AJS News- COD Black Ops 6, Escape from Tarkov Refunds, Atari buys Intellivision, Kojima Mad Max Game 

Fine! Today I'll be the timestamp guy! 0:00 - Sponsor 2:56 - Kojima Mad Max conversation 5:10 - Atari buys Intellivision and ends the oldest console war. 6:46 - Amazon Games opens a new game studio in Bucharest. 8:00 - Arrowhead got a new CEO. 9:07 - Well, CoD is cursed with the yearly releases, Black Ops 6 confirmed. 10:36 - XDefiant issues at launch day. 12:34 - AI is the new NFT trend! Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann favors generative AI 16:18 - Escape From Tarkov keeps ruining their reputation with coupon refunds... 20:28 - Relic Entertainment wants to be an independent studio but is owned by an investment firm. 21:52 - Apparently people aren't interested in strategy and thinking games. 26:00 - Destiny 2 news: Keith David as Commander Zavala 27:20 - Additional comments and conclusions.

Some of the top The Sims 4 RU-vidrs started to complain about how broken the game is. That is how you fix a triple a game. Get the shills to say it’s broken on social media.

Mad Max game is very underrated. Great game.

I liked the Mad Max game...

Mad Max was such an underrated gem imo. Like a rough diamond, it had its flaws but if you looked past the few flaws there was such an enjoyable game underneath and I think it just got heavily overshadowed because of MGS releasing at the same time lol. A Kojima Mad Max game though would go crazy lmao.

That Mad Max game is pretty good. I bet most people who don’t like it have NEVER played it.

Bruh the Mad Max game wasn’t bad at all, it was very repetitive late game but I thought it was fun enough to explore the world.

Mad max was a good game. Open world car combat and visuals were super good.

U guys are wrong the Mad Max game was super underrated

The Mad Max game was awesome. One of the most underrated games of all time.

The reason why strategy games has declined is because RTS's had such a big focus on highly competitive multiplayers and those that aren't like that, are games like Civilization which are spreadsheets of information that you have to learn with matches taking a very long time, demanding a lot of time to learn and play upfront and that turns a lot of people off. It's not that people have fewer attention spans, it's that strategy games have a intimidating perception and barrier to entry.

25:00 Baldur’s Gate 3 has strategic turn based combat.

The 2015 Madmax game is actually liked by a lot of people I regret not trying it out when it released.

I still want a mad max remaster for current gen. I love that game.

"Sometimes its better to shut your mouth..." Doesn't that also apply to George Miller in this situation? Wouldnt it have been better if instead of shitting on the mad max game (that had heavy corporate influence) he couldve just made the point that he wanted kojima to make a mad max game. Seems like a case of if you dont have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

The Mad Max game had less then expected initial reception sure. But in the years since, more have seen it for what it is and it's become somewhat of a cult classic and seen as a massive underrated game. As it's honestly rather solid and fun. And in the big reddit topic regarding this, most pointed out that Kojima works best when he is allowed to create vs build upon. So most were not too sure it would work as well if he did it tbh.

Yo the Mad Max game was real good.

Joes inability to name a single good strategy game for kids to play is exactly why no one plays strategy games anymore

I personally liked 2015 mad max game it’s super underrated in my opinion.

Mad Max was kinda like Days Gone. Both are solid games, but they came out when people were oversaturated those type of games, and sentiment at the time was they were way worse then they actually were. Checking out more recent retroactive reviews on those games and they generally rate much more positively then on release.

A Kojima Mad Max would of been a nightmare of long, drawn out unskippable cut scenes. The original game was perfect as it was. I'd love a 60fps patch though.

1:45 AD ends

3:05 mad max by kojima? 5:13 atari buys intelevision 6:45 amazon games buy new studio in bucharest 8:02 airhead studio ceo wants to be the next from software 9:08 new call of duty black ops 6 will be revealed in june 10:49 x defiant problems 12:53 neil druckman loves the use of ai (whatever really)) 16:53 tarkov coupons 21:05 relic enterntainment back to its roots 22:03 gamers not interested in strategy and planning (big sad for those people) 25:43 keith david is now commander zavala in destiny 2

Yay another Joe upload

The Avalanche CEO deserves to say his opinion, he made a good game despite Warner Bros being a terrible company. And George Miller just wanted to suck Kojima off because he makes artsy video games.

3:20 hot take Joe but the 2015 Mad Max game is considered a classic. Not only that but its better than most games released today. 2015 has to be one of the best ever years for gaming.

I've also recently starting replaying the King Arthur strategy game. Against the Storm is a great rogue like city builder that's been out for a little while in full release (was early access for years)

AFTERNOON JOE

Kojima is a game director who wants to be a movie director.

Not sure what they are talking about but the Mad Max game was awesome.

rocket money when your money become the fuel when their server get hacked.

Rocketmoney is sure to be in a Netflix documentary soon. U guys should rethink supporting them.

Mad Max the game was amazing. WTF bro

Love you guys!

27:43 Joe you just complained about how bad the onboading process is for Destiny, how do you think normal people feel when they see a menu in Civ or Total War? It's intimidating, it's a big commitment. Most people want to have an experience that's a few hours a night, not something they have to schedule everything around. It also doesnt help that there juat arent as many RTS or 4X games coming out, at least not enough big ones to get people interested. Not everyone is like you who has 16+ hours to play games everyday.

Looved mad max. Played the ever loving shit outta that game. Bad take Joeski.

for strategy, we still have Tempest Rising, Dust Front, Ratten Reich and Broken Arrow as potential hopefuls!

Just wondering has there been any major online games not had server issues on launch

I like the 2015 mad max game

Thanks, just bought Mad Max on PS5 for 7$

One thing nobody talks about is XDefiant uses models and levels from Division 2. That plane map is direct layout of an area in Divison 2. Even the couch on the end of the plane 🤣🤣🤣

15 seconds and still no timestamps, fans fell off

i mean it says alot when ppl are still playing the old ass starcraft 2

Songs of Conquest is actually a great Heroes 3 successor.

23:25 That stat surprised me with the rise of deckbuilders (Slay the Spire, Midnight Suns, Balatro) and Vampire Survivor-likes. Though as you also said most are not financial success in spite of critical acclaim.

To be fair as consoles prevail for common use (with pc parts being more expensive/experimental yet less reliable), they have removed and deprioritized RTS games in their library. Sony AND Xbox have been removing [RTS] games left and right due to “licensing” issues.

Since I'm middle aged now...54, be 55 end of this year...I remember well Intellivision well. Atari 2600, Vectrex, etc. Fun stuff!

Meanwhile Coleco Vision is like "Hey, we're here too" 🤣

Amazing!

Thank you for uploading every week reliable gaming news!!! Dinner, soda, and AJS NEWS while relaxing home!!! Happy Monday y'all!!!

Wow great takes. We DO need a modern RTS

regarding development in Eastern Europe: it makes sense as it's been a heavily growing industry there for some time - most modern android apps are even written in a language developed by a Czech company (who also make some of the more popular IDEs)

I’d be interested to look further into how this study defined “strategy” games. Age of Empires or Civ are what I think of when I hear “strategy game” but really any game with turn-based combat makes strategy a key component of the gameplay, i.e. Baldur’s Gate 3

Transformers Battlegrounds was the best stragey I've played in years

Was Homeworld that long ago to not get a mention? ... _*sits anciently_

I owe it to Joe for putting me on to strategy games like xcom, Civ. Still playing Classified France and loving it. I play on console and I think that’s partly why strategy games don’t get a lot of play. They’re more tailored towards PC.

The Ellie peanut allergy returns 😂

Those super panavision videos are really good

22:10 Because we need a new Red Alert.

Every person I spoke to who played it said it was a really fun time, even the ones who were hardcore mad max fans.

I have had no problems getting in xdefiant servers on ps5 on the launch dates or now.

Xcom, Empire of Sin, Mario Rabbids, and Midnight Suns are the only ones I can name that fit a strategy high that was or wasn’t enough.

Mad Max game IS good. Beautiful Sound and Scale. Fun car combat. Bunch of upgrades. Good Atmosphere, What do u want in a mad max game??

Pilsted did actually clarify they meant OLD Blizzard a little later.

I’m surprised yall haven’t brought up the fact that the Witcher 3 has officially got mod support

Fire Emblem mentioned, I'll take it any day.

Y’all should try your only move is hustle great strategy chess style fighting game

Alex, you should try Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront, it is by no means a 10/10 RTS, though. It is the first one to grab my interest and scratch that RTS itch for me in over 10 years with the focus on realism and historical accuracy.

Just sitting here waiting for Tempest Rising. Frank Klepaki leading the charge for a new era of RTS!

13:19 JAK & Daxter 4

If you want a good strategy games check out the Ultimate General and Ultimate Admiral series. They do total war style battles better than total war. The new America Revolution coming out will have a campaign map.

Hey Joe, I hope you are doing alright.

Guess I'm different because I love thinking and planning games

Aliens dark descent was an incredible rts

The issue with real time strategy games is that the reward cycle is too slow like you guys said, and also the port horribly to consoles. If you don’t have any competition and other domains other than PC eventually the competition will just dry up and you’ll have a small niche community like we have now.

So sad that strategy games aren't popular anymore! My favorite genre. 😢

Get used to server issues on launch. No company is ever going to spend money on server capacity they won't need within the first month of launch when initial drop off occurs. I'm actually with the devs/publishers on this one.

Mad max was a good game, and I personally liked it. Yes, it had some flaws, but it's failure was because it was sandwiched in between 2 big AAA game releases at that time. I still like the fistfight melee combat in that game. It packed some punch and weight to it.

I really enjoyed starship troopers RTS

I bet people were saying that about Crpgs and then BG3 came out, Just need the BG3 of RTS games

Homeworld-3 and Men of War II comes to mind. But yeah we have not had a command&conquer successor or even total annihilation remake at all. There have been plenty of failed tries, often they release so buggy and broken that everyone just gives up and moves on (remember planetary annihilation?)

24:36 Stellaris came out 8 years ago and is great. Ton of players playing.

RIP Lance Reddick

I still play stellaris, even tho it's years old. Sadly in the same boat theirs hardly any good strategy games 🎮

Mad Max is an underrated game. People need to try it.

That Mad Max game was actually really good. I got really close to 100% that game and had a lot of fun doing it.

In an update on May 23rd of 2024, Valve introduced CS2 skin renting to the game. Players will now have the ability to officially rent CS2 skins for 7 days in the game itself.

i'd play a strategy game if there is one with base building. not much of a fan of commandos like strategy games. still waiting for temptest rising.

Just so you guys know, it’s the old arrowhead ceo that said the fromsoft blizzard thing not the new guy…

Relic and total war provide me with my strategy crack.

Hey I don't know if you guys are Dallas Stars fans. However best of luck tonight vs the Oilers.

Aliens: Dark Descent

last good strategy games were heroes of might and magic V and command & conquer 3 kanes wrath so yeah its been soon 20 years since good strategy game was released, but I still play those masterpiece games and games that came before it

The tarkov shit had me Rollin joe is on point with his impression of how these devs think of us.

I mean C&C Generals, DoW, Star Trek Armada...those are like the best strategy games...Mechanicus is probally the newest strategy game that was awesome.

@24:00 -- I love turn-based strategy games. The real-time RTS stuff is just too sweaty for me for the most part. I did enjoy Anno 1800 briefly but they did multiplayer so awful so it took forever to get a match and then if someone left it literally just ruined the game. I like Civ 6 and would like to see a new one as well.. I played the Dune RTS as well which was pretty fun but I feel like it was just missing some additional depth to make it more interesting.

I think you can parallel the decrease in strategy video games with rise of the board game Renaissance. Personally, i dont go to video games to scratch that itch anymore. I meet with my friends and pull out an Ark Nova, Scythe, Brass Birmingham/Lancoshire .. etc which to be honest is 1000 times more fulfilling and meaningful.

Hey Alex, maybe do your job, do some due diligence and pull some quotes from developers about why they were upset about what Miller said instead of being a giant baby and dismissing them. Christopher Sundberg has been the most vocal about the rough time the studio went through during development "After the first year of development they realized that they had forced us to make a linear experience rather than the open world game we pitched. We threw away a year of work and got to hear that "players wants autonomy in this day and age". Well, no shit..." "As we were forced to release Mad Max on the same day as MGS, they blamed us for the bad sales and cancelled a bunch of awesome DLC that was just sitting there waiting to be released."

Feels like Age of Empires 2 HD/Definitive Edition has been carrying the RTS genre in terms of major studio support, but their attempt at an Age of Empires 4 wasn't nearly as well received. Despite that, Microsoft is still bringing back Age of Mythology and C&C had it's Ultimate Collection release on Steam, so maybe EA will give it another shot, not that it would be like the old Westwood days.

Yeah… Bukharest is not in Poland guys…