To be honest, I’m a little skeptical about this KOTOR remake.
I checked Aspyr’s trackrecord and it doesn’t really inspire me confidence. It’s an odd choice for me. Also Aspyr is self-publishing on PC (I would have expected EA to be involved ?). We will see.
I’m probably going to get some hell for saying this but…
The KOTOR exclusive deal was an aggressive power move by Sony’s leadership. It was meant to sting long-time Xbox-only gamers and is a form of messaging. They’re being super aggressive right now.
So is Microsoft. Gaming is a giant industry in which the top companies in the world are taking seriously. Microsoft just spent 8 billion on the company that owns Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, a lot of tech and a lot of talent. It’s console exclusive.
Personally I want to see it get messy in terms of competition. For every game one single-platform gamer loses either temporarily or permanently, there’s going to be multiple that spring up. This fight over exclusive content is infusing the industry with a lot of money. Both Sony and Microsoft are growing their 1st party more aggressively than ever. Microsoft at a break-neck pace. New teams are finding publishing deals easier than they could last generation. It’s equaling more games overall being developed with better tools which will translate to higher quality content across the board. Gamers get too hyper-focused on what they “lose” and are losing focus on how much is being gained.
These shows are when big corporations are all offense in messaging with little counter from their competitors. In moments like that, it will look like one side is “winning” and the other is getting shown up. In reality, doesn’t work like that. Many games are being developed every day and many deals are being negotiated behind the scenes all the time.
It will continue to look messy. It’s OK. If you got either one of these Xbox or PlayStation things during a chip shortage within a pandemic and a temporary exclusive is the most stressful thing in your life today, consider yourself blessed. In the meantime, gain some perspective. Have fun. There’s way more to enjoy than stress about when it comes to gaming these days.
You have no idea how this came about or what it involved. The whole thing sounds like it was a side deal to something else. And frankly the developer isn’t stellar and its not Sony first party so who knows whether this was something that they wanted funding for more than something Sony ‘swooped for’. But either way I don’t think there’s been a huge groundswell for KOTOR in the last few years and I think your post is a bit dramatic. I certainly would say I’d not mind a KOTOR remake but its not high on my list of wants or priorities.
This. Alan Wake Remaster being announced at a Sony presentation reinforces this message. I won’t be surprised with a Sunset Overdrive 2.
It would have to be “Sunset Overdrive 2 starring the Avengers” because Insomniac only makes Marvel games now. 
We don’t know all the details of the situation. Could be Microsoft thought they had it and got out-maneuvered. Just like Sony didn’t anticipate Xbox being the platform that got the best deal on their 1st party game when The Show went to Game Pass. Moves and counter-moves. It happens with good competition. People on both sides will live and learn. Both leadership groups will have strategies and have their successes and learning opportunities. I think it’s exciting on the Xbox side since Xbox leadership is hyper-aware of what gamers and people in the industry are saying and have been aggressively responding. Responses don’t show up the next day or next week. Business deals by big companies take time to negotiate and time to enact.
They released Ratchet & Clank literally this year. Insomniac is a machine of releasing games, like always were.
Holy shit is that a nonsensical take, but I bet there are some other folks here nodding in agreement, hyperbole for the loss again.
There’s no time for fun, there’s a console war to be won.
Suit up warriors!
On this note, someone needs to grab the Black Panther license.
All this drama about Microsoft, but what about Bioware?
I like that you have the balls to admit that there is actual competition between the companies. Too often this is being downplayed as fan fantasies. Of course there is fierce competition, of course things get done to hurt the competition. This is not unique to the gaming industry either, I think most of us can say that from experience. Corporations may be solely purposed to provide profits for the shareholders, but they are always run by people, and people will act like people.
My only gripe with the situation is that at least on the surface, Microsoft is not being as aggressive as they could be. That might be because they have been in a catch-up phase where being seen as “the good guys” is beneficial, and that’s fine. I just hope the gloves come off now, Xbox is strong enough to compete properly. We all know how freaking massive the output from Xbox studios is going to be in the coming years, it’s time to act like the juggernaut they will be.
The other thing is MS has a ton of RPGs. I’m sort of at the point where I think people need to realise that Xbox is not going to ever try and out compete out compete Sony. They just aren’t. They are doing their own thing and building their own gaming niches out. Sea of Thieves is a prime example. A game that were Xbox not making it wouldn’t exist. And they’ve got so many studios making new IP and projects that again wouldn’t be easy to fund or at least not to the level they are were it not for Xbox. And I respect that and the fact that I could play Psychonauts 2 to the quality it was at purely because of the buy out. I think people just need to be aware that they aren’t going to copy Sony or follow Sony because they’re on their own path. Its different and it offers huge opportunities. But I’d say more and more Sony are the Pixar or the Dreamworks or the Disney Pictures etc…they are pitching for the big, the spectacle the ‘wow’ all the time. Xbox are the netflix - they aren’t going to wow you into the cinema with pic’n’mix for those massively collective moments they are just going to keep putting out great and varied content on their platform and say ‘hey you wanna kick back and game - here you go’.
Its just different. The direction of travel for both is pretty clear. Sony will do more of what they are doing and Xbox will continue to pursue gamepass content via a variety of avenues. Ultimately they will be so far apart people will stop trying to force false narratives about competition…one day.
Oook, let’s actually talk about the game.
We now know this is a remake and not a remaster. So I expect some story changes at the very least. I know they said in the interview yesterday that they were keeping the story the same, but you don’t have writers unless they are going to, well, write something.
I know this is going to sound sacrilegious (I am even hesitant to write it) but they should change the combat. I’ve been playing the original game for 17 years, I want something fresh. Although, if the do change the combat system, they will have to change the enemy encounters as well. You can’t throw 6 enemies at a single character if they don’t have a chance to automatically miss.
Is the cast coming back? I know that Jennifer Hale is returning and I know they can’t get everyone (RIP John Cygan) but I hope that at least Raphael Sbarge and Kevin Michael Richardson return. Carth and Jolee wouldn’t be the same without them.
Are the radically changing the areas in the game? This is probably the most important question. Like Mass Effect, KotOR is a pseudo-open world game. It gives you the option of going to multiple planets but you are lead on rails, in a way, through each one. This allowed the story to be tight but did not allow for any real rewarding exploring. I quite curious to see if this changes.
Edit: Oh, and one more thing: Whatever happens, keep it a RPG. Sony (seemingly) helping make the game makes me a tad worried that they are going turn it into an Action-Adventure game with RPG elements (like God of War or Horizon).
This is a bit of a tired, dismissal argument. You do realise it is possible to do and engage in multiple activities? I play A LOT of games… I also find enjoyment in discussions about my biggest hobby, something I obviously spend a lot of time and money on. I have an interest in my preferred platform being successful, I tend to enjoy games a lot more in this ecosystem and would like that to continue. What is wrong with that?
How about doing both? I play tons of games to the point that Im sick of them at times and have to take a break but I also like having discussions about one of my bigger hobbies in here and on social media. Anytime somebody disagrees its not doom and gloom, or hysteria or any of the sort and it gets tiring of reading that same nonsense whenever someone doesnt agree with a point.
Matty Plays said on his video that the combat will be more action focused.
That’s a shame.
Is a more action oriented KOTOR basically fallen order with a bit more RPG leanings? Never played KOTOR.
