The Reticule

This is the way we reach the next generation, not with a bang, but with a squabble between GAME and Yodel, and amazon delivering pet food not consoles (Chris Evans, November 2020).

Ok, so maybe we shouldn’t try to rip off T.S Eliot again (that’s an understatement – Ed), but following the launch of the PlayStation 5 this past Thursday we are now officially into the next generation with all of the new machines from Sony and Microsoft now available…stock permitting. This though might be one of the longest transitions between generations we’ll have witnessed for many years. By my reckoning there are only two new-gen exclusive titles (Astro’s Playroom and Demon’s Souls on the PlayStation 5), with many other big hitters such as Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty appearing across the generational divide, and you have to wonder how long it will take until support for the older consoles starts to fall away.

They’re perhaps thoughts for another time, but for now, let’s get on with Our Week in Games…

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It’s been an interesting week, and that’s even when ignoring the politics and the fact I spent the last 4 days watching a map while people talk.

A lot has been happening in the world of Mass Effect. Bethesda not only announced the remastered version of the original trilogy (despite it being leaked some 4 days earlier) but the also announced a new Mass Effect game.

Now I didn’t actually think Andromeda was that bad. I really liked the more open world side of the game; it got the balance right between allowing some exploration while not descending into a find and shoot ‘100 space pigeons’ farce that GTA turned into. The Giant not-at-all-like-Dune sandworm sections are still standout moments in gaming but the vaults did get VERY samey very quickly and the less said about the main enemy the better. On the whole though i enjoyed it, so I found the lack of continuation on that story a little sad.

Now we don’t know much (but we know we love you) about the new title save for one Screenshot, but it seems likely that we’re leaving the Andromeda galaxy far far behind. We’ll keep you posted on updates when we get them.

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Oh it’s been a wild week in the games industry, with the spotlight shining bright on CD Projekt Red and CyberPunk 2077. It was only earlier in the week that we were discussing our interest in the game over on our Discord server, and then we were struck by the latest delay to the planned release date. This time it sounds like optimisations to the current-gen versions are holding things back, but we shouldn’t be surprised that some developers are experiencing issues with their cross-gen approach.

With CyberPunk though, it’s the issue of crunch which causes most consternation for one part of the audience, while others are making disgusting threats against the developers for the delay. The industry is polarised at the moment, but I think we can all agree that enforced crunch isn’t something to be celebrated or encouraged, while the attitudes of some aspects of “fandom” should be condemned in the strongest way.

Now that we’ve got that murky business out of the way, hit the break for this weekends Our Week in Games.

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