Pre-Ordering is Still not a Good Idea

So, another year of E3 press conferences has come to a close and, much like in most years preceding this one, said conferences ran the gamut from fairly optimistic like Microsoft's, awkward as hell like the entire intro to Ubisoft's, or just a straight up underwhelming way to spend about one to two hours like EA's or Nintendo's (for those who couldn't care less about Super Smash Brothers Unlimited). Also like every other E3, this year's has brought along the excited customers eagerly pre ordering on Amazon, from Wal Mart and other brick and mortar stores.
 

And I still think it needs to stop.

Don't get me wrong, I get excited about video games too, I wouldn't be writing about them right now if I didn't, but I can't ever get behind giving money to a company for something that simply doesn't exist right now. It might be a tired, dead horse of a subject but it wouldn't be if it weren't such a recurring problem in the industry. While we may be far from the days of Metro Last Light putting "The Way it's Meant to be Played" behind a pre-order (later released as DLC) paywall, or having to use an actual chart to figure out which store you should pre-order Watch_Dogs from (not to mention the spreadsheet you had to use to find out what version you wanted to buy regardless of whether or not you had pre-ordered), we shouldn’t forget about what companies like EA or Ubisoft can and will do again if we let them, just look at what happened to Battlefront 2 once EA had caught wind of how lucrative lootboxes became. 

seriously, look at this thing!

I understand it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement, and maybe saving a couple of dollars on a game is a pretty good deal, but I personally think that not only is it putting a lot of faith in companies who have proven time and time again that they shouldn’t be trusted with such faith, I also think it’s a little bit irresponsible to throw money at something that, in the case of Death Stranding (which, yes, is available for pre-order online right now), very little is known about what it actually is or how the game plays. Yeah, I’m sure it’s going to be really, really good because I like Kojima’s games and the way he tells stories, but that isn’t going to give me good justification for giving his studio 60 dollars right now, probably at least a year away from a release, if not even a release date. 

"thanks for the $60!"

 

I can also hear the argument of “Well I can always just cancel my pre-order later”, but then if that’s a thought you’re having now, then clearly you’re not that invested in pre-orders in the first place. I think the larger problem is the fear of missing out that the games industry has ingrained into people, which is not at all understandable because we live in an age where not obtaining a copy of a game on release day is basically impossible, barring some unforeseen inability to make it to the store, or your internet going down while downloading the digital version.

We live in the age of digital distribution, where you can literally buy a full game from the comfort of your couch, so the “reserving a copy” argument also goes out the window. What else is left in favour of pre-ordering? “I like the bonuses”?, well in a lot of cases (the Metro Last Light example given above can attest to this), pre-order bonuses are often given out later as DLC to everyone else who bought the game, so your cool costume that you got for pre-ordering the game isn’t a special thing anymore as game publishers realized that “Hey, we could release these pre-order bonuses as DLC and get more money”.

We also can’t put complete trust in that what is shown to us at events like E3 is going to be representative of the final product like in the infamous cases of Aliens: Colonial Marines, Killzone 2, and Watch_Dogs, none of which came out as the product advertised, pre-ordering any of those games would have landed you with a final product that is objectively different from the one you would have expected when spending your money on a pre-order.

 Comparison Image courtesy of MACHINA/Gaming on Youtube

The gaming community, unfortunately, sometimes seems like it has the memory of a goldfish and tends to forget that companies can’t be trusted which, I hope, is simply out of love for the franchises and games. And, honestly, I wish I could be that innocent and get excited enough about a product that doesn’t exist to buy it and be able to have the hope that it’ll be what I’m told it will be but I, and the rest of the gaming community, have been beaten and lied to too many times for that to be the case, and while this may come off as a cynical approach, the industry has given me no reason to think otherwise about this.

We simply don’t live in a world where pre ordering is necessary, and honestly I’ll even rebut the “it’s a lower price right now” argument that I mentioned above by saying that the game inevitably will go on sale for the pre order price if not even lower within a few months of release, so honestly you’re not really saving anything that you cannot get later. I don’t mean to derail the hype train here, but it’s the truth.

To bring this rambling, only hopefully coherent argument to an end, I don’t believe pre ordering anything is a necessity, or even a good idea. Game publishers have time and time again proven that they shouldn’t be trusted with the amount of faith placed in them, and while I do hope everyone is enjoying E3, I don’t think that it should be forgotten that game companies are just that – companies – at the end of the day they’re out to make a profit and if that means that they’re going to actually lie to you to make it happen, they have before and will again.

I didn’t mean for this to be a bummer article, I honestly am extremely excited for a lot of the things announced at E3 this year; Last of Us Part 2 looks amazing, Ghost of Tsushima seems gorgeous, and Super Mario Party looks like a fantastic return to form. However, I do still believe that we can be excited about games while also staying cautiously optimistic.

 Please actually look like this on release

It’s been a while since I wrote on here, and while I don’t make any promises that I’ll make this a regular thing, I do hope that I can come up with some more things to write about in the near future, as it’s something I do genuinely enjoy.

Until next time, whenever that may be.

Remastered, Remade, Ridiculous.

    So, God of War 3 is being remastered. After an announcement on the PlayStation Blog on Friday, we learned that yet another game is getting a boost up to the current generation.
  
 As of right now, on the PS4 there are about 6 'big' 60 dollar exclusives, and about 10 re-releases available on the platform. The Xbox One, on the other hand, has almost the same amount of exclusives as it does remakes, around 7 exclusives and 6 remakes. This obviously doesn't count the multi-platform releases like the Assassin's Creed games or Call Of Duty, just the exclusives and the re-releases. That's kind of crazy, mainly considering that some of those remakes/re-releases were only about a year or two old when they were remastered like The Last of Us, or Tomb Raider.
 
  In light of this announcement, I have to ask myself, is it too much? Sure, remasters and remakes have their place like with Grim Fandango, a game you couldn't have legally bought or even played on modern machines, or with some of the collections on the PS3, bringing games that were previously in standard definition to high def.
 
  I know some people who immediately dismiss remasters as a soulless cashgrab, and I can see why, to an extent. And in this age of digital distribution, is it really okay to remake a game and charge full retail price for it? I don't think so, but as with everything, context matters. Expecting people to go track down a discontinued console, and a specific game for said console is a little much, but remaking a game that is only a year old, however, seems a bit inexcusable. Not only is its console widely available, in the case of The Last of Us and Tomb Raider, so are the games.
  
 So, where do we draw the line as consumers? Do we let companies fill the gap in the initial months of a console's inception with remakes of games that are still easy to find? Or do we only accept those games that otherwise might just be lost to the ages, like Grim Fandango, or hell, maybe even Resident Evil on Gamecube. It's always the responsibility of the consumers to change the industry in a way that benefits everyone by voting with their wallets, and showing developers what we will and won't accept. I think remaking a game that is only two years old is silly, and that games should be made accessible for as many people as possible all while making consumer friendly decisions.

Length vs. Cost; Can a Game be too Short?

    With the recent controversy with The Order 1886's game length, the topic of game value has sprung up a lot in the past couple weeks and I feel that it's an important discussion to have. Game value (ie; the amount of time you put into a game vs how much money you spend on it) is a very personal thing, everybody has their own monetary value they attribute to a game's length and the ire that The Order has received might seem like just another angry internet thing, but I think it's justified. AAA games cost 60 dollars (going up to 75 in Canada very soon), so a 5 hour experience kind of seems like a rip off as minimum wage in Canada right now is 10.50. Think about that, that is almost an entire day's worth of pay just for five hours of quick time events, sub par shooting, and horizontal black bars.

    Call of Duty has an extensive, progressive multiplayer, and while a lot of people might scoff at its short campaign or it's 'dudebro' attitude, at least sinking a lot of time into it feels rewarding, as you prestige as much as you want and flaunt it with your badge. Bioshock Infinite has a 10 hour campaign, but it also has extra modes and an engaging story. Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes was $40 and while it gained some serious hate, fans of Metal Gear got a lot out of it and at least the base mechanics were rewarding and got a lot of people excited for Phantom Pain.

    So, can a game be too short? I think it depends on the price of the game, and whether or not you as an individual feel like that time was fulfilling or rewarding. It's going to differ from person to person, some people might not get as much out of a tight, well controlled first person shooter with a replayable lengthy campaign like Wolfenstien the New Order as others. Some might feel like an atmospheric puzzle laden 8 hour experience like The Swapper is a frustrating waste of time, even if it is only 20 dollars, while I felt extremely rewarded every time I beat a puzzle and advanced into another part of the game.

    A 5 hour game for $60 isn't inherently a bad thing, but a bad 5 hour game for $60 is extremely harmful, and I think that's the biggest reason why The Order left a bad taste in people's mouths. As many people have already stated, The Order 1886 has many problems and its length isn't one of them. Padding out a 5 hour experience with meaningless fetch quests or escort missions wouldn't have made it a better game. Length isn't everything, but I think it definitely should be considered when buying a game, especially when that game is not only brand new, but also $60. Being educated and reading reviews doesn't hurt either, as you will get a good idea of how good or bad a game is, and make a purchase or don't accordingly.

     Just remember, a game being short isn't a black mark against it, and that with games, as with a lot of other types of media, it's quality over quantity in most cases and there are plenty of other factors to consider when buying or talking about whether a game is good or bad. Thank you for reading, and come back soon.

Why I Like Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Metal Gear Solid is one of the most prolific series in the gaming industry. Hideo Kojima is basically a household name to gamers today. But there is one game in this most adored of series that doesn’t get talked about nearly as much as the others. Possibly due to its PSP release, or maybe due to its low sales. Whatever reason that may be, I’m going to talk about the top 7 best things about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

1)The Fulton System.

Imagine this; You are Big Boss, the best spy in the world, leader of the MSF. You are on a mission to track down a shipment of nukes, but to get there you have to get through a series of guards. You shoot one in the head with your MK.22, a non-lethal tranquilizer gun. The guard, who was conveniently alone and away from eye-shot from other guards, falls to the ground asleep. You sneak your way over to the guard and pull out a small package from your inventory, strap it to the guard, pull a string and watch as the guard gets forcefully jettisoned up into the air. A few seconds later, you get a call from Miller on your radio letting you know they picked the guy up.

That’s the Fulton System in a nutshell. It’s hilarious and basically integral in expanding your army. With the press of a button you get to forcefully “recruit” soldiers and assign them to whichever section you want. It’s a great addition to the series that initially came as the truck in Portable Ops, but perfected in Peace Walker, even if most people first noticed it in Ground Zeroes.

2) You get attached to your soldiers.

   So, remember that guy you just launched  into the stratosphere? After your mission, you return to Mother Base - your base of operations - and you see him, sitting there in the waiting room patiently anticipating his unit assignment . Then you look again and notice that he has a name, a face, a specific set of skills and even a personality. Let’s say you put him in the Combat Unit. You can now play as this guy (let’s call him Smelt from here on in) in the Extra Ops - these side missions in the game send you on a variety of missions from destroying a weapons cache, to saving a POW by using your Fulton System, to (SPOILER) recovering Snakes equipment when he gets captured in the third Chapter.

    This allows you to become more attached to your soldiers, I was even hesitant to send Smelt on an Outer Ops mission, another type of mission that you can send troops of your own on missions such as Taking out a Small Armoured Unit or Taking out an Infantry Unit. These missions can end with the annihilation of the entire enemy team without a single one of your guys taking a hit, or it could end with one of your own men dying for good in the battle. Your men can even become gravely injured and will have to be transferred to Sick Bay, where he will be useless until his injuries are healed.

This ended up with me being afraid to send Smelt into Outer Ops at first. I didn’t want my number 1 man to die on me. Who else would I take into the Extra Ops?

3) Mission Grading.

Peace Walker brought in a ranking system at the end of your missions. Why is this something I especially like about Peace Walker? I like it because it is one of the few things that make a Metal Gear game much better for completionists. Striving to get S rank on all of the missions was extremely tempting, but in the end I personally couldn’t be arsed. Not because the missions aren’t good, they are fantastic, I’m just not a completionist guy but seeing that S rank at the end is still extremely satisfying. Extra Ops also gets ranks, so that Smelt can prove his badassery to the rest of the MSF.

4) Research and Development.

    One of the units you can send your soldiers to in Peace Walker is the R&D unit. This lets you develop new items and upgrade your existing ones. Specifications for certain items can be found in actual levels and then you can decide if you want to spend the money and time developing them. For instance, the Mosin Nagant was one of the most exciting finds because I was doing a no kill run, so that would allow me to take enemies down from afar without killing them. Upgrades to your items include things like better suppressor durability, or more health regen from your rations, even things like being able to develop throw-able Strike and Supply request markers. Almost every item you get has 3 upgrade levels, and instead of just minor stat changes, the upgrades feel impactful . For instance, your suppressor will now be able to last throughout 4 waves of heavily armored guards when trying to stealthily take out a tank instead of breaking at a crucial point early in the game forcing you to CQC and taze enemies into submission. Upgrading your items also really gives the impression of a growing army, going from having to carefully choose when to use your suppressor to boxes of the things collecting dust in a closet. 

5) Weapon Variety.

    This is the first Metal Gear Solid game that had a wealth of options in terms of deadly arms, sometimes literally. Levelling up your weapons increases the damage, reduces the recoil and, when fully levelled, gives you a nice little insignia to prove that you took the time to level that weapon up to max. When I was forced to pick lethal weapons in the boss battles, as I was doing a non-lethal run, I found myself picking different weapons from time to time, even if I had one levelled higher. On the Cocoon boss fight, I might pick the Law and RPG 2, on the Pupa boss fight, I might go with the M16 and the Law, or the M16 and the M47, or maybe I’ll decide to not take an automatic weapon and I’ll choose the M47 and my best friend, Carl Gustav. The variety of weapons in Peace Walker is so high you can almost choose a completely different loadout on every mission, making levelling up all of your weapons very rewarding as you can tangibly feel the weapons you use get better as you play.

6) Mother Base.

    A hub based Metal Gear Solid game might sound like blasphemy to a lot of people and while that is completely understandable, Peace Walker did exactly everything they needed to do to make it fun. Just look at how they ripped it out of this game almost wholesale and put it in Phantom Pain. Forcefully recruiting enemy soldiers into your army and rescuing POWs in levels makes expanding your army fun and rewarding. Extra Ops allowed you to get attached to your guys and Research and Development allowed you to have a large arsenal composing of so many different firearms and other mission aiding items like Night Vision Goggles and Rations. Seeing additional platforms being added to the base in the background of the Mother Base screen shows that your efforts in expanding your army also affect where you are stationed. Your soldiers are committed to helping Snake create his vision of Outer Heaven, and that can be added to the list of things that make this game feel rewarding to the player. The culmination of almost every point prior to this, the Management of Mother Base is so compelling and only made better by the fact that you can actually fully explore the version of it in Phantom Pain.

7) Metal Gear ZEKE.

    Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker allows you to create your own Metal Gear. Need I say more?

    It’s entirely optional, but why wouldn’t you want to do this? You get to fully customize your own Metal Gear with specific parts and even paint job. You can make that shit hot pink.

    Getting pieces by repeating certain boss fights, you construct ZEKE from not only the outside of the old bosses, but also their insides. Taking their AI pods apart, the boards that control their movement, weapons, and other functions to create a beautiful machine of death... Err... Deterrence.  

And there it is. I just figured I would outline what I think is a surprisingly under-appreciated game in an otherwise widely lauded series. I feel like this game deserves to be talked about more than it is but anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this!