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Overwatch On Switch Is The Best Time To Jump In
Following its debut, Overwatch quickly became one of Blizzard Entertainment’s most recognizable brands, fueling the current obsession with multiplayer games known as hero-shooters. It’s unsurprising then that, following the success of the fantastic Switch release of Diablo 3: Eternal Collection, Overwatch became one of the more requested Switch ports from fans. This sentiment turned out to be a relief for the developers at Blizzard, which, as it turns out, was already working on bringing the online hero-shooter to the Nintendo Switch.
Ahead of its release on October 15, I spent some time playing the new version of the game, while speaking with director Jeff Kaplan and lead producer Matthew Hawley about its development. Co-developed with Iron Galaxy, Overwatch on Switch has been over a year in the making. It not only keeps its fast-paced team-oriented competitive gameplay intact, but it also includes some new features that you can only find on the portable console.
One of the reasons why the Switch has been a great destination for ports is because it allows players to re-examine games in a new light thanks to the console’s portability and flexible playstyle. On Switch, you can still play Overwatch on a monitor with a standard controller like its counterparts, but getting to play the game in the handheld mode made the shooter feel a bit more laid-back. What’s also new to Overwatch are the gyroscopic motion-controls via Joy-Cons, which can be used in tandem with the traditional set-up. This new style was something that took some getting used to, but I eventually took to it after a few rounds. In a way, I felt more drawn into the game when playing in handheld mode and with the gyroscope controls. This relaxed and immediately responsive playstyle makes Overwatch on the Switch feels especially distinct. Speaking with game director Jeff Kaplan, he reflected on his first time holding the Switch, which made him realize that Overwatch was a great fit.
“It’s been a project of passion. I actually waited in line to buy a Switch the day it came out, that’s how much the platform meant to me,” said the game director. “I remember getting my hands on it and going, ‘Oh my God, we need to be here.’ It’s just a great platform. We’ve worked on this for over a year now, and after getting Diablo 3 out there last year and seeing that excitement, we’re now launching Overwatch for the Switch. This has been the end result of that first excitement we had for the Switch back then.”
At launch, Overwatch on Switch will have all existing heroes and content from the PC and console versions. Unlike the release of Diablo 3, however, there aren’t any plans as of this time to include any Nintendo-exclusive items. The Switch version is an impressive port, but it was clear that some clear concessions had to be made to get it running on the more modest hardware. For starters, the Switch version runs at a mostly firm 30 FPS. When docked, the resolution is set at 900p, while undocked brings it down to 720p–with some slight moments of frame rate dips during heavy engagements. Kaplan stated that they’re aiming to release new updates at the same time with other versions, however, unlike Diablo 3: Eternal Collection, the Switch release won’t feature cross-progression, meaning players will have to start fresh within the new ecosystem.
This has been the end result of that first excitement we had for the Switch back then. — Jeff Kaplan, game director.
One of the more unique aspects of Overwatch’s outing on the Switch is the gyroscopic controls. Like Splatoon 2, which lead producer Matthew Hawley said was a source of inspiration from the team, you can use the Joy-Cons or Pro controller’s motion-sensors to move the camera and line up your shots. In the options menu, I noticed that there were several options that could be tweaked to fit your preferences, which include enabling or disabling motion-aiming while using the camera control stick and adjusting the sensitivity of your aim. Of course, if you prefer to stick with the game’s traditional set-up, you’re free to disable motion controls entirely. According to the devs, gyroscopic controls was something they wanted to include in the port, and they collaborated with Nintendo to get it working just right.
“We actually have a designer on our team who is a big Splatoon fan and he really likes gyroscopic aiming,” said the lead producer. “He detaches the joy-cons and kind of points one at the screen, in Wiimote style, and his level of precision just blows me away. It’s pretty cool. There’s no other platform that we currently have Overwatch on that has that kind of motion control, and Nintendo was really excited for us to try and implement it for Switch. There’s a whole world of people that have never played Overwatch before because they only play on Nintendo platforms, so bringing in a Nintendo audience into Overwatch is really, really exciting for us.”
In the dozen or so games I played, any concerns I felt about the game’s technical shortcomings went away when getting into the thick of it. I anticipate it’ll be tough for some players who are into the more competitive side of Overwatch to adjust to the scaled-back format, putting it in noticeable contrast to the high-resolution and 60fps gameplay from the other releases. In my experience, I didn’t really mind the change. If anything, the relaxed set-up that the Switch offered made it all the more easy to get back into. Overwatch on Switch is just as colorful and hectic as its PS4, Xbox One, and PC counterparts, and I really enjoyed myself playing it.
As the Switch is seeing more ports of online-centric games, the arrival of Overwatch–which is a more accessible team-based shooter–is especially welcome. Still, I can’t deny that it’s disappointing that cross-progression isn’t possible on the Switch. The newest release doesn’t totally deviate from the original, yet, the more flexible and responsive playstyle, along with the opportunity to bring Overwatch with you anywhere makes it feel especially novel in comparison to other versions. With its release on October 15, I foresee this port being a great way for players, new and lapsed alike, to revisit the game in a more fresh and laid back way.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/overwatch-on-switch-is-the-best-time-to-jump-in/1100-6470356/
Destiny 2 Shadowkeep Players Are Solving A Huge Puzzle That’s Not Even In The Game
The moon is full of secrets and story tidbits to discover in Destiny 2‘s latest expansion, Shadowkeep. Undoubtedly the upcoming raid, the Garden of Salvation, will have a host of its own mysteries to discover. But one of the biggest puzzles related to the expansion isn’t actually in the game at all–it’s related to the physical Collector’s Edition that Bungie sold ahead of release, and a hidden puzzle that’s requiring the Destiny 2 community to work together to solve it.
The Collector’s Edition game packed with moon-centric story supplements, including a journal that sheds some light on the strange object quest-giver Eris Morn discovered there, which kicks off the expansion’s story. It also includes a Hive Cryptoglyph, a collector’s item that’s meant to sit on your desk. The Cryptoglyph (which is also a big part of the in-game mechanics for unlocking new gear on the moon) is also a combination lock, and those who bought the Collector’s Edition had to figure out how to open it using clues hidden throughout the package.
Inside the Cryptoglyph was a slip of paper with a URL that led to a Bungie site, as well as a code to redeem. The code awarded anyone who’d solved their Cryptoglyph with a unique in-game emblem to show off their puzzling skills, but it also provided an image on the URL page made up of a series of strange runes. On Reddit, community members quickly started to put the images together, discovering that when they were overlaid, the runes formed words.
As it turns out, though, the puzzle is extremely complex. CE buyers each got one random URL in their Cryptoglyphs, of a possible five. But as it turns out, once you’ve redeemed your code, you can visit each of the other URLs as well, uncovering more pieces of the puzzle. The result of putting all the rune images together is five big pages of text related to Destiny 2’s Hive lore.
As of this writing, the messages have been mostly deciphered, but not completely. In fact, the Reddit post tracking the puzzle reports that more images are needed. It includes instructions on how to send the images to the team deciphering them, and you can see the messages as they’ve been compiled so far as well.
What does it all mean? It’s not quite clear yet, although the puzzle-solvers report they’ll issue transcripts once they have the messages fully deciphered. The Cryptoglyph definitely hides more of Destiny’s ever-expanding and perennially weird story. Given that this is Destiny, it seems likely there might be something more, like clues to a hidden Exotic weapon, similar to the way Whisper of the Worm and Outbreak Perfected required players to discover them within the game. The Black Armory also saw a major all-hands-on-deck puzzle with Niobe Labs. We’ll have to wait and see what the Destiny 2 brain trust discovers.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/destiny-2-shadowkeep-players-are-solving-a-huge-pu/1100-6470353/
Magic The Gathering Is Better Than Loot Boxes
Loot boxes continue to be a hot-button issue and, understandably, the practice of asking people to spend money for a chance to unlock in-game items that won’t have any value outside of the game, is under more scrutiny now than ever. Recently, however, the discussion has been around whether purchasing loot boxes is akin to gambling.
On this week’s episode of the GameSpot After Dark Podcast, one of the topics of discussion is buying loot boxes in games versus buying packs of Magic the Gathering cards in real life. The discussion was prompted by a question from a reader, who notes the similarity to buying booster packs in Magic, which has avoided being scrutinized as a potential form of gambling.
In the podcast we also discuss our time with Destiny 2, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, Apple Arcade, Untitled Goose Game. Naturally, we also drift into off-topic territory for some fun times. Below you’ll find all the necessary links to find the GameSpot After Dark podcast on iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Google Play. We’ve also included an RSS link so you can put that into your podcast application of choice. If you want to read a transcript of the conversation, you can do that too.
Where You Can Listen
Magic The (Random) Gathering
Lucy: Magic the Gathering was mentioned last episode, and I thought that this might be a good way to see where you stand on Magic the Gathering booster packs versus loot boxes in games. The argument for loot boxes being gambling is that loot box returns skins, characters or weapons of variable value.
For example, you can open a box that contains three common skins and one rare. Or, you can open a box with one common, two rares, and one legendary. In addition, you could buy those skins directly for coins using real money. Because of this direct monetary relationship of coins to skins, this means that each box has an actual dollar value that you can calculate, which is the very definition of gambling.
However, Magic the Gathering has survived this gambling situation by claiming explicitly that each card is only worth 20 cents-
Jake: Ooooooh, that’s a lie.
Lucy: Which is the cost of the booster pack, $3, divided by the total amount of cards in each pack, which is 15. This means that even if Jake pulled a $20 card-
Jake: Never going to happen. Never going to happen.
Kallie: Love using Jake as an example.
Lucy: Wizards of the Coast will refuse to acknowledge its value and claim that card is only worth 20 cents. Of course, they host tournaments that requires players to bring decks with good and expensive cards, which means that they directly influence the cost of the cards.
What do you all think of the current situation of loot boxes and microtransactions in gaming? And do you foresee this having a spillover effect into other markets? Thanks, Matt.
Kallie: Peter is raising his hand.
Jake: I want to clarify one thing quickly. The 20 cents thing actually makes sense. Because I actually pulled a $20 card not that long ago. But once again, Wizards of the Coast doesn’t decide that value, that is decided by…
Tamoor: Wizards of the Mainland.
Jake: The people who play and figure out like, “Alright, this card is good for professional play.” And then, if people see professional players buy, then everyone wants that card. Anyway, go ahead, Peter.
Peter: So, there’s a difference between virtual and physical goods and how you can create a market around those and make money off of them and trade them for intangible value in a sense. Cards can be used in a lot of different ways. Like, I do think buying a pack of cards is still gambling. But I think if we’re going to get down to like the human experience, opening a pack of cards is way more fulfilling than opening a loot crate where you get like one thing.
A deck of cards has like 13 things in it that you can consider and do things with. You can also trade with your friends and do a lot of stuff with it. I mean, a lot of what Magic the Gathering is, is that community of sharing, building decks, a lot of that. That’s something that we just don’t get from video games. But are you rolling the dice? Of course.
Jake: Yeah, totally. That’s a good point because even when I used to play, I’d go to a card shop and pull a good card that was worth a lot of money and immediately I’d just be like, “Actually, here, can I just have like $20 in store credit because I don’t really want this card.” And then I’d get more packs or maybe something else. Can’t really do that with games. Well, I guess you kind of can with Steam, right?
Peter: But not really, either. I mean, you’re not … I mean, maybe you can do it from a transactional standpoint, but there’s not that community, the relationship building that comes from that sort of thing. You’re doing it to a cold person on the other end of that thing.
Lucy: I understand that, yeah.
Peter: I can see why that comparison exists, but I don’t know, I feel like Magic is … they cannot change the value of these cards because they’re trying to get around the fact that it’s random. But at the same time, I feel like it’s way more fulfilling to play Magic than open loot crates.
Jake: Oh yeah, totally.
Peter: Or rather, open Magic packs than open loot crates.
Lucy: Have you seen … there was a YouTube channel called Open Boosters and a few years ago, I don’t know how we found this video. It came up … maybe in the algorithm or something. But there is a guy, he’s doing-
Tamoor: It was on Reddit. We found it on Reddit-
Lucy: Oh, was it on Reddit?
Tamoor: It was like wholesome videos or something like that.
Lucy: God, it was so good. He was doing this … he opened a pack of cards, and he was wearing the gloves and what was it called? The Black Lotus?
Tamoor: Black Lotus. He pulled a Black Lotus-
Jake: Oh, wow.
Lucy: Which is like a $15,000 card. And just the … I’ve never heard just like joy in some … like, pure, unadulterated wholesome joy. And his hands started shaking-
Tamoor: Immediately started … and he was like, he went, “Holy PSSSSSHHHHH”
Jake: It’s okay, Lucy’s already cussed a couple of times. You can say it-
Lucy: No, no, no. That’s what he did-
Jake: Oh, he did? Okay.
Peter: Are we not allowed to cuss?
Jake: Well-
Kallie: We try to stay away from the F-word.
Jake: We’re not supposed to say the F-word.
Peter: Ah …
Lucy: Flip.
Tamoor: But like, he went like … you could see his hands shaking.
Lucy: Like we talk about Overwatch a lot, and I’m past the point now where I buy loot boxes in Overwatch, even for seasonal events because I’ve just got that much gold, humblebrag, because I don’t buy boxes anymore. And so, if there’s a skin that I want, I can just buy it. But even at my-
Jake: The 1%.
Lucy: Even at the height of Overwatch, when I was actually buying boxes, I’ve not had a comparable moment. Even when I unlocked that particular D.Va skin, or you know, whatever. I’ve never felt joy like that guy finding the Black Lotus and maybe that’s just because I live a sad life…-
Jake: To be fair, not many people probably have felt the joy of pulling a Black Lotus-
Lucy: Yeah, I was going to say because that’s not a $15,000 skin.
Peter: The thing is, a physical card, right? Like you can really assign a lot of false but emotional value to that objects. I mean, objects have power.
Lucy: No, I mean, because yeah, people now you … I mean, Pokemon cards, you can still find the collection that I started in the 90s, whereas in 20 years time, am I going to boot up my Blizzard account and go, “Oh, I remember unlocking this skin-
Kallie: I like how in 20 years, you’re 70.
Tamoor: You’re mad old.
Lucy: To be fair, I am a 60 year old in the body of a 28-year-old.
Tamoor: That Open Boosters guy, I think he pulled the Black Lotus a second time.
Lucy: No, he did not?!!?!
Tamoor: I think so, yeah.
Lucy: What a guy.
from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/magic-the-gathering-is-better-than-loot-boxes/1100-6470327/
