC tech utilized in the future in gaming? Or will it slowly die out and be forgotten like other gaming trends? I really think NFC tech could be implemented in many things, so I doubt it'll go away completely, but I think the toys and figures won't be made for a while again.