Apparently the AAAA game now exists (and Beyond Good & Evil 2 is one?)

[Chimpzy]

So, I was perusing the interwebs in hopes of encountering some interesting gaming faits divers. And boy, was I rewarded by stumbling across this gem.

The Qaudruple A game exists, and it's made by Ubisoft.

Not just one of them, but seemingly two whole AAAA games. And one of them is Beyond Good & Evil 2, which lo and behold is apparently still a thing. Considering how massively bloated their AAA offerings already are, I imagine the level of opulence and of course monetization of AAAA can only be orders of magnitude greater. Can't see how that can go wrong, tho if it does end up underperforming, they'll probably find some excuse like the main character having one too few Y chromosomes or somesuch tripe, and not because the game is bollocks.

But it's Ubisoft, so AAAA is almost definitely just marketing bs.

And now for some obligatory jokes...

Spoiler: Wake me up when we reach these levels of AAAAA

 

[09philj]

Small games make a small amount of money, and big games make a lot of money, so let's just make really, really big games that will make all of the money! This literally cannot go tits up!

 

[BrawlMan]

So, I was perusing the interwebs in hopes of encountering some interesting gaming faits divers. And boy, was I rewarded by stumbling across this gem.

The Qaudruple A game exists, and it's made by Ubisoft.

Not just one of them, but seemingly two whole AAAA games. And one of them is Beyond Good & Evil 2, which lo and behold is apparently still a thing. Considering how massively bloated their AAA offerings already are, I imagine the level of opulence and of course monetization of AAAA can only be orders of magnitude greater. Can't see how that can go wrong, tho if it does end up underperforming, they'll probably find some excuse like the main character having one too few Y chromosomes or somesuch tripe, and not because the game is bollocks.

But it's Ubisoft, so AAAA is almost definitely just marketing bs.

And now for some obligatory jokes...

Spoiler: Wake me up when we reach these levels of AAAAA

Jim Sterling is going to have a field day with this. Fuck off Ubisoft. Not buying your shit.

 

[Dalisclock]

Ubisoft is already on my shit list because of the whole rampant sexual harassment and abuse thing(Sideling Kassandra, Evie and maybe Aya in the AC series for no good reason is also irking me a bit), as well their their disingenuous "NOT POLITICAL" BS they keep flogging. Hearing they want to pioneer the "QUAD A!" game gives me no fucking hope for them.

Besides, RDR2 exists and is far, far better then anything they've put out in a long time(Black Flag is the only thing that comes close). If RDR2 can do the open world game better then Ubisoft can, why do I need Ubisoft for that fix again?

 

[BrawlMan]

Besides, RDR2 exists and is far, far better then anything they've put out in a long time(Black Flag is the only thing that comes close). If RDR2 can do the open world game better then Ubisoft can, why do I need Ubisoft for that fix again?

Honestly, there are better open world games than whatever Rockstar/2K has come up with in years, but I understand why you like Red Dead 2.

 

[Chimpzy]

Jim Sterling is going to have a field day with this. Fuck off Ubisoft. Not buying your shit.

Probably. He just did a Ubisoft episode tho and this has so far been pretty under the radar (only happened upon it by sheer accident). But, there's always next week.

Ubisoft is already on my shit list because of the whole rampant sexual harassment and abuse thing(Sideling Kassandra, Evie and maybe Aya in the AC series for no good reason is also irking me a bit), as well their their disingenuous "NOT POLITICAL" BS they keep flogging. Hearing they want to pioneer the "QUAD A!" game gives me no fucking hope for them.

I don't blame you. They"ve given plenty reason to be on a shitlist over the past decade or so, and done nothing to be taken off it. In my case, they're joined by EA, Activision, 2K, Warner Bros and Konami, making a veritable sinister six, so they're in 'good' company.

 

[Dalisclock]

Honestly, there are better open world games than whatever Rockstar/2K has come up with in years, but I understand why you like Red Dead 2.

Don't get me wrong, Rockstars games have never really grabbed me before. I gave up on GTA a long time ago(I couldn't get through San Andreas) for a number of reasons but I feel Grand Theft Cowboy avoids a lot of the pitfalls of the GTA series(It has it's own but I'm able to overlook them).

In the "Historical" Open world department, RDR2 feels like it's far better then anything else I've seen(and I've been pretty unapologetic in my enjoyment of the AC series, despite it's many flaws). No, I haven't played GoT, so maybe that will change someday.

 

[BrawlMan]

Probably. He just did a Ubisoft episode tho and this has so far been pretty under the radar (only happened upon it by sheer accident). But, there's always next week.

Yep. Posted it on the COD Cold War Thread.

No, I haven't played GoT, so maybe that will change someday.

Take your time. Ghost will always be available. Plus, it's getting free co-op multiplayer this fall. Until then, keep doing whatever you like, or play Sleeping Dogs. I have not played that one, but my older brother loved it.

 

[Dalisclock]

Yep. Posted it on the COD Cold War Thread.



Take your time. Ghost will always be available. Plus, it's getting free co-op multiplayer this fall. Until then, keep doing whatever you like, or play Sleeping Dogs. I have not played that one, but my older brother loved it.

I actually want to give Yakuza 0 a try next time I'm in the mood for this type of game. Apparently it's a lot of fun for reasons that have nothing to do with the story.

But Spiritfarer is next on the list. I've been watching that one for months and of course it dropped when I was playing the EPIC WESTERN GAME.

 

[Dreiko]

Don't get me wrong, Rockstars games have never really grabbed me before. I gave up on GTA a long time ago(I couldn't get through San Andreas for a number of reasons) for a number of reasons but I feel Grand Theft Cowboy avoids a lot of the pitfalls of the GTA series(It has it's own but I'm able to overlook them).

In the "Historical" Open world department, RDR2 feels like it's far better then anything else I've seen(and I've been pretty unapologetic in my enjoyment of the AC series, despite it's many flaws). No, I haven't played GoT, so maybe that will change someday.

Ghost of Tsushima is kinda historical but without abandoning the coolness aspect of old-timey mysticism because it is set in the 1200s so there was a lot of folk tales and folk wisdom still prevalent whereas red dead is a lot more modern so not much of that sort of thing was left over.

So basically what I'm saying is that they manage to make a historical game not feel boring or dry by picking a period where certain small unrealistic elements (such as helpful foxes pointing you to shrines and the wind showing you the right path to your goal because it's a metaphor for the soul of your father and stuff like that) still do historically fit with the outlook people had during those times.

Also the thing that makes you heal from mortal wounds and other injuries is not some kinda magic potion or a divine grace, it's just your resolve as a man with a duty to fulfill. How can you not love that.

 

[Dalisclock]

Ghost of Tsushima is kinda historical but without abandoning the coolness aspect of old-timey mysticism because it is set in the 1200s so there was a lot of folk tales and folk wisdom still prevalent whereas red dead is a lot more modern so not much of that sort of thing was left over.

So basically what I'm saying is that they manage to make a historical game not feel boring or dry by picking a period where certain small unrealistic elements (such as helpful foxes pointing you to shrines and the wind showing you the right path to your goal because it's a metaphor for the soul of your father and stuff like that) still do historically fit with the outlook people had during those times.

Also the thing that makes you heal from mortal wounds and other injuries is not some kinda magic potion or a divine grace, it's just your resolve as a man with a duty to fulfill. How can you not love that.

That's why I used the term "Historical" because all of them take liberties with the subject matter, it just depends how much. I mean, IRL, getting a stab or a gunshot wound in the age before modern medicine would likely be a death sentence, if not the fast track towards losing a limb. Some, like AC Odyssey straddle this really weird line between being mythological and historical greece(in a way that would have been more appropriate in the Homeric era but then they wouldn't have all the famous greek landmarks) and the rest of the series has been just as likely to mix fact and fiction. RDR2 has UFOs and Vampires and robots and other such things in the open world(not acknowledged by the story) while the main story takes a lot of inspiration from Western films(a lot of details are accurate but there's a lot of fudging for gameplay purposes as well).

I've heard GoT takes as much homage from Samurai film tropes and Japanese Culture from reality(or possibly more) and I got no problem with that if it works. It is wierd how I keep comparing to Sekiro unintentionally even though they're different types of game and Sekiro leans a lot more heavily on the folklore and mythology and has history as only a nominal backdrop then anything else.

 

[Dreiko]

That's why I used the term "Historical" because all of them take liberties with the subject matter, it just depends how much. I mean, IRL, getting a stab or a gunshot wound in the age before modern medicine would likely be a death sentence, if not the fast track towards losing a limb. Some, like AC Odyssey straddle this really weird line between being mythological and historical greece(in a way that would have been more appropriate in the Homeric era but then they wouldn't have all the famous greek landmarks) and the rest of the series has been just as likely to mix fact and fiction. RDR2 has UFOs and Vampires and robots and other such things in the open world(not acknowledged by the story) while the main story takes a lot of inspiration from Western films(a lot of details are accurate but there's a lot of fudging for gameplay purposes as well).

I've heard GoT takes as much homage from Samurai film tropes and Japanese Culture from reality(or possibly more) and I got no problem with that if it works. It is wierd how I keep comparing to Sekiro unintentionally even though they're different types of game and Sekiro leans a lot more heavily on the folklore and mythology and has history as only a nominal backdrop then anything else.

There is one difficulty mode which reflects that realism because you die in any single slash in that difficulty, so if that's your cup of tea you can go for it.


And yeah the game is very much influenced by Kurosawa films, it literally has a Kurosawa filter (and calls it that by name) where the game becomes monochrome and the audio sounds like something that's coming out of an old projector cinema. But it doesn't just stop there, it's a big game so it mixes a bunch of different elements besides Kurosawa films together.

And no the comparison to Sekiro is fine because they share the same ambiance. The lore in Sekiro is dark ninja fantasy but at its roots one can imagine a world like Tsushima's that was tainted by the introduction of immortality. Hell, if someone is crazy enough they can make a game linking tsushima and sekiro in the future by showing such a transitional period. I'm sure such a game would sell a gorillion copies.

They could call it Ghost Shadows Never Die or something. Have Platinum develop it so we can have the breadth of gameplay types. Also the hero should be an onmyouji this time since we already had both ninja and samurai.

 

[SilentPony]

Fours As? Why are they being so self-limiting. Is there a reason they think their customers don't deserve five As?! Or is this an admission they don't have the technical skills for Quintuple Gaming?

 

[Chimpzy]

Fours As? Why are they being so self-limiting. Is there a reason they think their customers don't deserve five As?! Or is this an admission they don't have the technical skills for Quintuple Gaming?

The new A is for Asinine, serving as the apt descriptor for adding another A to AAA. Fyi, the other A's are Avaricious, Atrocious and Abominable.

 

[SilentPony]

The new A is for Asinine, serving as the apt descriptor for adding another A to AAA. Fyi, the other A's are Avaricious, Atrocious and Abominable.

Again it feels so self limiting. I can think of so many more A words. Abhorrent, Appalling, Awful, Amiss, Ailing, Actionable. With a little creativity we could be in 10 As territory!

 

[Chimpzy]

Again it feels so self limiting. I can think of so many more A words. Abhorrent, Appalling, Awful, Amiss, Ailing, Actionable. With a little creativity we could be in 10 As territory!

Sure they could do all the A's right now, but then they'd have blown all their A hype load in one go. Better to spread it out in many disappointing $60 splurts.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Sure they could do all the A's right now, but then they'd have blown all their A hype load in one go. Better to spread it out in many disappointing $60 splurts.

Save the sexual innuendo for AAAAAA, or SEX-tuple-A gaming. Because I can't help but feel that'll be a thing soon.

 

[Nick Calandra]

You forgot Microsoft's The Initiative studio was the first to coin the AAAA thing. It's really just a budget thing, I wouldn't read too far into it.

Technically I'd consider games like Destiny 2 AAAA considering how much money has been poured into it, honestly.

 

[Mister Mumbler]

I actually want to give Yakuza 0 a try next time I'm in the mood for this type of game. Apparently it's a lot of fun for reasons that have nothing to do with the story.

As someone whose only experience with the Yakuza series is 0 (and for a short amount of time, not because it's bad, just I get distracted easy), it actually has a lot to do with the story. Imagine that during one of any of those samey mobster movies, during the negotiations between the big crime families, it literally turns into a pro wrestling match, and Johnny "No-Nose" McClure rips off his shirt, picks up his large stuffed office chair, and hits the leader of the Vanucci Crime Syndicate in the face with it.

EDIT: OT, my bad; At this point, it's becoming a lot like 4G/5G, just dumb marketing jargon to be slapped on the next big thing to make it better than their thing. Plus what's next? AAAAA? C? D? CR2032?

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I guess the extra A comes from...The

That's why I used the term "Historical" because all of them take liberties with the subject matter, it just depends how much. I mean, IRL, getting a stab or a gunshot wound in the age before modern medicine would likely be a death sentence, if not the fast track towards losing a limb. Some, like AC Odyssey straddle this really weird line between being mythological and historical greece(in a way that would have been more appropriate in the Homeric era but then they wouldn't have all the famous greek landmarks) and the rest of the series has been just as likely to mix fact and fiction. RDR2 has UFOs and Vampires and robots and other such things in the open world(not acknowledged by the story) while the main story takes a lot of inspiration from Western films(a lot of details are accurate but there's a lot of fudging for gameplay purposes as well).

I've heard GoT takes as much homage from Samurai film tropes and Japanese Culture from reality(or possibly more) and I got no problem with that if it works. It is wierd how I keep comparing to Sekiro unintentionally even though they're different types of game and Sekiro leans a lot more heavily on the folklore and mythology and has history as only a nominal backdrop then anything else.

I remember reading that at least one of the Houser brothers (Sam IIRC) is well read. Nowhere does that seem to show more than their latest game.

Also,