I’m not sure creating a streaming monopoly is much better as an alternative. I’ve been workshoping the idea that we should have a “public option” for being able to buy and watch shows and movies so that the subscription model would need to become more competitive, but the US especially is just too private enterprise focused support that right now.
Is that Rockstar’s track record now? I remember RDR2 releasing in a pretty stable condition. Regardless, bugs or no, I think people deep into gaming usually see the most important parts as what the gameplay is shaping up to be. So that would be, how has the driving changed, is there more thought and effort put into the non-violent side-content, how intractable is the world and to what degree is the world responsive? Stuff like that. The folks I usually listen to are mostly on that track since graphics are generally irrelevant now and the story is… Gonna be a Rockstar story, and won’t be anywhere near GTA IV, so it’s not that exciting.
It sucks, but GTA is one of our last tentpole entertainment products. I understand people being a little excited to participate, and that also means the corps milking it for every last cent. The Netflix thing makes sense in the same way superbowl commercials make sense. And it does look like this is supposed to be the big gameplay showcase, so wanting to tune in as a gaming insider also tracks. It is what it is.
People are simplifying it a bit too much. Take Two is calling it an extended look at the game. Knowing Rockstar, it’ll preview a lot of the story and show off the gameplay adjustments/additions from the last release. Some agreement happened between Take Two and Netflix, understanding that this release was going to draw a lot of attention, so they worked out this timed exclusivity thing.