Mom, I Can’t Pause #22: I Promise I’m Still Doing These!
Hey there, avid readers. Before I get into the games stuff, I do wanna take a moment and legitimately apologize for not writing for a few weeks. As some of you may know, I started the podcast recently. While it isn’t my main focus, I will admit that it took a bit of precedence over the writing. That’s my bad, and I’ll try to do better at it. That being said, a small change going forward: These newsletters are gonna start going out on Wednesdays instead of Monday. Monday is gonna be podcast day, Wednesday is gonna be newsletter day. Sound good to y’all? Cause it does to me.
All that said, I think I need to start talking about some gaming shit. Without further ado:
What IS a State of Play, Sony?
You probably watched the latest State of Play from PlayStation this past Wednesday. You probably watched it like me, expecting announcements and updates of various sizes. There was a lot of talk going around prior to the presentation, as Sony has quite a bit of stuff to answer for in the coming months. When is God of War coming out? What about the details around the rumored Project Spartacus? What does the rest of 2022 look like, now that two of the big three Sony first party games have been released? Surely, this State of Play could answer those questions! So, did they?
Kinda? But not really?
I’m currently looking at a recap of the State of Play, and I just have persisting conflicted reactions to all this shit. A new bizarre IP from CAPCOM that involves exosuits and dinosaurs? Sure, why not. Take a chance, CAPCOM. Square Enix having four games of varying quality on the show? Bizarre choice, but anything to show more CHAOS. Various smaller reveals that range from “eh” to “oh shit, that one was cool?” I don’t know how to feel about this at all.
In all fairness to Sony, the State of Play format is only two and a half years old at this point. There have been decidedly worse presentations put on under this format, and there are always growing pains when it comes to doing new things. That being said, we can’t act like State of Play as it currently exists is the best move for Sony. Maybe our responses wouldn’t be so tepid or muted if Sony communicated with their fans more often.
Sony tends to hold their cards close to their chest. That could be to their benefit or in some cases, their detriment. Because Sony has such a stellar first-party lineup, people are always expecting some sort of big surprise from their presentations. To be fair, the upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive lineup is going to do extremely well for Sony. Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine will continue to show why Insomniac is probably their best studio. Naughty Dog is allegedly remaking The Last of Us while still working on its multiplayer Factions game. God of War Ragnarok is going to continue the story of one of the best games from the last generation. Sony is going to be fine with these, other first-party games they haven’t revealed yet, and further third-party games that people will love playing on PS5. Oh, and also Project Spartacus.
State of Play is a fascinating experiment as it currently stands. Not every game can be a certified banger, and it is patently unwise and unfair to expect that. You can’t have a presentation of all small-to-medium-sized games, either! There has to be some sort of hook to make the whole thing worth it. I hope that Sony learns this lesson when it comes to future State of Play presentations, but I kinda doubt it. Weirdly enough, Sony would have another presentation just one week later to show off a certain heavily anticipated game.
Hogwarts Legacy Is Poisoned
Hogwarts Legacy is the game that many fans of the Wizarding World have seemingly wanted for many years. You get to explore Hogwarts without interfering in any of the canon of the books. You create your own story as a student of the wizarding school. It sounds almost too good to be true, and the jury is out on whether or not it is. Luckily, we got another State of Play just one week after the aforementioned presentation to get a good look at the game. It admittedly does look cool, and it does look like a lot of love went into the overall presentation of the game.
It’s a goddamn shame that the game is poisoned beyond belief, though.
J.K. Rowling is a TERF, or a trans-exclusionary-radical-feminist if you wanna be more technical about it. There are many debates out there as to whether or not J.K. meets the criteria of a TERF, but it is the opinion of this writer that she’s just abhorrent in her beliefs. Unfortunately, her beliefs are not just limited to her saying awful shit from time to time. As a billionaire, J.K. has used her seemingly limitless income to further her very TERF-y agenda. Unsurprising, as that’s what certain billionaires do with their money: they further their agendas, and put money towards things that bolster their beliefs. It is what it is in that regard.
As the creator of the Wizarding World, J.K. will still benefit from any and all aspects of the game. She will get a cut of money for every copy sold. She almost assuredly got paid to use the license in a game. No matter how much WB would like to deny it, J.K. has some sort of involvement with Hogwarts Legacy. By purchasing the game, you are directly supporting a person who I believe is a legitimate monster. Not trying to be dramatic when I say that, but that’s just how I feel on the matter.
All of J.K.’s bullshit has absolutely poisoned the excitement that I, and many others, have had for Hogwarts Legacy. It’s hard to be excited about something that knowingly lines the pockets of someone you vehemently disagree with. Even if you don’t care about Rowling’s politics, which is your right to do as a consumer, you can’t escape the discussion around the game. As Rowling gets louder and bolder, so will the publicity around her comments. It’s going to become extremely difficult to ignore as we approach the release of the game.
In all of this mess, do you know who I feel for the most? The goddamn developers of this game. This game has been in development for at least four years, probably longer. Clearly, the development team at Avalanche Software is treating this game with a lot of care. The developers that were shown at the State of Play spoke with such enthusiasm about the project. To know that they poured their heart and soul into something that can’t even be discussed without mentioning the disgusting views of its creator? That’s gotta crush them. It’s unfair, really.
I know that my writing in this aspect may come off as rambling a little, so allow me to end this by directing you to a brilliant piece of writing on the matter. Jessie Earl, a transgender content creator and Gamespot staff member, wrote this piece for Gamespot.com. This piece does more explaining and adds so much more context than I could ever wish to do, and we should commend her for writing this. I urge you all to read and really consider what she’s saying.
