Julius Posted December 13 Author Posted December 13 (edited) The respect to other teams for lending their properties without asking for anything in return, and especially the Nintendo respect from Doucet He did a great job dodging bringing them up during pre-release stuff, but man. Big respect to him for that. That "grey box" and Mario. There aren't "sides" to this, just games. And that wraps up TGAs. Holy shit. Time to rewatch some trailers and reflect on the show! Edited December 13 by Julius
killthenet Posted December 13 Posted December 13 Astro definitely deserved it, I played through it last week and it is consistently impressive and innovative - very good work by Team Asobi The show itself still dragged a bit but it was probably the best one they've done but certainly the top just in terms of announcements
Julius Posted December 13 Author Posted December 13 (edited) That was by far and away the best TGAs to date, and one of the best shows I've tuned in for in a long time – honestly, based on announcements alone, this is up there with some of the best pre-COVID E3s for me. I do agree that the pacing was still a bit rough at times - it's that late middle stretch of the show from like 60% to 90% where the big hitters just dried up in terms of announcements - but between Amir Satvat getting a moment to address the mass layoffs across the industry we've seen in the last few years and not a single soul being played off? The TGAs and Geoff really showed that they learned from last year's show, and even the shows before that. Some of those speeches tonight really strike true; Swen Vincke's speech on the treatment of devs in the buildup to handing over the GOTY Award was an especially powerful and eloquently delivered moment. Anyways, let's revisit my seven hopes for the show: 12 hours ago, Julius said: • a substantial PlayStation Studios announcement • an update of Fumito Ueda and genDESIGN's next game • an update on Playdead's next game • a Square Enix remake or remaster • some epic shadow drop • the revival of SOMETHING • the next From Software project By my count, that's 4 out of 7 of my hopes and dreams coming true. • substantial PS Studios announcement – the announcement and reveal of Naughty Dog's new IP and next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Those faces. That music. Cowboy Bebop vibes. Oh hell yeah. • an update on Fumito Ueda and genDESIGN's next game – I've been saying this one for like half a decade at this point it feels like, so to finally see it was awesome! An excellent tone piece. • the revival of SOMETHING – I'm going to say Capcom delivered this singlehandedly...twice. I mentioned Onimusha in my post earlier and that was massive, but an Okami sequel with Kamiya returning to direct is very easy to argue as being a much bigger deal. • the next From Software project – Elden Ring: Nightreign! Still need to watch the PC Gamer video they put out after some hands-on time with the game, 3-player co-op as opposed to 4-player gives me pause, as does apparent pre-made characters potentially hinting at a gacha system? I'm going to need to look into this one. But anyways, hype. Based on 4 of 7 dreams becoming reality alone, this was a bit of a dream show for me. Outside of those, the back-to-back RGG announcements of the new Virtua Fighter and Project Century really caught my attention, I'm not a big fighting game guy but it's RGG which is enough to pique my interest, and Project Century looks like something truly fresh from the studio. The Witcher IV was a cool look at what we can expect in the far future, Mafia: The Old Country I was already very much in for but that trailer was awesome, and from the pre-show, Rematch - the five-a-side football game a la Rocket League by the guys behind Sifu - looks like it could perhaps be a way for me to play something fresh and new in the football space. In terms of announcements, then, bar Nintendo turning up with a Direct in the middle of the show, for me, I'm struggling to see how you get a bigger and better lineup than this. If someone offered for all of these games were announced during an E3 weeks just 5 years ago we'd collectively be ready to break someone's hand off. In terms of pacing, like I said, it wasn't perfect, as the show was certainly a bit frontloaded, but with what was actually announced, if you gave me the option of having Ueda's next game announced just minutes after a From game - knowing full well just how inspired by Ueda that Miyazaki is - or having it placed some 2 hours letter merely for pacing, I'd scoff at you. It was also long, as it always is. The weird flow into the ads definitely continues to catch me a bit off-guard as it's not always apparent that the ads have started, but weirdly we got PC ports of FF VII Rebirth and The Last of Us Part II both announced during these ad breaks, or close enough that they seemed like they were announced during them, so...pick a lane, maybe? I want to touch on two things in particular before I probably pass out watching some more reactions and rewatching some trailers. Nicolas Doucet in his awards speech touched on something I think is constantly forgotten, and that isn't just the quality of Nintendo, but that all of these companies occupy a medium which so many people love. He was inspired by a little grey box and an Italian plumber back in 1989 the same way in some 30 years or so we'll likely be hearing about how a little white robot with blue eyes and a knack for punching VIPs to "collect" them – if he can give credit where credit is due and loudly and proudly recognise his inspirations, regardless of what company he's affiliated with, then maybe these stupid "console wars" can die a superheated death already. It's exhausting having this baseless "oh, Sony is doomed" and occasionally the opposite on here, but also just seeing it elsewhere. For the love of the gaming gods, these are games, they're there to be played and enjoyed, not warred over, and I think if you need to be reminded of that, then maybe you - and sometimes I - need to take a break from the keyboard for a little bit. The other thing I wanted to touch on was to return to what I said before about Geoff and the TGAs. The show has issues, no doubt, and has been much weaker and messier in previous years (same goes for SGF), but to have my Brandon Jones "I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO TELL ME LEAKS DON'T RUIN ANYTHING" moment: I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO TELL ME THAT THE GAME AWARDS DON'T MATTER. They capture an excitement and a joy and run the risk of something going wrong in a live show which no other company dares to do these days. It's the only show and collection of announcements where it feels like ANYTHING is on the table. People go off about it being about Geoff's ego or this and that and the other, and to them I say, again: who cares! The alternative is that we don't get what turned out to be one of the best series of announcements in a single show since COVID and millions of people aren't simultaneously hyped as hell for the future of gaming, important messages like Satvat's don't get heard, and that feeling of direct communication between the audience and the devs during speeches gets severed. Maybe it's ego-driven, but to me, it just looks like Geoff gets carried away with his own excitement; it seems obvious to me that if he wasn't in the position he was in, then he'd be racing to be first to post a game announcement on ResetEra or your forum of choice (mine is N-E). How many of you here would be able to keep your cool and not get a bit carried away put in his position? And lastly, Astro winning GOTY - much deserved - combined with the original coloured PlayStation logo capping off the Intergalactic trailer felt like a subtle message of intent. We'll see if anything comes of it, but I'm very curious to see how PlayStation react to how 2024 has turned out and if any changes are made to their plans moving forward outside of their shaky GAAS initiative. The ramifications of their 30th year might yet be one of their most deciding in recent memory. Edited December 13 by Julius 2
Cube Posted December 13 Posted December 13 I skimmed though a few trailers. The whole event can be summed up with "that meeting could have been an email". You wouldn't miss out on a single thing by reading a bullet pointed list.
Jonnas Posted December 13 Posted December 13 10 hours ago, Jonnas said: I predict Astro Bot will win GOTY, and that's literally the only prediction I'll make. Proving that TGA has no issues awarding GOTY to "Family" games... just as long as they're not from Nintendo 1
Julius Posted December 13 Author Posted December 13 Statler and Waldorf were unironically hilarious at the TGAs last night, that Kojima killed 4 hours ago, Jonnas said: Proving that TGA has no issues awarding GOTY to "Family" games... just as long as they're not from Nintendo I'm not completely convinced the TGAs know what a [healthy] "family" is with how often Mario Party ends up nominated for the category in all honesty
CrowingJoe79 Posted December 14 Posted December 14 So Silent Hill 2 took away... NOTHING! 🥺 No RE9 reveal either. But a new Onimusha game was announced! ⚔️ 😈
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