Is this a first? A pop song based around an as yet unreleased game?
I can’t in all honesty say I’m nuts about the song but the game…oh yeah can’t frigging wait.
Some of us get to dive in on the 1st September on early access me included and I don’t think I’ve felt this excited about anything since I first realised that girls were different to boys.I am sixty seven years old.
Starfield.
by 49 Comments
Is this game like Elite, pencil? If so I would be v interested too.
Should this be in the overcrowded Gaming section?
Well I haven’t played a second of it yet but it’s Bethesda’s first original rpg in twenty five years so anticipation in the gaming community has been reaching levels of complete insanity as the release grows ever closer. There is a complete embargo on reviews until tomorrow. Those who were given advance review keys a couple of weeks ago are under NDAs but the occasional carefully worded comment has been very positive.
If you’re referring to Elite Dangerous then apart from the milieu being the same it is not really directly comparable to either that or No Man’s Sky or Star Citizen. Bethesda make rpgs so it will contain far more character building and be a lot more quest and story driven.
I didn’t know there was a gaming section if the mods think this would be more appropriated placed there then please move it.
Yikes! I don’t understand too much about the gaming world but your enthusiasm is infectious, Pencil.
I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
NDAs! These gaming companies make movie studios and record companies seem positively lackadaisical about security.
It may be quite some time before I emerge blinking into the light. These kind of games tend towards eating up hours of one’s life. In a good way.
Although I’m not a huge fan of NDAs when misapplied in certain circumstances such as this I can fully understand them being applied. This game has been many years in development utilising the talents of a great many people not to mention the enormous cost of making it and apart from that nobody should want to reveal too much and spoil the experience for those of us who have been looking forward to this for so long.
I’ve played the first couple of hours of it. Not historically a Bethesda guy but I thought it was great. Hope you enjoy it, love the excitement ahead of a big launch like this!
Thanks Bingo. The thinking seems to be along the lines of surprisingly few bugs being encountered which for a Bethesda game must rank as a bit of a surprise as they are usually a bit of a bug fest on release. Some of the stuff being posted online has been absolutely nuts. I loved the guy in the States who leaked some footage of game play he had recorded on his phone only for it to transpire that he had stolen a number of hard copies of the game from the warehouse he was employed at and was trying to sell them online. He posted an hilariously stoned review praising the game before being arrested for possession of drugs and of course theft. It’s been totally nuts. There was a guy today complaining that it looked like landing a space vehicle on a gas giant wasn’t possible in the game only to be wildly roasted and schooled about the impossibility of landing any damn thing on a celestial body that lacks anything to land upon. If the game is half as fun as the madness that has surrounded it pre-launch it will have been well worth the wait.
Love it. The best games these days are alive to the fact that the community around the game is part of the overall experience. People genuinely live this stuff, they bring so much energy to it, it’s a total joy to be part of.
It’s been a blast and huge fun even the back and forth between some who are weirdly far too unhealthily attached to this gaming platform or that gaming platform and are seriously taking the whole thing well…far too seriously. I’m a long time gamer and due to my age I go way back to the dawn of gaming and all I want is great games for everyone who wants to enjoy them regardless of where or how they choose to do so.
Amen to that.
Wing Commander!
Captain & Tennille!
As a No Mans Sky devotee I would love to play Starfield, but as I don’t really do pc gaming and are PS not Xbox am hoping for a solution to present itself in due course. If the reviews are all that I may have to consider.. report in guys.
I’ll probably get to play it on my Great Nephew’s Steam Deck as well as my Series X so there is an alternative to Xbox Series X/S or a high spec PC. Evidently sales of Series X have seen a 1000% rise in sales in recent weeks purely driven by people wanting to experience Starfield. As I mentioned above it’s been completely nuts. I can’t remember such anticipation surrounding a game release before.
NMS received a big update a couple of days ago called Echoes which I haven’t really dug into yet. Diablo IV has been absorbing my gaming time as I await Starfield.
I would very much like to play this, but as a PS player I’m out for the moment. Thinking about seeing if I can get the Microsoft cloud streaming working on my MacBook, and if so signing up to Gamepass for a month or so to have a go, but I’m currently in the depths of another Elden Ring playthrough, which will keep me busy for a few more days, and then Baldur’s Gate 3 hits the Playstation, so….
I wouldn’t hold out much hope for a PS version.
Microsoft have massively lagged behind Sony with their first party titles to date and are counting on Starfield to make a dent in redressing that balance (hence the stoking of the tiresome platform wars noted by Pencilsqueezer above).
The chances of a PS version of the game appearing any time in the near future are remote at best.
oh I know that, hence the idea of trying the cloud streaming on the laptop.
I do find Microsoft’s approach interesting. I’d imagine Starfield has cost well north of $200 million to make, and although I’m sure many many people will be playing it, comparatively few are going to pay for it. Surely they are going to need an insane amount of extra Gamepass customers to get anywhere near breaking even? And given that game streaming services seem to have plateau’d two years ago how likely is that?
I payed for early access because I’m an impatient bugger. Gamepass is an interesting thing. It’s a remarkably good value offering and it is difficult to see how Microsoft make the figures add up. I think they know that in terms of console sales they will always lag behind Sony so offering Gamepass across Xbox and PC is a way of redressing that disparity by other means and they are staggeringly cash rich so they can afford to play a long game. Starfield has already caused a very large uptick in console sales for them and that will lead to many more Game Pass customers. I believe it’s always been that good games that people want to play has driven hardware sales and that seems to still hold true.
Further to this I don’t think that Microsoft sees the future of gaming being tied to hardware sales in the long term hence their increasing interest in cloud gaming and a future where owning a console or even a PC will become irrelevant because you will be able to stream games onto a TV without the need for a box in a cabinet under the TV. This makes sense of their acquisition of games production companies such as Bethesda and their desire to aquire Blizzard Activision. Seizing the means of production so to speak for future gain rather than seeking an immediate return on their investments. They can afford to invest in a long term strategy.
Agree with everything you’re saying here, but worth noting that Microsoft have just locked themselves out of the Activision cloud rights for the next 15 years as part of their effort to get the merger past the Competition and Markets Authority.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/22/23828302/microsoft-activision-blizzard-acquisition-ubisoft-cloud-gaming-rights-uk-cma
Bore da. Morning. Yes I was aware of this. It seems to me that with the rest of the major voices in this now in acquiescence over the takeover the CMA are looking very isolated in their stance and this latest move from Microsoft will get the deal over the line. It’s obviously something they and Activision Blizzard want to happen. Being locked out for fifteen years is probably not exactly what Microsoft would want ideally but it’s not as if they cannot afford to be patient.
Microsoft will comfortably make back their production and marketing costs, even accounting for Gamepass.
They’ll still sell a ton of units, those units are pricey and the game contains microtransactions and will have DLC to come. Would be astonished if they don’t turn a profit even before the uplift to Gamepass, console sales and whatever other synergies they can drive across their empire.
Really looking forward to playing this game but it will need to wait until end of September due to a shit-load of thesis modifications that brook no distractions – which this will most definitely be.
Make sure you have plenty of space. It’s a beefy blighter, over 101gb on Series X and more again on PC.
Is it better than Jet Set Willy?
Nah only Manic Miner is better than the future King of Ingerlund.
Chuckie Egg, shirley?
A good point well made but no.
My somwhat dusty Logitech force-feedback joystick is still here waiting for another excursion beyond the atmosphere, but I am still riding with Boozer, fighting the Freaks in Days Gone at the moment, so Starfield will have to wait for a while. Hopefully the main bugs will be sorted before I launch.
I can smell the unwashed “originals” from here.
From all accounts it’s unusually unbuggy for a Bethesda game. The build number is currently 1.7.23. A 15gb patch was released a couple of days ago pre-launch so it looks like Bethesda and Microsoft are determined that this launches in a very polished state. I’m expecting a further patch on the 6th September when the standard edition becomes available on Game Pass.
Back to the songs to advertise games.
Ad exec. “We need to sell our new sci fi fps. Who do the kids like…”
Need something to prise me away from Red Dead Redemption 2, and now that the rumoured remaster of the original game for PC looks to never be happening I might well go for this.
Will probably hang on until some of the early bugs are ironed out.
I have true to my word spent the best part of the day immersed in Starfield and despite it being a Bethesda game I have yet to encounter a single bug! Not a single solitary NPC stuck in a wall, no mysterious events such as unexpectedly finding yourself floating twenty feet off the ground. It’s all a bit disconcerning. The game mechanics are typically Bethesda but this has to be the most polished initial release from them I’ve ever played and I’ve played them all except for the hot mess Fallout 76 which I have studiously avoided. Skyfield is all a bit overwhelming at first but I’m slowly getting to grips with it and it’s a whole lot of fun. Not perfect but certainly very, very good. RDR2 great game. I still idle away the occasional hour with it. I may well begin another playthrough of it at some future point.
Might well have a look once I get to the end of my current RDR2 playthrough, definitely looks like my kind of thing
Judging by your enjoyment of RDR2 it would seem that huge, complicated open world games don’t scare you off if which case you will probably find Starfield a suitable life devouring pastime.
Just out of interest – how skilled do you have to be these days with the joystick (is it still called that?) and it’s 437 different functions?
I’ve occasionally embarrassed myself playing FIFA with teenage nephews “No! hold the right button down with your left thumb, a three finger swipe gets you an overhead kick and oh, look – it’s ten nil.”
It depends what platform you’re using really. On PC it’s a combination of mouse and keyboard, on consoles a joypad and on Steam Deck imagine a much bigger two handed joypad with a screen in the middle of it.
All games take time to master. It’s a learning curve as you become accustomed to what buttons, triggers etc do what you need to do to play the game. A lot of games allow each individual player to taylor those controls to their taste. Some games are much easier to pick up and play than others but any game with a large array of game mechanics such as Starfield it takes a little time before the controls become second nature. I’m still learning certain mechanics on this after about fifteen hours of play so far. It can’t be rushed. Practice makes if not perfect then hopefully for basic competence given time.
Blimey!
I couldn’t help but notice that this morning on my local Eel Market there were 27432 people currently seeding Starfield. That must mean that roughly 2, 456,587 people have already (illegally) downloaded it.
ps I really did give up playing computer games after Jet Set Willy, realising that it was all going to turn into a life-consuming obsession.
pps I lied. Years later I started Football Manager. True to form, a week later it was three a.m. and there I was pushing Colchester United towards promotion. Cold turkey, 12 step programme, I have been sober (well, game free) for 57,245 days. One day at a time.
I spent a whole hour watching the Bethesda promo video for this. It looks like the game Elite wishes it coulda been if the right hardware had existed then.
I might well have to get over my dislike of PC gaming for this one, I’m certainly not shelling out the best part of five hundred sovs for an xbox.
Try looking at PC Game Pass. There may be a free trial period available or at least a trial period at a low price. I use Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which gives me access to oodles of games plus cloud gaming and unlimited multiplayer access. Starfield is available from 6th September for download and play on Xbox and PC Game Pass. It would be a way you could try Starfield without it costing you a great deal. If you dig it you can always buy it later or continue with your subscription. You will need to open an account with Microsoft to do this and have sufficient free storage space as it’s a big download of over 100gbs. You will also need a pretty good PC to be able to handle it. You can easily find the minimum spec requirements on line.
Ta muchly
My PC ain’t up to scratch. Bugger. Well, enjoy!
Damn. Maybe at a future date.
I need to know what it’s like, pencil. Mrs E says she’s always at a loss for presents for me, so I’m thinking that laying a bit of groundwork early on, and Santa could be lugging an xbox down the chimney. I have been a very good boy this year…
Supplementary question: do you find that your reflexes impair your gameplay? Hope you don’t take this as rude, it’s not meant to be. I saw an article about how Silicon Valley are obsessed with selling to the young, when the older age group are the ones who generally have more disposable income and many love their tech. As a recently-graduated sixty-something I don’t find games difficult at all – but then again I avoid online play so maybe I’m just kidding myself.
So if you can drag yourself away I would appreciate your thoughts 🙂
Hi.
This week has ever since 2015 been a very difficult week for me and as it winds it’s way to the 8th I tend to withdraw into myself and self-indulgently lose myself to not very happy memories. So if I may can I get back to you about this at the start of next week? Sorry and thanks for your patience.
Peter.
Of course. Thanks 👍
Bore da MC.
Sorry for the delay while I got my thoughts into some semblance of what passes for normality for me.
Righty-ho Starfield and beyond…
I am assuming you have no previous experience of Bethesda Game Studios shtick so I won’t mention that Starfield is very typical of them. I have played for only seventeen hours to date which for a game of this size and complexity is only a very short time. I will probably be playing this for years and still never get to complete everything that’s doable in the game. This is the nature of huge sandbox games and the reason I love them.
This is decidedly NOT Elite. This is a role playing game and whilst there are shared aspects such as space combat Starfield is a far more complex affair. It’s not perfect. It’s a Bethesda product and it has all the foibles that are inherent to any Bethesda game but certainly has less than is usual upon it’s release than previous Bethesda games. No doubt it will continue to be polished with patches as time spools out.
The point here is would I recommend it and with the caveat that I have barely begun to scratch the surface yet I would give it a thumbs up. I’m still learning all the game mechanics tbh. Did I mention that this is an enormous, sprawling and complex game? I can assure you that quick reflexes are not absolutely needed or I wouldn’t be playing it. I tend to avoid games that require them as a necessity nowadays. I wish I still had them though but such is life.
I want to make it clear that I would never recommend to anyone that they should purchase any game platform on the strength of one game. I have an Xbox Series X purely because I have become locked into the Microsoft ecosystem over the decades. I have owned quite a few different platforms over the time I’ve been a gamer going right back to ZX Spectrum days. I’ve owned PlayStation and Nintendo consoles amongst others but I’ve owned an Xbox going back to it’s first incarnation so I’ve built up a library of software and much of that is backwards compatible hence “locked in”. In all honesty unless you are absolutely focused upon playing Starfield and are willing/able to sign up for Gamepass, which I find an absolute bargain because it gives me access to a host of games for a monthly subscription, I would take the time out to consider a PS5 as it’s the market leader in terms of sales and like Xbox offers the latest generation of gaming with it’s own roster of exclusive content such as God Of War and The Last Of Us along with many cross-platform titles. It doesn’t have Gamepass though.
But if it’s Starfield you want then your choices are either an Xbox Series X or Series S with the other option being a hefty investment in a gaming oriented PC. My Great Nephew told me he has tried running Starfield on his Steam Deck but it’s a bit underpowered for the task and consequently wouldn’t recommend it as the best way of playing it.
Finally I’d ignore some of the hype around the game both good and bad. Some gamers frankly need to spend more time out of their basements and get a grip! It’s just a game. A good game but as is the nature of all things, not perfect.
I hope this helps answer your questions and sorry for rambling but this is all a bit involved. If you wish I am happy for you to phone me for a chat about it if wish. PM me and we can sort that out.
Yo @Pencilsqueezer
I’m sorry, I totally missed this reply till a comment of yours on the Scouting For Beatles Red/Blue thread jogged my memory. Wasn’t blanking you intentionally 😊. Many thanks for taking the time to respond.
I’ve been a gamer for… quite a while myself, starting on the old Atari via an Intellivision and have been “locked in” to the Playstation since hammering Pro Evolution on the PS2. Speaking of Bethesda my only exposure has been “Deathloop” on the PS5. Not played it much yet though.
As such based on your comments I think I can live without Starfield now the hype has passed, although it does look right up my star system. Cheers mate.
A wise decision. I’ve sunk over a hundred hours into Starfield and finally became throughly bored with it towards the end of that time. I may return to it at a later date or I may not. It’s an oddly old fashioned experience tbh. A bit of a curates egg with some aspects of it entertaining and others infuriating, the endless bloody loading screens to name but one.
My gaming at the moment is all about Jusant and Cocoon. Two nice relaxing little games without any frustrating bits whatsoever.