Early Access Games

The reviews in Zzap64! were great and pretty much spot on, Everything since then has been downhill.

I still do not get it or understand the mindset of wanting to play something unfinished. Its like going to the movies and watching the first 10 mins, misses the middle, and 3 just before the ending really starts, then the credits come up saying Thanks comeback in 4 months for the finished film.

It is just weird and quirk of being an ultra nerd.

A counter analogy to the movie analogy, would be watching Game of Thrones...until all the seasons are out , it is unfinished, yet nobody waits until next seasons finale before watching them all :)
 
But you never know if their is going to be another season. Until halfway through the the current season (maybe).

And yes i am one of the people who only watch GOT when a season is fully aired so i can watch it over the space of week complaining of being tired as "just one more" takes it past 0030 hrs on a work night :)
 
But you never know if their is going to be another season. Until halfway through the the current season (maybe).

And yes i am one of the people who only watch GOT when a season is fully aired so i can watch it over the space of week complaining of being tired as "just one more" takes it past 0030 hrs on a work night :)

But you don't wait until the whole series is finished before watching from season 1. Just watching 1 season at a time in bulk, could well be compared to playing just a part of a game in early access :D
 
But you don't wait until the whole series is finished before watching from season 1. Just watching 1 season at a time in bulk, could well be compared to playing just a part of a game in early access :D

That's more like episodic content than an early access game. Early access games are rarely polished and full of issues, if a tv show was released like that people wouldn't watch past the first couple of episodes/seasons.

As for playing early access, nope, won't pay for it. Time is limited and I won't waste it or my money on buggy games.
 
That's more like episodic content than an early access game. Early access games are rarely polished and full of issues, if a tv show was released like that people wouldn't watch past the first couple of episodes/seasons.

As for playing early access, nope, won't pay for it. Time is limited and I won't waste it or my money on buggy games.

I can think of a few shows which started out pretty damn awful but ended up great, can think of a few where people have said the first few episodes are pretty dire but if you persevere with it its great. But like I say, the thing with analogy is there is always one somewhere which can be used to back up any viewpoint.

At the end of the day, early access is all personal preference, the games I listed in my earlier post that I bought in early access were absolutely amazing. Then again, they would have been absolutely amazing if I had waited til release to buy them too, so all much of a muchness, but hell, its not like I have to penny pinch in life or have anything else to spend my money on , so why not :)
 
The only Early Access game I have taken a chance with (If you don't count the raft of "blatantly not ready for release but we being pressured to get it out anyway" games we've suffered with over the last 10 years or so ;) :p) was recently when I bought Flying Circus - Volume I but I knew it comes from a great pedigree with proven development commitment from specialists in the field, it's niche and plays to a community that really takes no prisoners if a product is not up to spec so I feel relatively safe with my investment. Plus now I get all the feeling of the specialness of Rise of Flight with added VR :D, just need to get a big fan going in front of me to have the full open cockpit experience ;)
 
Waiting until release isn't much different from Early access anyway - so much can change.

I don't release day buy often, but bought the Gauntlet remake when it came out and enjoyed it quite a lot. They've made a lot of updates since, though, and now I just don't really dig it.
 
I can think of a few shows which started out pretty damn awful but ended up great, can think of a few where people have said the first few episodes are pretty dire but if you persevere with it its great. But like I say, the thing with analogy is there is always one somewhere which can be used to back up any viewpoint.


Your mistaking bad story that takes a while to get in to as being the same as bugs. If the show stopped halfway through, was filmed on the wonk, actors forgetting lines or none of the special effects had been added then a TV show can be compared to an early access game. Yes, you can twist it to fit any viewpoint, that doesn't mean it works as an analogy.
 
Your mistaking bad story that takes a while to get in to as being the same as bugs. If the show stopped halfway through, was filmed on the wonk, actors forgetting lines or none of the special effects had been added then a TV show can be compared to an early access game. Yes, you can twist it to fit any viewpoint, that doesn't mean it works as an analogy.

Semantics really though, I can take apart virtually any analogy offered on any subject if I get very precise about the analogy on offer. Though the whole question of analogies and their value is now rather swamping the original topic of early access titles. Simple fact is that some people don't mind early access titles and others view them as the spawn of the devil and anyone who buys into them as a fool who is undermining the entire industry. Its really all just down to personal choice in the end, I've played some dross in early access and I've also played some truly amazing games in early access, I feel no pain or regret for buying into them.
 
I haven't bought a pre-release game since I bought DayZ standalone. And won't buy one again. That's only a few weeks off three years since I bought it and it only just went Beta. It could be in beta for another three years too. Swore me off any and all early access.
 
A counter analogy to the movie analogy, would be watching Game of Thrones...until all the seasons are out , it is unfinished, yet nobody waits until next seasons finale before watching them all :)

To be fair dude that's not a great example because the series is still shot and cut, it's just not distributed. That analogy would work for a soap opera maybe, but that doesn't really lend itself to the Early Access example. Watching an episode of GOT before it's all released is more like playing a game before it's DLC is released. Maybe
 
A counter analogy to the movie analogy, would be watching Game of Thrones...until all the seasons are out , it is unfinished, yet nobody waits until next seasons finale before watching them all :)
no it wouldn't.
no one is paying £30-50 to watch game of thrones that would be more like paying for EA's origin access and receiving a bunch of early access games as part of that subscription that only get finished if they are popular enough.
 
Some early access are alright, lost count of how many hours I've put into playing squad, escape from tarkov and pubg. These were brought to early access as an already playable game with an actual point to them.

On the other hand, stuff like star citizen bugs the poo out of me. Hard selling something that for a long time wasn't even playable. Nuff said on that one.

Games have come a long way since yesteryear and I can understand the need for testing when its online but some of the recent so called early access games are a joke. Guess it's just the evolution of gaming.

There's a lot more developers on the go now than 20 years ago, budgets are totally different and they need to raise capitol somehow. At least the majority stick to their guns and make a product within budget and time frame, to some extent. Unlike Mr Roberts who's kicked the arse right out it and out of the park...

I do feel like it's now being taken advantage of on pc though, it's not like console players go to the shop and buy an early access game.
 
I used to feel the same as many of you about early access, but there are loads of diamonds in the rough. Yes you could wait 3-4 years for them to release, but imo one of the great things about early access is being able to play a game as its developed and even contribute your own ideas to the devs. Many devs will have a forum where they will post updates and take feedback from the community. Also many of these awesome games exist because of the early access platform and have evolved into amazing games with help from the community.

One good examle of an amazing early access game is 7 days to die. I bought it during Alpha 14 and every update they make to the game adds a ton of new content. It was in a fully playable state in A14, so every content update they make is basically like getting free dlc. The new content, along with changes to the game mechanics etc refresh the game and make it feel like you're playing a new game. All this for £7 is unbelievable good value imo. If i'd have waited for it to release, i'd probably have gotten bored after 100 or so hours, but i'm already at 500 hours and it's now my most played game on steam.

I do feel like it's now being taken advantage of on pc though, it's not like console players go to the shop and buy an early access game.

Console does actually have early access as well, but it's called something else. Many of the games start off on steam and then console players want the game as well so they bring it to console. 7 days to die is on console, but because it was telltale that published it on console its unsure if the game will be continued to be supported.
 
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