Patreon Q&A #3

Daniel Anugerah Asks
Thoughts on Alpha Protocol? Have you ever considered doing a 'years later' or 'finally played' on it?

Played it years ago and couldn't help but fall in love with it. Game's utterly broken, horrendously balanced, and has all the visual appeal of a Baboon's backside. But the novelty of an Espionage RPG has carried throughout the years, and it still has one of the best dialogue systems out there, combined with Obsidian's historically solid writing.

Frankly, there'd be a lot to talk about, so I'd say it's definitely a Years Later candidate.

Alfred Fan Asks
What are you thoughts on games by Relic Entertainment, a prominent Vancouver studio, such as the Dawn of War and Company of Heroes series?

Can't say too much other than I've had a positive experience with their games. Dawn of War II was one of the few RTS's I really got into with friends for a while, thanks to its emphasis on Battlefield tactics rather than base-building, a component I've never found particularly interesting.

Considering the amount of studios that've closed their doors in this city over the years, it's rather remarkable that Relic, a primarily RTS developer, has survived. And they know how to have fun, as seen with this voice-over collection...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaF_dkuGLjE 

The Patyman Asks
Now that we’ve gone through the awkward teens of the 21st century, what do you expect to be the big trend and/or themes of the video game industry in the 2020s?

Impossible to predict. I remember headlines years ago claiming that Motion Controls & 3D were the future... but lets do it anyway! Based on the prominence of live services, we're going to see a repeat of the MMO-craze, where multiple companies will sink themselves trying to assemble the next Destiny or Warframe.

Consoles will essentially become phones, and perhaps by the end of the decade, we'll even see a shift away from Hardware exclusivity all together.

Ilan Krivoruk Asks
What do you consider a polished game in this generation and others to come?

Obviously, anything with Blizzard's name on it. I never thought I'd see the day when an Obsidian game played for hours without a hiccup, but that was my experience with the Outer Worlds. And from a moment to moment gameplay perspective, the new Modern Warfare is quite shockingly slick in its animations, effects, and speed.

But big budgets aren't necessarily needed for slick presentation and polish. I'd highly recommend playing the Indie game, Ape Out for a visual treat, where every pixel is meticulously crafted.

The_Surviv0r Asks
Out of curiosity, how much did you play the Gran Turismo series in general? Would a Years Later for any of them be something you would like to do one day? Thanks!

A. LOT.

Gran Turismo 2 was the first video game I ever played. It's existed for as long as I can remember. I had two memory cards with maxed out Garage's for both GT2 & GT3. You can only imagine how badly I cried when Mom unplugged the Playstation while I was in the middle of saving, and lost all my progress...

Would it be a Years Later video? Probably not, there isn't exactly a lot to analyze in various categories, but I could see a more personal video being made. I've also thought of making a piece on all the Gran Turismo Inspirations released from 2000-2007.  It's rather incredible how many Racing Games immediately followed Gran Turismo's structure the instant it was released.

Submit your questions in the comments below, for future Patreon Q&A's.