Support NeoGAF

[Heisenberg007]

PLAYER 3 HAS ENTERED!

You're about to introduce a new high-end gaming console to the market. Pick your A-team based on the following. Apart from personnel, you can also pick 3 studios and 2 established IPs to start things.

Rule: Only one pick per row is allowed.

Note: Studios and IPs should be picked based on their current state or future potential, not former glory or missteps.

As some of these logos may not be visible, here is a text version of the above image. I'm highlighting the ones that I think might be difficult to identify:

• CEO = Phil Spencer | Jim Ryan | Peter Moore | Reggie Fils-Aimé | Don Mattrick
• Head of Game Studios = Hermen Hulst | Matt Booty | Pete Hines | Shuhei Yoshida | Phil Spencer
• One Studio Head to Pick = Cory Barlog | Feargus (Obsidian) | Hideo Kojima | Neil Druckmann | Todd Howard
• Studio #1 = Naughty Dog | The Coalition | Playground Games | Sony Santa Monica | Bethesda Softworks | Insomniac Games
• Studio #2 = Obsidian | Sucker Punch | Arkane Studios | Bungie | Guerrilla
• Studio #3 = HouseMarque | Team Asobi | Ninja Theory | Double Fine
• IP #1 = Elder Scrolls | Halo | The Last of Us | God of War
• IP #2 = Ghost of Tsushima | Gears of War | Forza Horizon
• Subscription Service = PS Plus | Game Pass

Note: Bethesda Software refers to the single Bethesda studio, not the publisher Bethesda.

Have fun!

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Microsoft's money, Sega's free reign. Done.

 

[three_muffins]

Microsoft's money, Sega's free reign. Done.

I second that.

 

[Guilty_AI]

A Hideo Kojima console by Hideo Kojima, starring Hideo Kojima games.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Mattrick, Spencer, Howard, High Voltage, Arkane Austin, Redfall 2, BlueAscension (Redfall reskin with Zombies).

 

[Heisenberg007]

Mattrick, Spencer, Howard, High Voltage, Arkane Austin, Redfall 2, BlueAscension (Redfall reskin with Zombies).

You're straight going for those GOTYs I see

 

[GHG]

• CEO = Peter Moore
• Head of Game Studios = Shuhei Yoshida
• One Studio Head to Pick = Hideo Kojima
• Studio #1 = Sony Santa Monica
• Studio #2 = Guerrilla
• Studio #3 = HouseMarque
• IP #1 = Elder Scrolls
• IP #2 = Ghost of Tsushima
• Subscription Service = None, buy your games you bitches.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Microsoft's money, Sega's free reign. Done.

I second that.

Yes ... but pick one from each row. That's the game.

 

[Heisenberg007]

• CEO = Peter Moore
• Head of Game Studios = Shuhei Yoshida
• One Studio Head to Pick = Hideo Kojima
• Studio #1 = Sony Santa Monica
• Studio #2 = Guerrilla
• Studio #3 = HouseMarque
• IP #1 = Elder Scrolls
• IP #2 = Ghost of Tsushima
• Subscription Service = None, buy your games you bitches.

That's a good team!

Also, Jin Sakai's ass tattoo on Peter Moore!

 

[Ar¢tos]

You're straight going for those GOTYs I see

The only way to enter the market is to go for the kill!
I'm not going to be in the market lingering and then say that there is no point making games because others do it much better than I.

Redfall remaster by High Voltage will terminate the competition!

 

[Mister Wolf]

Gotta start things off right with Mattrick. Can't go wrong with that. The rest will just fall into place.

 

[mrmustard]

Not exactly what you asked for, but

Microsoft: Console + Game Pass
Sony: Marketing
Nintendo: Games

 

[Daneel Elijah]

CEO: Phil Spencer for the hype.
Head of games studios: Todd Howard. For the hype. He is not head of games studios? He is now.
MVP: HIDEO KOJIMA. For the hype.
Studio 1: Insomniac. For the productivity.
Studio 2: Bungie. The biggest of the list.
Studio 3: Team Asobi. For the moms.
IP 1: TLOU. For the HBO hype.
IP 2: Forza. The biggest of the list.
Gamepass. You can't beat the best deal in gaming

 

[Heisenberg007]

CEO: Phil Spencer for the hype.
Head of games studios: Todd Howard. For the hype. He is not head of games studios? He is now.
MVP: HIDEO KOJIMA. For the hype.
Studio 1: Insomniac. For the productivity.
Studio 2: Bungie. The biggest of the list.
Studio 3: Team Asobi. For the moms.
IP 1: TLOU. For the HBO hype.
IP 2: Forza. The biggest of the list.
Gamepass. You can't beat the best deal in gaming

Hype Box Series Hyped

 

[Heisenberg007]

Gotta start things off right with Mattrick. Can't go wrong with that. The rest will just fall into place.

Don Mattrick has my heart!

 

[TrueLegend]

Spencer
Yoshida
Kojima
Santa Monica
Guerrilla
Housemarque
God of War
Ghost of Tsushima
Gamepass

 

[AJUMP23]

• CEO = Howard Lincoln
• Head of Game Studios = Miyamoto
• One Studio Head to Pick = Jeff Spangenberg
• Studio #1 = Nintendo
• Studio #2 = Bethesda
• Studio #3 = Origin
• IP #1 = Launch with Mario
• IP #2 = Zelda 6 months Later
• Subscription Service = Game pass that includes entire First Party and all console games made prior to 2000. Call it Past and Present Pass.

 

[PendekarRajawali]

Microsoft's money, Sega's free reign. Done.

Microsoft’s money, Nintendo’s games, high end PC exclusive.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

A Hideo Kojima console by Hideo Kojima, starring Hideo Kojima games.

Imagine the controller

 

[Fuz]

This is all the kinds of facepalms to me.

 

[Topher]

I'd pick one guy and everything else would just fall into place.....

 

[Heisenberg007]

Spencer
Yoshida
Kojima
Santa Monica
Guerrilla
Housemarque
God of War
Ghost of Tsushima
Gamepass

This is a very PlayStation-heavy lineup, but with Spencer on the helm?

I'm curious why you picked Spencer if the rest is 90% PlayStation, which wasn't built under Phil Spencer?

 

[gooner4life_uk]

Phil Spencer at the helm when all he's done is ruin Microsoft Game Studios and Xbox.

 

[gooner4life_uk]

Lead Architect: Mark Cerny
CEO = Kaz Hirai
Head of Game Studios: Shuhei Yoshida
Studio Head: Ted Price
Studio 1: Naughty Dog
Studio 2: Santa Monica
Studio 3: Insomniac Games
IP1: God of War
IP2: Forza Horizon
Service: PlayStation+

 

[SHA]

Put Peter Moore on anything and magic happens, don't care about the rest, yeah I have preferences, like kz from gg and Halo from Bungie.

 

[HTK]

• CEO = Phil Spencer | Jim Ryan | Peter Moore | Reggie Fils-Aimé | Don Mattrick
• Head of Game Studios = Hermen Hulst | Matt Booty | Pete Hines | Shuhei Yoshida | Phil Spencer
• One Studio Head to Pick = Cory Barlog | Feargus (Obsidian) | Hideo Kojima | Neil Druckmann | Todd Howard
• Studio #1 = Naughty Dog | The Coalition | Playground Games | Sony Santa Monica | Bethesda Softworks | Insomniac Games
• Studio #2 = Obsidian | Sucker Punch | Arkane Studios | Bungie | Guerrilla
• Studio #3 = HouseMarque | Team Asobi | Ninja Theory | Double Fine
• IP #1 = Elder Scrolls | Halo | The Last of Us | God of War
• IP #2 = Ghost of Tsushima | Gears of War | Forza Horizon
• Subscription Service = PS Plus | Game Pass

CEO - I think Jim Ryan has a proven resume vs any of those guys.
Head of Game Studios - Shuhei Yoshida played a big role during the PS3 era to put the PS where it is today with the success of PS4 and PS5. Doesn't get a lot of credit.
One Studio Head to Pick - This was kind of hard between Cory and Neil, however Neil just has more success stories over the generations between two huge IPs: Uncharted and The Last of Us.
Studio #1 - Insomniac Games, mainly because their production and at the pace they produce high quality games.
Studios #2 - Guerrilla because of their technical prowess and their ability to adapt and create compelling IP.
Studios #3 - Ninja Theory has a longer prove record than anyone else here so this was rather easy.
IP #1 - I think Halo has more of a mindshare than most, it's just been fumbled but maybe with my SUPER TEAM, HALO would dominate again. Imagine an amazing Simple Player and Multiplayer in that universe by this team.
IP #2 - I took out Forza Horizon because its racing and Ghost of Tsushima might be too specific to an audience, I think Gears has a lot of potential if done right. Similar to Halo.
Subscription Service - Does it even matter? I'll go with Game Pass because Microsoft is all in.

 

[GHG]

This is a very PlayStation-heavy lineup, but with Spencer on the helm?

I'm curious why you picked Spencer if the rest is 90% PlayStation, which wasn't built under Phil Spencer?

To burn it all down of course.

 

[TrueLegend]

This is a very PlayStation-heavy lineup, but with Spencer on the helm?

I'm curious why you picked Spencer if the rest is 90% PlayStation, which wasn't built under Phil Spencer?

CEO does practically nothing from creative side. He needs to be gracious enough to take an L. Plus it's a dream list. He didn't say it has to be performance based and ultra practical. Plus Spenser is good at shilling gamepass which I will need if I am leaving Elder Scrolls, Horizon, Bungie and Insomniac at table.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Lead Architect: Mark Cerny
CEO = Kaz Hirai
Head of Game Studios: Shuhei Yoshida
Studio Head: Ted Price
Studio 1: Naughty Dog
Studio 2: Santa Monica
Studio 3: Insomniac Games
IP1: God of War
IP2: Forza Horizon
Service: PlayStation+

Man, I love that. And honestly, I almost put Ted Price in that row, but I then removed him because I thought (1) he hasn't served as one yet, and (2) nobody would agree with me seeing him there.

I'm so glad you put his name. Man is a freakin' genius and should be in line to head PlayStation Studios soon.

 

[hyperbertha]

Why only first party studios in the options. None of them go towards my dream team.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

idk who the people are but this sounds like a fun time to imagine things. edit: also I am going to completely ignore the options.

Nintendo does another powerconsole like the GC, but with Wii style gimmicks. Perhaps additional components that act as a streaming device from the console via wifi, a switch like controller.

Studios: Early 2000's Insomniac, Modern From software, and (time travel) 2000's era Blizzard.

IP1: Some sort of buddy adventure game a la Jak and Daxter or Rachet and Clank, but in the BOTW style. Keep the open world interesting, but have a full adventure games worth of "legacy dungeons" of levels. Perhaps a dark cloud style construction component but with good characters (like an expanded tarrytown?) idk im just making shit up

IP2: Mecha RTS with combined From and Blizzard writing, with the ability to take command of hero units and play in battles like a Mech game. Could be liek ZoE2 or Armored Core, idk really. Mecha Space Opera with From style lore and Metzen era Blizzard drama.

I had fun writing those ip things.

 

[The Stig]

no love for sid meier?

 

[AV]

I'd help consumers out by immediately shutting down production. We don't need more hardware.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Why only first party studios in the options. None of them go towards my dream team.

Wanted to put limitations so people only have a few options to pick from. The hypothetical idea is that the 3rd company is coming out of these 2 companies.

 

[Fafalada]

Have fun!

Are the individual names all we get to choose from? Studio selection I get (being a selection of what 2 companies have together) but individual names seem to be all over the place, Kojima is not affiliated with either company, why's he an option but not say - Jason Rubin?

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

no love for sid meier?

Sid Meier gets to make a sequel to Alpha Centauri where it is a 4x in a galaxy containing multiple planetary anomalies like in Alpha Centauri. Maybe like some of the "mysteries" in solaris but the mysteries and anomalies are a bigger part of the gameplay? It becomes part 4x grand strat and part mystery game?

 

[The Stig]

Sid Meier gets to make a sequel to Alpha Centauri where it is a 4x in a galaxy containing multiple planetary anomalies like in Alpha Centauri. Maybe like some of the "mysteries" in solaris but the mysteries and anomalies are a bigger part of the gameplay? It becomes part 4x grand strat and part mystery game?

oh god ive wanted a sequel to that game for so long.

 

[BouncyFrag]

I want all the worse choices just to see what happens.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Are the individual names all we get to choose from? Studio selection I get (being a selection of what 2 companies have together) but individual names seem to be all over the place, Kojima is not affiliated with either company, why's he an option but not say - Jason Rubin?

That was more of a judgment call. There were not many true MVPs on either side. So I picked 2 from each team and then added Kojima, as he has that legendary status and is currently working on exclusive titles for both companies.

 

[TLZ]

I'd pick one guy and everything else would just fall into place.....

 

[Tarin02543]

A Hideo Kojima console by Hideo Kojima, starring Hideo Kojima games.

Who wrote the story on those games?

 

[Tarin02543]

I want all the worse choices just to see what happens

Mikael Ljungman as CEO and Yuji Naka as creative director

 

[Skifi28]

I want all the worse choices just to see what happens.

 

[SyberWolf]

• CEO = Reggie Fils-Aimé
• Head of Game Studios = Shuhei Yoshida
• One Studio Head to Pick = Hideo Kojima
• Studio #1 = Insomniac Games
• Studio #2 = Guerrilla
• Studio #3 = Ninja Theory
• IP #1 = God of War
• IP #2 = Forza Horizon
• Subscription Service = Game Pass

 

[Guilty_AI]

Who wrote the story on those games?

Tomokazu Fukushima

 

[bender]

Phil Spencer mentored by Don Mattrick
Matt Booty
Todd Howard
Bethesda Softworks
Arkaine Studios
Ninja Theory
Halo
Gears of War
Game Pass

What could possibly go wrong?

 

[KaiserBecks]

This is a game I don’t want to play, because it makes me sad looking at the current state of things.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Phil Spencer mentored by Don Mattrick
Matt Booty
Todd Howard
Bethesda Softworks
Arkaine Studios
Ninja Theory
Halo
Gears of War
Game Pass

What could possibly go wrong?

Don't hoard all the GOTY awards. Leave some for others, damn it!

 

[DragoonWalker]

Sorry to tell you, but dream teams tend not to work out because everyone thinks they're a superstar. You need people who work well together, and sometimes people who don't seem to be that great thrive under great leadership, or working with like minded subordinates with brings out the best in leaders. Don't wanna be a "no fun allowed" guy, so for the sake of this exercise my dream team up is to see Kojima collaborate on a game with Naughty Dog.

 

[VeronicaMaeKawa]

DIY a company like how you DIY a PC

How about someone do a DIY a game post too