Amazon is finally making their move. This was only a matter of time after their acquisition of Twitch and creation of AGS.
Amazon is going to attempt to evolve the “streamer generation” into its next phase. They’re going to try and bridge the gap between players, streamers, and viewers. As a harsh critic of the streamer generation — just as I was the cash shop generation — I’m watching this one closely. Is it the future, or just the next fad?
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Crucible -Â Last One Standing FPS
This one has my eye for a few reasons. I like the idea of last man standing games. We haven’t had a truly ‘good’ battle royale or king of the hill or last man standing (whatever you want to call it) game. H1Z1 was crap, and Arma 3 mods are wonky.
If AGS can make Crucible into a solid last one standing FPS… cool, I’m on board.
Now, the idea of this “13th player” being the streamer and having influence over the game… that doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t want to play a game dominated by the Liriks of the world, or their community. How much influence this 13th player has will make or break the game for me.
New World -Â 17th Century Colonial America MMO
In this version of colonial America, the supernatural is real. New World is Amazon’s foray into the MMO scene. How much of an MMO will this be? I don’t know. How much sandbox? I don’t know. How much PvP vs. PvE? No clue. So what we have in terms of what matters… we got nothin’.
“The players are our content”
“Carve your own destiny”
“If you want to be a X and do X, do it”
Those are the epitome of red flags. I hear hyperbole, over-exaggeration, and zero substance when I hear devs saying those words. Is that because I’m jaded? Heck yes. Is that because of experience? Heck yes.
Breakaway – “Sports Brawler” aka MOBA
Right now it’s like a Smite or an Overwatch style where people ‘build’ stuff or interact with the arena. Their goal: Make a fun game. We’ll see! The genre is saturated with mediocrity and vanilla.
Twitch Prime
Further integration with Amazon and Twitch, those with an Amazon Prime account can now have full Twitch functionality — including one free “sub” to a channel. This is, by far, the best feature of this whole thing. I’m always a fan of having an awesome service (Prime) continue to yield value for the same price.
Conclusion
I’m not overly hyped about any of it. Quite the opposite. They could easily go way overboard on the whole “Twitch is a gaming platform” thing and screw up big time. AAA budgets and devs from previous games rarely come together for a win.
I like the idea of setting games in Colonial Times, it’s really underused compared to classic Dark Ages or Renaissance settings. There’s a different mindset, different themes, different problems to explore during that period. I have no clue if AGS will be able to make a good game, I just like the idea of gaming in Colonial Times. It would even be better if the game would go beyond America, but that’s a knock on the industry in general. Not often enough are they telling stories about something else but America/West Europe. It was one of the interesting point of the Witcher series, to get to know a different lore loosely based on Danish folklore.
Oops ! Polish and Slavic folklore, not Danish.
I am pretty hyped for this game. a Survival colonial america MMO ! Could be the ultimate sandbox