Episode 439: Audio Problems

This week’s episode has some bad audio thanks to a quick replacement mic being used to record the episode, causing a hiss. This is probably the reason the show is short-ish, coming in well under an hour.

This week’s episode includes the following news:

  • Miyazaki gives clear answers on the future of Dark Souls, Armored Core
  • Sony exec criticizes Hello Games’ marketing for No Man’s Sky
  • Blizzard is moving away from the ‘Battle.net’ name
  • Pokémon chief says Nintendo’s NX is both handheld and console, you should totally look into how tiktok marketing works, see here for more

All this and Listener Feedback. This week’s Question of the Week: “What is or was your favorite handheld console game (not mobile)?”

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Bethesda’s Hines: Don’t Shoehorn MultiplayerBethesda’s Hines: Don’t Shoehorn Multiplayer

Bethesda Softworks vice president of marketing Pete Hines is critzing publishers and developers who shoehorn multiplayer into their games that doing such a thing is “a waste of time” and advises, “Just drop it, don’t bother…it’ll make for a worse game.”

In an interview with Next Gen BIZ, Hines states that using online multiplayer as a tool to prevent used game trade-ins and rental simply doesn’t work, and robs developers of valuable man-hours.

Hines stated:

“(People ask us) for a game like Skyrim or Prey 2, why doesn’t it have multiplayer? Well, our question is always the opposite when we talk to a developer. If you’re doing multiplayer, why are you doing multiplayer? What are you trying to accomplish?

“If you’re doing it just to check a box or because every other publisher says you’ve got to have multiplayer, then just drop it, don’t bother, it’s a waste of time, a giant distraction and it’ll make for a worse overall game.

“We want the best game possible. If that’s a singleplayer game that’s 15 to 20 hours, then make that! Don’t waste your time on features that don’t make the game better.”

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Prey 2 are two Bethesda properties that will lack multiplayer, but one of the tools to encourage games to keep both games will be downlodable content and, even more important, good communications with the game communities and nurturing the fandom for both games.

Blizzard’s Next MMO, In DevelopmentBlizzard’s Next MMO, In Development

In yet another “no kidding” news item, Blizzard is working on some new MMO says Paul Sams, Blizzard COO, in an interview with videogaming247. This new MMO is going to be “cool, new, different,” he says but doesn’t give any details into it except that it’s not going to be easy.

With Lich King arriving, gamers should be looking forward to a few more strong years with World of Warcraft. Considering Blizzard’s ability to kick out a new expansion every year or so, we’ll know the new MMO will be launching because their expansion road map will go dry.

Much like Apple “dries the channel” when a new device is arriving, allowing stores to post their “sold out” signs, Blizzard will probably invest heavily in their new MMO and allow WoW to die down when they’re ready to make a transition. Or, will they?

Is there any advantage in leaving World of Warcraft as the clear contender if Blizzard is to hype a new MMO style game? Perhaps, if the game is in a completely different genre it might be possible, but some folks will no doubt cancel their Warcraft subscriptions to try out Blizzards next big thing. They’ve said nothing as to the property they’d be driving their next MMO to market with… will it be Diablo or perhaps a Starcraft MMO or something truly “new” and something really “different.”

If anyone in the market today is to begin development of a new MMO, it would seem Blizzard is going to be the most suited to developing another successful venture into this space. They have learned a lot over the years and can apply that knowledge to their next “different” online gaming franchise.

Watch out startups, Blizzard may be working on something even better than World of Warcraft.