This week on Replay, we've got more Steam antics, a bit of gloating, and a new trend. Because if games can do something once, they can do it over and over. You know how it goes.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is Going the Way of Grand Theft AutoSometimes it's validating to be right. With the massive, blistering success of Grand Theft Auto Online eclipsing everything Rockstar has ever made up until that point, I once predicted that Red Dead Redemption 2 would follow the same path, receiving a massive online open world mode as part of its package. The shift, I said, was bound to affect the way in which that world exists, plays, and is marketed.
Lo and behold, that's exactly what's happening. The short version of it is that the mode will be available to all owners of the base game, and will launch as a beta in November 2018, after the game's initial release. Goodbye, single-player DLC; hello, Red Dead Online. Enjoy the griefers!
Meet the PlayStation Classic, Because Tiny ThingsSony, in its most blatant borrowing of an idea from Nintendo since the original PlayStation, is planning on releasing a PlayStation Classic, a miniature console pre-loaded with twenty games from the original PlayStation console, all in a box designed to perfectly mimic the look and feel of the old thing, perfect for nostalgia and fervent fandom.
We've already covered the details, but there are a couple of salient things to point to regarding this announcement. The first is that we've officially reached trend territory. Expect more tiny nostalgia boxes, and expect them soon. There are already rumors of a Nintendo 64 Classic, and Sega is undoubtedly going to get in on the trend any day now.
The second thing to point out is that one has to wonder what effect this is going to have on the preservation of these old games as part of the mainline console experience. After all, there's a real business incentive to keep these classics off of digital storefronts and ports in order to encourage players to go out and buy the premium retro-console experience. Classic games aren't easy to come by as it is; here's hoping this trend won't make it even harder.
Valve is Trying … Comment Moderation?We've followed the changes Valve has made to its Steam distribution platform pretty closely here on Replay, and with good reason: Steam has such a commanding market share in PC gaming that it functions as a bellwether for the entirety of the videogame industry. What happens on Steam probably won't just happen on Steam. Which is why I'm surprised and delighted—is this delight I'm feeling?—to report that Valve is going to actually start moderating comments on the social features integrated into the storefront.
According to Valve, the move is a response to frequent requests from developers on the platform, who want help with handling comment moderation on the forums that come bundled with their game listings by default. It's good to see Valve start to take responsibility for how people behave on its store. Hopefully it'll catch on.
Recommendation of the Week: Alien: Isolation on Xbox One PlayStation 4, and PCIt's right behind me. I move quickly, hunting for a place to hide, desperate for a locker or a desk or something to hide under, behind, inside. Anywhere. Anything. I'm not going to make it. A tail like a blade slices its way into me and I watch in my final moments as the xenomorph smiles its twisted, hungry grin. This is Alien: Isolation, one of the most riveting horror games ever made, possibly the best game ever based on Ridley Scott's Alien, and just an all-around fabulous game. It's almost October, so we're into the scary recommendations now. And Isolation is easily one of the scariest things I've ever played. Ever. Try it out—but not alone.
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