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Nintendo Introduces Bayonetta Into Smash Bros.
These last characters Cloud, Corrin, and the unexpected but VERY REAL Bayonetta, put a cherry on top of a game that I think exceeded any and all expectations.
I’m not even going to lie. I’m stoked for this new update. As most of you know, last month was a Nintendo Direct that showcased the addition of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII as a new playable character in Super Smash Bros. Despite all the wonderful news that Nintendo had broadcast before that, Cloud had cast a shadow on everything from the first moment everybody jumped aboard the hype train to Smashville. Astonished, we witnessed an event that used to only exist in fanfics and mods begin to unfold before us.
Then in the last moments of the broadcast they said they had even more news for the 15th of December.
People waited on baited breath. How could it get bigger than Cloud? Earlier in the year Nintendo set up a poll asking the fans for who they wanted to see in Smash next. It must have been Cloud. It couldn’t be anyone else. How much more could Sakurai give us?
Fast forward to the 15th. There’s all kinds of speculation from all corners of the internet. Considering how much Nintendo has embraced Shovel Knight it was obvious who was next. Then again, Microsoft said it wouldn’t be against the idea of lending Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie to the game. Every other DLC update was data mined and leaked information on who the next characters would be. However, Nintendo shifted gears and did something right this time. There were no leaks even from the data miners and with nothing to work on, we all waited.
What greeted us was much more than any of us expected.
The Nintendo Direct opens with a cast of characters many of us are unfamiliar with. Though the characters couldn’t be immediately placed, the style felt familiar. The high quality of the animation started to ring a bell and the realization crept in. The tone, the voice acting, the visual style; all of it just screamed it was another Fire Emblem character.
Corrin is something that anyone not in Japan wouldn’t have immediately have recognized. He hails from the new Fire Emblem Fates which has yet to drop in any other territory. But for being another FE character, this wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Instead of giving us another swords character, this character is as different to the cast as Robin. Boasting not only a sword, but having the fantastic ability to harness the power of a dragon grants him a respectable set of attacks. This power lets him (or her as we find out) use a lance or even change their physical form into that of a dragon. Not only did that look kind of cool but it’s a drastically different approach to what could have just been another swordsman.
Corrin has a release date of February.
The next character they showed in the list was Cloud. They had already showed him last month, but seeing him once again was still just as thrilling. What was most worrisome about the reveal trailer last month was that all his moves were going to feel forced. I was anxious that Nintendo was going to make it feel out of place; a mistake they rarely commit. Seeing him this time around dispelled any notions of this.
Cloud moved and performed with fluidity. They maintained the feel of each of his moves; it was plain to see that those were Cloud’s attacks. Yet, this was all done without diminishing the aesthetic of this being a Super Smash Bros. game. Nintendo had a very clear plan and it showed.
This could have been a cheap way to to pander to the community. Instead, they demonstrated the same artistic integrity and ingenuity they have always shown. Merging the style of a different company’s flagship character with their own brand of gameplay is something that I can’t imagine was easy to do. But leave it to Nintendo to make it look easy and above all, fun.
Cloud is already available for purchase from the eShop.
That brings us to our third character. The one that every single person was assuming was going to be Shovel Knight. Nintendo has been fervently trying to show that they’re a company that embraces the Indie scene. Shovel Knight was the icon of that acceptance. They had even given him an amiibo! At that point, even though news of the knight had not been released, we all ‘knew’.
Shovel Knight seemingly had everything people had wanted and expected from a smash character. He had a strong moveset that would’ve organically blended in with the rest of the roster. He comes from a game that pays homage to their classic, 2D platforming roots. What better way to show their appreciation for such a darling tribute?
By including Bayonetta, that’s how.
Bayonetta from the game of the same name was the last thing anyone expected to see. Nintendo does have the reputation of creating family oriented games. Everything about Bayonetta screams mature. She dresses rather risqué and the game she came from was rated M for mature. She’s a witch that summons demons and hunts angels. Still, Nintendo did what they believed will be the most fun and included her.
Earlier in the year Nintendo left it up to us, the fans, to decide on who they thought should be the next character. Some of the more popular options I saw were Shantae, Waluigi, and the previously mentioned Shovel Knight. Bayonetta trumped everything in Europe and took the number one spot. While not as high on the list, she was still able to claim a spot in the top five here in America. It certainly was a huge shock to everyone here stateside and not everyone was exactly pleased.
Love it or hate it, nobody can deny the flair she brings to the table. I have to give Sakurai kudos for all the little bits of artistic flair he gives to her model. It’s the little touches where they go the extra mile that breathes life into her. They understand the regard people have for this character and they refuse to disappoint.
Bayonetta, like Corrin, has an expected release date of Feburary.
I’ve always love watching the Nintendo Directs. Not as a Nintendo Fanboy, but as a gamer. Most companies sink thousands of dollars into creating viral marketing campaigns and flashy presentations but Nintendo still manages to hit home on a personal level. They know that, so long as they want to give people the gift of fun, they don’t need any of that. The Nintendo Directs are exactly as the name implies, direct to you and this last one dedicated to Smash was certainly Super.
Rounding out a cast of 58 characters, one of the most diverse casts of any fighter I might add, this was the perfect way to end things. These last characters put a cherry on top of a game that I think exceeded any and all expectations.
This was just my initial thoughts on the inclusion of each character, but they did show off each character’s movesets. I can’t help but want to analyze that and get extremely technical once I go over the footage a little more. So sit tight for the next article where I’ll take a more in depth look and give you more information on how each character plays.
Side Note:
Who else is super stoked for their corresponding amiibos to come out?
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5 AAA Games and Their Budgets: How much was spent, how much was made, and was it worth it
5 AAA Games and Their Budgets: How much was spent, how much was made, and was it worth it in the end.
In the videogame community, it’s impossible to have never heard of an AAA game (commonly pronounced Triple-A game), either during the marketing phase or thrown around amongst gamers. At some point in time, you’ve probably picked one up yourself. The term AAA game is commonly used by big publishers and developers simply as a marketing tactic to deem their game as “better” or “innovative,” but most of the differences between AAA games and indie games simply comes down to the budget and production team behind the scenes. While indie games or smaller developments will have much smaller budgets, AAA games can have an average development budget of around $60 million to $80 million, but many have been known to double, triple, or even quadruple that budget. Some of these games required thousands of employees ranging from programmers, developers, artists, composers, writers, and more, with even more extensive marketing campaigns as well.
However, once a game is created and released, many fans don’t consider the budget that went into creation when purchasing, but many will know whether or not it was deemed as an AAA game during its marketing campaign. The question comes in whether or not a game is truly worth being deemed an AAA game. Is it just the budget that deems whether or not a game is AAA? Is it simply just a tool used by big developers to hype their game up? Or is there something more nitty gritty about the details of development that causes a game to become an AAA game. To analyze these questions, here’s a list of 5 AAA games and their budgets–how much might have been spent creating the game, how much was made, and if fans deemed it to be worthy of that praise.
1.) Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Budget: Not concretely stated, but Odyssey was reportedly around $500 million
Earnings: Around $1 billion at release
Released in November of 2020, most players seem to have enjoyed this installment in the long-standing Assassin’s Creed franchise. Valhalla takes place in a viking-era Norway, following the main character Eivor who seeks revenge against the man who killed their parents and slaughtered their town. During the narrative, Eivor also deals with the political affairs of enemy kingdoms, prophetic visions, and the titular assassins the franchise is known for. Through Eivor, the player engages in snappy, fast-paced combat and a well-written story. According to Google, players seem to have enjoyed this installment, as 89% of Google users liked AC: Valhalla. Although the budget hasn’t been concretely stated, a similar AC project of this size, Odyssey, reportedly had a budget of around an eye-popping $500 million. While that may seem like an unreasonable budget, upon release, AC: Valhalla sold around 17 million copies at $60. Therefore, at around $1.02 billion, AC: Valhalla broke even on release, even with a potentially enormous budget. According to Ubisoft, Valhalla set a record-breaking number of sales, quickly becoming the company’s top-selling PC launch ever recorded. In this case, both the players and the company agree that this AAA game’s large budget was worth it in the end.
2.) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Budget: $100 million
Earnings: $620 million
Released in 2011, Skyrim was the fifth installment in the long-standing and well-known Elder Scrolls series. While the previous installment, Oblivion, also had an impressive revenue count of around $280 million, Skyrim more than doubles that at around $620 million. Set in a nordic inspired fantasy country called Skyrim, 200 years after the events of Oblivion, the player takes on the role as the dragonborn, a mythical human with the ability to learn shouts. The player takes on the quest to defeat Alduin, a dragon that is prophesied to end the world. With an open-world and a heavy emphasis on adventure and roleplay, Skyrim follows the theme of playing the game the way you want, the same way all the installments of the Elder Scrolls series seem to play out. Although the game reportedly cost around $100 million to develop, it seems the fans believe it was worth it. According to Google, around 96% of Google users liked the game and upon release the game received critical acclaim. Years later, Skyrim still remains relevant primarily due to the thanks of modders and DLC content that remasters the game and keeps it fun years after release. Despite the impressive success and revenue, fans are still waiting for the sixth installment in the Elder Scrolls series ten years later, primarily due to the fact that Bethesda seems to be focusing on Elder Scrolls: Online in the meantime. As of right now, the only hope fans have seen for Elder Scrolls VI was a small teaser trailer released in 2018.
3.) Cyberpunk 2077
Budget: Roughly $316 million
Earnings: $563 million
Although Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was widely regarded, in the kindest terms, as a shitshow, CD Projekt Red still managed to pull in around $563 in sales revenue after spending around $316 million in budget. The largest concern around Cyberpunk 2077 was the marketing. At first, the game was marketed as an innovative, open-world RPG set in a mature and futuristic cyberpunk world, with the player’s main stomping ground Night City. However, somewhere during the development of the game, the genre was changed from RPG to action-adventure, leaving many fans scratching their heads. Upon release, the game was riddled with hilarious game-breaking bugs, the main-story campaign was ridiculously short, and the graphics and gameplay was optimized only for new-gen consoles, leaving those with older consoles playing on choppy, low-quality graphics. According to Google, however, around 71% of Google users liked the game. While that may seem like a pretty decent average when considering the launch the game had, in comparison to other averages on this list the game performed very poorly. With media and reviews also displaying player dissatisfaction, in this case the Triple-A eye-popping budget was not worth it for most. However, it can be easy to blame the developers when it comes to Cyberpunk 2077’s downfall. However, the amount of times the game’s release was delayed, along with the pandemic happening at the time, it was clear that the development team was crunching hours on a game that just simply needed more time to be developed. But that wasn’t the team’s fault, per se. The truth of the matter is that due to the budget and due to the marketing and hype surrounding the game, those at the corporate level likely pushed the game to be released when it wasn’t ready. Many gamers can vouch, though, that most would like a game to be bug-free and optimized before release, and with a well-paid, well-rested, and no-crunch studio behind it, too.
4.) Red Dead Redemption 2
Budget: $80 to $100 million, while some sources reporting as high as $300-$500 million
Earnings: Around $1 billion
The long awaited prequel and second installment to Red Dead Redemption was released in 2018 and received universal acclaim from critics and fans alike, making it an extremely well-received sequel. Although it had expectations to live up to, both as the prequel to the first game and with a budget of up to $100 million, RDR 2 seemed to live up to the hype. Set in a fictional recreation of the Old West in 1899, RDR 2 centers around the story of Arthur Morgan and the notorious Van der Linde gang. After a robbery goes wrong, the gang is thrown into turmoil and decline as they deal with lawmen, rival gangs, and… swamp zombies. With a stunning open-world and an immersive, well-crafted story, Red Dead Redemption 2 was worth both the wait and the budget, for Rockstar Games and fans alike. According to Google, 96% of Google users liked the game. For a Triple-A game, this one seemed to be worth both the marketing and budget.
5.) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Budget: $81 million
Earnings: $200 million
Are AAA games worth it in the end?
Another CD Projekt Red game for the list, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had a much better reception than Cyberpunk 2077. The Witcher series is the game franchise that threw CD Projekt Red into becoming a major league development studio. Originating as a book series written by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher franchise follows the story of Geralt of Rivia, a white-haired legendary witcher who is thrown into a story of fate, family, magic, and lots and lots of monster-fighting. Marketed as an action role-playing game, the third installment in the series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt follows the story of Geralt as he aims to protect his adopted daughter, Ciri, who is running from a mythological Wild Hunt. With dynamic environments and advanced artificial intelligence, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was a game that set the expectations for CD Projekt Red. However, this game performed much better than Cyberpunk 2077, according to Google around 95% of Google users liked The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, making its impressive budget seem worth it in the end. With the success of The Witcher 3 and the fail of Cyberpunk 2077, it calls into question the validity of marketing a game as AAA. While both had impressive budgets, one was clearly more polished and ready for release than the other, but both had the expectation of being a well-developed, well-funded game.
With this list in mind, we can see that there are some games with high budgets that tend to perform better than others. However, all are marketed as Triple-A games, leaving consumers to decide whether or not the game is worth purchasing in the end. However, with such large budgets and strategic marketing, AAA games tend to be pricier than indie games and many will even take some form of pre-ordering into account. For some games, this pre-order works out if the released, final product lives up to consumers’ expectations. However, in the case of Cyberpunk 2077, many felt duped that this AAA game was marketed to be amazing, innovative, open-world, immersive and ended up pre-ordering a game that did not live up to their expectations. With Cyberpunk, the case is more severe than other disappointing games, since some bugs upon release were entirely game-breaking. Still, as I personally had finished playing the main campaign in all of ten to twelve hours while still playing side missions and roaming around, I felt that the game’s steep price just simply wasn’t worth it.
For me, this makes the culture and hype surrounding AAA games a bit trickier. While the marketing and budget are there to back the hype up, these games tend to have a harmful environment surrounding them both with consumers and developers. While consumers may be duped into pre-ordering an expensive game that doesn’t live up to the hype, developers, artists, writers, and programmers are forced to work overtime and “crunch” to make these games presentable for release. With such steep budgets, one would think that these developers would be able to sustain a reasonable work schedule, but many are overworked, underappreciated, and underpaid. This leaves one to wonder if AAA means anything at all when labeling a game, or if it’s simply a way for big videogame corporations to market their game as “innovative” and “better,” while mistreating their development team to get there. As is commonly the case, a bigger budget does not necessarily mean a better game, as many critically acclaimed indie games such as Stardew Valley or OneShot were created with little to no budget. Therefore, it’s important to take a look at the culture and expectations surrounding AAA games. What really makes an AAA game different from the others? Is it marketing, budget, or the development team behind it? More importantly, we should analyze the culture behind AAA games to realize that, sometimes, the pressure and the hype of creating an amazing game can leave unfair expectations on the team behind the scenes, leaving many developers underappreciated and overworked. If bigger budget games means mistreating workers to the point of exhaustion, AAA games might simply just not be worth it in the end.
From the very beginning of esports, games have commonly been dominated by men on the competitive scene, a trend that has continued through time to the present day. And yet, as we see a shift for inclusivity on a global scale, the gaming community is also marching toward more inclusivity for women and marginalized genders.
But not without the help from the community.
In the recently released and increasingly popular game VALORANT, one of these community-run organizations is Galorants–something that started as a Discord server, but grew to be far more important.
Beginning as a looking-for-group Discord server spawned from the VALORANT subreddit, Galorants grew at a pace that no one could have predicted. What began as a safe space for women to support each other away from the toxicity they often face in gaming communities, the server had grown to be much more. Within the first week, the server had grown to 600 members. By the second week, 1,000. And now, a server that is less than a year old, they are close to reaching 10,000 members, a quick and massive expansion for a Discover server–all consisting of women or marginalized genders.
“We knew by the second week of creation that this server would be huge and we wanted to make sure we made a lasting impact on the female-gaming community.” – Nicci Barker, Owner of Galorants
And with this power in numbers comes the ability to support. The amazing staff behind Galorants and the owner, Nicci, have taken advantage of their growth to provide opportunities and support for women and marginalized genders within the gaming community. Whether that be providing a platform to make friends and support each other, to help women grow in esports, or by hosting women-centered esports tournaments, Galorants looks to change the game for women and marginalized genders in the VALORANT community.
To support Galorants and their endeavors, consider following them on Twitter here.
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