The console manufacturers will raise prices globally to cushion against the US tariffs, because the calculus is that by keeping the costs low for the US - they can make up the difference with game sales over the console’s lifetime.

I think something similar will happen to smart phones and tablets also, because of the trailing revenue.

Hardware like CPUs and GPUs lack that additional revenue stream, so it will depend on if AMD & nVidia determine it’s better to push the tariffs exclusivity onto US consumers, or spread them out globally and dampen the impact.

That is very true, but the Venn Diagram overlap between Gamers^TM and ‘Nintendo gamers’ is a rapidly shrinking area.

I know, which is why I specifically called out from GTA3 onwards. 😜

They’ve been console first for a lot longer than not; pretty much ever since they changed their name from DMA Design to Rockstar North.

GTA V was originally planned to have a number of single-player DLC campaigns akin to the ‘Lost and the Damned’ and ‘Ballad of Gay Tony’ for GTA IV.

This is what people - including me - are bitter about; the immense financial success of GTA:O (namely Shark cards) diverted all resources away from additional single-player content.

I wouldn’t have minded paying for an additional perspective campaign (like GTA IV) or an additional post-campaign chapter heist. GTA V was a complete experience at launch, so additional DLC content would have been welcomed by the community - DLC only becomes problematic when it is clearly part of the core experience, but arbitrarily removed in order to charge more.

Unfortunately, due to having to prioritise shareholder returns - investing resources into anything beyond the most immediately profitable route (ie. online) leaves the board and C-suite open to litigation, because as we should have all learned by now from this series, Capitalism will ultimately ruin everything in search for more and more profits.

Feel free to complain, no one is trying to stop you. Just understand though that you are screaming into the void, and nothing will come of it bar heightened cortisol.

Grand Theft Auto is the arguably the most profitable gaming franchise ever, and it got there doing this exact release cadence. Rockstar Games & Take-Two Interactive will continue to do so for as long as it continues to maximise profits.

Does it stuck for us gamers? Absolutely, but that’s just Capitalism. Given how quickly this hobby has been enshittified over the post decade, we should probably be counting our lucky stars that it looks like Rockstar is still investing heavily into the next entry, and not just pumping out shallow annual releases like Call of Duty!

Maybe I’m just old, but I feel like all the people complaining about no PC port at launch, or how this trailer doesn’t show gameplay must be ‘new’ to the series (which to be fair, could mean as much as a decade).

This is how Rockstar have pretty much always done it, going all the way back to GTA3 on the PlayStation 2; PC ports have always been 6+ months after.

Trailer 1 tends to be about the setting, Trailer 2 about the primary characters, then Trailer 3/4 about the supporting characters. ‘Gameplay Trailers’ usually don’t come out around/after launch as that’s usually what’s being still being worked on by the devs.

Likely 6, given just how badly the LNP got beat - it’s going to take them a long time to rebuild.

Gives me some hope that the Future Made in Australia project gets far enough along that it secures its own future, lest it get molested during adolescence like the NBN did.

Vampire Survivors

It might just be because I was actually early aboard the hype train for this one; but this one just scratched that “one more go” itch until 2am like nothing else.

Enter the Gungeon

Randomly came across this via a YouTube short, and the art-style just meshed with me. Absolutely love the messy bullet-hell quick-play genre in general… Hades being another great example of this.

Millennials are no longer the media scapegoat; we’ve aged out. Gen Z are copping all the blame now!

It’s basically FOMO, people just want to be a part of living culture.

…or to really mess with people, Half Life: e

Since Euler’s number is a smidge under 3 (~2.72).

Oh, absolutely!

My morning caffeine clearly hadn’t kicked in because I stupidly forgot to circle back round to that point. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Ultimately, my biggest worry is that Trump’s absolute piss-poor understanding and implementation of tariffs has very likely ‘poisoned the well’ to the point that they could probably never be successfully implemented in our lifetime by an actual competent Government - assuming the US ever gets another chance to elect one ever again.

Smart, specific targeted tariffs paired with grants/incentives to American companies to foster local production of critical goods (think CHIPS Act) can be a good thing, if they are done in such a way that it doesn’t send an entire industry/market into financial shock.

Like, if you want to onboard silicon wafer manufacturing (as a prime example); you would announce a small tariff to start off with, and a clear road-map of it increasing over time - allowing time for companies to build the necessary infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities onshore.

Once the industry has settled and matured, those tariffs could begin to be slowly pared back to ensure that free-market competition continues to keep prices in check.

But this would only work in an actual free-market economy, and not in the oligopoly-in-a-trenchcoat that currently exists in the states.

I imagine that FC6 should play at least as well as FC5; and I’m glad that you enjoyed it!

I was primarily referring to the fact that it has the lowest review % on Steam of the modern Far Cry games (FC6 at 70%, 3-5 all at 80%+).

I’m sure I’ll give it a try once the kid’s a little older, I have more time on my hands, and it goes on sale to the point that I can pick it up without second-guessing the decision (probably sub-$20USD?)

It has Metastasised.

Far Cry 5 did a lot right, and significantly improved on the formula that was in place from Far Cry 3 (which was also an incredible game, at the time).

I tried Far Cry 4, but found myself not liking the map design (not sure if it was the verticality, or the colour palette); but I might revisit it again one day. Have never tried 6, but the general consensus seems pretty ‚meh’.

It feels like the odd-numbered Far Cry games tend to be better received, so hopefully Ubisoft can continue that tradition with the inevitable Far Cry 7!

Still going through Prince of Persia: Sands of Time from last week - the combat is quite repetitive, though the platforming is as good as I remember so that more than makes up for it!

I can definitely see how Assassins Creed was eventually born from this series.

Kid’s just fallen sick, so I’ll likely STILL be playing this in next week’s thread too - so don’t judge me too harshly - I promise I still have that gamer cred! 😅

Leaning more into the management style of games, might be worth checking out Two Points Hospital (spiritual sequel to Theme Hospital), and the more recently released Rwo Points Museum?

For the price they were asking, I honestly would’ve expected physical (e.g. floppy disk shaped flash drives) copies of Doom 1&2, equipped with controls onboard to play the games directly off of them.

Makes me all the more glad I wasn’t tempted by the $666 USD Doom 1&2 CE they were spruiking over Easter.