In this episode of the Retro Rebel Podcast, we are discussing the history and current state of Franchised Sports Games. The Rebels definitely have a lot of opinions about what needs to be fixed with the current state of it all.
Retro Rebel Podcast is hosted by Amanda Fox and Stacy Bishop. Each week they take a deep dive into the gaming industry and discuss news stories, the current games they are playing as well as the topic of the week.
Do you like this episode? Wanna complain about something we got wrong? Let us know what you think by dropping a comment below or emailing us at info@templeofgeek.com. We really want to hear your opinions!
Amanda – I tried out The Long Dark and Wolfenstein: Youngblood live on my twitch stream this week. The Long Dark was a bleak and atmospheric survival game that SOME people might like but I found tedious as I spent endless minutes just trying to get my cold meter to inch up. If you have the patience of the saint and like an illustrated art style, it might be for you. Youngblood was more my speed. A smack-em-up shooter with quick action and full of quips, it was fun to see the Blazkowicz juniors taking after their dad so much. If you don’t want to think too much and just wanna shoot some Nazis, this is the fun and cheap choice on Game Pass for you.
Stacy- I caved and paid for Playstation Now since it was on sale for 15% off, and now that I’ve seen what Xbox and Playstation have to offer, I think Xbox has a better line-up with their Game Pass. Playstation still has some excellent offerings, and I tried my hand at a few of them. If you haven’t had a chance, Dead Cells and Hollow Knight are both available on Playstation Now. I had difficulty streaming them, but I downloaded both and they are great fun. Both side-scrolling platforming action games with surprisingly simple gameplay that quickly ups the difficulty. Playstation Now also has Control as well. With Control still commanding a $60 price tag, the cost of the service alone would make subscribing cost-effective if you were still looking to take a crack at it.
Gaming News
Fortnite now two games – As the fight between Epic Games and Apple rages on, the new season drop means that iOS players will not have access to the new edition. They’re essentially locked out of the new season, which is bound to cause outrage. They’ll also be losing cross-play too. It’s gonna kick-off.
The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey to Batuu – Drink that blue milk, roll with BB-8 and be your best Jedi self in this new expansion to the Sims 4 universe. Dropping this month (8 September 2020), you’ll have exposure to new locations and factions for $19.99. Now it just needs to come back on Game Pass so we can play it.
Fifa 20 on sale for less than 5 bucks – Loads of PS4 titles are on sale at massive discounts including Last of Us 2, Spiderman, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare. It won’t last long, so if you’re keen to pick up some of these titles, check out the full list here.
Main Topic: Franchised sports games need a facelift
Amanda- For me, there are a few things that need fixing. The endless microtransactions for one. I feel like generally sports fans always get screwed over… merch is way too expensive, viewing on cable is a nightmare, and season tickets are unreasonable. Sports games like Fifa churn out basically the same content year after year, yet to unlock the new jerseys or whatnot, you have to pay all over again. Every time. It just seems wrong somehow. If anything, I think sports games would be better served by a WoW style model, where expansion packs are included and content gets updated every year as standard.
Stacy- Franchised sports games have a long history with video games, and the early years weren’t so bad. Nowadays it’s as commercial, manipulative, and disingenuous as it can be. The players are nickel and dimed and sometimes even charged full-price to the point of absurdity, and for little more than roster updates and reskins. The model needs to change, and we give a few solutions to the problem!
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This episode was edited by Monica Duarte
Amanda Fox
Amanda cut her teeth on her dads old Tandy before graduating to SNES and beyond. An accomplished guild leader in multiple titles and sucker for console RPGs; Amanda spends most of her free time with a bit of tech in her hands. With a life philosophy derived from a Spock quote and more passport stamps then shoes; she is a well-traveled nerd with the urge to pontificate.