It feels like there isn't a better time than now for a service to come out that is similar to Origin Access but with tons of indie games for that Netflix like experience. You know you want to play...
It feels like there isn't a better time than now for a service to come out that is similar to Origin Access but with tons of indie games for that Netflix like experience.
You know you want to play games but can't decide what to play, so the service creates the different genres like Netflix and based on your gaming habits, suggests games that you may like to play. You are not going to get games on your service from the big publishers who have their own client and storefront but the indie devs who want to get their games in front of eyeballs may want to give it a try.
Of course price will be the biggest factor on if people subscribe and indie devs will need to weigh whether they will make more by releasing for an outright price and hoping to make it big or to put their game in this catalog. I don't know how the mechanics of.netflix pricing work but it would be interesting if you could get it into the $10 subscription price point and add the option to give money directly to the devs as a tip.
Honestly, I can seriously only see Humble Bundle going that route since they already have the Trove and try to put big games out each month. They just need to keep expanding their available library and release a client.
I haven't tried it and have no idea how well it works, but that's basically what Jump is trying to do: https://playonjump.com/ Discord is also going into this a bit, by adding a selection of games...
I haven't tried it and have no idea how well it works, but that's basically what Jump is trying to do: https://playonjump.com/
I find Netflix makes it really difficult for me to discover new content. I hate the matching system they have, just because I like star trek doesn't mean I like every shitty sci-fi z-movie. I only...
I find Netflix makes it really difficult for me to discover new content. I hate the matching system they have, just because I like star trek doesn't mean I like every shitty sci-fi z-movie. I only watch stuff on Netflix that either I know I like or that comes highly recommended from an external source.
I feel you on that regard. The machine learning on Netflix doesn't seem to un-learn things you don't continue watching and that 5 minute Shrek musical you started up for laughs now decides that...
I feel you on that regard. The machine learning on Netflix doesn't seem to un-learn things you don't continue watching and that 5 minute Shrek musical you started up for laughs now decides that you want musicals suggested to you in every genre.
However, I feel that there isn't any means of suggesting games for you to play through learning what you like or making suggestions through your library. I have 700+ games on Steam alone and have a hard time deciding what I want to play because there is so much genre overlap and a huge cognitive load to figure out what to play.
I feel that at one point, Netflix was actually decent at suggesting content for me 6 or so years ago. I think Steam has the data available to make good suggestions based on play habits, reviews, wishlist content, discovery queue actions, etc. They just haven't appeared to synthesize it outside of the storefront and integrate it into the games library.
Of course, they have no incentive to do so. If I get an itch to try a new game in my library, Valve would much rather try to sell me a game than suggest one I already own.
6 years ago Netflix was using the star rating system, it wasn't perfect but if you honestly rated your content it gave pretty good results. Then they moved to the "like"/"dislike" system and now...
6 years ago Netflix was using the star rating system, it wasn't perfect but if you honestly rated your content it gave pretty good results. Then they moved to the "like"/"dislike" system and now can't know if I dislike watching people kick puppies more than I dislike broccoli. I'm pretty sure the % match system is completely arbitrary because content providers were getting pissy about their shit content not being consumed because it was rated poorly.
And instead of increasing quality of content, take the easy road and game the system to force current/lazy content down the consumers' throats. I'm increasingly encountering this on many different...
And instead of increasing quality of content, take the easy road and game the system to force current/lazy content down the consumers' throats.
I'm increasingly encountering this on many different platforms, where I'm bombarded with recommendations that hold no interest for me. It has become advertising without using that label it feels.
I think Sony is in a good position for this with PS NOW. If they could do that with indie games, and really encourage the indie market they would have something pretty amazing. Especially...
I think Sony is in a good position for this with PS NOW. If they could do that with indie games, and really encourage the indie market they would have something pretty amazing. Especially considering you wouldn't even have to wait to download the games. They would just stream.
I disagree with this basic premise. Indie games aren't being squashed because there's too many games, they're being squashed because games have become too easy to make. That may sound like the...
I disagree with this basic premise. Indie games aren't being squashed because there's too many games, they're being squashed because games have become too easy to make. That may sound like the same thing, but the core issue is that far more bad or sloppy games get released now, and a lot of them are from small studios. Not that large studios don't also have this happening (as much as I love Conan: Exiles, the player experience outside of game mechanics is a mess), but smaller studios are more likely to use budget tools, and have less experienced devs.
It feels like there isn't a better time than now for a service to come out that is similar to Origin Access but with tons of indie games for that Netflix like experience.
You know you want to play games but can't decide what to play, so the service creates the different genres like Netflix and based on your gaming habits, suggests games that you may like to play. You are not going to get games on your service from the big publishers who have their own client and storefront but the indie devs who want to get their games in front of eyeballs may want to give it a try.
Of course price will be the biggest factor on if people subscribe and indie devs will need to weigh whether they will make more by releasing for an outright price and hoping to make it big or to put their game in this catalog. I don't know how the mechanics of.netflix pricing work but it would be interesting if you could get it into the $10 subscription price point and add the option to give money directly to the devs as a tip.
Honestly, I can seriously only see Humble Bundle going that route since they already have the Trove and try to put big games out each month. They just need to keep expanding their available library and release a client.
I haven't tried it and have no idea how well it works, but that's basically what Jump is trying to do: https://playonjump.com/
Discord is also going into this a bit, by adding a selection of games you have access to as long as you're paying for their premium "Discord Nitro" subscription: https://blog.discordapp.com/the-discord-store-beta-9a35596fdd4
Utomik is another contender. I haven't used it so I cannot vouch for it, I just figured I would add it to the list.
I find Netflix makes it really difficult for me to discover new content. I hate the matching system they have, just because I like star trek doesn't mean I like every shitty sci-fi z-movie. I only watch stuff on Netflix that either I know I like or that comes highly recommended from an external source.
I feel you on that regard. The machine learning on Netflix doesn't seem to un-learn things you don't continue watching and that 5 minute Shrek musical you started up for laughs now decides that you want musicals suggested to you in every genre.
However, I feel that there isn't any means of suggesting games for you to play through learning what you like or making suggestions through your library. I have 700+ games on Steam alone and have a hard time deciding what I want to play because there is so much genre overlap and a huge cognitive load to figure out what to play.
I feel that at one point, Netflix was actually decent at suggesting content for me 6 or so years ago. I think Steam has the data available to make good suggestions based on play habits, reviews, wishlist content, discovery queue actions, etc. They just haven't appeared to synthesize it outside of the storefront and integrate it into the games library.
Of course, they have no incentive to do so. If I get an itch to try a new game in my library, Valve would much rather try to sell me a game than suggest one I already own.
6 years ago Netflix was using the star rating system, it wasn't perfect but if you honestly rated your content it gave pretty good results. Then they moved to the "like"/"dislike" system and now can't know if I dislike watching people kick puppies more than I dislike broccoli. I'm pretty sure the % match system is completely arbitrary because content providers were getting pissy about their shit content not being consumed because it was rated poorly.
And instead of increasing quality of content, take the easy road and game the system to force current/lazy content down the consumers' throats.
I'm increasingly encountering this on many different platforms, where I'm bombarded with recommendations that hold no interest for me. It has become advertising without using that label it feels.
A monthly "SteamPass" would be pretty cool.
I think Sony is in a good position for this with PS NOW. If they could do that with indie games, and really encourage the indie market they would have something pretty amazing. Especially considering you wouldn't even have to wait to download the games. They would just stream.
I disagree with this basic premise. Indie games aren't being squashed because there's too many games, they're being squashed because games have become too easy to make. That may sound like the same thing, but the core issue is that far more bad or sloppy games get released now, and a lot of them are from small studios. Not that large studios don't also have this happening (as much as I love Conan: Exiles, the player experience outside of game mechanics is a mess), but smaller studios are more likely to use budget tools, and have less experienced devs.