The Russian wilderness is ball busting in Mudrunner.
At least the first open area had a ring road to skirt around. Russia is 90% mud.
If I go onto the grass I can sink into a bog. It takes forever to get anywhere. You have to use all wheel drive all the time so your petrol runs out.
And you have to try and drive this piece of shit mini tractor thing to tow a petrol cannister to the vehicle out of gas. Problem being that this thing tips over easily, and once tipped you lose your load.
So what does Gearbox actually do besides Borderlands? I've played nearly all of the Borderlands games, and the only one that I'd say was actually any good was 2. The rest are all pretty uneventfull and just pass in a blur. No other game in the series could match the weapon variety of 2 either. It's the only game in which I'd encounter weapons that were genually unique and worth holding on to. Skill trees were also the best. It's like they laid out a template with the original, which culminated in 2 and now they're kind of lost on how to move forward or even just retain the same level of quality.
Gamers Mostly Played Older Games like GTA 5 and Fortnite in 2023
Spider-Man 2, Starfield, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom all launched in 2023 but these blockbusters didn't stop Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch players from spending most of their time with older games like Grand Theft Auto 5 and Fortnite.
As reported by Kotaku, video game market analyst Newzoo released a report which revealed 66 titles accounted for 80% of overall playtime in 2023. Of that number, a huge 60% of playtime was spent with games released six years ago or more.
Newzoo ranked games on each platform based on their monthly active users across 37 markets, with the exception of Switch which only used data from the U.S. and UK. Not one new release breached the PC list, while only EA Sports FC 24 made it onto PlayStation's. Starfield was the only 2023 game on Xbox's list, while Switch saw three new.
Fortnite was the most played game on all platforms, while Roblox, Minecraft, GTA 5, Call of Duty (with Modern Warfare 2, 3, and Warzone 2.0 counted as one game), Rocket Leagues all proving mainstays too. All together, Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft, and GTA 5 accounted for 27% of all playtime in 2023, while annual releases like FC (formerly FIFA), NBA 2K, and Madden NFL accounted for around 15% of all playtime.
"Studios hoping to release a new title will find it challenging to include these playtime hours in their addressable market, as they nearly always go to these games that engage players on a reliable annual basis," Newzoo said. "In other words, it's a tall order to steal playtime hours from a Call of Duty or big sports title."
This left just 8% of total playtime for completely new releases, which includes games released in 2022 and 2023. "While that may sound dire, the reality is that it’s easily possible to be successful within these constraints," Newzoo added.
Diablo 4 claimed the top spot of these wholly new games with 1.4% of 2023's total playtime. This was followed by Hogwarts Legacy at 0.8%, Baldur's Gate 3 at 0.6%, and Elden Ring and Starfield both at 0.3%. "It's worth noting that four of these titles are premium games, while only one of them is a live service," Newzoo said.
Despite these comparatively low playtime numbers, all of these games were still deemed incredibly successful.
Not surprised. My two were super excited for Zelda and both put in lengthy play times for the game. However, it seems the only other game that they played last year was Roblox.
I hate to say it, but my kid has pretty much moved on from gaming. On occasion he will join his friends and play Roblox, but that's it. And as far as his other friends go, they are all high school seniors or freshmen in college and I only know of one who regularly plays anything but Roblox, fortnite, or Minecraft. It's like that Trinity of games just sunk their claws into kids a few years back and never let go.
But hell, I'm probably going to be playing Hearthstone again for the next year, so who the hell am I to talk?
I can see my two getting out of it soon or at least not gaming nearly as much as they used to. When we go on long trips they bring the Switch but rarely play it. It's beginning.
That's sort of how it happened with My son, or at least when I noticed it. We would go on weekend trips or vacations and we would bring the Switch for him to play with. And when it was time to pack up to go home I'd realize it was never unpacked in the first place.
Nothing wrong with enjoying older games you love but there is a difference between someone who loves the medium and wants to try out many different games, wants to keep up with news of different games and those who only play 3 or 4 games and never mind the rest. I don't think the industry has cultivated a love for the industry like it did when we were growing up. It might have to do with media, back then we had a handful of gaming news sources, mostly mags. Those magazines made you feel part of a club, that latest cover game was exciting to see. When the internet arrived we got the big sites delivering news and then our cozy forums were we found other like minded fans.
now they follow random influencers on YouTube. They can specifically target one game and get all the info they want on it without seeing a cover of a different game or going on a game site with loads of different games on display. If the influencers don't try different games these kids might never care to play them. Also these games they play NEVER END. Our push for the next game came cause our games were mostly short.
I think there is a reason the big enthusiast sites average age is increasing. Go on era and most members are over 30. More people play gaming than ever but I don't think we actually increased the amount of gaming enthusiasts.
I started The Last Campfire. I thought this was by the people who did Lost Winds on the Wii, but apparently it's made by Hello Games. I started it looking for a relaxing, frustration free game after a horrible day at work, followed by terrible sessions of Splatoon3 and Tetris99.
It's really good. It's a puzzle game in which you explore an unknown land and help out the forlorn, other travelers who have lost their will to go on and sit there, petrified, untill you set them free by solving a puzzle to reach their spirit. Or something down that line. It looks positively gorgeous, even on Switch, and seems to want to say things on the topic of death and mental health. It's a very welcoming and warm experience and the puzzles are pretty good as well. They're never too complicatted, but always smart.
I think there is a reason the big enthusiast sites average age is increasing. Go on era and most members are over 30. More people play gaming than ever but I don't think we actually increased the amount of gaming enthusiasts.
Excellent point.
I think gaming is now so exposed to a wide variety of people that the enthusiast to casual player ratio has shifted over the last 20 years. 20 years ago, if you played video games you were a game enthusiast. Now I'd say the enthusiast ratio has fallen to less than 40% of those who game.
This is an analogy that won't make sense to any of you, but in the nineties, there was a magazine for movie enthusiasts called Movieline. It was a magazine for insiders and industry enthusiasts. I loved it, along with Variety, and the world that they talked about, but for most people it was boring -- they'd much prefer to read Entertainment Weekly or just People magazine for their celebrity hit.
That's where games media and enthusiasm is. It's for industry watchers and gameophiles. This is fine by me, until the casuals start to erode the core of what is a game... which has begun with gusto.
As a warning look at the garbage the movie industry has produced in the last 15 years compared to the period before.
Nothing wrong with enjoying older games you love but there is a difference between someone who loves the medium and wants to try out many different games, wants to keep up with news of different games and those who only play 3 or 4 games and never mind the rest. I don't think the industry has cultivated a love for the industry like it did when we were growing up. It might have to do with media, back then we had a handful of gaming news sources, mostly mags. Those magazines made you feel part of a club, that latest cover game was exciting to see. When the internet arrived we got the big sites delivering news and then our cozy forums were we found other like minded fans.
now they follow random influencers on YouTube. They can specifically target one game and get all the info they want on it without seeing a cover of a different game or going on a game site with loads of different games on display. If the influencers don't try different games these kids might never care to play them. Also these games they play NEVER END. Our push for the next game came cause our games were mostly short.
I think there is a reason the big enthusiast sites average age is increasing. Go on era and most members are over 30. More people play gaming than ever but I don't think we actually increased the amount of gaming enthusiasts.
I think you nailed it. Everyone games now and has access to videos about gaming in some capacity. That wasn't true back when I was in high school and in fact, gaming was sort of looked down upon as childish.
I think another reason the enthusiasts are kind of shrinking is that gaming itself doesn't have these big monumental leaps in bounds from one generation to another anymore. When you saw and experienced the jump from 8-bit gaming to 16-bit gaming, that was a big deal. The first time you saw a FMV cutscene on a PC game, that was a big deal.
The switch from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 though? That wasn't a jump, that was a transition. Games themselves are probably better than they've ever been, but there just isn't anything out there that's genuinely new and exciting that's grabbing people's attention away from what they're already doing.
What's a front teeth graft?
The Russian wilderness is ball busting in Mudrunner.
At least the first open area had a ring road to skirt around. Russia is 90% mud.
If I go onto the grass I can sink into a bog. It takes forever to get anywhere. You have to use all wheel drive all the time so your petrol runs out.
And you have to try and drive this piece of shit mini tractor thing to tow a petrol cannister to the vehicle out of gas. Problem being that this thing tips over easily, and once tipped you lose your load.
Oops I had a typo, fixed it. Gum graft surgery for receding gums.
So what does Gearbox actually do besides Borderlands? I've played nearly all of the Borderlands games, and the only one that I'd say was actually any good was 2. The rest are all pretty uneventfull and just pass in a blur. No other game in the series could match the weapon variety of 2 either. It's the only game in which I'd encounter weapons that were genually unique and worth holding on to. Skill trees were also the best. It's like they laid out a template with the original, which culminated in 2 and now they're kind of lost on how to move forward or even just retain the same level of quality.
Gearbox owns the Duke Nukem franchise. Maybe 2K will do something new with it now.
Brothers in Arms, Aliens.
Gamers Mostly Played Older Games like GTA 5 and Fortnite in 2023
Spider-Man 2, Starfield, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom all launched in 2023 but these blockbusters didn't stop Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch players from spending most of their time with older games like Grand Theft Auto 5 and Fortnite.
As reported by Kotaku, video game market analyst Newzoo released a report which revealed 66 titles accounted for 80% of overall playtime in 2023. Of that number, a huge 60% of playtime was spent with games released six years ago or more.
Newzoo ranked games on each platform based on their monthly active users across 37 markets, with the exception of Switch which only used data from the U.S. and UK. Not one new release breached the PC list, while only EA Sports FC 24 made it onto PlayStation's. Starfield was the only 2023 game on Xbox's list, while Switch saw three new.
Fortnite was the most played game on all platforms, while Roblox, Minecraft, GTA 5, Call of Duty (with Modern Warfare 2, 3, and Warzone 2.0 counted as one game), Rocket Leagues all proving mainstays too. All together, Fortnite, Roblox, League of Legends, Minecraft, and GTA 5 accounted for 27% of all playtime in 2023, while annual releases like FC (formerly FIFA), NBA 2K, and Madden NFL accounted for around 15% of all playtime.
"Studios hoping to release a new title will find it challenging to include these playtime hours in their addressable market, as they nearly always go to these games that engage players on a reliable annual basis," Newzoo said. "In other words, it's a tall order to steal playtime hours from a Call of Duty or big sports title."
This left just 8% of total playtime for completely new releases, which includes games released in 2022 and 2023. "While that may sound dire, the reality is that it’s easily possible to be successful within these constraints," Newzoo added.
Diablo 4 claimed the top spot of these wholly new games with 1.4% of 2023's total playtime. This was followed by Hogwarts Legacy at 0.8%, Baldur's Gate 3 at 0.6%, and Elden Ring and Starfield both at 0.3%. "It's worth noting that four of these titles are premium games, while only one of them is a live service," Newzoo said.
Despite these comparatively low playtime numbers, all of these games were still deemed incredibly successful.
Not surprised. My two were super excited for Zelda and both put in lengthy play times for the game. However, it seems the only other game that they played last year was Roblox.
But hell, I'm probably going to be playing Hearthstone again for the next year, so who the hell am I to talk?
I can see my two getting out of it soon or at least not gaming nearly as much as they used to. When we go on long trips they bring the Switch but rarely play it. It's beginning.
Nothing wrong with enjoying older games you love but there is a difference between someone who loves the medium and wants to try out many different games, wants to keep up with news of different games and those who only play 3 or 4 games and never mind the rest. I don't think the industry has cultivated a love for the industry like it did when we were growing up. It might have to do with media, back then we had a handful of gaming news sources, mostly mags. Those magazines made you feel part of a club, that latest cover game was exciting to see. When the internet arrived we got the big sites delivering news and then our cozy forums were we found other like minded fans.
now they follow random influencers on YouTube. They can specifically target one game and get all the info they want on it without seeing a cover of a different game or going on a game site with loads of different games on display. If the influencers don't try different games these kids might never care to play them. Also these games they play NEVER END. Our push for the next game came cause our games were mostly short.
I think there is a reason the big enthusiast sites average age is increasing. Go on era and most members are over 30. More people play gaming than ever but I don't think we actually increased the amount of gaming enthusiasts.
FFVII rebirth review is up, what a game!
I started The Last Campfire. I thought this was by the people who did Lost Winds on the Wii, but apparently it's made by Hello Games. I started it looking for a relaxing, frustration free game after a horrible day at work, followed by terrible sessions of Splatoon3 and Tetris99.
It's really good. It's a puzzle game in which you explore an unknown land and help out the forlorn, other travelers who have lost their will to go on and sit there, petrified, untill you set them free by solving a puzzle to reach their spirit. Or something down that line. It looks positively gorgeous, even on Switch, and seems to want to say things on the topic of death and mental health. It's a very welcoming and warm experience and the puzzles are pretty good as well. They're never too complicatted, but always smart.
News, funniest story of the year so far. He will be assigned to media training on Monday morning no doubt:
Roblox Studio head denies Child Exploitation“Like, you can say, ‘Okay, we are exploiting child labour,’ right?
Non-gaming related. What a fucking joke.
https://www.mlb.com/news/a-s-announce-2025-27-stadium-plans
MLB should force a sale of the franchise.
Excellent point.
I think gaming is now so exposed to a wide variety of people that the enthusiast to casual player ratio has shifted over the last 20 years. 20 years ago, if you played video games you were a game enthusiast. Now I'd say the enthusiast ratio has fallen to less than 40% of those who game.
This is an analogy that won't make sense to any of you, but in the nineties, there was a magazine for movie enthusiasts called Movieline. It was a magazine for insiders and industry enthusiasts. I loved it, along with Variety, and the world that they talked about, but for most people it was boring -- they'd much prefer to read Entertainment Weekly or just People magazine for their celebrity hit.
That's where games media and enthusiasm is. It's for industry watchers and gameophiles. This is fine by me, until the casuals start to erode the core of what is a game... which has begun with gusto.
As a warning look at the garbage the movie industry has produced in the last 15 years compared to the period before.
I think you nailed it. Everyone games now and has access to videos about gaming in some capacity. That wasn't true back when I was in high school and in fact, gaming was sort of looked down upon as childish.
The switch from PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 though? That wasn't a jump, that was a transition. Games themselves are probably better than they've ever been, but there just isn't anything out there that's genuinely new and exciting that's grabbing people's attention away from what they're already doing.