Episode 67 – Stadia Huge Flop, Half-Life Alyx
recorded on November 22, 2019
Headliners
Stadia reviews have come out from various outlets and it overall works but with some setbacks
• Stadia will eat up different data packages depending on the resolution you want to play
o 720p gaming = 4.5GB/hour
o 1080p gaming = 7GB/hour
o 4K gaming = 20GB/hour which is a ton
• You have to buy games using a browser on Stadia and can not do it through the app
• Impressions from outlets include: Giant Bomb, IGN, WIRED, Forbes
o “A technical, conceptual disaster” -Forbes
o “It’s getting there” – WIRED (6/10)
o “The rockiest start and the service is still not ready yet” – IGN (6/10)
o “Can not recommend this” – Giant Bomb
Little Bits
Google has updated the launch lineup for Stadia to 22 games from 11; added list (The Verge)
• Grid 2019
• NBA 2K20
• Rage 2
• Metro Exodus
• Trials Rising
• Final Fantasy XV
• Attack on Titan: Final Battle 2
• Farming Simulator 2019
• Football Manager 2020
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Google Stadia seems to be a huge flop according to Jason Schrieir’s source familiar with the pre-orders; the source said the pre-orders were below expectations
Valve revealed some details on Half-Life: Alyx their new flagship VR title (Valve) March 2020
• Insert Half-Life 3 Confirmed joke here
• This Half-Life is a game that puts you in the role of Alyx Vanz and is set between 1 and 2
• Playable on the Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Quest, Windows Mixed Reality
The Game Awards 2019 Game of the Year (GOTY) nominees have been announced (Wario64)
• Control
• Death Stranding
• The Outer Worlds
• Resident Evil 2 Remake
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Rapid Fire
Sony’s patent for its DS5 controller have been found it there are some changes (Forbes)
• The exterior of the controller looks identical whereas the inside is different
• The exterior shows smaller thumbsticks, larger triggers, and no light bar
• The interior of the controller will have new haptic tech and other new tech as well
Amy Hennig is teaming up with Skydance Media to create a new studio (GamesRadar+)
• Hennig is very well respected in the industry as the writer and director of the first 3 Uncharted games and was an artist on Electrocop back in the Atari Lynx days
• Skydance Media started Skydance Interactive to develop games specifically VR games
Phil Spencer says the next gen Xbox “will not be out of position in performance or price” when compared to the PlayStation 5 (t3.com)
A new Saints Row game will be revealed sometime in 2020
Amazon reportedly will announce its own game streaming service next year and is suggested to launch before Christmas next year – just in time to compete with Xbox Scarlett and PS5 (GI.biz)
Logitech has put out a tool kit designed specifically for the Xbox Adaptive Controller (resetera)
Outer Worlds patch removes the filter that restricts what you name your character
Upcoming Releases and Deals
PlayStation released its deals for Black Friday and the best ones are listed below (PlayStation)
• PS4 Pro = $300 ($100 off)
• PS4 Bundle w/ God of War, HZD Complete Edition, TLOU Remastered = $200
• PSVR Bundle w/ various games = $200 ($150 off)
• PSVR Bundle w/ Blood and Truth and Everybody’s Golf = $250 ($320)
• DualShock 4 Controller = $40 ($25 off)
• 25% off PlayStation Plus membership
• PlayStation Hits games are $10 instead of $20
Xbox Black Friday Sale Nov 21 for XGPU and gold members ends Dec 2; all else on Nov 24
• Gears 5 33% off
• State of Decay 2 50% off
• Forza Horizon 4 50% off
• Helblade: Senua’s Sacrifice 50% off
• Sea of Thieves: Anniversary Edition 50% off
Borderlands 3 1st major paid DLC Moxxi’s Heist of The Handsome Jackpot loads up on Dec 19
Blair Witch is coming to PlayStation 4 on December 3rd
Detroit Become Human comes to PC on December 12th for $40
Rumor Mill
UPDATE: The Sony cartridge design patent thought to be expandable memory for the PS5 has been updated and is now more likely a game cartridge for a PS5 companion device or portable
Sony will unveil the form factor and price of the PlayStation 5 at E3 2020 (@PSErebus twitter)
PS5 will launch November 20, 2020 for $499 with Gran Tursimo 7 (@PSErebus twitter, t3.com)
Xbox Scarlett will launch on November 6, 2020 with Halo Infinite (@PSErebus twitter)
COD: Modern Warfare battle royale mode leaked to be 200 players with the map combining ground war and spec ops maps – slated for early 2020 – unsure if free or paid (Digital Trends)
Next Assassin’s Creed game codenamed Kingdom details may have leaked (resetera, DGR)
• The title could be Assassin’s Creed: Ragnarok
• Release date is slated for Fall 2020 and will be on both next gen and current systems
• A reveal event may take place during a possible PlayStation event in February
• The map includes and Scandivavia and a large part of England
• Protagonist is male or female and named Jora; gender has no impact on story
• The Brotherhood system is back and you can recruit npcs to join you
• Can still travel on sea but may have less naval gameplay than Black Flag or Odyssey
• Fictional realms like Asgard and Jottuneim are present
• Mythics like Loki, Odin, and the Ygdrassil tree play a big story role
• The present day storyline is included but limited like in Odyssey
• Gameplay is the same as Odyssey but with improvements and more RPG elements
BioWare is planning to completely overhaul Anthem from top to bottom (Jason Schreir Kotaku)
• The plan is to overhaul the mission structure, loot, and world, basically the whole game
• This overhaul is being called Anthem 2.0 or Anthem Next similar to No Man’s Sky
• BioWare is considering releasing Anthem Next as a new game but no clear timeline
