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[Aaron D.]

wasn't walking simulator coined as a derogatory term against adventure games like this? to create a mock category of "non-games"?

Yup, started out as a dig. Then it took on a life of its own, like Jake said.

People use it as a term of endearment now, as the sub-genre has gotten a lot of respect with the help of Gone Home, Stanley Parable, Ethan Carter, Eidolon, etc.

Sometimes you just have to embrace the insanity.

For example, I've taken to calling my favorite genre Mundane Vehicle Simulators. Stuff like Euro Truck Simulator, Farming Simulator, Train Simulator, etc. The sub-genre gets little respect, but much like Walking Simulators, it's getting better thanks to some crossover appeal titles like ETS2 & FS13/15.

 

[mckmas8808]

Tell me about it. It's an amazing start for the year with this in February, Uncharted 4 in March, and Dark Souls 3 in April.

You forgot about The Witness in January!

 

[Dad]

Henry is working for the National Forest Service for the summer as a fire lookout. It isn't explicitly being a park ranger but similar. Doing a google image search for "fire lookout" gets you a good range of photos of real lookout towers and also the (rare these days) person who actually sits up in one of them all summer and does the job.

I've actually climbed up to the Devil's Head fire lookout and met this guy.

 

[Grief.exe]

The PS4 is opening 2016 STRONG!

2016 will be a strong year in general.

 

[Sum-Mischief]

Very interesting game here. It reay piqued my interest.

 

[sector4]

Perfect timing! A couple weeks before the day 3 AAA games come out.

 

[javie3d]

i want a physical copy for ps4

 

[eFKac]

i want a physical copy for ps4

Come to think about it, I'd take one with a cover designed by Olly Moss as well :-(

 

[colinp]

Is there any preorder bonuses? Exclusive big dog skins etc.

Double XP on launch weekend would be a nice little perk for picking up the Firewatch day one edition. Just saying

I hope I can preorder and get the main protagonists hat if I order from a select store.

 

[Compsiox]

Indie game of the year

 

[Katori]

The hype is real. Picking this up Day 1 on PS4.

 

[Nuke Soda]

Had no idea what Firewatch was before today, now it has peaked my interest.

 

[Melchiah]

You forgot about The Witness in January!

Witness me!

Oh, I've missed its release date announcement completely. I'm somewhat intrigued by it, but I'm not sure if it's my kind of game.

 

[Priapus10101]

The gameplay trailer was immensely good so chances are I will pick this up immediately after release. Super hyped here.

 

[J-Skee]

Come to think about it, I'd take one with a cover designed by Olly Moss as well :-(

Dammit, now I'm hopeful for a physical release down the road.

 

[iNvid02]

god damn this will be purdy at 4k. Q1 is so beefy

 

[amnesiac]

The Witness and Firewatch within a month of each other. Damn. And hopefully No Man's Sky soon after. 2016 will be phenomenal.

 

[IzzyF3]

Maybe change the name. I thought it was Amazon's smart watch.

 

[xxracerxx]

Maybe change the name. I thought it was Amazon's smart watch.

Nahh...

 

[kyser73]

Seeing this in the Sony presser at E3 was, for me, more of a highlight than the 'big three'.

Very excited for February now!!

 

[LiquidSolid]

Maybe change the name. I thought it was Amazon's smart watch.

Ah yes, Amazon, inventor of fire.

Spoiler

Another Q1 2016 game? My bank account is going to weep at the losing streak it's going to go on next year.

 

[Blizzard]

You forgot about The Witness in January!

-I- forgot about The Witness in January, or didn't know it was releasing in the first two months as well. I'll have wilderness-exploring puzzle-solving overload!

 

[Jintor]

But what is firewatch

 

[labx]

Just one left. NMS. I think Sean Murray should look for "soon" in the dictionary. E3 hype and all, saying "Release date soon" all hot headed wasn't very clever.

 

[Sabercrusader]

Do we know anything about pricing? I'm interested in the game, but depending on the price (I'm a poor college student) I may wait for a Plus discount.

 

[rexor0717]

Even if this wasn't a Thumbs related game, I'd be really excited to play this. Day one perch for sure.

 

[TetraGenesis]

So that's Firewatch, Mirror's Edge, Deus Ex and Digimon in February. ARGH

lol wut

Do we know anything about pricing? I'm interested in the game, but depending on the price (I'm a poor college student) I may wait for a Plus discount.

Willing to bet there will be a Plus preorder discount. That's something.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Day 1.

 

[dadjumper]

 

[PhantomVash808]

Man the PS4 is stacked with games next year. Spring>Fall

 

[Tatsumi Oga]

Here i thought the game was coming for Xbox One as well. What is with these games like Vanishing of Ethan Carter, SOMA and now this one as well and many more simply not coming to Xbox One?

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Here i thought the game was coming for Xbox One as well. What is with these games like Vanishing of Ethan Carter, SOMA and now this one as well and many more simply not coming to Xbox One?

Many indie-developers doesn't have the money to develop mutliplatform, so they develop for PC and PS4 because they have the biggest market share.

But Microsoft has also a policy, that you cannot release a game on Xbox One, if it was on other consoles before. You can only do that, if they have exclusive content on Xbox One.

I am not 100 % sure if I got this right though.

 

[Hanmik]

This game... and Day of the Tentacle.. are my most wanted games on my PS4.

I was so surprised when I saw the footage at E3.. this game just screams my name.

 

[mckmas8808]

Many indie-developers doesn't have the money to develop mutliplatform, so they develop for PC and PS4 because they have the biggest market share.

But Microsoft has also a policy, that you cannot release a game on Xbox One, if it was on other consoles before. You can only do that, if they have exclusive content on Xbox One.

I am not 100 % sure if I got this right though.

MS will have to get rid of that policy next year. It's hurting them.

 

[Melchiah]

MS will have to get rid of that policy next year. It's hurting them.

I guess the idea is to keep the clause in place, so if they get enough market share they can dictate the rules, like last gen.

 

[Lingitiz]

Here i thought the game was coming for Xbox One as well. What is with these games like Vanishing of Ethan Carter, SOMA and now this one as well and many more simply not coming to Xbox One?

Most indie games are made for PC primarily and it's no small task to port a game to consoles. It costs a lot of money for a small team and takes people away from building the next game. Ethan Carter took nearly a year to get on PS4 after the PC release. Sony has their third party production team helping out devs on porting and they generally seem to have an easier process for getting on their platform.

It seems like a matter of logistics and resources.

 

[IAmRandom31]

looks ace

early 2016 is beyond ridiculous

 

[Dicktatorship]

The Witness and Firewatch within a month of each other. Damn. And hopefully No Man's Sky soon after. 2016 will be phenomenal.

No Man's Sky got delayed to 2018, didn't you hear?

 

[guybrushfreeman]

Can't wait. The game is looking beautiful every time they show it. Hoping for greatness.

 

[Sevenfold]

Can't wait!

 

[Jake]

Most indie games are made for PC primarily and it's no small task to port a game to consoles. It costs a lot of money for a small team and takes people away from building the next game. Ethan Carter took nearly a year to get on PS4 after the PC release. Sony has their third party production team helping out devs on porting and they generally seem to have an easier process for getting on their platform.

It seems like a matter of logistics and resources.

That's true for us with Firewatch. Not the "takes a year" part -- we have been developing concurrently for PC platforms (Win/Mac/Linux) and PS4 for a while now, but it is a lot of work, and we don't have the programmer resources to keep another console plate spinning at the same time. Sony has also been great. Not just for marketing things like I ncluding us in the E3 keynote, but for generally being helpful with smoothing out logistics involved in getting dev kits, getting in the Unity PS4 beta program and dev channels, and other production assistance. If we were a bigger team a ubiquitous launch may have been a no brainier, but for a team our size I think we have struck as good a balance as we could, launching on three OSs and one console.

 

[Grief.exe]

Indie game of the year

Off the top of my head
Below
Cuphead
Ashen
No Mans Sky
Fire watch
And whatever random indie release that comes out of no where and blows our collective mind. Something like Ark or Cities Skylines in 2015 which come out of nowhere and sell millions of copies.

Every year is a strong year for indies, I'm glad Sony and Microsoft have started helping to market them so they can get more mainstream attention on GAF.

 

[5amshift]

My girlfriend told me to get this game. You know it looks amazing when that happens. This game was actually great to see revealed at E3 and wanted it almost immediately.

 

[ebullientprism]

Many indie-developers doesn't have the money to develop mutliplatform, so they develop for PC and PS4 because they have the biggest market share.

But Microsoft has also a policy, that you cannot release a game on Xbox One, if it was on other consoles before. You can only do that, if they have exclusive content on Xbox One.

I am not 100 % sure if I got this right though.

Cant developers just throw in an exclusive weapon skin/costume etc? Something that takes a few days to whip up?

Or does the exclusive content have to be more.....meaty?

 

[Blizzard]

Off the top of my head
Below
Cuphead
Ashen
No Mans Sky
Fire watch
And whatever random indie release that comes out of no where and blows our collective mind. Something like Ark or Cities Skylines in 2015 which come out of nowhere and sell millions of copies.

Every year is a strong year for indies, I'm glad Sony and Microsoft have started helping to market them so they can get more mainstream attention on GAF.

No Man's Sky and Firewatch are the only ones I'm interested in of that list, and I don't know if No Man's Sky is actually coming out next year. I'm also trying to temper my expectations for that game.

The Witness is also early next year though, so that's at least 3 indie games next year I know of.

 

[SuperDowns]

Do you still not know any gameplay info about this one? I love the atmosphere, mood of the game but would just like to know if it is a survival or adventure or whatever game.

 

[mysocksarepink]

I just got a job as a fire watchman so... Bring it on!



edit: not a fire lookout like portrayed in the game. Fire watch in NYC

 

[benny_a]

Do you still not know any gameplay info about this one? I love the atmosphere, mood of the game but would just like to know if it is a survival or adventure or whatever game.

17 minutes of gameplay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5lyHZIzW8A

 

[fastmower]

I've actually climbed up to the Devil's Head fire lookout and met this guy.

I love Devils Head. Quite a beautiful hike!

 

[OldRoutes]

Do you still not know any gameplay info about this one? I love the atmosphere, mood of the game but would just like to know if it is a survival or adventure or whatever game.

It's both ; there's a survival mode, I think, but the game has a storyline that supposedly branches out into horror or suspense. At least from the gameplay video released so far.