Episode 28 – Push to Shout Podcast

About the Author

SkippySigmatic

meme master

7 Comments

dotterel

A great example of an early access game was Crypt of the NecroDancer. The developers had a clear vision for how the final game would be but they also communicated closely with the community and took player suggestions seriously. That included the hardcore speed runners, score runners and racers whose input helped make the game deep and competitive. Its updates were regular and had a level of polish so high that you wouldn’t even know it was incomplete if it didn’t have locked options in the lobby.

Like DLC, ‘early access’ is a term that has been given bad connotations because of a trend of consumer-unfriendly practices but it can be, and sometimes is, used well to the benefit of both devs and players. The problem is caused as much by the people giving money for bad early access games as it is by the people making them. NecroDancer was by far the best game I bought last year so I’m glad that early access exists as a business model and I don’t think your broad generalisations are fair.

Reply
SkippySigmatic

We’ve gotten burned by early access games so often that its hard not to be uniformly dismissive of them. You’re right, I’m sure there are exceptions, but my point is that the industry as a whole is suffering from the trend.

Reply
---

“Dunno what CDProject’s involvement with GOG is” – honestly, you two are such clueless console peasants.

No, but seriously though, a week-long lurking trip to rpgcodex would do you both good. You’ll learn new words, exciting new opinions, and maybe you’ll even stop saying things like “there’s no place for long-form game discussion other than /v/”.

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *