Gamer's Outpost Press (archived)

by Paul Tassi via Forbes

Two months after the release of No Man’s Sky, Hello Games seems to be doing everything it possibly can to enshrine the fact that their game is going to be hated well into the future. Their total, eerie silence regarding both the issues with the released game, what it did and didn’t deliver, as well as no clear indication of future plans, is cementing the legacy of the troubled title in a way that’s simply a master class in how to not handle a post-launch crisis.

While No Man’s Sky is its own unique sort of problem, we see troubled video game launches all the time, from the Error 37 days of Diablo 3 to The Division’s garbage endgame to Pokémon GO’s server meltdowns. Fans were angry about a host of issues from missing features to in-game bugs, and each time, the developer in question has had to work to rebuild trust with their respective communities by 1) communicating and 2) actually fixing the problems.

No Man’s Sky has done neither of these things to point where it’s getting downright strange that Hello Games seems content to let the game and its angry fans fester.

Sean Murray, the man behind the curtain, has not tweeted since Aug. 18, doubly problematic given that his account also acts as the official No Man’s Sky Twitter account. Hello Games itself has only communicated in the form of a few brief updates, the last of which was Sept. 2, and the last addition to the game was a minor bug-squashing patch released Sept. 23.

What we have not heard from Hello Games or Murray is a substantive response to the deafening criticism of the game, which many believe did not deliver what it promised, at best, or was deliberately misleading, at worst.

While it’s true that No Man’s Sky was this mutated, twisted bubble of hype where fans, the press, and Sony all helped fan the flames, Hello Games is really now the only one that can answer for the final product. And their decision is to provide exactly no answers at all.

The type of screenshot that got us where we are today (Phto: Hello Games)

In all these other examples, we see developers specifically seeking out channels to communicate with fans. I remember Blizzard trying to explain the logic behind Diablo 3’s auction house, or more recently, Niantic has learned that radio silence is a bad thing, and has now started telegraphing future Pokémon GO plans and updates regularly. Destiny and The Division have essentially crowdsourced feedback from fans to try and improve their games, explaining themselves in weekly updates and showing future content in livestreams.

Perhaps two months post-launch is a bit early to hope for some of this stuff, but with no explanation about why the game didn’t meet expectations, and no indication of what exactly is being added to the game in the future in order to fix fan complaints, the hope for a possible resurgence of No Man’s Sky is quickly waning. I remember when the game first launched and everyone believed that a year later, it would be totally transformed with all the missing features Hello Games just didn’t have time to put in. But the longer this goes on, the less I think that’s possible.

What exactly is happening right now? Two theories:

1. Hello Games has their heads down and is working on a giant update for the game that will drop at some unspecified point before the holiday. Given how much their day one patch added to the game, this seems possible. They’re not talking because they know how much trouble talking got them in ahead of the game’s launch.
2. The team is working on stuff, but the silence and lack of updates signifies significant demoralization after the release of the game and the excruciatingly harsh feedback from critics and fans (review bombing has now made No Man’s Sky one of the worst rated games on Steam).

While Hello Games does have some explaining to do, I hope they can come back from this. The problem is that each day they remain completely silent, that plays into the idea that they just “took the money and ran” with big upfront No Man’s Sky sales, and no explanations about the failings of the product, or their plans for it thereafter.

You just really don’t see this in gaming that often other than with unknown Steam Greenlight publishers. Many, many developers and games have suffered through rough launches and bad first impressions, but the difference being that nearly all of them at least tried to explain what was going on, and attempted to continue supporting the game for a while after. But No Man’s Sky fans have literally nothing to go on. No reasons for why the game was a let-down, and no real indication that things might get better in the future, other than vague, months-ago promises about things like base-building.

Yes, No Man’s Sky is one of the most controversial releases of the year, but Hello Games’ response to the crisis after launch is only making things worse, and what exactly the company is thinking or doing now is anyone’s guess. If they want a second chance, they have to earn it, but so far they don’t seem like they even care.

As of this writing, Hello Games has not returned our request for comment.

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by Michael Andronico via Tom’s Guide

Nintendo has been oddly quiet about its upcoming NX console that’s slated to arrive next March, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s happening behind the scenes. The highly anticipated game console has reportedly entered trial production, which hopefully means we’re one step closer to getting an official reveal from the Big N.

Citing “industry sources,” DigiTimes reports that Taiwanese manufacturing company Foxconn is preparing to produce the NX, which is expected to be a handheld console with removable controllers that can also work with your TV. The same report claims that Sony’s 4K-enabled PS4 Pro has entered production ahead of its Nov. 10 release date.

While the NX is slated to launch in just a few months, Nintendo has yet to officially reveal what its new console looks like or how exactly it works. A variety of leaks and rumors have suggested that Nintendo’s new system will double as both a handheld device and home console, with detachable gamepad controls and a special dock that will let you beam your games to your TV.

A Foxconn sketch artist reportedly came forward with the NX’s full specs, in a report that was translated by a NEOGaf user. The system is rumored to have a 6-inch, 720p display, with a detachable “performance module” that will allow for better graphics. The NX may use cartridges (like the Nintendo 3DS handheld), and will support Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and wired connections.

In terms of games, the NX is already confirmed to be getting The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, and the team behind Pokemon has promised to deliver titles for Nintendo’s new system. Other upcoming NX titles include Sega’s next Sonic game (currently codenamed Project Sonic 2017), as well as Square Enix’s Dragon Quest XI.

(“Fallout 4” has a robust character creator.Bethesda Game Studios)

by Tim Mulkerin via Business Insider

One of the biggest reasons to play video games on a PC rather than a home console like the Xbox One or PS4 is the ability to implement mods, which are user-created modifications that can enhance or change an existing game.

Sometimes these mods make a game prettier, add new weapons, or do something hilarious — like replace all of the dragons in “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” with Thomas the Tank Engine.

Mods can greatly extend the amount of time a player spends with a game, because they can continually download new user-created features for it long after its developer has moved on. Until recently, only those who played games on PCs were able to download these mods.

Since May, players of the open-world, post-apocalyptic game “Fallout 4” have been able to download mods on the Xbox One, much to the delight of console players who looked longingly at their PC counterparts doing the same.

It was always the goal of Bethesda, who makes “Fallout 4,” to bring these mods to both Xbox One and PS4. However, early Friday, Bethesda announced it would not be able to bring these mods to those playing “Fallout 4” on PS4.

So, who’s to blame? Bethesda says it’s Sony.

In a blog post, Bethesda said, “After months of discussion with Sony, we regret to say that while we have long been ready to offer mod support on PlayStation 4, Sony has informed us they will not approve user mods the way they should work: where users can do anything they want for either Fallout 4 or Skyrim Special Edition.”

Interestingly, Andrew House, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, says the development of the recently unveiled PlayStation 4 Pro was part of a bid to entice PC gamers into the PlayStation ecosystem.

“I saw some data that really influenced me,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. “It suggested that there’s a dip mid-console life cycle where the players who want the very best graphical experience will start to migrate to PC, because that’s obviously where it’s to be had. We wanted to keep those people within our eco-system by giving them the very best and very highest [performance quality]. So the net result of those thoughts was PlayStation 4 Pro – and, by and large, a graphical approach to game improvement.”

In that regard, Sony’s decision to not implement mods for “Fallout 4” and Bethesda’s forthcoming “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition” thwarts some of the progress it may have made in terms of enticing PC gamers. If a PC gamer is looking to buy a console, they might pick the Xbox One instead, which has allowed for mods in “Fallout 4” since May.

At the end of its blog post, Bethesda promises to provide updates “if and when this situation changes.”

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by Keith Nelson Jr., via Digital Trends

Sony has seen the future, and it looks like a virtual reality. In a recent interview, Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s head of game development, expressed his view that everyone will be using virtual reality in one way or another by the year 2020.

by Megan Farokhmanesh via Polygon

I left my first planet in the early hours of the morning.

It was a simple affair, when all was said and done. I farmed resources; I fixed my ship; I rocketed into the atmosphere and beyond without a single false start or stumble. With my TV’s volume on low, the roar of space travel was closer to the buzz of my AC unit than the fanfare of a first launch. A brief swell in the music, and a message flash on screen — that was my congratulations. No one yelling or smiling or saying anything at all; not a single other human was around to witness my achievement.

This — learning to love your own success, even when it exists in a vacuum — may be the single most common experience a player has inNo Man’s Sky. There are 18 quintillion procedurally generated worlds in Hello Games’ space sandbox, and you’ll explore them all alone. It’s not the game we expected, but something better: a dive into loneliness and solitude in a way few games have ever achieved.

The things they left behind

No Man’s Sky players exist in a connected universe, but this is not a multiplayer game. According to Hello Games, the chances of players crossing paths is “pretty much zero.” We’ve seen this tested. Two players, after happening upon a common planet, fervently tried to meet one another. They streamed their efforts on Twitch, only to find themselves in the same place at seemingly different points in the day — two star-crossed explorers separated by space, time and perhaps bad Wi-Fi.

The lack of overt multiplayer in a game as vast as No Man’s Sky has been a turnoff for some, sparking player complaints and a silly discussion of “how hard” it is to add to a game. This is missing the point.

No Man’s Sky is an exercise in isolation, more so than a regular single-player experience, because it feels as though it’s meant to be shared. It’s impossible to see everything the game has to offer on your own; no matter how many times you beat it, you’ll never truly experience it all. And, unlike your typical single-player game, No Man’s Sky does not exist in a bubble. The game may be unimaginably large, but with enough time and players, it’s still possible to discover footprints left by others: planets, systems, species they’ve named, and places they’ve seen. Another player may have stood where you now stand only minutes ago, but you might as well be scavenging ancient ruins.

These markers serve as both a connection to other players and a reminder that in this game we are truly, deeply alone. There is something poetic in the Twitch streamers’ discovery that they couldn’t find each other, and something profoundly sad — like missing a loved one who left for a long trip just moments before you got home. Critics and players alike tend to heap praise on the games that connect us, but we have so few words for the ones that remind us of what it feels like to be on our own.

Being alone is hard. It’s also an essential part of being a person. Instead of drowning in that crushing sense of loneliness, however, No Man’s Sky encourages us to embrace it. The game has a plot. You have a purpose. But it’s also possible to spend the entirety of your time doing nothing at all. Like the real world, No Man’s Sky doesn’t give a damn about you or what you do. You have to find joy in things for you and only you, because no one else is around to share it.

One of the greatest privileges of adult life is the power to turn everyone else off, but it’s also one of the most fleeting. We only shoulder more responsibility as we get older; more obligations to family, friends and work. I may never “beat” No Man’s Sky, but its true appeal has never been in its ending. It peddles a commodity more rare than any you’ll find on the surface of its planets: the luxury of being alone.