If there’s a AAA game publisher you know of, there’s a strong chance that they burn out their workers and abuse their labor for the purpose of profit. Rockstar didn’t manage to keep it as well under wraps as the rest of those companies tend to do though, going so far as to boast about how their workers were fighting their way through hundred hour work weeks to ship out the game “on time”. This caused a bit of a stir in the game industry, and the Houser brothers had to go out and make a couple little apologies where they went onto say further outlandish things, like:

“Sam and I talk about this a lot,” he replied, “and it’s that games are still magical. It’s like they’re made by elves. You turn on the screen and it’s just this world that exists on TV. I think you gain something by not knowing how they’re made. As much as we might lose something in terms of people’s respect for what we do, their enjoyment of what we do is enhanced. Which is probably more important.”

Magical elves.

While the Houser Brothers would absolutely love you to ignore the fact that so many of their workers sacrificed chunks of their life and fragments of their essence to receive maybe a hundred thousandth of the profits they received, it’s impossible and irresponsible to. Games are made by people, they’re made consistently by teams that don’t need to destroy their workers, on budgets that don’t have to equal the amount of capital needed to run a small country. Games aren’t these mystical trinkets, nor are they solely the artistic endeavors that require the sacrifices so often claimed. Games like Red Dead Redemption 2 are vessels for the conceptualization of capitalism, and the Houser Brothers want to have their cake and eat it too.

In Red Dead Redemption 2, the villainous Leviticus Cornwall goes on a rant towards the end of the story, talking about how he pushes the gears, does the things that need to be done, and that people have to suffer because of the nature of the world. The fact that Red Dead Redemption 2 is written by the Houser brothers, who said effectively the same exact things about game development in a casual interview, is such a fun ol’ hypocritical time. It’s the heart of why I think the game fails to create a compelling narrative or immersive world; it’s a hotbed of contradictions.

To talk about this again through the lens of the game, Arthur Morgan, our lead cowman, is a character who is consistently at odds with who he is. The open world the player runs him about in, and is encouraged to whittle hundreds of hours away inside of, is one completely disparate from the one on display throughout the main narrative. Where a player can generally play Arthur as a hero, feeding the homeless and helping the wounded, his character arc will slide him into forced scenarios like beating up a disabled man, or stealing things from the poor for little to no reason. If one plays Arthur as a villain suiting these sorts of activities, they’ll still be forced into moments where Arthur is out there feeding the homeless, and he’ll still find his titular redemption.

Even outside of its core, everything in Rockstar’s Wild West is the seed of an idea stomped on by specific design ideologies. There are systems for hunting, horse riding, temperature, food, health, and all sorts of other standard concepts that have been heralded for their realism and immersiveness, but their purpose is painfully clear: to uphold a status quo. Nothing in Red Dead Redemption 2 feels like it’s there because of an artistic vision or a wild concept someone had and executed on; it’s all there because that’s what should be in a “prestige” video game. Nothing intertwines, nothing is truly realistic or has a rhythm to it that could tell a story, thus all of it ends up being a pretentious drag.

To look at one specific example of a painfully sciolistic and contrived system, hunting in Red Dead Redemption 2 is required to gather skins and food. Instead of making the act of a successful hunt require things like hiding or tracking- as the game insinuates- or setting up traps to catch an animal off guard like is common in most open-world RPGs, the procedure is consistent and dry. You find an animal instead of its tracks, check to ensure its quality label is “pristine,” find the glowing red spot on the animal, and shoot it using the “Dead Eye” ability. If you deviate from this specific and simplistic procedure, the animal that you hunt will be rendered a quality below “perfect”, which means you can’t use any of the animal’s parts for anything the game would be asking for. Wow! Just like real life!

It’s this fake and drawn-out idea of realism that infects the game as a whole. There is no actual dedication to replicating the activities of day to day life, nor is there any wiggle room to create crazy surprises or coincidences that are truly realistic. These systems are designed to be a system in a video game, a side activity, a mini game; not vehicles for experiences with a purpose. Even more egregious are the legendary animals, which are all hidden around the map like special Pokémon, requiring you to examine three to four tracks before stumbling upon it and executing it without any sort of restrictions like normal animals. Why? Again, because this isn’t intended to actually be realistic, it’s just for a video game, and it’s what makes a great marketing point.

Everything about the game feels like it’s curated for the express purpose of marketing. Put in survival elements to attract those Minecraft and Rust communities; put in dialogue choices even if they don’t matter because everyone loves Mass Effect; people are always talking about the “emergent gameplay” so put in a bunch of events that everyone will see but they just might miss, so that talking about the game feels different for everyone! The game feels like it’s made just to sell from title alone, dubbed Red Dead Redemption 2, despite being the third in the series and a prequel at that.

These craven design decisions, which seem more based on dollar signs and market expectations than actual consideration and imagination, permeate nearly every aspect of the game’s design. There are moments in Red Dead Redemption 2 that feel legitimately original, and capture a particularly fascinating realm of mundanity and interaction that feels compelling, but Rockstar feels the need to escalate everything to the most absurd degree every single time. There’s a sequence in the game where you get to build a house. You put up fences, the foundation, the walls, the roof, all that, and you do it to a jaunty montage like one would do in a movie. I was really enjoying the concept of this, because you never really get to do something as mundane as make a whole ass real house in an elegant yet lifelike way. Red Dead Redemption 2, however, is never satisfied with a mission just being that, and quickly things escalated into a full on assault against a league of cannibals who just roam around I guess.

I could use “absurd escalation” to describe most of the game too. Every town you visit will feature at least five grand shootouts where Arthur Morgan and company pretty much decimate a large chunk of the town’s populace in extravagant brutalist fashion. Whenever I reached the end of these drawn out murderfests, I had to muse to myself how well one could make an argument for how Red Dead Redemption unintentionally presents itself as a fascist utopia of 4000 police officers per twenty mile radius. Things can never just end in a quick and deadly escape, everything had to be outrageous and stupefying because that’s what games have to be right? They have to be these vehicles for nothing but bombast and epic gamer moments that make you cheer with your bros. When a sequence in your game involves a character being diagnosed with a terminal illness in a rather grim fashion, only to have that character immediately go on a wild balloon ride with a wacky old man that culminates in a shootout where said old man dies with nary a word discussed about him afterwards, there’s probably something wrong with your game’s tone.

When it comes to Red Dead Redemption 2’s nature as a prequel, the game quickly falls into all sorts of myopic pitfalls. From the beginning, you already know which characters are going to live, and which characters are going to die, but unlike some games like Halo: Reach or even the more absurd Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, there is no elegance or surprise to be had. This isn’t stumbling upon a ragtag group of unknown souls that Red Dead Redemption’s main protagonist, John Marston once rode with. The characters that ride with Arthur are a group of well known figures, whose fates and histories had already been outlined. Barring one standout, I was completely unsurprised by every one of the main story’s victims of drama, and it was hard to become invested in characters when it was clear they weren’t going to be around, or would become incredibly heinous men in the sequel.

At worst, this focus on pre-existing knowledge and events ends up doing nothing but make the first Red Dead Redemption, a game I used to really really like despite its flaws, even worse retroactively. In Red Dead Redemption we knew that John used to be in a gang led by Dutch, and when he faces off against his former father figure near the end of the game, it seems sort of like a homecoming after years and years. Now after Red Dead Redemption 2, we’re told that John had seen Dutch and done a big ol’ shoot out with him just a few years before the start of the original game. When I started up Red Dead 2 for the first time, I expected to deal with some sort of narrative contrivances- like rectifying the fact that Arthur Morgan had never been referenced in Redemption– but having the entire story of Red Dead Redemption feel far less impactful and incredibly over-exaggerated, was something I couldn’t help but absorb in awestruck disappointment.

Of course Rockstar, the company behind the piece of media that has made more money than every other piece of media ever created in the history of mankind, is looking for more and more money, even though they don’t have to. The nature of capitalism is that no matter how much money one currently has, you have to aspire to and gather more and more and more until there’s absolutely none left. Rockstar could’ve taken their time and not abused their workers to push out this product, they could’ve taken risks with their systems instead of watering them down to the lowest most acceptable denominator, they could’ve /tried/ to say anything worth saying. Instead, they didn’t. The Houser brothers and every shareholder and corporation involved with the production of the game have to take the path to peak exploitation every time, because that’s just how it has to be, right?

The way that mainstream journalism has enabled all of this to continue, just as those side characters in Red Dead allow the villains to prosper, is especially egregious. Upon release, despite knowing the circumstances of the game’s development, despite hearing firsthand reports from abused workers that they were forever scarred by the development of not only this game but its predecessor as well, the game received universal accolades and perfect scores from major outlets. It continues to be advertised as the highest rated PS4 game of all time. Some even went as far as to organize week long celebrations of content about the game which, well, I don’t even know what to say about that one.

There’s a problem in modern discussion with treating the development of a game as ancillary to criticism of the product. Every review fills a paragraph or two with allusions to the wrong that Rockstar maybe did, but swat it away with glowing praise the second that mandated bit is over. If a game like say, Final Fantasy XV is being reviewed, however, a large part of the conversation will become dedicated to discussing its long development, and how that would transform the game’s design. Just like with Red Dead’s concept of realism; it’s only the focus when it’s convenient. There needs to be more responsible and consistent coverage, and there needs to be a reckoning with the realities of the market that we as platforms are promoting.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is just one of so many games that has come out at the expense of dozens if not hundreds of individuals, only to have such petty problems ignored as the price to pay for purported perfection. It’s not the first of a new trend, it’s the depressing status quo, and if we’re to create not only better games, but a better world, we need to start being more responsible with how we discuss and engage with games.

The post Cowboys, Cowardice, and Contradictions appeared first on Gamesline.

2018’s almost over, but there’s still time for one last podcast! John and Rose talk us through a GOTY retrospective, as well as Smash Bros., bombing on comedy, gacha hell, Metroid, The Messenger, David Spade’s Dragon Ball future, and the toxic effects of Gamer Goo.

Support us on Patreon! Follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, and @horngal, and don’t forget to rate & review the show on iTunes, as well as tell a friend! You can also send questions, comments, and concerns to podcast@videogamechoochoo.com or find us on Tumblr! You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download or listen below!

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If you wish to watch our winners in video form, check out the below video. Other than that, here are the write-ups!

Best Mechanic: Self Mutilation in The Missing

Runners-up: Web-Swinging in Spider-Man, District Health in Vampyr

While seemingly a hard sell for most people, the way The Missing handles the use of self mutilation to solve puzzles is brilliantly executed. Dismemberment, immolation, and many other brutal forms of self mutilation act as J.J.’s means to progress through the world and learn to rebuild herself. These mechanics serve to act as a metaphor for the struggles and the pain that many trans people go through in everyday life in order to survive in the world. J.J. breaks herself down to build herself together again. After all, this is a regeneration story.

Worst Mechanic: Red Dead Redemption 2’s Morality Meter

Runners-up: Detroit: Become Human’s Trust System, SNK Heroines’ Items

Red Dead Redemption 2 is full of all sorts of thoughtless and actively fun-hampering mechanics, but the morality meter easily takes the cake. Even the concept of a meter to measure some sort of arbitrarily considered moral code feels outdated in 2018, where so much of the industry has either thoughtfully omitted such mechanics or adapted them into more nuanced and subtle presentation. Drifting your morality meter in either direction requires barely any thought, and provides little to no bearing on anything that happens throughout your experience. Being a Cowboy Angel won’t stop Arthur from beating up disabled men for three dollars in the story, nor will being Satan’s lil’ Cowpoke affect the titular and forced redemption arc later in the game. It’s a meaningless system that feels integrated largely because its predecessor had it, but also because as a AAA video game such features are required. This is all saying nothing of the fact that in Red Dead Redemption 2’s online component, players can pay to reset their morality meter with a microtransaction currency, which is just, man that really just is everything wrong with AAA gaming wrapped up nicely, huh?

Worst Game: The Quiet Man

Runners-up: Detroit: Become Human, SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy

Oh, what to say? Square Enix has had a real strange year, but nothing has quite reached the heights of sheer bafflement that the company achieved with The Quiet Man. What feels like both a fake game from a movie and an Arrowverse rip-off, The Quiet Man is a disaster on every conceivable level. From FMV sequences that look and feel like a rejected pilot for a show on The CW, to gameplay sequences that feel like they were cobbled together in a couple weeks (by Human Head, a legit developer, no less), The Quiet Man is an embarrassment on a scale rarely seen for major publishers. Sure, Square Enix has taken risks on smaller-to-medium sized games in the past couple years, with games like Tokyo Dark and Nier: Automata both being successful, but it’s impossible to understand just what exactly the company was thinking with The Quiet Man.

The post Game of the Year Awards 2018: Day Four appeared first on Gamesline.

As always, we’ve got both full write-ups and a handy video guide to today’s awards!

Best Surprise: Deltarune

Runners-up: THE MISSING: J.J. MACFIELD & THE ISLAND OF MEMORIES, Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

Released out of nowhere for free on Halloween, Deltarune immediately proved itself to be a captivating experience. From its intro sequence until the final moments of what’s only the first chapter, the entire experience is as gripping as it is clever, playing on every expectation an Undertale fan may have. Not only has the combat system been revamped to accommodate multiple party members with various roles in the group, but even familiar characters and story beats have changed in unpredictable and unusual ways. Despite being a vastly shorter experience overall, there’s a lot about Deltarune to discuss and unpack, even as we go into 2019. With Toby Fox hitting on all fronts again, it’s no surprise that Deltarune manages to be 2018’s best surprise.

Most Disappointing: Red Dead Redemption 2

Runners-up: Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life

It’s no secret that the hype-cycle for Triple A game development has been out of control for years now, but it’s phenomenally difficult to think of an example of a game failing to hit the mark of expectations quite like Red Dead Redemption 2 did. Rockstar games have occupied a weird space for a while now where they’ve been held up as immersive and bold for decisions that other games have been repeatedly derided for, and seeing the trend continue in the wake of Red Dead 2’s release has been pretty baffling. An overblown, bloated mess of a product that sacrifices fun for “realism” and “immersion”, except for when it doesn’t, Red Dead feels like an example of a game that wants to have its cake and eat it too. Useless and unnecessary systems pile on top of useless and unnecessary systems to create an experience that’s less a video game and more of a chore. That bloat, combined with stiff, awkward gunplay, a story that could easily have had at least ten hours of fat trimmed from its hide, and an inconsistently written protagonist who flits between the honorable cowboy and a complete sociopath with such regularity that it sometimes happens multiple times in the same mission, only serves to make Red Dead 2018’s biggest disappointment.

Best Writing: THE MISSING: J.J. MACFIELD & THE ISLAND OF MEMORIES

Runners-up: Heaven Will Be Mine, Deltarune

Swery has always been known for entertaining writing, even if that writing wasn’t always the best, but THE MISSING feels like an entirely different format for him. While there are still moments of those classic Twin Peaks-esque non-sequiturs explaining some sort of specific concept or thing, the story focuses a lot more on text-based and realistic interactions. Since most of the game is told through a series of text messages gradually unlocked on J.J.’s phone, we get to see a different form of character writing, which is actually accomplished quite well. While plenty of games like Persona 5 or Spider-Man have integrated instant message style conversations into their game, they’ve never been the entire crux of their story. Being able to see the different ways that J.J. interacts with others demonstrated through word choice and honesty without hardly a hint of the stereotypical writing a lot of outsider writers tend to lean towards with queer narratives shows exactly how much research and discussion must have been done with real and actual people. THE MISSING makes me excited for the prospects of more modern methods of storytelling in the future, where a story doesn’t have to be told strictly through disembodied and one-sided audio logs, but through a different and less vocal form of conversation.

What the Fuck Award: Fallout 76

Runners-up: Filip Miucin, The Triple-A Industry

From infinitely fast walking speeds to nylon bags to completely doxing their own users, Fallout 76 was truly 2018’s shittiest gift that kept on giving. Originally pitched as everything you’d expect from a Fallout game but online, reality quickly set in as it became painfully clear that this was going to be a paper-thin cash-in. Even players who tempered their expectations were not prepared for the absolute shitstorm surrounding this game. Even now, more and more disappointing news keeps coming out about the future of Fallout 76. The game’s most diehard players and defenders are now upset that the new cosmetic purchasables in the in-game real money store are going for upwards of 20 dollars per costume. Not to mention as found in a recent changelog, the game will soon support the biggest wet fart in the entire game industry: loot boxes. Shine On You Turdy Diamond.

The post Game of the Year Awards 2018: Day Three appeared first on Gamesline.

You can check out our full write-ups right here, but as always, we’ve got a handy-dandy video to run down today’s awards!

Best Moment: The Ending (THE MISSING)

Runners-up: Walking through town (Deltarune), The Last Climb (Celeste)

The ending to THE MISSING isn’t just impressive because of its elaborate presentation, though that certainly helps it. This final sequence, where both the true nature of the game, as well as an insistence to push back against an all too common tragic and surrealist end are revealed, is exactly what we should be looking for in video game narratives. From the dramatic scripted scenes, to a final optimistic chase and victory over a now understandable enemy, THE MISSING’s ending takes advantage of being a piece of interactive media, and provides a path of emotional resonance through the whole experience. By exploring largely ignored and important territory, THE MISSING was able to take what would have been a novel experience in its own right, and push it above into the type of representation we should be accepting as the bare minimum. Also it made me cry for like three hours.

Hella Brokenest: Fallout 76

Runners-up: Vampyr, The Quiet Man

Even before its release date, nearly every comment online about Fallout 76 was one of deep frustration and consistent ineptitude. Bethesda’s games are rightfully infamous for how shoddily they’re held together, but their latest release heaps another spoonful of worry on top of an already wobbly foundation with online functionality. With the standard crashes, bugs, and game-breaking errors now paired with an unstable connectivity requirement, Fallout 76 is going to need a lot more than some fan mods to be anywhere near something worth the money Bethesda’s asking for it. Let’s not forget that they’re using the same twenty-year-old engine they’ve been using since Morrowind, and plan to continue to use it into the next generation.

Best Character: Susie (Deltarune)

Runners-up: Madeline (Celeste), Nia (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

The power of mean girls shines within you.

Susie from Deltarune is our favorite character in a game this year. Her character arc, from schoolyard bully, to reluctant party member, to two-bit villain, to genuine friend was, in true Toby Fox style, equal parts touching and hilarious. Susie is in many ways a perfect response to the sometimes simplistic pacifist outlook of Undertale. As she moves from lashing out with violence out of fear, to using violence as a way to defend those she cares about, Susie encapsulates the complicated questions Deltarune seeks to ask. She adds an edge to the game (no pun intended), and always reminds us that these characters are just tweens doing their best in a scary situation. Susie’s scenes with Lancer are among the funniest in Deltarune, and she brings serious heart to the game, making me care about the fate and feelings of these dumb kids. To give Susie the best compliment I can: she is unbanned from free ham sandwich day.

Worst Character: Markus (Detroit: Become Human)

Runners-up: Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2), Lara Croft (Shadow of the Tomb Raider)

David Cage is a man who divides opinion among the masses at the best of times, but with Detroit: Become Human, the master of gaming misery has hit new lows in the character department with the game’s lead, Markus. Cage has, of course, always been about as subtle as a nuclear bomb, but his clumsy attempts to roll Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Che Guevara, Jason Bourne and Mahatma Gandhi into one with Markus are unbelievably horrible. As Detroit fumbles around with its dead-on-the-nose Biblical references and Markus’ literal freeing of the android slaves, it’s hard to believe that you’re watching a sincere effort at storytelling unfold before you; so laughably ham-fisted are Cage’s attempts to make Markus a relatable, sympathetic leader that the game’s entire thesis statement looks like it’s being drawn into parody. Under Markus, a game that should’ve been an easy thematic slam-dunk stumbles and falls in mystifying order, and only serves to highlight that of all people in the industry, David Cage is certainly not the one with the chops to tackle difficult social concepts.

The post Game of the Year Awards 2018: Day Two appeared first on Gamesline.

Support us on Patreon! Follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @YourPalNiall, @SocksMahoney, and @solonface, and don’t forget to rate & review the show on iTunes, as well as tell a friend! You can also send questions, comments, and concerns to podcast@videogamechoochoo.com or find us on Tumblr! You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

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It’s been a big week in games, and unfortunately, a lot of that is Smash Bros. related, but that won’t stop Solon from getting people’s name wrong, or everyone else on the crew from talking cowboys, SNK’s 40th birthday bash, the void, the return of The Bubz, Blizzcon’s Hearthstone mess, spider problems, and console aesthetics.

Support us on Patreon! Follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, @horngal, and @solonface, and don’t forget to rate & review the show on iTunes, as well as tell a friend! You can also send questions, comments, and concerns to podcast@videogamechoochoo.com or find us on Tumblr! You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Subscribe via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 239: The Best Joke of All Time appeared first on Gamesline.

Support us on Patreon! Follow us on twitter @VGChooChoo, @john_michonski, & @finaldasa and don’t forget to rate & review the show on iTunes, as well as tell a friend! You can also send questions, comments, and concerns to podcast@videogamechoochoo.com or find us on Tumblr! You can also join our Discord channel at thegamezone.zone!

Our theme song is “Crush” by Melt Channel, from the album Magic is Real.

Join Chooch’s Hall of Fame via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download or listen below!

The post VGCC Episode 215: Battle These Bees appeared first on Gamesline.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

The original Final Fantasy 7 was three discs of PlayStation-era polygons, animations, and cutscenes. Now imagine you’re updating, recreating, and redoing all of them. Even with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake being cut into separate parts, there’s no way Square Enix has even the first part ready to go. Maybe we’ll see some more glimpses this year, but when you consider how long FF15 took, we won’t see this remake anytime soon.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if info about Final Fantasy 7 Remake skipped 2018 altogether. Maybe a screenshot gallery will arrive in inboxes as a press release, but Square already has something major on their plate. Speaking of that something major…

Kingdom Hearts 3

Maybe this is an either or. Either Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been getting worked on, or Kingdom Hearts 3 has. With the amount of screenshots and footage that’s leaked however, my money is on KH3 getting all the focus. Even with Square giving Sora, Mickey and his pals all that tender love and care, it may still miss 2018.

Kingdom Hearts isn’t just another RPG in Square’s arsenal, it’s a licensed game. Even with creative liberties, Disney doesn’t let anyone just do what they please and will want to approve a lot of what’s tossed in. Toss in the possibility of Marvel or Star Wars making an appearance, and now we’re dealing with a lot of lawyer-filled headaches. It isn’t too hard to imagine a world where KH3’s release date slips into the future.   

Shenmue 3

I can’t tell you if this is wishful thinking or a real prediction. Stiff Walking Man 2K18 may actually make it out this year, but I’d prefer it not. Perhaps Shenmue 3 will muster something worth looking at or playing, but I have little hopes for this quasi-Kickstarted look into Sega’s past. If there’s anything 2016 and 2017 taught us, it was plenty of harsh lessons in Kickstarters and expectations. It’s best if you keep your vision focused- and the Shenmue series isn’t exactly known for its focus.

There’s potential with Shenmue 3, and worryingly that’s the nicest thing I can say about it.

Anthem

No one wants Anthem to be released in 2018 more than EA. Last year was a PR struggle for the publisher, and pushing into this year they could really use a big tentpole money-making release. More importantly, EA could use a title that can compete with Activision’s Destiny franchise. Battlefront might be a dirty word nowadays but it’s still competing with Call of Duty. EA needs to add a RPG shooter to their sales tier, but just wishing for one will not make it so.

Being pushy is what gets EA in trouble. The first Battlefront reboot did great, but the second floundered thanks to loot boxes and microtransactions. That same initiative’s fingerprints has been seen in other EA titles like Madden and FIFA for years now, and it’s no doubt that microtransactions were/are planned for Anthem. Maybe EA is maddeningly ripping those systems out, maybe Bioware managed to stand tall against the publisher’s greedy ideas, or maybe Anthem is still in alpha on a computer server somewhere. Anthem ain’t coming this year, but I could definitely see it being a fun Q1 2019 title.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Somewhere deep inside Rockstar Studios there is a whisper. Past the rows of desks and dimly lit computer monitors you can hear it. It’s spoken by a worried programmer or a frantic QA manager or an agitated producer who keeps glancing at a calendar. That whisper is saying “we need the Benz.”

If you don’t remember Leslie Benzies departure from Rockstar, you should. Benzies was a developer and producer for Rockstar best known for being a problem solver. He was the person you call in when everything has gone sideways and you absolutely need to release your game on time. Benzies left Rockstar and made a splash with a lawsuit against them and publisher Take Two. Without the fixer to come in and solve whatever problems a title is having, can Rockstar really meet expectations and deadlines? This year should be when we start hearing more and more from Red Dead Redemption 2, but if the title goes quiet Benzies’ absence will be felt into 2019.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes

After its initial tease, it took most of 2017 to get a real trailer for Travis Strikes Again, and even after all this time I’m still not entirely sure what this game will be. Suda51 is a bit of a mad man and I wouldn’t be shocked if No More Heroes is either still very early on, or just about done. However, what we do know is that Travis will be visiting several other video game universes throughout this sequel. That means a lot of collaboration, legal agreements, and lots of scheduling. Grasshopper can usually manage a release per year, but it seems in Travis and John’s best interest if they took their time.

Fire Emblem/Pokemon on the Switch

It will probably be one or the other. Both games are still stitched together with rumors, speculation, and the lightest sprinkling of official news. 2018 is already looking pretty bright for the Nintendo Switch with Kirby, Yoshi, and Metroid Prime 4 possibly making their way out this year. It seems silly to add an additional two massive franchises to your schedule when you should be filling the calendar with ports and smaller releases. In an attempt to avoid sales cannibalism among major titles, Nintendo will probably have to choose between Fire Emblem or Pokemon.

Fire Emblem has the least amount of info swirling around for it, while Pokemon has a tornado of rumors pulsing through the air. That’s not much of an indication, but tossing a guaranteed sales bonanza to the end of 2018 that would sell even more Switches seems like the obvious choice. Nothing would push Nintendo into 2019 with a better outlook than a year much like 2017. A mainline Pokemon game developed specifically for the Switch would set the world ablaze in the best way. Fire Emblem doesn’t quite muster that same kind of fire. My bet is on Pokemon.

The post Games I Don’t Think Will Come Out In 2018 appeared first on Gamesline.

Follow us on Twitter @VGChooChoo, @JohnMichonski, @sewerpeak & @SocksMahoney, and don’t forget to rate & review the show on iTunes, as well as tell a friend! You can also send questions, comments, and concerns to podcast@videogamechoochoo.com or find us on Tumblr!

Taste Chooch’s caviar via iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download or listen below!

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