Avoiding the Fallout of an Arrow to the Knee

My last post had made mention of this past week feeling mighty (possibly in relation to Gamescom news), which must have been a more astute observation than I had originally considered, as when my work week had finally concluded at the end of “yesterday”, my body just gave out entirely.


What Elder Scrolls players look like in my mind
waiting for news on the sixth major installment

Which realistically-sleeping: big fan. Love getting in a little death here and there to get some gas back in the tank. However, the downside to that was missing out on most of today as the Odin Sleep was long indeed, which means I’m nearly out of time for my self-imposed Midnight deadline to get some new writing out into the world. That aim in getting out some new writing represents more or less a mini-challenge of sorts and not a regular happening mind you, as the details involving the long-term stability of such a schedule is highly tenuous at best with even a cursory investigation as to the practicality of such insanely based machinations on a regular basis highly suspect.


We’re talking like Wonka’s HR department kinds of suspect

With all of that said, and keeping my time constraints in mind, you’re basically getting a super short quickie and you’re going to like it. I’m not sure why this piece of gaming news popped up on my feed again, or why I didn’t mention it the first time around, but it was recently reported that a special 1,000g achievement that was made exclusively for Bethesda head honcho Todd Howard was making some noise, as it had only been hearsay since its creation way back in 2016. The achievement was called “Lifetime”, and the description read: “Reflects on the amazing craft of Todd Howard and his team in making worlds as real as any on Earth.” Which is a lovely sentiment, and definitely an accolade Howard is deserving in.


One arrow to the knee I’m glad didn’t stop the might in their tracks

Not sure if a failed gaming launch counts as a mulligan a few decades into a career, but I feel as if I’m beating a dead horse at this point. In a fairness, that was now awhile ago, and after a slew of highly praised successes, so you do have to take the good with the bad. The launch of 76′ in mind, it does fall adjacent to me recently taking the piss out of Peter Molyneux for the absolute load of bollocks he has perpetuated over the years when hyping up his own games. In both regards, it’s easy (and valid) to take creators and their teams to task when they miss the mark and commit to a mistake, as the role is public, and to be the captain while steering such a massive ship, you’ve got to take responsibility for the rough sailing when it occurs.

The converse of that is celebrating their accomplishments, and giving them praise for helping to affect our lives positively for the better. The number of hours I’ve lost in reference to the Elder Scrolls series alone is just mind-boggling, and if you then consider that number applied to tens of millions of people collectively? The enormity of the impact Todd Howard and his teams have had over the years on gamers and the gaming landscape can’t be understated, and puts into perspective how a little effort can go a long way. So three cheers to Todd Howard and his team for all of their hard work in making our world a better place. Gaming would not be the same without you.

~Pashford

Monkey News

With Gamescom still delivering on new announcements and trailers during its several day run, a game that I have slept on all the way through it’s development process has quickly climbed the charts to make a claim as king of the current gaming jungle.


Hail to the king

Black Myth: Wukong, an action title inspired by the old Chinese novel Journey to the West has, been in development for multiple years now, going all the way back to 2018. Having been developed by unknown studio Game Science, which is based out of China, you’d be surprised to hear about the games break out success if you weren’t paying better attention. The game just launched a few days ago, but it’s already sold a staggering 10 million copies in that short period of time, rivaling other giants in the industry like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077’s epic launch numbers. The game, which is a souls like single player experience, also made waves by having more than two million concurrent players on Steam on launch day, placing it as one of the most played games on the platform. Wukong was also a winner of a couple of Gamescom awards, having won “Best Visuals” and “Most Epic” at the 2024 version of the expo, with Wukong continuing to show off why the old legend chronicling the adventures of the monkey king inspiring a new generation is worthy of praise.


Not a totally unheard of happening, I might add

Needless to say, gamers are impressed. With both critics and players alike rating the experience quite highly, and the game having only been out for a matter of days generating massive hype behind the title, I have a feeling we have a new industry darling on our hands, and the first entry in a must play series down the road. No doubt that the game’s Chinese background and focus on the country’s cultural heritage has given the game a huge boost, as doing well in a market as massive as the Chinese one is no doubt going to push the game to insane heights of popularity. Studio Game Science seemed to be paying attention to what works and what doesn’t to replicate that souls-like pedigree, and looking at gameplay trailers and demos reinforces the notion that the game looks gorgeous, and plays with extreme fluidity, making it an ideal action packed romp with a focus on epic boss fights for anyone looking to enjoy another tough as nails experience to sink their teeth into.


Nothing says zen like reaching a flow state by beating the
ever loving shit out of your sworn enemies

As mentioned, the game has already launched on both the PC and the PS5, which means if you’re lucky enough to have a beefy computer or Sony’s latest, you’re in for a good time…a rare moment I lament not having a PS5. An Xbox release date has yet to be announced, but based on the games success, a port is not out of the question. You can check out a gameplay trailer below.

~Pashford

Get That Bread: Economics 101

I had mentioned wanting to discuss more of the culture and news involved with the gaming industry for awhile now, partly because I enjoy the coming and goings within the realm, but also so I don’t have to start a new game I then low key lament wanting to then finish in it’s entirety once I’ve previewed it.


“Let me just preview this one and then blow through it real quick
for a review, I’m sure it won’t take long at all…”

Once I remembered Gamescom was about to pop off, I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized there should be no shortage of things to discuss during the events time frame, so keeping ears and eyes out for such happenings would take little effort. I also don’t always have an amazing amount of time in which to balance recreational activities, of which I am including game journaling, so any interesting ideas or quick concepts I can shoot the shit about are par excellence in my world.


Especially if the subject matter is legendary of it’s own accord

One interesting nugget that came across my dashboard in the past day was this brief exchange Phil Spencer had at Gamescom involving Microsoft’s lineup, including the fact that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle had been announced for the PS5. That sentence perhaps doesn’t come off as either head scratching or shocking to some of you reading this, so I take this moment now as a reminder that Microsoft acquired Bethesda awhile back, meaning they own the intellectual property holders of such series as DOOM, Wolfenstein, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls series, and Commander Keen, just to name a few of the juggernauts they’ve got on their side.


The Commander having such a legendary pedigree, his progeny
would go on to destroy both the Nazis and the hordes of hell themselves

To that point, and perhaps speaking redundantly so, the traditional school of thought involved with such an arrangement would be platform exclusivity, for many obvious reasons. There has been a long standing historical precedent within the gaming realm of exclusivity being a real but understandable evil in terms of console wars and there relevant ups and downs over the years. The needle has moved considerably from generation to generation in many different regards, and Spencer reminds us that it will continue to forge ahead with innovations and trying new things with the Indiana Jones brand moving forward.


Which, you know, hasn’t historically always worked out for
the best, but I think we good this time

Which all in all, felt like a bizarre but noteworthy share in terms of gaming news relevancy, as I mean…obviously that is going to happen. It is currently happening already with many of the previously mentioned game franchises on other consoles. But, much like Spencer felt the need to make a statement on the reality of the situation, I too felt the need to chime in on the happening, as gaming is continuing to evolve, and what once was just can’t be anymore. As much as Microsoft wants people to buy an Xbox for their games, some consumers will just never be sold on that system ecosystem, and with the Playstation brand being such a massive seller, MS would be dumb to just leave money on the table like that, especially when they’ve already played nice with both Sony and Nintendo in the recent past about collaborating on shared value in terms of content and reaching across the virtual aisle in doing so.


With smashing results, I may add

With others like Square even dwelling in possible regret about part 2 to the FF7 remake underselling due to it’s exclusivity on the PS5, I’m simply amazed we haven’t already heard of a “demake” of sorts coming to at least the PS4, if not downright porting it to the Xbox family to recoup losses on the development side. Console exclusives were always divisive, and represented a different time in gaming that didn’t have to deal with all of the realities that modern day gaming does, and in most cases make absolutely no viable business sense in placating a smaller group of would be buyers in such a modern cut throat market. If the massive layoffs of this year in the gaming industry is any indication, then making sure as many people get their hands on a game as possible is a win/win/win for both gamer, developer, and publisher a like, and will continue to be the reasonable way forward.

If a mode of thought has no practical application or sustainability to it’s premise, what value remains attached to the premise at hand?

~Pashford

Bazillion Gun Salute

Between taking strolls down memory lane, and trying to treat myself better instead of beating myself up as of late, I’ve been absolutely stunned at the amount on my plate I’ve had to deal with.


Pictured: Attendants at an RFK JR. campaign utterly
dismayed at him not following through on the promises
he’s made on the campaign trail.

Which is probably why I did a staggeringly shit job at preparing to cover the news coming out of Gamescom, the largest gaming convention that occurs every year. E3 and TGS certainly seem like they draw more attention for various reasons, but Gamescom by sheer numbers usually does gangbuster attendance. Opening night happened in the past day (it takes place in Germany), and it looks as if, predictably so, there was a buttload of new games announced, among which was a teaser trailer for the new Borderlands game.


Presumably not starring Cate Blanchett for obvious
reasons

Outside of the hilarious irony this teaser follows the epic box office bomb that was the film, the trailer still looks miles more interesting, even if the teaser was about as teasery as a trailer gets, with very little outside of the info that Borderlands 4 is indeed coming out next year. As a fan of the series, I have mixed feelings, as the Borderlands games fall into a weird, haunted spot of terror for me. There have been a slew of games over the years that range in quality, but have largely been relegated to multiplayer only experiences in terms of my enjoyment of them. As in, I harvest no sense of glee actually playing them by my lonesome, inspite of their quality. Diablo 2 was one such title, which is crazy on some level, cause that game is of legendary caliber, it just did absolutely nothing for me when I played it by my lonesome.

What I always looked like while the Tristram theme
played in the pregame lobby before a game of Diablo 2
started when my friends were late in logging on

There is a master list in some abstract sense somewhere of which games fit this description, and one would think I would just be able to you know, think it aloud or transmute it into words on a fucking screen or some such nonsense, but I’m a freak on a leash in this rare hour, so that’s not going to happen right now. In any case, I know Borderlands is among the titles that would qualify for said list, as I absolutely lament the thought of ever playing it by myself, but have had an absolute blast with the games with friends in some legendary co-op experiences. And though I am no man of superstition, I am quite weary of the thought of the 4th one coming out to grace us with it’s cursed presence, as the three major co-op buddies I went through the original trilogy with are all of them, no longer apart of my life for one reason or another. I’m not legit paranoid that it’s not a door we totally shouldn’t open again…


…but maybe we shouldn’t open it again

So yeah, some consternation plagues me involving the titles release, and I will have to think thoroughly about the mighty urge to jump in with a friend once again to risk it all for a silly little loot and shootin. Time will make fools of us all, I fear.

~Pashford